0 Nigel Barker to Host Naomi Campbell's Modeling Competition, 'The Face'

When it was announced that America's Next Top Dreamhunk Nigel Barker would be leaving his long-held seat at the America's Next Top Model judging panel, I thought that the rupture would be too much for the former fashion photographer to withstand, and he'd float out into oblivion.

But Barker has a new gig, and it's one his former colleague, ANTM creator Tyra Banks, can't be too happy about: Oxygen Network has just announced that big banana Barker will host The Face, a new reality modeling competition the network is launching with Naomi Campbell.

Campbell and Banks have been entangled in a decades-long feud, which has its origins in the nineties, when both women were coming up as supermodels. If Campbell's move to compete directly against Tyra once again, by signing on to The Face, was already sure to reopen old wounds, Nigel Barker's involvement is likely going to lead to nothing short of a shitstorm.

To make matters worse for Tyra but better for the rest of us, supermodels Karolina Kurkova and Coco Rocha will round out the new series' cast. ANTM's ratings have been declining steadly over the years and former diehards disappointed with the show's new direction will now have another home, one with oodles of high fashion starpower and familiar faces. Good luck handling this with grace, Tyra Banks — I'm not sure I could.

Image via WENN