Top 30 Outrageous America's Next Top Model Moments

#30: Tocarra’s Mistreatment

Cycle 3

“Top Model’s” track record with so-called plus-sized models speaks for itself. Unfortunately, the story it tells is bleak. Cycle 3’s Toccara Jones found that out the hard way. During one photoshoot, she was taken to task for her reaction to the absence of any clothes in her size. The unfairness was apparent. Stylist Michele shamed Jones for her size and then accused her of being negative. This was just yet another way the show found to remind Jones she wasn’t a sample size. By the time she was eliminated the judges realized that the formerly bubbly contestant was completely checked out of the competition. We can’t imagine why.

#29: Louise Quits

Cycle 18

When Kelly Cutrone joined the judging panel, she added a level of vitriol that we hadn’t seen since the days of Janice Dickinson. British contestant Louise Watts had enough. After enduring three weeks of nasty comments and rudeness, Watts stood up for herself. Tyra Banks’ message that models were lower on the food chain than publicists doesn’t sit right. And it certainly doesn’t sit right with Watts, who storms off set and quits on the spot. Watts’ anger spills out outside, where she says if she saw Cutrone on the street, she’d knock her out.

#28: Gaslighting the Finalists

Cycle 16

Tyra Banks and company decided to start the 16th season off with a bang. An expedited audition episode sees Jay Manuel and Miss J Alexander handing the 28 finalists folders. The models are led to believe the contestants who don’t receive photos in their folders are going home. Inevitably, the tears start flowing. But this turns out to be a huge lie. The models who thought they were eliminated actually did make the cast. That also means the happy 14 who got photos are told that they’re actually going home instead. It’s all just a strange, misguided, and manipulative lesson about rejection in the modeling industry.

#27: Janice Dickinson Humiliates Gina

Cycle 6

Gina Choe definitely had a bumpier season than most. The soft-spoken contestant had a hard time finding her voice. During what seems designed to be a helpful and informative meal with Janice Dickinson, the judge and veteran supermodel singles her out, asking Choe to take the seat next to her. Dickinson lulls her into a false sense of security, playing den-mother to get her to admit that she’s been having problems with fellow contestant Jade Cole. But instead of helping, Dickinson shames her in front of the entire table. She berates her for ratting out her competitor.

#26: CariDee Gets Hypothermia

Cycle 7

“Top Model” quickly found ways to top itself when it came to uncomfortable, dramatic, and potentially dangerous photoshoots. In Cycle 7, the models were whisked away to Barcelona and asked to pose in freezing water. CariDee English suffered from hypothermia as a result. Her shivering convulsions are captured for all the audience to see. It’s truly disturbing. Rather than comfort her, Jay Manuel actually blamed her for pushing herself too far and not knowing her limits. This sentiment was echoed in the episode’s critique segment. This is rich coming from a judging panel that’s eliminated models for even showing discomfort on their faces.

#25: Robin & Shannon Refuse to Meet Ebony’s Girlfriend

Cycle 1

One model’s request that she have her girlfriend over to the models’ apartment would barely register now. All the way back in 2003, it was a potentially explosive moment. Ebony Haith hosts her girlfriend, Ka, and introduces her to those castmates who were willing to meet her. Robin Manning and Shannon Stewart, citing their Christianity, weren’t at all interested in participating. Years later, Stewart and fellow contestant Adrianne Curry challenged how Stewart was portrayed in the edit. However, in a TikTok comment, Curry also said that Manning’s response to Haith’s girlfriend was accurately presented. Regardless, it’s certainly a fascinating time capsule of the early 2000s.

#24: Unhoused People Photoshoot

Cycle 10

Awareness is a term that’s sometimes misused. But the whole setup of this deeply controversial photoshoot stretches that term to new areas of inappropriateness. The models of Cycle 10 were dressed to resemble unhoused people. Even more curious, the models around them were actual women who experienced homelessness, dressed in high fashion in a misguided attempt at contrast. The show did actually partner with a real charity, but that doesn’t make it feel any less wrong. It’s about the kind of sensitivity you’d expect from someone who dresses up to experience one day of homelessness for an episode of her talk show.

#23: Crime Scene Photoshoot

Cycle 8

In another instance of boundary-pushing photoshoot themes, Cycle 8’s cast was dressed up as victims of various methods of death. The shoot was controversial even at the time, but the years have been even less kind to its glamorization of violence against women. If this weren’t morbid enough, contestant Dionne Walters later alleged producers knew about her own mother’s devastating shooting when they assigned her that particular method of death. Contestant Jael Strauss said that her set-up reminded her of a friend’s very recent passing. Executive producer Ken Mok expressed his regret over the shoot in the Netflix docuseries, “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.”

