The 21st cycle of Tyra Banks' 'America's Next Top Model' officially ended on Friday, December 5, and with it, the show crowned its very first male winner, Keith Carlos.

The recently concluded season of the show is only the second time that male and female models were faced in a series of challenges where "survival of the fiercest" was a requirement.

During an interview with Zap2it, Carlos shared that he was surprised that he won in the end.

"I was very surprised because Will was such a strong model and Adam was so [great] towards the end. The fact that I came through and pulled it out was very surprising for me," he said.

Aside from being the first male winner of the show, the 26-year-old is also the oldest top model winner.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Carlos joked that he was "bringing mature back."

According to him, his experience in playing football helped him deal with the challenges thrown at him during the show.

"I correlate everything to football because that's where I learned a lot about dealing with the ups and downs. I just knew I had to take the critiques and apply them," he told EW.

The former football player said he has always been told that he should be a model, but he set it aside to focus on football. However, after his football career ended he decided to do "something different," and that's when the reality model search came in.

Carlos shared that his experience with the show has helped him to deal with his emotions better.

"During confessionals or during our interviews, that was able to open me up and allow me to show some emotions," he told Zap2it, "I learned by opening up with these emotions, I was able to get a better photo. That's what my mentors taught me.

Winning 'America's Next Top Model' lands Carlos a contract with Next Model Management, a spread at Nylon magazine and $100,000 in cash.