CariDee English

g   CariDee English
Biographical
Gender:	Female
Born:	May 22, 1985
Age:	37
Home:	Fargo, North Dakota
Height:	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Cycle 7
Place:	1st/13th
Debut:	The Girl Who Marks Her Territory
Last:	The Girl Who Becomes America's Next Top Model

CariDee English (born May 22, 1985 in Fargo, North Dakota) was a contestant on cycle 7 of ANTM in 2006, where she was declared the winner.

Early Life

CariDee was born in Fargo, North Dakota, to Pam Flesness and Tony English. The name CariDee comes from her grandmother Dee and Carrie from Little House on the Prairie.

She has suffered from psoriasis for 15 years and believed her dream of becoming a model was unattainable. However, a doctor recommended Raptiva, a drug that she still injects weekly in order to control the disease, and it has worked well for her skin, although a small patch still remains.

She was an actor in the sketch comedy group known as The 4th Option, which performed weekly in the old East Gate Lounge in Moorhead, Minnesota. On December 13, 2004, she sang with the Willy Waldman Project. She was a listed model with the Academie Agencie in Fargo, North Dakota, in 2001. She entered the Millie Lewis Actors Models and Talent Competition in 2002 and was placed with Mega Models in Miami, Florida, for the summer of 2003. She stated that she worked as a photographer before appearing on the show.

ANTM

As winner of the acting challenge in episode nine, CariDee had an opportunity to guest star in an episode of the CW series One Tree Hill (which airs immediately following Top Model). During that challenge, she mentioned, in an emotional outburst, that she knew about stress and had attempted to kill herself earlier in life because of it.

In episode ten, she was criticized for making an impulsive yet crude joke to Nigel during the bullfighting photo shoot in Barcelona. CariDee has stated after the show that "he actually joked back" and was never really mad, Nigel was actually told by producers to get mad. In panel, she took out a note and apologized to Barker.

Episode eleven, while participating in the Water Nymphs photo shoot, she suffered hypothermia symptoms from floating in icy cold water for a long period of time. CariDee has attributed it to her drug's side effects, which include lowering of the immune system. This same week she survived her second bottom two appearance over the remaining Babin twin Amanda.

There was a small bit of controversy regarding her on the show as well: Though she was shown speaking to her boyfriend on the phone in one episode, a few episodes later, when the girls were overseas in Barcelona, she was shown getting passionate with one of the male models the girls worked with. CariDee has interviewed saying that during that point, she and her boyfriend were seeing other people, and had since gotten back together.

Throughout the competition, the judges found much controversy in CariDee's personality, which was considered more outgoing than that of the other contestants. She was noted for her striking comparability to Rebecca Romijn and Karolína Kurková. In the early stages of the cycle, her personality was considered fun and outgoing, most notably during her "hiding dizzily" at the episode eight panel challenge.

The judges began to express concern that it may be a little too bombastic. Because of this, the judges were unsure as to whether she was the person they wanted to represent Top Model, noting in the cycle's finale that she was sometimes too unpredictable and unstable. In the end, the judges thought she had more of an "X-Factor" compared to Melrose, and she was announced as the winner.

Call-Out Order

CariDee	Episodes
	1		2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	11th	2nd	6th	9th	1st	4th	2nd	1st	5th	3rd	3rd	1st	Winner

Post-Show

Since winning the show, CariDee was featured on the front page of Seventeen, Social Life, Healthy Living, Psoriasis Advance, Inked, and Cover magazines with Naima Mora and Dani Evans. She modeled looks of the Spring in InTouch, and appeared on the weekly "My Life as a CoverGirl" segments on The CW. She has also modeled for CoverGirl Eyewear.

She has modeled for Wedding Style, JC Penney Bisou Bisou, Stephenson Denim, Johnny P. Shoes, American Salon, Matrix Professional Colors in Cosmopolitan and the "Heart On My Sleeves" clothing campaign by Aubrey O'Day of Danity Kane and Christian Siriano Fall 09. She was in the Winter 2007 issue of Knit.1 Magazine, Loops&Pluto, Short Hair, the cover of Runway, ads for Melissa Latkins t-shirts, Tasola Beauty & Beyond, and has been featured on ivillage.com. She also shot a cover of Allure, and has done some charity print work for the NOH8 Campaign. In 2013 she became the face of Ray Ban sunglasses. She has also been featured on Mystyle.com and Blastmagazine.com.

Television

In addition to her "One Tree Hill" appearance, she had a small role on "Gossip Girl". She co-hosted MTV's "Scarred" and main-hosted the reality show "Pretty Wicked" on Oxygen. She has appeared several times on "The Tyra Banks Show" and has been featured in an advertising campaign for ANTM on Oxygen.

Activism

CariDee signed on as spokesperson for the National Psoriasis Foundation to spread awareness about psoriasis and encourage others to seek treatment. "Psoriasis awareness is very important to me. I want others with the disease to know they are not alone. I want to inspire them to live their dreams", she said. She appears in various commercials for Stelara, a plaque psoriasis treatment.

English has also taken part in a video against seal hunting. She also attended the Power of Paws opening, an association which promotes animals as part of health programs. She promoted Project Cuddle with Dina Lohan.

Legacy

CariDee was voted as one of the most memorable contestants on Top Model by AOL Entertainment.

Trivia

• CariDee is the first natural blonde winner of ANTM.
• She is the second ANTM winner from North Dakota, the other being Nicole Linkletter from cycle 5.
• She was named CoverGirl of the Week five times.

Gallery

Promo

Promo

Nude

Model Stereotypes (Models are Dumb)

Makeover

Makeover

Hair Wars

Unstable Runway

Circus Freaks (Elephant Woman)

Celebrity Couples (Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt)

Scary Beauty

Romance Covers with Fabio

Covergirls in Space

Bullfighters

Water Nymphs

Covergirl

Quotes

• "I don't respect Melrose... if Melrose becomes America's Next Top Model I'm going to puke... all over. I'll just puke."

Follow CariDee

• CariDee's Facebook
• CariDee's Instagram
• CariDee's Twitter