#22: Kayla’s Past

Cycle 15

Kayla Ferrel’s discomfort posing with a male model leads her to disclose to Jay Manuel a traumatic event from her childhood. Manuel, while outwardly empathetic, is worried about how it will affect Ferrel’s modeling career if she can’t pose with other models. It’s a moment that would require the utmost sensitivity. “Top Model” is definitely not the show most equipped to handle a moment like this. The decision to air it at all is questionable, as Ferrel explains that not even those closest to her knew about this. Manuel celebrated her pushing past what he termed “painful memories” to get through her commercial.

#21: Tyra Fakes a Fall

Cycle 6

Move over, Ellen DeGeneres. Host and mentor Tyra Banks was just as good at scaring the hell out of innocent bystanders as the prank-loving talk show host ever was. In Cycle 6, Banks decides to introduce the week’s acting challenge by putting on a performance of her own. Addressing the models, she begins to feel lightheaded and collapses in a heap in front of them. Tyra makes a miraculous recovery, only to then shout in their horrified faces that she was just acting. But the women are clearly shaken up, with one contestant terrified to the point of tears.

#20: Cassandra Quits

Cycle 5

The makeover episode is a sticking point for a lot of “Top Model” contestants. Tyra Banks and her team often make dramatic changes to their appearance for the sake of shock value, pinpointing features that are often very important to the contestants. Cycle 5’s Cassandra Whitehead was not having it. Her new look was supposed to be a blonde pixie cut somewhat similar to Mia Farrows in Rosemary’s Baby. Banks, dissatisfied with the result, tells Whitehead she’ll have to undergo an even more dramatic cut the next round. She refuses and is immediately guilted and shamed by Jay Manuel, before quitting the competition entirely. It marks the first time a model quit the series.

#19: A Message in a Brownie

Cycle 3

Most of the best drama on this show happens in the dorms. Put a bunch of models together in a house, and there’s going to be a lot of tension. Besties and frenemies Eva Marcille and Ann Markley could agree on one thing: castmate Cassie Grisham was a messy roommate. Fed up with cleaning up after her, the two decide to leave a message in her brownie dessert. Their helpful but pointed message to Grisham is petty “Top Model” antics at their finest. Grisham doesn’t think it’s funny at all, and it sets off a whodunit mystery that ends with an argument about the maturity level of mutilating someone else’s brownies.

#18: Jade’s CoverGirl Commercial

Cycle 6

Tasked with walking and talking at the same time, like many of her castmates, Jade Cole was stumped by the CoverGirl commercial challenge. The prompt seems simple. Casually stroll through a party set, improvise some lines, hit a mark, and then give the product pitch. Jade is stunningly over-the-top. Sure, she doesn’t remember a word of the script. It doesn’t matter. She’s fabulous, and she believes she’s nailing this. Her complete belief in herself, no matter the circumstances, is endearing and unhinged all at once. Even when she fails, the incomparable, unflappable Cole delivers comedy gold.

#17: Rebecca Faints During Critiques

Cycle 4

Facing the judges panel can be nerve-wracking. For Cycle 4’s Rebecca Epley, the stress of it looked like it became too much. During her critique in week 3, Epley faints and hits the ground with alarming force. This is a rarity on this list. It’s a crazy “Top Model” moment that doesn’t seem like the show’s fault, as fainting spells are a symptom of Epley’s medical condition. But according to many contestants, this wasn’t the first nor the last time a contestant would faint during filming due to the stress of the show and its long production hours.

#16: Joanie’s Dental Work

Cycle 6

Sometimes, the early-season makeover isn’t just some cosmetic trims and cuts. As competitors Danielle Evans and Joanie Dodds found out, this could require extensive dental work. Evans refused to get her front tooth gap closed, but she accompanied Dodds while she had 12 hours of extensive work done on her smile. The cameras aren’t afraid to get up close and personal either. Dodds’ bleeding, swollen mouth is put on display for us to see. And despite a sleepless night of surgery, she’s not even excused from the challenges, and then has to get even more work done. It’s just another case of beauty-focused reality shows that went a little too far.

