Claudia Charriez (1982 - ) model.

Of Spanish descent, Charriez was born and raised in New York City. She was acting and modeling from age 16. She had a small part as a go-go girl in the 1998 film 54.


In 2006 Claudia made it to the semi-finals of America's Next Top Model hosted by Tyra Banks, but was then disqualified for being transsexual. Tyra Banks then declared Claudia to be "America's Next Top Transgender" on her talk show.

One of the judges, Janice Dickinson, a former model and now running her own agency brought Claudia onto her own television reality show, made her pose as a man, but then fired her in the last episode on the grounds that they could not make any money from her.

This was 2 years before Isis King was on America's Next Top Model.

++Claudia has not been in the news since 2008 except for being assaulted by her fireman boyfriend in 2011, and the subsequent trial.

• Christine Champagne. “She’s a Lady”. Out.com. June 2008. http://out.com/detail.asp?id=19643. No longer available, but online at: http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2008/08/claudia-charriez-speaks.html.
• Jeff Sheng. "Photoshoot with Claudia Charriez". Bilerico, April 28, 2009. http://www.bilerico.com/2009/04/photoshoot_with_claudia_charriez.php.
• Clay Cane. "Transgender on America's Next Top Model … do you trust Tyra?". Claycane, August 20, 2008. http://claycane.blogspot.com/2008/08/transgender-on-americas-next-top-model.html. 

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What is this nonsense about a ‘first transsexual model”?  Has everybody forgotten especially April Ashley, 1962 and also: Lauren Foster, 1980, Caroline Cossey, 1981, Teri Toye, 1984, Roberta Close, 1984.