The Worst Episode I've Ever Seen of America's Next Top Model 

You put the girls in bikinis and stilettos, then complain that “it’s lookin’ a little Playboy”?! 🤨

the early 2000s were awful for body standards oh my god. on what planet was robin plus-sized??? and then they turn around and call elyse too thin. nothing is good enough and every girl who grew up in this time had to deal with that level of scrutiny

This episode is a perfect depiction of the sexism and degradation of women in the early 2000’s which I feel like no one talks about but I was born in 1994 and I remember the kinds of horrible things said about women during this era. It made it really difficult for me as a young girl to really love myself and my body. I’m glad things are even just slightly better now.

"it's 8°, guys" Oh damn, that's a bit cold to be standing out in the wind in a bikini, I wouldn't want to do that "8° farenheit, -13°C" OKAY that sounds more like a violation of human rights

This first photoshoot really set the tone for the rest of the series lol

Okay let’s just say they absolutely HAD to shoot a bikini shoot in the winter in New York on top of a roof with biting winds (even tho they didn’t have to do that) have they never heard of heat lamps???? I feel like there are ways to warm the set so it’s not colder than the arctic

I looked it up. Hypothermia can set in within 15 minutes in this setting. if you aren't dressed properly, are thin, and you add wind, it can be even faster. It was literally dangerous. So while they are literally suffering from onsetting hypothermia, they are criticizing them. This is just horrendous. No one should have to deal with this situation at WORK! Bull.

If they didn’t want a “plus” size model to win… why did they let her on the show…??? Aaand she has like 10 lbs of body fat. She is NOT a plus size model.

Adrienne being judged for having big feet, like she can magically make them smaller

It’s so interesting that Tyra said she wished Robins upper body was bigger to make her a true “plus size” model but with Toccara, who did have a larger chest and upper body, it was always talked about in a negative way

Tyra sarcastically “welcome to the beautiful glamorous world of modeling” while she’s standing there in a turtle neck and feather winter coat. Okay girl.

“Being a model isn’t just about a pretty face. A good model can bend physics. If they’re really devoted to getting a good shot, they’ll just heat their body using pure willpower and shut that frostbite down.”

The fact that Robin was considered "plus-sized" is insane. I have that they pick apart every body they see. Seems like nothing is good enough for them.

Tyra: See how my eye changes it?? Jessica: … no. 🤣🤣💀

One of my biggest issues with them age shaming Robin this whole season was the fact that they had an AGE REQUIREMENT! If they wanted only super young women, they should have made the cutoff like 23/24 or younger. They knew how old she was when she came on there so why keep bringing it up 😒???

I bet if they had goosebumps that showed in the photo, the judges would probably blame them for that and say "as a model you need to know how to control your body"

Janice once again proving she’s the worst judge in this ep most if not all judges have been awful in some way towards the models imo but Janice was on another level

“Plus size model” WHERE?! 😂 This is why my entire generation had an eating disorder.

"Why do it on a rooftop in NY in the middle of winter?" The REAL reason is because Tyra is a classic case.of the abused turning into the abuser. She was treated like dirt to "earn" her way to the top, so she does the same to them. Worst of all, the look on her face tells us she enjoys it.

That “26 is too old” stuck in my head all through my teens and 20s. I was terrified of hitting 26

I remember this series and thinking Robin (the girl that’s 26) was soo old..that in my memory she was almost 40..crazy how things stick in our head differently..(and as a 30 year old I’m highly offended how they treat her as an ancient being)

Tyra: "Photoshoots are thousands of dollars, you can't make people wait for you" Also Tyra: delays the photoshoot to give basic modeling advice

"For today's photoshoot, we are gonna actually be hacking off the model's limbs with rusty saws." "A real model wouldn't be screaming and would push through the pain." "Wow, she really looks horrible in all these photos. She's not ready for the modeling world."

As someone who just turned 26 and still is treated as if I’m too young to have any life experience in my family to hear them say 26/27 was too old is crazy!

Season 1 was brutal for the models. Janice was nasty, Adrienne had been groped during a go see and the models themselves were making each other crazy to a level rarely seen afterwards.

I feel like 26 would be a better time to get into modeling. An industry like this, even though it changed, can really damage one's self esteem and confidence. No one should be going through that, but it's even worse when it's done to some who is still developing.

