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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 with 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 up on this modeling competition.
02:29It's just a bit deeper.
02:32This is familiar.
02:35I think she wants it, but she's so intimidated by it,
02:38she'd rather say goodbye to it before it says goodbye to her.
02:41There needs to be something that really gets the competition going again.
02:45They need a wake-up call.
02:47Later in that episode, Tyra does something that she hadn't done before.
02:53Both of you will pack your bags.
02:55She sent two girls home.
02:56Look at her waterheads.
02:59They've been all bad.
03:01Tyra really wanted people to take it seriously.
03:05Oh, girl, you gotta stop.
03:07She's feeling that Tiffany's mocking this.
03:10That struck a chord.
03:11If you guys stand in front of me, I just want to say one more thing to you.
03:15Tiffany, I'm extremely disappointed in you.
03:18This is a joke to you.
03:19You've been through anger management.
03:21You've been through your grandmother getting her lights turned off to buy you a swimsuit for this competition.
03:25And you go over there and you joke and you laugh.
03:27Looks can be deceiving.
03:28I'm hurt.
03:29I am.
03:31But I'm sick of crying about stuff that I cannot change.
03:34I'm sick of being disappointed.
03:36I'm sick of all of it.
03:37I'm not.
03:38You're sick of being disappointed.
03:39Obviously I am.
03:40No, you're not.
03:40If you were sick of being disappointed, you would stand up and you would take control of your destiny.
03:45Do you know that you had a possibility to win?
03:47Do you know that all of America is rooting for you?
03:51When I see this beautiful girl who made some mistakes in the season before and didn't make it,
03:56and then we, you know, worked with her to get her here.
03:59You come in here and look at that and say, I can't read that.
04:01You read ten times better than half of those girls over there.
04:04And then to see her, like, just kind of giving up, I just...
04:08You come in here with a defeatist attitude.
04:10I don't have a bad attitude.
04:11Maybe I am angry inside.
04:13I've been through stuff, so I'm angry.
04:15Yes, but this is not...
04:16Be quiet, Tiffany.
04:17Be quiet!
04:20I have never in my life yelled at a girl like this.
04:23When my mother yells at this, it's because she loves me.
04:26I was rooting for you.
04:27We were all rooting for you.
04:29How dare you?
04:31Tyra really scared all of us.
04:33Like, we literally jumped out of our seats.
04:35What is happening right now?
04:36It was definitely the most difficult moment on set I had ever experienced.
04:41It was ugly.
04:42Learn something from this.
04:44You roll in your eyes and you act like this because you've heard it all before.
04:47You don't know where the hell I come from.
04:49You have no idea what I've been through.
04:51But I'm not a victim.
04:52I grow from it and I learn.
04:54Take responsibility for yourself.
04:58When they were done shooting, production staff literally just, like, took Tyra off set.
05:03It was very scary.
05:05It was like, she went off.
05:07And Tyra never went off.
05:09Tyra must have really saw herself in that girl.
05:13I went too far.
05:15You know, I lost it.
05:17It was probably bigger than her.
05:19It was family, friends, society, black girls, all the challenges that we have.
05:23So many people saying that we're not good enough.
05:25I think all that was in that moment.
05:28That's some black girl stuff that goes real deep inside of me.
05:31But I knew I went too far.
05:33I'm not trying to break down for you and nobody else.
05:35You ain't there s*** with me.
05:36But bring me here and put me through hell these weeks.
05:38There was a lot more that was really said.
05:41And some of the things that were said were really not well-intentioned.
05:45I will probably never repeat the lines that were actually said in that room that day.
05:50All I know is the next week we had all the lawyers on set.
05:55In all of my interviews, I will always tell people,
05:57I feel like the reason that she yelled at me was because she loved me.
06:01That was bull.
06:02If she loved me, she wouldn't have showed it the way she showed it.
06:05If you love someone, you won't humiliate them.
06:10People have tried to make it something funny, but it really wasn't.
06:21Okay, so it is 12 midnight,
06:25and we've already started getting the girls ready in hair and makeup.
06:28But okay.
06:28As I reached cycle eight, I kind of felt things really changing.
06:34We were supposed to be showing the behind the scenes of what the fashion world was.
06:39Helping change the industry.
06:42And I just wanted everyone to have their best possible shot.
06:47But the show had evolved in a way I'd never expected.
06:52There was this version of me on this show, which was me, but not really me.
06:58Today, we're gonna do the most controversial shoot we've ever done on America's Next Top Model.
