Just when you thought “America’s Next Top Model” had faded from the spotlight again, here comes a new docuseries to dissect the global modeling phenomenon all over again.
Last month, Netflix reignited conversation around Tyra Banks’ groundbreaking competition series with the release of “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.” As I argued, the three-part docuseries felt less like the reckoning the controversial modeling show needed and more like a reminder of how problematic reality TV, the modeling industry and our broader social climate used to be.
But with E!’s investigative “Dirty Rotten Scandals” series, viewers finally get a more pointed exposé of the 2000s staple, a show that helped shift industry standards as much as it often fell victim to them.
This week, the network aired back-to-back episodes about the “dark side” of “America’s Next Top Model,” speaking with former contestants and winners — including Lisa D’Amato, Angelea Preston, Ebony Haith and Keenyah Hill (the latter two also appeared in “Reality Check”) — and former judge Janice Dickinson.
Unlike Netflix’s docuseries, which leaned heavily on interviews with numerous “ANTM” insiders to indulge in nostalgia for the show — including Banks and executive producer Ken Mok — E!’s two-part special relies on commentary from cultural critics and media experts, who take a far more critical view of what unfolded on Banks’ show.