#15: Alexandra vs. the Pendulums

Cycle 14

Tyra Banks and company didn’t even give this cycle’s cast a chance to work up to one of the show’s deadliest runways. This segment sees the models of Cycle 14 walking a runway and having to avoid two huge swinging pendulums crossing their path. Shockingly, immediate disaster does not ensue. Most of the models miss getting hit, if only by inches. Then, Alexandra Underwood walks. Her problems begin almost immediately. She takes a spill on the stairs, long before she even makes it down to the pendulums. And then everything goes wrong. Her face isn’t right, her footsteps are wobbly, and a pendulum comes and makes her take a “Top Model” tumble right off the runway.

#14: Lisa Demonstrates the Product

Cycle 5

Lisa D’Amato first became known on the show’s fifth season, where she proved that outrageousness was her bread and butter. Her antics both on set and in the house made her a fan favorite. But her most notorious moment has to be when she wore, and then used, an adult diaper on screen at the urging of the cast of “Jackass.” This moment earned mixed reviews from fans and her fellow castmates. Most felt it tanked her chances, and Entertainment Weekly accused her of being more interested in becoming a reality star than a supermodel. This didn’t stop D’Amato from coming back and winning the show’s all stars edition, though.

#13: Jaeda & the Racist Model

Cycle 7

Only 18 years old at the time of filming, Jaeda Young’s time on the seventh season was a rollercoaster. She was constantly in the bottom when it came to critiques. But her eventual elimination is one of the most uncomfortable in the whole franchise. While in Spain, Young was paired with a male model named Nacho for a commercial. His seemingly unprompted admission that he is not attracted to black women puts Jaeda off. The judges blame her for letting her self-consciousness show through, and their insensitive suggestions just drive the unfairness home. She is eliminated based on her performance, even though her deep discomfort is understandable.

#12: Conveyor Belt Catwalk

Cycle 15

Here’s what happens when “Top Model” meets “Fear Factor.” In this unforgettable episode, Miss J Alexander drops a massive bomb on the models of Cycle 15. The runway is going to move. As soon as the first contender, Chelsey Hersley, hits the moving walkway, she stumbles over herself to the entertainment of the gathered onlookers. It just goes downhill from there. These models have barely experienced a stationary runway. Sure, let’s slap some trains and heels on them and push them onto a fast-moving conveyor belt in front of a gawking audience. And then Miss J has the nerve to criticize them for not looking comfortable. It’s not the most dangerous or most punishing challenge, but it’s awfully close.

#11: Yaya’s Hat

Cycle 3

In one episode, the models are tasked with choosing a hat to represent their personal style. The judges express surprise that Yaya DaCosta’s pride in her African heritage hasn’t translated into her picking the provided fake kente cloth hat. But the sideways comments from the panel are the real outrageous part here. Panelist Nolé Marin makes a strange comment about riding giraffes. Guest judge Rebecca Weinberg tells DaCosta that she’s constantly throwing her African heritage in their faces. When the eventual runner-up dares to push back, Tyra Banks chastises her for her defensive tone and even suggests she should apologize to the hat at one point? DaCosta has since spoken about the racism she endured on set. This scene is a blatant example.

#10: 50 Cent Pushes Jael

Cycle 8

The cast finds themselves invited to a particularly star-studded party in this wild episode from the show’s eighth season. One person who is not intimidated by her surroundings is the late Jael Strauss. She starts treating some of these celebrities, like 50 Cent himself, like she’s old friends with them. In fact, she starts to look a little bit like an annoying little sister. Then, there’s a jump cut, and 50 Cent pushes Jael into the swimming pool. This turns into an all-out champagne fight and an impromptu swim. It’s a weird moment, and there’s clearly a lot of footage missing, so it just looks like 50 Cent pushed Strauss out of irritation.

#9: Flesh-Eating Bacteria

Cycle 4

Michelle Deighton was clearly struggling to make friends in the models’ house. When a rash begins to spread over her face, a call from a fellow model’s mother sends her castmates into a frenzy that it was a contagious and deadly flesh-eating bacteria. It ultimately became another way of ostracizing Deighton further. While these models are definitely overreacting, a bunch of models being cut from the world when a deadly bacteria breaks out sounds like a horror movie we’d totally watch. Eventually, the rash just turns out to be impetigo, which is contagious but mostly harmless. Crazily, as you’ll see later, this is actually the second most outrageous thing to happen in this now hard-to-find episode.

#8: Elyse’s Rant

Cycle 1

It’s been over 20 years, and we still don’t know why Elyse Sewell signed up for this show. But without her, the show’s very first season would not have been such must-see TV. The med student-turned-model can’t suffer these other fools. It’s an argument about religion that finally sets her off. Taking to the janky, low-budget confessional room to unload her deeply-held resentments. Expletive-laden and incredibly thorough, Elyse tears into her fellow competitors with the cutting precision of a surgeon. Not even Miss J is safe from her withering commentary. Her frustration culminated in one of reality TV’s most iconic rants.

