Adrianne Curry was a contestant and winner of Cycle 1 of ANTM.
The then 20-year-old Joliet, Illinois native was a waitress before her appearance on the first cycle of America’s Next Top Model. After winning, there was a reported feud with Tyra Banks regarding the collection of her prizes. Apparently, the Revlon contract she was supposed to receive didn’t pan out because Revlon didn’t think she was a fit for their brand and never used her. She was sent to model over seas, but while there, was told she was too old to book jobs, so she wound up over seas, nearly broke, and by herself. (She blamed Tyra for this, so she harbors some bitterness toward the retired supermodel.) Tyra has since never used footage of her when promoting America’s Next Top Model or past winners of the show. (It was also rumored that Tyra was disenchanted with Adrianne for posing nude in Playboy.)
Since ANTM, Adrianne has modeled for many magazines, including Life and Style Weekly, Us Weekly, Star, OK!, Stuff, People, Maxim, Playboy, Spanish Marie Claire,Von Dutch, Von Dutch Watches, Salon City, Macy’s, Famous Stars and Straps, Lucky, Ed Hardy, Kinis Bikinis, Beverly Hills Choppers, and Merit Diamonds.
Adrianne was a co-host on the television game show, Ballbreakers. In 2006, she appeared on Gameshow Marathon as a celebrity panelist on the Match Game episode. She has also starred in “Rock Me Baby” (2004) and Half and Half (2003) on UPN.
Adrianne can also seen appearing on Dirt, starring Courteney Cox, with whom she shared scenes. She appeared in rock band’s The Click Five music video Just the Girl, along with husband Christopher Knight.
Adrianne appeared on VH1’s celeb sci-fi reality show Celebrity Paranormal Project in 2006, along with her husband. She also appeared on WE TV’s From Russia with Love. (The show documents her trip to Russia, which aired in November 2007.) She has also starred in the films Fallen Angels, Light Years Away and Jack Rio.
In early 2005, Adrianne appeared on VH1’s fourth season of The Surreal Life. After the season ended, she and fellow house guest Christopher Knight began dating, and later moved in together. On September 11, 2005, VH1 began airing My Fair Brady, a show that documented their life together and paid her an estimated US$450,000. The show led her to being featured in Maxim’s Hot 100, a list of the “hottest” women on earth and ranked #100 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2005. Season 3 of My Fair Brady began airing on January 21, 2008 and focused on Curry’s breast enhancement surgery and Knight’s competing (and contrary) desire to start a family.
Christopher Knight proposed to Adrianne on the season finale of My Fair Brady, which aired on November 6, 2005. The show was renewed for a second season, and focused on the couple’s wedding preparations. The second season began airing on VH1 in June 2006. The couple wed in Adrianne’s hometown of Joliet on May 29, 2006 in a gothic-style wedding. Says Adrianne of the goth-themed ceremony, “I wanted to go as Gothic as I could and as traditional as I could without ruffling anyone’s feathers. I wanted to have a black dress, but I knew it would break my grandmother’s heart.” She has confessed to being a big Star Wars fan.
Adrianne and her family and friends appeared on NBC’s new show Celebrity Family Feud, which premiered on June 24, 2008.
Since appearing on America’s Next Top Model, Adrianne has walked for many designers and lines for Jaime Presley, and Pamela Anderson. She appeared on the cover and in a nude pictorial for Playboy in February 2006 (U.S. Version). She returned for a second cover and nude pictorial in the January 2008 issue. Curry made Playboy’s 2008 top 25 sexiest women, along with Playboy’s top 100 Playboy spreads 2008 edition. She also made the 2005 Maxim Top 100.
Adrianne is currently signed with Wilhelmina Models (NY) and Avenue Modelier.
Photos: Adrianne’s Myspace
Source: Adrianne’s Facebook
Source: Adrianne’s Website
Source: Model Mayhem
Photos: Fashion Model Directory
Source: Wikipedia
Source: Adrianne’s Twitter
Source: All ANTM
Source: ANTM / Landov
Source: ANTM / Douglas Bizarro
Source: ANTM / Barry Hollywood
Source: ANTM / Barry Hollywood
Source: ANTM / Troy Ward
Source: ANTM / Daniel Garriga
Source: ANTM / Michel Haddi
Source: ANTM / Patrick Katzman
Source: ANTM/ Patrick Katzman
Source: ANTM / Tyra Banks
Source: ANTM / Tyra Banks
To see more photos of Adrianne, click here.
July 5, 2010 at 8:02 am
I love Adrianne. It’s so sad that she and Tyra never talk anymore.
