America's Next Top Model alum Jeana Turner says she was misled by Tyra Banks and her team before receiving her infamous head shave makeover in 2018.
Turner, 32, spoke exclusively with the Daily Mail days after the release of the Netflix docuseries Reality Check, described by the streamer as Banks and a collection of 'models, judges and insiders' reminiscing on 'the reality show's complicated legacy.'
Turner said that after watching the three-episode limited series, she felt it was only 'scratching the surface' of the 'harsh treatment' and 'emotional manipulation' the hundreds of models who populated the show's casts had to endure.
The Nashville-born model was 24 when she appeared on 15 episodes of the hit reality series during its 24th season in 2018.
Turner, who was diagnosed with alopecia when she was 10, was involved in a number of uncomfortable sequences on the show, most infamously, on the third episode of the season, titled Beauty Is a Trademark.
In the episode, which aired in January of 2018, Banks, 52, and producers ordered Turner to shave her head in front of the cameras and model bald during a makeover-themed segment. (She had worn wigs on the runway prior to that point in her career.)
The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Banks for further comment.
'What I was told was, "We know that you lost your hair during your childhood so we're going to replace the hair that you lost,"' Turner told the Daily Mail.
Turner, who presides over a beauty business Haus Of Anomali (which offers wigs, hair pieces and extensions), told Daily Mail that she initially expected to be fitted for a deluxe wig in the segment.
'For me, I’m thinking OK that’s exciting because this is America’s Next Top Model and I’ve struggled with wigs my entire life,' she said. 'I’ve struggled for so long to restore the hair that I initially lost as a child; the texture, the color, everything.'
Turner said she was confident she was working with the best people in the beauty business to make it happen.
'So I’m like if there’s anyone that can do it, its Tyra Banks and her makeover team, of course - so I got really excited,' she said.
Turner said the infamous segment took an improbable turn as stylist Law Roach had been standing nearby with 'his arms behind his back' in a 'very proper' fashion before delivering the shock news to her about the show's actual makeover plans.
'They were like "Hey Jeana, you know how we told you we were giving you a wig?" And I’m like, "Yeah." ’He said "Psych," and he takes out a razor - a regular razor that you would shave your armpits with - and was like "Psych, we’re BIC-ing your head!"'
Turner said she froze as she tried her best to hold things together, knowing the cameras were rolling.
'I’m one of those people that is like so hyper aware of cameras and who’s looking at all times,' she said. 'I didn’t want to, at the time, put myself in a vulnerable position that kind of exposed how raw I actually felt at that time.'
Turner said that she 'just started getting angry' as 'time went on' and she realized how badly she felt she had been misled and manipulated.
'They told me I was getting hair to now that they’re taking my wig off and also shaving what little bit of hair that I have,' said Turner.
Turner said that she was 'emotionally attached' to the hair that was shaved, as she had been growing it since she was around 10-years-old.
Turner, who has more than 205,000 followers on Instagram, shared her thoughts on with Daily Mail on Reality Check.
She said, 'My biggest takeaway was that they're still only scratching the surface of what truly happened.'
'The documentary definitely is opening the door, and opening people's eyes, to some of the harsh treatment that happened - which I definitely appreciate. But I still don't think it's fully captures how deep the emotional manipulation and the power dynamics really went.'
Turner said that viewers could be misled at times.
'What people saw was a version of events, but it wasn't necessarily the whole picture,' Turner said. 'At the end of the day, across 24 cycles, I think there's been 400 and something contestants - you know that's 400 and something different experiences from that show - and some a bit more traumatic than than others.
'But for many of us, the impact went beyond what made it to air.'
Turner said she believed Banks and others involved with the making of the show were 'definitely' using the Netflix documentary as a platform to avoid accountability for moments on the show that have aged poorly.
'I think that for so long there hasn't been the pressure to own up to their shortcomings and their wrongdoings that they've done, so I think that that's kind of ingrained in their brain format - to avoid accountability at this point.'
Turner is slated to appear next month on E!'s Dirty Rotten Scandals: ANTM, which she said was essential in presenting the other side.
'That's exactly why projects like Dirty Rotten Scandals exist,' Turner previously said on Instagram of the special, which is slated to air debuting March 11. 'Because survivors don't get to turn their trauma into a polished redemption arc.'
Banks in the special said she was hoping to force a sea change in the fashion industry by shining a light on women she felt were overlooked at the time.