07:05Because Tyra would always reinforce, we need to keep it entertaining.
07:08We need to keep people watching.
07:10So it's like, how can you be entertaining?
07:13I need you to give me that kind of strung out look.
07:18Hey, Michelle, it looks really good.
07:22Did you ever have a moment in which you went to Tyra or to Cannes and be like,
07:29I didn't like what you did to these girls, just like, this scene was not cool?
07:36Of course, there were gobsmacked moments where you watch and you're like, oof.
07:42Okay, like, but it was certainly not my place to, you know, I would never tell them.
07:51I'm like, oh, you should have never.
07:53And that was slowly depleting me and kind of chipping away at my soul.
08:00So it was time to tell Tyra that I wanted to leave the show.
08:07Tyra and I weren't the traditional work relationship.
08:11And you work in such close proximity and traveling together.
08:15You know, it becomes, it's a, it becomes like a relationship.
08:19And I was afraid of saying the wrong thing.
08:23And I definitely did not want to make her upset.
08:28I tortured myself over the decision.
08:31It did not come lightly.
08:32I didn't discuss it with anyone.
08:34Miss J like nobody like knew.
08:38Jay Manuel, he gives everything to his chest.
08:43He's very secretive.
08:46Very, very, very, very, very secretive.
08:49Tyra had made a pact with me around cycle three or four.
08:53She said, when it comes to anything important,
08:55let's always promise each other we'll come to each other first.
08:58So I knew that I had to tell her first.
09:04So I sent her the email just expressing the utter gratitude for this opportunity
09:11and to be able to help her realize this.
09:14But also I was trying to kind of move on in my own life and career.
09:20And she didn't respond.
09:24It was probably the longest three days ever.
09:27And she ultimately wrote back just three words.
09:35I am disappointed.
09:38After that email exchange, all communication just stopped.
09:44It should have been the opportunity to have a heart-to-heart, but that did not happen.
09:48I took a one-week vacation in St. Lucia.
09:52And then reception came with an urgent note for my attorney.
09:58I called my attorney and he said, this is an ask coming through Business Affairs.
10:04They said, we just need a little more time.
10:07Can you just do one cycle for us? Just cycle nine.
10:11And then there was a warning that strikes the fear of God in you.
10:18You know, people talk about being blacklisted.
10:22Those words were not used, but I had suspected that that's what it would turn into.
10:28And then I didn't know who to talk to because honestly, the person I would always talk to was Tyra.
10:38And then I tried to, I thought, I thought I could fix that.
10:44I just decided, I thought, you know, one season, you know, what could happen?
10:53Take off your blindfolds. This is your home for the next week.
10:57We had to do the casting episode. It was on the boat.
11:00I hadn't spoken to Tyra. I was extremely nervous. Oh, my God.
11:04So, you know, you get your microphone on and everything and then we sit down.
11:08I was like, oh, thank God. I'm thinking a moment. I can just talk to her.
11:12I'm like, oh, hey, Tyra. Like, hey, I just wanted to real quick.
11:19And that was the first time I really realized there's a real problem.
11:24She wouldn't speak with me.
11:26Is Tyra right here? Oh, my God, it's Tyra. Hey, girl.
11:30And it was clear I didn't know what to do because I just sat there and I just was the
11:36girl came in and we talked.
11:37Come on, Tyra. I'm a guy.
11:39She's like, I guess I'll just sit here.
11:41Six, seven, eight.
11:43And then she leaned over. She put her arm around me.
11:47What do you think, Jenny? What do you think about her?
11:50She's... I love her.
11:51The bitchy bitch that I've seen, like, here.
11:53Uh-oh, who's the bitchy bitch? That's what we want to know.
11:59So, on camera, we learned to play, laugh, but it was just clear I was not allowed to speak with
12:07her outside of that.
12:09Which, after that first day, I thought, there is absolutely no way I'm going to survive this cycle.
12:17When we were shooting in China, I was tired and I was scared.
12:22Do I remember inklings of there being some sort of issue here and there? I do, but I had no
12:28idea that it was that raw.
12:30I was still trying to process what was going on.
12:34I always thought that Jay, I wouldn't want to say anything insulting to Tyra.
12:40None of the other girls jumped. Best shoe?
12:43That's her best shoe.
12:44Wow.
12:46I just, it was, it was, like, psychological torture. I, I, I just, I felt broken.
12:58Can we talk now about what happened with you and Jay?
