American Homicide - Introducing: Curse of America’s Next Top Model

Episode Date: September 16, 2025

Introducing Curse of America’s Next Top Model. When America’s Next Top Model premiered in the early 2000s, it looked like a golden ticket: a glamorous TV show that could catapult aspiring models into fame. But two decades later, many contestants describe its aftermath as a curse. Hosted by pop-culture journalist Bridget Armstrong, Curse of America’s Next Top Model is a deep investigation into the hidden costs of reality television, and what the show’s legacy reveals about beauty, power, and the culture that cheered it on.  New episodes are released every Tuesday, starting September 16th. Listen to the first episode now!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? Answer, a new podcast called Wisecrack, where a comedian finds himself at the center of a chilling true crime story. Does anyone know what show they've come to see? It's a story. It's about the scariest night of my life. This is Wisecrack, available now.

Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Liz went from being interested in true crime to living true crime. My husband said, your dad's been killed. This is Hands Tied, a true crime podcast exploring the murder of Jim Milgar. I was just completely in shock. Liz's father murdered. And her mother found locked in a closet, her hands, and feet bound.

I didn't feel real at all. More than a decade on, she's still searching for answers. We're still fighting. Listen to Hands Tide on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It was an unimaginable crime. It's four consecutive live terms for Brian Koeberger

who killed the four University of Idaho students. Nearly 30 months of silence. until Bombshell development Brian Coburger has agreed to plead guilty no trial no testimony

the defense are on a sinking ship this isn't the justice you wanted but this is justice listen to season three of the Idaho Massacre on the IHeart Radio app

Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts I knew I wanted to obey and submit but I didn't fully grasp for the rest of my life, what that meant.

For My Heart Podcasts in Rococo Punch, this is The Turning, River Road. In the woods of Minnesota, a cult leader married himself to 10 girls and forced them into a secret life of abuse. But in 2014, the youngest escaped. Listen to the Turning River Road on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Think back to the early 2000s. You're flipping through TV channels, and then you hear this.

I was rooting for you. We were all rooting for you. How dare you? Learn something from this. I want to be honest. America's next top model was my show. And it might have been yours too. But these days, that iconic show that so many of us love, seems pretty horrified. Robin, first of all, is too old to be starting a model. She's huge. She's got rolls of skin that hang over her jeans. Do you really think you can have a cover girl? contract with the gap in your mouth. Today, some people think A&M was cursed because of what happened to so many of the models once the camera stopped rolling.

I was in debt after the show. We basically sold our souls, and they got rich. I'm Bridget Armstrong, and this is the curse of America's next top model. I'm a journalist covering pop culture, and for the past six months, I've been investigating the real story of A&TM by talking to the models, the predict. and the people who profited from it all were starting at the very beginning. But the story of how this show almost didn't happen. They ran out of money.

They were like using bread bag ties to like hold curtains together. I guess we were, you know, the guinea pigs. And exploring how a show that was supposed to be about making dreams come through ended up ruining so many contestants' careers. No one wanted to see me after the show. I couldn't get an agency. Like, they completely destroyed me. Back then, we believed they just didn't have what it took to be on top.

But after talking to many former contestants, I think it's much deeper than that. Maybe they were set up for failure. If someone had a particular fear, we would find out in the castings, scared of heights. Maybe this cycle, we should do a runway, 35 stories in the air and let them walk off the plane. somebody had a sick relative. They would push her and push her and push her. Like, are you afraid they're going to die while you're here? The challenges turn into,

let's see what kind of crazy shit can come out of this. I talked to cast, crew and producers, who would bear for some of the show's most shocking moments. She's like, we're rooting for you, we're all rooting for you. Like, if you were so rooting for her and saw her drowning, what did you help her? There was a huge chunk that got cut out of that. Tyra got real personal with her, and she hit her below the belt.

I'm just clutching my pearls, okay? At this point, it is, ooh, scary. Top model had so many viewers in a trans. But when it was all over, what were we left with? You're putting it all across America that I have a white ass. I ended up having anorexia issues after that. bulimia issues after that. Why would you humiliate someone like this

and make them feel as if their very normal body is wrong? America's Next Top Model taught me that everything is a woman's fault. It didn't matter what it was always your fault. And in the end, maybe the curse of America's Next Top Model wasn't just about what happened to the contestants. Maybe it was what the show revealed about us, what we wanted to believe and what we were willing to watch.

Listen to the curse of America's next top model. Starting on September 16th on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? Answer, a new podcast called Wise. where a comedian finds himself at the center of a chilling true crime story. Does anyone know what show they've come to see? It's a story.

It's about the scariest night of my life. This is Wisecrack, available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Liz went from being interested in true crime to living true crime. My husband said, your dad's been killed. This is Hands Tide, a true crime podcast exploring the murder of Jim Milgar. I was just completely in shock. Liz's father murdered, and her mother found locked in a closet, her hands and feet bound.

I didn't feel real at all. More than a decade on, she's still searching for answers. We're still fighting. Listen to Hands Tide on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It was an unimaginable crime. It's four consecutive live terms for Brian Koberger who killed the four University of Idaho students. Nearly 30 months of silence until... Bombshell development, Brian Koberger, has agreed to plead guilty.

No trial, no testimony. The defense are on a sinking ship. This isn't the justice you wanted, but this is justice. Listen to season three of the Idaho Massacre on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I knew I wanted to obey and submit, but I didn't fully grasp for the rest of my life what that meant. For My Heart Podcasts and Rococo Punch, this is The Turning, River Road. In the woods of Minnesota, a cult leader married himself to 10 girls and forced them into a secret life of abuse. but in 2014, the youngest escaped.

Listen to the Turning River Road on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.