An America's Next Top Model contestant who was stripped of her title when it emerged she had worked as an escort is claiming that the show is a cynical sham in which girls are routinely treated inhumanely in pursuit of ratings then cast aside when the cameras stop rolling.

Angelea Preston, 29, won cycle 17 but her moment of victory never aired as, barely one month after being crowned America's Next Top Model in the show's All Stars season, producers took back her title and reshot the final scenes, handing the title to runner up Lisa D'Amato, 33.

Now Angelea is suing Tyra Banks and the show's makers for $3million and today is speaking out for the first time since the devastating blow was dealt back in 2011.

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Dethroned: Just one month after being crowned America's Next Top Model in the show's All Stars season, producers took back Angelea Preston's title. She has sued Tyra and the show and is speaking out for the first time since the devastating blow was dealt back in 2011

Tyra the tyrant? The depiction of Tyra Banks – executive producer and judge – as a caring, involved mentor to the girls is nothing but a sham, says Angelea. Banks 'cynically exploits' the girls' stories' and is 'a stranger' the moment filming stops

Winner: Lisa D'Amato captured the crown after it was taken away from Angelea for her stint as an escort

In an exclusive interview with Daily Mail Online the one-time winner has alleged that the depiction of Tyra Banks – executive producer and judge – as a caring, involved mentor to the girls is nothing but a sham, that Banks 'cynically exploits' the girls' stories' and is 'a stranger' the moment filming stops.

She hopes that by example she will inspire other former contestants to speak up about the treatment they have received during and following America’s Next Top Model. She has a vision of them standing side by side ‘like the victims of Bill Cosby.’

Preston has claimed that the girls were often forced to film for 16 or 17 hours without food or water and that for lengthy periods the contestants were 'put on ice' meaning they were not allowed to eat, drink or talk until called upon for filming. According to Angelea they were often kept in a holding room 'on ice' for hours on end, guarded by members of the production team.

When the cameras stopped rolling it's like she's a stranger.

And she has alleged that on one occasion crew withheld medical care when she suffered an anxiety attack and exhaustion following her final runway shoot so that the dramatic scenes could be captured on camera.

She said: 'I used to admire Tyra so much. I wanted to be like her. I don't want to be like her now. Tyra was non-existent. The only time we saw Tyra was at panel. Tyra never came in to talk to us personally.

'When the cameras stopped rolling it's like she's a stranger.'

Angelea pointed to her own experience as a veteran of cycle 14 when 'her story' centered around her impoverished upbringing in Buffalo, New York, and the death of her daughter, just three weeks after she was born.

She explained: 'I grew up in an urban area, didn't have much. We would be deemed poor. I grew up in the 'hood. I had a little street swagger to me, I was fierce, I was a hot tamale.

Lashed: Getting ready for a cycle 14 show, Angelea thought she had it made. As the All Stars winner in 2011 she was entitled to a package that included a $100,000 contract with CoverGirl cosmetics and a magazine fashion spread in Vogue Italia

Stand-in: One month after being crowned America's Next Top Model in the show's All Stars season, producers took back her title and reshot the final scenes, handing the title to runner up Lisa D'Amato

'I had a daughter who passed away in 2007 so I think that kind of got the casting director's attention. She was three weeks old. So I've been through a lot, I've been through the death of a child.'

At the time Tyra appeared genuinely moved and engaged by Angelea's tragic loss. She recalled: 'When I came on the show Tyra's trying to act so concerned. But by cycle 17 she completely forgot I had a daughter. It was all about exploitation. I didn't know it first time round. I thought I was going to live out my dreams.'

She said: 'I remember the producers telling me, 'This show is going to change your life.' When you hear that you think all of your dreams are going to come true.

'Well it changed my life. But it changed it for the worse.'

Far from launching her career as a model America's Next Top Model has, according to Angelea, destroyed any hope she might have of making it in the industry – branding her an escort and, she believes, rendering her all but unbookable.

It is all a far cry from the hopes Angelea harbored when she accepted producers' invitation to audition for Cycle 17 All Stars season.

In fact she had hoped that the second chance at the show in which she had previously placed in the top four, would be a redemption of sorts.

She explained: 'I couldn't work after cycle 14 because of how I was portrayed. People viewed me as ghetto and a bitch, impossible to work with. They recognized me from the show and they didn't want to even look at me.

Big break: From left, Raina, Angelea, Alexandra, Krista White, and Jessica vie for the title of America's Next Top Model in cycle 14. Says Angelea, 'I couldn't work after cycle 14 because of how I was portrayed. People viewed me as ghetto and a bitch, impossible to work with. They recognized me from the show and they didn't want to even look at me'

'After cycle 14 I was this lost girl. I didn't know what to do. I was in a big city and it was just rejection on top of rejection on top of rejection. I couldn't book a job to save my life.

'It was very hard. You have these 15 minutes of fame but you can't capitalize on them.'

It was a situation which, Angelea said, saw her make a decision she regrets to this day and accept work as an escort.

Angelea insisted that her experience as an escort lasted barely one month and did not overlap with her taking part in America's Next Top Model.

She admitted: 'I was in a very, very tough spot. I did some things for money that I'm not proud of. It was escorting. I had to survive. I had no money. I had no income.

'It was a stupid decision that lasted a month and I got out and it came back to bite me.'

