Netflix’s latest documentary, Reality Check: America’s Next Top Model, has reignited a long-simmering debate: was one of the 2000s’ most iconic reality shows also one of its most damaging?
In case you weren’t a fan, the series ran from 2003 to 2018 and followed supermodel Tyra Banks as she sought out American girls who dreamed of making it in the modelling industry. With the help of her experts — creative director Jay Emmanuel, runway coach Miss Jay Alexander and photographer Nigel Barker — the show quickly evolved from a scrappy competition series into a reality TV juggernaut.
It even became an international franchise, with Australia receiving its own version in of the series in 2005.
However, while the series was entertaining, Rewatching the series in 2020, viewers began to question everything from body-shaming challenges to exploitative makeovers — moments once framed as “tough love” now read as humiliation, causing recent viewers to question whether the series was ethically appropriate.
The Netflix documentary which was released on Monday, February 16, was a reaction to this discourse and featured the experts, former contestants and people behind the scenes.
While viewers loved taking a walk down memory lane with a modern-day lens, many believed that Tyra didn’t truly take accountability for the series’ damaging and ethically questionable decisions.
For viewers who felt Netflix’s documentary softened the blow, E!’s upcoming episode promises something far less restrained.
In March, E! is releasing a documentary series called Dirty Rotten Scandals which looks into the big reality shows of the early to mid 2000s. One of those episodes takes a deep dive into America’s Next Top Model.
According to the press release, the Dirty Rotten Scandals episode will feature “first hand interviews with the contestants [who] cast light on behind-the-scenes secrets and the steep prices they paid for a shot at being ‘on top’.”
“The models come forward to correct the record on the real story behind the cultural phenomenon that was America’s Next Top Model,” it read.
The series features interviews with supermodel and former ANTM season one to four expert, Janice Dickinson, and season 17 winner Lisa D’Amato, who were both not involved in the Netflix documentary.
Speaking to TMZ, Lisa claimed that the E! documentary will give viewers another side of the story.
“I think the Netflix [documentary] is going to be more based on what the viewers have seen on camera, whereas the one that’s on E! is gonna be more of the psychological warfare they did to us behind the scenes,” she explained.
Just like Reality Check, Dirty Rotten Scandals is expected to be explosive. Over the years, Lisa D’Amato has spoken openly with allegations of mistreatment during her two seasons on the show.
Meanwhile, Janice had famously made salty comments about Tyra after she was fired from the show following season four.
Where can I watch E!’s Dirty Rotten Scandals in Australia?
The America’s Next Top Model episode of Dirty Rotten Scandals is due for release on March 11.
However, there’s no word just yet on whether it’ll be available to watch on streaming services in Australia. But don’t worry, we’ll do some digging and update you as soon as we know for sure.
