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They’re shocking, so here are the most problematic ANTM moments that would never air today

Some of these are actually disgusting

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ByHelen Williams

18th February 2026, 12:02

America’s Next Top Model was the early-2000s reality show we lived for, but watching it in 2026 is a whole different vibe.

What once felt like quirky drama sometimes crosses the line into exploitative, unsafe or straight-up harmful television.

Thanks to Netflix’s Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, former contestants, producers and Tyra Banks herself revisit what really went down, and some of it is cringe through the ages.

These moments were once on TV, but today they feel absolutely un-airable.

Trigger warning: This article contains discussion of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

The infamous Tyra v Tiffany meltdown

Iconic, viral and chaotic, this on-set blow-up looks kinda wild now.

A mentor yelling at a young contestant for drama points? Today, that would be a producer-intervention moment, not a televised tantrum.

The ‘We’re going to London!’ prank

Turning an elimination into a fake-out surprise travel announcement? Sure, it was surprising, but engineering actual fear just for entertainment feels uncomfortable with today’s production ethics.

Keenyah Hill’s photo shoot in South Africa

In Reality Check, cycle four contestant Keenyah Hill opens up about how a male model repeatedly made unwanted advances and touched her during a photo shoot in South Africa, on camera.

Despite her voicing discomfort to producers, the shoot continued, and the footage aired.

Tyra Banks has since publicly apologised for not protecting Keenyah and for offering misguided advice at the time, saying she didn’t fully understand what proper protection looked like then but would absolutely handle it differently now.

When Rebecca fainted on set

@realitytvforuu

this will be etched in my mind for life #antm #antmclips #antmmoments #americasnexttopmodel #americasnexttopmodelcycle4 #fyp #foryou #realitytvforuu #realitytv #realitytvclips #throwbackrealitytv #throwbackshows #oldrealitytv

♬ original sound – reality tv & more❤️‍🔥

Rebecca actually passed out during a high-pressure shoot, spotlighting how little contestant well-being was prioritised before it became a huge conversation in reality TV.

Dani Evans and Joanie Dodds’ extreme dental makeovers

This one feels especially uncomfortable in hindsight. During cycle six, both Dani Evans and Joanie Dodds were pushed into major dental work as part of their “makeovers,” per Grazia.

Joanie had multiple teeth removed, and others shaved down in a procedure that lasted hours. She’s since said she had to sign a separate release on the spot, couldn’t call her mum or a lawyer, and didn’t realise how long or painful it would be.

The very next shoot, the crying one, she wasn’t acting. She was genuinely in pain. And the surgery? It was cosmetic, not medically necessary, and didn’t even fix her long-term bite issues.

Dani’s situation was different but just as loaded. She initially refused to close the gap in her teeth, something that made her look distinctive, but after Tyra warned that agents wouldn’t book her with it, she felt pressured to “play the game.”

Dani has since said it felt invasive and like her life was being toyed with for TV. Former judge Nigel Barker even admitted he thought closing the gap was a bad idea, saying perfection is boring.

Tyra has apologised in recent years, explaining she felt stuck between industry standards and protecting the contestant. Dani, however, rejected the apology, saying the change didn’t open doors and accusing the show of making “good TV” at her expense.

Shandi Sullivan’s Milan ordeal

@literallylaurad

HEARTBREAKING and criminal discussion on this series!!!! America’s Next Top Model cycle 2 contestant Shandi speaks on the new Reality Check docuseries on Netflix about the incident framed as her cheating storyline #antm #americasnexttopmodel #tyrabanks #2000s #realitytv

♬ original sound – Laura

This one is serious and deeply troubling.

During cycle two in Milan, Shandi Sullivan was portrayed on-air as having “cheated” on her boyfriend after drinking with male models, but in Reality Check, she reveals she was extremely intoxicated, blacked out, and remembers nothing of the encounter.

What went to air wasn’t just spilling tea, it was her being filmed in a non-consensual situation without intervention from production.

The storyline was framed as drama, but from Shandi’s perspective, it was more like sexual assault captured for entertainment.

Production didn’t stop it, and Tyra and execs later defended filming the episode as documentary-style. This kind of moment would never get greenlit on a modern set.

The moment nobody woke Jenascia

All the girls let a contestant oversleep as a storyline, basically turning sleep deprivation into a plot point.

Today, that reads like emotional manipulation more than a harmless reality TV gag.

Body shaming and ‘race swap’ photoshoots

ANTM’s history of photoshoots that leaned into stereotypes, like “race swap” makeup or glamorising extremes of beauty, is now widely discussed as insensitive at best and harmful at worst.

These segments often put contestants in uncomfortable roles for the sake of entertainment.

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