'America's Next Top Model' Contestants Speak About Experience, Jael Strauss' Addiction
Last week fans of the reality competition "America's Next Top Model" were stunned to see former contestant Jael Strauss suffering from the effect of methamphetamine addiction. Now more former contestants are coming forward to share their experiences and express encouragement for Strauss.
"Tyra won't do anything [to help]. She provided a wonderful platform for girls to have a chance at their dream, but after there is no 'Tyra Mail.' I had to guide myself, and even though I won a model competition I still had no idea what the modeling business was like," winner CariDee English posted on Gawker.
"[Executives] should have evaluated her a lot more before letting her on the show," English added. "All they saw was a personality good for television. Well, this hopefully will save at least her life and someone watching. Everything happens for a reason."
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Yet, her fellow winner, Whitney Thompson has a very different version of events, along with a unique opinion of Banks.
"There have been 211 contestants on the show," she blogged. "Only one has an addiction to meth so far. Statistically speaking, Jael's problem is evident in less than one percent of the contestants."
"All of the girls go through rigorous testing before setting foot in front of a camera. Unfortunately, Jael made some bad decisions, and those clearly became too much for her to handle. Do I think that Tyra Banks would give us this enormous responsibility if she didn't know we could handle it? No," Thompson added.
Strauss accepted help from Dr. Phil McGraw at the end of his show last week after much excitement and drama during the episode. While the exact cause or trigger of her substance abuse was not discussed, it was revealed that both of her parents had done drugs before, which modeled the behavior for the young Strauss.
It's unknown whether Strauss has completed treatment, but it's clear that she has a lot of people pulling for her.
"I am glad to see her getting help. My thoughts and prayers go out to her and her loved ones. Addiction is a scary thing. We should all count our blessings," Thompson added.
