Fierce, Queer, and Flawed | EP 8
Curse of: America’s Next Top Model
iHeartPodcasts and Glass Podcasts
4.6 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 4 November 2025
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
America’s Next Top Model was a pioneer of LGBTQIA+ representation on reality TV. The show gave us iconic queer judges, featured an openly lesbian contestant on season one, and even made groundbreaking decisions to cast a transgender model in 2008. But like many things with this show, the way production treated these contestants and their identity was flawed. In this episode, we explore how Top Model broke barriers and reshaped the culture, while hearing from the queer contestants who paid the price for its flaws.
CORRECTION: This episode has been updated for accuracy. Episodes downloaded before November 5th, 2025 will not reflect the correction.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.3 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:04.3 | This girl is absolutely amazing. |
| 0:07.3 | She's got to come back for America's Next Top Model. |
| 0:09.3 | I said this girl, and my staff said, Tyra, there's something a little different about that |
| 0:13.4 | girl. |
| 0:13.9 | So what's different about that girl? |
| 0:15.9 | In 2008, ISIS King made America's Next Top Model history. |
| 0:20.2 | I was born physically male, but mentally everything else I was born female. |
| 0:26.3 | Some people might say that I'm transgender. Some people might say transsexual. Personally, |
| 0:30.8 | I prefer born in the wrong body, meaning I was born physically male on the outside, but |
| 0:35.0 | everything else about me was female. ISIS was the first out trans contestant on A&M. |
| 0:41.3 | For a lot of viewers, this was their first time seeing a trans person on a reality show, |
| 0:46.3 | talking so openly about their identity. |
| 0:48.3 | Tell me about when you knew that you were a girl. |
| 0:51.3 | As long as I can remember, it's not something I've chose. This is who I've always been. And of course, Tyra got real personal real quick. So let's talk about surgery. Are you Priop, post-top transgender? Priop. Priop. And do you want to have the surgery one day? If I could have it right now, I would. ISIS had a hell of a story. |
| 1:15.1 | On Cycle 10, the models did a shoot where they were supposed to serve homeless chic. |
| 1:17.9 | You know, living on the streets, but make it fashion. |
| 1:23.6 | A&TM used actual people experiencing homelessness as extras in the shoot. |
| 1:27.5 | ISIS was living at the shelter A&TM partnered with. You were one of the girls from the shelter who participated in our shoot in the background as an extra. |
| 1:32.9 | Let's face it, there's a reason you're here because you know how to give me couture. |
| 1:37.3 | And pull, yes, there we go. |
... |
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