One of the most iconic screaming matches on reality television.
Insulting nicknames from professionals. Racism, homophobia, fat shaming. And that's just the
beginning! Here are moments from "America's Next Top Model" no one will ever forget.
Tyra Banks forced Cycle 6 winner Danielle Evans, now referred to as Dani, to get the gap in the
front of her teeth closed. Banks sent Dani and another contestant to the dentist to get their
teeth fixed, though Dani initially refused to change anything about her smile. She told the
dentist that she loved the gap, embracing the way she was. However, when it came down to the panel,
Banks gave her the impression that she either had to get her gap closed or leave the competition.
Banks asked Dani if she believed it was possible for her to have a CoverGirl contract with her gap
and even went so far as to mimic her feature by putting her finger in front of her own teeth.
Ultimately, Dani ended up in the bottom three. She was willing to compromise with Banks by
getting her gap closed slightly but not all the way. But, being that it was Banks' show and she
called the shots, she told Dani it had to be all the way. For the sake of the competition, Dani
went ahead with it. Her sacrifice paid off, as she ended up being chosen as that cycle's winner.
Fans were even more upset with Banks when her hypocrisy came to light about this very issue.
During Cycle 15's makeover episode, Banks created a gap in contestant Chelsey's front teeth.
Not to be confused with the Cycle 6 contestant who took home the winning title, Dani Evans,
this particular situation revolves around the Dani from Spring, Texas,
who didn't make it to that cycle's final 13.
Dani instantly made an impression on the other girls with her personal views. While in the car,
Dani's fellow aspiring models asked her what her audition was like. She said,
"It was like 95% Black girls. It was all black girls."
"Really?"
"I didn't realize it was going to be like that."
Her comments definitely rubbed the others the wrong way,
resulting in Furonda Brasfield asking what her point was. During her audition tape, Dani stated,
"I am the most uber-conservative,
republican, hardcore baptist you could ever imagine in your whole life."
She continued to dig herself in a hole saying,
"I don't like gay people, I don't like Muslims, I don't like abortions,
I don't like anything liberal. But other than that I really like to get along with people."
After continuously rubbing the contestants the wrong way, Dani told Tyra Banks, Jay Manuel,
and Jay Alexander that what she said in her tape was to get their attention. Dani boldly told both
Manuel and Alexander that she didn't agree with their lifestyles, resulting in Banks telling
her the industry she wanted to participate in went against everything she believed in.
In the middle of participating in Cycle 4, Kahlen Rondot received a phone call message
that informed her a friend from her high school days had died. Finding out that news while not
being surrounded by her friends and family made Kahlen state in her confessional that
the day she found out about her friend was the worst day she had in the competition.
What she didn't realize, though, was that her journey was about to get more difficult.
For the photoshoot that happened right after she received the news, the remaining contestants had
to represent the seven deadly sins in the middle of a graveyard. On top of being in a graveyard,
they had to pose at the bottom of an eight-foot grave where people are usually buried.
Understandably, Kahlen was emotional on set and was filmed bawling her eyes out. The creative
director, Jay Manuel, said he was unaware of the situation and spoke with Kahlen privately.
While he did seem mildly concerned, he didn't seem too phased about her personal situation,
as he only asked whether she "needed a minute" before going into hair and makeup.
Being a trooper, Kahlen participated in the shoot and produced an iconic photo that embodied wrath.
While Tyra Banks and the other judges seemed to reward her struggles by calling her name first,
the timing of the shoot was very questionable.
Cycle 6 was clearly a rollercoaster of a season. During one of the challenges in panel, Tyra Banks
put the contestants to the test by asking them to walk in a pair of ridiculously high heels.
The shoes were so high that they appeared difficult to stand in, let alone walk in,
for the very first time. In fact, Banks' rival, Naomi Campbell, had previously fallen in them
while on the runway, so it appeared almost as if Banks set the contestants up to fail on purpose.
Sara Albert, Brooke Staricha, and Joanie Dodds were the only few who managed to strut without
stumbling. However, Kari Schmidt and Dani Evans fell more than once. Banks declared,
"This is the most nerve-wracking
judging test we have ever done. I was holding my breath the entire time."
However, what she really should have been focused
on was the level of danger she was putting her contestants in.
Before everyone returned to panel, doctors were called in backstage after Dani's pinky
toe "came completely out and twisted." She returned in crutches with her foot
raised and told the judges she had sprained her baby toe. Banks seemed
completely unphased by the situation and just carried on as if nothing major had happened.
Cycle 3's Yaya DeCosta was one of that season's front runners.
In addition to being absolutely gorgeous, she also took photos that wowed the panel.
But even though she was doing well, she was treated very unfairly when she chose
to represent her African culture in a way the judges didn't expect.
During one of the tasks set in panel, the contestants were asked to show off
their individual style centered around a hat they chose from a group presented to them.
