- 14 hours ago
Reality Check Inside Americas Next Top Model - Season 1 - Episode 03: Rooting for You
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00:06This is Tyra Take Two, Common Mark, Soft Sticks.
00:15What was the toughest moment for you while filming the show?
00:19Toughest moment, hmm.
00:25Tiffany, maybe?
00:27I'm thinking that. That was very tough for me.
00:29Yeah.
00:31Yeah.
00:34Somebody's back.
00:35Hey, I'm back.
00:37Last time I came here, I tried out.
00:39I didn't get any.
00:40It would have been a big change from hustling to being a glamour girl anyway.
00:45It's cool, you know, I'm used to failing.
00:48Somebody gotta fail, right?
00:49Tiffany, that girl, that girl was my heart.
00:52She didn't make it the first year because she got into a fight in a bar.
00:57But we mentored her off camera and said,
00:59we feel like this show is gonna be amazing for you.
01:01Let's get you the help that you need.
01:02And our team did.
01:03I don't jump on people and throw glasses and stuff like that anymore.
01:07I'm just not like that anymore.
01:09Tiffany grabbed her problems by the reins.
01:12She got it together. She came back.
01:14That girl wants to change her life.
01:18I thought she was gonna win.
01:20But what happened later is the most discussed scene in the history of Top Model.
01:28So now it's time for your individual evaluations.
01:31The girls were tasked with reading a teleprompter.
01:36Christian Lacroix.
01:38Christian Lacroix.
01:39Christian Lacroix.
01:39Christina Lacroix.
01:41Filled with all these, you know, designer names, a lot of French names.
01:45I can't know that word.
01:46None of you girls can read.
01:47Pretty much they were set up to fail.
01:50Hi, I'm Tiffany.
01:52It's Fashion Week in Paris.
01:54Technicolor is the name of the game.
01:58Can you, I can't do this.
01:59I just wanted to change this woman's life.
02:02I felt like she could have been a supermodel.
02:05With a capital S.
02:07Tiffany, the other girls did not know these words.
02:10They goofed the words.
02:11Go through it.
02:12Just have fun with it.
02:13Use your personality.
02:14Be you.
02:16I don't know.
02:17If you don't do this, you're gonna go home.
02:20And I just saw all that going down the drain.
02:22I saw her just not believing in herself and just giving up.
02:26And not just giving deeper.
02:29This is familiar.
02:32I think she wants it, but she's so intimidated by it,
02:35she'd rather say goodbye to it before it says goodbye to her.
02:38There needs to be something that really gets the competition going again.
02:42They need a wake-up call.
02:44Later in that episode, Tyra does something that she hadn't done before.
02:50Both of you will pack your bags.
02:52She sent two girls home.
02:53Look at her water heads.
02:56Looking all bad.
02:58Tyra really wanted people to take it seriously.
03:02Oh, girl, you gotta stop.
03:04She's feeling that Tiffany's mocking this.
03:06That struck a chord.
03:08If you guys stand in front of me, I just wanna say one more thing to you.
03:12Tiffany, I'm extremely disappointed in you.
03:15This is a joke to you.
03:16You've been through anger management.
03:18You've been through your grandmother getting her lights turned off
03:20to buy you a swimsuit for this competition.
03:22And you go over there and you joke and you laugh.
03:24Looks can be deceiving.
03:25I'm hurt.
03:26I am.
03:28But I'm sick of crying about stuff that I cannot change.
03:31I'm sick of being disappointed.
03:33I'm sick of all of it.
03:34I'm not.
03:35You're sick of being disappointed.
03:36Obviously, I am.
03:37No, you're not.
03:37If you were sick of being disappointed, you would stand up and you would take control
03:41of your destiny.
03:42Do you know that you had a possibility to win?
03:44Do you know that all of America is rooting for you?
03:48When I see this beautiful girl who made some mistakes in the season before and didn't
03:53make it, and then we, you know, worked with her to get her here.
03:56You come in here and look at that and say, I can't read that.
03:58You read 10 times better than half of those girls over there.
04:01And then to see her, like, just kind of giving up, I just...
04:05You come in here with a defeatist attitude.
04:07I don't have a bad attitude.
04:08Maybe I am angry inside.
04:10I've been through stuff, so I'm angry.
04:12Yes.
04:12But this is not...
04:13Be quiet!
04:17I have never in my life yelled at a girl like this.
04:20When my mother yells at this, it's because she loves me.
04:23I was rooting for you.
04:24We were all rooting for you.
04:26How dare you?
04:28Tyra really scared all of us.
04:30Like, we literally jumped out of our seats.
04:32What is happening right now?
04:33It was definitely the most difficult moment on set I had ever experienced.
04:38It was ugly.
04:39Learn something from this!
04:41You roll in your eyes and you act like this because you've heard it all before.
04:44You don't know where the hell I come from.
04:46You have no idea what I've been through.
04:48But I'm not a victim.
04:49I grow from it and I learn.
04:51Take responsibility for yourself.
