BY DERON DALTON
Many children face teasing or bullying because of their features, traits, characteristics, or clothes that others consider flaws, deficiencies, or imperfections. Unfortunately, it’s one of those things that comes with growing pains.
Teasing or bullying is definitely one of the more relatable experiences of childhood. For me, it was my gap. I mean, I still have a gap that I rock proudly. It’s my signature. It’s part of my magic.
Though finding pride in my gap (okay, and overbite) hasn’t always been easy. Like being a repressed gay child, I got made fun of a lot for being gay before I even knew what being gay truly meant.
By the way, there’s more on my “gay awakenings” (yes, plural) coming soon.
But beyond all the “is he or isn’t he” speculation, my gap was the physical feature that people—family, friends, or foes—fixated on. Though it made me a hell of a lot stronger, like most of my people, whether that be Black queer folk or other magical gap-wielding beings.
Enter Danielle “Dani” Evans, an iconic gap-wielding model and the winner of “America’s Next Top Model” cycle six, who, in retrospect, taught me to take pride in one of my more significant traits that makes me special.
By 2006, 16-year-old Deron, like millions of others, watched the then-and-now controversial reality TV competition, also known as “ANTM.” I watched most seasons religiously in the aughts. And though many people find it problematic and cringey now, back then, again, millions tuned in.
In the spring of 2006, episode eight of season six of “ANTM” aired on UPN, before the merger with The WB, which became The CW with cycle seven. In this episode, the contestants were sent to the dentist to get their teeth whitened. Two of the models were offered the “opportunity” to have their teeth fixed. Joanie Dodds received veneers to fix her “snaggletooth.” Though unhappy with the first round of surgery, Dodds ends up loving her new smile after a second session. Though in the 2026 Netflix docuseries…more on that later…Dodds said she’s feeling the negative impact of the surgeries on her dental health.
The eventual runner-up was praised for fixing her teeth, which was her prerogative.
Though Evans, the eventual winner, declined to fully close her gap, proclaiming, it’s part of who she is. I, having watched a lot of compelling reality and dramatized TV, revered Evans sticking up for herself as one of the most powerful moments on TV.
Though the judges didn’t see it as a powerful moment of self-assurance and pride.
Her decision was questioned; she was told her gap wasn’t marketable for a CoverGirl contract and that “she left the gap wide open for another girl” to win. While under pressure, Evans agreed to partially close her gap.
In 2020, Tyra Banks faced online backlash over the treatment of model contestants on “ANTM” over the years. Banks later addressed the backlash at the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Award in early 2025.
During the 2020 backlash, an infamous clip from “ANTM” resurfaced on Instagram, showing Evans defending why she didn’t want to fully close her gap, thanks to fellow gap-wielding model Slick Woods. In her caption, Woods said the criticism Evans faced messed her up as a little girl watching. Check out more of the clip from “ANTM” via Instagram.
Evans responded with her own Instagram post about not knowing Banks wanted her to close her gap and feeling the moment was a setup to make “good TV.” She made it clear she wanted to tell her truth, and the post wasn’t about her relationship with Banks, ESSENCE reported. Check out Evans’ response.
Despite the judgment, Evans’ photo challenge was praised, and overall, she won the competition at 20.
In 2026, years after the 2020 backlash, Netflix released a docuseries, “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model,” exploring the complicated history of the controversial yet iconic competition series. The three-part docuseries includes interviews from “ANTM” insiders, former winners, former contestants, and former judges (like J. Alexander (Miss J), Nigel Barker, Jay Manuel) and Banks herself. Noticeably missing from the interview lineup is former judge and legendary supermodel Janice Dickinson, who instead will be featured on the “America’s Next Top Model” episode of the docuseries E!’s “Dirty Rotten Scandals,” a new docuseries centering on behind-the-scenes controversies and scandals of some of TV’s most iconic shows. “‘America’s Next Top Model’ really tortured these girls for Tyra Banks’ ego,” said Dickinson in the trailer. Vice’s “Dark Side of Reality TV” also featured an episode of “ANTM” in late 2024.
Evans is one of the models who interviewed for the Netflix docuseries. In the docuseries, she shared her brother pushed her to audition for the reality series, originally hesitating because she knew the show would “humiliate girls” trying to get their dreams realized. She reshared her experience of being pushed to close her gap. After calling her mother, she decided to close her gap, saying in the docuseries, ” I decided to play the game and I got my gap closed some. It’s my life, and it was toyed with consciously, and me saying no and them going against that is invasive,” Today reported.
A few seasons after Evans got her gap closed, Banks had another model’s gap widen on the show.
According to Evans, Banks told her she knew the model was struggling in her post-show career and did nothing to help. Banks said she apologized to Evans about the gap controversy. Evans said the show had a stigma.
“That was between a rock and a hard place for me because there were agents that would tell me she will not work with those teeth. It’s just not going to happen,” said Banks, according to Today, adding “hindsight is 20/20 for all of us.”
Watch the trailer for Netflix’s “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model,” which premiered on Monday, Feb. 16.
And watch the trailer for the new docuseries “Dirty Rotten Scandals,” which will premiere with an episode on “Dr. Phil” on Wednesday, March 4, and then an “ANTM” episode on March 11, according to E! News.
While the TV moment received backlash in the 2020s and Evans didn’t have the career she deserved, my takeaway was that she stood on business. Even with that “compromise,” she stood up for herself. It was subconscious back then, but it was one of the first significant moments that taught me to embrace the gap and to embrace myself.
Now, well into my adulthood, I’m super cozy with my gap. And it’s funny how the things that people make fun of you for as a child become things you’re revered for as an adult. The truth is, as a kid growing up with such a distinctive feature, it was always part of my magic. And the people who hated on my gap growing up, especially those who tried to point it out as if it were a flaw even in my adulthood, I realize, typically have some type of insecurity themselves.
So Dani Evans, thank you, girl. You’re still an icon, and I revere you. You proved to me that even with what others deem as a flaw, it is actually part of one’s signature magic, that I should be comfortable in my skin, and that with pride, I too, can still be on top like you.