13:01Uh, I prefer, I, yeah, I should call Jay. I don't want to do this here.
13:10Yeah, yeah, but he's a special man.
13:16At that point.
13:17Hey, good morning.
13:19My job had changed.
13:20I no longer was producing creative.
13:23The only thing I was responsible for producing, per my contract, is the final runway.
13:29I was now just on-camera talent.
13:34I showed up.
13:36Hey, girls, today's photo shoot is all about da-da-da-da-da.
13:40They tell you to stand here and say this, that's your job.
13:44And I started really paying attention to what was starting to happen behind the scenes.
13:52The hair I'm seeing under the, what ends up with the armpits, girl?
13:55I thought I was going to get touched.
13:57Oh, my God.
13:57I'm really sorry, I'll go home and shit.
13:59You know how expensive retouching is?
14:00There were definite photos selected that we felt, we were like, wait, what?
14:05The other thing that really worries me is that kind of long drool coming off of your chin.
14:10That makes no sense.
14:12Ken and his team and Tyra, they knew what they were doing.
14:16That is where I started to learn the art of the storytelling.
14:20I would really hate for the judges to say, you know what?
14:23She's got the look, she takes pretty pictures, but she's consistently controlled.
14:28If there were certain girls that were not performing well on a shoot,
14:32I would sometimes be pulled aside and say, okay, this person, we have this story.
14:38We need them to go forward at least a couple more episodes.
14:43Get us there.
14:43We have to let go of the control.
14:45Where do you not feel good enough?
14:47Tell me.
14:47Talk to me.
14:48I don't trust myself.
14:50Because if the photos are just crappy, it will become hard to say this person deserves to stay in the
14:57competition.
14:58Good job.
14:59Before it is a modeling show, it is a television show.
15:02I think Nick is great. I love this picture of her.
15:05But Nick's personality is so kind of wishy-washy still.
15:09Personality beat out pictures.
15:11Each week that she comes, I am just bored to death.
15:16They didn't always choose our best picture.
15:18You guys use my worst one.
15:20You're saying this is your worst one?
15:22Because the other one, I did the lines perfectly.
15:24Who doesn't think it was their best take?
15:26Initially, they were really trying to pull the best shots.
15:29But as we started getting into story, then it turned into,
15:33we need better story out of these shots.
15:36So sometimes, and I had no control over this.
15:40I lost my control.
15:43When a girl is eliminated, another shot was selected.
15:47You're giving us sort of a high-fashion look.
15:50But in fact, you just look sleepy.
15:52Sometimes, not always, it was not her best shot.
15:56And there was a better shot.
15:57Oh.
15:58The lack of ethics behind the scenes to make quote-unquote good TV,
16:03it's really disturbing.
16:06Because for these girls, this is their life.
16:10A lot of these girls are like, you know, I want to help my mom out.
16:13I'm stuck at a dead-end job.
16:14I have no other recourse.
16:16It was life or death for them.
16:19There was always been so much more at stake emotionally in Top Model
16:25than you have in a typical reality competition, which is just a game.
16:30Top Model was very different in that the prize was the promise of a career,
16:37the chance to be a model, to become America's next top model.
16:43For the girls that were in this show, this was about trying to achieve your dream.
16:49Dion and Natasha, please step forward.
16:54When I was eliminated, I was fucking shocked.
17:00I became so numb, I couldn't even move.
17:03Did we always get it right?
17:04I don't think so, no.
17:05I think sometimes we eliminated the wrong person, but that's the way it goes.
17:11Kim, when you get that close, you just know it's going to be your picture.
17:15Yeah, you just know it's going to be you.
17:17You know you're going to make it.
17:18I definitely was crushed.
17:21Really, we wanted to be one of the last two.
17:24I really thought it was going to be me.
17:27Maybe we could have done a better job to let them know that not everybody's going to be a star.
17:32I can't go back to doing what I was doing.
17:34It was killing me.
17:36What happened is you were filmed packing your bag, exiting the model apartment,
17:42and then a production assistant took you to a hotel room.
17:46You don't go home.
17:48Everyone stays with the production until the very end for confidentiality reasons.
17:55There wasn't a phone available to call anybody at that time.
18:00And then, of course, even if I did, I would not have been able to tell them,
18:04hey, I've just been eliminated.
18:06I couldn't disclose that information.
18:08Did Tyra or any of the producers call you later and say, hey, thanks for being gone?
18:14No.