04:55When they were done shooting, production staff literally just, like, took Tyra off set.
05:00It was very scary.
05:02It was like she went off.
05:04And Tyra never went off.
05:06Tyra must have really saw herself in that girl.
05:10I went too far.
05:12You know, I lost it.
05:14It was probably bigger than her.
05:16It was family, friends, society.
05:18Black girls, all the challenges that we have.
05:20So many people saying that we're not good enough.
05:22I think all that was in that moment.
05:25That's some black girl stuff that goes real deep inside of me.
05:28But I knew I went too far.
05:30I'm not finna break down for you and nobody else.
05:32You ain't there s*** with me, but bring me here and put me through hell these weeks.
05:35There was a lot more that was really said.
05:38And some of the things that were said were really not well-intentioned.
05:42I will probably never repeat the lines that were actually said in that room that day.
05:47All I know is the next week we had all the lawyers on set.
05:52In all of my interviews, I will always tell people, I feel like the reason that she yelled at me
05:56was because she loved me.
05:58That was bull.
05:58If she loved me, she wouldn't have showed it the way she showed it.
06:03If you love someone, you won't humiliate them.
06:07People have tried to make it something funny, but it really wasn't.
06:18Okay, so it is 12 midnight and we've already started getting the girls ready in hair and makeup.
06:25As I reached cycle eight, I kind of felt things really changing.
06:31We were supposed to be showing the behind the scenes of what the fashion world was.
06:36Helping change the industry.
06:39And I just wanted everyone to have their best possible shot.
06:43But the show had evolved in a way I'd never expected.
06:49There was this version of me on this show, which was me, but not really me.
06:55Today, we're going to do the most controversial shoot we've ever done on America's Next Top Model.
07:01Because Tyra would always reinforce, we need to keep it entertaining, we need to keep people watching.
07:07So it's like, how can you be entertaining?
07:10I need you to give me that kind of strung out look.
07:15Hey Michelle, it looks really good.
07:19Did you ever have a moment in which you went to Tyra or to Kim and be like,
07:26I didn't like what you did to these girls.
07:29Just like, this scene was not cool.
07:33Of course, there were gobsmacked moments where you watch and you're like, oof.
07:39Okay, like, but it was certainly not my place to, you know, I would never tell them.
07:48I'm like, oh, you should have never.
07:50And that was slowly depleting me and kind of chipping away at my soul.
07:57So, it was time to tell Tyra that I wanted to leave the show.
08:04Tyra and I, we're at the traditional work relationship.
08:08And you work in such close proximity and traveling together.
08:12You know, it becomes, it becomes like a relationship.
08:16And I was afraid of saying the wrong thing.
08:20And I definitely did not want to make her upset.
08:25I tortured myself over the decision.
08:28It did not come lightly.
08:29I didn't discuss it with anyone.
08:31Miss J, like nobody, like knew.
08:35Jay Manuel, he gives everything to his chest.
08:40He's very secretive.
08:43Very, very, very, very, very secretive.
08:47Tyra had made a pact with me around cycle three or four.
08:50She said, when it comes to anything important,
08:52let's always promise each other we'll come to each other first.
08:55So, I knew that I had to tell her first.
09:01So, I sent her the email, just expressing the utter gratitude for this opportunity
09:07and to be able to help her realize this.
09:11But also, I was trying to kind of move on in my own life and career.
09:17And she didn't respond.
09:21It was probably the longest three days ever.
09:24And she ultimately wrote back just three words.
09:32I am disappointed.
09:35After that email exchange,
09:39all communication just stopped.
09:41It should have been the opportunity to have a heart-to-heart,
09:43but that did not happen.
09:45I took a one-week vacation in St. Lucia,
09:49and then reception came with an urgent note for my attorney.
09:55I called my attorney, and he said,
09:58this is an ask coming through Business Affairs.
10:01They said, we just need a little more time.
10:04Can you just do one cycle for us?
10:06Just cycle nine.
10:08And then there was a warning that strikes the fear of God in you.
10:15You know, people talk about being blacklisted.
10:19Those words were not used.
10:20But I had suspected that that's what it would turn into.
10:25And then I didn't know who to talk to.
10:28Because honestly, the person I would always talk to was Tyra.
10:35And then I tried to, I thought, I thought I could fix that.
10:41I just decided, I thought, you know, one season, you know, what could happen?
10:50Take off your blindfolds.
10:52This is your home for the next week.
10:55We had to do the casting episode.
10:56It was on the boat.
10:57I hadn't spoken to Tyra.
10:59I was extremely nervous.
11:00Oh, my God.
11:01So, you know, you get your microphone on and everything, and then we sit down.
11:05I was like, oh, thank God.
11:07I'm thinking a moment.
11:08I can just talk to her.
11:09I'm like, oh, hey, Tyra.
11:10Like, hey, I just wanted to real quick.
11:16And that was the first time I really realized there was a real problem.
11:21She wouldn't speak with me.
11:23Is that right here?
11:25Oh, that is Tyra.
