Molly O'Connell's Evolution From America's Next Top Model To Southern Charm

Molly O'Connell's journey on the 16th cycle of "America's Next Top Model" was a wild ride from start to finish. Speaking to The Post and Courier in 2011, O'Connell shared that she had seen modeling as a pipe dream and "given up" on it until she earned the once-in-a-lifetime chance to be a part of the popular competition. During the course of the show, the then-23-year-old developed a reputation for having a bad attitude because she openly voiced her distaste for the harsh challenges she had to endure in her journey. 

However, O'Connell believed that fans wouldn't call her a bad sport if they knew that she had experienced the dark side of modeling when she was on "ANTM." During a January 2025 appearance on "The Viall Files" podcast, the reality-TV star claimed that the "ANTM" production team would "purposely mess" with them. The contestants would be put in a psychologically distressed state for one-on-one interviews by being barred from eating and having to talk into the wee hours of the morning.

Meanwhile, when O'Connell appeared on "Page Six Radio" in December 2025, she recalled how the production team had greased the runway with Crisco during the infamous bubble walk challenge so that the models would be more likely to slip. While she dealt with all of that, she also had to come to terms with the fact that she had not one, but two of the worst hair transformations on the show. After all was said and done, O'Connell walked away as the runner-up, losing to Brittani Kline. She continued experimenting with modeling for a couple of years before pivoting to another aspect of reality TV with Bravo's "Southern Charm."

After adopting her when she was only three days old, Michael O'Connell and Ann Stirling raised Molly O'Connell in Charleston, South Carolina. During a February 2025 appearance on the "Reality Life with Kate Casey" podcast, the reality-TV star revealed that although her parents had made her aware of the fact that she was adopted when she was around three years old, she only understood the meaning of the word when she was in middle school. 

What followed the realization was a bit of a rebellious phase, which her parents "stuck by" her through by sending her to therapy. During her March 2011 interview with The Post and Courier, she admitted that the hurt of the realization continued to affect her until her young adult years, saying, "I felt I'd been given away, unwanted. I didn't really understand." However, Molly had a change of heart when she met her biological mother at the age of 20. She went into the meeting hoping to form an instant connection with her birth mother and walked out of it with a newfound appreciation for the wonderful life her parents had given her. 

And with that change of perspective, she was able to look back on throwback photos from her childhood warmly. In fact, Molly had shared a throwback photo that let fellow "awkward kids" like herself know that a transformation was always on the cards for them. Additionally, when we look at the adorable accessory that Molly is wearing in the snap, her future career choice seems like a bit of a no-brainer.

Molly O'Connell understandably made no attempt to hide just how much she hated the first hair makeover she got on "America's Next Top Model." To start, the model complained that she had to sit still for nearly six hours while a hairstylist dug needles into her scalp to give her hair extensions. Even worse, the hairstylist hadn't properly blended her light-blond curls into her dark-blond natural hair at the roots, which had left her with a glaring contrast at the scalp. 

The makeover had ultimately left the show's stylists with tons of questions about curly hair extensions, many of which were to the tune of 'how could things have panned out so badly?' Eventually, O'Connell had no choice but to replace the botched hair extensions with fresh ones. Unfortunately, her second try with hair extensions didn't pan out much better either because the sheer volume of hair, the unnatural hair color, and the density of curls made it look more like an unflattering wig. And yes, it also reminded us of some of Kristi Noem's hair extension fails that will always haunt her.

Sadly, the model's bad experiences with the show's hair makeover shenanigans didn't end there. During a March 2025 appearance on "The Lady Gang" podcast, O'Connell recalled how she and her fellow finalist Brittani Kline had been informed that they would both have to bid farewell to their long locks during the season's finale. According to O'Connell, Kline had been blessed with a beautiful pixie cut that suited her perfectly because they had already decided that she was the season's winner. Meanwhile, the runner-up had to walk away with a "Leonardo DiCaprio 'Titanic' bowl cut."

