The third cycle of America's Next Top Model debuted on September 22, 2004, and was hosted by model Tyra Banks. It was the first cycle to gain partnership with cosmetics magnate CoverGirl and ran weekly commercials during the show named Beauty Tip of the Week with Jay Manuel and Elsa Benítez as well as the CoverGirl of the Week contest. The cast was increased to 14 contestants, and the season's catchphrase was, "Beauty In Progress." The prizes for this cycle were: The following prizes had been removed: The international destinations during this cycle were Montego Bay, Jamaica (for one episode), and Tokyo, Japan, the show's first visit to Asia. The winner was 19-year-old Eva Pigford from Los Angeles, California, with YaYa DaCosta placing as the runner up.

Contestants

(Ages stated are at the time of filming)

Episodes

Summaries

Call-out order

Average call-out order

Casting call-out order and final two are not included.

Bottom two

Photo shoot guide

Other cast members

Makeovers

Post-Top Model careers

Production Issues

In a 2020 Instagram livestream with J. Alexander, Jay Manuel admitted that the rumours that the contestants were detained in Japan upon arriving in Tokyo were “100% true”. He revealed that the judges had already arrived in Tokyo because they fly ahead of the contestants, but upon arriving in Tokyo, customs “thought they were hookers” and didn’t let them in the country. Luckily, before they could be detained, production “put them back on a plane, flew them to Guam ... for two days ... and from there the girls got proper visas to enter the country”. J. Alexander also revealed that he was meant to meet the girls at the airport and was left waiting for them for hours because he hadn’t been told what was happening. This left him “mad, angry ... furious” because production “completely forgot” about him and he had travelled for “two hours” from Tokyo to the airport to meet them. Jay also revealed that the show’s stylist was traveling with the contestants but that in Tokyo, they “don’t have showrooms like in a lot of ... European cities, so she traveled with trunks with the clothes for the photo shoots. But she was also “turned away” at customs, got a “black stamp” in her passport and was sent “back to New York”. However she took her trunks with her and production told Jay “guess what now, you’re styling”. They gave him money and him and J. Alexander had to buy all the clothes for the photo shoots in Harajuku whenever they had a free moment. He joked that after that experience “he never wants to style shoots again”. Manuel has also admitted that the girls being turned away at customs was the “big disaster of Cycle 3” and “did mess up production”. Due to CoverGirl's partnership with ANTM as of Cycle 3, they had a bigger budget and so Manuel was able to produce a “really elaborate commercial which was what the girls were supposed to shoot when they landed in Tokyo”. He described how he built a “huge set” that took a “week to build” and a got a “famous director to shoot it” but once the girls were sent to Guam, production “tore it all down”. When the girls “finally showed up” in Tokyo, production said they couldn’t give Manuel any more money for a new commercial. Manuel says he was extremely angry and production told him it was his problem, which he claims is “very America’s Next Top Model production”. Eventually they did the commercial, but the robes that the girls were wearing were actually the robes from Manuel’s and Alexander’s hotel, and they shot it on a “patio” with a “reality cam” and no proper lighting. The commercials ended up being judged “an hour later” and Manuel was “mortified”, saying it “looked horrible” and that he was “embarrassed to even say what happened”.