Tyra Banks is one of the curvy bikini models featured on multiple covers of Sports Illustrated‘s annual Swimsuit issue.
The former supermodel, who looks younger than her stated age of 45, explained why she changed her name to BanX.
The TV personality said she changed her name to “BanX” to signify her rebirth in the modeling industry after retiring from modeling in 2005.
“Mononyms are exciting in the industry,” she said. “But usually models use their first names, like Iman. I want to flip the script and go by my last name. I’m taking something familiar and making it new. I’m older, wiser now and thicker.”
BanX says her new name reflects a changing modeling industry that is inclusive of all sizes and ages on the runway.
“BanX is me, but she’s also every woman. BanX represents rebirth and that beauty boundaries only exist to be broken.”
Times were different in 1996 when Tyra launched her career as a SI Swimsuit model. Models were required to be rail thin and the competition for spots in top modeling campaigns were fierce.
Models literally starved themselves to death to keep up with the unrealistic demands of fashion designers.
Since retiring from modeling in 2005, BanX made a name for herself by helming her popular daytime TV talk show. After her talk show was canceled, she moved on to conquer prime time by hosting the top-ranked reality TV series America’s Next Top Model.
She is also a guest lecturer for a personal branding course at Stanford School of Business, and she runs several successful companies.
Now BanX is returning to modeling part-time.
“I am telling people that beauty comes in all shapes, sizes and ages,” said BanX who shot her first solo SI Swimsuit cover in 1997. “I have to put my money where my mouth is. I have to make sure my message is pure.”
BanX shares solo covers with Alex Morgan, USA National Women’s Soccer team star and Olympic gold medalist, and Camille Kostek, 2018 SI Swimsuit Model Search winner and 2019 SI Swimsuit Rookie.
The SI Swimsuit issue hits newsstands on May 8.
BanX??? You are already branded as Tyra Banks!! Chile go have several seats!! Tuh.
So sick of these celebrities they are so full of themselves!
So Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition has fat women now. I know the chubby chasers will love that. I’m always perplexed when I see pictures of women with fat arms and fat backs but flat stomachs.
she’s still fine
Sure! The masses are getting over all this goofiness in the public eye. The truth is bleeding through and people need to point it out and stop faking the funk about these characters.
There’s still work to do when it comes to accepting body images. The photo editors forgot to add the moisture back to her midsection… They obviously edited it to make her belly look flat.
Realistically thicker women (and many slim) don’t have a flat stomach free of cellulite and stretch marks…. They’re STILL pushing a certain beauty image on people.
Tyra was a knockout in the 90s but she looks like a curvaceous and beautiful woman now. I am all in for celebrating all sizes.
The editors suck!
I was gonna say she looks good but that picture definitely still heavily edited. In some ways that still creates a false narrative. It’s like getting lipo then bragging about being healthy and going to the gym a lot smh
Love it!??
That arm don’t match that stomach
I hadn’t realized how much she’s changed. Still gorgeous and intelligent. I’m with it bish. If you want to be Tyra BanX then leh do it ???????
I’m saying though ! Immature did become IMX. Prince became the Artist ????????????????
Tara go on somewhere with that heavily photo shopped cover. You’re not that small and you don’t look that young. Just be you and quit with all the fake fukery.
I find the bikini off putting but I still like Tyra.
lol but you here reading about them…I’m just saying
So what…..
? I seen Tyra a few weeks ago at wholefoods and she had on a horrible wig that made her stand out and she was skinny & pale as hell. So I’m not sure where she gets this “ Thick” business from??
Banx?!
Ya momma named ya tyra banKs ima call ya tyra banKs
She looks amazing still
?
Yup
Chile I use to love me some Tyra back in da day ……. slayed Victoria secret runway ….. now I don’t give a damn bout none that shyt no more … Periodt!1 She looks great though …. I wish her the best
“I’m older, wiser now and thicker.”
“I am telling people that beauty comes in all shapes, sizes and ages,”
Even at 45, I think is conflicted over who she is. People who are really confident don’t need to talk about it…and she’s been talking about it for years.
Models aren’t happy at a size 4. They want to be a Zero.
Prince had stellar talent! He was one of a kind.
Tyra is ok, but I don’t miss her when I haven’t heard from her in a while.
How many times is she gonna brand…rebrand l0l? Does she still sell cosmetics?
Congrats Tyra
I wonder why she’s coming out of retirement. I thought she had several behind the scenes gigs. I guess Naomi Campbell inspired her lol. Her arch nemesis never left the runway and appears to still be in high demand. Tyra just appears desperate. She made such a big deal about retiring and how the industry changes too much… only for her to go back? I need more info..
She may need to get back on the scene as free publicity for some upcoming ventures. Kinda like Kandi uses RHoA.
Who knew?? ??????????
Who cares?? ??????????
Tyra(whom I attended the Emmy Awards when she won her first Emmy as a talk show host) I wonder how she feels about her ex John Singleton’s death? He cast her in her first movie role ‘Higher Learning”.
Black doesnt crack. Get it Ms BanX!??????
?
When you’re in front of the camera the need for the attention NEVER leaves U! A part of U feels empty,lost & unfulfilled.
