Toccara Jones (born March 13, 1981) from Dayton, Ohio, is an American fashion model and occasional actress and television personality. Jones was a contestant on the third season of the UPN series America's Next Top Model.

Biography

Jones attended Stivers School for the Arts in Dayton, where she majored in dance.

She was the seventh contestant eliminated on the third cycle of America's Next Top Model, where she won "Covergirl of the Week" four times. She was recently voted as one of the most memorable contestants by AOL Entertainment.

Modeling career

Since ANTM, Jones signed with Wilhelmina Models as a plus-size model. She has been on the covers of Be, The Next Level Magazine (November 2005), Black Men magazine, Black Hair magazine, Braids magazine, and King magazine (February/March 2006, March/April 2006, and April 2008 ).

Jones has modeled for Ashley Stewart, Avon, Torrid, New York and Company, Target, Essence magazine, Vibe magazine and Smooth magazine. Her runway shows include Hot 97's Third Annual Full Frontal Hip hop Fashion Show, Luxe & Romance Fall 2005, BET Presents: Rip The Runway 2, Elle Girl presents Dare To Be You: Wal-Mart Meets America's Next Top Models 2005 and Alice & Olivia Fall 2006. Jones was also selected to be part of the 2007 Rocawear "I Will Not Lose" campaign representing the Rocawear plus-size line for full-figured females.

She most recently was shot by Steven Meisel for the July, all black issue of Vogue Italia. This makes her the first black plus-size model to appear in the pages of a Vogue issue, and the third America's Next Top model contestant to be in a Vogue publication, along with Cycle 6's Mollie Sue Steenis-Gondi and Cycle 7's Anchal Joseph.

Television career

In addition to print modelling, Jones has worked in television. She has co-hosted an episode of 106 & Park. She also occasionally appears on The Tyra Banks Show. In one talent episode, she served as a judge. She also hosted America's Next Thick and Sexy Model on the show. She recently was one of the former Top Model girls who appeared in post show interviews in America's Next Top Model: Exposed. She also appeared on the second season of the VH1 series Celebrity Fit Club. During the show, she lost 32 lb (15 kg) to get down to 173 lbs. Toccara wanted to weigh 180 lb (82 kg) because it was "good for her career".[citation needed] Toccara gained 14 lbs back and currently appears on Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp, which puts celebrities from past seasons up against new celebrities, and which premiered in March 2008. She ended the show weighing in at 166 pounds, surpassing her weight loss goal by 7 pounds. Jones also appeared in another reality show for VH1, Celebrity Paranormal Project in 2006.

She was a correspondent for The Black Carpet and a co-host on the game show Take the Cake both for the BET network.

She made a cameo appearance in Trina's music video for the song "I Got a Thang for You".