Netflix reopens America’s Next Top Model vault with Tyra Banks: ‘You demanded it, we kept pushing’

DUBAI: Netflix is digging back into one of reality TV’s most chaotic pop-culture phenomena. America’s Next Top Model is getting a glossy, uncomfortable reckoning in a new three-part documentary that promises to reopen old wounds, revisit infamous moments, and finally put some of the show’s most powerful voices on record.

Titled Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, the series sets out to examine how the once-dominant modeling competition shaped a generation of viewers and how its legacy looks very different through today’s lens. 

The cast includes familiar faces from the ANTM universe, including Tyra Banks herself, longtime creative director Jay Manuel, and runway coach Miss J. Alexander, all returning to reflect on a show that defined early-2000s reality television.

In the years since the final cycle aired, ANTM has never really gone away. Clips of brutal judging panels, jaw-dropping eliminations, and questionable challenges have lived on across TikTok, YouTube, and X, fueling endless discourse. 

Former contestants have also published memoirs and shared personal stories online, but many of these narratives were outside analysis. Netflix’s series offers us access to the individuals who were shaping the show behind the scenes as much as they were on camera.

Tyra Banks who had been the face of the show for its first 22 seasons appears ready to confront the backlash. In the trailer released January 26, she says, I haven’t really said much, but now it’s time. 

She later admits, I knew I went too far. It was very, very intense. But you guys were demanding it, so we kept pushing. More and more and more."

That framing, however, hasn’t gone down well with fans. One viral post on X, which racked up nearly 25,000 likes, pushed back hard:
“‘You guys kept on pushing’ Tyra, I was 7 years old. Why are we shifting the blame?”

The series also features several former contestants, including figures like Dani Evans, Shandi Sullivan, and Whitney Thompson many of who are shown visibly emotional as they recount their experiences on the show, suggesting the documentary won’t shy away from the psychological toll of competing.

Directed by Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan, filmmakers known for politically charged and investigative documentaries such as The Oslo Diaries and Camp Confidential. Their shift away from their usual geopolitics and crime features into reality TV culture hints that this won’t be a lightweight behind-the-scenes special.

The footages seen in the trailer indicates the filmmakers tackle some of ANTM’s most criticised elements, including eating disorders, extreme physical transformations, alleged misconduct, and insensitive challenges.

Jay Manuel appears candid in the trailer, stating, I realised Tyra would do anything for the success of her show.

Still, not everyone is convinced the documentary will deliver accountability. Another viewer took to X, writing that “unless there’s testimony from the girls and mostly only the girls…this’ll be bad. I don’t really care what the perpetrators of that show have to say.”

Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model premieres February 16 on Netflix.

Article contributed by Saarangi Aji