11:26Hey, girl.
11:27And it was clear I didn't know what to do because I just sat there.
11:32And I just was the girl came in and we talked.
11:34Come on, Tyra.
11:35I'm a guy.
11:36I'll just pop you.
11:36She's like, I guess I'll just sit here.
11:38Six, seven, eight.
11:40And then she leaned over.
11:42She put her arm around me.
11:44What do you think, Jenny?
11:45What do you think about her?
11:47She's...
11:47I love her.
11:48The bitchy bitch that I've seen, like, here.
11:50Uh-oh.
11:51Who's the bitchy bitch?
11:52That's what we want to know.
11:56So, on camera, we learned to play, laugh, but it was just clear I was not allowed to
12:04speak with her outside of that.
12:06Which, after that first day, I thought, there is absolutely no way I'm going to survive
12:11this cycle.
12:14When we were shooting in China, I was tired and I was scared.
12:19Do I remember inklings of there being some sort of issue here and there?
12:23I do, but I had no idea that it was that raw.
12:27I was still trying to process what was going on.
12:31I always thought that Jay, I wouldn't want to say anything insulting to Tyra.
12:37None of the other girls jumped.
12:40Best shoe?
12:40That's her best shoe.
12:41Wow.
12:43I just...
12:44It was...
12:44It was, like, psychological torture.
12:49I...
12:51I just...
12:51I felt broken.
12:55Can we talk now about what happened with you and Jay?
12:58Uh...
13:01I'd prefer...
13:02I...
13:03Yeah.
13:04I should call Jay.
13:05I don't want to do this here.
13:07Keep it to yourself.
13:07Yeah.
13:08Yeah, but he's a special man.
13:13At that point...
13:14Hey, good morning.
13:16My job had changed.
13:17I no longer was producing creative.
13:20The only thing I was responsible for producing per my contract is the final runway.
13:26I was now just on-camera talent.
13:31I showed up.
13:33Hey, girls, today's photo shoot is all about da-da-da-da-da.
13:37They tell you to stand here and say this, that's your job.
13:41And I started really paying attention to what was starting to happen behind the scenes.
13:49The hair I'm seeing under the...
13:51What ends up with the armpits, girl?
13:52I thought I was gonna get touched.
13:54Oh, my God.
13:54I'm really sorry.
13:55I'll go home and shit bad.
13:56You know how expensive retouching is?
13:57There were definite photos selected that we felt...
14:00We were like, wait, what?
14:02The other thing that really worries me is that kind of long drool coming off of your chin.
14:07That makes no sense.
14:09Ken and his team and Tyra, they knew what they were doing.
14:13That is where I started to learn the art of the storytelling.
14:17I would really hate for the judges to say, you know what?
14:20She's got the look, she takes pretty pictures, but she's consistently controlled.
14:25If there were certain girls that were not performing well on a shoot,
14:29I would sometimes be pulled aside and say, okay, this person, we have this story.
14:35We need them to go forward at least a couple more episodes.
14:40Get us there.
14:40We have to let go of the control.
14:42Where do you not feel good enough?
14:44Tell me.
14:44Talk to me.
14:45I don't trust myself.
14:47Because if the photos are just crappy, it will become hard to say this person deserves to stay in the
14:54competition.
14:55Good job.
14:56Before it is a modeling show, it is a television show.
14:59I think Nick is great.
15:01I love this picture of her.
15:02But Nick's personality is so kind of wishy-washy still.
15:06Personality beat out pictures.
15:08Each week that she comes, I am just bored to death.
15:13They didn't always choose our best picture.
15:16You guys use my worst one.
15:17You're saying this is your worst one?
15:19Because the other one, I did the lines perfectly.
15:21Who doesn't think it was their best take?
15:23Initially, they were really trying to pull the best shots.
15:26But as we started getting into story, then it turned into, we need better story out of these shots.
15:33So sometimes, and I had no control over this.
15:37I lost my control.
15:40When a girl is eliminated, another shot was selected.
15:44You're giving us sort of a high fashion look.
15:47But in fact, you just look sleepy.
15:49Sometimes, not always, it was not her best shot.
15:53And there was a better shot.
15:54Oh.
15:55The lack of ethics behind the scenes to make quote unquote good TV, it's really disturbing.
16:04Because for these girls, this is their life.
16:07A lot of these girls are like, you know, I want to help my mom out.
16:10I'm stuck at a dead end job.
16:11I have no other recourse.
16:13It was life or death for them.
16:17There was always been so much more at stake emotionally in Top Model
16:22than you have in a typical reality competition, which is just a game.
16:27Top Model was very different in that the prize was the promise of a career.
16:34The chance to be a model, to become America's next top model.
16:40For the girls that were in this show, this was about trying to achieve your dream.
16:46So, Dion and Natasha, please don't fall.
16:51When I was eliminated, I was fucking shocked.
16:57I became so numb, I couldn't even move.
17:00Did we always get it right? I don't think so, no.
17:02I think sometimes we eliminated the wrong person, but that's the way it goes.
