Top 20 America's Next Top Model Makeover Meltdowns

She may have come runner-up in the 2006 season of the show, but don’t let that second-place finish fool you: she throws a first-rate tantrum when she doesn’t get what she wants. Melrose was known for her stunning dark-brown locks, so when she was forced to go blonde during makeovers… well… she had a bit of a breakdown. It didn’t go unnoticed either, with Jay calling her a serious control freak and implying that – in order for her career to take off – she’d have to give up her rigid nature and trust the professionals. We think she still looks great with blonde hair; but, Mel? No…Not so much.

We have a feeling that if we asked Elina what her favorite color was after this makeover that it wouldn’t have been red! And, honestly, we can’t blame her… It’s not her best look to be sure. But was it so bad that it took her identity away, as she claimed? Absolutely not… Adding mounds and mounds of curly, fluffy red hair on her slim figure didn’t really work that well; but, thankfully it was only hair extensions and not a dye job – now that WOULD have been a crying shame. Oh well… At least she made the top five finalists that season…

If you’re an aspiring model and you’re known for your long brunette locks, we could totally see losing your cool if someone wanted to chop all your hair off. But, luckily, for Season 12’s Natalie, it was all just a joke on Jay’s part to teach her a lesson about trust. The only problem was, Natalie wasn’t in on the joke… and she didn’t trust him. So… she… lost it! Refusing to let the hairdresser close enough to her hair, she tucked her head in her hands – started to cry – and flat out refused. And, she looked pretty embarrassed after learning it was all just a joke.

Sometimes the anticipation to an event can be worse than the actual event itself… Take going to your in-laws for example. And, this was exactly the case with Season 3’s Eva when she was asked to make her already short hair a little shorter. She didn’t take the news very well, crying and saying she didn’t want to “look like a boy.” Despite being comforted by Tyra, Eva begrudgingly went through with the process and… guess what? She actually liked it in the end! Well, well… All those tears and all that stress for nothing. She ended up winning the season too!

Kari didn’t make it that far into the 21st season of the show, finishing 11th overall, and we can’t help but feel that this makeover didn’t do her any favors. As a natural brunette, Kari’s look just worked for her and her unique features. But, after an intense bleach-blonde dye job (yup, eyebrows too), she came out the other end looking… well… interesting. Sure, the fact that her face is flushed and red from crying didn’t help the new look, but we honestly can’t blame her. She is totally justified for losing her cool and we don’t know what the stylists were thinking here.

This makeover is yet another example of “we really can’t blame the model for being upset with her new look.” Brittany’s short brown hair and cute face were a match made in heaven. Brittany with a puffy, red weave, however? Well… even Jay admitted it was a mistake (and we totally agree). Add to it the fact that the – now infamous – weave was too tight and had to be removed later… and this makeover has to go down as one of the worst ever. It’s not like we’ve never seen Brittany cry during Season 8 (remember the epic cab meltdown??), but at least this time she was justified.

Let’s face it: for Bianca to make it to the Top 4 spot after being forced to shave her head due to her hair being damaged from perms and dyes… well… that’s one hell of an accomplishment! And, we totally felt for her while she had to watch all the other girls get incredible makeovers while she sat – crying – and had her head buzzed. To be honest, she handled the entire situation extremely well and this meltdown is yet another one that’s totally justified in the end. And, hair or no hair, Bianca still rocked her look!

With her bright red hair as her defining feature, and eight years of modeling under her belt, Cherish felt her look was solidified. So, when stylists wanted her to dye her naturally red hair even redder, she wasn’t too happy. Nor was she happy that she was booted off the show at the end of the episode – finishing a disappointing 13th overall – when she didn’t even want to do the makeover to begin with. So, she told the judges just that in a sit-down interview after being eliminated, telling them that they were foolish for letting her go as she was obviously the best contestant and should be America’s next top model.

Unlike most contestants on this list, Brenda approached her upcoming makeover with confidence and hope – trusting in Tyra to make the right stylistic choice. But, that confident attitude certainly didn’t last long once those lovely red locks started falling to the floor. Seeing her hair get shorter and shorter, Brenda completely broke down and drew the stares of her fellow competitors (some in sympathy and some not). She literally looked like she had lost a loved one to a tragic accident during her haircut; but, luckily, she tried to make the most of it and eventually finished 8th.

Sometimes the stylist’s makeovers are hard to come to grips with for these models, and then there’s an instance like this one where an underlying condition causes tremendous emotional upheaval for a contestant. Jeana was hiding the fact that she suffers from alopecia and wears a wig when she models. The stylists wanted to remove the wig to show off her true beauty – which couldn’t have been an easy move for Jeana – and it resulted in tears all around. Jeana’s crying, Law and Drew are crying, everyone is crying! This is actually quite a touching, human moment on the show, and if any of these entries deserved a meltdown, it’s this one!

