Whatever Happened to Renee, ‘America’s Next Top Model’ Cycle 8 Villain? The Tragic Story
What To Know
- Renee Alway struggled to find steady modeling work after the show and faced significant personal challenges.
- Her life took a downward turn due to addiction, homelessness, multiple arrests, and prison time.
- Renee now lives a quieter life on a ranch, shares her recovery journey on TikTok.
Every good show needs a good villain, and during Cycle 8 of America’s Next Top Model, that villain was Renee Alway. A fresh-faced blonde with strong features and an edgy look, Renee was presented on the show as quick to argue and manipulative, often escalating minor issues into full-blown fights. Renee clashed with multiple contestants on the show, yet did pretty well in the competition, becoming a finalist.
However, her reality T.V. fame and striking looks did not lead to a glamorous life on the catwalk. Instead, Renee became one of America’s Next Top Model’s most tragic figures in the years after the show, proving that the villain edit she received may not have been as simple as it first appeared.
Michael Yarish / The CW / Courtesy Everett Collection
What happened to Renee right after America’s Next Top Model?
After her season in 2007, Renee continued to pursue modeling and appeared in the reality spinoff Modelville, where she was a finalist. She also appeared briefly in CBS series Shark. However, Renee couldn’t attain steady work as in the modeling industry.
“I felt like a failure because I couldn’t get past the reality T.V. stigma that had been put on me … and then there’s the pressure of the fans. ‘Where are you?’ ‘What happened?’ It’s almost like a setup for failure,” she told ABC News.
How did Renee’s life take a turn for the worse?
According to the former model, she became addicted to prescription pain medications she was given for back pain, which eventually led to heroin.
She left the runway behind, turned to drugs, and became homeless. On June 28, 2013, Renee was arrested in Palm Springs, California, following a six-hour standoff with police. She faced multiple charges, including suspicion of burglary, fraud, and possession of controlled substances, Palm Springs police said in a statement.
According to TMZ, it was her fourth arrest that year.
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“I can’t even remember what was happening then,” she told an ABC affiliate station in Palm Springs. “That’s how bad it was. I have bits and pieces of broken memory about it.”
As a result, Renee was sentenced to 12 years in prison in December 2014. She was released on parole in April 2018 after serving roughly five years.
During her time in prison, her husband, Jason, petitioned Renee for divorce, which was granted.
Palm Springs Police Department via Getty Images
What happened to Renee after she was released from prison?
Sadly, she returned to prison.
In 2019, TMZ reported that Renee was arrested for domestic violence just over a year after she was released from prison. According to TMZ, the former model was arrested in Palm Springs (again), and was booked for assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of infliction of corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, terrorist threats, a prior felony conviction, and a violation of parole.
In December 2019, Renee pleaded guilty to the second count. She was sentenced to 36 months of probation with the mental health court. She was released in 2020.
What happened to Renee after she was released?
Renee sought out the simple life and turned to farm work, where she worked with her boyfriend. However, in 2025, she posted from her TikTok account that she suffered from a seizure and was trampled by her horse. As a result, she suffers from short-term memory loss.
In the post, she wrote: “I had a few bad seizures and was trampled by a horse on February 1. I now have short-term memory loss, and it’s severe. Always the rebel, I checked out of the hospital against doctors orders, and I’m now living with my boyfriend, who is also my 24-hour caregiver, on top of his full-time job. His job is remote in a way, so we want to do a podcast, and drive around the desert, discussing relevant topics relating to…we don’t really know yet, stay tuned. Renee Alway.”
What is she doing today?
Healing, mostly. She has a TikTok account where she shares updates on her life. She lives on a ranch with her family, and appears to be much better.
With the benefit of hindsight and the knowledge of Renee’s post-show struggles, many fans now view the Cycle 8 contestant as less a portrait of a reality-T.V. villain and more a snapshot of someone in the midst of a personal crisis.
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