A number of America’s Next Top Model stars ‘felt pressured to go into sex work’ after being ‘stalked by desperate fans and people with bad intentions’, a source has claimed.
The reality modelling competition became a hugely popular show on TV when it aired from 2003 until 2018.
But, in recent years the toxic flaws within the reality series have started to come to light, alongside some heavy criticism.
Now, after the release of Netflix’s docu-series Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, which delves into the programme’s murky legacy, a source from the show has told Metro exclusively how contestants were ‘easily exploited by fans’.
‘The challenges on the show were humiliating so the real modelling world couldn’t take the contestants seriously, the source said.
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‘It was then hard to work a regular 9 to 5 after the show because some of them were being stalked by desperate fans and people with bad intentions who would go into their jobs to harass them.
‘Some did unfortunately feel pressured to go into sex work and start Onlyfans. That’s fine for someone who wants that, but really upsetting for someone who trained to become the next Naomi Campbell or David Gandy.’
The source also described how the show created ‘an underclass of models’ who were ‘easy to exploit by desperate fans’, adding: ‘None of them would have gone into sex work if the show had done what it claimed it would.’
They continued: ‘People in the business knew what the conditions on the show were like and knew many would be desperate for work after it aired so a lot of the guys have really horrible casting couch stories. The industry got a kick out of mocking the Top Models so many of them left.’
What did Metro think of the Netflix docu-series?
Our senior TV reporter Rebecca Cook said that watching the docu-series ‘makes her wonder how she ever enjoyed it all’.
The source also explained how there was a ‘hierarchy’ on set where straight male models were treated better than female models ‘because some of the producers preferred men to women’.
‘There was an awareness that the straight guys on the set were treated with respect because some of the senior staff liked them and feared retaliation if they treated them as they did the women on the set,’ the source said.
It was also claimed that openly gay male models were at the bottom of this pecking order, beneath straight men and then women.
‘Some of us felt it was because some people working on the show had some internalised homophobia and only respected men they wouldn’t have been able to talk to outside of the context of the show,’ the source said.
‘You got preferential treatment on set if you came from an athletic background. One of the staff called Winnie [Harlow] a “panda” in reference to her skin. That would never happened to one of the guys and we knew why.
‘Some of us felt it was much easier to be a straight guy on the set because of the internalised homophobia and desirability politics.’
This comes after Adrianne Curry, the inaugural winner of America’s Next Top Model, insisted Banks ‘isn’t sorry’ for the tough treatment of contestants on the reality competition show.
In a video posted on X, Curry said: ‘I have mad respect for Tyra Banks. She is not sorry. She is not apologizing to you. That b**** is not effing sorry. She will not bend the knee. And I respect that.
‘We want her to lie, lie and say how bad she feels? Everyone’s coming to me and they’re like, “None of the judges were sorry.” Why should they be? They’re all loaded.’
She also added: ‘Why should they give a flying F, you know? If they didn’t give a F at the time, they certainly ain’t gonna give a F now.
‘But mad respect for Tyra, because that’s hard to push back on that many people trying to struggle session you, and she’s just like, “f* you, I do what I want.” I gotta respect that. So, I tip my hat, m’lady. Keep on being yourself, which is someone who doesn’t give a flying s*.’
Curry won the first cycle of America’s Next Top Model in 2003 before being signed to Wilhelmina Models in New York City where she went on to have a successful career in modeling and reality TV.
Previously, she told the Daily Mail that some of the models ‘were weighed every single morning’ and claimed she was ravenous on set.
‘We would have to wait all day for catering to come to any set. We were so f*****g hungry all the time. I’ve never been so hungry,’ she said.
There is no suggestion that Banks or any of the judges were involved in the wrongdoing alleged.
Metro has contacted Tyra Banks and the production company of America’s Next Top Model for comment.
Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model is streaming on Netflix.
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