More
    HomeEntertainment'America's Next Top Model' Alum Claims Tyra Banks Didn't Like Contestants Hugging...

    ‘America’s Next Top Model’ Alum Claims Tyra Banks Didn’t Like Contestants Hugging Her

    Published on

    spot_img


    An America’s Next Top Model alum is spilling behind-the-scenes secrets in a new book.

    Cycle 9 contestant Sarah Hartshorne opened up about her experience filming the reality competition series in You Wanna Be on Top?: A Memoir of Makeovers, Manipulation, and Not Becoming America’s Next Top Model, which hit bookshelves on Tuesday, July 8.

    In the book, Hartshorne recalled her fellow competitor, Mila Bouzinova, hugging host Tyra Banks after making it to the season’s final 13 models. “Mila Bouzinova strode forward confidently, flipped her hair over her shoulder, and hugged Tyra. Tyra looked at someone off camera and shook her head,” Hartshorne wrote, per Entertainment Weekly.

    Banks, however, was not a fan of the physical interaction, as Hartshorne claimed an off-screen crew member yelled to the cast, “No more hugs.”

    “She kept reading names. Some girls were already crying when she started, and with each name, they wept harder,” Hartshorne added, joking that she yelled “like a horse” when her own name was called. “I looked in her eyes and thought, God, I can’t wait to go to sleep.”

    Michael Yarish / © The CW / Courtesy of Everett Collection

    According to EW, the alleged hug between Bouzinova and Banks did not make the final cut of the September 2007 episode. Bouzinova, who now goes by the name Lyuda, was ultimately eliminated during Cycle 9’s second episode, while Hartshorne came in eighth place overall.

    Neither Bouzinova nor Banks have publicly addressed Hartshorne’s book claims.

    ANTM ran for 24 seasons from 2003 to 2018 and followed supermodel hopefuls as they competed in a series of challenges to be crowned, as the show’s title suggests, America’s Next Top Model. Banks served as the show’s host for 23 out of its 24 seasons, with singer Rita Ora briefly stepping into her shoes for Cycle 23.

    Over the years, the series has faced backlash for its diversity efforts, lack of body inclusivity, and controversial challenges. Banks addressed the ANTM criticism during her speech at the 2025 Essence Black Women in Hollywood ceremony in February.

    “You guys have no idea how hard we fought to bring the diversity to the television show at a time where it didn’t exist. … We fought and we struggled, but we made it happen,” she stated. “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 continued, “We all evolve. We all get better together. And I am so excited that I and so many of us [have] opened that door for others to follow. And now, my 51-year-old, dimple, cellulite, bigger tummy, 10 million times bigger [breasts] is walking through that door that I opened with all of us behind us on that runway saying, ‘Baby, it’s just beginning.’”





    Source link

    Latest articles

    Wednesday Season 2 trailer out: Jenna Ortega returns with darker twist

    Netflix has released the trailer for the highly anticipated series Wednesday Season 2,...

    Does Enid Die in ‘Wednesday’ Season 2? Updates & Spoilers on Her Fate

    Woe is us after watching the explosive new trailer for Wednesday season 2....

    Dylan’s Candy Bar’s Launches ‘Wheel in Fortune’ Collection Ahead of Season 43

    Dylan’s Candy Bar is launching the perfect sweet treat to hold over Wheel...

    Steve Aoki Recalls ‘Magical Moment’ That Led to ‘MIC Drop’ Remix Breakthrough in New BTS ARMY Film

    As BTS fans prepare for the release of the forthcoming ARMY documentary Forever...

    More like this

    Wednesday Season 2 trailer out: Jenna Ortega returns with darker twist

    Netflix has released the trailer for the highly anticipated series Wednesday Season 2,...

    Does Enid Die in ‘Wednesday’ Season 2? Updates & Spoilers on Her Fate

    Woe is us after watching the explosive new trailer for Wednesday season 2....

    Dylan’s Candy Bar’s Launches ‘Wheel in Fortune’ Collection Ahead of Season 43

    Dylan’s Candy Bar is launching the perfect sweet treat to hold over Wheel...