July 11, 2010 at 6:28 pm
I know! She is so great and would be a great inspiration for the girls of all the cycles to come. But what I think is REALLY bad is Tyra doesn’t use any of her stuff when talking about Cycle 1. It’s as though we just now recognize Shannon as the Original America’s Next Top Model Winner. Crazy.
September 2, 2010 at 7:04 pm
Well, she should definitely not have won this competition. They had so many well-behaved, classy girls to choose from, which wouldn’t have wasted their chances for a fine career by posing naked for Playboy.
October 3, 2010 at 12:30 am
I think it’s funny to hear people say that when Tyra has contestants pose nude all the time. Or is it just that it’s Playboy?
October 18, 2010 at 12:38 pm
People can masturbate on these models pictures as long as Miss Banks makes a profit. When Tyra makes cash, its called ART.
April 24, 2012 at 3:16 am
i think theres a difference between the shoots. the nude shoots on antm are more artsy and beautiful. playboy is raunchy and erotic
September 25, 2013 at 5:22 pm
Sally, have you even SEEN Playboy before? The pics are absolutely not “raunchy” or “erotic.”
September 6, 2010 at 9:25 pm
Shannon or Elyse should have won, not her! She’s way too classless to be even considered a model. All she’s ever done is talk badly about ANTM and Tyra; she’s nothing but an ingrate. Shannon had more class and beauty than Adrianne ever will!
June 13, 2012 at 7:39 pm
Adrianne is way more deserving of the antm crown than shannon or elyse!!!
December 16, 2014 at 7:17 am
no way…elyse was a no it all ‘im too good for everyone’ bitch and shannon just wasn’t willing to do what it takes to be a model…as for the nudes…if tyra failed to come through with the contracts she was promised she went elsewhere to do her job and make money…i think she took some of the prettiest photos this cycle…especially the purple eyeshadow one….revlon are crazy!!!
September 7, 2010 at 5:44 am
Half of her pictures after ANTM are fairly indecent, but that might be ’cause I’m old fashioned. (?)
September 24, 2010 at 1:21 am
Good face but her mannerisms were tomboyish!
May 10, 2011 at 5:29 pm
Agree with the tomboyish mannerisms.
October 3, 2010 at 1:06 am
She’s awesome! She deserved the win!!! It’s way too bad Tyra acts like she never won. She’s a great model and has a great personality, so she should be recognized as a winner!
November 14, 2010 at 12:52 am
Why do so many people assume there’s a correlation between being a model and being classy or having class? This profession is not one that overwhelmingly attracts what one thinks of as middle- and upper-class, well-bred and well-educated young women. It attracts lots of scrappy girls with lots of drive and energy fighting their ways out of bad families, bad neighborhoods, and bad situations. Respect that.
December 1, 2010 at 8:51 am
If it wasn’t for Tyra and ANTM she would never have had as many opportunities. The door was opened for her because of ANTM it was up to her to walk through and keep it open. Anyone that poses nude for playboy lowers the integrity of modeling. I do not blame Tyra for distancing herself from Adrianne, especially when Tyra is mentoring up and coming young women for careers in modeling.
March 2, 2011 at 3:52 am
Agreed!
December 23, 2010 at 10:14 am
Adrianne was actually a great winner. She represented, at the time, what ANTM was all about, which was taking someone with lots of potential, give her the tools and the key to open some doors and then go into the modeling world. And all that more prepared than any potential model who wants to do it on her own.
The way she used these tools, on the other hand, is another story. But who would blame her? Playboy might be the lowest class of modeling known today due to the bad reputation the brand has, but if it brought even the most certified Christians like London from cycle 12 to do it, then it might be a sign that the paycheck you get at the end of the day is an impressive amount of money.
However, I don’t think she would’ve go any further, even if she didn’t “ruin her career” by posing for Playboy.
October 28, 2011 at 3:50 am
London did not pose for Playboy. A photographer sold those pictures of her behind her back to the magazine. #getitstraight
January 13, 2011 at 5:25 pm
I love watching the show whenever time allows. I was very, very surprised when Adrianne won in cycle 1! I was also surprised when Elyse’s eating habits were questioned and Adrianne being loaded 24/7 was not! Adrianne could barely speak! A lot of the girls are picked on by the judges for their speech, since they will have to talk with clients at go-sees and be spokesmodels. Wow, I guess it’s true what I have read in blogs … the winner is picked at auditions and can do no wrong.
January 13, 2011 at 5:31 pm
Adrianne was high 24/7. Nobody ever questioned that. The judges have picked on other girls for less of a speech problem. She says it’s because she’s from Chicago. Wah, wah. Never heard any of my friends in Chicago talk like they were half-in-the-bag; even when they were! ANTM picks the winner at auditions.