18:15They were just kind of left, eliminated.
18:18It was just awful.
18:24I felt sorry for them.
18:26But I just know that it's dog-eat-dog world out there.
18:32In the real world, they eat you up and spit your bag out.
18:41As soon as you get off the plane and go back home, reality sets in.
18:46Are you going to take a shot at modeling?
18:48Are you going to try and move to New York?
18:50There is no guidance.
18:51You have to figure it out on your own.
18:53We were rooting for all of these supermodel hopefuls back in the day.
18:56Listen, I would do where they are now videos for the girls of America's Next Top Model,
19:00but the truth is I don't really know where they are either.
19:02I wouldn't say that there were clients knocking down doors being like,
19:06we saw Laura on the show.
19:08We really want to hire her.
19:10Yeah, things didn't work out the way I was promised and stuff,
19:14but life isn't fair and you move on.
19:16Well, I'm actually the winner of America's Next Top Model,
19:19so sorry, you're still not what we're looking for.
19:24I couldn't use any of the photos from America's Next Top Model
19:28in my actual modeling portfolio.
19:30The photo shoots were way overly themed, way too much makeup.
19:35I got really far in this competition, but then in real life,
19:39I was in the modeling industry was nobody.
19:44I came to New York several times to take a stab at, you know,
19:48trying to get signed to an agency.
19:50It did not work out.
19:54There was a stigma to being part of a reality series.
19:58Not anymore.
20:00People would love to be on a reality series now to get their brand out there,
20:05because now the world is completely different.
20:09What Top Model did was really create the beginning of influencers.
20:14These days, everyone is a supermodel. Everyone is an influencer. Everyone is famous.
20:20There are tons of people out there now going directly to the public
20:25without the gatekeepers that used to be in place.
20:28You take control of your own narrative today.
20:30But at that time, it was absolutely not something that you did.
20:35The girls that are successful now are running because the other ones walked first.
20:41We opened the door. We slammed it wide open.
20:47And so many came through.
20:48Eva the Diva, who was 5556.
20:53Isis, one of the first trans people on a huge successful show like that.
20:59And Winnie Harlow is one of the biggest models on the planet.
21:05Whitney, our first plus size, hate the word, curve model to win.
21:12When I won, this was like a big deal that a plus size model was winning on the show.
21:20And then, of course, we got a contract with Elite Model Management
21:24and they didn't even have a plus division.
21:26So it's like, what kind of fucking joke is this?
21:29I really had to fight for a place.
21:33But eventually, I ended up being the first plus size model for so many massive companies.
21:41And finally, these models later were able to get that success.
21:46But it's on the backs of the ones that opened that door.
21:52America's next top model is Danielle.
22:00That is me in that picture. Oh, my God, that's me.
22:04I remember thinking life happens after winning A&TM. Life begins.
22:10Literally, the 12-year-old Danielle is like, we're up. We won, right?
22:15Like, we're here. We're here. New York, professional model.
22:19Like, it's only up from here.
22:21I'm a cover girl, Mommy. I'm a cover girl.
22:24But those cameras shut down on top model and they just threw me to the wolves.
22:33When I moved to New York in July, I moved right into the model's apartment.
22:38My agent at the time at Ford called me and she was like,
22:42you need to come in to the agency.
22:47The energy at the agency was just, like, off-putting.
22:51It was cold. It was a very, like, cold interaction.
22:56And that was the hardest thing because I'm new to the industry.
23:02I'm signed to you guys.
23:04But it was kind of like I was the redhead stepchild.
23:07Or better yet, the black sheep. Like, why are you here?
23:11And I sat in the model's apartment for months, never going on castings.
23:18Did you know of other girls around you who weren't on the show that were thriving?
23:24Thriving.
23:25Like, I lived in the model's apartment with Chanel Iman, who went on to become, like, a very prominent top
23:35model.
23:36And I remember her coming home this one day, this one morning.
23:40She was like, I finally asked our agent why you never have castings
23:45whenever I go get the castings for all the girls.
23:48And she said to me, well, we have to treat Dani differently
23:50because she came from top model.
23:57That was a hard, hard pill to swallow.
24:02My experiences mirrored that.
24:06I remember my first show season. I didn't book any shows.
24:09What I was told was that no one wanted to book me for their shows
24:15because I was viewed as, like, this reality star.
24:19And designers didn't want me walking in the show to take attention, if you will,
24:24off of their collection and onto myself.