17:07Kayla, when you get that close, you just know it's going to be your picture.
17:12You just know it's going to be you. You know you're going to make it.
17:15I definitely was crushed.
17:17I really wanted to be one of the last two.
17:21I really thought it was going to be me.
17:24Maybe we could have done a better job to let them know that not everybody's going to be a star.
17:29I can't go back to doing what I was doing. It was killing me.
17:33What happened is you were filmed packing your bag, exiting the model apartment,
17:40and then a production assistant took you to a hotel room.
17:43You don't go home. Everyone stays with the production until the very end for confidentiality reasons.
17:52There wasn't a phone available to call anybody at that time.
17:56And then, of course, even if I did, I would not have been able to tell them,
18:01hey, I've just been eliminated.
18:03I couldn't disclose that information.
18:06Did Tyra or any of the producers call you later and say, hey, thanks for being gone?
18:11No.
18:12They were just kind of left, eliminated. It was just awful.
18:21I felt sorry for them.
18:22But I just know that it's dog-eat-dog world out there.
18:29In the real world, they eat you up and spit your pie out.
18:38As soon as you get off the plane and go back home, reality sets in.
18:43Are you going to take a shot at modeling? Are you going to try and move to New York?
18:47There is no guidance. You have to figure it out on your own.
18:50We were rooting for all of these supermodel hopefuls back in the day.
18:54Listen, I would do where they are now videos for the girls with America's Next Top Model,
18:57but the truth is I don't really know where they are either.
18:59I wouldn't say that there were clients knocking down doors being like,
19:03we saw Laura on the show. We really want to hire her.
19:07Yeah, things didn't work out the way I was promised and stuff, but life isn't fair and you move on.
19:13Well, I'm actually the winner of America's Next Top Model, so sorry, you're still not what we're looking for.
19:21I couldn't use any of the photos from America's Next Top Model in my actual modeling portfolio.
19:27The photo shoots were way overly themed, way too much makeup.
19:32I got really far in this competition, but then in real life, I was in the modeling industry, was nobody.
19:41I came to New York several times to take a stab at, you know, trying to get signed to an
19:46agency.
19:47It did not work out.
19:51There was a stigma to being part of a reality series. Not anymore.
19:57People would love to be on a reality series now to get their brand out there.
20:02Because now the world is completely different.
20:05What Top Model did was really create the beginning of influencers.
20:11These days, everyone is a supermodel. Everyone is an influencer. Everyone is famous.
20:17There are tons of people out there now going directly to the public without the gatekeepers that used to be
20:24in place.
20:24You take control of your own narrative today. But at that time, it was absolutely not something that you did.
20:32The girls that are successful now are running because the other ones walked first.
20:39We opened the door. We slammed it wide open. And so many came through.
20:45Eva the Diva, who was five, five, five, six.
20:50Isis, one of the first trans people on a huge successful show like that.
20:56And Winnie Harlow is one of the biggest models on the planet.
21:02Whitney, our first plus size, hate the word, curve model to win.
21:09When I won, this was like a big deal that a plus size model was winning on the show.
21:17And then, of course, we got a contract with elite model management and they didn't even have a plus division.
21:23So it's like, what kind of fucking joke is this?
21:25I really had to fight for a place.
21:30But eventually, I ended up being the first plus size model for so many massive companies.
21:38And finally, these models later were able to get that success.
21:43But it's on the backs of the ones that opened that door.
21:49America's next top model is Danielle.
21:57And it's me in that picture. Oh my God, that's me.
22:01I remember thinking, life happens after winning A&TM. Life begins.
22:07Literally, the 12-year-old Danielle is like, we're up. We won, right? Like, we're here. We're here.
22:14New York, professional model. Like, it's only up from here.
22:18I'm a couple girl, Mommy. I'm a couple girl.
22:22But those cameras shut down on top model and they just threw me to the wolves.
22:30When I moved to New York in July, I moved right into the model's apartment.
22:35My agent at the time at Ford called me and she was like, you need to come in to the
22:40agency.
22:44The energy at the agency was just, like, off-putting.
22:49It was cold. It was a very, like, cold interaction.
22:53And that was the hardest thing because I'm new to the industry.
22:59I'm signed to you guys.
23:01But it was kind of like I was the redhead stepchild.
23:04Or better yet, the black sheep. Like, why are you here?
23:08And I sat in the model's apartment for months, never going on castings.
23:15Did you know of other girls around you who weren't on the show that were thriving?
23:21Thriving.
23:22Like, I lived in the model's apartment with Chanel Iman, who went on to become, like, a very prominent top
23:32model.
23:33And I remember her coming home this one day, this one morning.
23:37She was like, I finally asked our agent why you never have castings whenever I go get the castings for
23:44all the girls.
23:44And she said to me, well, we have to treat Dani differently because she came from top model.
23:54That was a hard, hard pill to swallow.
23:59My experiences mirrored that.
24:02I remember my first show season. I didn't book any shows.
