A Ranking Of Bizarre "America's Next Top Model" Runway Challenges, From Tame(ish) To Absolutely Absurd

At least this one wasn't unsafe, but it still made me SUPER uncomfortable. Cycle 20 was the first time male contestants were on the show, and it seems like producers wanted to take full advantage of that.

For this challenge, contestants had to choose a partner of the opposite sex and walk down the runway with them in lingerie and masquerade masks. Sounds pretty tame, right? Oh, except for the part where they had to make out with each other at the end of the runway. Some were thrilled, others were concerned, and all of them made me cringe.

We're starting to border on unsafe here, but mostly, I'm just confused by this choice. For this challenge, contestants were covered in their more *ahem* sensitive areas with Silly String in lieu of clothing.

They were then blasted with more Silly String as they walked down the runway. Contestant Kari is shown saying, "By the time I got to the end, I couldn't see anything." And many contestants ended up baring all, since, well, Silly String wasn't really designed for a high-fashion runway.

In this Nylon magazine show, contestants had to walk on not one, but two turntables that were continuously spinning. The models would start on one, walk around, then hop onto the next, all while trying not to fall.

Some were more successful than others, and there were a few trips — but thankfully, no major injuries. I'm honestly just upset that the female contestants — who were forced to wear heels and naturally had more falls — were judged the same as the male ones.

I'm cheating a little here because this is actually a final runway, not a challenge. It's still bonkers nonetheless. This Greece final is going to take some explaining, so bear with me!

The whole premise behind this is that the contestants would start as mortals and turn into gods. What did that process entail? So glad you asked. First, they walked into the water, swam a few feet, and emerged completely soaked. They followed that by going under a giant tarp, swapping with another model while they ran out the back to change, and then reappeared.

Cycle 17 truly had some wild ones, didn't it? Contestants were sporting clothes from the Kardashian Kollection — with the Kardashians in attendance, of course — and had to show them off on a spinning carousel.

It's a playful idea in theory, and I guess some of the models had fun with it, but I'm once again struggling with the vision of the whole circus theme here. Also, this thing was going SO FAST.

My ankles hurt just looking at this. The whole point of this mini challenge was to get the contestants used to walking in extremely high and uncomfortable heels. Tyra cited Vivienne Westwood as an example of a designer who has her models walk in shoes like this.

Half of the contestants ended up tripping or completely falling while their ankles twisted in every direction.

They just really loved watching contestants struggle with high heels on this show. For this challenge, former Cycle 5 contestant Bre was brought on to judge how the models walk on cobblestone with heels.

A piece of tape was put on the ground, and contestants were judged on how straight and composed their walk was. They were also given masks, for some reason, which one contestant said was impossible to see out of. You know, in case the challenge started to feel too easy.

Oof, there's a lot to unpack with this one. In this Moroccan challenge, each contestant had to walk down the stairs and through a crowd of guests while balancing a tray of teacups and lit candles on their head.

The outfits were a bit culturally appropriative, and the whole concept just feels wholly unnecessary. When in the fashion world will they ever be tested to have this level of balance?! Why did they need more accessories in addition to lit candles?!

The fact that this runway is only in the middle of the list should be a good indicator of what's to come. This Diane von Furstenberg show had the contestants attached to a harness as they essentially walked the plank, except the plank was four stories high and transparent, and the hope was that no one would fall off.

Contestants said they were "scared for their life," and one even fell (thankfully, it was at the end and not off the actual runway). Another contestant, Kacey, couldn't wear her glasses and was worried she wouldn't be able to see anything.

Boy, did they love playing with fire in Cycle 16. Contestants had to literally light their hands ON FIRE for this runway challenge by putting on what I'm assuming were fire-resistant gloves with small coals attached.

The models would approach the runway and carefully touch their hands on two torches to ignite the coals, then would strut down the runway with their flaming hands as the main accessory. This goes against everything fire marshals taught us in elementary school.

You might be wondering why I'm ranking this one above a dangerously high building and literal fire. Well, count yourself lucky if you've never had to deal with a cockroach infestation.

For this challenge, designer Jared Gold presented the contestants with a tray of LIVE bedazzled cockroaches, along with the explanation that models have to be ready for whatever designers throw at them. The models then walked down the runway with their new creepy-legged accessories, all while trying to keep their composure.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think designers are throwing this at anyone anytime soon. I don't remember seeing leashed cockroaches at fashion week.

I don't think I fully grasped how dangerous this really was when I first watched this show. Pretty self-explanatory, but contestants had to walk down the runway completely blindfolded.

They did have sensors so they wouldn't walk off the edge, but still! Losing one of your main senses can completely disorient you, and I'm surprised there were no falls during this one.

A runway in the middle of a pool? A bit scary. A runway that WOBBLES in the middle of a pool? Terrifying. Not only did the models have to walk on this thing without falling, but they also needed to keep their composure for the photo at the end.

I think the worst part of this whole thing was that the contestants had no idea that this thing actually moved until the first person walked out on it. There were definitely some stumbles, one major fall, and one wardrobe malfunction.

They just love their tiny water runways on this show. Contestants had to walk on this 12-inch-wide runway set over yet another pool. As if that weren't bad enough, they were also trapped inside giant plastic, glittery bubbles. Because why not?

There were a few falls — which I thought was to be expected, but was not appreciated by the judges. Honestly, I would love to see literally any of them attempt this.

Imagine you're sitting in the audience for a fashion show and THIS is what you see: essentially a level through Waluigi's Mansion. Contestants had to nail their timing down the runway so they wouldn't run into not one, but TWO swinging pendulums on their way to the end.

This seemingly Mario Kart–inspired challenge caused problems with multiple contestants who ran into the pendulums. But even if they avoided them, the need to pause abruptly and continue the walk was just...awkward?

There's a point where creativity gets pushed so far that it ceases to exist. This is one of those moments. Contestants were told that they would essentially be walking on a treadmill for this challenge, and in heels nonetheless. Oh, and did I mention they shut down a busy tunnel in downtown LA for this?

To make matters worse, experienced male models walked the runway first in SNEAKERS, something Miss J was very excited to point out. So not only were the contestants embarrassed by their own falls, but they were also shown up by someone who had a way less daunting walk ahead of them.

This challenge looks like the trailer for a Marvel movie and tops the list for the most bonkers and dangerous runway ANTM has ever attempted. Contestants were told to scale down the side of the building while attached to a harness. They then had to continue their walk down a horizontal runway with their partner, as if they didn't just risk their lives.

Once again, the female contestants were wearing heels while the male contestants wore sneakers. Are we starting to see a pattern here? I don't think a single vertical walk looked graceful, as most of them, of course, fell back immediately.