Tyra: "It's all about the face" Photgrapher: "A model has to be more than just a pretty face"

“Elizabeth has a lot to say with her very comfortable jacket.” 😂 I’m so glad that you went all the way back to react to the very first episode. I love your critiques with the photography in these and the rude comments that they made towards the models. Times have changed so much In the last almost 20 years.

No but it really is a fake background. During the shoot they all stood in the same place more-or-less and yet all the pictures backgrounds are totally different from each other AND from the skyline visible during the actual shoot. So like why even shoot on a roof in freezing temperatures

A BIKINI PHOTOSHOOT AT -13 DEGREES CELSIUS THAT COULD’VE BEEN SHOT FOR THE SUMMER. It’s basically that 5 hour Meeting that could’ve been a 5 line E-mail.

when they criticized the age of the 27 year old i was laughing lol because germanys next topmodel right now has models 60+ in them.

This is a TV show. It was productions responsibility to get those girls there on time. They never should’ve been put in a situation where they were allowed to oversleep and had to pay for their own cab.

My biggest issue is, that they don't actually teach anything to the models about modeling. Like Tyra is a veteran model, big name in the industry, if somebody could have given good advices to the girls, that would have been her. But they don't theach them anything, just expect complet beginners to do good.

They pulled an entire eating disorder storyline for Elyse that several of the other contestants got involved in, very uncomfortable to watch, especially for someone like me who's had issues with an ED himself in the past. Also kind of hypocritical to feign concern for her health in the same elimination where Robyn is labelled plus size. Granted, it was a different time, but still, big yikes. Sidenote, Ebony was done dirty too throughout the season, Robyn had it in for her because she's a lesbian so production jumped on that to make her the stereotypical angry black woman.

I am also a professional photographer & I agree with you on every point here. That photoshoot was garbage, there was nothing special about it! The background looked fake. They endangered the health of the models. Then blame the models if they didn't produce. Awful.

When you converted the temperature to Celsius, I audibly gasped. This is appalling. Thank you for making these videos that humanize models and call out abusive practices in reality TV. Edit: Oh, and the _cattiness_ later on? Critiquing a woman's feet as if foot size is something over which a woman has any control? And critiquing an incredibly toned model's thighs and suggesting she go on a diet? Like oh wow, what these 'judges' must think of the vast majority of us non-model humans. Shocking to see someone feeling like it was okay to say this stuff in front of a TV camera. (And oh man, the photographer saying he didn't like the girl in person but liked how she looked in photos.... what a spiritually ugly environment this was. Just yikes.) And oh. _Oh._ Robyn is a "plus-sized" model? What bubble of deception do these people live in? It's like they're auditioning for the role of evil villains in some Disney movie about an aspiring model.

Oh Janice is/was mad fatphobic. She basically bullied Toccara in season 3. I also vaguely remember this scene from her reality show, where her partner decided to include plus-size models in their agency and she didn't even want to be in the same room as them.

According to Tyra... Dead eye: 👁👄👁 Eyes with fire: 👁👄👁 👀

This whole judging “You’re too thin get some fat on you” “You’re too fat, slim down” Like pick a message people!

I saw a thing with Adrianne and Shannon where they talked about this shoot and Adrianne actually talked about how they would do exactly what the photographer(s) said to do only to have the judges blame the models if the photo came out bad. Also, you have to wonder what sorts of questions production was asking those people. Editing can be misleading.

Tyra: see how it just changes? Jessica: no. So simple yet so effective

That first shoot was abuse, period. There was absolutely no reason for them to make the girls do that.

“I don’t have time to teach girls how to model” well maybe Tyra should have carved out for some for that since none of these girls knew how to model?? I don’t understand why they expected professional pictures from people they found in the mall

O Tyra, I'm dying of Hypothermia. Tyra: SMIZE!

To crop the photos the way they did was just such a slap in the face to the models. It looked like a fake green screen photo. If the photos showed the models whole body, plus the top of the skyscraper so we could tell were they where, it would have looked amazing! Imo ANTM photo editing has always been questionable.

Wait, -13 degrees PLUS windy? The chilling effect of wind is extreme, this is legit dangerous.

“See how it changes with my eyes?” “No.” I’m dying 🤣

I’m glad this toxic mindset is FINALLY being called out for what it is. Unacceptable. Tyra likes to act like she helped these women when in reality she probably scarred the majority of them for life.

