America's Next Top Model judge Nigel Barker defends show after 'painful to watch' Netflix documentary exposing scandals - insisting it was 'revolutionary and authentic' despite widespread outrage
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America's Next Top Model judge Nigel Barker has defended the long-running show as 'revolutionary and authentic' after the release of a 'painful to watch' Netflix documentary diving into the series' scandals.
Nigel, 53, appeared from 2004 as a judge and photographer on the US-based series, which ran for a decade from 2003 and followed aspiring models as they competed for a chance to kickstart a career in the industry.
The series has been at the heart of a number of controversies over the years, from its dangerous runway challenges, to problematic photoshoots and disastrous makeovers.
These are addressed in new Netflix docu-series, Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model - including a 'blackface' photoshoot, and sexual harassment allegations.
Featuring interviews with show host Tyra Banks, TV producer Ken Mok and former judges Jay Manuel, Miss J and Nigel, the series hears from former contestants and winners including Whitney Thompson, Giselle Samson and Shandi Sullivan.
In the series, Giselle, who was a contestant on the first series, opens up on being the victim of 'shocking' insults from the judges behind-the-scenes, and series two star Ebony Haith reveals 'racist' comments about her skin.
America's Next Top Model judge Nigel Barker has defended the long-running show as 'revolutionary and authentic' after the release of a 'painful to watch' Netflix documentary
Nigel, 53, appeared from 2004 as a judge and photographer on the US-based series, which ran for a decade from 2003 and followed aspiring models
Elsewhere, Shandi, who also appeared on series two, addresses the controversy over her being filmed sleeping with an Italian man, despite having a boyfriend, in one shocking episode filmed in Europe.
The model speaks openly about 'blacking out' before the act, with 'nobody doing anything to stop it' and instead 'filming it' to be aired on the series.
While other former contestants also open up on their thoughts about a ethnicity-swapping photo shoot that saw white models made over in 'blackface' make-up.
A number of stars also complain of being fat shamed, and harassed by male models, including being 'grabbed and touched' without consent on set.
Despite admitting the scenes were 'painful to watch' after tuning into the docu-series, which launched on Netflix today (February 16), former show star Nigel still defended it as 'revolutionary'.
Joining ITV show This Morning via live video link, the former model was questioned over his involvement in the show by ITV hosts Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond.
While Nigel was clear that there were elements that were 'difficult' to watch, he encouraged viewers to also draw focus on 'nostalgia rather than what was wrong'.
He praised America's Next Top Model as 'authentic', explaining: 'It was becoming a cult phenomenon, everyone was talking about it.
While Nigel (left) was clear that there were elements that were 'difficult' to watch, he encouraged viewers to also draw focus on 'nostalgia' (pictured: Nigel with Tyra, Miss J and Jay Manuel)
Nigel spoke to Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond on This Morning via video link
Featuring interviews with show host Tyra Banks (pictured) the series hears from former contestants and winners of the series, which ran for ten seasons
'Everyone was laughing at it too, it was a bit ridiculous, but it was an inside look that nobody had ever seen before, and we were all fascinated by it.
'But for me personally, it was 100% authentic.
'When I first joined the show, I had no idea I was even going to be a judge - I was brought on initially to be a photographer for one episode and that morphed into me being a permanent judge pretty quickly.
'One of the interesting things that Tyra did on the show was not bring in TV experts, but rather actual photographers, make-up artists, and people from the industry.
'That was revolutionary, because typically you brought on celebrities... it was also kind of fun because there was a real authenticity, and that's really what reality television should be, when you see someone really doing their job, you can connect.
'I think that's one of the reasons that it did so well - it started to become a cult show.'
Questioned by This Morning host Alison, 51, on the series 'pushing boundaries', including the 'changing ethnicity' challenge, Nigel continued: 'It certainly started to take on a life of its own, and things got more extreme.
'It was the same time as shows like Survivor, a lot of extreme television was out at that time, that's what it was known for, TV at that time... the same old, same old didn't really work.
Nigel said of host Tyra: 'One of the interesting things that Tyra did on the show was not bring in TV experts, but rather actual photographers, make-up artists, and people from the industry'
The controversies are addressed in new Netflix docu-series, Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model
'However, it was often based on things that had actually happened in the fashion world - what happened was, we were taking the most exciting, the most outrageous, the most avant-garde ideas and putting them all into one show.
'That being said, any one of those [photoshoots] could have happened in the fashion world, and they do.'
Asked by Dermot, 52, if he was worried about changing attitudes to the show, Nigel continued: 'I'm not worried, I've seen the documentary.
'It's real, and yes it's painful to watch, and yes it's difficult, but there's also highs and good parts of it - and I think it's important to remember how much fun we had with this incredible show and how much people enjoyed it.
'We're also going to be paying our penance for it - I think it's time, it's 20 plus years since it started, and it was a huge phenomenon.
'When you look back at things, it's easy to look back at your old hair cut from the 1980s and say, "I'll never do that again"...
'But times are different right now, so you have to look at it with kindness and nostalgia at the same time as feeling sorry for the things you did that were wrong.'
It comes after Whitney Thompson, the first plus-size winner of America’s Next Top Model, opened up about the struggles she faced feeling fat shamed on Tyra Banks' show.
Asked by Dermot, 52, if he was worried about changing attitudes to the show, Nigel continued: 'I'm not worried, I've seen the documentary'
The series also features former show judges Miss J and Jay Manuel
The model, who won cycle 10 of the show in 2008, recalled some of her lowest moments, including feeling that certain challenges were made deliberately harder for her as a plus-size model.
Thompson, who was just 20 and a size 6 when she started on ANTM, told People that not having proper clothes for the plus-size contestants ‘felt intentional’.
'I just pretended like it didn’t bother me, but, and I’m sure most of the girls would do this, I would cry in the shower every day because the shower is the only place that the cameramen couldn’t come, so that was your safe place to release and be like, “Why are they doing this to me?”’ she explained.
She added, 'I knew that they were trying to poke me and get something out of me, so I just played it cool, like, "That's fine. We'll just duct tape my dress. No worries.'"
She also spoke candidly about the judging panel, admitting the whole experience was a ‘nightmare’, adding: 'I took Xanax before every judging.
'You’re standing there for eight, nine hours under those hot lights waiting for people to tell you that something is wrong with how you look. It was emotionally exhausting.'
As modelling gradually embraced curvier figures, Thompson says the idea of being a 'plus‑size”'model still came with a strict, narrow look that didn’t always fit her - or what she calls reality.
She told People that even when agencies accepted fuller figures, the expectation was oddly specific and sometimes downright artificial.
'We would go with our pads to castings and photo shoots, and the padding would make our waist larger, our hips larger, but we'd still have the same jawline, arms and ankles. You could have a belly, but you still had to have a cut jawline.’
The controversy around America’s Next Top Model didn’t start with Whitney, but instead had been simmering for decades.
When old clips began resurfacing online in 2020, viewers reignited debates about the show’s treatment of contestants and the way producers pushed boundaries.
Many called out judges, including Banks, for body‑shaming, harsh comments and humiliating challenges that seemed more designed for shock value than genuine modelling critique.
Banks herself has addressed much of this criticism in recent years.
At the 2025 ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards, she admitted ANTM didn’t always get things right, saying: 'Hell no. I said some dumb s---,' while also defending her intent to broaden diversity on television.
Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model is available to stream on Netflix; This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX.
