A new three-part documentary coming to Netflix will give fans of America’s Next Top Model a behind-the-scenes look at the successful yet controversial reality TV competition series, as Tyra Banks and other “key players” reflect on the show’s complicated history.
Premiering next month, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model will feature one-on-one interviews with ‘ANTM’ creator/host Tyra, who has faced criticism in recent years for an array of things that occurred during the show’s 24 Cycle-run, including the conditions models were made to work under, as well as some of the problematic photoshoots and comments that aired on the show.
Tyra has rarely commented on the show’s backlash over the years; however, she did address the controversy the show created while making a speech at the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards in March 2025, admitting that she didn’t always “get it right,” and telling the audience, “I said some dumb s**t.”
In the newly released trailer for ‘Reality Check,’ Tyra acknowledges that she hasn’t really “said much” about the show’s problematic moments, but claims that, “now it’s time.”
The documentary also includes insight about the show from former judges Jay Manuel, Nigel Barker and J. Alexander (aka Miss J), as well as Ken Mok, one of the show’s developers.
According to Netflix, Jay, Miss J and Nigel’s contracts expired in 2012 and the trio were not brought back to ‘ANTM,’ despite being the core of the judging panel for nearly a decade. In ‘Reality Check,’ the three former show staples will open up about the specifics surrounding their departure, while also reliving some of the show’s most controversial moments.
A lineup of former contestants and winners are also slated to appear in ‘Reality Check,’ including Whitney Thompson, Giselle Samson, Shannon Stewart, Shandi Sullivan, Keenyah Hill and Dani Evans.
“It’s a TV show to you guys, but this is my life,” Dani says in the trailer as a clip of her receiving medical help on ‘ANTM’ is shown on screen.
In other scenes from the trailer, viewers are reminded of the extreme makeovers– which sometimes included invasive dental procedures– that contestants were often required to undergo on the show, as well as the “body shaming” they endured throughout the competition.
One former contestant who won’t be making an appearance in ‘Reality Check’ is ‘ANTM’ Cycle 1 winner– and frequent critic of the show– Adrianne Curry. Shortly after the trailer for the new documentary dropped, Adrianne confirmed on social media that she did not participate in the project, nor would she be participating in any similar projects in the future.
“I say no to all of these,” she wrote. “I have 0 trust in any producers, no desire to be really public in this day and age…. and am hard retired from Hollywood.”
“I am deeply grateful I won the first season of ‘Top Model,'” she later posted on X. “I think people psychoanalyzing it over 20 years later with a woke lens is absurd. I don’t trust people to not manipulate things I say for tv, so I decline everything. Also, the public is cult-like and cruel, so the last thing I want is a bunch of eyeballs on me. I hope the other girls do not have their words twisted in their Netflix show.”
As The Ashley reported last year, Adrianne claimed in an Instagram video that she and other models on the show were given little food and were regularly sleep-deprived, with Adrianne calling the experience “some rough s**t.”
“We were basically nocturnal zombies, snatching a measly 2 hours of sleep a night for two months– my eyes could’ve auditioned for their own spin-off!” Adrianne captioned her video. “We ate so little, I dropped 10 pounds faster than you can say ‘smize,’ and trust me, I was already serving skeleton chic with NO weight to spare!
“This was back in the wild, wild west of reality TV, before they slapped on rules to keep us contestants from turning into human celery sticks,” she added, referring to when ‘ANTM’ premiered in 2003– a time when, according to Adrianne, there were no “rules and regulations on TV” to protect reality TV stars from these horrible conditions.
Adrianne and the former contestants who appear in ‘Reality Check’ are not the first ‘ANTM’ stars to speak out about the alleged unsafe conditions they experienced on-set, with Cycle 9’s Sarah Hartshorne recalling in November that “a girl fainted every week” on her season. In 2023, Brittany Hatch of Cycle 8 spoke about the dangers of extreme sleep deprivation to Entertainment Tonight, claiming that producers of reality TV– including those on ‘ANTM’– used this tactic to “keep people emotionally volatile.”
The following year, Cycle 23 winner India Gants revealed the awful conditions models were subjected to while filming judging panel segments, claiming contestants were only allowed to sit down a handful of times during the 12+ hours of filming, during which they were also required to wear high heels.
“ … You’re not remembering to drink water,” she said, after recalling a fellow model that fainted during filming. “Sometimes [producers] would provide water, but it’s kind of up to you … .”
‘Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model’ premieres February 16 on Netflix. Watch the trailer below.
RELATED STORY: ‘America’s Next Top Model’ First Winner Adrianne Curry Reveals How Horribly Sleep-Deprived & Hungry Cycle 1 Cast Was
(Photos: Netflix; Instagram)
One Response
No. We weren’t “demanding” anything. I really hope she doesn’t blame the audience. Most of us wanted to see sassy girls serving looks. We wanted catty judges. We wanted drama in the house.
We didn’t demand dangerous conditions and abuse. At any point Tyra could have said no and she didn’t.
So save the blaming everyone else act.