Did you see today’s episode of “The Tyra Banks Show?” Even if you didn’t, it’s likely you’ve seen the massive amount of press Banks has received regarding a single picture of her that has made the cover of tabloids around the world. The photo features the former supermodel in a bathing suit with the headline: “Tyra Porkchop.” Another magazine ran the photo of her under headlines that screamed, “America’s Next Top Waddle.”
The unflattering photo of Banks was today’s featured topic on her talk show. Wearing the same bathing suit that prompted the mean-spirited headlines, Banks’ admitted she’d gained about 30 lbs. since her runway days, but said: “I still feel hot.” She then twisted and turned her body to demonstrate how the wrong camera angle or a shift in body stance can “add weight” in a photo.
“Luckily, I’m strong enough and I have a good enough support system,” Banks told viewers. “I love my Mama, and she has helped me to be a strong woman so I can overcome these kinds of attacks, but if I had a lower self-esteem, I would probably be starving myself right now. That’s exactly what is happening to other women all over this country.”
The 33-year-old talk show host and creator of TV’s “America’s Next Top Model” then addressed those who “have something nasty to say about women who are built like me … women who have been picked on, women whose husbands put them down, women at work or girls at school – I have one thing to say to you: Kiss my fat a–.”
Banks also revealed that her own 5’10” body, which currently weighs about 160 lbs., is a lot heavier than when she landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue in 1997. But, she added: “I still feel hot, but every day is different. It’s when I put on the jeans that used to fit a year ago and don’t fit now and give me the muffin top, that’s when I say, ‘Damn!’ ”
The bottom line: Sure, she has put on weight, but not nearly as much as those recent tabloid stories suggested. What’s more, she says: “Who cares?” Banks’ says she’s happy with her post-modeling size and wants the world to know it. In fact, she recently told reporters that the new season of “America’s Next Top Model” will feature two plus-size models. After all, Banks maintains: “You don’t have to be rail thin to be pretty.”
Amen, Sister!
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