Lex is a young mother who dissociates while watching her favorite reality stars arguing on television. You can often find her scrolling through social media to find the latest drama or true crime news. Give her an hour and she’ll be an expert on any subject.
Netflix released a trailer for a new documentary series, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top ModelOr Tyra Banks and the show’s other judges will be confronted with the hit series’ most controversial moments.
America’s Next Top Model ran for 24 seasons from 2003 to 2016. It’s been a decade since the series ended, and so far, Banks hasn’t spoken about the show. In the trailer, she reveals: “I haven’t really said much, but now it’s time” (via Netflix).
Banks wasn’t just the host and head judge of the reality show, but she was also the creator of the show. Additionally, she was the alleged voice behind some of the show’s most memorable, memorable, and shocking moments.
The trailer, released Monday, for the docuseries tease interviews with banksshow developer Ken Mok and judges Nigel Barker, Jay Manuel and J. Alexander, affectionately known as Miss J. To get the full scope of the story, former contestants and Top model the winners were also interviewed.
Plus-size model and season ten winner Whitney Thompson praises Banks at the beginning of the trailer. Thompson gives Banks a lot of credit for opening up the modeling industry to plus-size models, saying:
The only reason the door was open for me was because of Tyra.
While some, like Thompson, have praised the show, others didn’t shy away from detailing some of the most difficult momentsincluding Mok, who remembers the moment he realized they “build a monster“.
Top model was filled with body shaming, where already thin models were told they weren’t “quite thin” said candidate Shannon Stewart.
In addition to the shame, Netflix made sure to include a very politically incorrect moment in the trailer: when Manuel tells two candidates that they will be “change ethnicity.” After the clip, Manuel appears in his interview, visibly grimacing.
Next, the trailer takes a deep dive into the worst moments of the series. Women undergo medical and dental procedures during their makeover episodes, while another contestant cried during her interview after recalling a photo shoot in which a man touched her without her consent.
Manuel seemed to blame Banks for the show’s controversial moments. He said:
I realized that Tyra would do anything for the success of her show.
This quote was followed by the clip of Banks admitting: “I knew I had gone too far.“Always on brand, Miss J added some of their famous facial expressions as their sole contribution to the trailer.
Banks went on to say that the show had become very “intense” but also placed some of the blame on the public, saying“But you were demanding, so we kept pushing further.“
The documentary series also explores some of the show’s most famous lore, including why Miss J and Manuel weren’t brought back after their contracts expired in 2012.
Fans will be able to stream the series in three parts Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model on Netflix from February 16, 2026.
- Release date
- 2003 – 00/00/2018