The first cycle of Indonesia's Next Top Model aired weekly on Indonesian private broadcaster NET., starting November 28, 2020. Indonesian supermodel and actress Luna Maya and Deddy Corbuzier were added to the panel as the host and creative consultant of the show respectively, while Patricia Gouw and Panca Makmun were added to the panel as judge, catwalk coach, and main model mentor. Ayu Gani and Jesslyn Lim from Asia's Next Top Model were added as model mentors throughout the cycle. This season saw 16 contestants vying for a brand new Honda HR-V and cash amounting to hundreds of millions of Rupiahs.
The first cycle of the show was filmed under strict health protocols as it was produced during the COVID-19 pandemic, which also made the production team unable to take contestants to an international destination like the other Top Model editions around the world. However, the top five contestants took a trip to the coastal town of Anyer and stayed overnight as a local destination.
The winner of the competition was 23-year-old Danella Ilene, from Bali.
(Ages stated are at start of contest)
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Comeback episode are not included.
After the comeback episode, the remaining six finalists got a second makeover. Before the comeback episode, Ranti already got eliminated, and while outside the competition, she cut her hair boyish short style. Thus, she didn't have to get a second makeover.
During a judging panel, Ilene (who later won the cycle) shared her battle with depression and eating disorder in response to Luna Maya's question about her photoshoot concept in Anyer beach. Deddy Corbuzier then cut off Ilene's story by saying "Depression? [...] You're pretty, you're a model. You're also tall, sexy, and smart. If you're depressed, you're insulting the martabak (stuffed pancake) vendor in front of my house.â Luna also said "I really like eating, so [do I have an] eating disorder?"
These remarks were met with backlash from the viewers and general public who believed their remarks were obtuse and insensitive to the issue of mental disorder. Videos of their remarks went viral on social media, in which many took to Twitter and Instagram to express their disapproval and also sympathy for Ilene, including psychiatrists and celebrities, also the former Asia's Next Top Model host Nadya Hutagalung. Felicia Hutapea, the daughter of lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea also openly criticized Luna and Deddy in her Instagram story, in which Luna responded through direct message that "everyone went through depression" and that [25-year-old Felicia] was "such a child". Luna and Deddy later apologized for their remarks through their Instagram. Those remarks subsequently were edited out from the episode in the show's official YouTube channel in response to the backlash.