buzzz worthy. . .
By Mona Austin
With his deaf mother seated in the room, Nyle DiMarco took the final "America's Next Top Model" (ANTM) title Friday night. A fourth generation mute, DiMarco already made history as the first deaf contestant on the reality based modeling show. As the winner the steel blue-eyed model broadens the platform for the deaf community. Show creator Tyra Banks told the 6'2" tall New York native he did not win because he is deaf, but because of his modeling ability. DiMarco, 26 is the last model to carry the title since the show closed its final season with this year's competition. Throughout cycle 22 he was a standout, but admitted to People.com in an exclusive that the greatest challenge was feeling left out due to his inability to communicate with other cast members.
“The competition, and especially living with the models in the house, was undoubtedly a lot of fun, but it was also pretty tough,” he admitted. “The inability to use my language, American Sign Language, and the lack of communication, information access and the general connection to the world was difficult.”
DiMarco is a graduate of Galludet University, the only deaf university in the world located in Maryland.
Banks always empowered models to accept who they are and never allow challenges hold them back. DiMarco took her advice and wants to be an example to other hearing impaired people.
“I hope that my win inspires the Deaf community to start pursuing their desired careers,” he says. “There are so many talented Deaf people that the world needs and can benefit from.”
In 2014 Keith Carlos of Connecticut became the first male model to win ANTM when the format of the show was changed to allow men to compete against women.
During the final run, Mame Adjei, a Ghanaian American from Maryland was the runner up. DiMarco said he instinctively knew Adjei was his greatest competition.
By Mona Austin
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| Nyle DiMarco, the first deaf contestants wins ANTM. |
With his deaf mother seated in the room, Nyle DiMarco took the final "America's Next Top Model" (ANTM) title Friday night. A fourth generation mute, DiMarco already made history as the first deaf contestant on the reality based modeling show. As the winner the steel blue-eyed model broadens the platform for the deaf community. Show creator Tyra Banks told the 6'2" tall New York native he did not win because he is deaf, but because of his modeling ability. DiMarco, 26 is the last model to carry the title since the show closed its final season with this year's competition. Throughout cycle 22 he was a standout, but admitted to People.com in an exclusive that the greatest challenge was feeling left out due to his inability to communicate with other cast members.“The competition, and especially living with the models in the house, was undoubtedly a lot of fun, but it was also pretty tough,” he admitted. “The inability to use my language, American Sign Language, and the lack of communication, information access and the general connection to the world was difficult.”
DiMarco is a graduate of Galludet University, the only deaf university in the world located in Maryland.
Banks always empowered models to accept who they are and never allow challenges hold them back. DiMarco took her advice and wants to be an example to other hearing impaired people.
“I hope that my win inspires the Deaf community to start pursuing their desired careers,” he says. “There are so many talented Deaf people that the world needs and can benefit from.”
In 2014 Keith Carlos of Connecticut became the first male model to win ANTM when the format of the show was changed to allow men to compete against women.
During the final run, Mame Adjei, a Ghanaian American from Maryland was the runner up. DiMarco said he instinctively knew Adjei was his greatest competition.