Yaya went for the cowboy hat and styled her look with an
outfit that paid homage to her African heritage. Photographer Nigel Barker
admitted she looked beautiful but expected her to pick the African hat, while Nolé Marin said,
"Yaya, I feel half-African half-cowgirl. Looks like you're about to ride a giraffe."
The guest panelist took it a step further and claimed that Yaya,
someone she didn't know, felt the need to always prove her "African-ness," describing
it as "overbearing." Even though Tyra Banks gave her the side-eye, she didn't defend Yaya.
Yaya stood up for herself and explained why she didn't choose the other hat.
Despite this, she was accused of being "defensive" and "not attractive"
by Banks. When being called out in panel to continue in the competition,
Yaya was told she should apologize to the judges, despite doing nothing wrong.
Keenyah Hill didn't have the most comfortable time on a shoot when a male model named Bertini
kept making moaning noises around her. Keenyah did the right thing
and stopped posing to inform creative director Jay Manuel about what was happening.
Unfortunately, Manuel didn't do much about the situation other than saying
that she was in a "professional situation" and that there were many others on set.
The shoot continued even after Keenyah spoke up. However, Bertini didn't catch the hint
and continued to cross the line. Manuel eventually told the guys to stop "grabbing
her butt," but the damage was already done. Keenyah left the set upset and worried that
the final image she would be judged on in panel would affect her chances of being eliminated.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the last time Keenyah had to interact with Bertini. When
the contestants went out for dinner, they were joined by the male models from the same shoot.
Keenyah confronted Bertini over his behavior and made him aware
that the line he crossed was "pretty darn thick." With that being said,
she shouldn't have had to go to dinner with him in the first place for the sake of the show.
While on the show, Keenyah Hill admitted to gaining weight,
telling Kahlen Rondot that she had put on 12 pounds while they were overseas in South Africa.
Due to the stress of the competition, she explained she found comfort in eating.
When it came down to their photoshoot, the models were told they would each have to portray a
different animal. In fact, creative director Jay Manuel stated that he picked an animal
that represented each of the contestants. He had an interesting choice when it came to Keenyah.
Since "America's Next Top Model" loves to harp on the contestants' insecurities,
Keenyah was notified in front of everyone that she was going to be an elephant,
following the role of gluttony she was given for the previous shoot. A coincidence, huh? Keenyah
expressed her annoyance about being associated with an animal that was deemed as "fat."
At panel, Tyra Banks exposed Keenyah and said they had to do a lot of retouching and body
work on her image. Even though she never pointed the finger at anyone, Banks told
Keenyah to be honest with herself surrounding her weight gain and insisted nobody would ever
retouch her photos as much as Banks did. For this reason, Keenyah landed herself in the bottom two.
For Cycle 7's deodorant commercial, the remaining six contestants were told they
had to learn a script in Spanish and pick a male model at their dinner table to be their co-star.
Not only that, they would have to share a kiss with whichever model they chose.
However, having to learn a script in a foreign language was the least of Jaeda
Young's problems after the truth comes out about her male model.
"Jaeda's partner, Nacho, tells Jaeda that he doesn't even like Black girls.
She's like, 'Are you serious?'"
He wouldn't practice the script with her at the table and made
her feel incredibly insecure and uncomfortable.
When coming face to face with Tyra Banks, Jaeda informed the supermodel about her
situation. To many people's surprise, Banks didn't sympathize with Jaeda,
instead, she told Jaeda she should kiss him and "make him love some Black girls."
That's one way of ending racism, right? Filming Jaeda's commercial was understandably a mess,
as she openly admitted on set she couldn't do it and burst into tears. Jaeda did end
up kissing the male model but said she hoped to never go through anything similar again.
When being evaluated in panel, Jaeda told the rest of the judges about her racist
co-star while crying about her disastrous commercial. Nigel Barker told her she should
have taken control of the situation and Jay Alexander claimed it shouldn't have stopped her
from doing her job. To make matters worse, the judges used this situation to eliminate Jaeda.
By now, it's quite obvious that the photoshoots on "America's Next Top Model" were sometimes
incredibly problematic. But there's one that stands out almost above the
rest — the freezing cold shoot in the pool that took place during Cycle 7.
For this particular challenge, Tyra Banks was on set with Jay Manuel and the photographer. The
final four contestants were paired up and had to make it look like they were floating effortlessly
in a pool, despite shaking like a leaf and feeling completely numb. CariDee English posed alongside
Amanda Babin and struggled to keep it together, as anyone would. She kept telling people on set that
it was really cold and had to have towels wrapped around her when taking breaks from shooting.
At one point, she had to be dragged out of the pool because she had reached the
point of hypothermia. Manuel practically blamed CariDee for the situation saying,
"As a model, you have to tell people when you're past your limit."
And Banks insisted, "You have to listen to your body and tell us." But with the
reputation "America's Next Top Model" has for contestants speaking out,
it's not surprising why CariDee pushed herself too far to prove herself to the judges.
