Bridget Armstrong

No one on the show knew what we were signing up for.

Oh my gosh, I was in high school.

So America's Next Top Model came out in 2003, and that was my freshman year in high school.

And I watched from the very first season.

What did you like about it?

Back in those days, reality TV was new, right?

So there were shows like Big Brother, there was Survivor.

And I watched those shows, but it was like, they weren't about things I was interested in.

Top Model, however, combined all of my favorite things at the time.

Makeup, modeling, and fashion.

So it felt like something I could relate to, something I could aspire to.

And at that time, a lot of the shows that were out were not necessarily for a young woman audience.

So I think it was probably the first show, first reality show I watched that felt like it was for me.

So the premise is Tyra Banks, who at that time was coming off being one of the most recognizable and known supermodels ever.

in the world.

She's one of the very few, like out of two black supermodels.

And she is the host of this show where she's going to pick and make the next top model.

So girls from all over the country come to these auditions and Tyra Banks and her team of judges pick the girls that they thought had the best potential to become models.

And at least on the first season, they would do these challenges every week where they have to pose in a bikini on top of a rooftop in the middle of February.

And the girl who had the worst photo or performed the worst was sent home.