After years of dodging the spotlight on her reality show’s darkest moments, Tyra Banks is ready to share her America’s Next Top Model truth. The supermodel has finally broken her silence in Netflix’s upcoming three-part docuseries, and she’s holding nothing back.
“I knew I went too far,” Banks admits in the explosive trailer for Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, dropping February 16. It’s a statement that comes nearly two decades after the show first premiered on UPN in 2003, captivating audiences with its glamorous promise of launching modeling careers.
But behind the fierce photo shoots and dramatic eliminations lurked a problematic past that has haunted America’s Next Top Model for years. The show faced mounting criticism for body-shaming contestants, forcing extreme makeovers, and orchestrating controversial photo shoots that asked models to portray different ethnicities.
Now, Banks is addressing these controversies head-on. The docuseries features unprecedented access to former judges, contestants, and producers who witnessed the chaos firsthand. Jay Manuel, the show’s former creative director, doesn’t mince words. “I realized Tyra would do anything for the success of her show,” he reveals in the trailer (watch below).
The documentary tackles some of America’s Next Top Model‘s most cringe-worthy moments. Danielle Evans, winner of Cycle 6, speaks emotionally about being pressured to undergo dental surgery to close her signature tooth gap. She called the decision “horrific” and “so f—ed up.”
However, Banks places some responsibility on viewers themselves. “It was very very intense, but you guys were demanding it, so we kept pushing,” the former host explains.
The show ran for 24 seasons, reaching a global audience of 100 million people at its peak. Along the way, it sparked countless viral moments—though not always for the right reasons. The series faced backlash for photo shoots involving racial transformation, extreme makeovers that left contestants sobbing, and judges’ harsh comments about body types.
Former judges Nigel Barker and Miss J. Alexander also appear in the docuseries, with Barker noting that Manuel “felt betrayed” after their contracts weren’t renewed following Season 18 in 2012. The behind-the-scenes drama runs as deep as anything that aired on television.
This isn’t Banks’ first acknowledgment of America’s Next Top Model‘s troubled legacy. Back in 2020, during quarantine rewatches, fans flooded social media with criticism. Banks responded on Twitter, admitting “those were some really off choices.”
But this Netflix docuseries represents her most comprehensive reckoning yet. With former contestants sharing their experiences of alleged sexual harassment, body-shaming, and psychological manipulation, the documentary promises to expose the full truth behind the runway.
Producer Ken Mok captures the show’s transformation perfectly: “There was a moment I realized, ‘Oh my God, I think we’ve built a monster.'”
What began as a platform to diversify the fashion industry and give aspiring models opportunities evolved into something far more complex. Banks maintains she wanted to fight against problematic modeling standards, yet the show itself became embroiled in the very controversies it claimed to challenge.
The docuseries raises a provocative question that resonates beyond reality television: how far are we willing to go for entertainment?