Jessica, I would love to see you reinterpret all the Top Model photo shoots as a series, without freezing the models, insulting them, giving them no feedback or unhelpful advice, etc. It would be cool to see these through your lens.

Not that photographer's assistant being snooty on literally every girl while she's up there in a heavy warm coat, complaining about every girl not moving the way she wants them to then at the end flipping and said "they all did great for it being their first time modeling and with the cold weather". We all see past your little two-faced backtalk there.

Sorry if this has already been said but why do I feel like Tyra “defending” the model for hooking her thumbs in her bikini and comparing it to her own picture was just an invitation for the other judges to compliment her by saying “well she’s no you, she has a long way to go to be you etc.” obviously that comment was pre planned because Tyra has the picture of herself ready to compare! The Comment was nice but given the context of the entire show I just don’t buy it!!

No wonder I have body dysmorphia. I used to idolize this show as a teen and think women like here WERE plus sized models thanks to that. So sad that there might be so many women ruined by this.

Nothing makes me want to get into a bikini more than 8-degree weather with high-rises in the background with 6-inch stilettos. Who decided on this concept? Get on a beach!

When Jessica said “no” when Tyra asked “Do you see a difference?”😂

That is literally abuse. It is so common that in other situations abusers find an excuse ( many times for the victims "own good") to normalize violence, and the rooftop photoshoot is exactly that, they are torturing young women with freezing temperatures (which is known as an actual form of torture for mind breaking in interrogations). And we just watched this kind of atrocities in the show week after week and help Tyra and all the team make millions. It´s disgusting. Thank you so much Jessica for bringing awareness into this.

So weird that Tyra was actually the nicest judge here. The others were so brutal and completely inappropriate.

The ANTM rule should be that everyone one on the photoshoot set should have to dress how the models are dressed. Let's see the photograoher in his swimsuit and have to deal wirh that.

The whole "pictures are shot just a season ahead" is bs, there is no problem to shoot 1-2 years before the line drops, and if they want an urban backdrop, they could have done this in the summer. Or just do it in a budget studio, since the final images sure look like it.

I find it ironic that they bashed Robin’s body back then but she’s literally the epitome of beauty in today’s time. Small waist and thick thighs. And she’s NATURALLY like that!! Robin was sculpted by an angel. I’m jealous.

I love that you always mention people would point out it being bad photography, not a bad model. There was one episode in cycle 5 I think it was the paparazzi challenge shoot they had. Nigel said the picture was bad photography and Tyra cuts him off and says ‘no one looks at it and thinks bad photography, they think the model isn’t bringing it.’ I have to agree with you, I always am judging the photography, not the model in the photo

Back when I did art modeling, I did a _very_ brief shoot in the snow in fancy lingerie. There's like, a *total* of 6 pictures because it was cold af LOL Edit: Oh lord...we're into an episode with _Janice_ 🙄 I never liked Janice as a judge. There's a difference between criticism & being a bully/mean. Janice was *often* just effing mean. I will never forget that when Adrienne won & she was thanking the judges, Janice legitimately looked her dead in the eyes & told her "don't thank me, I didn't pick _you_ "

If that’s the worst episode you’ve seen so far, you haven’t seen the Paris episode of that season. It is literally crazy from hara**ement to kind of gr**ming situations… how did they get away with that?

This is cruel, “relax, don’t be cold” while he’s toasty in his jacket. They have no body fat to warm them. For Tyra to tell them “create a character” she gave two faces with her “smizing” but they looked the same. Zoolander was better with Blue Steel 😂

I remember distinctly watching this episode when I was 12 and it being a huge turning point in the way that I viewed and treated my own body. The day this episode aired was the day I started to really struggle because my thighs and “booty” were much like Ebony’s. It makes me so sad knowing that I wasted over a decade of my life trying to shrink the size of my body after I started watching this show. I can only imagine the amount of lives affected by it. I have a 4 year old daughter now, and I will always do everything in my power to make sure she knows that her body is the least interesting thing about her.

When you said the temperature was 8 I thought you meant celcius, but 8F? Aren't there laws against that? -13C is a painful experience in full winter gear! I live in Canada, and when it's anything under -10 I try not to leave my house! I can't believe how bad this show was back then, smdh

Janice was the most toxic and mean judge. She was a classic mean girl bully. Always jealous of the girls natural beauty.

