If you didn’t get enough of America’s Next Top Model’s troubled legacy with Netflix’s shocking scandal of a docuseries that premiered last month, E! has taken it to the next level.
Its docuseries, Dirty Rotten Scandals, also dives into the darker side of America’s most controversial modeling reality series. But it bites with even sharper teeth, delivering untold stories from former participants alongside perspectives from cultural commentators and critics.
Aiming to hold the show’s key players responsible for their wrongdoings, one thing quickly becomes very clear: Tyra Banks is the primary person to blame in this eye-opening revelation. Continuing to take the brunt of criticism for fostering what many contestants have described as a toxic environment, Dirty Rotten Scandals is noticeably much harder on Banks than Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.
Unlike the Netflix documentary, Banks, executive producer Ken Mok, and former judges Miss J. Alexander, Nigel Barker, and creative director Jay Manuel do not appear in the E! docuseries to share their perspectives. Instead, Dirty Rotten Scandals includes insight from media personality Perez Hilton, several past contestants, and former judge and supermodel Janice Dickinson
Here are five new things we’re still digesting from the two-part docuseries:
Janice Dickinson Was Told to be a Mean Girl.
Former supermodel Dickinson, who appeared on ANTM on Cycles 1 to 4, has been heavily criticized for being the harshest judge on the panel. Many of Dickinson’s comments painfully insulted the contestant’s physical appearance, which she argued on the show was the harsh reality of the modeling industry. She made blunt remarks like “America’s next top model is not a plus-size model” to a contestant who Banks claimed had a prominent “lower body” and told a model that their photograph looks like “the battery died in her vibrator.”
Dickinson reveals in the documentary that Banks, along with the producers, forced her to be a “mean girl.” In the docuseries, she revealed, “The producers, especially Tyra, were begging me to be harsher and cruel, like Simon Cowell was on American Idol.”
Winners and Contestants Weren’t Compensated During or After the Show.
Cycle 2 winner Yoanna House confirmed that the series’ contestants weren’t paid on the show, despite working long hours. According to Cycle 9 contestant Sarah Hartshorne, they worked 12 to 16-hour days, with cameras still recording while they were asleep. Hartshorne also claimed that contestants were only given a $37 allowance to buy food.
While the grand prize varied across cycles depending on active sponsorships and partnerships, winning contestants were promised a prize package that typically included a six-figure brand contract, a model agency signing, and a magazine spread. The promise of a modeling career afterward is what pushed contestants beyond their limits; however, it didn’t become a reality for most.
“A $100,000 contract does not mean a $100,000 check,” Hartshorne explained. “It was actually just the promise of the opportunity to do $100,000 worth of work over a year. But there was a clause that said if circumstances arise and work can’t be provided, they were under no obligation to pay you.”
Banks told the press that Cycle 1 winner Adrianne Curry was “making a lot of money.” Yet, that was far from the truth. Despite Curry letting Banks know that her mother was on the verge of losing her house, she still wasn’t properly compensated for winning the show. Curry revealed in a 2003 interview with Entertainment Weekly that all she received was $15,000 makeup demonstration and an unsuccessful agency deal.
Similarly, House revealed that she made several appearances after her cycle and was never compensated for any of them. After moving to New York once the show ended, she was forced to figure out her own housing accommodations and next steps.
Angelea Preston was Stripped of her Title Because of Her Involvement in Sex Work.
Angelea Preston competed in Cycles 12 and 14 of ANTM before winning Cycle 17’s All Stars season in 2011. Preston’s win never aired, leaving fans to question what happened to her after she was disqualified.
Under the impression that they were discussing sponsorships, the model recalled being pulled into a meeting with ANTM casting director Michelle Mock and CBS executives. Instead, she was told that the network couldn’t air her as the winner due to her previous engagement in sex work, ultimately revoking her winning title. The finale was reshot with Lisa D’Amato being deemed the official winner of Cycle 17.
“Before I went on All Stars, I was in a bind and desperate to make some money,” she shared in the documentary. “…I obviously didn’t make the best choice, but I was desperate and wasn’t thinking straight. I just won this show. This show would change my life for the better. Just for them to take my shit away from me.”
She continued, “My dream was right there like someone dangling candy in front of a kid. I was supposed to walk away with $100,000. They gave me $300 in cash, like pity money, and sent me on my way.”
Before the All Stars cycle, Preston said she met with Mock and admitted to her past involvement with sex work, in which she was told, “I know what happened to you, but I want you to take this opportunity and run with it.”
The Real Reason Jeana Turner Cried During Her Casting Audition.
As a person who struggles with alopecia, longtime ANTM fan Jeana Turner was crushed when she discovered that Cycle 24’s sponsor was a hair care brand rather than a makeup brand they typically partnered with. “How was I ever going to win once I was told Pantene was the sponsor?” Turner said in the documentary. “I don’t have hair.”
Prior to joining the show, Turner’s modeling experience included appearing in Playboy magazine, which she said helped her to step into her own femininity as her alopecia progressed. Banks made it clear that she wasn’t a fan of Turner’s previous modeling experience during her audition. In the middle of Turner crying while trying to explain herself, she recalled Banks quickly changing the subject and telling her to speak about her alopecia. The Playboy scene was never shown, making it seem as if Turner was having a breakdown over her condition.
“That was the very first way that they manipulated my emotions to get a certain scene,” Turner said. She also revealed that she was told she was getting a wig during her makeover, but instead left with a shaved head.
“Looking back on it, their editing was that deceptive that they were actually able to make an audience think I felt powerful,” she said. “I felt so small.”
Models Claim Psychological Abuse.
During Cycle 17, Banks brought back contestants from previous cycles for their All Stars season. D’Amato, who first appeared on the show’s fifth season in 2005 and was nicknamed “an alcoholic bitch” by her former fellow contestant Coryn Woitel, said she returned for Cycle 17 for revenge, redemption, and to change her life.
In the documentary, she compared her experience of being on All Stars to the Stanford Prison Experiment. The Stanford Prison Experiment was a controversial study designed to understand how situational behavior influences human behavior, specifically within a prison setting. In D’Amato’s comparison, she claims that she and the other all-star contestants were placed in a van for 4-5 hours with paper bags over their heads.
D’Amato also revealed that during her original audition for Cycle 5, Banks and the judges asked several questions about her past traumas and strained relationship with her mother. “My mom was my abuser,” she admitted. “My mom is the one who tortured me my whole life…They were constantly weaponizing my childhood trauma. They just (expletive) with me emotionally.”