What to know
- A new docuseries called Reality Check: Inside American’s Next Top Model, releases on Netflix today.
- It examines the legacy and controversies of the reality TV competition show America’s Next Top Model.
- Canadian Jay Manuel appears in the docuseries, criticizing problematic shoots and revealing his fallout with Tyra Banks.
Jay Manuel, the only Canadian creative director and judge on the reality TV competition America’s Next Top Model, is featured in a new documentary examining the show’s legacy that was released today on Netflix.
Titled Reality Check: Inside American’s Next Top Model, the three-episode documentary delves into the reality show’s 15-year tenure, from Tyra Banks’ iron-clad grip on the models, to the show’s most memed moments, to the show’s legacy as a deeply problematic part of 2000s culture.
“I haven’t really said much, but now it’s time.”
— Netflix (@netflix) January 26, 2026
Tyra Banks, Jay Manuel, Nigel Barker, Miss J Alexander and former contestants are featured in an explosive new documentary about America’s Next Top Model, one of the most popular — and controversial — reality shows of all-time.… pic.twitter.com/wIxQjQiqnG
The show spurred spinoffs in over 50 countries, including in Canada. Canada’s Next Top Model was on air from 2006 to 2009.
Canadian TV host and makeup artist Jay Manuel, who was brought on to America’s Next Top Model as its creative director for its first 18 seasons, is featured in the documentary.
He shares his discomfort at some of the racially insensitive shoots, the lack of privacy models got on the show, and his fizzled-out friendship with Banks. He reveals that Banks stopped talking to him after his exit from the show. Manuel was also the head judge on seasons two and three of Canada’s Next Top Model.
At its peak, America’s Next Top Model received over 100 million viewers across 170 countries, becoming the top viewed show on the CW Network from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2011.
Social media users on Reddit and X expressed shock with how poorly the contestants were treated by Banks, with one person writing, “I’m not sure what Tyra wanted from the documentary but she still comes off as an evil human being and the show was truly awful.” Another user highlighted her disappointment with the cast, writing, “I think the contestants should be the ones talking. That’s the documentary I want to watch.”
Reality Check: Inside American’s Next Top Model features Banks, Manuel, Miss. J Alexander and Nigel Barker.