Shows like this were a big part of why my eating disorder developed when I was younger. I've always been fat, and never saw anyone considered "beautiful" who were around my size. All the models, the "beautiful" women, were always skinny, and to me, that meant being fat was automatically ugly. It was so damaging and hurtful. I still carry that hurt now, so many years later, even as I try to learn and let it go. I feel for all the other kids who grew up with this, grew up with the idea that only skinny was beautiful.

Everyone's talking about how Robin isn't a plus-size model at all -- which is true, she's so beautiful -- but for me it was Tessa casually going "I got a little bit more meat to me" when she's literally one of the skinniest people I've ever seen. Like ma'am if you think you're on the bigger side then wtf am I. 😭 I was born in the early 2000s, so seeing that this is what women were subjected to is wild to me.

I always find it so astonishing how different the top model shows are in America and Germany. In Germany we have Heidi Klum, who is incredibly sweet and open, supports and helps every model, and tries to get the best out of everyone. In America, I have the impression that Tyra and the show try to embarrass and put down the models as often as possible. Be it with rude comments from the judges, or by situations in which the models are overwhelmed and fail.

Robin looks like a size 6 at most… and that was considered plus sized??? wilddd Her photo was gorgeous and deserved more

I’m really glad that as a professional photographer you are saying these things. I always thought these scenarios and judges were harsh and abusive, but I thought those things were part of that industry 😖 I always felt sad for them.

I'm from South Africa, where I'm located the winters get about - 1 / - 2, I lost it when you said - 13!!!

It's crazy how at 6:40 she confessed she had "a little more meat" in her, then it cuts to her body and I'm like... that's "meat"-y to you??? She has a great body and not "meat"-y at all. The pressure put on by society is just so dang toxic. Like, she's clearly fine the way she is with a great body. I mean... It's sad how this was an actual thing back in the day (still is today actually) calling girls with close-to-normal body types as "meaty" and bodyshaming models (Hi, Ashley Graham. Yes, you. I'm talking about you ironically bodyshaming other models. Scared to be dethroned from being the "plus-sized supermodel"? Methinks so.) 🙄

Can someone explain to me how Robin is plus size!? Like WHERE?

When ANTM began airing I was a 21 year old flight attendant in my first year of flying, I’ll never forget one of my good friends told me about this show (Cycle 2 was airing when she told me) and I had been hooked ever since, recording episodes on my VCR to watch when I got home LOL. Never missed an episode. What’s incredible to me now as a 40 year old looking back is how bad this show overall is aging. We used to be so excited to see Tyra, Miss Jay, Mr Jay, loved calling Janice a b!tch haha….but my god, it’s crazy how problematic everything really was! I’m enjoying watching your take on some of the classic episodes I’ll never forget!

This show made me think that pain and bad treatment would be normal when you were a model.

I absolutely hate the early seasons because they focus sooo much on weight and literally they all look good. These early seasons are just evidence of why the girls who grew up in the early 2000s have body issues. Like all their bodies are gorgeous and they’re like “she needs to lose weight” and then “she’s too thin, no meat on her bones”

This is the only season I've actually watched. Tyra was definitely a lot more helpful and the judging was more arguing than anyone actually agreeing. The first season was a lot different than the rest

I’ve been struggling with Covid these last two weeks, so I really appreciate your videos! These little trips down memory lane with ANTM have kept me entertained! I love your videos! ✨💕

They literally did the shoot and had edited photos ready for judging in what? 1-5 days? This could have waited for warmer weather. Also completely agree that the background looks like a green screen anyways 🤷‍♀️

I understand plus size has evolved recently, though I still can’t help but think that if any of these women are classified ‘plus-size’, then I must be a whale!

I remember Tyra saying in Caridee's season (the photoshoot where Caridee went into hypothermic shock) that apparently models do this kinda stuff all the time. Glad to know that it's not REALLY like this!

Jess: aren’t they going to have goosebumps in the pictures? ANTM: Worth it for the drama - we’ll fix it in post

The only redeeming critique from the photographer, albeit delivered in the wrong was, was about Shannon and her tanning. It is much easier to make a model look tan for a shoot than the reverse, not to mention the damage to her skin, the increased difficulty for the makeup artist to work with skin that can be peeling and flaking.

