America's Next Top Model is a clear frontrunner for the longest-standing reality TV show.
But while it's served us the and some incredibly talented faces, the show has also given way
to a tragically dark side. These are the biggest scandals to ever plague ANTM.
In Cycle 4, Tiffany Richardson unwittingly became the star of one of the most iconic
moments in all of reality TV history. It became the Tyra Banks freak-out that launched a thousand
memes, and even years later, it's almost as if we can still hear Banks screaming…
"I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you! How dare you!"
So, how did it all go down? Richardson was sent home alongside fellow contestant Rebecca
Epley in an unusual elimination where two models were cut, instead of just one. While
Epley burst into tears, Richardson did her best to remain unbothered. That's when Banks
accused Richardson of not taking the competition seriously, and Richardson claimed she was,
quote, "sick of crying" and "being disappointed." After that, Banks unleashed her fury.
"I have never in my life yelled at a girl like this."
At the time, the moment was shocking. Today, it's quite possibly one of the greatest memes
of all time. It's also something that would probably never happen again. Banks later told
BuzzFeed she might have acted differently these days, claiming,
"Oh my god totally, I wouldn't have done it. Actually, maybe I wouldn’t have aired it."
Janice Dickinson and Tyra Banks' long-standing feud is perhaps one of the few ANTM scandals
that seemed to be made of teflon. Having survived an entire decade, the drama first kicked off
in 2005 when Dickinson left the show's judging panel to, quote, "pursue other opportunities,"
according to Entertainment Weekly. She was replaced by '60s icon, Twiggy, and fans scrambled
to figure out if Dickinson was fired or whether she quit.
"Tyra hired me to be like a female Simon Cowell."
But Dickinson left us some not-so-subtle bread crumbs along the way. In 2009, she told MTV
News that she was fired. In 2011, she claimed she quit because the show was, quote, "rigged,"
according to Us Weekly. A year later, Dickinson told a FOX news outlet that Banks had gone
on a so-called firing rampage. And at one point, she even called Banks fat.
"Covergirl."
After a solid decade, fans finally got a resolution. On an episode of Oprah: Where Are They Now,
Dickinson admitted point-blank that when everything went down, she had personally been struggling.
She said in an apology,
"I've said some pretty bad things about her in the past because I had been fired. And
I was very hurt that I had been fired, and so I acted out. But that's not when I was
acting in a sober-like fashion."
It looks like we can finally put this beef to rest.
In 2015, fans were left shocked and heartbroken when former contestant Mirjana Puhar was killed
in a drug-related, triple homicide at her boyfriend's Charlotte, North Carolina house.
She was just 19. According to TMZ, a friend of the couple received a call about gunshots
and decided to check in on the pair at home. When officers arrived, they reportedly discovered
a third victim, the couple's roommate.
According to reports from TMZ and WBTV, two suspects were arrested and later sentenced
to multiple life sentences.
"I definitely consider myself a fighter. And I think this is like the door opening to get
out of everything I have been through."
Mirjana, who was on the 21st cycle of the show, might have had a troubled past, but
lived her life with a tenacious spirit. In an interview with The Charlotte Observer,
she spoke about fleeing from war-torn Serbia with her family, skipping school, getting
into fights, and working at McDonald's before landing a spot on America's Next Top Model.
After appearing on Cycle 8, contestant Renee Alway found herself serving looks in prison.
According to TMZ, the model was arrested in 2013 for a sprawling list of charges following
a six-hour, armed police standoff that involved the SWAT team. The tab also reported that
the reality TV star was, quote, "packing heat." Alway was later booked for:
"Suspicion of burglary, fraud, possession of narcotics, forged bills, and committing
a felony while on bail."
The latter charge was related to an arrest a month prior. Cue her headline-making mugshot
and courthouse shaved head, which was the ANTM makeover no one expected.
"Drugs have been a part of my life since I was young."
"I can't even remember what was happening then. That's how bad it was."
