Janice Dickinson, who served as an original judge on ANTM, was notably absent from Netflix’s documentary Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model — and fans immediately started asking why.
The former supermodel joined the hit competition series during Cycle 1 back in 2003 and remained a main judge through to Cycle 4. Known for her brutally honest critiques and explosive on-screen moments, Janice quickly became one of the show’s most talked-about personalities.
Even after leaving the judging panel, she continued to pop up in later cycles as a guest mentor and photographer, meaning her presence remained closely associated with the franchise for years.
Why Janice Dickinson wasn’t involved in Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model documentary
Host Tyra Banks and fellow executive producer Ken Mok both appeared in the documentary, alongside numerous former judges and contestants who reflected on their time on the show.
However, Janice was conspicuously missing. Given her outspoken nature — and her history of clashing with Tyra — many viewers felt her absence left a noticeable gap in the storytelling.
The documentary was directed by Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan, with executive producers Ryan Miller, Jason Beekman, Vanessa Golembewski, Jon Adler, Amanda Spain, Ian Orefice and Jonna McLaughlin also attached to the project.
Amid growing speculation, Daniel addressed Janice’s absence in an interview with Netflix Tudum, explaining that it was not for lack of trying.
“We would’ve absolutely loved to interview Janice. She’s bigger than life,” he said.
“Unfortunately, she was tied up on another documentary,” Daniel added, before teasing: “The beauty of social media today is [that] I am absolutely sure we’ll be hearing all of the sordid comments in the next few weeks. So I personally am staying tuned.”
Next month, Janice is set to share her side of the story in a separate docuseries titled Dirty Rotten Scandals. The ‘explosive’ series will also explore behind-the-scenes claims involving Dr. Phil, America’s Next Top Model and The Price is Right.
The ANTM-focused episode is scheduled to premiere on March 11 on E! in the US. In the trailer, Janice does not hold back, alleging that the show “tortured” its contestants for Tyra’s “ego”.
Janice Dickinson said her ‘paycheck stayed the same’ on ANTM
This is far from the first time Janice has publicly criticised Tyra. Over the years, she has repeatedly spoken about their strained working relationship and claimed tensions simmered behind the scenes throughout her time on the judging panel.
In 2021, during an appearance on the Behind The Velvet Rope podcast, Janice reflected on sitting beside Tyra for “hours and hours,” describing the experience as “daunting” because, in her words, “she didn’t really like me.”
Janice claimed she would often remind Tyra that she had appeared on numerous Vogue covers — something she pointed out Tyra had not done. She suggested contributed to friction between them.
She also admitted she didn’t treat Tyra “like a producer”, something Tyra would allegedly remind her of during filming.
When it came to choosing the winner of each cycle, Janice claimed the final decision rested with CoverGirl rather than the judges themselves, leaving her feeling that her input ultimately didn’t carry much weight.
Despite the show’s growing popularity and cultural impact, Janice said her salary never increased. “The paycheck stayed the same,” she revealed, implying she did not financially benefit from ANTM’s long-running success.
Janice accused Tyra of editing what she said
Back in 2007, Janice attended the Fox Reality Really Awards and was asked on the red carpet about her dynamic with Tyra.
In a light-hearted tone, she initially replied: “She’s alright!”
However, she quickly followed up with sharper remarks. “She jacked my [ass] the entire time I was on her show,” Janice claimed. “She jacked everything I said and then remixed it and re-edited to suit her fancies.”
With visible sarcasm, she added: “She’s a real smart producer!”
Janice revealed brutal reason why she was fired from ANTM
In a 2023 interview with Queerty, Janice opened up about what she believes led to her exit from the show.
She recalled being invited into Tyra’s office early in her tenure and noticing her own memoir covered in Post-it notes marking specific pages and passages.
According to Janice, she began to see elements from her book appearing in ANTM storylines and terminology. She even claimed that Tyra’s well-known phrase “smize with your eyes” originated in her writing.
“It was OK but after a couple of years, I went up to Tyra, politely, and asked her for a parody as a writer,” Janice explained. She added that she wanted formal credit or compensation for ideas she felt had been borrowed.
However, she said the request backfired. “She turned her back on me for that and then I got fired the next season,” Janice alleged.
When asked whether the pair had spoken since, she was blunt: “No, don’t mess with the money! No, no no. Not with her!”
Janice also accused Tyra of causing “a lot of harm for kids” through harsh critiques delivered on the show, claiming some comments would “cut deep.”
‘She’s not a friendly lady’
Speaking to former Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe on her Off the Vine podcast, Janice once again criticised Tyra’s personality behind the scenes.
“She’s not a friendly lady,” Janice stated bluntly.
At the time, Tyra had hosted Dancing with the Stars while Kaitlyn competed. Janice asked whether Tyra had been warm toward her.
Kaitlyn explained they had only shared one phone call and minimal interaction otherwise.
Janice responded by suggesting that Kaitlyn was “too beautiful for her”. Janice added: “She does not like beautiful women.”
Janice once apologised to Tyra
Despite years of tension, Janice did publicly apologise to Tyra in 2015 during an episode of Where Are They Now.
During the appearance, Janice acknowledged that Tyra had hired her to play a “female Simon Cowell” role on ANTM. She noted that she “loved working” on the show, however.
“Tyra’s a tough businesswoman, she does great TV and I respect her as a woman,” Janice said at the time.
Addressing her past comments, she added: “I’ve said some pretty bad things about her in the past because I had been fired. I was very hurt that I had been fired and so I acted out but that’s not when I was acting in a sober-like fashion.”
Tyra refuses to address Janice following ANTM drama
In a 2009 interview with Cynthia McFadden on ABC’s Nightline, Tyra was asked about why judges such as Janice and Paulina Porizkova had left the series.
Tyra declined to directly answer the question, instead just sat smiling at her. Cynthia suggested that former judges might have been “jealous”, which Tyra didn’t deny.
Following the release of the Netflix documentary, Tyra has once again faced backlash for what critics describe as a lack of accountability. As of this writing, she has not responded.
In fact, during the documentary, Tyra even teased a potential revival of the franchise. She said: “You have no idea what we have planned for Cycle 25.”
Let’s see how that works out…
Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model documentary is streaming on Netflix now
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