#7: 10-Inch Heels

Cycle 6

Beauty is pain but this is kind of insane. The models of Cycle 6 are made to strap on some impossibly high, 10-inch heels, and stomp the runway for the judges. Who would have thought this would be borderline dangerous? Even the stars of the competition can’t quite manage to look like they’re not terrified of breaking something. Some are not so lucky. Danielle Evans takes a nasty spill that sprains her toe and leaves her crawling backstage. And then there’s Tyra Banks, cringing and talking them through it like a birthing coach. It’s almost like she’s being forced to watch something she doesn’t have total control over.

#6: Badly-Timed Coffin Photoshoot

Cycle 4

Having these models pose in a fresh grave in a real cemetery is questionable enough. But a personal tragedy for one of them was still fresh when the coffin photoshoot came along. The “Top Model” cast are often sequestered from their daily lives to shoot a season. News from home can be sporadic. While she was filming for Cycle 4, Kahlen Rondot received news that her friend passed away and she had already missed the funeral. The show, her competitors, and the judges frame it as a personal challenge for her to overcome. Viewers still accuse the show of being insensitive to her grief, although Tyra Banks insists the photoshoot was pre-planned. The timing was just horrendous.

#5: Biracial Photoshoot

Cycle 13

For the annual season trip, the final six of the 13th season were flown to Hawaii. There, Tyra Banks and Jay Manuel introduce their unconventional photoshoot challenge. The models are tasked to represent different biracial identities from around the world. But it’s not just clothes they’re changing into. Makeup artists also smear their bodies with colorful body paint, effectively putting them in brown, black, and yellowface. This didn’t escape the notice of the models themselves, and it wasn’t even uncontroversial at the time. Even in 2009, Banks explained away the problematic nature of the shoot by saying that she was trying to celebrate the blending of cultures.

#4: Ethnicity-Swapping Photoshoot

Cycle 4

We had a lot of time on our hands in 2020. Some of us decided to start watching “Top Model” again from the beginning, and judging from the reaction on social media, a lot of people forgot this Cycle 4 Got Milk photoshoot. For the shoot, the models are made up as women of other ethnicities, holding actual babies of the ethnic group they were meant to pass as. There’s a lot to unpack here, as the saying goes. Rediscovering this moment probably did more than anything else to make people reevaluate the cultural impact and cultural missteps of a show that defined 2000s and early reality TV.

#3: We Were All Rooting for You!

Cycle 4

Since it’s become a near-ubiquitous meme, it’s easy to just laugh at Tyra Banks’ “be quiet, Tiffany” rant. But the original scene is genuinely disturbing. Tiffany Richardson has just been cut, and the fact that the eliminated contestant isn’t offering her tears for the camera seems to irk Banks to no end. She was rooting for Tiffany, after all. But her reaction seems completely outsized to the moment. For all the great sound bites, it’s actually ridiculous. What it comes down to is the host is shouting at Richardson for having a completely mature reaction to her own loss.

#2: Keenyah & the Male Model

Cycle 4

Several times on the set, contestants have been blatantly put in harm’s way or even chastised for speaking up for themselves. Cycle 4’s Keenyah Hill stood up for herself when a male model was acting inappropriately with her. Voicing her discomfort was treated as unprofessional. Even though she was told nothing would happen on a professional set, the model continued to make her uncomfortable, even after she stopped the shoot. The judges were similarly unsympathetic. Nigel Barker and Tyra Banks blamed Hill for not approaching the moment in a more subtle, polite way. Even worse, this was framed as a normal occurrence on a photoshoot.

#1: Shandi’s Story

Cycle 2

Small-town Walgreens employee Shandi Sullivan was a finalist on “Top Model’s” second cycle. But her run on the show was marked by a devastating and disturbing experience. After a producer-arranged party with some male models, the drinks flowed and Sullivan disclosed that she blacked out. Cameras capture the fallout of her experience during a phone call with her boyfriend, who berates her. The event still haunts Sullivan. The moment received renewed attention and criticism due to its inclusion in “Reality Check,” the 2026 Netflix docuseries. Despite executive producer Ken Mok’s claim that they shot the show like a documentary, their failure to step in stands out as one of the show’s most terrible missteps.

Which of these “Top Model” moments do you find most shocking? Let us know in the comments!