This is an I-Heart podcast.

Guaranteed Human.

Now, if y'all know, I couldn't just leave you high and dry like that.

Welcome to the curse of America's Next Top model, the bonus episode.

First, let me say thank you for listening to the season.

The response has been great and a little overwhelming.

When my team and I started researching and reporting, The response has been great and a little overwhelming.

When my team and I started researching and reporting, we had to make some difficult decisions about what to include in the 10-episode season and what to leave on the cutting room floor.

That's one of the hardest things about this job.

My interviews for this show usually went on for hours.

As you can imagine,

we heard a lot of stuff that didn't neatly fit into the season arc we decided on, like the cringy origins of reality TV. When we talk about ethics and reality TV, even back in the 50s,

we were doing some pretty suspect things.

And of course, there were more behind-the-scenes details from the models that couldn't fit

into the season. Some of it was downright weird. I heard a lot about stuff that happened on

set that made me realize what a strange world reality TV production really is.

All season long, we talked about how producers created the stories we saw play out on A&M,

casting producers find and create characters, show producers stir up drama and manufacture

storylines, creative producers craft over-the-top photo shoots and runways,

and a surprising number of contestants willingly sign up for it all.

Now, of course, there are some who walk off set and others who ask to be eliminated.

But for the most part, A&TM got 10 to 14 contestants to stay through the humiliation for 24 seasons.

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