--- title: ANTM New Season Has Ashley Graham But No Plus-Size Models description: The lack of body diversity on ANTM cycle 23 prompted a wave of frustration across social media, including from model Tess Holliday. canonical: https://time.com/4602640/antm-cycle-23-plus-size-models/ author: Kastalia Medrano article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-14T21:19:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:04:07.680Z og:title: ANTM’s New Season Features Zero Plus-Size Models og:description: Despite featuring Ashley Graham as a judge og:url: https://time.com/4602640/antm-cycle-23-plus-size-models/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt478378bbfb5ad926/6988b2fc428a9e279fcd5480/v_antm_panelists_parlay_studios_07_15_2016_1174_final.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2242 og:image:height: 1261 og:image:alt: Amercin Next Top Model 2016 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: ANTM’s New Season Features Zero Plus-Size Models twitter:description: Despite featuring Ashley Graham as a judge twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt478378bbfb5ad926/6988b2fc428a9e279fcd5480/v_antm_panelists_parlay_studios_07_15_2016_1174_final.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # ANTM’s New Season Features Zero Plus-Size Models > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Each week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published weekly. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=5fd15110-8043-4aa2-a438-3bb084cfccbe&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1) by [Kastalia Medrano](https://time.com/author/kastalia-medrano/) ## Kastalia Medrano Dec 14, 2016 9:19 PM UTC  Amercin Next Top Model 2016, Panelists at Parlay Studios Amercin Next Top Model 2016, Panelists at Parlay Studios Jean Claude Dhien for VH1 by [Kastalia Medrano](https://time.com/author/kastalia-medrano/) ## Kastalia Medrano Dec 14, 2016 9:19 PM UTC _America’s Next Top Model_ [returned on VH1](http://time.com/4234655/vh1-new-season-top-model-tyra/) Monday night with a new batch of contestants – [none of whom is larger than a traditional sample size](https://www.buzzfeed.com/michaelblackmon/calling-all-plus-size-models?utm%5Fterm=.dlXqqy1vk#.mxbeeXMBA). The disappointing choice to exclude plus-size models from the season entirely is made even more confusing by the fact that one of the judges is arguably the most high-profile plus-size model working in America today. The reality show, now remarkably in its [23rd season](http://www.refinery29.com/2016/08/121438/americas-next-top-model-cycle-23-preview), has a long history of featuring guest judges who are prominent figures in the fashion world – models, photographers, editors, etc. This season, [_ANTM tapped Ashley Graham_](http://motto.time.com/4599006/ashley-graham-tyra-banks-americas-next-top-model/): supermodel of the moment, body-positive advocate and the first plus-size woman to [land the cover of _Sports Illustrated_](http://www.si.com/swimsuit/model/ashley-graham/2016/photos)_._ If that felt like a win for fans of the show who have long been troubled by its perpetuation of the idea that one body type is better than all the others, that feeling wore off once they realized there were exactly zero [pluz-size models](http://motto.time.com/4597793/victorias-secret-fashion-show-recreation/) actually competing in the show. The lack of body diversity prompted a wave of frustration across social media. Tess Holliday – who at 5’5” and a size 22 became the [first model of that body shape contracted by a major modeling agency](http://time.com/3683922/tess-holliday-size-22-model-contract/) when she signed with MiLK Management in 2015 – tweeted her skepticism that _ANTM_ simply couldn’t find any promising plus-size contestants. > [](https://twitter.com/Tess%5FHolliday/status/808552975488516096) > [](https://twitter.com/Tess%5FHolliday/status/808570850328748033) > [](https://twitter.com/Tess%5FHolliday/status/808571559799468034) Aspiring plus-size models have never seen nearly the same [level of representation](http://motto.time.com/4344631/facebook-plus-size-model-ad-feminist/) on _ANTM_ as their straight-size counterparts, but some seasons (cycles, in ANTM-speak) have featured least one or two. Since it’s rare for those women to make it even moderately far into the competition, you’ll have to decide for yourself whether their inclusion is tokenism or a genuine effort at diversity that simply leaves something to be desired in its execution. The only plus-size contestant to ever win _ANTM_ was Whitney Thompson in Cycle 10. Other prominent figures who took to twitter in the wake of the big reveal included _Orange Is The New Black_ actor Danielle Brooks, who pointed out that by excluding plus-size women, _ANTM_ is denying representation to more than two-thirds of the nation’s female population. > [](https://twitter.com/thedanieb/status/808661886971629568) > [](https://twitter.com/thedanieb/status/808662192543465474) For her part, Holliday made it clear that Graham, who as of this writing has not commented on the decision, should not be held accountable – it’s the producers of the show who have to do better. > [](https://twitter.com/Tess%5FHolliday/status/808741166430633984) \[H/T [BuzzFeed](https://www.buzzfeed.com/michaelblackmon/calling-all-plus-size-models?utm%5Fterm=.dfaQ8ZkLx#.ny2oPxbpa)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4602640/antm-cycle-23-plus-size-models/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4602640/antm-cycle-23-plus-size-models/"},"headline":"ANTM’s New Season Features Zero Plus-Size Models","datePublished":"2016-12-14T21:19:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:04:07.680Z","description":"Despite featuring Ashley Graham as a judge","url":"https://time.com/4602640/antm-cycle-23-plus-size-models/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt478378bbfb5ad926/6988b2fc428a9e279fcd5480/v_antm_panelists_parlay_studios_07_15_2016_1174_final.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kastalia Medrano","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kastalia-medrano/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt478378bbfb5ad926/6988b2fc428a9e279fcd5480/v_antm_panelists_parlay_studios_07_15_2016_1174_final.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Amercin Next Top Model 2016","caption":"Amercin Next Top Model 2016","creditText":"Jean Claude Dhien for VH1","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4602640/antm-cycle-23-plus-size-models/","name":"ANTM’s New Season Features Zero Plus-Size Models"}}]}] ```