TYRA BANKS NEWS, INTERVIEWS & UPDATES



News for 7/16/2006


The following article appeared in the March 2006 issue of Upscale Magazine





News for 2/27/2006


The following article appeared in the December 26, 2005 - January 2, 2006 issue of Jet Magazine





News for 1/24/2006


'Top Model' Returns in March; UPN Adds More Seasons


While UPN bides its time with fictional models in "South Beach," fans of the real-life models-in-training can take heart.

The network's top-rated series, "America's Next Top Model," is scheduled to return with a sixth edition Wednesday, March 8. Additionally, UPN President Dawn Ostroff announced Thursday (Jan. 19) that the show will return for two more cycles in the 2006-07 season.

The new season will introduce a crop of 13 new would-be Elle cover girls in a two-hour premiere. As ever, cameras will follow them throughout the competition as they strive to become "fierce" under the watchful eye of host Tyra Banks, photo-shoot director Jay Manuel and runway guru J. Alexander. Nigel Barker and Twiggy will return as judges.

A week prior to the premiere, UPN will catch up with previous participants with a special called "Where the Girls Are." Among the past contestants featured include winners Yoanna House, now hosting a show on the Style network, and Eva Pigford, who continues to model and is also taking a run at Hollywood. Viewers will also see cycle five winner Nicole Linkletter jet off to Paris for a photo shoot and follow Camille "This is my signature walk" McDonald as she tries to launch a line of lingerie.

The most recent edition of "Top Model" averaged a shade over 5 million viewers per week in the fall, making it UPN's No. 2 series of the season (behind "Everybody Hates Chris") in viewers. It also scores highly among the young adults and young women UPN targets and has given a boost to the ratings for its Wednesday-night companion, "Veronica Mars."



News for 1/10/2006


The following news item appeared in the December 19, 2005 issue of TV Guide Magazine





News for 12/6/2005


Tyra Banks Takes Final Spin on Runway

By SAMANTHA CRITCHELL
AP Fashion Writer


NEW YORK (AP) - The runway is now behind Tyra Banks. Her final cruise down the catwalk was the Victoria's Secret show, which is being broadcast Tuesday on CBS at 10 p.m. EST.

She "retired" wearing a red lace bra and underwear with a belt made of military-style medallions, kicking up her high heels with Gisele Bundchen, Heidi Klum and Naomi Campbell at her side.

With two TV shows _ her daily talk show and "America's Next Top Model" _ Banks hadn't been doing much modeling anyway, and she wanted to go out on top.

She still looks good, mind you, as she prepares to turn 32 on Sunday. You could even say she looks great. She spoke to The Associated Press just before the Victoria's Secret show, wearing a red satin robe, sneakers and her signature long lashes.

AP: Are you really retiring from the runway, not just taking a break?

Banks: I'm not just retiring from the runway, I'm retiring from all modeling. God, I love saying that! When I was 18, my mom said I have to have a plan. I decided I'd leave on top. I want to be like the athletes who seem stuck in time. When you see them at 50, you say they probably can still run like a champ.

AP: Did you get to choose what you'd wear in this Victoria's Secret show _ a black satin corset, an embellished push-up bra with a beaded organza cape adorned with feathers and that red lace number with a crystal-covered baton?

Banks: They gave me sketches and I chose my three favorites. I've never had that clout before. Retiring is good. (Read More...)



News for 11/21/2005


The following article appeared in the September 26, 2005 issue of People Magazine





The following article appeared in the November 8, 2005 edition of the Los Angeles Times






News for 11/8/2005


The following interview appeared in the November 7, 2005 issue of Tv Guide





The following article appeared in the September 21, 2005 issue of Entertainment Weekly Magazine





News for 10/24/2005


One Final 'Secret' for Tyra


LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) The great ones all have to go sometime. For their fans, the hope is that they go out on top, a la Barry Sanders, rather than try to hang on to past glory when their skills have faded, like so many boxers at the end of their careers.

Tyra Banks will try to do the former come December, when she hits the "Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" runway for the final time before ceding the catwalk to a new generation of models.

CBS and the lingerie maker have set a date of Tuesday, Dec. 6 for the show, which will feature Banks, Heidi Klum and a host of other Victoria's Secret models showing off the titular company's designs. Klum will be making her first runway appearance since giving birth in September, and "new modeling sensations" Selita Ebanks and Izabel Goulart will make their show debuts.

