Topics: Celebrity, Documentaries, Fashion, Mental Health, Netflix, US News
Tyra Banks has reflected on the 'intensity' of America's Next Top Model in a new Netflix documentary.
All of us have seen a clip of supermodel host Tyra Banks shouting at an America's Next Top Model I (ANTM) contestant, even if it is screaming she's 'rooting' for them. If you haven't, well done for staying off social media this long.
First premiering in 2003, the show is certainly of its time and reflected the brutal reality of the modeling world. And ever since, it's faced a divided response from those on it, alongside viewers.
While some contestants have come out the other side arguing 'the only reason the door was open for' them into the modeling industry 'was because of Tyra', the host has also faced accusations of bullying.
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However, new Netflix documentary Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model offers a behind-the-scenes insight into the program alongside reflections from those involved in making it all these years later.
The upcoming three-part documentary series features 'unprecedented access to former constants, judges and producers' - including Banks herself, who can be heard in the trailer admitting she 'knew [she] went too far'.
She added: "It was very very intense, but you guys were demanding it. So we kept pushing. More. And more. And more."
Indeed, resurfaced clips from the show, which ran from 2003 until 2018, are regularly shared on social media, such as Banks telling a model to cut off most of her long hair.
And many have led to bullying accusations against Banks, one X user alleging: "Tyra Banks purposely ruined young women’s lives on America’s Next Top Model."
However, within Netflix's upcoming documentary, a model can be heard saying: "The only reason the door was open for me was because of Tyra."
Former ANTM judge Jay Manuel claimed: "We were showing the behind-the-scenes of what the fashion world was. I realized Tyra could do anything for the success of her show."
Others involved in the creation of the show reflected on the huge audience of 'over 100 million people'.
A model reminded how they felt it was 'a TV show' to those making it, but it was their 'life' which was being impacted.
With comments thrown around such as 'You're not thin enough' and one model undergoing 'a medical procedure as part of a makeover,' one producer reflected there was a moment they questioned if they'd 'built a monster'.
Indeed, Netflix details the documentary as 'expos[ing] the show’s complicated legacy and asks a provocative question: how far are we willing to go for entertainment?'.
Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model is set for release on Netflix on February 16.
