Eva Marcille Breaks Silence on ANTM Documentary & THANKS Tyra Banks

Eva Marcille is speaking out.

The ‘America’s Next Top Model’ winner has broken her silence following the buzzy Netflix documentary, ‘Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model,’ revisiting the franchise, offering a candid yet measured take on her experience.

While some alumni have aired grievances, the actress and model struck a more reflective tone, acknowledging the complexity of the show while making clear that the opportunity changed her life.

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Speaking on CBS Mornings while promoting the new season of her show, ‘All The Queens Men,’ Marcille first revisited her groundbreaking win, noting how unlikely her success seemed at the time:

“Being that I was a shortest girl on my season and the idea of a black girl and this short in the modeling business, it’s unheard of. It won’t never happen.”

On learning about the documentary, she admitted she was caught off guard:

“When I first found out there was a documentary, I was amazed… they didn’t ask me to be on it. It was very surprising. Um, and then I watched it. And after I watched it, I was gobsmacked.

I was in awe… To be a part of a club and not know what’s going on in the club is crazy… I had no idea like absolutely no idea.”

Still, she contextualized the experience as part of a larger production machine:

“It was a television show. I learn later with a competition in it, but it was absolutely a TV show.

That environment could not exist without producers aiding and abetting what was going on… At the time, we were kids trying to find our dreams realized and actualized by a woman that we believed could do that for us.”

Marcille acknowledged the lingering hurt some contestants have expressed:

“I believe that well I saw the show she apologized a million times but an apology to the person that you’ve wronged is only as good as they could appreciate it.

For the young girls that now have eating disorders or look at themselves and never feel beautiful… There is no sorry I think that’s big enough to truly feel and heal that kind of hurt.”

However, she ultimately emphasized gratitude toward Tyra Banks and the platform that launched her career.

“Thanks to Top Model, though. What I will say is I will never fail to thank Tyra. What Tyra set out to do in this business… She set out to change the world—to change what the modeling industry looked like, sound like, felt like, and expected. And she did that for me.”

Watch the segment:

Eva Marcille, known as Eva Pigford on season 3 of “America’s Next Top Model,” which she won in 2004, says she was “gobsmacked” and “amazingly horrified” by the stories of other “ANTM” contestants detailed in a new documentary, “Reality Check.”

Marcille says her career is thanks,… pic.twitter.com/BOn46pyjRc

— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) February 19, 2026

For Marcille, the conversation may be layered, but her appreciation remains clear.