February 7, 2011 at 3:29 am
I thought I was the only one who thought she was on something. I was like, “Is she on prescription meds for a mental disorder?” Like depression or anxiety or those meds they give to special ed kids? Anyway, I liked her.
June 13, 2012 at 7:48 pm
How do u know she was high 24/7?Some people have a habit of not talking as clearly as they should.Unless u drug tested her u cant conclusively state this.
January 14, 2011 at 8:28 pm
Apparently, Adrianne was a disaster from the beginning. I am content to draw the conclusions that the end of a matter is better than its beginning. Classless and too hoochy to be anybody’s model. Little wonder she ended up on the wrong pages!
February 7, 2011 at 4:27 am
I like Adrianne. She was different and very much more similar to the “normal” type of girls out there. Not everyone is oh pretty pretty. Not everyone is the typical next door girl. But I am kinda disappointed that she’s not as high up there as Elyse.
May 10, 2011 at 5:33 pm
Elyse was more high fashion than Adrianne that is why she’s doing a little better.
February 24, 2011 at 5:56 pm
She is pretty; very pretty. She didn’t need to do shoots for Playboy.
April 21, 2011 at 11:03 am
Adrianne is this shit! who cares what she did post show! i don’t care if she did porn, that is not Hurting anyone! she wasn’t being hippocritical about it either. . . Models are people. and just because their dreams and aspirations may differ from what you call Upper class modeling (WTF) Doesn’t mean she is wrong, you feel that it’s wrong she posed nude in playboy, THEN DON’T BUY THE ISSUE AND SHUT THE HELL UP! However we still praise Naomi Campbell, even though she assaulted innocent people, and received BLOOD Diamonds. . . but that’s okay cuz she’s still a good model! NOT, the fact is, Adrianne Curry may have posed for playboy, but she never hurt anyone! if anybody should be reprimanded over Adrianne, it’s tyra, she was sent to work for Revlon and they didn’t even use her, after she was promised a contract! she was alone penniless and had no work!! that’s not fair to do someone like that. . . I will say, however Adrianne can do MUCH better than peter brady, ugh!
August 30, 2013 at 9:13 pm
I agree, Revlon shouldn’t ignore her, come on, she grew up so much and got first place!!! And I don;t know if it’s Tyra, but the ANTM program should be responsible for getting her careers launched! I mean, after all she did work her way to the top!!
I completely understand Adrianne’s complaint over Tyra, it’s just so unfair to a girl with a background like this!
April 21, 2011 at 12:51 pm
TYRA HAtes her dat is very sad!!! SHE ONLY WANTED MONEY!! BUT I RLLY LIKE HER STILL
i love elyse ❤
May 4, 2011 at 12:54 am
if she can pose nude on antm 1 then y not on playboy check pics above with legends Source: ANTM/ Patrick Katzman. if its written right on this page then Im not wrong saying that antm trained her for playboy
May 11, 2011 at 9:28 pm
Elyse turned out to be the real model post ANTM.
June 4, 2011 at 11:04 am
it’s amazing how close-minded people are. since when are all models “classy”? so what if she’s a stoned tomboy? she’s -different-, and something about her made her stand out, isn’t THAT what the whole competition is about? yes, she posed for playboy and maybe she wasn’t as grateful as she should have been, but she had drive, people on set consistently said she was easy and fun to work with and she transformed and stood out in a crowd, even if you don’t see it. she’s a huge nerd, she’s outgoing (although raunchy), and she loves herself. girls can identify with her, maybe not the best role model, but she never wavered from who she was or let things get her down too much. get off your high horses and realize that a lot of the best models on the show come from shady backgrounds and there have been way worse characters on the show.
June 9, 2011 at 5:47 am
So she shot for Playboy? Who really cares! She was a loose cannon from the beginning and the judges knew that. If Tyra had such a problem with it, she should have thought about that BEFORE she picked her. Plus, Tyra has them pose nude all the time including season 1. Talk about hypocritical.
July 17, 2011 at 5:53 pm
ughhhh, she just sounded fucking depressed 24/7 or something. I wanted to shoot myself every time she spoke!!!
August 11, 2011 at 9:21 am
Adrian won fare and square – and it may have been the ONLY season when that actually happened. Tyra herself was surprised, but she’s not taking that “chance” again, no. It was only a true competition for that first season. Now, it’s a controlled display of Tyra’s agendas.
