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Harper’s Bazaar editor: Foxtel “wanted Amanda to win”

Edwina McCann says Foxtel kept live voting open in the hope Amanda Ware would win Australia' Next Top Model.

The Editor of Harper’s Bazaar, Edwina McCann, has claimed Foxtel kept live voting for Australia’s Next Top Model open until Amanda Ware won the contest over Kelsey Martinovich.

Indicating the “monumental screw-up” has now required two magazine covers for November, she told the Today show, “We had a cover ready to go to print last night. We’ve had to swap our printing presses.

“I think what happened was the network did want Amanda to win. They were keen for Amanda to win. They kept the voting lines open for a long time, I think, in the hope she would get over the line.

“I’m told it came down to 3 votes,” she said.

“Apparently the 3 other votes came in, and they couldn’t get away with not correcting it because they’re audited.

“We were told about quarter past nine they had shut the voting. I don’t know, does it take that long to tally them, perhaps it does.”

The claim follows persistent campaigning by Alex Perry for Amanda Ware to win while live voting continued, an hour ahead of other judges revealing their preferred choice.

Foxtel has attributed the error as a miscommunication between the broadcast truck and the stage.

You can watch the video on Today here.

Sarah Murdoch and both Kelsey and Amanda will be interviewed on A Current Affair tonight.

11 Responses

  1. @David K – Sorry if I wasn’t clear. If I had actually seen the pic prior to the announcement (or knew of a trustworthy source who had) I would certainly have said so.

    I said in my first post (in live-shock-at-australias-next-top-model.html) that the pic was of uncertain provenance (it’s pretty easy to fake) but that questions should be asked (and they were). I also said that a clearer picture would emerge once more info became available; and now it has.

    I agree that the lack of “noise” about Harper’s Bazaar pre-empting the result probably means that it didn’t happen (other than the usual publishing preparation for all possible results).

    The showing of Amanda’s cover for a few seconds after Kelsey was announced as the winner was probably because it was then known that Amanda was actually the winner. It was presumably pulled down again while a bit of panic ensued and re-instated after Sarah Murdoch announced the error.

    The only thing now is whether there is any substance to McCann’s claims of voting extension. I’m guessing not as these things are usually audited.

  2. A clearer picture will emerge as more info becomes available. Whether Foxtel or whoever really did want Amanda to win, Harper’s Bazaar seemed to be of the opinion that she would. It’s interesting that McCann says that they had Amanda’s cover all ready to go and had posted it up on their website a couple of hours before voting closed (already posted elsewhere but here it is again i56.tinypic.com/10oe1zk.jpg).

    Networks rigging competition shows is nothing new – they used to do it on Blankety Blanks if they had a contestant who was “a bit dull”. The stars would just choose odd words to fill in the blank, even if there was an obvious choice. The contestant had no hope of getting enough matches to win.

    1. Suggestions that Harper’s had the pic online hours before are only based on a Timestamp. It’s very likely all 3 were drafted into their system at the same time (hence the Timestamp), but actually published later. This happens all the time in online. Secret Squirrel if you are saying you actually viewed it yesterday afternoon I would be very interested to hear, but I am yet to hear from anyone who did. Indeed why wasn’t it raised by someone ahead of the finale?

  3. Why does anyone take these ‘competitions’ seriously? Shows like Dancing with the Stars make their own rules up and the public is treated like mushrooms? So exactly how is DWTS determined and how many votes are actually received? I wouldn’t waste my money on calling some premium number for these sorts of shows.

  4. I wonder if they will edit it out when it is broadcast here in the UK. We’re one series behind I think so they probably have until next year to do something about it. Britain’s Next Top Model has its first live final this Monday so they will be extra careful now with the result.

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