For 15 years, America's Next Top Model was a global phenomenon, but a new Netflix docuseries is set to examine its darker side. The show, hosted by Tyra Banks, has long been remembered for its shocking moments, including Banks screaming at contestant Tiffany Richardson: 'I was rooting for you. We were all rooting for you! How dare you!'
The three-part series, Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model, premiering next week, catalogues controversial events on and off screen. It features interviews with former contestants, Banks and co-stars, asking how the show became so toxic. Danielle Lindemann, author of True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us, said: 'There were cruel aspects of ANTM.'
Originally launched in 2003 with noble intentions to democratise fashion, ANTM was praised for its diversity, featuring people of colour, queer individuals and different body types. However, as seasons progressed, judges' feedback became personally offensive, with comments about contestants' 'bloated' bellies or the size of their behinds.
The docuseries follows a 2023 podcast, Curse of: America's Next Top Model, and comes after social media reassessments during the pandemic. Banks herself acknowledged in 2020: 'Looking back, those were some really off choices.' The show ran for 24 cycles and attracted an estimated 100 million viewers across 170 countries.
