Germany's Next Topmodel season 16

The sixteenth season of Germany's Next Topmodel aired on ProSieben in February to May 2021 under the catch phrase We are GNTM.

The winner of this season was 23-year-old Alex-Mariah Peter from Cologne, who is notably the first trans woman to win Germany's Next Topmodel. Her prizes include a cover and spread in the German edition of Harper's Bazaar, a €100,000 cash prize, and an Opel Mokka.

Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the season was filmed under strict COVID-19 regulations like travel restrictions. As a result, the sixteenth season was the first and only season to be filmed entirely in Germany.

Contestants
Ages stated are as of the beginning of the contest

Results table

 * The contestant withdrew from the competition
 * The contestant was eliminated
 * The contestant was eliminated outside of the judging panel
 * The contestant was in danger of elimination
 * The contestant won the competition

Photo shoot guide

 * Episode 2 photo shoot and video shoot: Promo shoot in groups and opening credits with Heidi Klum
 * Episode 3 photo shoot: Ballet dancers in pairs
 * Episode 4 photo shoot: Luxurious women in front of a hotel with dogs
 * Episode 5 photo shoot: Posing at the end of the runway in Christian Cowan gowns
 * Episode 6 photo shoot: Sedcard
 * Episode 7 video shoot: 80's themed TV spots
 * Episode 8 photo shoot: Posing in a large vertical rotating square in groups of four
 * Episode 9 photo shoot: Fairies at a height of 122 meters
 * Episode 10 video shoot: Emotions with Otto Waalkes
 * Episode 11 photo shoot: Artistic butterflies in an abandoned ruin
 * Episode 12 photo shoot: Polaroid test shots
 * Episode 13 photo shoot: Nude in multiplicity
 * Episode 15 photo shoot: Ice queens with the Magic Mike Crew
 * Episode 16 photo shoot: Harper's Bazaar cover-try
 * Episode 17 music video: Behind Blue Eyes by Tokio Hotel & VIZE

Controversies and criticism
Throughout the season, six contestants quit the competition, breaking the record for most voluntary exits in the history of Germany's Next Topmodel. Most of them stated that during filming, they were feeling mentally and physically exhausted.

Contestant Ashley Amegan stated that the production team had bullied her into changing her personality for the show. That's why she left the show even though she made it to the live finale.

In February 2023 Der Spiegel gives a glimpse into the notorious gag contracts that candidates have to sign in order to be able to take part in the Heidi Klum show. According to the Hamburg lawyer Jörg Nabert, these are "illegal gag contracts". The contract binds the women to an agency for two years. A regulation that, according to Nabert, is not customary in the industry. The participants also agree that the recordings "present them in a way that they don't like themselves". According to Der Spiegel, the contracts say: "The contributors are aware of any burdens that may result for them". If necessary, “substantive suggestions” would be made and enforced by the show management. Germany's Next Topmodel can thus stylize people like Tessa Bergmeier (Season 4) as "bitches" without them being able to defend themselves effectively afterwards. Heidi Klum's casting show goes further than similar formats with this practice.

In February 2023, the Berliner Zeitung published an article about the show with the headline: "Why isn't Germany’s Next Topmodel actually canceled?"

In February 2023, the German InTouch wrote: "The willingness to use violence among girls is increasing. They form gangs, bully, hit. Heidi is also partly responsible for the fact that, at least on TV, such behavior should not lead to extra airtime..." The article goes on to say: "With Germany’s Next Topmodel absolutely wrong values are conveyed. It gives the impression that bullying is a legitimate means of dealing with each other."

In February 2023, the former judge Peyman Armin criticized the show and Heidi Klum as well. He said: "It has become a pure self-portrayal by Heidi. Heidi comes first. Then Heidi and Heidi again. When Heidi Klum is in the foreground and takes care of the slapstick, for sensational shootings and catfights." Part of the episodes are therefore always scenes in which Heidi Klum would blaspheme with jurors about the contestants.

Also in February 2023, former judge Wolfgang Joop criticized the show and Heidi Klum again when he said he had no say in the decisions. "Heidi does that. Nobody can help there." Not even the producers were allowed to have a say, apart from the timing of the direction. Joop: "Then they say something like: 'Don't let her go yet, the boyfriend will come, that'll bring a lot of tears of joy, we'll take that with us.'" He added: "I wouldn't have been surprised if the show had been discontinued." Web.de headlined: "Why Heidi Klum's statement is dishonest". Annabelle (magazine) (Switzerland) headlined: "Heidi Klum, this justification went wrong". In an article, Puls24 (Austria) asked whether Heidi Klum practiced perpetrator-victim reversal and Gaslighting. Frankfurter Allgemeine headlined: "This woman only has dollar signs in her eyes" and also assumed that Heidi Klum was doing a perpetrator-victim reversal. BILD asked: "How evil is Heidi Klum really?".

In March 2023 former judge Peyman Armin apologized to Lijana Kaggwa for what she had to experience on Germany's Next Topmodel. He also apologized for being part of Germany's Next Topmodel and promised to never take part in the show again. All of this was broadcast in the format "13 questions" on ZDF.

In March 2023 BILD published the following message: "If the contestants get along too well, they will receive instructions from the crew to argue and produce beef." The participating contestants are also too young and inexperienced and cannot assess the extent of the show.

In April 2023, Heidi Klum said about everything that happens at Germany's Next Topmodel: "At the end of the day I'm the boss and I make the rules!"

In June 2023, the German TV broadcaster ZDF released a 70-minute investigative documentary about the machinations of the makers of Germany's Next Topmodel called "Pressure, hatred, manipulation: how sick does Germany's Next Topmodel make you?". For this documentary, around 50 former contestants, judges and members of the show's crew were interviewed, some anonymously. The makers of the documentary admitted that they are familiar with difficult investigations, but they have never experienced it before that so many people were afraid to talk about what happened as these former participants and employees of Germany's Next Topmodel. A crew member of the show who wished to remain anonymous is quoted as saying: "If you film a young woman from morning to night, you'll get every sectional image you want. So you can cut and tell what you want. A lot of things are cut together wildly. The jobs depend on it. It's about ratings." In addition, former contestants report how the show's editors deliberately foment manipulation, lies and discord among the contestants behind the scenes. The contestants are shielded from the outside world so they lose their nerve and argue. So 20 candidates have to sleep together in one room without contact to the outside world. The statements by Heidi Klum, the broadcasting TV station Pro7 and the production company are presented as hypocrisy. Pro7 is said to have earned 87 million euros with the Season 18, and Heidi Klum 10 million euros. The contestants receive no money. Germany's Next Topmodel has driven some contestants into depression and suicidal thoughts.