— All of the winners since the first season have been Tyra/current agenda picks, carefully funneled to the top. Tyra thinks she knows what’s best for us and the world! She also won’t take the chance of an individual speaking her mind again.
Power corrupts and it has surely corrupted what began as a good competition.
— You can easily see the “funneling” happen if you are just aware of what her agenda is for the season. She tells us in her own way… just listen!
I expect some will not be able to acknowlege what is right in their faces in spite of editing…
It needed saying. Thanks
August 20, 2011 at 9:59 pm
I loved her ‘rebel bad girl’ personality but, damn, the way she talks! 🙂
September 5, 2011 at 12:36 am
LMAO! this is laughable! r u guys serious? she’s a grown ass woman. if she wants to pose nude for playboy what’s the big deal? playboy is a classy men’s magazine. its not like she posed for hustler or penthouse. i also agreee with the earlier comment that when tyra has the girls pose nude it’s considered art but if they pose for playboy its a problem? that’s just hypocritical. and i beg to differ about adrianne’s success. ok, maybe she didnt become a super model but which ANTM contestant has? she was smart about her shit and delved into the reality tv world which in turn made her a star. her name is recognizable by ppl who dont watch ANTM at all and have nothing to do with the fashion world. what i’m trying to say is, adrianne’s famous. she’s a bonified celeb and she’s bad ass. so all u haters can continue to sip on ur haterade while miss adrianne’s making BANK! luv u adrianne! xoxo
October 5, 2011 at 12:17 pm
her and chantal the runner up of cycle 9 are by far the best…I also did not mind jessica from cycle 14 but which that cycle was crap (cycle 14) xx
October 20, 2011 at 7:41 pm
Like it or not, Playboy launches careers. A huge part of modeling is being comfortable with your body with and without clothes on. It is not like she did porn or posed in a flesh mag with everything shown. Please……
November 10, 2011 at 2:02 am
why doesn’t adrianne have a picture with tyra? every other winner has a photo with her!
December 9, 2011 at 5:37 pm
I LOVED that Adrianne won the first series! I wasn’t going to watch the show at all, except that “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” had ended, this was in its timeslot, and in the second week I read a review in the paper that said this is actually better than you probably think it is – which sure enough it was – but that was entirely due to Elyse and Adrianne. Adrianne never pretended to be anything she wasn’t, they even ran a shot of her side by side with Shannon during the PR exercise, Shannon doing her big all-teeth smile saying “I don’t drink, I don’t smoke and I’m a virgin” and Adrianne saying something along the lines of having done drugs and having had a promiscuous phase. The TV producers didn’t hesitate to milk the differences between Adrianne and Elyse on one side, and Robyn and Shannon, the religious duo who chose not to do the nude shoot, on the other, which was particularly hilarious when Adrianne and Elyse had a great time looking for Jim Morrison’s grave, which was Adrianne’s desperate wish, and Robyn dragging Shannon shopping at the Gap. When Robyn was eliminated, Adrianne and Elyse were so much fun and so nice with Shannon and made a point of including her instead of playing bitchy exclusion games like other cycles.
Adrianne has said on a behind the scenes type show that she deeply regrets sending Tyra an e-mail that said you betrayed me, you promised me this, it hasn’t happened, didn’t sound like Adrianne still harboured resentment as it says above. She also did appear on the second cycle as a surprise dinner guest for Yoanna and I think Xiomara?
As far as Playboy goes – look I’d never do it and I’d take a restraining order out to stop my niece doing it, but as far as models doing it, does no one remember that Cindy Crawford did it a bunch of times and it didn’t hurt her career one tiny bit? Elle MacPherson did it, because she was about to appear naked in screen after screen of the silly movie “Sirens” and Playboy was going to publish stills from the film anyway so she negotiated a fat fee and selected a photographer and says she bought her mum a house out of it. Geeze. Do Sports Illustrated in nothing but a painted on swimsuit and somehow that’s a plum job?
No series since series 1 has been anywhere near as entertaining as season 1, and with all the subsequent expense and spectacle they’re oddly getting less and less creative – America’s Next Top Model was really, really lucky to get Adrianne and Elyse in its first series.
January 14, 2012 at 7:02 am
To me she is a great model I know she put her heart into it. So just keep being yourself!
January 20, 2012 at 1:36 am
Men like the “just do me – do anything to me” look, so she will be successful in that genre.
February 13, 2012 at 7:18 am
I love her. I don’t honestly know if she was ever stoned on the show or anything, but I hope she has that all straightened out. Beyond that, she was and is a beautiful, confident woman who still has a sweet side. The show even showed that side of her. I don’t care that she posed for Playboy or had more nude shots. Get over it, it is classy to me to see someone who is comfortable in their own skin. Class and Poise have nothing to do with being a model.
