Here’s What Former “ANTM” Contestant Alexandra Underwood Thinks About Her Vial Catwalk Incident Today

I can’t be the only person who watched Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model in one sitting, right?

When the three-part Netflix docuseries premiered on Feb. 16, the show’s biggest controversies returned to the zeitgeist with commentary from former contestants, Tyra Banks, and her fellow judges.

Netflix

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Some former contestants who weren’t part of the docuseries have started to speak out, like Tiffany Richardson, who was infamously involved in that viral “WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU!” rant during Cycle 4.

The CW

Now, another former contestant who was involved in a memefied moment is speaking up. If you remember Alexandra Underwood from Cycle 14 in 2010, she had to dodge giant pendulums that swung back and forth on a runway. Alexandra slipped and fell off the stage, and it was immortalized on the internet forever.

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In the docuseries, Whoopi Goldberg was featured in a clip from a 2010 episode of The View, where she laughed at Alexandra’s demise during the challenge. Whoopi recently apologized on-air for laughing at Alexandra. “Here’s something I want to do, because in this documentary there’s a clip from our show, where I had showed the ladies this thing. Now, this was, to me, one of the funniest things I had ever seen in my life,” Whoopi said, formally apologizing to Alexandra. “I’m sorry I laughed at this. I couldn’t help it, it was funny as hell. But, I am telling you it’s one of the funniest things, if I had to point to something, it is one of the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.”

ABC

Now, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Alexandra is sharing her perspective to ensure that a single moment from 16 years ago does not define her.

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“In the midst of it, I was mortified. It was inappropriate for the show to put me in that position. I was on ANTM, not American Gladiator,” she told EW.

“I don’t feel like she needed to apologize. I remember laughing at Whoopi laughing at me. Her reaction gave me permission to laugh at it, too,” she added. “She gave me permission to laugh and find it funny, because to me, it wasn’t.”

During the infamous ANTM challenge, Alexandra said she “cut [her] knees up” in the fall, which was the second time she had fallen that day. “I was in that ridiculously tight dress in those super high heels, going down stairs,” she recalled. “I was already shaken up going into the runway with the pendulum, so I was completely already shaken up and worried about getting axed.”

The CW

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Alexandra placed third on Cycle 14, signed with Wilhelmina, and has been with them for 16 years, according to EW. All things considered, Alexandra believes she’s an “outlier” with how she feels about ANTM, and acknowledges that might not be the case for other contestants who experienced the controversial moments. “I got a great behind-the-scenes look at a big-budget production, and I found it very fun,” she said, noting “some of the other girls absolutely deserve an apology for what they were put through” on America’s Next Top Model.

As someone who religiously watched ANTM and even shared Alexandra’s unfortunate meme on several occasions, I can’t help but look at every made-for-TV moment through a more critical lens. Whether you’re getting the ratings just as the audience or you were an actual part of production, it’s okay to recognize that we let some pretty nasty stuff slide in past decades.

What do you think? Tell me in the comments.

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