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[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Former America’s Next Top Model candidate Sarah Hartshorne is coming forward to reveal some of the insane difficulties that came with competing on that iconic show — and we are floored!
Hartshorne was a contestant on cycle 9 of Tyra Banks‘ iconic ANTM back in the day, which filmed in the summer of 2007 and then aired that fall on the CW. And back then, things were a s**t show, according to Hartshorne. She just spoke to Vice for the Tuesday night season finale of their bombshell series The Dark Side Of Reality TV, and we’ve been left gobsmacked by HOW BAD things apparently were on set!!
Related: ANTM Alum Defends Tyra Banks Over Model Payment Controversy!!
According to Hartshorne, even though contestants could be seen by viewers to faint every so often during episodes as part of on-air challenges, the reality behind the scenes was much worse. She claims “a girl fainted every week” on the show — and the vast majority of those scary moments were left on the editing room floor!
Yikes!
Hartshorne candidly explained:
“They warned us, they were like, ‘don’t lock your knees!’ I was like, ‘these skinny bitches, they’re fainting!’ Then, 10 hours later I was like, ‘I’m fainting!'”
The issue was two-fold, too. For one, contestants were pressured to lose weight during filming and keep as trim as possible in order to have a shot at winning the whole thing. So, the lack of calories contributed to a very unhealthy environment. And beyond that, the contestants were struggling to make ends meet! The plus-sized model explained to Vice that it was difficult to eat without much income to, ya know, buy food:
“The reason I was losing weight was that I was stressed, but also that I was trying to save money because we weren’t getting paid. So, I was only trying to eat very little and very cheap food.”
So awful!
At least one very scary fainting spell during 2007’s cycle 9 was caught on camera and later aired on the show. As ANTM fans no doubt are already remembering, that would be the case of Hartshorne’s co-star Heather Kuzmich. She infamously became lightheaded while filming an Enrique Iglesias music video and was given an oxygen mask to recuperate while the rest of the cast continued the challenge.
Hartshorne (who finished eighth in that cycle) isn’t the only former ANTM contestant to come forward and speak to Vice for their Dark Side Of Reality TV series this fall, either. Cycle 24 runner-up Jeana Turner also sat down for an interview. In her discussion, Turner claimed that a clip of her discussing suicide was unfairly edited to make it appear as though she was talking about some of her competitors in that cycle:
“I was in an interview room for almost seven hours by myself with three people. I was begging her to stop asking me questions about being suicidal. They ended up using the response of me crying saying, ‘I don’t want to talk about it anymore’ as my response for losing the competition, and that’s not at all what happened.”
Jeez!!!
Of course, ANTM has faced plenty of criticism and backlash over the years for its alleged treatment of models competing on the series. And Tyra herself has even recently acknowledged that the show might have gone too far at points! In May of 2020, responding to fans who slammed the show on social media for being too rough on contestants, Banks took to X (Twitter) to say:
“Been seeing the posts about the insensitivity of some past ANTM moments and I agree with you. Looking back, those were some really off choices. Appreciate your honest feedback and am sending so much love and virtual hugs.”
Well, at least she realizes that now, we suppose. It doesn’t change anything from 2007, though…
If you’re struggling with an eating disorder, there is help available. Consider visiting https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/ or call their hotline at (800)-931-2237 for resources.
[Image via WENN/Avalon/Sarah Hartshorne/Instagram]
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English (US) ·