American fashion model
Toccara Elaine Jones (born March 13, 1981) is an American television personality, fashion model, occasional actress and singer. Jones was a contestant on the third season of the UPN series "America's Next Top Model", where she was the eighth eliminated.
Early life and education.
Jones attended Stivers School for the Arts in Dayton, where she majored in theatre and dance. 
Career.
Modeling.
She is the twelfth finalist selected for Cycle 3, she won "Covergirl of the Week" four consecutive times though was never placed above fourth and was the eighth contestant eliminated. She was voted as one of the most memorable contestants by AOL Entertainment.
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), Plus Model Magazine (October 2011). She appeared in the December 2008 issue of "Ebony" magazine.
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 &amp; 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 &amp; 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.
Jones continues to model by participating in BET's Rip the Runway. At the 2009 Rip the Runway, which was held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, Jones featured several items by designers including "Project Runway"'s Korto Momolu and Portege.
She was photographed by Steven Meisel for the July "Black Issue" of "Vogue Italia," the highest selling issue ever, and had a 14-page spread in the magazine. The "Black Issue" featured significant past and current black models in response to the "black out" of black models preventing them from getting hired for print and runway jobs.
She was featured in Cycle 11 as CoverGirl's Top Model in Action.
As of May 2010, she has landed her first major UK modelling job with High Street store Evans, modelling their Summer collection.
Television.
She has co-hosted an episode of "106 &amp; Park". 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 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".
In 2006, Jones appeared in another reality show for VH1, "Celebrity Paranormal Project".
In 2008, Jones was a competitor on the second season of the VH1 series "Celebrity Fit Club". During the show, she lost 32 lb (15 kg) to get down to . Jones wanted to weigh 180 lb (82 kg) because it was "good for her career." Jones gained back and appeared on "", which pitted celebrities from past seasons up against new celebrities. She ended the show weighing in at 166 pounds, surpassing her weight-loss goal by 7 pounds.
In 2011, Jones starred in the second season of the reality series "The Ultimate Merger".
Acting.
She made an appearance in Trina's music video for the song "I Got a Thang for You". She participated in a 2009 national tour of "The Vagina Monologues" with an all-black cast.
She also made an appearance in the 2012 movie Think Like a Man.
Awards and honors.
In 2008 Jones was honored by the Middletown, Ohio NAACP at the Freedom Fund Gala. She received a key to the city.
References.
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