Renee Diane Alway (born April 29, 1986), is an American

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...

, the last eliminated contestant on ''

America's Next Top Model, Cycle 8 The eighth cycle of '' America's Next Top Model'' aired from February 28, 2007 to May 16, 2007, and was the second season of the series to be aired on The CW network. The winner, similar to all of the cycles aired on The CW network, received re ...

'', and the runner-up on ''

Modelville ''Modelville'' was a spin-off reality series from ''America's Next Top Model'' which aired within ''The Tyra Banks Show''. It featured five former contestants of ''America's Next Top Model'' who competed for a $50,000 spokesperson contract with C ...

''.

Early life

Alway was born and raised in

northern Michigan Northern Michigan, also known as Northern Lower Michigan (known colloquially to residents of more southerly parts of the state and summer residents from cities such as Detroit as " Up North"), is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. A popula ...

, where her father was a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

and

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

. She revealed in the first episode of ''Modelville'' on October 8, 2008, that her father was physically and mentally abusive, and that she, her siblings, and her mother Sandra, were afraid to leave due to her father's respected position in the community as well as his mental instability.

''America's Next Top Model''

Alway was one of the final three contestants on ''

''. She heard about the audition the day before it took place in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, and had been in town to get married. She went to the audition four days after she got

married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

. On the show Alway received two first call-outs and won two challenges. She started feuds with many contestants, but after mediation with Tyra Banks the feud stopped. Alway soon began to get along with her fellow models. Alway made it to the finals but was cut after her

CoverGirl CoverGirl is an American cosmetics brand founded in Maryland, United States, by the Noxzema Chemical Company. It was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 1989 and later acquired by Coty, Inc. in 2016. The Noxell Company advertised this cosmetics l ...

ad and commercial. Despite making the best commercial and shooting the best ad, the judges felt Alway couldn't embody a Covergirl because she photographed too old. She was subsequently eliminated.

Modeling/acting career

Alway started modeling when she was 13. Before ''Top Model'', she modeled in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

and Japan and appeared in '' Seventeen'' and Italian ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

''. She also appeared in ads for Delia's. Alway appeared in ''

US Weekly ''Us Weekly'' is a weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to American Media Inc ...

'' with Jaslene Gonzalez, Natasha Galkina and Dionne Walters. Alway has also done post top model work for Roman Holiday Collection. She has appeared on the CBS TV series ''

Shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

'', in an episode titled "In Absentia." She competed on the reality show ''

'' that aired within ''

The Tyra Banks Show ''The Tyra Banks Show'', also known as and shortened to ''Tyra'' or ''The Tyra Show'', was an American talk show hosted by Tyra Banks that aired from 2005 to 2010. While Banks's show covered a variety of topics, there was a sensationalized focus ...

'' and finished 2nd.

Personal life

Before ''Top Model'', Alway was a stay-at-home mother. She and her husband Jason have three children. She has said that she has a lot of respect for

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

supermodel A supermodel, also spelled super-model or super model, is a highly paid fashion model who usually has a worldwide reputation and often a background in '' haute couture'' and commercial modeling. The term ''supermodel'' became prominent in the ...

Heidi Klum Heidi Klum (; born 1 June 1973) is a German-American model, television host, producer, and businesswoman. She appeared on the cover of the '' Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' in 1998 and was the first German model to become a Victoria's Secr ...

. She has stated that it was hard for her to find jobs because she was just lost in a sea of blond-haired, blue-eyed models. On June 28, 2013, Alway was arrested after a six-hour standoff with police in

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by lan ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. She was arrested for multiple offenses, including drug possession, burglary, committing a felony while on bail, theft, and fraud. She also had prior arrests that year for grand theft of more than $400, grand theft with a firearm, and receiving stolen property. On December 10, 2014, Alway was sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to four felony burglary counts, one count of vehicle theft, one count of firearm possession, and one misdemeanor count of identity theft. She was dismissed of more than a dozen other counts under a plea agreement. In September 2016, Alway established a

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account, where she said that she is a lesbian and an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. Alway was released from prison in April 2018 after serving a 5-year sentence since June 2013.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alway, Renee 1986 births Living people American atheists American people convicted of burglary 21st-century American criminals Female models from Michigan People from Maui America's Next Top Model contestants Criminals from Michigan Lesbians LGBT models LGBT people from Michigan 21st-century American women