Back on March of 2006, I received this email from model and fashion designer Melissa Rose (“Melrose”) Bickerstaff.
This is Mel Rose and I am writing to you for two reasons. The first is to eventually order some prints from you from the effections healing show you shot in 2004 – I also need a favor from you. I am trying to get a job with a company that needs me to take all of my photos off of the internet. I can go into further details after June but I am needing to take some photos off of your Web site.
My first thought was that she was auditioning for Project Runway since she is a talented designer who took home the “Best of Show” honors and “Most Creative” award for her work in the Art Institutes’ student fashion show in 2003. March 2006 was right around the time Project Runway was holding open calls for the next season and a few other designers I knew including Sari Pace and Bruce Beasley had gone down to the Los Angeles auditions. But when Project Runway debuted, there was no sign of Melrose so I knew it wasn’t that show.
Fast forward a few months and I’m having lunch with one of Melrose’s friends and she tells me that Melrose had indeed landed on a reality T.V. show which had already been filmed. Since the show had not been announced yet, the embargo was still in effect. Well, just last week I received this link showing where Melrose had landed. Melrose will appear in season 7 of America’s Next Top Model. If you click on the more info tab, there’s a video preview clip. From the looks of the other models, I think Melrose will do well. America’s Next Top Model debuts on September 20th on the CW network.
Here’s a shot of Melrose (right) backstage at a fashion show in 2003.
Technorati Tags: Americas Next Top Model Project Runway
I like melrose and caridee.But the winner was caridee.I was so sad. I think melrose is more beautiful than caridee,and she really look like a top model!
I watched Cycle7 only few days back because am new to ANTM, following it only from Cycle12. I really loved the concept minus the typical meany and bi*chy mentalities who are found in every country! All this stirred me up to watch older cycles. Then, my Fiancee suggested to watch from Cycle 7 from Youtube.
After watching Cycle7 results, I felt really bad and I’ve thought Melrose was handed a very bad result (which only judges must explain!). Somehow I lost respect on them but the concept of the show is super class. Being an employer I would never seek a model like CariDee. I shall definitely do background check and some analysis of the potential models who gonna promote my products. Last but not least, Melrose is the clear winner to me and I wish her the very best and a bright future
Cycle 7 was my favorite season because of melrose. i love watching it on my Tivo. I dont understand why caridee won, no offense to her but she wasn’t that talented. sure she had “the look” but melrose had a better look. there was a modelthon over new years and melrose definitely rocked the runway, waaaaaaaaaay better than caridee did. good luck to melorse because she will find a way to make it to the top, i know she will.
best model in the history of antm
I luved melrose she was the best model in the history of ANTM
Both of them deserves to be one of the top models (Caridee/ Melrose). I like Caridee because of her versatility and her down-to-earth attitude. Melrose, on the other hand has her strengths too and one of them lies more on projection and how she has the most confidence among the competitors on carrying a subject… well actually being OVERLY CONFIDENT. Bottomline of this is : Everything that is “too much” in a person is not good… and unfortunately…. Melrose has that “negatively too much”.
melrose rocked it! i cant understand why she lost to caridee. i think she’s a very classy, intelligent and mature lady who everyone hates just cuz they’re all jealous of her (c’mon ladies..y’know damn well what im talking abt. we all tend to get a little catty whenever someone’s constantly outshining us) plus the fact that they cant handle how confident she was…(and please..its a competition…nuff said)so all you haters…analyze the situation before you even react…
man…just look at the final runway show…caridee looked like an idiot…melrose looked like a high fashion model…no one can deny that..she was fierce! and tyra couldnt handle that..she even said that “caridee is a good girl…” is that the focus of the show? i think tyra prefers the underdogs…bcuz caridee used to have this skin disease (psoriasis) and never thought she’d be able to model….tyra i think sympathizes with her so she let her win..well..i think thats a big chunk of her decision…they all suck as judges cuz they cant spot real talent…WHAT A SHAME! ……oh well…MELROSE U ROCK GIRL! \\m/
Cool…
aff…A Melrose era a melhor de todas!Torci muito para ela mais ela nao venceu!Diziam que ela era falsa mais i dai o programa nao era para fazer amizades e sim dizer quem era a proxima american`s next top model!CariDee era bonita mais a Melrose era 100% MELHOR
Hey everyone.melrose fan1 here,to me its not fair that cariDee won and mel rose lost.I was praying for melrose to win but tyra chose caridee instead.it was so painfull to watch melrose cry.Eugena,Caridee and the other girls dont deserve to win.i can tell that melrose has potential to be a model.week after week i keep watching ANTM to make sure my most fav model(melrose)is still in the running for the gold.i say that melrose will be the most hottest,smartest,sexiest model alive.melrose goodluck in your career.
