Shandi Sullivan Alleges Sexual Assault During ‘America’s Next Top Model’ in New Netflix Doc

More than two decades after she first appeared on reality TV, Shandi Sullivan is speaking out about one of the most talked-about moments in America’s Next Top Model history — and sharing how she now views it.

In Netflix’s new docuseries, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, Shandi looks back on her time competing on cycle 2 of the hit modeling show and opens up about a night in Milan that she says changed everything.

Shandi entered the competition as an “ugly duckling to swan” storyline — a small-town Walgreens employee with big dreams of becoming a top model. She quickly became a fan favorite, transforming her look and building confidence as the competition progressed.

But things took a painful turn when the group traveled to Milan.

According to Shandi, the contestants had spent a long day attending “go-sees” — casting calls with designers and agencies — before returning to the house where they were staying. That night, some of the Vespa drivers they had met earlier were invited over for dinner and drinks.

Shandi said the idea sounded like harmless fun at the time. She recalls being exhausted, not having eaten much, and drinking heavily.

“I remember getting in the hot tub,” she says in the docuseries. “I remember April, Mercedes getting in. And then I just remember the guy looking at me and I looked at him. And I was pretty drunk at that point. Everything kind of after that is just a blur.”

Fighting back tears, Shandi alleges that she blacked out and does not remember much of what happened next.

“I remember him on top of me. I was blacked out. No one did anything to stop it. And it all got filmed, all of it,” she says. “I didn’t even feel sex happening. I just knew it was happening.”

She recalls waking up the next morning confused and overwhelmed.

“I was like, ‘What happened last night?’ It just flooded over me. I just sat there and cried,” she says.

Footage from the original show captured Shandi in visible distress, saying, “I just want to die,” after realizing what had happened. At the time, the incident was framed as a storyline about her cheating on her boyfriend back home. But in the new docuseries, Shandi says she views the experience differently and describes it as sexual assault.

The moment became one of the most controversial in the show’s history and has continued to spark debate among fans over the years.

Now, through Reality Check, Shandi is reclaiming her narrative and reflecting on the emotional toll the experience took on her — both during the show and long after the cameras stopped rolling.

Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model begins streaming on Netflix on Feb. 16.