Shandi Sullivan cheating on her boyfriend with an Italian model
was probably the most memorable part of Cycle 2.
It all started when the girls invited a bunch of male models to their house and decided to have
fun in a large jacuzzi. After having maybe one too many drinks, things started to get heated between
Shandi and the male model she had been getting flirty with. She openly admitted to forgetting
about her boyfriend, Eric, back home and slept with the model. Once everyone left,
Shandi started crying her eyes out in bed. Ultimately, Shandi called her boyfriend
and confessed that she slept with somebody after claiming that she felt lonely. The traumatic late
night phone call left them both in tears, and Eric told Shandi that she had "completely changed."
Shandi told Tyra Banks about what she did that same episode, and Banks reassured her
that everyone made mistakes and told her she wasn't being judged by Banks.
After Cycle 21's Denzel Wells dissed gay contestant Will Jardell by saying
he would hate to go home and have to explain how he lost to a man in heels,
Will decided to turn up to panel in tall stilettos to make a statement.
When Banks asked him why he was wearing the shoes,
Will explained that someone had made a disparaging comment about gay people.
The supermodel then offered for Will to confront the person. Taking the opportunity, he turned to
Denzel and stated he had struggled every day with people who thought the way Denzel did.
Denzel tried to defend himself, telling Will that he didn't want him to think he was "bashing him"
or that he was "ashamed" of him being a man in heels. However, Banks wasn't having it.
After Will finished speaking, Banks defended Will and declared Denzel
was ashamed because he was worried what his friends back home would say. Banks explained,
"This is an industry that is predominantly female, so when you step into an industry
that is predominantly a certain sex, you get the stereotype that you are gay,"
"Be proud of this industry and every single male model,
gay, straight, heels, corsets. Who gives a f–k?!"
It was practically impossible not to include this iconic moment on this list. After all,
Tyra Banks yelling at Tiffany Richardson became a meme before anyone even knew what that word
meant. When Banks sent Tiffany and Rebecca home during a surprise double elimination,
the supermodel was unimpressed with Tiffany laughing the situation off. She told Rebecca
she admired her emotion, as it showed Banks that the competition was something that was "very
important" to her. Tiffany, on the other hand, left Banks furious,
which resulted in her accusing Tiffany of taking the competition as a joke. Tiffany explained,
"Looks can be deceiving and I'm hurt. I am. But I can't change it,
Tyra…I'm sick of being disappointed."
Banks disagreed with her, resulting in Tiffany getting defensive. However, as
soon as Tiffany raised her voice, Banks lost her cool, telling her to "be quiet" and stop talking.
"When my mother yells like this it's because she loves me.
I was rooting for you, we were all rooting for you, how dare you!"
Banks ended her rant by telling the aspiring model to "take responsibility for herself."
In the end, Tiffany walked out of the elimination on her own,
while the rest of the room silently watched her go.
In Cycle 4, Tyra Banks and the production of "America's Next Top Model" — for some
reason — seemed to think doing a photoshoot that saw the contestants
switching their ethnicities would be a good idea. She allowed the white girls to portray
African Americans by wearing dark makeup that practically looked like they were in blackface.
And unfortunately, she didn't seem to learn her lesson. In Cycle 13,
Banks photographed the remaining six contestants in Hawaii and felt
it was necessary to attempt another shoot that was similar. This time, they had to
portray someone who was "Hapa," a person who is half one ethnicity and half another. The show
didn't hesitate to get out the brown paint and put some girls yet again in blackface.
To no one's surprise, Banks faced a lot of backlash about these decisions. She
explained in an interview with "Chicks in the Office" in 2020
that she had previously apologized for the shoot on her talk show, saying,
"I think it is my job to not be mad at a younger generation that didn't see it,
it's my job to apologize again."
Banks said her intention was never to do black face but did confess
she realized it was an "ignorant" move on her part due to her lack of knowledge of
the different cultures she attempted to portray.
Chantelle Young, now referred to as Winnie Harlow, first caught the attention of millions
when appearing as a contestant on Cycle 21 of "America's Next Top Model." She was born
with the skin condition vitiligo and was discovered by Tyra Banks through Instagram.
During her time on the show, Winnie had to deal with the ongoing names Yu Tsai
kept calling her, like panda or cow, which she didn't personally see as a compliment. When she
politely asked Yu Tsai to stop, he got really defensive and took it the wrong way. She said,
"I don't want kids out there to see you, someone so high up in the industry,
being able to call me 'panda' and then seeing someone else with a skin condition
and being like 'Yu Tsai can call Chantelle "panda," you can call this person a cow.'"
Yu Tsai insisted refused to listen saying,
"Chantelle is not going to make a good model because she rubs
people the wrong way. It is hard to get Chantelle to really listen."
Winnie was filmed getting emotional while explaining how bullies calling her slurs
over the years had affected her. Yu Tsai immaturely said Winnie didn't
deserve his nicknames and insisted he would call her "porcupine from now on."
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