ANTM is being shown late here in the Philippines.. We havent started ANTM Cycle 8 yet. I was really disappointed to see Caridee won. They picked her over Melrose just because they thought that Melrose is not a “natural” model. But the girl worked really hard and she made it through. She is even way better in the last runway competition. Not that I don’t likE Caridee, but Melrose is far more REAL than her. She speaks her mind. But I guess it’s better that she didn’t win… atleast she can decide for herself and not be a manufactured model. Goodluck Melrose!
I didn’t like Melrose, it was her attitude that put me off. And also her constant fake smiling. And I found her face looked old in too many shots.
She has her own website with a her myspace addy check it out! http://www.melrosemodel.com/
Melrose is awesome. I really wanted her to win, though it was a really hard choice. People don’t understand that it’s a competition, and that she really wanted to not get distracted. Overall, CariDee is the best, and I am glad she won. But Melrose is so awesome. =)
In reply to the last post. Of course Cover Girl had a say. They had the major say. If you looked at their website, even if Caridee went badly that week she would win cover girl of the week. Plus it did not help that Nigel didn’t like her from the start. If you look at the tapes Melrose was allways enthusiastic about the task and only ever got cranky at her self when she did not do well. Also other girls would laugh and critisize her when she was upset, but thought it was fine when they did it. And as for her not getting along with others. She only was ever honest with others, the others were constantly bitching behind her back. I live in Australia and everyone I spoke to wished she would have won, as she obviously had the most talent. They applauded cycle 2 winner Yoanna for the same traits that they crusified Melrose for. I wish her all the best and she has a better chance of making it in the modelling world without the title of Winner of ANTM. I still like watching the show but they should choose a real model not what the producers think will get the best ratings.
One of you above said that Melrose fans don’t bash Caridee. Then, the same person, Peter, proceeded to bash Caridee in his comments. Melrose did work very hard, but she also did not try at all to get along with any of the girls. If she had made an effort to get along with the group, she would have made it a lot easier for herself. When every single other girl on the show hated her, it wasn’t just because they felt she was a threat, as Melrose claimed. It was because she consistently said and did things to the other girls in the house that were not in the spirit of getting along with the group. Also, everyone seems so shocked that Melrose lost as she won several challenges throughout the show, and they said that it was because she won those challenges that the other girls disliked her for. However, Caridee also won many challenges throughout the show, consistently took fantastic photographs that were oftentimes better than Melrose’s, and also worked extremely hard throughout the cycle. Despite Caridee’s success, she still got along with all the other girls except for Melrose. Caridee deserved to win because of all the great work she did throughout the show, but also because she has an attitude that not only photographs can get along with, but also that other models can get along with. A model NEEDS to work with other models in her career on almost every photo shoot. Melrose’s poor attitude was displayed well during her freak out session during the fashion show backstage when she was screaming at Caridee about stepping on her dress when it was an accident. No one should be surprised that Caridee won, as her Cover Girl photo shoot and commercial were FAR superior to Melrose’s, and I’m sure Cover Girl has a big say in the final winner as that person will be going on their cover. Quite frankly, if Melrose had won, I would not have been able to watch this show every again. It would have been a small travesty for Melrose to win after her poor Cover Girl performance and as both results and attitude are important.
Melrose is my 2nd cousin! im from England and have just found out! im so excited!
I just watched this season on a VH1 Marathon, I also liked Melrose the best. She was professional, she went the extra mile, and she made all the other girls look bad. They had no right to blame her for their shortcomings though, all she did was try her best and work hard, if that made them look bad they should have worked harder. I’m sure she’ll be successful regardless that she did not win.
Melrose definitely should have won.
She was winning consistently throughout the series because she worked hard, had talent and simply delivered the goods time and time again. I think it was a small traversity that she lost.
She seems to be a great person, I’m sure she will fair well even if she was a runner-up.
Go Melrose!!
melrose’s website – http://www.melrosemodel.com
first fansite – http://melrose-online.tripod.com (updates with the lastest news on melrose)
Melrose was and is a class act and she will excell in whatever she puts her mind to. I have never watched ANTM before this season and I was hooked from the start, mainly because of Melrose. It was refreshing to see someone who kept her head held high and didn’t lower herself to the poor behavior exhibited by the other contestants. Best of luck to Melrose and we can’t wait to see what she does next.
