Germany's Next Topmodel season 18

The eighteenth season of Germany's Next Topmodel  aired on ProSieben from February to June 2023.

The winner of this season was 23-year-old Vivien Blotzki from Münstermaifeld who is notably the first plus size model 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 a campaign with MAC Cosmetics.

The international destinations of this cycle are Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Ibiza.

This is the last season to ever have an all-female cast, before including male contestants, starting with season 19.

Contestants
Ages stated are as of the beginning of the contest

Results table

 * The contestant won best performance
 * The contestant was immune from elimination
 * The contestant withdrew from the competition
 * The contestant was absent from panel but was declared safe
 * The contestant was eliminated
 * The contestant was eliminated outside of judging panel
 * The contestant was in danger of elimination
 * The contestant won the competition

Photo shoot guide

 * Episode 2 photoshoot: Styling beachwear in pairs
 * Episode 3 video shoot: One-take self introduction videos
 * Episode 4 photoshoot: Mad Hatter from Alice In Wonderland
 * Episode 6 photoshoot: Sedcard
 * Episode 7 video shoot: Marilyn Monroe as Lorelei Lee from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with the Elevator Boys
 * Episode 8 photoshoots: Black and White test shots & Sedcard (for wildcards only)
 * Episode 9 photoshoot: Posing in a giant toy machine for Skechers
 * Episode 12 photoshoot: Portraying legendary songs of past decades in groups
 * Episode 13 photoshoot: Rich girls in a luxurious penthouse
 * Episode 14 photoshoot: Posing in the desert with colorful balls and fabric
 * Episode 15 photoshoot: Underwater action on the streets of Las Vegas
 * Episode 16 photo shoot: Harper's Bazaar cover-try
 * Episode 17 photo shoots: Cirque du Soleil on a trapeze and MAC Squirt Plumping Gloss Stick campaign

Controversies
In February 2023, at the beginning of the 18th season, Heidi Klum gave a 10-minute speech in which she denied all allegations against her and the show and blamed the candidates themselves. This was once again heavily criticized by both the viewers and the media across Germany. The Berliner Morgenpost wrote: "Everything is wrong, says Klum. She emphasized that 'everything is real' on her show. There is no text or storyline for the models. That's why it's not her fault if a young model feels misrepresented after the broadcast. 'We can only portray a person as they are,' philosophizes Klum. Whether this is true remains questionable. On the one hand, because a story can be cobbled together afterwards that doesn't have to have anything to do with reality. On the other hand, because in the show very young girls in absolutely exceptional and stressful situations meet experienced editors who know exactly what the viewers later want to see on television." Die Welt called Heidi Klum's statement "bizarre". Frankfurter Allgemeine called it a "Catwalk of Shame". 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 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 Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung wrote that Germany's Next Topmodel is one of the worst trash TV programs on German television. And: "anyone who watches Heidi Klum is just as bad as she is."

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

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."

In March 2023, former judge Peyman Armin apologized to Lijana Kaggwa for what she had experienced in 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 April 2023, former contestant Lijana Kaggwa (from season 14) criticized the way broadcaster Pro7, the production company, and Heidi Klum dealt with 19-year old contestant Anya Elsner. She was presented in an exaggeratedly negative and very one-sided negative way in season 18 and subsequently received countless hateful comments on the Internet. Even some tabloid media such as Focus (German magazine), Berliner Kurier or DASDING spread the hate and cyberbullying about the young contestant in a low-level and anti-social way. Lijana Kaggwa criticized the fact that Germany's Next Topmodel repeatedly produced cyberbullying and hatred by misrepresenting a young contestant and takes the risk of destroying a young woman's life for ratings. A month earlier, viewers were horrified by the bullying of other season 18 contestants towards Anya Elsner.

In April 2023, founder and CEO of one of the largest modeling agencies in Europe, MGM Models, Marco Sinervo, said that not a single one of the contestants from the 18th season has any chance as a model. He also said that Germany's Next Topmodel is shameful for the entire fashion industry.

In April 2023, the well-known German influencer Kayla Shyx said about Germany's Next Topmodel: "Even if you're super self-confident, you can quickly lose that on the show. The girls who take part in it will never get rid of their trauma and are traumatized for years. In addition, the broadcaster always ensures that one or two participants are portrayed as the bad guys." Shyx sees three effects of the show: "Suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and depression.". According to a study by the "International Central Institute for Youth and Educational Television", a third of all girls surveyed with eating disorders named Germany's Next Topmodel as a trigger of it. Shyx also finds Heidi Klum problematic on the show and hopes the show will be cancelled.

In May 2023, ninth placer Katherine Markov said that she was misrepresented on Germany's Next Topmodel. She is nowhere near as religious as shown on the show.

Also in May 2023, 10th placer Mirella Janev said about Germany's Next Topmodel, that the show is not about modeling, but about cringe walks and shock value to get the ratings. "I don't know if it's because the viewership has lost its level or the production itself and to what extent that is mutually dependent, but I have the feeling that simply watching 'Germany's Next Top Model' over the time, the show has lost respect.", Janev added. In addition, she continued, if the contestants quarreled, the production would also fuel them.

In June 2023, Berliner Zeitung headlined: "The finale of Germany's Next Topmodel is the most embarrassing show on German TV."

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 titled "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, while the contestants receive no money. Germany's Next Topmodel has driven some contestants into depression and suicidal thoughts.