I was severely disappointed to learn that Tyra did not come through with the prizes. If you plan to have a prize you had better make sure that the person who won got them. This was a big fail for her. It is also something that should have been discussed with the company long before Adrianne won cycle 1.
February 14, 2012 at 4:44 am
She’s divorced from Chris Knight now, right? I read a few months ago they separated. Saw some ad that she was working in Las Vegas now. Also, did she get a nose job too, or is it just the angles…some of those photos I could barely tell it was her. She’s come a long way from cycle one…….
February 15, 2012 at 4:21 am
All contestants are drug tested before being let on the show. Also,Adrienne fully admitted in interviews that she had JUST gotten off heroin before the show started. If you see her speaking now she is much better. She quite possibly could have been on certain medications to keep her from withdrawal or relapse. This fact only makes me admire her courage and strength even more. You take yourself off heroine, get a severe case of food poisoning and still manage to show up AND win a national contest like this. Let’s see how well you do.
March 7, 2012 at 8:01 am
I really think her face is bland, I prefer Shannon.
June 13, 2012 at 5:44 pm
The further you scroll down on her pictures, the older she gets and scarier it gets
June 21, 2012 at 11:18 pm
Ugh Adrienne reminds me of a dirty stinky hoe which is exactly what she is… and … how come she’s changed races in several photo shoots? bleech
July 18, 2012 at 2:58 pm
I do love Adrianne a lot, but I don’t like Tyra’s decide of photos. Meaning, I don’t like the type of photos she decided too take, or whoever took them.
Some of them, you could almost see her boobs and it’s gross. D’:
But I do love ANTM, and Adrianne .
July 20, 2012 at 7:01 am
Seriously, its her body and she should do what she wants with it, dont judge her because shes Independent and confident.
July 22, 2012 at 11:48 pm
She looks more like a porn star than a top model. Where is the high fashion? And she has not aged well.
November 6, 2012 at 12:57 am
Very beautiful.
March 20, 2013 at 7:11 pm
very……very……very…….very………..vvveeerrryyyy beeeaaauuuttiiiffffuuulll
May 23, 2013 at 5:20 am
I think she’s gorgeous, but if you look at her now…not that attractive. She seems kind of trashy, and she cries for attention all the time on facebook.
June 19, 2013 at 3:12 am
I feel like everyone commenting here is one extreme or the other.
For everyone saying that playboy nude modeling is no different than fashion nude modeling, your wrong. Playboy does shows full breasts, etc. and is produced for the sex appeal of the model, where as fashion nudes are done in order to sell a product.
However I don’t think that Adrienne was wrong for doing Playboy. She can make whatever decisions she wants to and it doesn’t make her any less of a person and it obviously hasn’t hurt her career as she is very successful right now.
Just because that’s the case though, doesn’t mean that ANTM has to associate themselves with her still. If she’s not the image that they want attached to the show, then it would make sense for them not to use footage. ANTM the cooperation and the business needs to think of the success of the show first. That’s what business is.
August 30, 2013 at 8:46 pm
I actually really liked the top three runners up, and I liked Adrianne the best because she’s got a lot of character. I love how she looks and acts like a boy most of the time…and the fact she looks happy herself though she sounds a little bit sleepy? but I thought that was a cool personality.
I have never seen playboy, and maybe it’s not that classy to give a shoot for Playboy in modeling industry, but I really hope the shoot she did would give her an opportunity to become more famous….
I thought the prizes of ANTM was to have a contract with Revlon?? I think it’s really awful that the companies treated her like this….
I also thought Elyse had a lot of personality, but I thought she was going to attend medical school and never look back again, and not do modelling? Well, I guess she changed her mind.
But it’s REALLY SAD to see Adrianne not having a very fabulous career…
August 30, 2013 at 8:56 pm
And Shannon really gives me an image of a sweetheart, forgot to mention
September 28, 2013 at 6:38 pm
I couldn’t help but love Adrianne when she was on the show. She seemed really cool and kinda had that stoner vibe lol. In 2013 she kinda seems mean its a shame
September 8, 2014 at 9:28 pm
No career? Ha! Countless magazine, advertising, TV, movies etc. What constitutes a career here? Oh, she was in Playboy twice. So many Hollywood stars have been in Playboy. She was asked once about why she appeared in Playboy. Her reply was priceless. “Why was I in Playboy? I love Hef and the shoots were so beautiful. Oh, and I had 1.6 million other reasons.”