America's Next Top Model Drama Allegations on Dirty Rotten Scandals

Janice Dickinson: Tyra Banks "Was a Hardcore B---h"

Janice Dickinson, a judge on America's Next Top Model for the show's first four cycles, said on E!'s Dirty Rotten Scandals that "the producers on [ANTM], especially Tyra, were begging me to be harsher and cruel, like Simon Cowell was on American Idol."

Looking back, Janice continued, Tyra "put the girls down for everything—their hairstyles, the way they walked, the way they hold their face. It really tore their ego and identity. I was there and I saw it for four seasons. She was a hardcore b---h."

As seen in archival footage, Tyra—who declined to comment for the E! series—told E! in 2003 that hiring Janice was "100 percent" her idea, but she had "no idea" the former supermodel was "going to be as honest and tell it as it is, as she was [doing]."

Talking to ABC News in 2009, when Tyra was asked why she thought Janice had called her "righteous" and said she lacked respect for her co-judges, Tyra replied with a smile, "Why do you think?"

When the interviewer suggested Janice was "jealous," Tyra said, "I didn't say that word, you said it."

But Janice has also complimented Tyra, calling her "a tough businesswoman" who "does great TV" on OWN's Where Are They Now? in 2015.

"I've said some pretty bad things about her in the past because I'd been fired, and I was very hurt that I'd been fired, so I acted out," the Celebrity Big Brother alum said at the time. "That's not when I acted in a sober-like fashion. I really apologize to you, Tyra, for the things I might've said to you."

Yoanna House Compares America's Next Top Model Experience to a "Narcissistic Relationship"

Cycle 2 winner Yoanna House said on E!'s Dirty Rotten Scandals that she was "taken aback by the judges and their comments," recalling how "one minute they're saying, 'You're so beautiful,' the next minute, 'Oh, your body, you have all these issues.'"

"It almost felt like you're in the vortex of a narcissistic relationship," Yoanna said. "Going from the love-bombing back to getting devalued at the drop of a hat."

The now-45-year-old said she "developed a workout disorder where I would want to burn almost everything I've eaten for the day" and stopped menstruating for two years, until a doctor told her she was in danger of not being able to conceive a child if she was "trying to always lose weight and be this thin."

Since her time on the show, the mother of son Alastair said that she's "gone through therapy" and has enjoyed a "great career" in broadcasting, fashion reporting and TV commentary. Plus, she added, "I've given up being so hard on myself, so I've come out stronger."

While Tyra declined to comment when approached by the E! series, she said on Netflix's Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model that, when it came to discussing contestants' weight on the show, "Back then the fashion industry's beauty standards were so narrow. That's the world that we lived in."

ANTM Alums Say the Judging Process Took Hours

While the denouement of every episode—Tyra informing the contestants who was still in the running to become America's next top model—usually took up no more than five minutes on the show, Yoanna said on Dirty Rotten Scandals that they actually stood in front of the judges for hours.

Cycle 9 alum Sarah Hartshorne said that elimination days "were minimum 12 hours" and as long as 18 hours, going until "2, 3, 4 in the morning."

They were warned by a crew member on their first day that someone almost always fainted during these marathon sessions, Sarah said, and to raise a hand if they didn't feel well.

On day one, she recalled, "That was me."

Contestants Describe "Challenging " Rules on America's Next Top Model

The house rules they had to abide by while competing on the show were "challenging," Yoanna said. The lights were always on, she recalled, "even when you wanted to go to bed," and they couldn't open windows or use cell phones.

Sarah said that, while going into the bathroom alone assured a girl some privacy, if more than one person went in, the cameras would follow.

"You're almost an animal for spectator sport versus a human being," Yoanna said. "It felt like it was an experiment to see how easy we could crack and break."

While he did not participate in the E! series, executive producer Ken Mok said on Netflix's Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model that the show was treated as a documentary and the contestants were told "on day one" that "there's going to be cameras on you 24/7, day in and day out, and they're going to cover everything, the good, the bad and the in-between."

Cycle 4 Contestants Unpack the Race-Swapping Photo Shoot

Brittany Brower and Keenyah Hill participated in the infamous Cycle 4 "Got Milk?" photoshoot in which the contestants were made up to represent another race or ethnicity that was not their own.

Brittany, who is white and was put in dark makeup to pose as Black, said in Dirty Rotten Scandals that, since Tyra was the one calling the shots, she didn't think much about it at the time.

