Cults to Consciousness1 Dec 2025

“America's Next Top Model WAS A CULT” Sarah Hartshorne Reveals the Dark Truth Behind Cycle 9

(CW: Mentions of Eating Disorder) Sarah Hartshorne, a fan favorite America’s Next Top Model contestant pulls back the curtain on the iconic but deeply flawed reality competition show, exposing the manipulation and chaos behind the scenes. Tyra Banks’s America’s Next Top Model was a cultural phenomenon with more than six million weekly viewers at its peak. Over its fifteen-year run, the show captured the glitz of the early aughts as well as its most toxic attitudes—from the glamorous but often questionable photo shoots to the cutting feedback from its highly respected if out-of-touch judges. But as its fans have grown up and as the next generation discovers ANTM, they’ve also begun to reckon with the enduring ways that the show has affected their body image and self-esteem.

Sarah Hartshorne would have never guessed that her first foray into modeling would start with being blindfolded alongside three dozen other girls on a charter bus winding through Puerto Rico. Cycle 9’s only plus-size contestant takes us into the heart of the unforgiving auditions; the labyrinthian cruise ship the girls weren’t allowed to enjoy; and, of course, the L.A. “model house” teeming with hidden cameras and elaborately constructed tensions. As the season unfolds and the producers’ interview questions about her weight and her opinions of the other girls become increasingly pointed, Hartshorne uncovers the destabilizing methods employed to film “reality.” Why didn’t the house have a microwave or a dishwasher? Why did girls regularly faint during eliminations? Why is it that the girls had their most meaningful conversations in closets? Sarah Hartshorne dissects the iconic show.

Click here to watch on YouTube

Find Sarah!

Book: You Wanna Be on Top? A Memoir of Makeovers, Manipulation, and Not Becoming America's Next Top Model

Website: https://www.sarahbhartshorne.com/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/sarahbhartshorne/

Subscribe to our C2C "CLIPS" Channel!

Support C2C - Any donations are welcome and appreciated to support the making of this podcast.

Find our FULL (uncensored) merch store here!

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/cultstoconsciousness

Venmo @sheliseann

Find us on Social media!

Instagram @cultstoconsciousness

Host Instagram @sheliseann

Co Producer / Host @jonathan.rosales_

TikTok @cults.to.consciousness

Twitter @cultstocon

**Disclaimer: Thanks for joining us at Cults to Consciousness. This storytelling podcast is meant to be for entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for medical advice. We may discuss triggering topics and we ask that you make your personal mental health a priority. Lastly, the opinions of our guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the host.*

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(449)

Why Narcissists Become Dangerous When You Expose Them (ft. Mark Vicente)

After our powerful conversation with former NXIVM insider and filmmaker Mark Vicente about The Narcissist's Playbook, we're sitting down with him once again for a special live discussion to go even de...

3 Aug 57min

I Interviewed Real Narcissists... What They Admitted Terrified Me (ft.Mark Vicente)

Filmmaker and former NXIVM member Mark Vicente returns to discuss his new documentary, The Narcissist's Playbook, using both his experience exposing NXIVM and years of research into narcissistic perso...

27 Juli 1h 36min

How Mormons Enslaved & Erased Native American Children

Following up the enlightening interview with Ember Hudson, today she joins us LIVE to further discuss Native slavery, which is the least discussed aspects of early Utah history. Early Mormon settleme...

24 Juli 50min

The Mormon Church Called Me Chosen... and Cursed

Ember Hudson shares the deeply personal story of growing up as a Native American woman in the LDS Church, where Mormon teachings about Indigenous people left her struggling with identity, worth, and b...

22 Juli 1h 23min

Why This Incestuous Polygamous Cult Turns Families Into Enemies (ft. Amanda Rae Grant)

Children in The Order, an incestuous polygamous break-off of the LDS church are tormented in every way possible for “the kingdom of God upon the Earth”. When they get the strength and courage to escap...

20 Juli 56min

I Was Groomed to Die for God

Liz Dieatrick grew up in an intensely fundamentalist Assemblies of God household, where she was told from childhood that God had uniquely called her to become a missionary. Raised by a pastor father a...

17 Juli 1h 22min

The Dark Truth Behind a Sinister Christian College Ministry (I Ended Up Leading)

Kathleen Brooks was drawn into Chi Alpha, a campus ministry affiliated with the Assemblies of God, while searching for purpose, belonging, and spiritual direction in college. What initially appeared t...

16 Juli 1h 6min

I Was Recruited on Campus Into a Cult

Sarah entered college with almost no religious background, hoping to find community and deepen her newfound Christian faith, only to be drawn into a highly controlling branch of Assemblies of God know...

14 Juli 1h 21min