Supermodel Tyra Banks will revisit the controversial legacy of American’s Next Top Model in an explosive new documentary, 23 years since the show first aired.
The 52-year-old joins Netflix’s new docuseries Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, and reflects on her role in the popular and problematic reality series that ran from 2003 to 2016.
“I haven’t really said much,” Banks admits in the trailer. “But now it’s time.”
Catch a first look in the video above.
More than 100 million people tuned into the hit reality program for the show’s 24-cycle run as aspiring models lived together and competed against each other in photoshoots, runway walks and challenges to win a modelling contract.
Banks joins former contestants, judges and producers in the three-part docuseries to uncover what really happened behind the scenes of American’s Next Top Model.
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“I knew I went too far. It was very, very intense, but you guys were demanding it, so we kept pushing it, more and more and more,” Banks explains as some of those most problematic moments are revisited on air.
Miss J Alexander and Jay Manuel return for the docuseries. (YouTube / Netflix)
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In recent years, as fans revisit the series, the show has come under fire for its “body shaming”, “horrific” medical procedures and questionable decisions that still fuel viral moments today.
We look back at some of the show’s most controversial moments below:
1. The extreme makeovers
If a contestant didn’t cry over her makeover, are you really watching ANTM? (YouTube / Netflix)
Extreme makeovers were turned into traumatic transformations as girls were subjected to the judges’ grand and often boundary-pushing vision.
Sure, some girls got a simple trim, others resisted then tearfully accepted their new pixie cut or shaved head.
Tyra Banks confronts the series’ controversial past. (YouTube / Netflix)
Then the real competition started. Remember when contestants were forced to “switch ethnicities” for the sake of a photoshoot?
2. Judges’ body shaming
Ethics were questioned. (YouTube / Netflix)
The early 2000s has A LOT to answer for. ”You’re not thin enough” are four words echoed in the new Netflix trailer.
From weight to dental work, the show’s relationship with body image was often toxic. In Season 6 Tyra famously pressured Danielle Evans to close the gap in her front teeth.
Dani returns for the documentary and she has tea to spill. (The CW)
“Do you really think you can have a CoverGirl contract with a gap in your mouth?” the judge asked.
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Evans refused to undergo any dental work to change her smile and went on to win the season all while defying the show’s beauty standards.
3. That viral moment
Tyra flipped a switch. (VH1)
“We were all rooting for you!”.
Contestant Tiffany Richardson didn’t win ANTM in cycle four, but she was part of the most quoted scene in Top Model history.
After she was eliminated, Richardson was humiliated by judge Tyra Banks as she snapped over Richardson’s attitude, “eye-rolling” and lack of trying.
“I have never in my life yelled at a girl like this,” the supermodel shouted as she bought up Richardson’s troubled past.
In Pictures
The wildest reality TV moments no one could stop talking about
From explosive arguments to hilarious moments.
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