Heather Kuzmich

Kuzmich's journey began when she was the 12th woman called to participate in the final 13. Early on, she was deemed to be the underdog of the competition, but this changed when she excelled in the photo shoots. At week five in which they had to pose as fashion gargoyles, Kuzmich was called late because the judges critiqued that she only took "profile" shots. With that critique the next week, while the girls had to portray recyclable material (Kuzmich wore aluminum cans), she gave all her shots face forward, causing the panel to be blown away by her stunning features. The next week, while filming a music video for Enrique Iglesias, the artist was so taken by Kuzmich's haunting looks that he picked her and fellow contestant Lisa Jackson for featured roles, where both models were praised and were the first two called at elimination.

Kuzmich has signed to the women's division of Elite Model Management in Chicago and Hong Kong. A challenge win during Top Model allowed Kuzmich to participate in a special photoshoot art-directed by Mary J. Blige for Carol's Daughter. Kuzmich also did a photoshoot for the July 2008 issue of Wedding Essentials. Kuzmich has modeled for the clothing company "Blue Eyed Girl". She has also appeared on the cover and inside of Spectrum Magazine, a magazine for families and individuals who have autism. Recently she was featured in Cycle 12.

Kuzmich received great press attention due to her autism spectrum disorder, including talk show appearances (such as being interviewed on Good Morning America and an article in The New York Times). She plans to continue modeling, while continuing her education at the Illinois Institute of Art located in Chicago. In a recent interview at a viewing party, Paulina Porizkova stated that her favorite model was Kuzmich. Kuzmich has appeared in People magazine twice, once in October 2007 and the second time in December 2007. In 2008, she was one of the nine girls featured in America's Next Top Model: Exposed on the CW, during the filming of which she became close friends with Jael Strauss. She has also appeared twice on The Tyra Banks Show, once in a "Where are they now?" episode and for the Fiercee awards.

Heather Kuzmich (born April 19, 1986) is an American fashion model. She lives in Chicago, Illinois, where she is studying video game design. She is best known for being a contestant of America's Next Top Model, Cycle 9, in which she was the fourth runner-up of the show. During the show, it was revealed that Kuzmich has Asperger syndrome.