Gen Z TikTok users are shocked by resurfaced footage of Australia’s Next Top Model, the Australian spin-off of Tyra Banks’ infamous ANTM.
Fashion designer Alex Perry looked almost unrecognizable when he was spotted on a trip to Coles in Sydney’s west last week.
The rarely seen 61-year-old showed off a full physique in his white T-shirt paired with black grunge cargo pants.
In the first few seconds of the viral video montage, Perry can be heard asking, “What are those feet?” Gorilla feet? Transgender feet?’
He appears during the two-minute montage of non-PC clangers, with a measuring tape in hand and a harsh word for the often teenage models about their weight.
‘Just stop chewing, you guys have to exercise. Get on the treadmill,” he says to a model in the clip.
At another point he assessed one model: ‘She’s really beautiful, she’s really slim. Nice skin,” before asking another judge, “do you think she should drop a few KGs?”
Model Cheyenne Tozzi, Alex Perry, Jennifer Hawkins and Zac Stenmark interview a model hopeful during season 10 auditions in Melbourne, 2015
“Alex Perry is living his karma,” one person commented while referring to the famous designer’s recent public appearance.
“I can’t talk when you see him right now,” another user commented.
“Why isn’t Alex Perry canceled?” asked another.
While a fourth person chimed in: “Alex Perry, they could never make me like you.”
One Gen Z TikToker was so stunned by what they had just seen that the closest they could compare the series was to a Chris Lilley sketch.
The show saw young girls, most still teenagers, pursuing high-fashion modeling careers as they competed each week to avoid elimination by a panel of high-profile judges.
The fate of the show was decided by a panel of three judges: model, Myer face and former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins, Perry in sunglasses and a rotation of high-profile fashion names including Linda Evangelista, Jean Paul Gaultier, Kelly Osbourne and Tyra. himself.
Alex Perry with model contestants Yolanda Hodgson and Jess Bush at the world premiere of Australia’s Next Top Model Series 7 at Moore Park in July 2011
Models Leah Johnson, Mikarla Hussey, Eloise Hoili, Adele Thiel, Lol Van Vorst and Laura Mitchell pose for a photo at Australia’s Next Top Model party at The Loft, Sydney in 2009
Sarah Murdoch imagined announcing the wrong winner of Australia’s Next Top Model live on TV
“She looks like a wild pig,” Perry said, making snorting noises at a model of color.
The guest judges were brought in to fill the shoes of the late Charlotte Dawson, the show’s longtime judge who committed suicide.
“Oh my god, she has a muffin top, it’s coming over the jeans,” judge Charlotte said in one clip.
Bullying, verbal and physical abuse, fat shaming, tears and tantrums were all fair game in the reality format, which delivered the highest number of viewers for a reality series on subscription TV.
Elsewhere in the video, style director Jonathan Pearce kicked off because models drank coffee during a swimwear shoot.
“We’re having a swimwear shoot and people are ordering bloody iced chocolates with whipped cream!” he exclaimed in dismay.
Pearce asked the model: ‘Do you think this is a good decision? I’ll confiscate this.’
In yet another clip, an irate model who had just lost a competition shouted: ‘She’s a fucking ugly dero mole. She’s fat. She’s a size 16.’
Promotional ad for Australia’s Next Top Model
The Australian jury also asked models who they thought was ‘the fattest’ of their competitors.
“She looks destroyed,” Perry began in another dejected moment. “She looks like she’s been to Arq’s, rolled out and just dragged something through her hair.”
Many commenters said the specific comment, which referenced Sydney’s gay nightclub, was “iconic.”
While observing another runway, Perry said one model’s expression made her resemble American cold case victim JonBenét Ramsey.
“She’s JonBenét Ramsey, 18 years old,” he joked. “Murderous Beauty Queen.”
Speaking to the Ny Breaking on condition of anonymity on Friday, a former top model said this is not an excuse but that the TV series was a product of its time.
“You can’t take that back, but that’s the way the industry was and that’s the way the show was. It was the early 2000s.”
“I grew up watching this stuff. No wonder our body image is so distorted,” one TikTok user commented on the video.
“Alex Perry makes beautiful clothes for women, but I don’t know how he does it, because good god, he hates us!” added another.
“Rewatching this is WILD,” someone else commented.
Perry was the only judge to officiate all ten seasons of Australia’s Next Top Model and campaigned to maintain the show’s 178cm height restriction.
‘I like sleek, catwalk greyhounds. It’s my aesthetic,” he explained in an old interview.
Ny Breaking has contacted Perry for comment.
In May 2020, Tyra took to Twitter to address the backlash America’s Next Top Model faced after it was added to the streaming site Netflix.
“I’ve seen the reports about the insensitivity of some past ANTM moments and I agree with you. Looking back, those were really deviant choices,” she wrote on Twitter at the time.
“I appreciate your honest feedback and am sending so much love and virtual hugs.”