Middle East version of 'America's Next Top Model' to be launched soon

Regional version is set to be called 'Arabia's Next Top Model'

'America's Next Top Model' creator and host Tyra Banks. Getty Images

A Middle East version of hit reality show America's Next Top Model is to be launched, The National has learnt.

The regional show is set to be called Arabia's Next Top Model. It is rumoured a teaser clip is being developed for the announcement.

It is not yet known if the contest will be open to both male and female contestants, similar to the American version, but the search is currently on for a high-profile host and celebrity judges, according to sources close to the project.

Created by supermodel Tyra Banks and Ken Mok and developed by Kenya Barris, the show was launched in 2003, giving aspiring models the platform to kick-start their careers. Through each episode, contestants — both male and female — are given tasks and put through their paces by expert judges. Those with low scores are eliminated as the show progresses. The eventual winner walks away with a cash prize and modelling contracts.

The show has been hugely successful, spawning more than 50 international versions, including those in Germany, the UK and China, as well as regional shows such as Africa's Next Top Model and Asia's Next Top Model.

The series also usually involves an international photoshoot, with both Germany's Next Top Model and Britain & Ireland's Next Top Model having previously visited Dubai.

Arabia's Next Top Model will not be the first regional version of a hit international show. Project Runway Middle East, which pits aspiring fashion designers against each other, launched in 2016 and ran for two seasons.

Shows such as Arabs Got Talent, MBC The Voice, Arab Idol and Top Chef Middle East have been successfully running for years, and so has the Arabic version of the quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.

The Real Housewives of Dubai, another version of a hit American reality TV show, had its premiere in June and sparked a backlash from residents and citizens of the UAE.

Scroll through the gallery below to see the cast of the show