Turner, who has more than 205,000 followers on Instagram, shared her thoughts on with Daily Mail on Reality Check.
'My biggest takeaway was that they're still only scratching the surface of what truly happened.'
'The documentary definitely is opening the door, and opening people's eyes, to some of the harsh treatment that happened - which I definitely appreciate. But I still don't think it's fully captures how deep the emotional manipulation and the power dynamics really went.'
Turner said that viewers could be misled at times.
'What people saw was a version of events, but it wasn't necessarily the whole picture,' Turner said. 'At the end of the day, across 24 cycles, I think there's been 400 and something contestants - you know that's 400 and something different experiences from that show - and some a bit more traumatic than than others.
'But for many of us, the impact went beyond what made it to air.'
Turner said she believed Banks and others involved with the making of the show were 'definitely' using the Netflix documentary as a platform to avoid accountability for moments on the show that have aged poorly.
'I think that for so long there hasn't been the pressure to own up to their shortcomings and their wrongdoings that they've done, so I think that that's kind of ingrained in their brain format - to avoid accountability at this point.'
Turner is slated to appear next month on E!'s Dirty Rotten Scandals: ANTM, which she said was essential in presenting the other side.
'That's exactly why projects like Dirty Rotten Scandals exist,' Turner previously said on Instagram of the special, which is slated to air debuting March 11. 'Because survivors don't get to turn their trauma into a polished redemption arc.'
Banks in the special said she was hoping to force a sea change in the fashion industry by shining a light on women she felt were overlooked at the time.
Turner, who has more than 205,000 followers on Instagram, shared her thoughts on with Daily Mail on Reality Check.
'My biggest takeaway was that they're still only scratching the surface of what truly happened.'
'The documentary definitely is opening the door, and opening people's eyes, to some of the harsh treatment that happened - which I definitely appreciate. But I still don't think it's fully captures how deep the emotional manipulation and the power dynamics really went.'
Turner said that viewers could be misled at times.
'What people saw was a version of events, but it wasn't necessarily the whole picture,' Turner said. 'At the end of the day, across 24 cycles, I think there's been 400 and something contestants - you know that's 400 and something different experiences from that show - and some a bit more traumatic than than others.
'But for many of us, the impact went beyond what made it to air.'
Turner said she believed Banks and others involved with the making of the show were 'definitely' using the Netflix documentary as a platform to avoid accountability for moments on the show that have aged poorly.
'I think that for so long there hasn't been the pressure to own up to their shortcomings and their wrongdoings that they've done, so I think that that's kind of ingrained in their brain format - to avoid accountability at this point.'
Turner is slated to appear next month on E!'s Dirty Rotten Scandals: ANTM, which she said was essential in presenting the other side.
'That's exactly why projects like Dirty Rotten Scandals exist,' Turner previously said on Instagram of the special, which is slated to air debuting March 11. 'Because survivors don't get to turn their trauma into a polished redemption arc.'
Banks in the special said she was hoping to force a sea change in the fashion industry by shining a light on women she felt were overlooked at the time.
Turner, who has more than 205,000 followers on Instagram, shared her thoughts on with Daily Mail on Reality Check.
'My biggest takeaway was that they're still only scratching the surface of what truly happened.'
'The documentary definitely is opening the door, and opening people's eyes, to some of the harsh treatment that happened - which I definitely appreciate. But I still don't think it's fully captures how deep the emotional manipulation and the power dynamics really went.'
Turner said that viewers could be misled at times.
'What people saw was a version of events, but it wasn't necessarily the whole picture,' Turner said. 'At the end of the day, across 24 cycles, I think there's been 400 and something contestants - you know that's 400 and something different experiences from that show - and some a bit more traumatic than than others.
'But for many of us, the impact went beyond what made it to air.'
Turner said she believed Banks and others involved with the making of the show were 'definitely' using the Netflix documentary as a platform to avoid accountability for moments on the show that have aged poorly.
'I think that for so long there hasn't been the pressure to own up to their shortcomings and their wrongdoings that they've done, so I think that that's kind of ingrained in their brain format - to avoid accountability at this point.'
Turner is slated to appear next month on E!'s Dirty Rotten Scandals: ANTM, which she said was essential in presenting the other side.
'That's exactly why projects like Dirty Rotten Scandals exist,' Turner previously said on Instagram of the special; 'Because survivors don't get to turn their trauma into a polished redemption arc.'