There was definitely a concept back then of just having that "it" factor. People were supposed to be naturally good/fitting for the thing they were trying to achieve and then hone their skills from there. You rarely thought it was really ok to start from 0 talent/skills. And we were all conditioned to be so competitive, we really leaned into that. If you were at least a little bit naturally good at the thing you were trying to do people would just call you out and say you weren't fit for it.

they didn't even have to bring them to a warmer place, they could have just done it INSIDE with a background

I was 20 when this came out. This show was focused less on the modeling and more on the drama. I remember thinking it was BS when they were saying 'it's about social change,' but as a 4'10 petite woman, I was immediately shunned. My friends loved the show, I loved to make fun of it. Not the models, but everything you're calling out (ridiculous statements, drama, Tyra being the center).

-SEE HOW IT CHANGES? -No. LMAO that's literally me when Tyra gives the girls a model advice with her body

"You here...existing before me...unsure" 😆 I love your commentary! Your dry sense of humor is right up my alley!

to begin with this shouldn’t have been shot outside when the temperature is so low it can literally seriously hurt them but they could’ve atleast surrounded them with heaters i would love to see tyra do this

I’m literally watching this season this week haha Adrienne and Shannon are still really great friends! I love and respect both of them they are wonderful girls

One of the interesting things to note is that almost none of the photographer's comments while shooting happen when his face is visible. The one we do really see is Kesse's shots, and the comments he makes there could be easily edited over the rest of the sessions. We see his/their comments to each other and in the interviews to camera, but those interviews are always heavily produced. All that being said, though, so many of the problems the contestants ran into during the entire run of this show could have been addressed if they had been permitted to actually see their shots like half way through their part of the shoot (or maybe even after a couple test shots, so they actually ~knew how things looked, as opposed to how they thought they looked). But no, that would have ruined "the mystery" and made it harder to yell at them for not already being pros.

Yeah cycle 1 of this show is really something else. It feels really unsafe in a lot of parts. And the photoshoots are by and large trash tbh. The snake one is good and the diamonds one is descent but overall, not a great cycle for photography. I think the lingerie one in paris is the worst, that could be fun to look at.

"My nickname is aircraft carrier" lmao

Tyra: “You see how it just changes”? Jessica: “No…..” 😂😂😂😂

Totally a side note: the production level on this season is kind of hilarious compared to other seasons lol the judging especially looks so low budget!! Random curtains for "decor" and a tiny TV in a random room somewhere. All the judges crammed together.

YES! Finally! I always reference this episode as the catalyst for all the mistreatment the girls would be subjected to in all the following seasons. This was the first photoshoot, and they were not given heat lamps, they are not in a tropical setting where even in the winter the weather isn't so cold in the winter, and they could have used a backdrop!!!

I LOVE how you brought up the fact that they refuse to address the model directly regarding their criticisms/corrections while also subtly insulting her in her face. That's exactly how gaslighting works. The perpetrators purposefully dis-clude their victim in their conversation, while insulting/accusing them. . THEN if the victim attempts to call them out on it by directly attempting to make communication with them... they are denied, scoffed at, mocked, accused of being "paranoid" or "too sensitive" and then continued to be ignored. . This makes the perpetrators appear to be "too above" their victim to communicate directly with them while completely manipulating and twisting the narrative to seem as though the victim was "too troublesome" or "not worth it" in the first place... . (The overall goal of this type of behavior is to get others to isolate and shun this victim from positive and healthy communications -- which then they attempt to make the victim feel as though they are somehow "inferior" as a person, and making them be "all alone" so that they eventually become depressed, socially isolated and self-destructive.) . Thankfully I majored in psychological studies in college- narcissism and other destructive personality types were most definitely includes in this! . Soooooooo .... Again. To reiterate.. . These are all Tendencies of Die-hard TRUE and REAL malignant narcissists ! . . . BTW: this post is directly in reference to Jessica's statement when she says: "Do you guys see the issue here? They're not actually communicating with the models. They're kind of just snickering in the background ..." Maybe say all that stuff TO HER! "PROBLEM SOLVED." Video: 12:03-12:35

I actually thought Ebony was gonna win this. Ebony revealed in her Oliver Twixt interview that when they came after her skin Janice was like NO I AM NOT DOING IT!

"Fun" thing they did in Cycle 1 was send a personal trainer in to give all the girls a public weigh-in and BMI or something like that. Like it could have been a decent moment, teaching them about exercise that will help them model (increased flexibility and core strength for dynamic poses, perhaps) but nope, it was just another opportunity to humiliate them on television. iirc, it didn't even go anywhere because it's not like they had regular fitness checks with this trainer guy.