Content warning: this article contains mention of sexual assault.

Watching the America’s Next Top Model exposé, Reality Check, I was certain of one thing: Tyra Banks must be a believer of the phrase ‘all press is good press’. Perhaps this is why she took part in this damning documentary and perhaps this is also the reason she felt justified in leading young, aspiring models to the fashion industry slaughter. America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) was a reality TV superpower in the 2000s and 2010s which aimed to show the world a behind-the-scenes insight into the modelling industry and give one talented model a massive step forward in her career: a contract with a top modelling agency, a fashion spread in a large magazine and a $100,000 contract with partners like Covergirl, although prizes varied throughout the seasons. However, it was rare for a winning model to actually succeed in the fashion industry after the show due to the reality TV-star reputation that followed them. Although Winnie Harlow was eliminated from two separate cycles, she is perhaps the most successful ANTM contestant. However, she stated in an interview with Andy Cohen that she feels that she “made it” as a model “in spite of the show.”

Most contestants would join ANTM with dreams of stardom, usually coming from disadvantaged backgrounds from which they were trying to escape. Although I believe that Tyra Banks initially had good intentions with the show’s aim being achieving diversity and inclusion within the modelling industry, what it spiralled into was ultimately detrimental to the vulnerable women it promised to uplift. Aside from the impact of the ANTM association on their modelling careers, throughout the seasons the show purposefully put the girls through the wringer in order to create ‘good television’. It’s worst moments are discussed in Reality Check.

What it spiralled into was ultimately detrimental to the vulnerable women it promised to uplift

Joanie Sprague and Danielle Evans were pressured to undertake irreversible dental procedures during the makeover episodes without legal representation or concerns for the medical repercussions. The sexual assault of Shandi Sullivan was filmed without intervention from the crew, and she was only allowed to call her boyfriend afterwards on the condition that it too was filmed. Additionally, Dionne Walters was tasked with posing as a gunshot wound victim, which she suspects was done to try and elicit an emotional response or breakdown from her, as her mother was paralysed by a gunshot wound. None of the models were given the space to raise concerns or doubts about how they were treated while on the show. The power imbalance created between the hosts; powerful individuals within the fashion world, and the models; young novices, was enough to deter any notions of standing up for themselves. In this environment, how could a contestant turn down a dental procedure when it meant sure disqualification and a possible ‘villain edit’ when the season came out?

I do not believe the show’s producers thought these awful challenges and invasions of privacy and humanity were a means to an end. Once ANTM had gained enough popularity, it didn’t matter that these young women were going through hell, or that none of them would benefit from their appearance on the show in the future. The focus of the producers and crew was what situations would create the most drama, and thus the most viewership and profit. This exploitation of drama and scandal for profit is similar to Rosie Crompton’s description in her article ‘Bonnie Blue and Jojo Siwa: The cost of rage bait under capitalism‘ (give it a read if you haven’t yet, she describes this very well). In Reality Check, Banks tries to make the case that her and the other ANTM producers were, as Crompton describes, “enslaved to their audience, their life governed by the needs of the consumer.” Defending the show’s infamous extreme photoshoots (race swapping, posing as homeless people, posing as victims of extreme violence), Banks claims they “kept creating more, more, more” because the audience “demanded” it. To me, this is a weak grasp at an excuse for the traumatic circumstances that many of the girls endured, not to mention that it doesn’t excuse her unacceptable behaviour on the show towards many of the models personally.

Once ANTM had gained enough popularity, it didn’t matter that these young women were going through hell

This behaviour (I’m of course referring to the infamous “We were all rooting for you!” outburst) is also examined in the exposé, which brings me back to my central question. Did Banks benefit from her appearance in the documentary? Monetarily, likely, but has she in some way been redeemed or thrown back into the public imagination? Although Reality Check tries to show both sides of the story, that of the models and the producers, I feel that Banks comes off as entirely unsympathetic to the damaging affect her show has had. While it is true that ANTM opened many doors for representation; two of the judges were openly gay, and queer contestants and other members of unrepresented groups were given a platform; it was also ahead of its time in representation of different bodies, with a plus size model winning the show in 2008.

However, this seems to be the only thing that Banks can focus on. The few almost-apologies she does dish out are far from warm, and to me don’t feel sincere. I was unsurprised when she brazenly teased a 25th cycle of the show, as it suggests an ulterior motive that undermines her performance as a sympathetic victim of the television industry. I imagine that she was hoping that this exposé would at least generate excitement about a possible future season of ANTM, however I feel that I personally have heard enough from Tyra Banks.

I was unsurprised when she brazenly teased a 25th cycle of the show

So, is all press good press? I don’t believe so. I think this phrase might apply when a desperate celebrity is fading from the public eye, but for the unknown contestants on ANTM it was mostly three steps back in their careers and something to be unpacked in therapy. The majority of the attention that the models received after their appearances on the show was as reality stars rather than models. Many returned to the circumstances they were trying to escape, as the show cast them aside once they has been disqualified. Shandi Sullivan dealt with harassment and slut shaming after her time on ANTM, which I can’t help but feel like the producers should have anticipated and prepared her for.

It is important to note that some previous contestants who made appearances on Reality Check expressed gratitude for their experiences on the show. One of the women who went through a dental operation during her makeover acknowledged how delighted she had been to be able to have a dental procedure that she wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise. A few praise Banks for her originally pure intentions. Many recognise that the show was a product of its time. I acknowledge that two things can be true at once. For me, however, Reality Check illuminated that this old idiom, “All press is good press,” only applies when the subject knows what they’re getting themselves into.

Image: Stocksnap via pixabay