‘America’s Next Top Model’ doc directors share why they think Tyra Banks agreed to be interviewed

If there’s one thing “America’s Next Top Model” is famous for, it’s scandal. From race-swapped photoshoots, to disastrous makeovers, to permanent dental procedures performed on impressionable young girls whose frontal lobes hadn’t yet developed, the 24-season series is far better known for stirring up controversy than for producing superstar models.

“Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model,” which debuts today on Netflix, seeks to unpack the complicated legacy of the reality competition show from Tyra Banks – but married director duo Daniel Sivan and Mor Loushy never expected the supermodel would agree to be interviewed.

“I think that Tyra understood that this documentary is happening, and it’s in her hands if she wants to grant an interview or not,” Loushy tells Page Six Hollywood, adding that the multi-hyphenate participated in over four hours of interviews. “Once she decided that she was going to do it, she came very open.”

Sivan adds, “The one ground rule that we set out with everybody, both with the contestants and with Tyra … was always, ‘We would love to interview you, but everything is on the table. There’s nothing that’s going to be censored. You’re not going to get to see it.’ ”

As of our interview on Feb. 11, Banks had still not seen the series. Loushy and Sivan both hope she likes “Reality Check,” which appropriately holds Banks accountable for some serious missteps while also providing necessary context (2003 was a different time, after all).

There’s only one moment in “Reality Check” when Banks declines to engage — when she’s asked about her deteriorated relationship with former “ANTM” creative director Jay Manuel. “That was one of the most honest answers,” Sivan says. “Having someone not come with a pre-prepared … p.r. manufactured line, but actually looking into the camera and saying, ‘Yeah, this is painful. I don’t want to talk about it.’ For me, it was a very honest reaction.”

In the documentary’s final moments, Banks suggests that she’s planning a 25th cycle of “Top Model.” Will it right the wrongs highlighted in “Reality Check?” Time will tell.

“Cycle 25 is Tyra and [‘ANTM’ executive producer Ken Mok’s] dream. They have been dreaming of it for, I think, six years now. They are dying to do another cycle, and I am rooting for them,” Sivan says. “The only thing I would caveat is, in today’s era, I hope it’s more focused on the character of the contestants, instead of the way they look from the outside. But hell, if they do it right, I’m gonna binge it.”