VH1 Announces New 2013 Reality Series MODEL EMPLOYEE

VH1 announces the new reality competition series "Model Employee," which will determine just how far eight models will go for the opportunity of becoming the face of the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. American model Chrissy Teigen will serve as host. The 8-episode series is set to premiere in early 2013.

In order to represent Mandalay Bay, the contestants will be put through a series of challenges designed to test not only their modeling prowess, but also their working knowledge of the hotel -- literally. These runway rulers will have to prove they know the resort inside and out by trading in their haute couture gowns for basic hotel uniforms and performing the dirtiest and most physically exhausting jobs that make the hotel function. Besides cleaning Mandalay Bay's famous shark tank or sifting through all of the resort's trash for recyclable items, the contestants will also be given the opportunity to showcase their modeling abilities by being charming, professional and sexy for a panel of judges in an effort to show they can truly do it all. The contestant who proves able to handle these important jobs, while keeping her poise, will be rewarded the opportunity to represent Mandalay Bay with a $100,000 year- long spokes -model contract.

"'Model Employee' will take viewers behind the curtain of the massive and glamorous Mandalay Bay via gorgeous models who will need to learn how the place actually runs before they can become the face of the resort," said Jeff Olde, Executive Vice President of Original Programming & Production at VH1. "Watching really pretty people do some not so pretty work in hopes of truly understanding the brand they hope to represent is an eye-opening experience, and lots of fun to watch."

The contestants will be evaluated by a panel of judges consisting of: Vanessa Branch, former Orbit Gum spokes model, Patrick Miller, VP of Marketing at Mandalay Bay, and Jimmy Smith, CEO and Chief Creative Officer of Amusement Park Entertainment. The cast of "Model Employee" includes: Alexis Farmer, Aspen Widowson, Britany Trankino, Jassmine Amos, Johanna Daru, Shannone Holt, Sonja Ewy and Shah Granville.

VH1's "Model Employee" is produced for VH1 by Production Company Studio Lambert ("Undercover Boss") and is executive produced by Eli Holzman and Stephen Lambert for Studio LamberT. Troy Searer of Giant Pirates is the showrunner and Executive Producer. The series is originally created by veteran Model Agent Michael Flutie who also serves as the Executive Producer for Madwood Media. Kevin Bartel is the Creative Executive and Co-Executive Producer for Studio Lambert. Executive producers for VH1 are Jill Holmes, Tom Huffman, Stacy Alexander and Jeff Olde.

VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with TV series, specials, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in 99 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array of digital channels and services including VH1Classic, VH1 Soul, VH1 Mobile, and extensive video on VH1.com. VH1 is a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. For more information, go to www.vh1press.com or visit VH1.com, the VH1 Facebook page and @VH1 on Twitter.

Studio Lambert is a fast-growing independent television Production Company based in London and Los Angeles. It specializes in creating and producing entertaining, non-scripted programs for the UK, US and international markets. It launched in Soho, London, in March 2008 and six months later opened a US office in Culver City, CA. It produces programs for a wide range of American and British networks and its formats and finished programs are distributed internationally by All3Media International. Studio Lambert is backed by All3Media, a global group of production companies and an international distribution company (click here for further information about All3Media).

Founded by Michael Flutie, a veteran model agent and talent brand manager, Madwood Media was created to meet the demands of the new media and entertainment marketplace. Madwood produces pop-culture and youth-driven fashion, beauty and lifestyle programming with a focus on unscripted content and branded entertainment for both broadcast and broadband distribution. Madwood produced the first online unscripted series titled, Under the Arch, created and produced Scouted with 51 Minds for the E! Network and Model Employee with Studio Lambert for VH1. Madwood Media is represented by United Talent Agency.

Pictured: Host Chrissy Teigen