Tyra Banks is reflecting on her journey to modeling and motherhood. During an appearance on “Today with Jenna & Friends,” Banks opened up about her shocking decision to retire from modeling in 2005.
“I was a model and I decided to walk away from the runway and magazines on my terms,” Banks told the show’s host. “And it wasn’t just about empowerment, it was fear. Because in the modeling industry back in the day, they would kick you out at a certain stage. It was like, ‘Goodbye.’”
Explaining how models felt disposable when they reached a certain age, she explained how her fear of one day being kicked to the curb motivated her to turn down “Victoria’s Secret’s” offer to extend her contract. At the time, Banks explained how she had been working with the lingerie company for 10 years.
“So I was offered a three-year contract for ‘Victoria’s Secret.’ They weren’t age sensitive. They were loving the age and all of that,” she shared. “But I walked away because I was like, ‘But y’all gonna kick me out in three years.’ And I felt like I couldn’t be taken seriously as a talk show host at the time, and so I walked away.”
Though Banks maintained a successful career beyond modeling as the creator of “America’s Next Top Model” and founder of SMiZE Productions, an entertainment company, and “SMiZE & DREAM,” an ice cream company, the former runway model says she regrets her early retirement.
“I regret it,” she said. “[Because] I was still in that mindset that you were told, ‘Oh no, you’re going to get kicked out and you can’t be more than one thing. You can’t be a Renaissance woman. You have to be one thing.’ But ‘Victoria’s Secret’ was telling me that I could be more, but I still was saying that I couldn’t.”
Today, the former runway model understands that she can do it all. From walking ‘Victoria’s Secret’ runway at 50 years old to raising her 9-year-old son, York Banks Asla, in Australia, Banks has continuously beaten the odds. While starring as a guest co-host on the talk show, Banks also revealed how IVF “saved” her.
“I kept putting my career first,“ she said, explaining how she felt like it was “almost too late” to have a baby, per People magazine. “IVF saved me. It was the last of my eggs. I just made it, and it is the most amazing thing…Coming home to him [her son] makes it all worth it.”