"Because Tyra Banks is an African American woman and she's wanting…to transport me into an African American woman, I truly didn't see anything of it," Brittany said. "None of us did. And whatever Tyra says to do, we did, no one wants to go home."

Keenyah concurred, saying in the E! series, "You don't really have the courage at the time to say, 'Hey, this isn't politically correct,' or however you may feel."

Reflecting on that ill-advised photo shoot, Tyra admitted in Netflix's Reality Check that she "didn't think it was controversial" back in 2005.

"I was in my own little bubble, in my own little head that this was my way of showing the world that brown and black is beautiful!" she recalled. Instead, viewers wondered if she'd "lost [her] damn mind."

"Looking at the show now through a 20/20 lens, it's an issue," Tyra added. "And I understand 100 percent why."

Angelea Preston Alleges ANTM Knew About Her Past Before Casting Her on Cycle 17

After appearing on Cycle 14 in 2010, Angelea Preston said on the E! series, "Nobody wanted to work with me because of how I was portrayed on the show. Urban, ghetto, whatever you want to call it. They said they can't market that."

So, when she got the call about doing the all-star Cycle 17, "I just wanted another chance."

Angelea was named the winner during the finale shot in Greece, but a few weeks later—as she recalled in Dirty Rotten Scandals—she got a call summoning her to NYC, where she was informed that the show couldn't run the original ending because she had been "engaging in sex work."

Angelea explained on Dirty Rotten Scandals that, after Cycle 14, she had been "in a bind, just desperate to make some money" and "a predator swooped in and just put me on a path of self-loathing and destruction."

And she alleged that the production knew before cameras started rolling on Cycle 17.

"My dream was right there," Angelea recalled, "like someone dangling candy in front of a kid…I was supposed to walk away with $100,000, but they gave me $300 cash, pity money, and sent me on my way."

When Angelea shared similar details with Bustle in 2022, ANTM exec producer Ken said in a statement at the time, "There’s really nothing I can add to Angelea’s story as this happened 10 years ago and it has already been reported on extensively. On a personal note, I thought Angelea was a wonderful addition to ANTM. She was talented and charismatic...I wish her nothing but the best in her future.”

Lisa D'Amato Says She Felt Like a "Throwaway" Winner

Lisa D'Amato was declared the winner on the re-shot Cycle 17 finale, with Nigel Barker informing her and runner-up Allison Harvard during the final judges' panel that "our production team and the network learned information from Angelea that disqualifies her from the competition."

Lisa, who has alleged in multiple interviews and on social media that the show used her history of childhood abuse to manipulate her emotions when she competed on Cycle 5, said on the E! series that she returned for All-Stars "to change the narrative so people would stop calling me an alcoholic b---h."

That "definitely didn't happen," she said. "They actually made it worse. There were fans coming after me, asking, 'What happened to Angelea?!'"

"I felt used," Lisa continued. "I felt like a throwaway. There could have been a sensible excuse as to why Angelea didn't make the final runway."

Instead, she added, "Y'all wanted people to question what happened…to boost your ratings."

Jeana Turner Says She was Forced Into a Not-So-Inspiring Makeover Moment

Cycle 24 runner-up Jeana Turner, who has alopecia, said she was told she'd be getting a luxe wig as part of her show makeover, but instead was instructed to remove the wig she always wore and shave her head for the cameras.

“Removing the wig is really liberating, it's freeing,” Jeana said on ANTM in 2018. “I feel like the whole world can see me now. I feel like I can see myself now.”

Looking back, she recalled on Dirty Rotten Scandals, that "was the very first way they manipulated my emotions to get a certain scene."

Due to their "deceptive" editing, Jeana continued, "they were able to make an audience feel like I was that powerful." But in reality, she added, "I felt so small."

Not to mention, Jeana noted, "My season was the only season that the sponsor was a hair company. How was I ever going to win once I was told Pantene was the sponsor?"

What Tyra Banks Has Said About America's Next Top Model Controversies

Tyra didn't participate in the E! series and declined to comment on the allegations raised by former contestants. In 2023, in response to recollections from 14 former ANTM contestants about the show's most shocking moments, a rep for Banks told Entertainment Weekly, "There's a great number of individuals who contributed to the production of the show over its 15-year run, including a production team [and] network, with many aspects of the show falling outside Ms. Banks' purview."

The statement noted that ANTM "was a reality show contest featuring heightened aspects of real life with an element of surprise, as any reality television show does."