The trailer for Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model makes one thing clear: this isn’t a nostalgic victory lap.
Across interviews with former models, judges, and Tyra Banks herself, the three-part documentary pulls the curtain back on the good, the bad, and the extremely ugly sides of America’s Next Top Model—including body shaming, beauty standards, power dynamics, and moments that have aged poorly in the era of social media accountability.
In one of the trailer’s most striking moments, Banks reflects plainly: “I knew I went too far — but you guys were demanding it” It’s a rare moment of acknowledgment that reframes scenes many viewers once accepted as “tough love” or reality TV theatrics, but that contestants now describe as harmful and lasting.
The series features candid commentary from judges and creative forces Jay Manuel, Nigel Barker, and Miss J Alexander, alongside former contestants whose experiences complicate the show’s legacy as a so-called launchpad for success.
Produced by EverWonder Studio and Wise Child Studios and directed by Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan, Reality Check doesn’t just revisit viral moments—it interrogates them. The documentary asks viewers to reconsider how entertainment, ambition, and exploitation collided at the height of reality TV’s dominance, and why those moments still resonate today.
What emerges isn’t a takedown or a defense—but a reckoning with what America’s Next Top Model represented, who it helped, who it hurt, and how far audiences were willing to go for the sake of entertainment.