Sarah Hartshorne

Growing up, Sarah Hartshorne didn’t fit in. She was taller, curvier, and louder than her peers, which led to compulsive dieting and a chronic need to dim her voice. However, what she thought of as her greatest weaknesses, where actually her greatest strengths when she competed on Cycle 9 of America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) as the plus-size contestant. During the highest-rated season of ANTM, viewers were captivated by Hartsthorne’s vibrant personality and her struggles within the fashion industry. When the show ended, she appeared in spreads for Glamour, Vogue, Skechers and more.

But the fashion industry will humble anyone—Hartshorne also appeared in a Weight Watchers commercial as a “before” and modeled plus-size costumes from a New Jersey warehouse. She “retired” after seven years as a plus-sized model, gained weight, and became a plus-sized person.

In her irreverent, charming, and ruthlessly honest talks, Hartshorne brings audiences on her journey to coming out on the other side of her body image battles by turning body positivity into body neutrality, thumbing her nose at societal beauty standards, and changing her narrative. She delves into how surviving the noxious worlds of fashion and reality television uniquely prepared her to shine on social media while still protecting her mental health and offers audiences the chance to do the same.

You Wanna Be on Top? (on sale July 8, 2025), exposes the dark side of the seminal reality competition show and reveals the behind-the-scenes manipulation and chaos the contestants endured, including increasingly pointed questions and opinions about their weight. Drawing on her experiences and those of other contestants and the production crew, Hartshorne reveals the unreality of reality TV.  Hartshorne answers the questions you always wanted to ask and dissects the iconic show with an unflinching gaze that refuses to smize.

Hartshorne ended her modeling career and walked right onto the stage, performing standup around the country and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She’s appeared in Netflix’s Explained and HBO’s Vice and has written pieces for the Guardian, Gawker, Teen Vogue, The Daily Mail, and Self magazine. Her writing is frank, funny, and fierce, and she brings the same energy with her to the stage and to social media, where she has over 150,000 followers across platforms where she talks about her experiences on America’s Next Top Model, trying to love herself, and how those two things are sometimes incompatible.

Contact us for more information about booking Sarah Hartshorne for your next event.