Featured Image Credit: UPN
Topics: TV and Film, Fashion
Lisa McLoughlin
America's Next Top Model was a cultural moment of the noughties, and it embodied everything celebrity culture celebrated at the time - low-rise jeans, trucker hats and unattainable size 0 silhouettes.
19 years on since the reality show first aired, the series is coming under fire for scenes that are more than a smidge problematic almost two decades on.
Armed with hindsight, fans of the supermodel search have been left aghast by the treatment of season one hopeful Robin Manning, who was torn to shreds by judges for having what they described as a 'plus-sized' body, which was in fact a slim UK size 10.
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In the two-minute clip, which combined the cruel comments Robin received about her body that season, a contestant can first be heard saying: "I feel really bad for Robin because she is bigger down the hips and thighs than the rest of us.”
While judge and international supermodel Janice Dickinson can be seen in another snippet reviewing Robin’s photos and asking: "Are we shooting for the large size category?"
To which head judge Tyra Banks responds: "Yes, Robin would represent a plus-size model. One problem that I do have is that on the top she's not plus-sized, and on the bottom she is.”
Later, in deliberations, judge Beau Quillian is quick to state 'Robin's out,' indicating he doesn't think she should be allowed to compete, given her ‘fuller’ figure.
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"Robin's out, as far as I'm concerned about being a supermodel," adds Janice judgementally in the old footage. "The next America's Next Top Model is not a plus sized model, I'm sorry!”
Reacting to the clip, which has resurfaced on Reddit, one stunned user commented: "How TF is she not a ‘regular model?’
“She’s got amazing proportions, ant there doesn’t seem like a single oversized thing on her. This is shameful and disgusting.”
Another penned: “If that’s a plus size model… honestly f**k the whole industry.”
A third insisted: "It was a different time. If you had anything more than a hank hill ass, you were growing up with body image issues and shamed on the daily for being a fat piece of s**t”.
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“I kept looking for the plus size model. Then I realized it was her,” a fan wrote.
Despite the shocking criticism on the show, Robin went on to finish fourth on the season.
She appeared in several magazine spreads, including a shoot for O, the Oprah magazine, TV Guide and Grace magazine.
Robin also briefly pursued acting, starring in a drama titled Without You in 2005, and Holla in 2006.
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ANTM ran from 2003 to 2018 and during that time there was only ever one plus-sized winner, Whitney Thompson, who took home the title in Cycle 10 in 2008.