Despite the hype surrounding the America’s Next Top Model tell-all documentary — ten years we've been waiting, no less — we don’t think any of us were truly prepared for what we saw. Namely, the stories of Keenyah Hill and Shandi Sullivan.
Sure, we were primed for the memes, the racially insensitive photoshoots, the “We were rooting for you!” meltdown, and those notoriously dangerous catwalks. But the documentary hit harder than expected. It exposed the darker, previously hidden moments: the abuses quietly covered up, the manipulations disguised as “drama,” and the emotional toll on the contestants. Oh, and no one saw Tyra Banks casually dropping the announcement of Cycle 25 of ANTM coming right at the end — huh?!
Viewers have been particularly struck by Keenyah Hill’s story in the Netflix documentary, and many are eager to know how she’s doing now. Here’s a much-needed update on the former model.
Tyra Banks' infamous “I was rooting for you!” tirade is tame, at this point.
Who is Keenyah Hill?
Keenyah Hill competed on America’s Next Top Model Cycle 4 back in 2005, making it all the way to the final three.
On the show, Hill was often framed as the “fat girl” of the cast — which, honestly, is completely absurd. “Up until that point, I had only ever been made fun of for being really thin,” Hill admits in the documentary. “In school, I was bullied for being slim and tall. I wasn’t curvy like a lot of the other girls. So to go into this world where now my weight is an issue was really confusing for me.” And frankly, it was confusing for all of us watching.
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During her season, the models were tasked with a ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ photoshoot. Keenyah was cast as Gluttony. In another ‘Africa’-themed shoot, the models were dressed as animals — and Keenyah was assigned an elephant. For that shoot, she faced harsh critique from the judges. Flashbacks show Tyra Banks saying, “This photo is really beautiful, but I hate to say it, they had to do a lot of body work on you in retouching.” Judge Janice Dickinson added, “If you’re sporting a gut, then you turn to the side and hide it,” later telling her she “needs to lose weight.”
The criticism didn’t stop with the judges. A fellow contestant reportedly commented that Keenyah had “gained weight” and could “snack like no other.”
“Looking back, it’s like they had to find something as part of the narrative,” Keenyah reflects. “That’s when I knew, okay, this is intentional.” She adds, “It was a little bit damaging to see them editing me eating the same bagel, for example, showing me eating it as if I’d eaten three bagels — but it really was the same one.”
What happened to her on ANTM?
Keenyah Hill delivered some of Cycle 4’s most iconic shots, but her time on America’s Next Top Model is remembered for something far darker. During the South Africa trip, Hill says she felt unsafe while filming a photoshoot with a male model who repeatedly crossed her boundaries.
At the time, she was visibly uncomfortable on camera, but the severity of the situation didn’t fully land with viewers. Hill had previously spoken to Entertainment Weekly about alleged sexual harassment during a shoot involving male models dancing around contestants. One of them, Bertini Heumegni, she alleged, was “very aggressively hitting on” her ahead of the shoot — enough that she spoke up and told producers she was uncomfortable, an exchange captured on camera and broadcast as part of the episode.
Tyra Banks was later shown at the judging table coaching Hill on how to handle the situation, including suggesting she use her “feminine wiles” to tell Heumegni to back off “in a fun way.”
In episode two of the new Netflix documentary Reality Check, Banks directly apologises for how the situation was handled, acknowledging that the responsibility should never have fallen on Hill.
“I was trying to empower her with the information that I had,” Banks explains. “I felt like that was empowering her based on the information I had. I thought that was the best advice, but it should have been, ‘Stop,’ down. And that’s what would happen today.”
She continues, “We all now understand the protections that women need, so I say to Keenyah, boo boo, I am so sorry. None of us knew. Network executives didn’t know, and I did the best that I could at that time. But she deserved more. She did.”
However, there’s criticism of Banks’ framing, as she repeatedly emphasises that no one knew how to provide protection despite her authority role at the time.
Nigel Barker, photographer and former model who was also on the judging panel critiquing Hill’s performance, reflects on his earlier judgment in Reality Check.
“Some of those things are also kind of a reality of the world, unfortunately,” Barker says. “In the fashion industry, there’s always been a lot of issues with, you know, sort of harassment. In any shape or way, whether you’re a male or female model. And not everyone is going to handle the same situation in the same way, but you as an individual should be able to stand up for yourself and say, ‘Hey, no, this isn’t working,’ or figure it out and get the job done. There were people — cameras — everywhere!”
The patriarchal grip on beauty standards is stronger than ever.
The documentary paints a broader picture of the pressures contestants faced: body-shaming storylines, toxic production demands and the blurry line between “good TV” and contestant well-being.
Hill recounts feeling she had to “fend for myself” during the uncomfortable moment with Heumegni, who was captured on camera asking for her phone number and pressing over her shoulder while dancing.
“Mind you, they all have just this teeny tiny little piece of loincloth covering their members. Bertini was touching me, grabbing me; I felt he was taking advantage of the moment to touch me,” Hill recalls. “I remember thinking to myself, What would Tyra do in this situation? Tyra would politely and professionally stop the shoot and let everyone know that she feels a little uncomfortable. So, that’s exactly what I did. I didn’t get the response I thought I was going to get. The looks on their faces were just like, How dare you stop our production!”
She concludes, “To be on a TV set in front of so many people and still not be protected is some pretty dark stuff.”
Where is Keenyah Hill now?
Hill is thriving in her post-ANTM world, taking the lessons she learned on the runway and turning them into a platform for empowerment.
She’s now a Pose Coach and Model Mentor, running her own business, Find Your Light, where her bio proudly declares she gets aspiring models “booked and busy.”
Her focus? Teaching posing, confidence, body awareness, and the kind of on-set presence that casting directors actually notice; skills Hill knows firsthand can make or break a career.
The woman who once felt unsupported on a major set is now creating structured, intentional guidance for other models, ensuring they have the tools and confidence she wished she’d had.
You can keep up with her on Instagram at @keenyah.hill.