Speaking to Reality TV World in May 2011, Molly O'Connell confessed that although she was iffy about the idea of chopping off her hair in the season finale of "ANTM," she went along with it because of her faith in Tyra Banks and Ivan Bart. Although she had warmed up to the haircut with time, she still admitted that she knew it could affect her career, saying, "So, it definitely is a lot edgier and while it may hinder me in some kind of photo shoots if they want long hair, it can also help me in other parts of modeling — athletic maybe or more edgy stuff with short hair." 

Unfortunately, time would prove that her optimism was misplaced. During a summer 2022 appearance on the "Next Page" podcast, O'Connell shared that the show's rules prohibited her from getting rid of her unflattering short hair makeover until eight months later. However, the haircut ended up making her look "ridiculous" in the eyes of prospective clients, and she struggled to find work.

Once her hair grew out, she was able to land gigs with the likes of Vogue Knitting, HUF, Fuzion, and Bronze. In addition to walking the runway for couture brands and big names like Vivienne Westwood, O'Connell also got to wear a Sergio Guadarrama piece for an appearance on the season 18 "Project Runway" finale. And in 2019, she was looking stunning in an Instagram selfie that showed her in a one-piece bathing suit. However, in 2024, O'Connell confessed that she had been struggling to land modeling jobs since 2022 due to the 45-pound weight gain she had experienced due to her thyroid problem, per People.

In 2024, Molly O'Connell officially joined the cast of "Southern Charm." According to her bio on Bravo's website, she had chosen to move back to Charleston to be near her loved ones and subsequently joined the reality-TV show to make sense of "her longtime entanglements with the men of the group," which led "her to wonder exactly how she fits in." While O'Connell figured out her existing drama and stirred up additional trouble, she explored a new style befitting of the new era of her life as a reality TV star. 

At several points in the year, O'Connell wore breezy slip dress styles that helped her nail the '90s minimalist aesthetic. When O'Connell stepped out to do some promo with her castmates in November 2024, she donned a classic bronze slip dress that had a tasteful slit around the bottom. She paired the beautiful dress with a brown cardigan that she kept off-the-shoulder for a cozy, chic vibe. O'Connell seemed to know that the slip dress had been the most versatile trend of summer 2023, with endless variety, because she also wore it to a vacation in the Bahamas the following year.

For the Season 10 premiere of the Bravo series, she nailed the country couture aesthetic, which made Western fashion so feminine and so gorgeous. To make her mark on viewers from the get-go, she donned a flowy blue strapless dress that stood out amidst her castmates, per Instagram. For accessories, she balanced modern with classic, pairing checkered sunglasses with a wide-brimmed hat. All in all, this era saw a breezier version of O'Connell.

While chatting with Salley Carson in a January 2025 episode of "Southern Charm," Molly O'Connell revealed that she had undergone numerous plastic surgery procedures . The "ANTM" alum revealed that she had filler in her chin, Botox in her jaw, and some work done on her gums as well, per Bravo. In a confessional, O'Connell revealed that she had always believed that her ankles were larger than most people's. To counteract that perception, she had undergone a liposuction procedure on her calves and ankles.  

O'Connell had used the fat that had been extracted from those tweaks to get a breast augmentation. In November 2025, she also revealed that she had numerous cosmetic procedures done before BravoCon, including touch-up fillers injected in her chin, cheeks, and jaw. Additionally, in another episode of "Southern Charm," O'Connell confirmed that she had some cosmetic work done on her vagina (via Bravo). Due to some drama, the model was forced to clarify that she had "paid for it" through her own hard-earned money and not with the help of a sugar daddy. 

O'Connell didn't just bring drama to the show with her words, but also her outfits. In 2025, the model started to rock more tightly fitted and revealing clothes that seemed to be a testament to the confidence she had regained during her time on the show. Asymmetrical outfits with ab-baring cuts seemed to be a bit of a favorite of hers as she wore several iterations of them to BravoCon 2025. In October 2025, her confidence soared in an olive dress with a plunging neckline, a photo of which she posted to Instagram.