I won America’s Next Top Model, but it was like a prison – there was no privacy
INDIA Gants, who won America’s Next Top Model, spoke about the grim realities of filming the TV show.
India Gants, 28, not only compared filming to life in a “prison” but also claimed producers removed the doors from the toilets.
4
4
4
4
The young woman came into the spotlight after competing in the Tyra Banks-led series in 2017, where she was crowned the winner.
But now the model has revealed the shocking reality of what it was like to take part in the beloved competition, and her experience was very different to what many fans might have expected.
India claimed on social media that not only did the contestants have no privacy, but they were also not allowed to go out unless it was about something related to the show.
Furthermore, she claimed that the models always had to be accompanied by a production staff member, even when walking from their homes to their cars to go to a photo shoot.
Read more real life stories
She also claimed she was forced to stay in a hotel room for 23 hours a day with no “human interaction” in the days before filming began, admitting the isolation nearly drove her “crazy” and made her want to quit the show.
In a video shared on TikTok, the blonde beauty claimed: “The hotel we had to stay in for the shoot was awful.
“We just stared at the walls [all day] actually. We were all alone and the rooms were so small that you barely had room to move.”
India claimed that the room had a “rickety TV” with only two channels and that they were not allowed to bring any books or electronics, which she found downright boring.
Not only was there “literally nothing to do,” she claimed, but she explained that there was also “no way” for them to “communicate with the outside world.”
She said: “They would take us out for an hour a day to do a personality test, or to take blood, or to take pictures, or whatever they needed that day.
“It was literally like being in prison. Even the meal situation, they would put our food outside the hotel room door, so you would open the door, grab your food and eat it in your room by yourself.
“I was going crazy. I was actually talking to myself in the mirror. Not in a funny way, I was having whole conversations with myself in the bathroom mirror.”
India described it as “such a miserable experience” and although she considered quitting, she ultimately decided to persevere.
After the audition was completed and she was officially cast for the series, she moved into a house with the rest of the models.
There was literally no privacy at all, you just had to get used to using the toilet in the presence of other people
Indian Goose
But according to the content creator, things didn’t get much easier from there.
In a follow-up segment, India criticized the lack of “privacy” in the home, saying there were no doors to the bathrooms.
She shared: ‘The bathrooms on the American Next Top Model had no doors, but shower curtains in the bathrooms and the toilet was simply wide open.
“There was absolutely no privacy, you just had to get used to going to the toilet in the presence of other people.”
However, she added: “If you really needed privacy, like number two, there was a bathroom in the confessional and that’s where you did your private company.”
More about America’s Next Top Model
America’s Next Top Model ran for 24 seasons, spread over 15 years.
The show premiered on May 20, 2003, and its original broadcast ended on April 4, 2018.
The series, often shortened to ANTM, was a reality television series created by Tyra Banks, who was also the host and executive producer of the series.
The premise of the show was that aspiring models from across the United States competed in various challenges, photo shoots and fashion shows to win the title of ‘America’s Next Top Model’.
Each season typically began with a group of contestants being gradually eliminated based on their performance, with judges assessing their work and progress.
The winner usually receives a modeling contract, a fashion shoot in a magazine and other prizes that can boost his/her modeling career.
The show was praised for its diverse cast and for highlighting different aspects of the fashion and modeling industries.
However, there was also criticism of certain controversial moments and the treatment of candidates.
Despite this, America’s Next Top Model remains an important part of reality TV history.
In other videos, India claimed that the models were not allowed to “leave the house” at all during the six-week shoot, except for photo shoots, challenges and other things related to the show.
She said, “You don’t have the freedom to go for a walk, go to the mall, get your nails done or anything like that.”
“You are always taken to and from the house by a production employee. They take you from the house to the bus and from the bus to the location and then take you straight back home.”
Although she said she didn’t really care, she claimed other girls were unhappy about not being able to get their “normal beauty products” while they were “on a show where they had to look their best.”
She spoke about the ‘strange’ experience and continued: ‘It’s such a strange world, you’re literally in a bubble during filming.
“We always talked about how if something important happened in the world, we would never know about it.”
It’s a TV show. They have to make good TV. It’s not a real modeling experience.
Indian Goose
In addition, India also revealed what really happened when you were evicted from the show.
It will come as a shock to many, but she claimed you were not allowed to go home and instead were sent to what she called the ‘hotel of doom’.
She confessed: ‘You’re still not allowed to have a phone, books or other media with you.
“You literally have to stay in the hotel for the rest of the shoot because if you went home, people would know you got sent home and you didn’t win. They don’t want any spoilers.
“So you go to this hotel and you just have to stay there. The girls told me that they were allowed to go on excursions every now and then, the production assistant would take them to eat at a restaurant or to a shopping mall.”
As a result, India claimed to her followers that America’s Next Top Model was a “reality TV show before it was a modeling competition.”
She concluded: “It’s a TV show first and foremost. They have to make good TV. It’s not a real modeling experience.
“They produce a TV show that has to generate views. They have to make it interesting.”
Fabulous has reached out to the production company behind America’s Next Top Model, 10 by 10 Entertainment, and Tyra Banks’ production company for comment.