The Victoria's Secret show has been a lightning rod for indecency watchdogs ever since its first airing on ABC in 2001 (it moved to CBS the following year). Each show has generated a flood of complaints to the Federal Communications Commission, although no fines have resulted. Last year, following the Janet Jackson-Super Bowl fallout, CBS and Victoria's Secret opted not to air the special.

This year's special will air at 10 p.m. ET, when, presumably, the audience will be mostly grown-ups. It will pre-empt the legal drama "Close to Home," although that show is likely to be in post-sweeps reruns by then.



News for 10/10/2005


The following article appeared in the September 25, 2005 edition of Parade Magazine





News for 10/2/2005


Tyra fans might do a double-take on TV

By Bill Keveney
USA TODAY


Tyra Banks is working overtime.

She's got a new daytime talk show, The Tyra Banks Show (check local listings), even as her successful prime-time reality series, UPN's America's Next Top Model, returns Wednesday with a two-hour, fifth season premiere (8 ET/PT). "I'm working on both at the same time," says Banks, who is an executive producer of both shows.

Banks' supermodel status is perfect for her role as mentor and judge on a modeling reality show. But she says the glamorous background won't prevent her from relating to daytime viewers as well.

As a model, "I've always been what people might call approachable. On the street, people are like, 'You know, you're cool and you weigh 20 pounds (more) than those other girls in the Victoria's Secret catalogue and that makes me feel good. And you're funny and crazy,' " Banks says. "I want to hear that. That makes me feel good."

The 31-year-old beauty will be joined on Model this season by two new judges, fashion legend Twiggy and runway expert J. Alexander, along with a returning panelist, photographer Nigel Barker. Former judge Janice Dickinson will return for one episode. The 13 modeling wannabes will get a taste of glamour this season, living in a Bel Air mansion and riding in a stretch limo.

Tom Weeks of media buyer Starcom Entertainment says having the two shows can help Banks grow as a brand name.

Viewers get glimpses of Banks' personality on Model, although she admits that in the tense elimination scenes she's playing "a little bit of a character." She also was able to show a different side of herself during an earlier stint as a correspondent on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah has been supportive of the new venture. "She told me, 'People are going to feel like they know you because you're on TV every single day. This is a whole different life, so get ready for it.' "

The daytime show, which started slowly in the ratings last week, covers a wide range of topics, including beauty, body image, dating and sex. She'll talk about her own past, including difficulties, to a point.

As for her own life, Banks says she would like to have a husband, although "marriage is not the easiest thing for me to grasp" after experiencing the divorce of her parents. She wants kids, too, perhaps via adoption.

But don't expect celebrity gossip from a woman who has been linked romantically to director John Singleton and NBA star Chris Webber. Asked her current relationship status, she laughs and says: "I won't say if I'm single or dating or married or divorced. There's boundaries."

The daytime show, aimed at women ages 25 to 35, has a lighter side: "Some days, I want to be serious. Some days, I want to act the fool and have a great time."

The show also traffics in hopes and dreams. In one upcoming show, Banks takes three women to Paris for a vacation. Another woman, treated to a dental makeover, will get to walk triumphantly on the set's signature piece: a runway.

"The runway is an intimidating thing. It's about high-fashion models prancing," she says. "I want to make it more accessible, something that can empower women, not make them insecure. When (guests) get on it, they don't want to get off."



News for 9/13/2005


Tyra's Banking on Daytime Success

By Rick Porter


LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Like an athlete preparing for a big game, Tyra Banks has been watching tape of herself lately.

She's not, however, scouting weaknesses to exploit in an opponent. Instead, the supermodel and creator/star of "America's Next Top Model" has been looking for ways to raise her own game in her newest job: daytime talk-show host.

"The Tyra Banks Show" premieres Monday (Sept. 12) in syndication. Banks has been taping shows for a few weeks now -- while also dealing with post-production on the fifth edition of "Top Model" -- and says she's figuring out what makes a good host.

"I'm learning to trust my instincts. That's so important to me," she says. "I'll tape a show, and I'm a perfectionist -- I'll look at it backward and forward. And I see that when I don't trust my instincts, I don't feel right looking at it."

She cites as an example a guest she thought was "acting kind of fake." She let it slide, even though "In my head I'm going, 'Oh gosh, they're acting fake, I don't want my show to be a fake show. This is supposed to be a real place, with real emotion.'"

