The first-ever winner of Tyra Banks’ “America’s Next Top Model” series recalled treacherous filming conditions — including sleep deprivation and hunger — ahead of Netflix’s bombshell docuseries about the show.
Adrianne Curry — who came in first place during Cycle 1 of the franchise in 2003 — exclusively spoke with Page Six about her hellish on-set experience.
Curry recalled “starving all day” and not being fed by production until “3 or 4 p.m.” while filming the CW series, which was produced by The Tyra Banks Company and Ken Mok’s 10 x 10 Entertainment.
“I had lost so much weight when I was there,” she said. “We weren’t eating properly.”
Curry continued, “You are f–king hungry. I came home [after the show wrapped] and my grandma looked at me and was like, ‘Your face is sunken and you look like a skeleton.’
As more women were eliminated, Curry remembered the production team breaking down parts of their set — eventually shutting down their kitchen so models weren’t able to cook for themselves.
“We were starving every single day. Wow. I’ve never been more hungry,” she shared.
Curry, now 43, also claimed that she and the other competitors were kept awake at all hours of the night while filming judging scenes.
“The sleep deprivation that was purposely happening, keeping us in the elimination until 2 a.m., and then waking us up ’til, you know, 5:30 a.m., like there was a lot of s–t going on like that,” she claimed.
Curry claimed producers engaged in “psychological warfare” during “on-the-fly interviews.”
“They’re asking you questions, and they’re planting the seeds, like, ‘So you think this chick here has an eating disorder? Do you think it’s like that?’ They were f–king with you openly,” she said.
Curry noted that the current “rules and regulations” in place now did not exist in the world of reality TV at the time.
In a teaser for the doc, Banks claimed viewers were “demanding” more drama from the show, so she and the producers “kept pushing it” each new cycle, though, it is unclear what conduct Banks was referring to. The show ran for 24 seasons from 2003 to 2018.
While Curry believes Banks is partly to blame for the on-set toxicity, she also says the fans are partly at fault.
“There is a bloodthirsty mob that has existed in humanity since the ancient days of the abstract Mayans and even the ancient Romans. We love to see people suffer,” she said.
Curry has been open about how her on-screen makeover left her with permanent damage after the judges made her get a weave for the show.
“My skin [was] crawling all day with the pain and the irritation of my scalp,” Curry claimed, adding that she had “horrible” open wounds on her head due to her poorly executed hair extensions.
Curry was too afraid to speak up about the pain, because she was convinced the judges would eliminate her if she complained.
“I had to just pretend that wasn’t [painful] because, you know, they will execute anyone that has any complaint or advocates for themselves in any way on that show,” she claimed. “You’re a bad guy if you say something. So I’m like, ‘I just want to win money for my family. I’m just going to do it.”
When she finally removed the weave from her head after the show wrapped, Curry said her hair was never the same.
“I had a mullet for like two years after ‘Top Model’ because it was not growing back. I looked like f–king Joe Dirt,” she said, referencing David Spade’s title character from the 2001 comedy.
Curry waged a theory that Banks is using the documentary as “damage control” and a “launching pad.”
“I think if in a year, all of a sudden they came out with the new politically correct ‘Top Model,’ I wouldn’t be shocked at all,” she said. “Tyra Banks’ PR team is brilliant because they made her wait long enough for all the heat to lift off of her before she’d say anything.”
“She’s very wise,” Curry added. “This is all strategically planned. Tyra Banks is a powerhouse. She has a f–king team of PR behind her. They ain’t playin’.”
As Curry suspected, Banks teased in the doc that a new cycle of “ANTM” could be coming.
Still, Curry doesn’t hold any animosity toward Banks or the other judges, telling us that she has moved forward.
“I should be sitting over here hating her, but I don’t,” she said. “I’d tell her I forgive her. I’m so grateful for anything that I did get. Thank you.”
She then added, “But you know, I wouldn’t trust her to look after my kitten or something.”
Winning “ANTM” was the “biggest thing” that has happened to Curry in her entire life, she said. Curry — who currently works as an Avon representative — said she wouldn’t be where she is today were it not for the show.
“I did get a title and I’m so grateful for it, and I always joke: it’s the only thing I really want from the show. I’m going to put it on my f–king grave,” she said.
As for the models who participated in the documentary, Curry hopes they will get to tell their side of the story — without their words being twisted.
“I worry about the girls. Like, I hope that their voices get out there,” Curry said. “Would I be shocked if they’re not manipulated? Yes. Would I be glad if they’re not? Absolutely.”
Curry recalled producers editing footage of the show to create compelling storylines.
“It’s edited so much that … it’s almost Orwellian where I had to write it down in journal entries of what really happened so that I never forget,” she said. “And it’s not just on ‘Top Model’ — it was just any reality TV show I did.”
“It’s so f–king edited. That’s not what happened.”
Curry starred in a number of other reality TV shows after “ANTM,” including VH1’s Season 4 of “The Surreal Life” in 2005 where she met her first husband, Christopher Knight.
Together, they co-starred in a show about their relationship, “My Fair Brady” that same year. (Curry and Knight announced their separation in 2011 and she married her current husband, Matthew Rhode, in 2018.)
On why Curry would never participate in a documentary about the series, she told us, “I’m happy, man. And you know what would make me really unhappy? Looking on the TV and seeing an interview with myself that’s been butchered…
“I just don’t need any more of that in my life.”
Other models have come forward with claims of being hungry and sleep-deprived on set, including Cycle 9 contestant Sarah Hartshorne.
“Production kept us in the dark about almost everything because they wanted to keep us on edge,” Hartshorne claimed in Vice’s 2024 documentary, “The Dark Side of Reality TV: America’s Next Top Model.”
“Us being confused, tired, stressed, sleep-deprived and hungry just made for better TV,” she added.
Cycle 17 contestant Angelea Preston also recalled not eating properly during filming — telling Daily Mail in 2015 that she and the other competitors were forced to film for 16 to 17 hours without food or water.
Preston sued Banks for $3 million in damages, including failure to provide meal and rest breaks, infliction of emotional distress, and breach of contract.
The CW denied her claims, saying that Prestin’s accusations “had no merit.” Preston dropped the lawsuit in 2018, telling Bustle four years later, “I realized I wasn’t going to win.”
After several allegedly problematic moments from the show went viral on social media, Banks addressed the backlash.
“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,” Banks wrote on Twitter in 2020. “Appreciate your honest feedback and am sending so much love and virtual hugs. ❤️.”
When critics continued to speak out online, Banks admitted that she made mistakes during her speech at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards in March 2025.
“Did we get it right? Hell no. I said some dumb s–t. But I refuse to have my legacy be about some stuff linked together on the internet when there were 24 cycles of changing the world,” she said.
Reps for Banks, Netflix and Mok did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
Netflix’s “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model” is now streaming.
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