According to TMZ, Alway was ultimately sentenced to 12 years in prison, serving a little more
than five of them. But she got into trouble again when she was arrested for domestic violence
a little over a year after her early release in 2019.
ANTM's All Star season in 2011 put Cycle 14 contestant Angelea Preston back into the running
to become America's next top model - and she actually won. Unfortunately, the title was
perhaps the most short-lived in ANTM history. According to the Daily Mail, the model was
stripped of her crown in the final hour after producers discovered Preston had once worked
as an escort.
In a scathing 2015 Daily Mail interview, the model claimed that she only ever became an
escort because she struggled to get bookings after her initial debut on the show. She said,
"I was in a very, very tough spot. I did some things for money that I'm not proud of. It
was escorting. I had to survive. I had no money. I had no income. It was a stupid decision
that lasted a month and I got out and it came back to bite me."
"Are you ready for your best shot the hairy situation? Not really. Not really? Well, it's
comin' anyway."
According to TMZ, Preston claimed that she had already alerted producers about her past
before they cast her in Cycle 17. For that reason, she lobbed a $3 million breach of
contract lawsuit at the producers, networks, and studios in 2014. It's unclear exactly
what happened, but Redditors suspect it was settled out of court.
Cycle 19 marked a huge change for America's Next Top Model - and some might say the show
was never quite the same. Prior to filming the then-upcoming season in 2012, Tyra Banks
gave her longtime co-stars - photographer Nigel Barker, mentor J. Alexander, and creative
director Jay Manuel - the ax. The trio had been with the series since its inception almost
a decade prior.
"Being a judge on America's Next Top Model, and the fondest memory from working on that
show…[laughs] Darling, it was the paycheck."
According to Page Six, their departures were a, quote, "production decision" as the show
adopted a social media slant to help bolster sinking ratings. The Atlantic reports that
the series lost a million viewers between Cycle 17 and 18, but replacing fan favorites
with social media stars proved to be even more unpopular. Viewership tanked by Cycle
20.
Though the news of the OG crew's departure devastated fans enough to change the channel,
it wasn't a shock to those on the inside. In an interview with E! News, Barker admitted,
"I'm friends with Tyra and the producers. There had been a discussion that ratings were
down and that something like this would happen."
Tyra Banks has long stood for body positivity. According to HuffPost, the star renounced
the term plus-size in favor of, quote, "fiercely real" and handed over the title of America's
next top model to Whitney Thompson in 2008. And years later, the New York Daily News reported
that the supermodel applauded Vogue for banning models under the age of 16 who appear to have
eating disorders.
But her outspoken stance made it all the more controversial when she seemingly praised a
contestant's extreme thinness during Cycle 15. Banks was met with controversy after releasing
a trailer that showed Miss Jay wrapping his hands completely around then-19-year-old Ann
Ward's waist as Banks fawned,
"There's something about her that I like!"
Banks later apologized and explained to People magazine that because of the way the clip
was edited,
"[It] sounded like I was supporting unhealthy eating habits. I am and will always be committed
to promoting healthy body image."
According to OK! magazine, Ward was reportedly six-foot-two and under 100 pounds at the time
she filmed the season. Noting that she simply had a high metabolism, Ward explained to the
outlet,
"I didn't notice how skinny my waist was. I was like, 'Oh, my God, I do have a tiny
waist.'"
"We've got a really high metabolism. Like, we can eat all we want and still don't gain
any weight."
Ward was later crowned the winner of Cycle 15.
Robin Manning kicked off ANTM's run with the type of shocking drama that turned the program
into a reality TV mainstay. And weirdly enough, Manning's scandal had nothing to do with salacious
photographs, drug addiction, or anything else that would typically be deemed scandalous
enough to get a contestant disqualified. Instead, it was her modesty that landed headlines.
"That's all she did for like four hours with these dudes, was read the Bible."
