ANTM winner says Tyra Banks said she'd reshoot finale if model told anyone she won before episode aired

America's Next Top Model cycle 23 winner India Gants has claimed that producer-host Tyra Banks meant business when the show asked its contestants to keep their placement a secret on the modeling competition series.

The TV star and fashion model, who snagged a $100,000 prize after winning 2017's cycle 23 (hosted by pop star Rita Ora), recently revealed on TikTok that Banks told her she'd reshoot the finale if Gants revealed to anyone at home that she'd won the show before the final episode premiered.

"Tyra Banks told me that if I told anybody that I’d won America’s Next Top Model before it actually aired on TV that they would fly me back, reshoot the finale, and have the other girl win," Gants said in the video, referencing her victory on the cycle 23 finale — the show's first on VH1 after moving from its longtime network home, The CW.

Banks only appeared on two episodes of cycle 23 — the premiere and the finale — after stepping down as its longtime host after cycle 22's finale on The CW, with Ora filling in for her before Banks permanently rejoined the panel for cycle 24 the following year.

Gants stressed that it's "a really big deal if you leak the secret of America's Next Top Model" and estimated that Banks tried "to make that very, very clear" with her warning.

"I was told I couldn’t tell my family or my significant other or my closest friends — nobody," she said. "But I think enough time has passed where I can confess who I told. Obviously, I wanted to keep the secret, but I have to make plans for my life. If I’m making a move to New York, my significant other at the time had to know."

Gants continued, "My mom, she loves to talk and share about her kids, which is awesome, but I was pretty nervous that if I told my mom, she would tell everybody. So, I ended up telling my dad. Actually, first, I told my boyfriend at the time, and after him I told my dad. I waited a really long time before I told my mom."

Later, Gants posted another TikTok video showing her family reacting to her victory in real time, which she said brings tears to her eyes every time she watches it.

A representative for Banks did not immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly's request for comment.

Gants' recollection echoes what some otherrpast contestants have alleged about ANTM's filming process — particularly cycle 17's Angelea Preston, the cycle 14 contestant who returned to the competition for its first all-star edition. Preston initially won the show, but she was reportedly disqualified after producers learned of her past sex work.

"I was so hurt," Preston told EW in an interview about ANTM's most shocking moments. "I felt like my life and career was ruined. I'm going to be blacklisted, I'm never going to be a model now. This is something that was always going to follow me, because it wasn't made public yet, but they know, and they work for this big company, and they hold these keys for success." (Banks and executive producer Ken Mok declined to comment on Preston's claims at the time, while representatives for producer Laura Fuest Silva did not respond to EW's multiple requests for comment.)

Like many reality shows, ANTM has reportedly gone to great lengths to reduce the risk of spoilers leaking before the program airs. After cycle 6's top-four contestants participated in a beach-themed shoot in Thailand, photos surfaced of the show's previously eliminated models engaging in the same shoot, despite their presence in the international destination not airing as part of the season at large.

Watch Gants' TikTok video about Banks above.

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