Skip to main content

Former America’s Next Top Model standout Shandi Sullivan has found herself back in the spotlight more than two decades after her time on the show. The 2026 Netflix docuseries Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model revisits some of the franchise’s most infamous moments. One moment included Sullivan’s controversial cycle 2 storyline in Milan. Sullivan’s candid retelling in the doc has sparked widespread fan support. And this has prompted her to reactivate a previously dormant GoFundMe campaign to help with personal expenses. Here’s what to know.

‘America’s Next Top Model’ alum Shandi Sullivan reactivated her GoFundMe

The Netflix docuseries Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model is putting the infamous reality series back in the spotlight. America’s Next Top Model premiered in 2003 and ran for 24 cycles. Fans remember Shandi Sullivan from cycle 2, as she was a fan favorite at the time.

Unfortunately, fans remember Sullivan’s time on the show for an upsetting situation originally framed as a “cheating scandal.” While filming in Milan for the competition’s international leg, Sullivan, who had a boyfriend back home, was encouraged into a social setting where alcohol was freely provided and cameras were rolling. According to her recounting, she became heavily intoxicated and later “blacked out.” She awoke to discover she had been in a sexual encounter with a male model that she didn’t fully remember and could not consent to.

Since Sullivan’s recounting, fans have rallied around her. And she reactivated her previously dormant GoFundMe.

“This fundraiser was originally made last year when I was forced out of my home of 11 years so the landlord could sell the building,” the GoFundMe reads. “Now it’s been updated at the request of YOU amazing people! A ton of you reached out wanting to know how to support me. I stated on my Instagram that I am not looking for anyone to donate or send money. It’s a rough time for the majority of us right now.”

She went on to explain how she’s still paying off a $2,000 bill resulting from a death of her cat. “Anything left over will be put into my savings and who KNOWS?! … maybe if we can raise enough funds, I could put a down payment on a home and start that animal sanctuary I always wanted to,” she continued. “Never too old or too late to DREAM!”

The former model posted additional context after ‘Reality Check’ premiered

Related

‘Top Model’ Winner Dani Evans Breaks Down Over ‘Horrific’ Show Experience

On Feb. 16, 2026, Shandi Sullivan posted a throwback photo on Instagram. The photo shows her smiling while working at Walgreens after filming for America’s Next Top Model wrapped. She reflected on the pain she felt at that time, knowing she had a “secret” that would air.

“Welp the documentary is out and now you know more of my story … after all of the years the Top Model girls and what we went through were never forgotten,” she captioned the post. “The first picture is of me going right back to work at Walgreens, fresh with a makeover and a secret that had to wait to air. I smiled through it. Knowing that my friends, my family, Eric’s family, and strangers were going to know what I had done, what happened to me. At the age of 43, I continue to struggle with it; always smiling. That’s why I took this opportunity. Knowing that Tyra didn’t have control over my narrative, that the director and producers here had my back … that’s why I did it. I did it for me.”

Sullivan noted that she still “matters” and feels the love from fans. “The love I have felt today has been immense,” she continued. “Thank you to everyone that heard me.”

The ‘Reality Check’ directors said it was ‘very difficult’ to hear Shandi Sullivan’s story

Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model directors Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan reflected on hearing Shandi Sullivan’s story.

“It’s very, very difficult,” Loushy admitted to Vanity Fair. “A red line was crossed. It should have never happened, period. As a filmmaker, as a woman, as a mother. … It was very, very hard. We made sure that she’s ready to tell that story, and we hugged her the best way we could, and she appreciated that very much.”

Sivan added that it was “very important” for the filmmakers not to “narrow down” Sullivan and Dani Evans, the cycle 6 winner, to one defining event that occured on America’s Next Top Model.

Best in News