I love Tyra. She looks better with age. She taught me how to smile with my eyes. That’s how I pull all my hoes ?
Mononyms may be exciting in the industry but that doesnt mean the publc finds them exciting . The explanation given doesnt make much sense either a rebirth means she gets rid of the very name that bought her so much success and global recognition. Tyra must be bored doesnt she have her hands full with her young son. Banx must be her new alter ego oh whatever it sounds contrived and silly.
I was wondering if the pic is current or old. I was leaning toward old
?
Exactly! Plus people change & grow & their prospective changes. She saw how she could make it a PLUS to go back instead of quitting and saying never which is a NEGATIVE. I for one, am happy to see her umm growth.
Smize…
Damn, I was hoping she’d gone into porn. ?
Obviously U care Or U wouldn’t have read or commented.
Amen sista, Amen.
Omg one of my favorite movies. It’s also where I was first introduced to Ms. BanX
Welll she sure looked like a 0. She had on a tight white jogging suit.
lololololo
All of the swimsuit covers are photo-shopped, but you do notice the difference. She is thicker & the pics definitely shows she has aged like FINE wine. Damn Tyra
It’s a joke LOL.
Point is famous people do it so, it’s whatever.
Ok! Mine was on my favorite actors hit show that I also worked with “Fresh Prince Of Bel-lar’ When BanX made her first appearance on there.
Bingo! Poor tink tink.
She just wants to be Banx.
The bottom looks weird to me. I said to myself, “Self, do you think that’s photo shopped?” I said “Photo shopped you say?” My self said “Yup that what I said. The tootie area looking weird AF!!!!!” I said “I do think so!!”
LOL ????? Child. If that makes her feel better.
Yup that’s the word she used on ANTM Haha. I couldn’t figure it out lol.
Tyra got that good loving body right there.
I got it. I thought you would get mine. *gotta use sumthin else next time*
L0l@ umm growth!
Photoshopped to the gawds and airbrushed to the winds
“Smize”?
Her wigs are terrible
Never liked Tyra fake self, but she looks good bih.
What a stupid and over thought idea coming from such an intelligent woman
She sounds rich and bored.?
#ParentsSayNoToStudent Loans #ItsAScam
Ion know… I thought she was focusing on mommy duties and chillin off her coinage
Welp. Somebody done got all the way gotdamn muthauggging all the way for real grown up. Banx, don’t hurt’em!
I saw a video of this photo-shoot earlier. Her stomach is still flat with a very thin layer of flab. They didn’t heavily photoshop her stomach.
Ok now we all know that SI was the purvue of WM and now they gots to deal with bbw muslim women in muslim-kinis…oops I ment birkini ww also ms ashley busting all ova the place case she is a big ww lol smh yep wm like dayum what happened to the good old days of skinny white girls with big boobs?
You sound silly *and* jealous. My arms are not the same color as my stomach because one gets less sunlight.
tyra you grown a– women leave those monokirs/memes ish alone.
Lol, the bottom is what concerned me as well. I felt strange looking at it. Otherwise she looks healthy although the tummy area is clearly photoshopped. She is still beautiful.
?
Tyra looks good now O_o
Well she hasn’t had children so I don’t expect her to have a gut per se… It’s smooth as a babies ass which isn’t realistic
I wasn’t talking about the color lol I was speaking on her stomach being flat and her arm having cellulite. That picture is clearly Photoshop.
Some of y’all peep EVERYTHING!
Someone did forget to add moisture back to her tummy and other body parts while airbrushing!
But, Tyra is STILL GORGEOUS! I saw a video of SI photoshoot, and she is heavier than in the photos, especially hips and thighs.
I love Tyra as a celebrity because she helped provide industry careers for so many from Next Top Model…Yaya, Eva, Tocara, Danielle, Fatima, and others, I see in print or on TV. I wonder what happened to Bree?
Tyra knows she has to reinvent herself, basically all women have to do it because we don’t get the same play as men! Sometimes it happens out of necessity like job loss, divorce, grief, or boredom!
Tyra will have a great impact on the industry, I hope she teams up with Rihanna!
Tyra hosted America’s Got Talent, so this is steps up! REINVENTION
If u seen one naked body u have seen them all ????? Not impressed.
Darn! LOL all good.
I LIVE for a NATURAL body. Glad Tyra didn’t get thirsty and mess with her body. Don’t like the wig but she looks damn good for her age.
Eva need to really thank Tyra but RHOA saved Eva too I feel like ppl forgot about her to now she doing that and Rickey Smiley morning show. I think she boring tho
I remember higher learning and ppl have forgot about that movie great and powerful
Well damn was she ugly before?
I’ll take Tyra and Naomi any day self made not handed to them like Kendal Jenner u know! They always better in my eyes! #blackgirlrunway
One of John’s most underrated movies.
Yeah, the RHOA is great for exposure and promotion, and Ricky Smiley is also creating opportunities! He also helped Eva’s career boost!
