Teary ANTM cycle 24 trailer promises 'deeply rooted psychological warfare'

We know America’s Next Top Model likes to mess with its contestants’ heads (or at least in the case of cycle 16’s Molly O’Connell, what’s on top of them), but the trailer for cycle 24 takes things to a new level.

“This is deeply rooted psychological warfare!” the disembodied voice of an unnamed (yet clearly frazzled) contestant says in the just-released preview, as footage of women crying and beating each other with pillows flashes onscreen.

Tyra Banks, returning to the show for her first appearance at the head of the judging panel since 2015, continues, admonishing a mere mortal who seemingly crosses her at some point in the impending batch of new episodes: “When you come in this room, you respect,” she says. “You got that?”

It’s no “We were all rooting for you!” but it’s a welcome return to form for Banks, who also removed that pesky 27-year age limit for her model hopefuls, opening the competition up to models “from 18 to infinity,” as she put it.

“There’s one girl who’s concealing her age, actually, and for a while she doesn’t say how old she is,” Banks recently revealed in EW’s exclusive preview of cycle 24. “It’s a testament [to what I said before]: All the models in the competition think she’s in her 20s, but she’s not! She’s 10 years older than what they assumed!”

Sounds like deeply rooted psychological warfare to us.

America’s Next Top Model cycle 24 (which will also feature a RuPaul’s Drag Race crossover and the return of “noted fashion photographer” Nigel Barker!!!!) premieres Tuesday, Jan. 9, at 8 p.m. ET on VH1. Watch the new trailer above, and check out EW’s exclusive sneak peek at the ANTM cycle 24 cast here.