Melrose was by far the best out of all of the girls. I know though that even though you lost ANTM you will be great at all of the things you do now and in the future. From modeling to designing clothes to acting. I wish you the best of luck in all of your upcoming work Melrose.
Melrose definately should have won. she did excatly what was expected of a top model, but i feel that she lost because caridee was a safe choice in terms of how they portrayed the two. either way, i did not find the comments to be mean because i was thinking the excat same thing. the judges and the show maybe shaking a bit now after seeing caridee attempt at the runway with kelly on live. but we are all awaiting your next move and hopefully that will bring about what you have been searching for. cheers.
Melrose was my favorite from the very begining! I was really upset at ANTM when she lost, it wasn’t fair at all. Caridee was one of my other favorites until the last couple of shows when she just started acting rude and mean and i don’t think her pictures were great either. Melrose’s cover show was gorgeous by the way, much better than caridees. Melrose rocked the fashion show, and I think is the best model they have ever had on any ANTM season. She is also much better of an example for girls, self confident and strong, not caring what other people think but not being rude to them about it. Did you notice when eugena left, and melrose just hugged her and caridee? She is a strong enough person to do something like that even when they are so cruel to her. Melrose, you are amazing, and I can’t wait to see more of you in the future. And her designs, are AWSOME, she is SO talented.
Hi everyone. Mel Rose here. I just want to say thank you soooo much for your amazing support and kind words. It is such a relief to finally be able to talk about my experiences and my upcoming plans. I am currently living in NYC and LA still pursuing my dream of being a high fashion model. I am also designing still as well. I will come back and chat with everyone from time to time and let you know where I am at. I have a website http://www.melrosemodel.com that will be finished this week and reposted. I will be hosting an event tomorrow night Monday, December 11th at Plum. Please come by! I will also be hosting a party on Saturday, December 16th at Suite in South Beach, Miami. Thank you again for all your kind words and please keep in touch!!!! Have a beautiful holiday!
OMG..I am still at a loss as to how Melrose did not win! She was so consistant week to week – the only one. While all Eugena and Caridee could do was talk about her, and how they hope she isnt in the last two etc. Melrose did the right thing, stayed to herself. If it made her come out as a bitch – sux to be the people who didnt even try to get to know her. She will shine without ANTM – and now she is not binded to some horrid contract, and can set one up on her own. She will have more freedom this way, and I am sure this is not the last time we will hear from her!! (Cant believe either that they MADE Danielle change her name!!)
Does anyone know of any events in NYC with Melrose? I would love to personally tell her how I admire her. I cant wait til her site is up!
It just doesn’t make in sense to me how Melrose lost. It still is blowing my mind. She gave the judges exactly what they asked of her, and this season just goes to show that you can do exactly what they ask of you and still not win. I mean they ask them to have a knowledge of fashion. she had it. they ask them to deliver great photos. she did. they ask them to know how to shoot a commerical. she could. they ask them to be able to walk a runway. (she did and won the challenge the first week) and she out performed Caridee on the runway in the finale. They ask them to be able to do interviews and talk with people. she did that too! I’m sorry but how did she NOT win?
But it’ll all work out, someone with as much talent and drive as Melrose isn’t going to disappear any time soon!
Caridee has already done something wrong anyway. As a role model, a person shouldn’t hate another person because of indifferences. But her fans act just like her. Even after the show, her fans still bash Melrose. I haven’t seen Melrose fans bashed Caridee. Because Melrose fans carry themselves in a mature manner. See what Tyra did, another bad role model.
http://www.melrosemodel.com/ is the site, but under construction.
It’s sad when the most ambitious is looked at as a B**ch. Melrose deserved to win. The other girls came cross as airheaded and empty. They’d stay up all night despite the fact the had competition, and just seemed plain childish. IDIOTS! Top Model took the “safe” route with Caridee, because apparently a bright, ambitious woman who isn’t afraid to pursue what she wants with extreme tenacity is just a little too much for for the show’s powers that be. I still can’t believe it… the most ambitious cast as the “villain.”
Does anyone know if Melrose Bickerstaff has a website? She seems to be an incredible person and I’d love to follow her career. Thank you!
Well well, what’s new. The person who wins most of the challenges, takes the best pictures and does everything the way “Tyra” wanted it, loses. Was it just me, or did Tyra act like a jackass on just about every show???? News to ANTM, Get a clue!!!!
