Anja Kossiwakis walked into the GNTM casting with a photo album and walked out without a picture from Heidi Klum – a moment that, for most, signals the finish of a modelling dream. Instead, it became the unlikely launchpad for her international career.
The 57-year-old former DDR model, whose silver-grey hair has grow her trademark, was eliminated early in the 2026 season of Germany’s Next Topmodel after guest juror Jean Paul Gaultier and Klum decided too many contestants had been selected for the first round. What followed was a whirlwind: within days, her images circulated in the press, leading to an invitation to Paris Fashion Week and, a week later, a contract with Metropolitan Models in Paris.
Her journey reflects a rare inversion of the GNTM narrative. Where elimination typically means obscurity, for Kossiwakis it marked a return to form. She had modelled in East Germany before the Wall fell, a career cut short by reunification, after which she worked in banking, married, and raised children in Wiesbaden. The patience she cultivated during those years – “being able to wait for things,” as she told Gala – proved decisive when opportunity knocked again decades later.
How a modelling comeback began with a photo album and a rejection
Kossiwakis arrived at the open casting in Folge 2 not as a hopeful newcomer but as a former model seeking a second chance. She presented Heidi Klum with a photo album, prompting the host to remark, “Dich, meine ich, habe ich schon öfter mal irgendwo gesehen.” Klum, who had also attended the Oscars that year, asked whether Kossiwakis had participated in the previous year’s casting – a question the contestant denied, instead clarifying where their paths had previously crossed.
The moment was cordial but inconclusive. Klum offered no photo, a routine dismissal on the show that rarely leads to revival. Yet for Kossiwakis, the outcome was inverted: the absence of a Klum-endorsed image did not close doors but redirected attention. Media outlets picked up her story, focusing on her age, her background, and her distinctive look – elements that, in the fast-paced world of youth-obsessed casting, had become her advantage.
Why her DDR background and patient mindset became assets
Sources agree that Kossiwakis’ history in the German Democratic Republic shaped her approach to the industry’s unpredictability. Her modelling career there ended abruptly with the fall of the Berlin Wall, a professional rupture she describes as formative. The resulting resilience – what she calls “gelerntes Warten” – allowed her to absorb the GNTM elimination without despair and instead recognize the opening it created.
This mindset, she says, helped her transition from setback to strategy. Rather than interpreting her early exit as failure, she viewed it as clarity: Klum had too many models, and the decision to cut her was procedural, not personal. That detachment enabled her to accept the Paris invitation swiftly and sign with Metropolitan Models without hesitation – a speed she attributes not to ambition alone, but to the calm cultivated over decades of unexpected turns.
What So for older models in reality TV competitions
Kossiwakis’ case challenges the assumption that ageing out of modelling reality shows equates to professional obsolescence. While GNTM has featured older contestants before – often dubbed “Best Ager” participants – few have translated early eliminations into immediate high-fashion opportunities. Her Paris Fashion Week appearance and agency contract suggest that visibility, even when brief and framed as rejection, can be repurposed in the digital media cycle.
The contrast with past seasons is notable. In previous years, older contestants who left the show rarely secured comparable momentum; their narratives tended to fade into lifestyle features or local endorsements. Kossiwakis’ trajectory – from DDR model to bank employee to international runway – indicates a shifting landscape where authenticity, age-linked distinctiveness, and media savvy can outweigh traditional youth-centric casting logic, particularly when amplified by editorial interest in counter-narratives.
Did Heidi Klum regret eliminating Anja Kossiwakis?
The sources do not indicate any regret or second-guessing from Heidi Klum regarding her decision. Klum framed the elimination as a routine choice due to having selected too many models for the first episode, a process she oversees personally. Kossiwakis herself has not suggested Klum erred, instead describing the outcome as fortunate.
How long did it take for Anja Kossiwakis to secure work after leaving GNTM?
According to both sources, Kossiwakis gained press attention immediately after her elimination, was invited to Paris Fashion Week shortly thereafter, and signed with Metropolitan Models within a week of that invitation – a timeline described as “surprisingly fast” and “could not have gone better.”