Manning was a standout contestant back in Cycle 1 - but not so much for her modeling,
as for her convictions. The star was willing to abide by her morals even if that meant
she'd get the boot. This became an issue in Episode 7 when the contestants were asked
to do a racy photoshoot. Manning refused, saying,
"My grandmother always used to tell me, 'If you don't stand for something, you'll fall
for anything.' So this stand right here I'm taking might make me be eliminated, so my
time is up, and I'm okay with it."
"My body is sacred. And it's mine. And, um, my religion teaches me that my body is a temple."
Manning was - as she predicted - sent packing, but it set a brand new precedent for the show.
Other contestants followed suit over the years and some refused to pose in the buff across
a number of cycles. Since Manning's season, these saucy photoshoots have been an ANTM
highlight because of the models who don't strip down.
"All of you guys just like whip off your robes, no problem, and I'm like, 'Are you serious?'"
After Top Model hopeful Lisa D'Amato burst onto the scene in Cycle 5, fans assumed she
went on to find success in the modeling industry. But instead, she was out in the real world
grappling with substance abuse.
"It's so weird, like, I don't even know what to do."
According to Entertainment Tonight, D'Amato entered rehab for…
"Alcohol, marijuana, amphetamines, cocaine, and mushrooms."
But she didn't just enter any rehab. She appeared alongside Mackenzie Phillips, Dennis Rodman,
and Heidi Fleiss on the third season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. Thankfully, the star
managed to get clean anyway. She told Paper magazine in 2011,
"I proved the world wrong: I'm not an addict. But I got therapy, which I needed and I'd
never had. Society has a very unhealthy relationship with alcohol. I was an L.A. kid, drinking
and going to parties when I was 14. Now I'm stronger and smarter. I want to make a difference."
Since then, the star has made a shocking comeback. D'Amato went on to compete in the All Star
Cycle 17 of ANTM, and told Reality TV World,
"I think I look better than I ever have before in my whole life."
According to E! News, she also got married in 2012 and has since welcomed two children
into her family.
Jael Strauss was a fan favorite when she appeared on Cycle 8 of the show, and America watched
as she grappled with some serious personal drama during her run. The model's friend passed
away from an overdose while Strauss was filming, and she had to make the difficult decision
whether to leave, or to stay. She ended up continuing with the show, dedicating that
week's photo to her friend, and ultimately placed sixth in the overall competition.
But things didn't fare so well for Strauss following her reality TV run. The model found
herself addicted to meth, which turned into a full-fledged scandal when her family staged
an intervention in a shocking 2012 episode of Dr. Phil. After a dramatic attempted escape
into the studio lot, Dr. Phil finally caught up with Jael, asking her,
"Are you really convincing yourself that this life that you have doesn't suck? You're doing
drugs, you're living in crappy hotels, you're stripping in some sleazeball joint."
In an interview with TooFab, Strauss admitted that she felt exploited by the episode, but
noted that her story had, quote, "helped so many people." The model went through treatment,
and as of 2016, she was three years sober. She told the outlet,
"I'm the happiest I've ever been in my entire life."
But tragically, it wouldn't be Jael's final battle.
Six years after Strauss beat her addiction, she hit headlines yet again. This time, fans
were shocked by the news. The star announced via Facebook that she had been diagnosed with
advanced breast cancer at the age of 34 - revealing that there was no cure. She wrote,
"On October 2nd I was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer. It has aggressively spread
throughout my body and is incurable. With treatment it may prolong my life longer than
the 'few months' doctors said I could make it. I don't want to die. I need another one
of those miracles that I got back in 2013."
According to Metro, Strauss passed away in hospice two months after her diagnosis. Tyra
Banks shared a touching tribute to her, on Twitter, writing,
"Top Model has lost a beautiful soul. We will all remember Jael and her fun-loving spirit
and beautiful soul."
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please call the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Administration's 24/7 National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP. That's 1-800-662-4357.