You’ve likely heard about the latest Netflix hit “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model,” the three-part documentary that pulls back the curtain on the controversial modeling competition show.
Although longtime fans may have hoped the documentary would offer a redemption story, it’s coverage of both widely known scandals and secret moments has sent social media into a frenzy.
From shocking to seriously problematic, here are the biggest bombshells revealed in “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.”
Alleged onscreen assault involving Shandi Sullivan
One of the most disturbing moments in the documentary comes when Shandi Sullivan, a Cycle 2 contestant, alleges she was too intoxicated to consent to sex with a man who attended a party with the models, yet production portrayed the encounter as her “cheating” on her boyfriend.
“I remember him on top of me [but] I was blacked out,” Sullivan reveals in the doc. “No one did anything to stop it. And it all got filmed, all of it.”
The series also shows footage of Sullivan curled up on the floor in a fetal position, sobbing to her boyfriend on the phone as she recounts the incident.
According to Sullivan, members of the crew later told her they were “really sorry” they had to film the conversation: “They just knew that this isn’t right.”
When asked about how the situation was handled, host and show creator Tyra Banks says she remembers Sullivan’s story but claims it’s “difficult for me to talk about production, because that’s not my territory.”
Requirements to get cosmetic procedures
Danielle Evans, who appeared on Cycle 6, had a gap between her teeth that she loved — but she recalls production sending her to the dentist to fix it, even though she told them repeatedly she didn’t want to.
“I was like, ‘No, I don’t wanna close my gap,’” Evans says in the doc. “It’s not your right to tell me what to do with my body.”
Banks responds to the allegations by saying she’s “apologized” to Evans for what happened, while still blaming others for pushing the idea that the gap would hold the young model back from booking jobs.
“That was between a rock and a hard place for me because there were agents that would tell me she will not work with those teeth. It’s just not going to happen,” Banks says. “But hindsight is 20/20 for all of us. It just so happens that a lot of things that are 20/20 for me happened in front of the world.”
Evans then offers her reaction to that explanation: “Bull f—ing s–t … You knew what you were doing for the show. You were making good TV at my expense.”
Tyra’s viral rant was worse than viewers were shown
Even if you’ve never watched “America’s Next Top Model,” you’ve probably seen the viral clip of Banks snapping at Cycle 4’s Tiffany Richardson, screaming, “We were all rooting for you!’”
Turns out, viewers only saw a small fraction of the harsh words that were actually exchanged that day.
Jay Manuel, the show’s creative director, shares in the documentary that what viewers were shown on TV was a toned-down version of just how intense and heated the confrontation truly was.
“There was a lot more that was really said, and some of the things that were said were really not well-intentioned,” Manuel reveals. “I’ll probably never repeat the lines that were actually said in that room that day.”
Nolé Marin, a stylist and judge who was also present for the moment, doesn’t share additional detail on what was said, but does offer this tidbit: “All I know is the next week we had all the lawyers on set.”
Richardson claims the argument was “edited” to make it appear as though Banks “cared” about her, when in reality she was treated “like s–t.”
In the documentary, Banks admits she knew she took the moment “too far.”
“You know, I lost it,” she says. “It was probably bigger than her. It was family, friends, society, Black girls, all the challenges that we have. So many people saying that we’re not good enough. I think all that was in that moment. That’s some Black girl stuff that goes real deep inside of me, but I knew I went too far.”
J. Alexander left unable to walk following stroke
J. Alexander, the runway coach on “Top Model,” opens up about a stroke he suffered in 2022, which left him in a coma for five weeks and unable to walk or talk.
Although Alexander can now speak, he’s still wheelchair-bound and shares the heartbreak of no longer being able to do his signature catwalk.
“I miss being the queen of the runway,” he says in the documentary. “I taught models how to walk and now I can’t walk — not yet. I’m determined to walk. You’re gonna see me again, I’m sure. It’s not over for me yet.”
Alexander also recounts being visited in the hospital by fellow judges Nigel Baker and Jay Manuel, but says Banks has still not come to see him in the years since his stroke.
“No, not yet,” the 67-year-old says with a smirk. “She just sent me a text, she wants to come and visit me. But no, not yet.”
“Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model” is streaming now on Netflix.