The next time that happened, she didn't keep her reaction to herself. "I called her on it," she says. "And it just took me out of my head and put me on that couch with her. I was like, 'You're being fake, and I know you are, but your story is true. So I need you to be real with me, and you can feel safe with me. My mom told me if I see it, say it."

"The Tyra Banks Show" is one of two big syndicated launches this fall, the other being Martha Stewart's talk/how-to hybrid "Martha." The two may be tied together since they premiere on the same day, but Banks is going after a decidedly different audience than that for Stewart's show, or that of most other daytime talkers.

"It's actually for women of my generation," the 31-year-old Banks says. "I know that as an 18-year-old I always wanted to know what a 25- or 30-year-old woman was thinking and doing. So I know we'll definitely reach younger women, and older women as well. But the bulk of guests are going to be around my age range."

Banks hopes to cover topics both serious -- family issues and teen self-esteem among them -- and silly: A promo tape for the show features Tyra feeding instructions to a girl trying to get a guy's number at a bar. And, befitting her other career, hers is the only talk show around with a runway on it set.

"The runway symbolizes something in society that's kind of intimidating, very intimidating to women," she says. Not on her show, though. The idea is to "not make it an intimidating thing but make it something that women can get on and have fun and feel empowered.

"If they do something or share something, or make a life change, they can get on there and kind of celebrate that. They have so much fun they don't want to get off."



'Top Model' Premiere Doubles Up

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) "America's Next Top Model" is going plus-sized for the debut of its fifth competition.

UPN has tinkered with its premiere schedule slightly, opting for a two-hour broadcast of "Top Model's" season opener on Wednesday, Sept. 21. That means the second-season premiere of "Veronica Mars" will move back one week to Sept. 28.

The change could help "Veronica" a little by moving its debut away from the premieres of ABC's "Lost" and NBC's new Jerry Bruckheimer drama "E-Ring," both of which are scheduled for Sept. 21. UPN wants to see its critical darling move beyond cult status this season.

Expanding "Top Model" also means that viewers won't have to wait a week to see the show's first elimination with new judges Twiggy and "Miss" J. Alexander. In past seasons the premiere has been devoted to the audition process and the selection of finalists, with the first elimination of a finalist coming the following week.

The first Tuesday encore of "Top Model" on Sept. 27 will stick to one hour. UPN will show the second half of the premiere, which includes the first elimination, leading into the debut of the new drama "Sex, Love & Secrets."



News for 5/1/2005


The following article appeared in the April 2005 issue of Suede Magazine





News for 2/8/2005


New Crop of Top Models Prepare to Strut for UPN


LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Starting on Wednesday, March 2, the race is on to see what aspiring beauty will take the crown as "America's Next Top Model." On Monday (Feb. 7), UPN unveiled the names of the 14 ladies who are in the running to follow in the footsteps of "Top Model 3" winner Eva Pigford.

The 14 candidates feature three women from California and another trio from Florida. The oldest contestant, Brita, is 25, while Tatiana is the junior model at 18. Given their youth, the women have somewhat limited career experiences. The new crop of wannabe lovelies is led four waitresses, one restaurant hostesses and three students. However, there may be intrigue from Lluvy, perhaps the country's most attractive janitor, and Michelle, who is described only as a wrestler.

As with the show's popular first three installments, the 14 women will learn the skills necessary to become a model, while living together and being monitored by cameras 24-hours-a-day. Tyra Banks, Jay Manuel and J. Alexander return as mentors, while Janice Dickinson, Nigel Barker and Nole Marin are back as judges.
Read more...



News for 1/26/2005


Tyra Banks Talker Set for Fall Launch on Fox

By Kimberly Speight


LAS VEGAS (Hollywood Reporter) - Actress Tyra Banks' new talk show will debut this fall on 19 Fox-owned TV stations in such major markets as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Dallas and Washington, its syndicator said Monday.

"The Tyra Banks Show" will primarily target women ages 25-35, said Jim Paratore, executive vp at Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (WBDTD).

"Tyra will give a fresh voice to daytime TV for a new generation of women," he told reporters at a news conference. "This is a targeted long-term play for us."

While there will be famous guests, Banks said, "I don't want it to be extremely celebrity heavy. I want the focus to be on real issues affecting women today."

