ANTM's Heather Hartshorne Exposes Financial Scandals

0:00I'm Corey, and this is your Pulse of the City, Durham News Today. Heather Hartzorn, a former contestant on America's next top model cycle 9, is speaking out about the show's financial scandals in the new E. DocuSeries, Dirty Rod and Scandals. The series highlights huge gaps between the money the show earned and what contestants actually received. Hartzshorn, now 38, shared these details while promoting the episode's airing Wednesday, March 11th. During filming, Hartzshorn dealt with constant uncertainty about her next meal or place to sleep. She now believes producers intentionally created that stress to keep everyone off balance. It took her years to realize it was deliberate and could have been avoided. The long-running competition from 2003 to 2018 faced backlash after Hulu added episodes in 2020. Viewers criticized challenges involving race swapping, violence against women and eating disorders. Recent DocuSeries like Netflix's Reality Check have revisited how the show treated contestants.

1:04Hartzshorn says casting directors rewarded those who share personal secrets, pressuring others to open up or risk elimination. She hopes viewers learn that reality contestants deserve fair pay for their time and effort, calling it a basic right. After the show, Hartzshorn built a successful modeling career with brands like Vogue and Glamour. Wrote the first memoir by an A&TM contestant and now has a three-year-old daughter. Dirty Rotten Scandals airs at 9 p.m. Eastern on March 11th, followed by more episodes. This episode is proudly sponsored by our partner. No earbuds, no headbands, no awkward sleeping positions, just a pillow that plays your sound, so L.I. SoleyPillow.com