Where Is Janice? The Missing Voice Fans Noticed in the ‘ANTM’ Docuseries Trailer

Update, Jan. 29: E! has announced Dirty Rotten Scandals, a new docuseries pulling back the curtain on some of television’s most popular shows. The series will examine alleged behind-the-scenes misconduct on The Dr. Phil Show, America’s Next Top Model, and The Price Is Right, with former guests and crew members detailing claims ranging from exploitation and discrimination to sexual harassment lawsuits.

Premiering March 4 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, the first installment focuses on The Dr. Phil Show, featuring allegations of coercive production tactics and corruption. On March 11 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, two back-to-back episodes spotlight America’s Next Top Model, with appearances from former judge Janice Dickinson and season 17 winner Lisa D’Amato. As Janice explains in the trailer, "America's Next Top Model really tortured these girls for Tyra Banks' ego." Lisa attests to the comment, adding, "It wasn't a modeling competition. It was psychological warfare."

Original Story, Jan. 27: For years, America’s Next Top Model has been quietly undergoing a public rewatch. Old episodes, once praised for drama and glamour, now circulate on TikTok and Reddit as examples of reality TV excess, harsh critiques, and moments that feel uncomfortable by today’s standards. That growing online reckoning is what makes the upcoming docuseries feel long overdue.

But as anticipation builds, one absence has become impossible for fans to ignore.

Where is Janice Dickinson?

Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model premieres Feb. 16 and promises an in-depth look at one of the most influential reality competition shows of the 2000s. Directed by Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan, the three-part series revisits the franchise that ran for 24 seasons, or “cycles,” from 2003 to 2016.

Created by Tyra Banks and developed by Ken Mok and Kenya Barris, America’s Next Top Model followed aspiring models from across the United States as they lived together, competed in weekly challenges, and faced elimination. Each cycle ended with one winner earning the title of “America’s Next Top Model,” along with a magazine spread and major fashion and modeling contracts.

The show broke ground by spotlighting contestants from communities historically overlooked by the fashion industry. At the same time, it became known for extreme photo shoots, mandatory makeovers, and sharp critiques about contestants’ bodies and appearances. Those moments helped the show go viral long before social media, but they also now sit at the center of its most intense criticism.

According to a press release, the docuseries features new interviews with Tyra Banks, Ken Mok, former judges Jay Manuel, J. Alexander, and Nigel Barker, along with several former contestants and winners, including Whitney Thompson, Giselle Samson, Shannon Stewart, Shandi Sullivan, Dani Evans, and Keenyah Hill.

The series also revisits what happened behind the scenes in 2012, when Manuel, Alexander, and Barker were not brought back after their contracts expired. According to the series, Banks, Mok, and former judges and contestants speak directly to long-standing questions about fairness, power, and the show’s cultural legacy.

Yet despite the wide range of voices, one key figure is noticeably missing from the trailer.

Janice Dickinson served as a judge during the show’s earliest cycles and helped define its no-nonsense tone. Some fans have taken to the comments asking why she is not featured, with others claiming she was the true villain of the series.

Dickinson has long pushed back against that narrative, saying her behavior was shaped by what she witnessed on set.

“No, she’s not a friendly lady,” Dickinson told The Bachelorette star Kaitlyn Bristowe on an episode of the Off the Vine in 2024 when asked whether she stayed in touch with Tyra Banks after the show.

She went further, admitting she “just tortured” Banks during production.

“Because, if she was going to be mean to the girls, I saw her ploy, just so I could remain under the radar. I’d tell her things like, ‘I did Vogue, you did Elle,’” Dickinson said.

While Dickinson’s judging style was often compared to American Idol’s Simon Cowell, she later clarified that it was part of her job. “When I was hired to do ANTM, Tyra hired me to be like a female Simon Cowell, to be feeding, in negative fashion, things about the girls,” she said in a later interview with the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Despite her criticism of Banks, Dickinson has also acknowledged that her comments were shaped by personal pain after leaving the show.

“Tyra’s a tough businesswoman, and she does great TV. I respect her as a woman,” Dickinson said. “I’ve said some pretty bad things about her in the past because I’d been fired, and I was very hurt that I’d been fired, so I acted out.”

She added, “I really apologize to you, Tyra, for the things I might’ve said to you, because she is a great lady, and thanks to her, I’ve had a very successful career on television.”

Still, Dickinson has made clear that she does not regret how she acted as a judge. In 2022, she responded to a fan on Instagram who asked if she had “any regrets” about her ANTM comments.

“Um, no. It was acting. And that’s that,” Dickinson replied, later adding, “People forget that TV is acting.”

Dickinson’s on-air remarks remain some of the show’s most widely shared clips. They include telling a contestant her face looked “like the battery died in her vibrator” and declaring, “America’s next top model is not a plus-size model.” Other moments, including comments toward Black contestants, have also been widely criticized.

Yet fan discussions remain divided. One Redditor described her as a “complex judge,” writing, “In some ways, she was overly harsh and straight up NASTY to the girls at times. But on the other hand, I feel like she had so many moments where she would overtly boost them up.”

Another commenter added, “The girls on the show said Janice was actually one of the well-liked judges behind Miss Jay and as a collective they all came to realize & accept that she was playing a character.”

Dickinson remains active on social media, where she posts fashion commentary and blunt opinions using her #JudgingWithJanice tag. But she has also faced serious health and legal issues in recent years.

America’s Next Top Model judge and supermodel Janice Dickinson has alleged that her face is permanently scarred following a fall while filming the 2023 British reality TV series I’m a Celebrity… South Africa.

The 70-year-old shared photos with United Kingdom publication The Sun, showing what she claims were severe injuries that left her with “nerve damage that affects her speech, eating and drinking,” per the outlet.

A source alleged to The Sun that Dickinson’s “face has been permanently altered and the scars and indentations cannot be corrected.”

According to the outlet, Dickinson said she fell in the dark during production and that the injuries led to her exit from the competition, where she ultimately finished in 10th place.

“I thought, ‘Geez, I’ll never work again,’” Dickinson said in a prior interview with The Sun. She added, “Certainly too damaged to go back on the show. I had blood, bruises up and down my face and there were gaping wounds. It really knocked my confidence.”

“It was agony cleaning all the dirt and gravel off of my face, it was horrible,” she said, noting that she “didn’t require stitches.”

In September, Dickinson reportedly sued ITV Studios for £700,000, around $936,000, alleging the company refused to pay certain medical bills.

Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model aims to revisit the show’s complicated history and confront its most uncomfortable moments. It promises accountability, reflection, and clarity.

But for many fans, the absence of Janice Dickinson raises a lingering question. Can a show built on bold personalities and brutal honesty fully examine its past without one of its most controversial voices?