America’s Next Top Body Shamer| EP 9
Curse of: America’s Next Top Model
iHeartPodcasts and Glass Podcasts
4.6 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 11 November 2025
⏱️ 60 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
To this day, Tyra Banks hails ANTM as a champion of body positivity. But in reality, the show was one of the biggest body shaming offenders of our generation. Season after season, ANTM picked apart contestants’ bodies, shamed them for their weights, and even brought on plus-size models, only to tell them there was no place for them in the industry. The show cast women with eating disorders and criticized their bodies, too. In this episode, we hear from contestants who went on the show with confidence and left with body dysmorphia, eating disorders, and other body image issues.
If you or someone you know is struggling with disordered eating, help is available. Call NEDA, the National Eating Disorder Association at (800) 931-2237 or text “NEDA” to 741-741.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.5 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:04.3 | Hey, y'all. It's Bridget. |
| 0:06.0 | Before we start this episode, I want to give you a heads-up that this one will be all about |
| 0:10.3 | A&TM's legacy of body shaming. |
| 0:13.0 | We'll be playing old clips from A&M that are hard to hear. |
| 0:16.9 | We'll also be talking candidly about the experiences of body dysmorphia and |
| 0:20.9 | disorder eating. |
| 0:22.4 | So if you have a history or are currently struggling with those kinds of things, just be |
| 0:27.1 | mindful with this one. |
| 0:29.4 | All right, let's do it. |
| 0:33.6 | I was starting to watch Top Model with my mom. |
| 0:36.6 | Season one, I was turned off myself. |
| 0:41.3 | And I couldn't even remember that we did this because I've evolved even inside of Top Model over the years. |
| 0:48.3 | Back in 2020, when new viewers were discovering Top Model while old ones were revisiting, |
| 1:00.1 | Tyra Banks decided to take a walk-down memory lane herself, and she was just as appalled as us. |
| 1:06.9 | So season one, we had a weights and measures section of the show where the girls' height were measured, |
| 1:11.1 | and weight was measured. It is normal in the modeling industry. That's what is done. |
| 1:16.0 | So we were trying to be as realistic in the modeling industry, not trying to embarrass anybody. |
| 1:21.4 | It's just what is done. So we're pulling back the curtain. Back in the day, nobody complained about it. But as we all evolve, 20 years later, people like, what the hell? |
| 1:28.2 | Including me, including the creator of the show. |
| 1:31.8 | I looked at it and I was like, it just made me sick. |
... |
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