24:06What I was told was that no one wanted to book me for their shows because I was viewed as,
24:14like, this reality star.
24:16And designers didn't want me walking in the show to take attention, if you will, off of their collection and
24:23onto myself.
24:24And so I knew very early on that, oh, top model has a stigma.
24:32I've already lived 20 years in the real modeling industry and gotten my ass handed to me.
24:38So I was never able to rise to the level that I could have or should have.
24:44What angers me the most is the conversation that Tyra had with me years later.
24:52She told me that, she's like, I knew that there were certain doors that you couldn't even get into because
25:01you did top model.
25:03And I did nothing about it.
25:06And she said to me, I always rode the fence with you.
25:18And that's when I said respectfully, Tyra, you have no fucking idea how painful it has been for me.
25:27You have no fucking idea.
25:31But for you to admit to me all these years, 15 years later, I know the hell that you've been
25:37going through.
25:37I know that you couldn't even walk through the threshold of certain doors.
25:42And so to have her, a black woman, say to me over the phone that I knew you were struggling
25:51and I did nothing about it?
25:53What?
25:55You don't got to support me.
25:56You don't even got to like me.
25:57But don't see me in my suffering and just walk past me.
26:02That's so fucked up.
26:07They built a whole empire, multi-million dollar brand known as America's Next Top Model, off the backs of every
26:15girl's dream that did that show.
26:17And it never became realized.
26:20The vast majority of the girls were kind of right back at square one or even worse.
26:29After the show, I felt really broken.
26:35Can you tell me what happened with Tyra later on when she invited you to her talk show?
26:42Um.
26:43It's a top model reunion today.
26:45And don't forget to check out season five when it premieres tonight on UCN.
26:50She was asking me about what happened in Milan.
26:53And I told her I'd never seen it.
26:55It just brought up too many things.
26:57And then I was like, I can't watch the show anymore.
26:59And then she just puts it on the screen in front of me.
27:02I'm gonna roll a little clip that a lot of us remember.
27:12And I don't look at it.
27:14She's like, I noticed you weren't looking.
27:16Sandy, you weren't watching that.
27:17I thought you were looking down.
27:18How come you can't watch that?
27:19I just can't do it.
27:20Really?
27:21It brings back like all the old stuff.
27:23Oh, yeah.
27:24I'm like, I literally told you behind the scenes.
27:26Like, I've never seen it.
27:28I don't want to see it.
27:29Don't show it.
27:31And you didn't respect that.
27:32At all.
27:35That's awful.
27:37That was miserable.
27:40Miserable.
27:42That behavior doesn't stop.
27:46Her behavior doesn't, doesn't change.
27:49Everybody wants to know,
27:50are you still with your boyfriend?
27:51No, I'm single now.
27:52You're single.
27:53Yeah.
27:54Why did you guys break up?
27:55Um, well, he couldn't get over it.
27:57He couldn't get over that.
27:58But you guys were together for like,
27:59I remember after you were together.
28:01Me and Eric, we tried.
28:05But he really tried.
28:06I mean, he moved with me to New York after the show.
28:12But it would suck when I'd be walking with Eric down the street
28:15and somebody recognized me and call me a slut to my face.
28:20Marching in horror, Eric standing right next to me.
28:23That was fun.
28:25It made me hate myself.
28:28If you want drama, try putting 13 aspiring young models in a house to see who will become America's next
28:34top model.
28:34I am proud of my top model girls.
28:40After the top model, we thought one of us was going to be with a top modeling agency and that
28:49was going to be our new career.
28:54No.
28:57Were you the one that went where it was on that modeling thing?
29:00Mm-hmm.
29:01Oh.
29:01Still working on Walgreens.
29:05You're all going to be blind as a bat.
29:10I don't like semen.
29:12Ignite that flame.
29:13Shooting in a Greek salad.
29:15No.
29:16Tell that what you do.
29:20As the show went on, Dawn had left.
29:25And there was a new president that came in, Mark Pedowitz.
29:29I remember I was getting a phone call from the network every day saying they need to talk to me.
29:35They need to talk to me.
29:36And I just kept putting it off, putting it off, putting it off.
29:40My assistant would be telling me this, they really need to talk to you.
29:43They really need to talk to you.
29:45And finally, the head of the network, he said, get her on the phone now.
29:53I took his call and I'll never forget.
29:57He said, the show is the biggest thing in the world.
30:02But it will always be.
30:05And it's taking a dip.
30:07The head of the network said, the show is in a mature phase and we need to make a significant
30:13change.
30:14And there are no sacred cows.
30:19You have to let go of this, this, and this.
30:27Three of my hearts.
30:31Mr. J, Miss J, and Nigel.
30:36It shocked me.
30:37I was like, what?
30:38There was no need to replace them.
30:42For my birthday, Tyra sent me flowers.
30:46I said, oh, how sweet.
30:48It was a note.
30:50Happy birthday.
30:51Love Tyra.
30:53And then I was fired five days later.
30:59Eleven girls stand before me, but I only have ten photos in my hands.
