Many credit "America's Next Top Model" for inspiring later reality TV shows, most notably "RuPaul's Drag Race". Kevin O'Keefe and Mathew Rodriguez noted that "America's Next Top Model" served as "the biggest inspiration" for the show and that season 1 of "RuPaul's Drag Race" was "a parody of a couple different reality shows ... but more so (of) "America's Next Top Model"". They explain that ""Top Model" was a groundbreaking reality show" and that "it crawled so that "Drag Race" could walk". They drew parallels between Tyra Banks and RuPaul as black people "who (have) been at the top of their field" and "play a persona" on their respective shows. They also compared the judging panels, comparing Michelle Visage to Nigel Barker as an "anchor main judge" who is "harsher in their critiques", although contrasted RuPaul's judges with Tyra's, stating that "RuPaul has never allowed a drag queen to sit on the panel the way Tyra would bring in either Janice Dickinson then Twiggy." Moreover, the "first mini challenge of the first several seasons of "Drag Race" used to always be a photoshoot" and season 6's photoshoot of jumping off a platform was "directly taken from a photoshoot in season 6 of "ANTM", where they had to play fairy tale characters and jump" off a platform. Another "artefact" of Top Model's influence on the show comes from "Drag Race"'s focus on runway, with season 8 contestant Kim Chi being "criticised for not having a model walk". Most importantly, "America's Next Top Model" "was one of the most queer shows on TV" with regard to the inclusion of Jay Manuel, J. Alexander and Benny Ninja on the judging panel and numerous openly LGBTQ+ contestants, most notably Isis King. It was "covertly queer enough to make the space on TV for something as queer as "Drag Race"."