24:27And so I knew very early on that, oh, top model has a stigma.
24:35I've already lived 20 years in the real modeling industry and got my ass handed to me.
24:41So I was never able to rise to the level that I could have or should have.
24:47What angers me the most is the conversation that Tyra had with me years later.
24:55She told me that, she's like, I knew that there were certain doors
25:00that you couldn't even get into because you did top model.
25:06And I did nothing about it.
25:09And she said to me, I always rode the fence with you.
25:21And that's when I said respectfully, Tyra, you have no fucking idea how painful it has been for me.
25:30You have no fucking idea.
25:34But for you to admit to me all these years, 15 years later,
25:38I know the hell that you've been going through.
25:40I know that you couldn't even walk through the threshold of certain doors.
25:45And so to have her, a black woman, say to me over the phone that I knew you were struggling
25:54and I did nothing about it?
25:56What?
25:58You don't got to support me.
25:59You don't even got to like me.
26:00But don't see me in my suffering and just walk past me.
26:05That's so fucked up.
26:10They built a whole empire, multi-million dollar brand known as America's Next Top Model,
26:16off the backs of every girl's dream that did that show.
26:20And it never became realized.
26:23The vast majority of the girls were kind of right back at square one or even worse.
26:32After the show, I felt really broken.
26:38Can you tell me what happened with Tyra later on when she invited you to her talk show?
26:45Um.
26:46It's a top model reunion today.
26:48And don't forget to check out season five when it premieres tonight on UCN.
26:53She was asking me about what happened in Milan.
26:56And I told her I'd never seen it.
26:58It just brought up too many things.
27:00And then I was like, I can't watch the show anymore.
27:02And then she just puts it on the screen in front of me.
27:05I'm gonna roll a little clip that a lot of us remember.
27:15And I don't look at it.
27:17She's like, I noticed you weren't looking.
27:19Fanny, you weren't watching that.
27:20You're looking down.
27:21How come you can't watch that?
27:22I just can't do it.
27:23Really?
27:24It brings back, like, all the old stuff.
27:26Oh, yeah.
27:27I'm like, I literally told you behind the scenes, like, I've never seen it.
27:31I don't want to see it.
27:32Don't show it.
27:33You didn't respect that.
27:35At all.
27:37That was awful.
27:40That was miserable.
27:43Miserable.
27:45That behavior doesn't stop.
27:48Her behavior doesn't, doesn't change.
27:52Everybody wants to know, are you still with your boyfriend?
27:54No, I'm single now.
27:56You're single?
27:56Yeah.
27:57Why did you guys break up?
27:58Um, well, he couldn't get over it.
28:00He couldn't get over that.
28:01But you guys were together for like, I remember after you were together.
28:04Me and Eric, we tried.
28:08Well, he really tried.
28:10I mean, he moved with me to New York after the show.
28:15But it would suck when I'd be walking with Eric down the street and somebody recognized me and call me
28:20a slut to my face.
28:23Marching and whore.
28:24Eric standing right next to me.
28:26That was fun.
28:28It made me hate myself.
28:31If you want drama, try putting 13 aspiring young models in a house to see who will become America's next
28:37top model.
28:38I am proud of my top model girls.
28:43After the top model, we thought one of us was going to be with a top modeling agency and that
28:52was going to be our new career.
28:57No.
29:00Were you the one that was on that modeling thing?
29:03Mm-hmm.
29:04Oh.
29:04Still working on Walgreens.
29:08You're all going to be blind as a bat.
29:13I don't like semen.
29:15Ignite that flame.
29:16Shooting in a Greek salad.
29:18No!
29:19Tell that what you do!
29:23As the show went on, Dawn had left and there was a new president that came in, Mark Pedowitz.
29:32I remember I was getting a phone call from the network every day saying they need to talk to me.
29:38They need to talk to me.
29:39And I just kept putting it off, putting it off, putting it off. My assistant would be telling me this.
29:45They really need to talk to you. They really need to talk to you.
29:48And finally, the head of the network, he said, get her on the phone now. I took his call and
29:58I'll never forget. He said, the show is the biggest thing in the world. But it won't always be. And
30:08it's taking a dip.
30:10The head of the network said, the show is in a mature phase and we need to make a significant
30:16change.
30:17And there are no sacred cows.
30:22You have to let go of this, this, and this.
30:30Three of my hearts.
30:34Mr. J, Miss J, and Nigel.
30:39It shocked me. I was like, what? There was no need to replace them.
