- Primary Subject: Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model
- Key Update: A new three-part Netflix documentary exposes toxic behind-the-scenes culture, featuring a marathon interview with Tyra Banks and health updates from beloved coach Miss J. Alexander.
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: February 17, 2026
- Quick Answer: Reality Check is a 2026 Netflix docuseries investigating America's Next Top Model’s controversies, including allegations of exploitation, production negligence, and the cast's lasting emotional trauma.
Airing from 2003 to 2018, America’s Next Top Model defined early-2000s reality television for more than a decade, offering aspiring models a chance to become the next international star.
However, behind the rigorous training, glamorous runway looks, elaborate photoshoots, and inspirational coaching, a darker reality was happening behind the cameras.
With that in mind, Netflix’s new documentary, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, revisits the show through a far darker lens, exposing the high-pressure environment, controversial creative decisions, and emotional fallout viewers never saw.
From allegations of sexual assault to Miss J’s stroke, here are five of the most shocking revelations from one of television’s biggest reality hits.
A Sexual Assault Turned Into a Storyline
Perhaps one of the most disturbing revelations in Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model involves the alleged sexual assault of Cycle 2 contestant Shandi Sullivan.
While America’s Next Top Model originally framed the incident as a “cheating” storyline, showing Sullivan having sex with a man during a trip to Milan, the reality, according to her, was far more serious.
The aspiring model later revealed that she had been heavily intoxicated, blacked out, and believes she was sexually assaulted while cameras continued rolling.
“I think [producers] should have been like, ‘All right, this has gone too far – we’ve got to pull her out of this,’” she said.
Instead, she claims the production did not intervene and portrayed the incident as relationship drama for television.
Executive producer Ken Mok defended the approach, stating, “We treated Top Model as a documentary.”
“The biggest disaster ever is always the best thing. People have a 104-degree temperature. They’re throwing up. They need IVs. That’s the best news I could ever have,” he added.
Tyra Banks’ Meltdown Was Worse Than It Was
One of America’s Next Top Model’s most iconic moments was Tyra Banks’ infamous meltdown, when she screamed at contestant Tiffany Richardson after the model appeared to give up on herself.
“I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you! How dare you!” Banks shouted.
While Banks later admitted that she went “too far,” calling it “some Black girl stuff” that went “real deep inside” her, creative director Jay Manuel revealed the situation was far more serious, even involving lawyers, due to what occurred.
An insider reported that Banks was escorted off set, several comments were cut from the episode, and lawyers arrived on set the following week.
“There was a lot more that was really said, and some of the things that were said were really not well-intentioned. I will probably never repeat the lines that were said in the room that day,” Manuel confessed.
The Infamous Makeover
Tyra Banks heavily pressured Cycle 6 winner Dani Evans to visit a dentist and have her tooth gap filled, warning that she could face elimination otherwise.
While Evans refused, she admitted feeling pressured after being told she would struggle in her modeling career if she didn’t change her appearance.
Photographer Nigel Barker disagreed with Banks’ suggestion, believing that Evans looked great even with the gap.
Yet, seasons later, Banks encouraged another model to alter her appearance by undergoing surgery to widen her gap.
“I’ve actually apologized for the issue with Dani, and it happened because there were agents that would tell me, ‘She will not work with those teeth, it’s not going to happen,’” Banks explained.
However, Evans countered, saying, “Bull-fucking-shit. Me getting my gap closed is not opening any doors for me. You were making good for TV at my expense.”
Jay Manuel Being Forced to Stay
After Season 8, Jay Manuel tried to leave America’s Next Top Model, sending a letter to Tyra Banks to bid farewell because he “didn’t like what the show was becoming.”
“It was chipping away at my soul,” he said in Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.
Banks reportedly responded with a simple, “I am disappointed,” and Manuel was pressured by the network’s business affairs division to stay.
Even after agreeing to remain, working with Banks proved difficult.
“It was clear I was not allowed to speak with her outside [being on camera],” he revealed. “It was like psychological torture; I felt broken.”
When asked about the situation for the Netflix documentary, Banks declined to comment.
Miss J’s Stroke
Beloved runway coach Miss J made a startling revelation that he suffered a massive stroke in 2022 and was in a coma for five weeks.
“I miss being the queen of the runway. I’m the person who taught models how to walk, and now I can’t walk,” he said.
The most shocking part, however, came when he revealed that Tyra Banks never visited him, despite Jay Manuel and Nigel Barker paying him a visit and even hanging out with him during the documentary’s filming.
To avoid assumptions, Banks texted Miss J, and she replied that she wanted to visit him.
The three-part Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model is now airing on Netflix.
Keep it locked on Epicstream, your go-to source for film, TV, and celebrity news!