31:06I remember them saying, we've decided we're going to go in a completely different direction.
31:10We were not going to be renewed.
31:12The girl that I do not call must immediately return to your house, pack your belongings, and go home.
31:19You want to talk about being slapped across the face and then slapped right back.
31:23If I honestly had to publish this picture, I would crop you right out of it.
31:27Come on, give me a break.
31:28I was just finding the show.
31:30You look like when Moses parted the Red Sea that you were on the other side fishing.
31:33That's how old you look.
31:34And then, bye.
31:36Ratings are down.
31:37We're cutting the fat off the show that bringing the ratings down was the implication.
31:42That it was us three.
31:43That was really tough.
31:45It was somewhat mercenary.
31:47Unless you are Tyra Banks, I'm afraid you're expendable and they will swap you out just like that.
31:56Ciao.
32:00As people got eliminated on our show, we also got eliminated.
32:04We have three cards in front of us and none of you have made it.
32:09So, Tyra, what did you think of her?
32:13That is in your light, trust me.
32:15What did I think?
32:16What did you think?
32:17What is this for?
32:17I don't know, just a different angle.
32:19Don't put it on your website.
32:21Don't put it on my website.
32:24When I wanted to leave,
32:26I wasn't afforded that.
32:28And then, I work on this show from cycles 10 through 18.
32:35I made so many concessions.
32:42That's the part that's the most hurtful.
32:46We were going to put out one joint press release and they said we would all get a quote in
32:53this press release.
32:54We see it all the time in television shows, people saying so-and-so and so-and-so have decided
32:59to part ways.
33:01And Tyra was just like, we'll put out in our press release how, you know, we're going to continue to
33:05work together and blah, blah, blah.
33:06So we agreed to that.
33:10Tyra Banks has fired her panel of experts.
33:13Oh, my God.
33:15There was a leak to page six that said the three of us were fired.
33:19Banks booted judges Nigel Barker, J. Manuel, and Miss J in a stunning top model housecleaning.
33:25I said, oh, oh, a leak to page six.
33:29That show, the way we ran confidentiality and we're on these conference calls, there's no leak to page six.
33:34Anyone can assume where that came from.
33:37You now put that out there that way and we can't undo that no matter what we say.
33:41I mean, that's the double slap.
33:44That's the part that you then have to live with.
33:46That was probably the lowest point for me.
33:52Nigel, I just remember him being, and I didn't know him to be this way.
33:58I could feel, it was quite palpable how upset he was.
34:03It was difficult because I didn't have a backup plan at that point because I had been on Top Model
34:09for 17 seasons.
34:10And I had been really in the show kind of growing up with my family on America's Next Top Model.
34:15It was disappointing and I felt a little bit, like, betrayed.
34:20Why would you not allow people who've been a part of your show since its inception to move forward in
34:27their career with grace?
34:29It gives people their dignity.
34:33It was very deliberate.
34:37I'd heard them say on set many times, what do we got to do to create drama?
34:48We were going to be the drama.
34:49For the very first time, the three stars of America's Next Top Model were all just fired by Tyra Banks
34:56in their first TV interview together.
34:59As soon as the news broke, you guys saw the headlines, I'm sure, as soon as they were coming out,
35:02and all said, judges fired.
35:03That's how people were putting it.
35:06Do you feel blindsided by what happened?
35:08I think more than anything, I feel a little sad.
35:11Well, I got flowers last week sent to me by Tyra.
35:15To soften the blow?
35:16That's what I kind of thought.
35:19I said to myself, hmm.
35:22Hmm.
35:23I just said that Lori doesn't.
35:24What I'm also interested to know is if this in any way is kind of a relief.
35:29I mean, let's face it, I worked with Tyra from way back when her reputation precedes her.
35:35She is tough to work for.
35:37And then, of course, the question that was posed directly to me.
35:41How tough was Tyra to work for?
35:45Jay grabs my knee, like, go ahead, girl. Like, it's just, like, Jay, like, why are you doing this to
35:52me?
35:53We had to speak very carefully, you know, contractually at the time.
35:59You know, there are only certain things you can speak about around production and what have you legally.
36:05Ken, Tyra, they were all watching us live. I know that.
36:08And I just thought, she's waiting for my answer.
36:11And, um...
36:13Well, you know, here's the thing. I'm a perfectuist, too.
36:16I usually demand a lot, you know, for people who work with me.
36:19No, it's true.
36:20Could you imagine?
36:21No, I can't.
36:22You know, it is, and I think that was actually our initial connection.
36:24I still really respected her as a model and a business mind.
36:29In terms of her being specifically difficult or rude, that's not Tyra's.
36:34She's not the type of person to walk out and out.
36:37She just has a very strong work ethic and knows what she wants.
36:40I'm sure we all do.
36:42It felt like the culmination of how our entire relationship and how I always viewed her.
36:48I have to do something to fix and bridge the gap.
36:54Like, I...
36:55That's how I looked at it, and that's just who I was.