30:45For my birthday, Tyra sent me flowers.
30:49I said, oh, how sweet.
30:51It was a note. Happy birthday.
30:54Love Tyra.
30:56And then, um, I was fired five days later.
31:02Eleven girls stand before me, but I only have ten photos in my hands.
31:09I remember them saying, we've decided we're going to go in a completely different direction.
31:13We were not going to be renewed.
31:15The girl that I do not call must immediately return to your house, pack your belongings, and go home.
31:22You want to talk about being slapped across the face and then slapped right back.
31:26If I honestly had to publish this picture, I would crop you right out of it.
31:30Come on, give me a break.
31:31I was just finding the show.
31:33You look like when Moses parted the Red Sea that you were on the other side fishing.
31:36That's how old you look.
31:38And then, bye.
31:38Ratings are down.
31:40We're cutting the fat off the show that bringing the ratings down was the implication that it was us three.
31:46That was really tough.
31:48It was somewhat mercenary.
31:50Unless you are Tyra Banks, I'm afraid you're expendable and they will swap you out just like that.
31:59Ciao.
32:03As people got eliminated on our show, we also got eliminated.
32:07We have three cards in front of us and none of you have made it.
32:12So, Tyra, what did you think of her?
32:16That is in your light, trust me.
32:18What did I think?
32:19What did you think?
32:20What is this for?
32:20I don't know, just a different angle.
32:22Don't put it on your website.
32:24Don't put it on my website.
32:26When I wanted to leave, I wasn't afforded that.
32:31And then, I work on this show from cycles 10 through 18.
32:38I made so many concessions.
32:45That's the part that's the most hurtful.
32:49We were going to put out one joint press release
32:53and they said we would all get a quote in this press release.
32:57We see it all the time in television shows,
32:59people saying,
32:59so-and-so and so-and-so have decided to part ways.
33:04And Tyra was just like,
33:05we'll put out in our press release how, you know,
33:07we're going to continue to work together and blah, blah, blah.
33:10So, we agreed to that.
33:13Tyra Banks has fired her panel of experts.
33:16Oh, my God.
33:18There was a leak to page six that said the three of us were fired.
33:22Banks booted judges Nigel Barker, J Manuel, and Miss J
33:26in a stunning top model house cleaning.
33:28And I said, ooh, ooh, ooh.
33:30A leak to page six.
33:32That show, the way we ran confidentiality
33:34and we're on these conference calls,
33:35there's no leak to page six.
33:37Anyone can assume where that came from.
33:40You now put that out there that way
33:42and we can't undo that no matter what we say.
33:45I mean, that's the double slap.
33:47That's the part that you then have to live with.
33:49That was probably the lowest point for me.
33:55Nigel, I just remember him being,
33:58and I didn't know him to be this way.
34:01I could feel, it was quite palpable, how upset he was.
34:06It was difficult because I didn't have a backup plan at that point
34:10because I had been on top model for 17 seasons
34:13and had been really in the show,
34:15kind of growing up with my family on America's Next Top Model.
34:18It was disappointing, and I felt a little bit, like, betrayed.
34:23Why would you not allow people who've been a part of your show
34:27since its inception to move forward in their career with grace?
34:32It gives people their dignity.
34:36It was very deliberate.
34:40I'd heard them say on set many times,
34:44what do we gotta do to create drama?
34:49The very first time,
34:51the three stars of America's Next Top Model
34:54were all just fired by Tyra Banks
34:56in their first TV interview together.
34:59As soon as the news broke,
35:00you guys saw the headlines, I'm sure,
35:01as soon as they were coming out,
35:02and all said, judges fired.
35:04That'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?
35:17That's what I kind of thought.
35:19I said to myself, hmm.
35:22Hmm.
35:23I just stepped in where he does.
35:24What I'm also interested to know is
35:27if this in any way is kind of a relief.
35:29I mean, let's face it,
35:30I worked with Tyra from way back when.
35:34Her reputation precedes her.
35:35She is tough to work for.
35:37And then, of course, the question
35:39that was posed directly to me.
35:41How tough was Tyra to work for?
35:45Jay grabs my knee, like,
35:47go ahead, girl.
35:48Like, it's just, like,
35:50Jay, like, why are you doing this to me?
35:53We had to speak very carefully,
35:56you know, contractually at the time.
35:58You know, there are only certain things
36:00you can speak about around production
36:02and what have you legally.
36:04Ken, Tyra, they were all watching us live.
