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\u201cWe live in an era in which everybody\u2019s history is narrowed down to two lines in someone\u2019s aggressive [internet] comments,\u201d Sivan tells Vanity Fair.<\/em> \u201cPeople tweet about you and it\u2019s just remembering them as the worst thing they ever did. And Tyra did want to come and say, hey, there\u2019s more to me than just, \u2018I was rooting for you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Created by Banks and developed by TV producer Ken Mok<\/strong><\/a> (who also appears in the doc), as well as Black-ish<\/em> creator Kenya Barris<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> America\u2019s Next Top Model<\/em> ran on various networks for 24 seasons\u2014or \u201ccycles,\u201d as they were called on the show\u2014from 2003 to 2018. Each cycle followed a new crop of aspiring models from across the US who lived together, competed in outlandish challenges, and faced a weekly elimination based on their performance and physical appearance. The eventual winner was named \u201cAmerica\u2019s Next Top Model\u201d and awarded a spread in a fashion magazine, plus contracts with a major brand and a modeling agency.<\/p>\n Contestants were mentored by creative director Jay Manuel,<\/strong> runway coach J. Alexander<\/strong> (Miss J), and fashion photographer Nigel Barker,<\/strong> alongside a rotating panel of fellow judges that included everyone from the late former Vogue<\/em> editor-at-large Andr\u00e9 Leon Talley<\/a>, to former model Janice Dickinson.<\/strong> \u201cJanice, to our huge regret,\u201d says Sivan, \u201chas been interviewed for another documentary<\/a>, so we couldn\u2019t have talked to her, but she\u2019s a great character.\u201d In 2012, Manuel, Alexander, and Barker\u2019s contracts expired, and the trio were not brought back to the show. Reality Check<\/em> explores their exits and brings the former costars together for an emotional reunion. \u201cI shed tears with them,\u201d says Loushy.<\/p>\n Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model<\/em> reunited former judges Nigel Barker, Miss J and Jay Manuel.<\/span>Courtesy of Netflix<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n Since ANTM<\/em> ended in 2018, both longtime fans and new viewers\u2014fueled partially by pandemic-era binge-watching\u2014have revisited the show on social media<\/a> to reconsider its place in the culture<\/a>. Viewers embraced terms like \u201csmize\u201d (smiling only with one\u2019s eyes), but many internalized the show\u2019s problematic attitudes about body image. While its casting was diverse, ANTM<\/em> regularly included controversial photo shoots\u2014twice during<\/a> the series\u2019 run<\/a>, models were asked to present as an ethnicity other than their own.<\/p>\n In the docuseries, Banks, Mok, and former judges and contestants grapple with the show\u2019s rocky standing. If so many ANTM<\/em> contestants didn\u2019t find lasting industry success, and those who did, like Winnie Harlow,<\/strong> have said it was in spite of the show<\/a>, what are we to make of its legacy? Loushy spent a month watching all 24 seasons of the show (that\u2019s more than 300 episodes in 30 days) in an attempt to find out. \u201cIt outraged me and it made me laugh,\u201d she says. Then one day, \u201cI told Daniel, \u2018Okay, I\u2019m ready to ask questions.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n