I may be alone here, but I’m tired of hearing women say the same ole’ same ole’. “I want to help women accept all their shapes and sizes. I want to inspire women not to wear make-up. I want to inspire women to take off the wig.” Now that you have cemented your legacy after years upon years of fakeness, you want to tell someone else how to live. The average woman isn’t wearing make-up everyday. The average woman understands that we come in different sizes and shapes. Celebs always want to be a role model until it’s time model a role they don’t want to do. Stay in Hollywood and convince yourself to take off all the make-up, clothes, and wigs. We’re good out here in the real world. Nice of you to join us.
Yeah, instead of going by Tyra Banks, she just wants to go by her last name….Banks, aka Banx. Wow such a revelation to cut your name in half. Yeah right, this is such BS
I’d have to give it to Naomi, not Tyra, who slept her way to the top.
I agree, celebrities want medals and awards for what everyday people do from the heart. I personally think that at this stage in Tyra’s life, she could have made history on the cover of SI going fresh faced and rocking a sexy mature, sophisticated swimsuit.
I personally haven’t worn make up in years. But I also redefined what is considered “make up” for me. For me, a fresh washed face followed by ice cube face bath, and a natural oil as moisturizer is my made up face.
Even for formal occasions, I receive compliments. I know this is not for everyone, but it is perfect for me. I think Tyra is beautiful but struggling to find what is perfect for her in the modeling world that is kinder to plus size white women than to black women and mature women.
You are too mature and worldly for such a juvenile comment. You should “mediatakeoutish”!
yall mofos got “good eyes” lolol!
Speaks to a lack of awareness people often arent paying much attention to their own actions measured against what they say.
Lol!
Meanwhile, I wear makeup at least 5 days a week… ??… but I can still appreciate the sentiment…
stunning beauty
Says who? Do you know her personally
Pampers are expensive so I guess she’s back to work.
What about your comment toward me?
You mean she looked nothing like she does in the pic?? Because here she is definitely no where near a zero. I don’t think she’s been super skinny for a while.
This is off topic I know what ever happened with her baby?? She’s like Tyler Perry no one has seen her child nor do they have pictures of him. Her, Tyler and Lauren London should write a book on how to hide a child from the paparazzi cause not even beyonce could hide her kids from the public eye. But somehow they managed to. I was shocked when I first saw Lauren’s son with Lil Wayne after all these years..lol
You’ll never see a peak of Tyler Perry’s or his live in girlfrie
You said nothing but the truth.
She looks great here and w/o the photoshop. They did a little PS but at least they didn’t do it to damn death.
Nevermind I found a pic online. She cleans up well. Cause in this pic she looks like Wanda from Holiday Heart.
You better say that isht!
Wait…what? ??????
She’s gorgeous! She got that THANG waxed to death and I’m here for it. I like me a goodt clean wax!
No Eva was on a couple things. She has that comedy show on TV with Tank that was funny as hell it was the black version of sex n the city and she was on another reality show and I use to see her in commercials. She actually stayed working. But I would agree that RHOA is a much bigger platform than anything she has done to date. But she was definitely not forgotten about. I think she has done more than most of her co stars from Americas top Model. I know Yaya got a big break when she played Whitney Houston but I don’t know what everybody else been doing. I remember Tara saying that Eva was one of her most successful girl that came from the show. I wonder what Danny is doing. I liked her.
Very true!
“Stay in Hollywood and convince yourself to take off all the make-up, clothes, and wigs. ”
Yall get Real First…then holla at us.
A BIG Thank U to Boogie. She should put it on a billboard on Sunset Blvd.
She also had her own reality show for a minute.
I never knew she was on Rickey Smiley I guess its because I don’t listen to the radio but I do watch his show. I wonder how Porsha feels about that. She been on there for a good minute now ever since she started the show I believe.
Yaya is a series regular on Chicago Med.
Eva is filling in for Porsha on Dish Nation but she’s also a regular on the Rickey Smiley Morning Show.
She needs some hips…lol
Damn Tyra…I see ya girl!! GORG!!!
Yasss Trya….I mean Banx. You want to be on top?
Get it Tyra!!! Actually I think she looks better being thicker….
I’m not gay, but damn!!! LOL
Tyra IS FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was not talking to you. I didn’t send for you, but you came for me. ??????????
Oh! My bad. I thought your comment was aimed at me.
isnt there a porn star out there named Tyra Banx?
So true. That isn’t her real hair and it ain’t her real nose. She admitted to a nose job years ago.
Has she had other procedures that we don’t know about? Probably.
Anyone know what happened with her and Kimora? They don’t seem as close.
That porn start will be on Instagram complaining that BanX is clout chasing off her name.
I’m feeling the new name!!! #TeamBanX
because she don’t have a butt…
yeah it photoshop
????
Porsha May come back, I think her personality pops a little more than Eva’s!
Plus…
Porsha’s Husband has helped Porsha setup her own Streaming Subscription Service, “Peach Lemonade” for $3.99 a month…
Might fly if they add the right content, besides Porsha behind scenes and updates!
A cute concept and potentially lucrative platform!
DAYUM TYRA!!!??
Never heard that about Tyra I know she dated John Singleton that’s how she got the role in higher learning
lol, not at all was sayin she’s lookin good…now