36:59Fierce and love to my Nigel Barker, Mr. J. Manuel, and Miss J.
37:04America's Next Top Model turn us into a family, excited...
37:07That was probably some of the hardest news I have ever had to deliver in my existence.
37:12I cried myself to sleep that night.
37:16You know, they were there from the beginning.
37:19Best friend in the bed coming up with photo shoots.
37:23Backstage at fashion shows hanging, laying on them.
37:26Some of the closest people to me in my life.
37:30And me and Ken have to deliver that news that the deal is up, that it is over.
37:37You can imagine what that feels like.
37:42But bosses have bosses.
37:44And the big boss was very clear.
37:47There are no sacred cows.
37:49And I heard that meaning, you too, Tyra.
37:52So, pick up the phone and do what I'm telling you to do.
38:00And the thing is,
38:03I don't believe that they knew that it came from above.
38:07No matter how much Ken and I were explaining this was not our decision,
38:13to this day, I think they think that it was me and Ken.
38:19Yeah.
38:20She was willing to do anything for her show,
38:24however you want to look at that clearly.
38:26Even in that situation, she would do anything for the success of her show.
38:39Patrick, I'm totally freaking out right now.
38:41Ty, why?
38:42It's the 19th cycle.
38:44Ooh, 19th cycle.
38:45I need a whole new direction for the new season.
38:47A total H2T makeover.
38:49It's gotta be fierce.
38:50It's gotta be totally amazing.
38:52It's gotta be...
38:54Totes Amaze!
38:56A lot of reality shows fall into this trap of trying to stay relevant.
39:03This cycle, I opened up the competition exclusively to girls 5'7 and under.
39:07Trying to reinvent.
39:09You think you're about to see a typical episode of Top Model, don't you?
39:11I'm gonna take a cue from Twitter King and ultimate prankster himself, Ashton Kutcher.
39:16And so they lean on gimmicks.
39:18They jump the shark.
39:20I went through all the past cycles and brought back your favorite.
39:24I made everything bigger.
39:26I'm talking celebrities as mentors.
39:29The Kardashians.
39:30Ready, set.
39:32The fire kind of went out a little bit.
39:35The British are coming. The British are coming.
39:38May the best writ or the best yank win.
39:41It hit me after graduating from Harvard.
39:43We just have to do a college cycle.
39:45All of these big changes that kind of reeked of desperation was just writing on the wall.
39:53I'm making you a judge.
39:55You, the fan, have a voice in the judging room.
39:58They thought by us leaving that people would come back and watch to see what the new guard was like
40:04and it was gonna be a ratings bump.
40:06The ratings went down dramatically and then continued to decline quite rapidly.
40:12Up to now, you know there were no poise allowed on Top Model, but that was then and this is
40:16now.
40:17I can smize.
40:19It just felt like this empire was crumbling right before our eyes.
40:27It's very important that when you tooch your booty, that you don't poochie tooch it.
40:32She is cuckoo.
40:34Each and every girl on the planet has a chance to be one of the enlightened.
40:39Top Model's very first face wave.
40:42Pop medium is a twist on Top Model.
40:46I don't think you deserve for me to tell you what that means.
40:49Over 100 million votes.
40:51This is some nonsense.
40:52Like, I don't even, like, what are we doing?
41:05After Cycle 22, the network came back to me and said, we don't want Tyra to be the host of
41:09the show.
41:12and i'm like you're crazy she is the show
41:18no sacred cows
41:23this is my baby that was my life it was like my right hand was gone
41:35they replaced tyra we got a new host and
41:40you know everything changed and that's when i was like i'm logging off
41:46they've lost the plot
41:50america's next top model stayed on the air for 24 cycles and by the end we kind of mutually
41:57decided that we didn't want to do it anymore it had run its course times were changing and
42:02it was probably just time to put it down and do something different
42:08what happened after the show is because i became known for doing such elaborate photo
42:14shoots i also got booked to do those sorts of shoots in real life
42:18i shot an entire book with taylor swift i ended up working with miss universe and miss usa
42:25you don't already know if you're living under a rock it is jay manual people knew me as a
42:30personality so i ended up with a contract with e i did a cosmetic company and eventually i wrote
42:37a novel the wig the bench and the meltdown the book is really inspired by my life in the whole
42:44kind of crazy world of reality tv and the entertainment industry let's just be clear it's a novel
42:51jay has just been off on a top model tour i went out to do tabanasha
42:57china as well i am here with jay alexander a legend in the fashion world and a huge part of
43:06the success
43:07of our fashion program at scab i was at scab for 15 years how do i maintain my icon status
43:16very simple
43:17be me and being authentic i've always been authentic
43:25but then everything changed
43:33okay so here's my room that i i have been living in it for one year and five months maybe
43:49on december 27th of 2022 i had a stroke
43:58i woke up i didn't know where i was other than in the hospital
44:09i was in five weeks in a coma and i couldn't walk
44:16i couldn't talk
44:19and i thought to myself what was i going to do and that i couldn't walk and i couldn't speak
44:26i cried i'm not ashamed to say that i cried and then once i was in the hospital
44:37that um jay and i just came to visit
44:43i don't know whether he even wanted me to see him in that way i was going to go see
44:46him
44:48and that was just such a terrible shock and really upsetting and horrifying and scary
