Netflix is telling stories we haven’t heard from ANTM in the 3-part documentary Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model. It is also the first time the show’s creator, Tyra Banks, has talked in depth about the show that made her infamous, both in good and in bad ways.
At first, she was considered a hero among models, but shortly afterwards, she was a villain for the way she treated them. This documentary highlights the latter.
I try to take these documentaries with a grain of salt because my friend was featured in one and it was manipulated to make them horrendous. I also talked another friend out of doing one because I knew they would take what they said out of context, and that is all they would be known for.
The producers tell their side of the story, no matter who they hurt. And most of the people who participate are trying to get a second chance at fame.
However, in this case, I don’t think Tyra helped herself by being part of this one.
Why? She and Ken Mok, with whom she co-created the show, did not have better answers for Shandi’s claims that she had sex with someone when she was blackout drunk, and the on-scene producers didn’t do anything to stop it. Then she claims they made her call her boyfriend and tell him about the one-night stand as they filmed it.
People should come before ratings, but they don’t. And in this case, they cared more about great TV.
Mok and Banks should have apologized and taken responsibility for what happened to Shandi, but they didn’t. And I think that made them look worse.
And it continues to go downhill from there for them.
It wasn’t only the contestants that Tyra shit on for fame and ratings, it was also her co-stars.
When Jay Manuel wanted to leave the show, Tyra iced him out, and their relationship is still ice cold.
Then, when he, Nigel Barker, and Miss J. were fired from the show by the new head of The CW, she did not do more to protect them or be by their side. They took the high road, while she didn’t.
Finally, her coldness was again exposed when she did not go visit Miss J. in the hospital after he had a massive stroke in 2022. And she has not seen him since, even though it had been three years.
She might think that she can bring back ANTM for another cycle. But her time, and the show’s time, have come and gone. So she needs to stay in Australia because America doesn’t want her. As if Dancing with the Stars didn’t show her that.
Anyway, after writing all of that, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model is really interesting, and I am happy I watched it in one sitting.
I know these docs are manipulated, but it is still fun to watch. As long as you realize not everything you see is true. And that it can unfairly destroy someone’s life. People have their agendas and will do anything to make that agenda happen even take quotes out of context to suit their needs. I can go on, but you get the point. Reality television is not real.
