I can remember it like it was yesterday. Planning my entire schedule around Wednesday nights for my must-see TV: America’s Next Top Model. My girls and I used to gather around the television, and gush over all the crazy challenges the women had to face (and how panelists like Ms. J, Mr. J, Tyra, and Nigel Barker would react)!
Now, more than a decade later, Netflix is bringing back 2000s nostalgia with Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, premiering on February 16.
ANTM shaped an entire generation’s understanding of modeling. It gave us high fashion moments, iconic hairstyles, and popcorn-worthy drama. While some of the stuff was obviously thrilling and shocking, looking back, we now know that a lot of the stuff (changing ethnicity, anyone?) just wouldn’t fly in today’s cultural climate.
The new docuseries highlights the uncomfortable moments – the criticisms that seemed too harsh, the editing choices that reshaped the stories, the emotional impact the competition had on the young women who were often just 18 or 19 years old. Former contestants speak candidly about body image pressure, controversial challenges, and the blurry line between mentorship and manufactured drama. Some participants accept the reflection. Others have publicly criticized the project and questioned whether the industry has truly learned from its past.
What makes this documentary timely isn’t just nostalgia – it’s accountability. In 2003, reality TV was still the wild west. Social media did not exist the way it does now. There was no immediate public discussion. Today audiences demand transparency. They want to know what happened behind the scenes. They want context. They want development.
Also, let’s not rewrite history without acknowledging the impact. ANTM opened the doors. It introduced audiences to diversity in modeling at a time when fashion magazines were far less inclusive. It placed plus-size contestants, LGBTQ+ contestants, and women of diverse backgrounds on prime-time television. For many women watching, including myself, that visibility mattered.
Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model feels less like an exposé and more like a reckoning — a moment to examine how far we’ve come in fashion, media, and representation, and how far we still need to go. Whether you were obsessed with makeovers, living for runway challenges, or questioning the judging panel’s decisions every week, this series invites us to look back with a sharper lens.
And if there’s one thing fashion has always done well, it’s evolution. May February 16 remind us that evolution, even if messy, is still progress.
