America’s Next Top Model Is Getting a Netflix Docuseries — And It’s About to Ruin Our Nostalgia

If you lived through the golden age of reality TV, your week probably revolved around eliminations, dramatic pauses, and people crying in confessionals. America’s Next Top Model was required viewing, right alongside Real World, American Idol, and So You Think You Can Dance.

We tuned in faithfully to see what unhinged challenge Tyra Banks and her team had cooked up next. Photoshoots in dangerous locations? Emotional breakdowns framed as “growth”? Makeovers that felt legally questionable? Television magic.

Now, Netflix is pulling back the curtain.

On Monday, Netflix announced a new documentary series titled Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, set to premiere on February 16. The three-part series promises a deep dive into what really happened behind the scenes of one of the most iconic competition shows of all time — and yes, it’s going to be darker than we remember.

The docuseries features interviews with former contestants and winners, along with familiar faces from the judging panel, including J. Alexander, Jay Manuel, Nigel Barker, and Tyra Banks herself.

They’ll reflect on their time on the show, the intense pressure of reality TV, and the emotional fallout that followed many contestants long after the cameras stopped rolling. Translation: the trauma we joked about online? Turns out it was very real.

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America’s Next Top Model originally ran for 24 seasons between 2003 and 2016, following aspiring models as they competed for a shot at breaking into the cutthroat fashion industry.

What looked like fierce competition and “tough love” at the time is now being re-examined through a much more honest lens.

Bottom line: Our favourite chaotic comfort show is getting the documentary treatment, and it’s about to make us rethink every makeover, meltdown, and “smize” moment. Watch with nostalgia. Stay for the reckoning.