Who could forget this Cycle 4 contestant? Brandy came into the competition with a bad weave and a bad attitude, and unfortunately her makeover fixed neither. When Tyra told her that she’d be keeping her afro as it was, Brandy was far from impressed . . . But as it turns out, her hair was in too poor of a condition to keep anyway. So, they buzzed it off and bleached her brows, leaving her looking edgier, more polished and much more like a model. Brandy disagreed, asking how she could possibly face her boyfriend and annoying creative director Jay with her attitude, landing herself in the bottom two that episode.

Although girls who cry during their makeovers usually get a bad rap, Jael’s breakdown was totally legit. Tyra wanted to elevate her look by giving her long brown extensions, leaving Jael worried that she’d look ‘too normal’ - and she was right. After EIGHT HOURS in the salon chair, Jay came over to break the news that the extensions weren’t working for her; they weren’t fitting right with her natural hair, they were dulling her shine and not taking her towards that model look. So, they took all of them out, straight after putting them in, leaving Jael broken and with barely any hair left.

Bold, blonde and … beautiful? That was the aim of Molly’s makeover, but what she ended up with was far from supermodel quality. Tyra’s vision for this makeover was ‘what if Diana Ross was a blonde?’ and so Molly spent six hours having a curly blonde weave sewn in, which ended up being executed so poorly that it looked like a cheap wig slipping off the back of her head. Molly, the other contestants and even the owner of the salon were all horrified with how the look turned out, and after three episodes and several meltdowns, Tyra finally agreed to have the extensions taken out and set Molly free from her weave from hell.

Catie wasn’t afraid to show the tears throughout her cycle, and of course her makeover was no exception. She came into the competition saying the judges could do whatever they liked with her look, but this was clearly not the case when it was revealed to her that she’d be getting a Twiggy-inspired pixie cut. She complained about the cut as well as the pain of the bleach, irritating other contestants in the process. She then sobbed hysterically to Tyra, explaining that she hated her makeover and she looked like a boy, in a move that would probably get her kicked out of the competition by today’s standards.

Tyra wanted to give Fo a makeover that would take away from her cuteness, so stylists chopped it all off in a short and sleek cut that looked gorgeous with her bone structure. Unfortunately, Fo hated her new look, breaking down in the salon and refusing to take off her headscarf when she got home. She sobbed that she had to hide her hair to feel pretty, and that this is what was going to break her in the competition. She even had a breakdown at her photoshoot in front of Jay, putting her in Tyra’s bad books and in the bottom two that week, to teach her a lesson about embracing new styles.

Tyra thought Jaeda’s strong jawline and ‘handsome’ features would suit a different hairstyle - so she decided to give her a Halle Berry-inspired short cut. Jaeda was in tears before anyone touched her hair, clearly nervous about losing her “prettiest girl in school” look and intimidated by having to change her modelling technique, as well as her personal style. The tears didn’t stop throughout the day, and Jaeda let her new look affect her confidence in her next photoshoot, landing her in the bottom two. Despite this, she eventually got used to the new style and made it to the top six.

Terra entered the competition with her sister Chris, and while Chris was chosen for a long curly weave, Terra had almost all of her hair cut off in a drastic Kelis-inspired chop. Sadly, Terra struggled with her new look and wasn’t afraid to show it in the makeover photoshoot, leading to a frustrated Jay saying he could find a better poser at the mall. Due to her attitude and bland photo, Terra was chosen to go home in a shock elimination that had never happened before in ANTM history, teaching future contestants that not embracing a makeover wasn’t just frowned upon anymore - it might get you sent straight home.

After so many years of Top Model, you’d think contestants would learn to keep makeover tears at bay - but even in the 23rd cycle Tash clearly didn’t get the memo. Tash’s tomboy twin sister ended up with a long and luscious weave, whilst girly girl Tash was due to get a very short cut to go with her strong bone structure. After her cut, Tash was jealous of her sister and felt super self-conscious about looking like a boy. She locked herself in the bathroom and started ranting out loud, yelling ‘let me be me’ in a behind-the-door emotional breakdown that left viewers shook.

Cycle 5’s Bre re-entered the competition for the All Stars edition, and at first seemed fine when she found out she’d be getting a short back and sides hairdo for her makeover. However, after Jay promised her that the cut wouldn’t be too extreme, the stylist began buzzing her hair right down to the scalp, leaving Bre in tears. She asked to speak to a producer and threatened to leave the show, saying she wasn’t just upset, but “at rage”. After calming down, Bre eventually decided that leaving the show wouldn’t fit with her brand description of “Girlfriend”, so instead she picked herself up and learned how to rock her look.

Cassandra chose her hair over her chances in the competition, and for this reason she makes the top of the list. This beauty pageant princess was assigned Tyra’s favourite ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ cut, meaning her hip-length brown hair would be chopped to an inch short and dyed blonde. Cassandra kissed goodbye to her beauty queen image and wept as her hair was cut clean off. However, in judging Tyra noticed that the haircut was not what she’d asked for, and that she’d need to get more hair cut off. Cassandra decided she didn’t want to lose any more of her hair, and instead decided to go home in one of the most memorable exits in Top Model history.