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A former America’s Next Top Model winner, India Gants, is revealing the grim reality of what it was like being on the show. IndiaGants, 28, competed on the show in 2017 and came in first place. Although it may have seemed all glitz and glam on the television screen, the model is revealing that the experience wasn’t all it was made out to be. Taking to TikTok, India gave some disturbing insight into what the reality show was like behind the scenes, even comparing it to living in a “prison.”
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@indiagants Replying to @Ona Judge ♬ original sound - India Gants
India shared a series of videos to her TikTok answering users’ questions and detailing her experience. In one video, she confirmed that the models weren’t able to leave the house while filming.
“You do not get to leave the house for the entire six weeks during filming expect for photoshoots, challenges, things like that,” she said. She went on to reveal that the models didn’t have “any freedom” for activities such as taking a walk, going to the mall, or getting their nails done. They also were escorted to and from the house by a crew member on the production team.
She called it a 'bubble.'
@indiagants Replying to @user6667814444059 #greenscreen ♬ original sound - India Gants
Continuing, India shared that they weren’t allowed to have their phones during filming and rarely had any access to the outside world. “It’s such a weird world, like you are in this literal bubble during filming.”
Because her hair was dyed, it was required that India go to the salon once a week for maintenance, so she experienced a little more freedom than the other girls.
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Their bathrooms had no doors.
@indiagants Replying to @it’s 14 j’s ♬ original sound - India Gants
In another video, India responded after someone asked, “Is it true that the bathroom doors were removed? Was this all to get people in a bad mood so they’d fight on camera or something?” India replied that there were no doors but instead shower curtains to cover the bathroom entrance, but once inside, everything was “wide open.”
“There was really no privacy whatsoever and you just kind of had to get used to using the bathroom in front of other people,” she said, adding that if more privacy was needed for going “number two” there was one bathroom in the confessional for that.
Speaking about the hotel the models stayed in before filming, she described the 'horrible' living conditions.
@indiagants Replying to @Sam Azman ♬ original sound - India Gants
“They were so small, like you barely had room to move,” she said. She added that there was a “janky” TV with two channels, and they couldn’t have books or cellphones or “anyway to communicate with the outside world.”
She explained that they’d go 23 hours with no human interaction, and for one hour they’d get pulled out for some activity relating to the show. “It was literally like we were in prison,” she shared in the video.
People were taken aback by the realities of what it was like being on the show.
@indiagants Lil yap sesh about money 💰 and america’s next top model!
♬ original sound - India Gants
“I have a theory that antm is just tyra’s version of the stanford prison experiment,” one person commented.
“How can anyone think that’s acceptable? Besides to humiliate or stress the candidates what was their reasoning for doing that?” another TikToker asked.
“Wow. cant imagine going through all of that, and went home with nothing,” someone else wrote. “Feel sorry for girls who got eliminated early. thank goodness you managed to stick it out.”
It was all for TV.
@indiagants Replying to @…her? ♬ original sound - India Gants
Although many commenters questioned why things were done the way they were, India clarified that the show was for entertainment. “Primarily, it’s a TV show. They have to make good TV. It’s not a real modeling experience,” she said. “They are producing a TV show that has to get views. They have to make it interesting.”
Mariah Maddox (she/her)