THE FIRST MALE WINNER OF AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL IS...

After 21 cycles, America's Next Top Model finally named it's first male winner. The lucky male model is Keith Carlos, a 26 year old model and former professional football player from Connecticut. Keith bested 13 other aspiring models this cycle.

Also for the first time in its history, the final 3 models are all male. Runner up spot went to Will Jardell from Texas and 3rd place went to Adam Smith, a fratboy grad school student from Tennessee.

Fourth place went to Lenox Tillman, who was eliminated before the final runway show. She is the best placed female this cycle.

ANTM allowed male models to compete in Cycle 20 where 2 male models made it to the top 3 but a female, Jourdan Miller won.

But what also struck me is still the strong Philippine connection of ANTM. In the past few cycles, Filipinos were given exposure in previous cycles. These includes Filipino designers Francis Libiran (Hello Kitty chellenge in Cycle 18) and Michael Cinco (Final Runway Show in Cycle 17 - All Stars). Georgina Wilson and the Filipino brand Bench also made its appearance in Cycle 17 in the Greece swimwear photoshoot.

In this episode, ANTM alumna Allison Harvard (Cycle 12 and 17 All Stars) was a guest in the Tyra make up commercial shoot. Harvard has moved to the Philippines to pursue her modelling career here. Her ads with the local clothing store Bench was also shown. Also in the episode is K-Pop group 2NE1, where Star Circle Quest alumna Sandara Park is a member.

Image is a screencap from the finale episode, copyright is still with the owner.