“America’s Next Top Model” Alum Says Models Were Only Paid $40

A former “America’s Next Top Model” contestant has confessed that she and the other ladies on the show were paid up to $40 per day.

Model Sarah Hartshorne, who appeared on ANTM season nine, told The Post that the ladies were never compensated for being on the modeling competition series. Instead, they were given a $38 daily stipend that they had to use to pay for their meals. Hartshorne says that they also didn’t have access to a microwave.

The 34-year-old also made the same claims on Twitter, writing, “$40 a day, no residuals, and we had to pay for food.”

$40 a day, no residuals, and we had to pay for food. https://t.co/lnclnbj2GZ

— Sarah Hartshorne (@sarahhartshorne) November 30, 2021

Forbes has estimated that the show’s host and creator, supermodel Tyra Banks, made approximately $30 million during one year from the show alone. 

Hartshorne, who appeared on the show when she was just 19-years-old, also slammed production for keeping the cast in the dark about many details for entertainment purposes. She says that the ladies in the ANTM house never knew where they were going and were taken to various locations in windowless vans so that they’d be shocked whenever they got to a photoshoot.

“Us being confused, tired, stressed, sleep-deprived and hungry just made for better TV,” she claimed. “We never knew where we were going at any given time. They would transport us from place to place in a windowless van, and we’d have to face every situation totally clueless and out of sorts.”

These claims against Banks and the show are nothing new. Model Winnie Harlow has previously stated that the show did more harm than good to her career. She says that no one would book her following her appearance on the series. Social media has spent the last few years dragging the show for its outlandish challenges, which included changing model ethnicities and forcing them to cut their hair. 

Banks has not responded to these latest accusations.