
Netflix’s new three-part series, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, highlights a particularly troubling story from the show’s history. America’s Next Top Model, created and hosted by Tyra Banks, was a reality competition where aspiring models competed for a contract and the title. It aired for 24 seasons across three networks (UPN, The CW, VH1) from 2003 to 2018. While initially successful, the show quickly became known for its controversies, including harsh judging, questionable challenges, backstage conflicts, and a disregard for the physical and mental well-being of its young contestants. It also produced some of the most memorable moments in reality TV, like Banks’ famous outburst – “I was rooting for you!” – from Season 4. The series provides some helpful context for that event, but it’s the show’s belated look at what happened to Shandi Sullivan in Milan that is truly disturbing. The things left unsaid about her experience are as unsettling as anything revealed in the documentary.