36:07I know that.
36:08And I just thought,
36:10she's waiting for my answer.
36:11And, um...
36:13Well, you know, here's the thing.
36:14I'm a perfectious, too.
36:16I usually demand a lot, you know,
36:18for people who work with me.
36:19No, it's true.
36:19Could you imagine?
36:20He's like...
36:21No, I can't.
36:22You know, it is,
36:23and I think that was actually our initial connection.
36:24I still really respected her as a model
36:27and a business mind.
36:29In terms of her being specifically difficult or rude,
36:33that's not Tyra's...
36:34She's not the type of person to walk out and oust.
36:37She just has a very strong work ethic
36:39and knows what she wants.
36:40I'm sure we all do.
36:41Let me just ask you before...
36:42It felt like the culmination of how our entire relationship
36:46and 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,
37:02Mr. 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
37:09I 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
37:34that 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, I 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 to this day.
38:14I think they think that it was me and Ken.
38:19Yeah.
38:21She was willing to do anything for her show.
38:24However you want to look at that clearly, even in that situation, she would do anything for the success of
38:29her 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...
38:53Totes Amaze!
38:55A lot of reality shows fall into this trap of trying to stay relevant.
39:02This 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, ready, set.
39:32The fire kind of went out a little bit.
39:35The British are coming!
39:37The British are coming!
39:38May the best ricked or the best yank win.
39:41It hit me after graduating from Harvard.
39:43We just have to do a college cycle.
39:46All 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.
40:07The 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.
40:15But that was then.
40:16And this is now.
40:17I can smize.
40:18It just felt like this empire was crumbling right before our eyes.
40:27It's very important that when you pooch your booty, that you don't poochie-tooch it.
40:32She is coo-coo.
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!
40:42Top Meet'em 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.
40:53Like, 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
41:43i'm logging off they've lost the plot
41:50america's next top model stayed on the air for
41:5324 cycles and by the end we kind of mutually decided that we didn't want to
41:59do 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
42:09what happened after the show is because i became known for doing such
42:13elaborate photo shoots i also got booked to do those sorts of
42:16shoots in real life i shot an entire book with taylor swift
42:21i 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
42:28people knew me as a personality so i ended up with a contract with ee
42:33i did a cosmetic company and eventually i wrote a novel
42:37the wig the bench and the meltdown
42:39the book is really inspired by my life in the whole kind of crazy world of reality
42:45tv and the entertainment industry let's just be clear it's a novel
42:51jay has just been off on a top monitor i went out to do
42:57talk about russia china as well i am here with jay alexander a legend in the
43:04fashion world and a huge part of the success of our fashion program at scab
43:09i was at scab for 15 years
43:13how do i maintain my icon status very simple
43:17be me and being authentic i've always been authentic
43:25but then
43:28everything changed
43:32okay so here's my room
43:35that i have i have been living in it for one year and five months maybe
43:49on december 27 2022 i had a stroke
43:58then i woke up
44:00i didn't know where i was other than in the hospital
44:09i turned five weeks in a coma
44:12and 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
44:24and i couldn't speak
44:31it was emotional
44:32i cried
44:35i'm not ashamed to say that i cried
44:38and then once i was in hospital
44:44that jay and niger came to visit
44:48i don't know whether he even wanted me to see him in that way i was going to go see
44:52him
44:54and that was just such a terrible shock and really upsetting and horrifying and scary
45:04i could feel how upset he was for sure
45:08i can only imagine where he was in his mind
45:11you know when he saw me he was happy to see me and the two of us cried together and
45:16i held him
45:18i thought back to how we used to do shows together i cried
45:24i'm glad because i just miss them so much
45:31you're looking great jay thank you this hair though i'm sick with because it's just so pretty
45:40i'm glad we are together and um we're glad too mate it's really good to see you
45:51mate yeah really special it has been a journey and you're speaking so much better now yeah you
46:00are battling through when we first saw you in that hospital you could hardly move hardly talk
46:05and now you're sitting up doing an interview chatting talking rolling your eyes making us laugh
46:09mm-hmm
46:11you know it's a long journey but it's you're gonna get there
46:14i know it's been really really hard mate