According to Angelea a concerned friend contacted America's Next Top Model production company telling them that she was escorting and asking for help.

I was in a very, very tough spot. I did some things for money that I'm not proud of. It was escorting. I had to survive. I had no money. I had no income. 'It was a stupid decision that...came back to bite me.

This was weeks before she was contacted by CW and asked to audition for cycle 17 All Stars she said. By the time she was approached by the show she was working for Abercrombie and Fitch.

As far as she is concerned the production company knew about her past and knew that it was in the past before she even came close to signing a contract to appear on cycle 17.

This is key to her legal suit as she claims she would only have been in breach of contract had she been working as an escort during the competition.

At one point during the audition process, she said, 'the casting director came into my hotel room in LA and said, "Look, I heard some things and I know you know what I'm talking about but you take this opportunity and you run with it."'

It was all the incentive she needed, she said, to tolerate the grueling conditions that came close to breaking some of the girls.

She recalled: 'Sometimes we would work 20 hours straight of filming. We couldn't talk unless the cameras were on. We had to be put on a thing called "ice".

'That means if the camera's not rolling we cannot say anything because they don't want to miss something potentially good.

'So we we'd be on ice for hours. Not eating, not drinking, not talking…You're guarded [by members of the crew]. It's like top model prison. That's exactly what it is.'

During the final stages of the All Stars season Angelea tasted first hand just how far producers would go to get the drama they were looking for, she claimed.

She said: 'We were in Greece and I was so tired from doing the final runway that I became sick. I was throwing up, I was shaking. I have asthma so initially I thought I was having an asthma attack. So I'm breathing hard, I'm panting and they're getting all this on film.

'I used to admire Tyra so much,' says Angelea. 'I wanted to be like her. I don't want to be like her now. 'When the cameras stopped rolling it's like she's a stranger'

'I'm dizzy. I'm like, "Where is the doctor?" I keep calling for the doctor. They have a doctor on set. Why is the doctor taking so long?'

She continued: 'I can't really see anything and I look and it's Tyra in front of me. She's like, "Are you okay?" I'm like, "no I'm not okay". She left then the executive producer came in and said, "We'll get you to hospital."'

It was only later Angelea said that she found out, 'They said this is the most exciting thing that has happened since we've been filming in Greece so we're going to let the cameras roll. They're letting the cameras roll to catch me in distress on purpose.

'When they could have sent the medic, the nurse who was right there outside. They wanted to catch me in distress and they wanted to get Tyra involved. She did not want to be involved at all. She didn't care that I was sick.'

They wanted to catch me in distress and they wanted to get Tyra involved. She did not want to be involved at all. She didn't care that I was sick.

Angelea is now mother of a two-year-old son and works predominantly in liquor promotion. She remains bitter over her experiences at the hands of America's Next Top Model's producers.

Throughout the whole process, she explained, her eye was on the prize that made everything worth enduring.

The prize was a fashion spread in Vogue Italia, a cover and a spread in Beauty in Vogue, a blog on Vogue.it, a fashion campaign in Express, a guest correspondent placement for Extra, a $100,000 contract with CoverGirl cosmetics and the chance to be the face of an ANTM-perfume to be launched and sold nationally.

And for a brief moment she thought she had all this. She recalled: 'When I was crowned America's Next Top Model Cycle 17 All Stars I was so excited, I was so happy. The only thing I could think about was, "My mom's life's going to change, my life is going to change, people are finally going to take me seriously in this industry and I'm finally going to have the career that I always wanted to have as a model"…but it didn't work out like I thought it would.'

Instead, one month after winning, Angelea was summoned to New York for a meeting supposedly about sponsorship deals. But, she recalled, it was very quickly apparent that the agenda was very different.

She said: 'Tyra wasn't there. One of the executive producers was there, the casting director, the psychiatrist because we had one on the show and the attorney for CW.

'They basically said to me, "We cannot air you as the winner." And my heart stopped. It felt like one of the worst days of my life. I was crying, it was raining outside. It felt awful.'

She said: 'I remember the producers telling me, 'This show is going to change your life.' When you hear that you think all of your dreams are going to come true. Well it changed my life. But it changed it for the worse'

To this day Angelea doesn't know for sure the sequence of events that led to the change of heart but she maintains that she was not in breach of contract and that the show knew of her brief escorting before filming even began.

It is why, she said, she has decided not to simply slink away into the background but to stand up and tell her story, expose what she sees as the ugly truth behind America's Next Top Model and demand her day in court.

This week the sees the premier of the show's twenty-second cycle but Angelea struggles to move on.

She said: 'I have days when I still cry about it because I lay in my bed and I wonder what my life would have been like if they had just let it be?

'They preach to girls you can come from anywhere and you can be successful but that's not true. Look at what happened to me. Girls like me don't have a chance.

'I rectified my situation but I'm still paying for it.

'They really destroyed me. They destroyed any chance I had of redemption and that's why I came back. I feel like my story needs to be told. People need to know what's really going on behind the scenes.'

Angelea said: 'I’m fighting for something I believe in. They’re basically telling girls like that they won’t be successful because they made a bad decision. But no. You can absolutely do what you want to do. Some people are scared of Tyra. I’m not scared of Tyra – after everything you’ve done to me. I’m not scared of you at all.’

America's Next Top Model has not responded to Daily Mail Online's request for comment.