I don’t know if Melrose reads this and I really hope she does because I believe she was like Nicole in Cycle 5 everything a Top Model embodied. I think she was smart, unique looking, hard working, and kept to herself. America’s Next Top Model seems to only pick models based on personality most of the time. Melrose is so high fashion and personally I love her personality. The other girls were inarticulate and flaky and really unfair to her. Don’t worry Melrose you’ll get a contract with a huge agency and make Caridee look like the generic model she is.
I guess it was ANTM’s loss… Now Melrose is going to be signed to another modeling agency. Well, either way, congrats to her!! She was great and almost won every competition.
a couple of minutes before they annouce who america’s next top model is… i hope hope hope it’ll be Melrose. I also think that she deserves it and the other girls were overreacting about her personality because they were jealous.
I doubt if Melrose is still with Boom. Boom is a San Francisco based agency and Melrose is now living in Miami. It’s more likely that photo was taken months ago before she got on ANTM. Although Boom still list her under fashion talent, her link is no longer active.
I just saw a picture of Mel Rose on the front of a bridal magazine for Winter 2006. Under the credits she was listed as working for Boom! Modeling and Talent. Granted, it may have been shot a while ago, but this may be the place where she is under contract for a year.
Melrose is winning the challenges because of hard work. Whether people say she has an attitude, I barely notice a hint of it. Melrose tries to help the other girls, but they don’t want it. Instead she is treated like an outsider. The other girls sees her as a threat. How could any of the other girls not be jealous seeing her constantly win the challenges?
Eugena has more attitude than Melrose. Eugena says that Melrose can win the challenge (one of the challenges). Another way of making an excuse for not winning. If Eugena doesn’t take the challenge seriously enough to win, she doesn’t have as much passion as Melrose. Eugena also started out trash talking the past top model girls, not an attractive quality.
I use to like Caridee, but I am unimpressed by her personality. Her make out session with someone she just met. Her comment to Nigel, that wasn’t funny at all. Her constant attack on Melrose. Like Melrose says, stop worrying about Melrose and worry about themselves.
Tyra talks about Melrose being fake. If she is fake and winning the challenges. Imagine what she could do if she truly shows herself. She would leave the other girls in the dust.
Overall in looks, I am unimpressed with Eugena’s look, ANTM for whatever reason to keep her is just a total joke. But not surprised because of past top model judging. Amanda should of stayed, I think being awkward can be quite attractive in itself. Though it might be harder to work with, it gives a different approach to the modeling world. Amanda’s photo was much better. Plus she has a unique look.
Caridee is nice looking but a bit generic looking in the modeling world. Like swimsuit/lingerie model. Melrose doesn’t have that generic look. I thought at her first photo shoot, she looked like Cameron Diaz.
I don’t think it’s jealousy. I’ve been pretty unimpressed with her attitude and don’t want her to win.
I am SO relieved to find a place on the web where comments about Melrose are positive. She is my favorite contestant this year and I also believe that the other girls are juvenile and jealous of her dedication and hard work. She takes impressive photos and obviously knows what she’s doing. I would love to see her win. I wish her the best of luck in all of her endeavors and I hope that not one word from the other little girls penetrate her strong will!
[...] So Melrose continues to steadily advance on ANTM. I thought for sure that the twins would be gone by now but they do photograph well in certain editorial fashion shots. Beyond that, I don’t see either one of them having much commercial appeal. Among the remaining contestants, Melrose is by far the most marketable. Even more so than cycle six’s Danielle Evans. As some may recall from my last blog about Melrose, I had some insider tip regarding the outcome of the cycle 7. Although I do not know the eventual outcome, a slip of the tongue from a well place insider leads me to believe that Melrose may have prevailed. This conclusion is based on a comment that Melrose is currently under contract for a year. I don’t know all the inner workings of how the show does their contracts but I don’t believe the losers are under any kind of contract if they get booted. I wouldn’t be surprised if she does win as she gets stronger with every episode and if you watch carefully, all the animosity from the other contestants comes down to their jealousy over her strong performance from week to week. Of course with Monique gone, the producers have to try their best to find a new villain so they will edit the show as best they can to depict Melrose as the one to hate. [...]
I hope Melrose wins. People have been giving her a bad rap, just for doing the right thing. There is a difference between bossy and doing what should be done. If all the other girls are too immature to even clean up a place or after themselves, what kind of lifestyle could they possibly live? As for attitude, she didn’t sound like she had an attitude at all. It was just a mistake, she did apologize. People with attitudes don’t apologize.