Exclusive | ‘America’s Next Top Model’ contestants react: Suppressed dreams, global hate – and fame as ‘reality TV trash’

Angelea Preston was on top of the world after being crowned the winner of America’s Next Top Model: All-Stars in 2011.

But the runway walker’s world came crashing down when the show’s producers quietly stripped her of the title — allegedly because of her past work as a professional escort — months before the season debuted that September.

“Winning the All-Stars was one of the best days of my life,” Preston, 38, of Buffalo, recently told The Post. “And the day they took that away from me was one of the worst.”

The New York native, along with other traumatized “ANTM” castmates, tearfully details her fall from fame on “The Dark Side of Reality TV: America’s Next Top Model,” a Vice series that uncovers the untold secrets – and often uncomfortable—of early cult classics. – shows.

Ringing with Preston is her replacement winner, Lisa D’Amato – who fared no better.

“The king of ‘America’s Next Top Model’ destroyed my dreams,” the 44-year-old tearfully told the camera for the episode, which airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. “It made everyone around the globe hate me. And that made me hate myself for years.”

D’Amato, who appeared in seasons 5 and 17, said the production portrayed her as an “alcoholic brat,” a misrepresentation that stigmatized her with modeling agencies and potential clients.

“They don’t care if you live or die afterward,” D’Amato said of the show’s hosts. “Nothing happened with my modeling career.

“I’m basically just reality TV trash.”

Premiering in May 2003 on the since-defunct UPN network, “ANTM” quickly captured audiences with its unstoppable look.

For 24 seasons or “cycles” — as it was dubbed by creator and fashion icon Tyra Banks — the competition series gave 3 million global fans a glamorous, weekly look at the sometimes ugly side of flawless beauty, with cycle winners who won the coveted “Top” award, as well as a modeling contract, a magazine article and a substantial cash prize.

From the makeover meltdowns from the gorgeous, 20-something contestants to the wacky photo shoot challenges and snarky critiques from the judging panel, chaired by Banks, it seemed no sensitive subject nor hidden insecurity was off limits until the show officially ended its 15-year run in 2018.

Banks, now 50, ultimately apologized for the “insensitivity of some past ‘ANTM’ moments” in 2020, following social media outrage over recurring infractions made during filming — including jabs about her teeth, height and weight. contestants.

But the damage was done forever in the eyes of many upset participants.

Sarah Hartshorne, a 9-star model and former plus-size model, previously told The Post that contestants were forced to roll with the punches backstage.

“The production kept us in the dark about almost everything because they wanted to keep us on the edge,” Hartshorne, 37, said.

“Confused, tired, stressed, sleep deprived and hungry we just made better TV.”

And on the new Vice show, the brunette doesn’t hold back on her disdain for the genre.

“Competition reality shows in the early years were destroyed,” Hartshorne said in the new episode.

“It was unpaid work,” she added. “We were being subjected to a new world of entertainment that was free.”

Representatives for the banks did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Season 4 contestant Brittany Brower revealed to The Post that she tolerated “little irritations and things I didn’t like on set,” claiming the showrunners sometimes — perhaps surprisingly, given the genre — amped up the drama for hype. .

“They’re all about the ratings,” she said of the reality TV riddler’s rage, before conceding. “That’s life.”

However, the now-married, stay-at-home mother of two made a surprising statement, which others have also accepted.

“I would 100% do it again,” said the Florida-based model, 42.

And her bandmate Keenyah Hill also found a silver lining to any behind-the-scenes brouhaha that ensued, saying fighting for Banks’ endorsement was a “surreal” privilege that put her on the map.

“No matter where I go in the world, I’m known,” Hill, 39, a top 3 finalist in 2005, told The Post. “I’ve been modeling for the last 20 years. I never stopped.”

She has walked in fashion weeks in New York, Paris and Milan, and is now a pose coach at Divas Training.

Plus, Hill credited “ANTM” with keeping a “Smize” — Banks’ phrase for winking — on her face over the years.

“I would absolutely do it all over again,” she said.

However, Preston, while still hurt by “all the messy things that happened” and her “ANTM” exit, can only dwell on her decades-old wounds for so long, despite the new story on the air.

“It’s been a weird ride,” said Preston, a mother of one son and news producer — adding that, surprisingly, she’s “grateful” that it even made it to the air.

“I’m still part of a show that made history.”

“The Dark Side of Reality TV” airs at 9pm EST on Vice TV on Tuesdays.