Warner Bros. will work with the Fox station group on a "serious launch campaign," said WBDTD president Dick Robertson, but it's still to be determined what time periods the show will occupy on the stations. Robertson said he'd prefer afternoon slots but that it's up to the stations.

The addition of the Fox stations to such previously announced markets as Denver and San Diego means the series is cleared in more than 70% of the country.

Banks, who starred on the big screen in such films as "Coyote Ugly" and "Love & Basketball," most recently created UPN's hit reality series "America's Next Top Model," on which she also serves as a judge.

The "Tyra Banks" news marks the first major announcement on first-run product for a major distributor at this week's NATPE conference in Las Vegas. Other talkers being shopped include Sony Pictures Television's "The Robin Quivers Show" and Twentieth Television's "The Suze Orman Show."



News for 1/22/2005


UPN Schedules Fourth 'Top Model' and Beyond


LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) UPN will close the all-important February sweeps period by looking back at "America's Next Top Model" past and then premiering the latest installment of the popular franchise. In addition, as UPN looks into its future, the netlet has taken steps to ensure that "Model" will be part of its family for at least another year.

On Tuesday, March 1, UPN will air a one-hour special focusing on the girls from the recently completed third season of "Top Model," showing how their lives have changed since Tyra Banks and company introduced them to fancy walking, Japanese street style and fame. The very next night, the fourth cycle of "Top Model" will premiere in its standard Wednesday 8 p.m. ET time period. UPN will use the "Top Model" premiere as a lead-in for the finale of "The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott."

After breaking out in its second installment with an average of 6.3 million viewers per week last spring, the third season of "Top Model" came down to earth a bit, averaging just over 5 million per episode. While the total viewers were down, "Top Model" helped anchor the tough Wednesday night for UPN, providing strong demographic ratings and serving as a strong launching pad for the highly regarded freshman drama "Kevin Hill."

In addition to laying the groundwork for the show's fourth cycle, UPN announced on Wednesday (Jan. 19) that "Top Model" will return next season with its fifth and sixth peek into the world of high fashion modeling and cat-fighting.

Tyra Banks and the rest of the on-air and behind-the-scenes talent are expected to return.



News for 10/2/2004


Tyra Struts to Daytime TV

By Sarah Hall


Daytime television is headed for an injection of fierce.

Riding high on the success of her hit reality show, America's Next Top Model, Tyra Banks has signed with Telepictures Productions to host her own syndicated talk show, which would be distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution.

The show would reportedly follow a format similar to Oprah Winfrey's multitopic gabfest, but would be geared to a younger audience. Banks' talker is anticipated to launch in fall 2005.

Banks, 30, started making appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1999, and quickly earned herself a spot on the radar among network execs, who saw veteran yakker Winfrey's numbers rise by as much as 10 percent among woman 18 to 34 when she was visited by her supermodel cohort.

"Tyra is a very impressive person; she's obviously more than a model," Dick Robertson, president of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, told the Hollywood Reporter.

"It's her appearances on Oprah that we looked at and said, 'If there's ever a future Oprah, she could be the one.' "

Aside from her turns on the catwalk and her Top Model series, Banks has appeared in a handful of movies, including Halloween: Resurrection, Coyote Ugly and Love and Basketball.

She's also made television guest-appearances on American Dreams, Felicity, All of Us and Soul Food.

"[Tyra]'s really emerged as a role model for the next generation of young women. She has a feel for this generation of women and she's worked with women for a long time," Jim Paratore, president of Television Productions, told the Hollywood Reporter.

"I think that's a big part of what's driving her to create a show that's not only entertaining and fun to watch but also relevant to her generation of women."

America's Next Top Model, on which Banks serves as creator, executive producer and star, has been a meteoric success for UPN.

The show features a gaggle of leggy beauties, who live together and compete against one another in various fashion-themed challenges upon which they are judged. Each week, one hopeful is eliminated, effectively crushing her dreams of becoming a top model.

This time around, the model wannabes are playing for a contract with Ford Models, a photo spread in Elle magazine and a $100,000 contract with CoverGirl.

Currently in its third season, Top Model scored the net's best Wednesday night rating ever for its timeslot this week, coming in second in the coveted demographic of women 18 to 34.



News for 5/15/2004


The following interview appeared in the May 2004 issue of Ebony Magazine





The following interview appeared in the March 15, 2004 issue of Newsweek Magazine