44:58i could feel how upset he was for sure i can only imagine where he was in his mind
45:04you know when he saw me he was like happy to see me and the two of us cried together
45:09and
45:10i held him i thought back to how we used to do shows together i cried because i just missed
45:19them
45:20so much
45:25you're looking great jay thank you this hair though i'm sick with because it's just so pretty and long
45:32i know
45:35i'm glad we are together
45:39and um we're glad too mate it's really good to see you mate
45:46yeah it's really special
45:47it has been a journey and you're speaking so much better now
45:51yeah you are battling through when we first saw you in that hospital you could hardly move hardly
45:58talk and now you're sitting up doing an interview chatting talking rolling your eyes making us laugh
46:04you know it's a long journey but it's you're gonna get there
46:07i know it's been really really hard mate
46:14the thing is you're here though that's the thing
46:17i know
46:37i miss being the queen little one eh
46:39the catwalks of course
46:44i'm the person who took miles out of walk
46:50i took miles out of walk and now i can't walk
46:59i'm sure you're gonna see me again i'm sure is that is that all for me yet
47:08do you want to take a selfie since our last selfie was 2019 come on we gotta do it all
47:15right we're gonna
47:16wipe the lens okay
47:24did tyra come and visit you no not yet
47:29she just sent me um a text the um she wants to come and visit me
47:35but um no not yet
47:44tyra how you doing tyra
47:47hello tyra banks here i am a supermodel turned super business woman
47:52after the show i had so many different ideas for my life
47:57i'm obsessed with pivoting
47:59the fashion icon has launched a flagship ice cream store in sydney
48:04and i live in australia now
48:06i feel like my work is not done
48:11you have no idea what we have planned for cycle 25
48:20with everything you went through would you ever do top model again
48:26i would say do it at your own risk
48:31of course i'd love to do something like that again but not do that again if you know what i
48:36mean
48:37it didn't age well but it was also a reflection of the time that's exactly how it was
48:42the only reason the door was opened to me was because of tyra
48:49i do feel like tyra's intentions in the beginning were good but that got lost
48:55we were very young girls and we were put into a very mature adult world really fast that was hard
49:03we were just girls
49:08i had a young person woke up to me yesterday and they were like weren't you on that show
49:14that's amazing to see how the show has impacted so many people for so long
49:21so yeah tyra banks very much disappointed me but at the end of the day we're at a place now
49:27where we can say you know what this is not acceptable let's do something different this has
49:31been a long time coming i'm re-watching america's next top model hard show to watch in hindsight
49:37there's a lot of darkness in top model that makes me look at it differently than i did when i
49:43was a kid
49:45looking at that show through the lens of today it's like why did you do that why did you do
49:50that
49:50okay tyra said yeah she made some she did some she you know she said some and i thank you
49:56for that
49:57that is the only way you change that is the only way you get better is by somebody calling you
50:03out
50:04on your it is important and i want to let you know that i want you guys to be
50:12just as open as i am now about getting called on my but when somebody calls you out on yours
50:18because that day will come and continue to evolve because that's what we're all doing
50:24gorda is absolutely ridiculous perfect time to stop
50:32thank you
50:35i mean i can hang out it's not like if you want
50:40what have you been up to yeah i got the keys to the city
50:45i thought you saw keys to the city girl it's cute here i am now i'm a small business owner
50:53as well as a realtor was thinking i was going to be an actress and which i am and will
50:57become and
50:58there's great roles out there for me so go ahead producers make it work i auditioned for a home
51:02improvement show and i got got it and it changed my life completely starting my own business and
51:08construction and carpentry hung up the heels grabbed my tool belt did real estate in manhattan as a rental
51:15agent for six or seven years hated it and then i joined a theater group in new york and so
51:23i'm back
51:25i actually ended up buying this really cute little ice cream shop called the pink pelican
51:30we travel the world and have ice cream that's that's my life now so you and sire have an ice
51:35cream i know what the she copied me okay i had the ice cream shop first i started working with
51:42violent
51:42offenders leading trauma-informed care and i love it it's very hard but this is the most fulfilling work
51:51that i have done yet i take care of animals for a living i want to live on a farm
51:56and have like a
51:58sanctuary for animals you know i've always loved animals dissolving my contract and walking away from
52:06the industry has been the best decision of my life getting to know danielle not danny but danielle
52:14i just felt like the industry was vain i was like i want purpose i want to impact someone's life
52:20i learned so much about god's grace i am now a post coach helping develop aspiring models so that
52:30they understand hey you don't have to be a particular size you don't have to be a particular weight
52:35there's space for you and if there isn't space for you we're going to make the space
52:53space for you and it's more expensive than you and it's more expensive than you
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