Tyra Banks
Tyra Banks
Tyra Lynne Banks is an American model, television personality, talk show host, producer, author, actress, singer and business woman. She began her career as a model at age 15, and became the first African American woman on the covers of GQ and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, on which she appeared twice. She was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1997 to 2005. By the early 2000s, Banks was one of the top-earning models in the world...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTV Show Host
Date of Birth4 December 1973
CityInglewood, CA
CountryUnited States of America
My freshman year, I ran for student class president and lost. The next year, I ran for student class vice president, and I won.
On 'America's Next Top Model,' I mentor girls on television. When that TV goes off, I actually mentor other girls in the modeling industry - girls that have not been on 'Top Model,' but who appear in 'Vogue' worldwide.
With 'America's Next Top Model,' I've always cast girls who the industry might call 'plus size' but I like to call 'fiercely real.' That was always important to me.
I created 'America's Next Top Model' one-hundred percent. I was in my kitchen making tea one morning, and I looked out the window, and the idea popped into my head. I wanted it to be 'American Idol' meets 'Ford Supermodel of the Year' meets 'The Real World.'
Whenever someone says I'm the next Oprah, I always respond, 'Child, there's only one Mahogany, and only one Oprah.' There are no others.
'America's Next Top Model' is not a bunch of Barbies - it's a lot of girls that are atypically beautiful.
I've wanted to adopt since I was eight, nine years old. I really do think I will.
I used to want to write commercials as a kid.
I've made mistakes before of doing different projects just based on my dreams, my hopes, my thing, and not really thinking about my customers.
I volunteer a lot of my time with an organization in New York called The Center for Children and Families.
Us brown-skinned girls get ashy if we don't moisturize.
I would love for models to be protected by a guild.
I would love to do Rihanna's makeup. I love her cupid's bow!
I think of dystopian as 'Mad Max,' as 'Book of Eli,' as the world is ending.