Angelea Preston was on top of the world after being crowned winner of “America’s Next Top Model: All-Stars” in 2011.
But the runway walker’s world came crashing down when producers of the series quietly stripped her of the title — allegedly due to her past work as a professional escort — months before the season debuted that September.
“Winning ‘All-Stars’ was one of the best days of my life,” Preston, 38, of Buffalo, recently told The Post. “And the day they took that away from me was one of the worst.”
The New York native, alongside fellow traumatized “ANTM” alums, tearfully details her fall from glory in “The Dark Side of Reality TV: America’s Next Top Model,” a Vice series unveiling untold — and often untoward — secrets of cult classic, early-aughts shows.
Sounding off with Preston is her replacement winner, Lisa D’Amato — who didn’t fare any better.
“‘America’s Next Top Model’ f–king squashed my dreams,” the 44-year-old sobbed on camera for the episode that airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. “It made everybody around the globe hate me. And it made me hate myself for years.”
D’Amato, who appeared in cycles 5 and 17, said production portrayed her as an “alcoholic villain,” a misrepresentation that stigmatized her to modeling agencies and potential clients.
“They don’t care if you live or die afterwards,” D’Amato alleged of show executives. “Nothing happened with my modeling career.
“I’m basically just reality TV garbage.”
Premiering in May 2003 on the since-defunct UPN network, “ANTM” quickly hooked audiences with its no-holds-barred panache.
For 24 seasons or “cycles” — as nicknamed by creator and fashion icon Tyra Banks — the competition series gave 3 million global fans a glossy, weekly glimpse at the sometimes ugly side of picture-perfect beauty, with cycle winners earning the coveted “Top” title, as well as a modeling contract, a magazine feature and a sizable cash prize.
From makeover meltdowns by the gorgeous, 20-something contestants to funky photoshoot challenges and withering critiques from the judges’ panel, headed by Banks, it seemed no sensitive subject nor secret insecurity was off limits until the show officially ended its 15-year run in 2018.
Banks, now 50, ultimately apologized for “the insensitivity of some past ‘ANTM’ moments” in 2020, following social media outrage over resurfaced offenses made during filming — including jabs about contestants’ teeth, heights and weights.
But the damage was forever done in the eyes of numerous peeved participants.
Sarah Hartshorne, a cycle 9 star and former plus-size model, previously told The Post that competitors were forced to roll with the punches behind the scenes.
“Production kept us in the dark about almost everything because they wanted to keep us on edge,” said Hartshorne, 37.
“Us being confused, tired, stressed, sleep-deprived and hungry just made for better TV.”
And in the new Vice program, the brunette doesn’t hold back on her scorn about the genre.
“Competition reality shows in the early aughts were f–ked up,” Hartshorne hissed in the new episode.
“It was unpaid labor,” she added. “We were being subjected to a new world of entertainment that was cheap.”
Representatives for Banks did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Cycle 4 competitor Brittany Brower revealed to The Post that she tolerated “little annoyances and things I didn’t like during filming,” claiming that show execs sometimes — perhaps unsurprisingly, given the genre — amplified the drama for buzz.
“They’re all about ratings,” she said about the rancor that riddles reality TV, before acquiescing. “That’s life.”
Yet the now-married, stay-at-home mom of two made a surprising declaration that others have also copped to.
“I would 100% do it again,” said the Florida-based model, 42.
And her cycle 4 cohort Keenyah Hill, also found a silver lining to any behind-the-scenes brouhahas that brewed, saying that battling for Banks’ approval was a “surreal” privilege that put her on the map.
“No matter where I go in the world, I’m recognized,” Hill, 39, a top 3 finalist in 2005, told The Post. “I’ve been modeling for the past 20 years. I never stopped.”
She’s walked in New York, Paris and Milan fashion weeks, and is now a posing coach to divas-in-training.
Plus, Hill credited “ANTM” with keeping a “Smize” — Banks’ catchphrase for smiling with one’s eyes — on her face through the years.
“I’d absolutely do it all over again,” she said.
Preston, though, while still hurt by “all the messy stuff that happened” and her “ANTM” ousting, can only hang onto her decades-old wounds for so long, despite the new on-air tell-all.
“It’s been a weird journey,” said Preston, a mom of one and news producer — adding that, shockingly, she’s “grateful” she even made it to air.
“I’m still a part of a show that made history.”
“The Dark Side of Reality TV” airs at 9 p.m. EST on Vice TV on Tuesdays.
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