I have a confession to make. I am still obsessed with “America’s Next Top Model.” I remember my friends and I staying up late on Wednesday nights to see Tyra Banks makeover and coach models. Well, while some people stopped watching ANTM after middle school, I have continued to watch every season of ANTM since 2004. Over the years, however, this show has become more of a comedic pastime for me. Now, it’s even more entertaining since male models participate too.
While the format, the prizes, the contestants, and even the judges have changed throughout the years, the one thing that has remained constant is Tyra’s weird and head-scratching antics. Tyra never fails to surprise me with how far she will go to make this show entertaining. So, I have created a list of the 10 (although there were plenty more to choose from) most absurd moments over the course of ANTM’s 22 cycles.
10. When she faked being possessed
This was one of Tyra’s “teaching” moments when she tried to show the models how to act. She pretended to be possessed while judging the models at panel. Tyra has certainly mastered looking fierce while being possessed by an evil spirit.
9. When she hired Bryanboy to read social media comments
For some reason Tyra decided to hire fashion blogger Bryanboy to be a judge for Cycles 19 and 20. Bryanboy’s only role was to read tweets and Facebook posts critiquing contestants. This was pretty pointless considering the messages appeared on a screen right in front of the contests.
8. When she gave Denzel a beard for his “makeover”
Instead of Tyra allowing the gorgeous Denzel from Cycle 21 to skip the makeover part of the show, she thought the thing that would turn him into a high fashion model would be to add a fake beard to his face. She constantly had to make adjustments to the hairpiece throughout the season because she said it wasn’t how she imagined it. Honestly, it always looked like he had a piece of fur strapped to his face.
7. When she replaced Jay Manuel and Nigel Barker
Tyra, if you are reading this please bring back Jay Manuel and Nigel Barker! Both Jay and Nigel were replaced after Cycle 18. Fashion publicist Kelly Cutrone and photographer Yu Tsai are their current replacements. One way to restore this show to its former glory is to immediately fire Kelly and Yu Tsai. Both Kelly Cutrone and Yu Tsai enjoy berating and belittling the models constantly, which is uncomfortable to watch.
6. When she created a film for the models inspired by her book
Yes, Tyra Banks is an author. Tyra wrote a book in 2011 called Modelland. Let’s just say that the characters in the novel are trying to become “Intoxibellas.” Given the odd plot, the photo shoot based on this book was one of the weirdest photo shoots Tyra has ever had on ANTM.
5. When she made models advertise a fake deodorant called “Boom Boom”
The models’ challenge for the week was to film a commercial where they had to say, “Feel my boom,” and “Boom. Boom. Boom.” Unsurprisingly, many of the models failed to convince Tyra that they were being serious. This episode aired on the current season of ANTM, Cycle 22, which gives me hope that Tyra will never stop being her amazingly peculiar self.
4. When she made models walk down a runway with giant swinging pendulums
The runway challenges on this show always feature scenarios that supermodels are unlikely to experience during their real careers. For example, Tyra asked the models to walk down a narrow runway whilst attempting to dodge two humongous pendulums. One model did get knocked off the runway when she collided with a pendulum. How has no one been severely injured during the making of this show?
3. When she had models star in her music video
Before Tyra Banks became an author, she had a short-lived singing career. In 2004, Tyra released a song called “Shake Ya Body.” As a reward for doing well that week, some of the girls were able to star in Tyra’s music video for the song. This video is one of the best videos on YouTube. Tyra should resurrect her singing career now.
2. When she made each contestant make a song about “pot ledom”
Most sane people would ask what “pot ledom” means. But, if you watch ANTM then you know “pot ledom” is phrase that Tyra created to stand for top model backwards. Although, technically, it should be “ledom pot.” Not entirely sure why Tyra wanted each model to see if she could have a singing career, but all the contestants had to write and sing a song using the phrase “pot ledom.”
1. When she totally lost it when she sent a model home
Hands down the craziest Tyra moment of all time has to go to the time when Tyra went off on a contestant named Tiffany during Cycle 4. Tiffany had been eliminated and instead of being heartbroken, she decided to smile and start telling jokes. Tyra was not having it and scolded Tiffany for her joking attitude. Never forget Tiffany, we were all rooting for you.
**All media from giphy.com, tumblr.com, and youtube.com