At its core, “America's Next Top Model” was Tyra Banks' show. She originated the concept of the canonical reality series, assembled its main cast and anchored its production for 23 cycles, which first aired on UPN before becoming the CW.
But “Reality Check,” a new Netflix docuseries now streaming that examines “ANTM” and its checkered history through the accounts of those who were a part of it, is not affiliated with Banks. In fact, the supermodel-turned-media personality wasn't invited to take the stand until well after production on the docuseries began, said Daniel Sivan, who co-directed “Reality Check” with his wife, Mor Loushy.
“It was like, 'Hey, this may be a great addition, but it's definitely not a necessity,'” Sivan said. Fortunately for the directors, Banks eventually agreed to an interview, which Loushy says lasted about four hours and ended up giving the series a richer texture.
“It's very easy to find people who speak badly about her,” Sivan said. “But having her passion, bringing this program to life, is something only she could say.”
For Sivan and Loushy, whose filmography leans toward the sociopolitical, the pop culture-focused “Reality Check” seems like a starting point. But Loushy said he directed this project with the same care with which he directed the duo's acclaimed 2025 docuseries “American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden.”
“I felt like the journey is pretty much the same because there were difficult topics. There were things that were sensitive and important to me,” Loushy said, from the harassment that the “ANTM” contestants endured to the insecurities that “for us, as women, sit firmly in our hearts every day.”
For Sivan, the appeal of “ANTM” as a documentary subject lies in the tragic arc of Banks and her teammates, who, according to the director, set out with positive intentions to empower women and promote the representation of other marginalized people in the fashion industry. Then, he said, as the program evolved, “these misfits became bullies.”
“At the end of the day, was it a force of good or a force of evil? I hope people continue to debate that,” Sivan said.
“Actually, the documentary doesn't end with the credits,” he added. “It ends the conversations it will generate.”
Here are seven takeaways from “Reality Check” that are sure to fuel those conversations.
Shandi Sullivan suggests she was sexually assaulted
The penultimate episode of cycle 2 of “ANTM” dedicates much of its duration to a plot that is framed when contestant Shandi Sullivan cheats on her boyfriend Eric with a male model during a visit to Milan.
As explained by Sullivan in the first and second episodes of “Reality Check,” the then 21-year-old was under the influence of alcohol. The night started with drinks and led to a group soak in the jacuzzi, where she and the male model began getting some physical exercise. Footage later shows the two in the shower and in bed, but Sullivan says she had “passed out,” the cameras were still rolling and “no one did anything to stop it.”
“After she got out of the hot tub and what happened after that,” Sullivan says, “I think they should have… said, 'Okay, this has gone too far. We have to get her out of this.'”
The show's executive producer, Ken Mok, says his job was to capture, not intervene: “We treated 'Top Model' like a documentary and we told the girls that.”
Similarly, when Cycle 4 contestant Keenyah Hill informed the judges that a male model had repeatedly touched her during a photo shoot, Banks encouraged her to learn how to defend herself.
“America's Next Top Model” Cycle 1 contestants, clockwise from far left, Nicole Panattoni, Adrienne Curry, Elyse Sewell, Kesse Wallace, Robin Manning, Giselle Samson, Shannon Stewart and Ebony Haith in “Reality Check.”
(Courtesy of Netflix)
Eating disorders were rampant on set and contestants were pressured to perform cosmetic work.
Hill was also repeatedly shamed for her weight and physical appearance, and was instructed by former supermodel Janice Dickinson to better hide her stomach during photo shoots. Dickinson was known to share strong opinions that became negative and even mean-spirited on the judging panel.
Like Hill, many other girls were criticized for their weight and were advised to restrict their diet to better approximate a model's physique; Therefore, eating disorders were common among the contestants, says Bre Scullark, who appeared in cycle 5 of the documentary. After fainting, a doctor told model Heather Kuzmich that she had to eat the next day. “I think I pushed myself way beyond my limit,” he said in a confessional.
Producers also pressured Cycle 6 contestants Joanie Dodds and Dani Evans to undergo invasive dental procedures that focused on cosmetic improvements rather than health. Evans vigorously protested to eliminate the gap between his trademark teeth, but relented when Banks essentially gave him an ultimatum: get rid of the gap or go home.
