The Next Top Model franchise may not be as popular as it used to be on the CW, but it’s been successful enough that it has spinoffs in other countries, including Germany, where Heidi Klum has been a mainstay host. Recently, Germany’s Next Topmodel was preparing to shoot its Season 10 finale catwalk when the building had to be evacuated due to a bomb scare—a crazy thing to happen on a reality TV series.
Here’s what went down. Yesterday, the Germany’s Next Topmodel finalist were gearing up to shoot the finale when a woman called in a bomb threat at 9 p.m. local time. The network, ProSieben, immediately had to cancel the finale and evacuate the building, which held more than 8,000 people who had showed up for the finale of one of Germany’s popular shows.
Reports indicate that Klum, who has been a judge on the popular competition series since its inception in Germany, was at the event when the bomb threat happened. She evacuated with the rest of the contestants, judges and fans, all of whom are okay. In the U.S., Klum has a few plum gigs on other reality shows, including America’s Got Talent and Project Runway.
The network later took to Twitter to thank the police and the level-headed spectators who carefully evacuated the building, explaining that the property was not damaged and no one ended being hurt at the venure. When the police showed up, Reuters says they did find a suspicious suitcase in a coat closet and brought in a specialized canine unit to sniff around. Luckily, the suitcase turned out to be a false alarm and all was well that ends well. The winner for Season 10 is expected to be announced (sans a bomb threat), at a later date.
Germany’s Next Topmodel is a take on the CW series created by Tyra Banks that has run in the US since 2003, and has aired 21 seasons during its tenure on the air. The finale in the German version is a little different than what U.S. audiences are used to, with 3-4 models competing in front of a live audience before a winner is eventually revealed. The German version has faced some criticism from opponents of the show who disagree with the expectations for models, including an activist group called PinkStinks. It’s unclear whether or not the problems the show has faced have anything to do with the bomb threat or subsequent investigation.
The good news? Heidi Klum and company are safe, and she’ll be able to come back and head to the states for a new season of America's Got Talent this summer.