46:20the thing is you're here though that's the thing
46:23i know
46:26come on
46:43i miss being the queen of the money the cat walks of course
46:50i'm the person who took miles out of walk
46:56i taught miles out of walk and now i can't walk
47:01not yet
47:03not yet
47:05i'm determined to walk
47:07i'm sure you're gonna see me again i'm sure
47:11is that is that all for me yet
47:14do you want to take a selfie since our last selfie was 2019
47:17come on
47:18we gotta do it
47:21all right
47:22we gotta wipe the lens
47:23oof
47:24okay
47:25yeah
47:30did tyra come and visit you
47:32no not yet
47:35she just sent me a text
47:37the um
47:38she wants to come and visit me
47:42but um
47:42no
47:44not yet
47:50tyra
47:51how you doing tyra
47:53hello tyra banks here
47:55i am a supermodel turned super businesswoman
47:58after the show i had so many different ideas for my life
48:03i'm obsessed with pivoting
48:05the fashion icon has launched a flagship ice cream store in sydney
48:10and i live in australia now
48:12i feel like my work is not done
48:17you have no idea what we have planned for cycle 25
48:26with everything you went through would you ever do top model again
48:32i would say
48:34do it at your own risk
48:37of course i'd love to do something like that again
48:40but not do that again if you know what i mean
48:43it didn't age well but it was also a reflection of the time that's exactly how it was
48:49the only reason the door was open to me was because of tyra
48:55i do feel like tyra's intentions in the beginning were good but that shit got lost
49:01we were very young girls and we were put into a very mature adult world really fast
49:08that was hard we were just girls
49:14i had a young person woke up to me yesterday and they were like weren't you on that show
49:21that's amazing to see how this show has impacted so many people for so long
49:27so yeah tyra banks very much disappointed me
49:30but at the end of the day we're at a place now where we can say
49:34you know what this is not acceptable let's do something different
49:36this has been a long time coming i'm re-watching america's next top model
49:41hard show to watch in hindsight
49:43there's a lot of darkness in top model that makes me look at it differently than i did when i
49:49was a kid
49:51looking at that show through the lens of today
49:54it's like whoa why did you do that why did you do that
49:57okay tyra said yeah she made some shit she did some shit you know she said some shit
50:00and i thank you for that
50:03that is the only way you change that is the only way you get better
50:07is by somebody calling you out on your shit
50:12it is important
50:14and i want to let you know that i want you guys to be
50:18just as open as i am now about getting called on my shit
50:21for when somebody calls you out on yours
50:23because that day will come and continue to evolve
50:28because that's what we're all doing
50:30give me a word
50:30bernette
50:31gornetta's absolutely ridiculous
50:33perfect time to stop
50:38thank you
50:39thank you
50:41i mean i can hang out it's not like if you want
50:46what have you been up to
50:48yeah i got the keys to the city
50:51I got the Arkansas keys to the city, girl.
50:55It's cute.
50:56Here I am now.
50:57I'm a small business owner, as well as a realtor.
51:01Was thinking I was going to be an actress,
51:02which I am and will become,
51:04and there's great roles out there for me.
51:05So go ahead, producers, make it work.
51:07I auditioned for a home improvement show,
51:09and I got it.
51:10And it changed my life completely.
51:13Starting my own business in construction and carpentry.
51:17Hung up the heels.
51:18Grabbed my tool belt.
51:19Did real estate in Manhattan as a rental agent
51:22for six or seven years.
51:24Hated it.
51:25And then I joined a theater group in New York.
51:29And so I'm back.
51:31I actually ended up buying this really cute little ice cream shop
51:34called The Pink Pelican.
51:36We travel the world and have ice cream.
51:38That's my life now.
51:40So you and Ty don't have an ice cream shop.
51:42I know. What the fuck?
51:43She copied me, okay?
51:44I had the ice cream shop first.
51:46I started working with violent offenders,
51:49leading trauma-informed care.
51:51And I love it.
51:52It's very hard.
51:55But this is the most fulfilling work that I have done yet.
51:59I take care of animals for a living.
52:01I want to live on a farm and have, like, a sanctuary for animals.
52:06You know, I know boys left animals.
52:10Dissolving my contract and walking away from the industry
52:13has been the best decision of my life.
52:15Getting to know Danielle.
52:17Not Danny, but Danielle.
52:20I just felt like the industry was vain.
52:24I was like, I want purpose.
52:25I want to impact someone's life.
52:27I learned so much about God's grace.
52:31I am now a post coach,
52:34helping develop aspiring models so that they understand,
52:37hey, you don't have to be a particular size.
52:39You don't have to be a particular weight.
52:41There's space for you.
52:43And if there isn't space for you,
52:44we're going to make the space.
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