The model hopefuls

When Canada's Next Top Model returns Wednesday on City-TV, Jay Manuel takes over as host from actress/model Tricia Helfer, who leaves to focus on her role in the series Battlestar Galactica. Manuel will spearhead a team of judges – photographer Paul Alexander, supermodel Yasmin Warsame and FT-FashionTelevision's Jeanne Beker – as they whittle 10 model hopefuls from across Canada down to one over the course of eight weeks. Model Stacey Mackenzie returns to the reality series as model coach.

Manuel promises that Canada's Next Top Model will be "more rooted in fashion than the American show. We have access to all the runway footage that FashionTelevision owns, so we will be looping runway shows on plasma screens for the girls to study."

"And for the first time in history," he adds, "you will see the real Jeanne Beker – the loving mother. You are going to see a very sensitive, human side to her."

The 10 aspiring models include a 22-year-old factory worker from Mannheim, Ont. and a 25-year-old travel representative from Toronto.

The winner receives a contract with Sutherland Models, an editorial spread in Fashion magazine and a $100,000 contract from Procter & Gamble.