“The girls were rewarded and applauded for putting their health on the back burner,” says journalist Zakiya Gibbons in the documentary.
Likewise, the docuseries shows Mok during an appearance on “The Inner View” saying “the biggest disaster ever is always the best. People have a temperature of 104 degrees. They're vomiting. They need IVs. That's the best news you could ever have.”
Producers mined model files to create drama
When Cycle 8 contestant Dionne Walters was a child, her mother was shot and paralyzed from the waist down. However, during her season's crime-themed photo shoot, one of the series' most controversial, along with the “race swap” photo shoots during cycles 4 and 13, Walters was memorably portrayed as a shooting victim, sporting a gunshot wound to the head.
“I thought it was a coincidence at the time, but I don't think it was,” Walters says in the documentary, adding that her mother's accident was on her application. The model was criticized by the jury for not showing much emotion in her photos.
“I'm glad they didn't get the reaction they expected,” he says.
Mok in the documentary admits: “I take full responsibility for that shoot. That was a mistake… On that one, I look back and say, 'You were an idiot.'”
Fashion photographer Nigel Barker was one of the original judges of “America's Next Top Model.”
(Courtesy of Netflix)
Banks' rant against Tiffany Richardson became a meme, but it wasn't funny
In the years since it aired, Banks' infamous rant, “I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you!”, directed at model Tiffany Richardson, has been parodied by countless users online and even on “Ru Paul's Drag Race.” But the day it happened, former “ANTM” judge and fashion photographer Nigel Barker said no one was laughing.
“Tyra really scared us all. We literally jumped out of our seats,” Barker said. After filming the scene, production staff escorted Banks off the set, “ANTM” alum Jay Manuel added. Banks admits that “it went too far. You know, I lost control.”
According to Manuel, not everything Banks said that day was televised and Nolé Marín, a stylist and judge on the show, says the lawyers were brought to the set after that.
Banks and 'The Jays' did not end on good terms
Over time, Manuel said he began to feel uncomfortable with Banks' insistence that “ANTM” needed to constantly reinvent itself, even at the expense of its original mission of elevating young role models.
When the media personality finally worked up the courage to quit, he said Banks turned her back on him. Although she ended up staying for another 10 cycles, the couple's relationship never recovered. In the documentary, Banks refused to talk about Manuel and insisted that she should call him herself. (As far as Sivan and Loushy know, he hasn't done so yet.)
Years after Manuel tried to leave “ANTM,” he was cut along with Barker and J. Alexander, after the CW network boss told Banks and Mok they needed to make a change. While the three men still keep in touch, Banks is no longer in their orbit. And after J. Alexander, who also goes by Miss J, suffered a life-changing stroke, she never visited him in the hospital.
“I miss being the queen of the runway. I'm the person who taught the models how to walk. And now I can't walk. Not yet,” J. Alexander said. (Netflix)
When Jay Manuel tried to leave “ANTM,” he said, “there was a warning that raises the fear of God in you. You know, people talk about being blacklisted.” (Netflix)
Winners rarely found success in the industry after the show.
Banks promised models a boost in the fashion industry. However, even “ANTM” winners rarely managed to maintain their modeling careers after leaving the show.
Evans, the contestant who was forced to close the gap between her teeth, said a fellow model once told her about a conversation with her agent, where she was told, “We have to treat Dani differently because she came from 'Top Model.'” Evans later learned that Banks for years stood by while the young model was ignored for opportunities.
“I was always on the fence with you,” Evans recalled Banks confessing, adding, “They built an entire empire, a multimillion-dollar brand, known as 'America's Next Top Model' from the dream of every girl who did that show.”
Banks says she's not done with 'ANTM' yet
Despite everything, from the years of backlash to the personal confrontations she's had with former contestants, Banks in the documentary still had rebooting “ANTM” on her mind.
“I feel like my job isn't done,” Banks said. “You have no idea what we have planned for cycle 25.”
No new seasons of the show have been announced since the documentary's release.
