- - Where Is Tyra Banks Now? All About the “America's Next Top Model ”Host's Life Since the End of the Show

Caroline BlairFebruary 18, 2026 at 7:00 AM

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Tyra Banks on America's Next Top Model in 2003 ; Tyra Banks attends The FanDuel Party on February 06, 2026 in San Francisco, California.

Barbara Nitke/Cw Network/Kobal/Shutterstock ; Jeff Schear/Getty

Tyra Banks is a groundbreaking supermodel also known for acting, hosting and producing

The model created and hosted America's Next Top Model for 15 years

Banks, who has lived in Australia since 2023, addressed ANTM controversies in the doc Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model

Tyra Banks has been in the spotlight for most of her life.

The supermodel rose to fame at just 15 years old when she started modeling and became the first African American woman to score covers with GQ and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. In addition to her modeling career, Banks also acted in several movies and television shows — including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Higher Learning and Life-Size.

However, she may be best known for creating, hosting and judging the reality competition show America's Next Top Model. The show premiered in 2003 and ran for 24 cycles until 2018 (Banks hosted every cycle except for cycle 23 when Rita Ora temporarily took over).

In the years since the show aired, it has come under fire for some controversial challenges — including using blackface to swap races — and harsh commentary from judges.

Banks, alongside her fellow judges and several ANTM contestants, spoke about all aspects of the show in the three-part Netflix docuseries Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model, which hit the streamer on Feb. 16.

Here's everything to know about where Tyra Banks is now.

How did Banks create America’s Next Top Model?

The Judges panel on America's Next Top Model Cycle 5.

Michael Yarish/CBS Photo Archive/Getty

In the early 2000s, Banks, and fellow developer Ken Mok, began pitching the idea of America's Next Top Model to several networks. After getting rejected by major channels, the show was originally picked up by UPN (now the CW) and aired its first cycle in 2003.

“I want to marry American Idol and The Real World and set it in the modeling industry,” Banks said in the docuseries about the concept.

Banks created, executive produced and hosted the series. While she rotated through various judges, her main panel included J. Alexander "Miss J," Nigel Barker and Jay Manuel.

Together, they created weekly photoshoots and challenges where contestants would get judged on their appearance and dedication. They'd decide each week who to eliminate until they chose a winner.

Banks hosted the show's first 22 seasons — even after Miss J, Barker and Manuel departed — until Ora temporarily took over for cycle 23. Banks returned to host the 24th and final cycle that aired in 2018.

However, in Reality Check, Banks suggested that there may be a cycle 25 in the works and teased, “I feel like my work is not done. You have no idea what we have planned for cycle 25.”

What has Banks said about the controversies surrounding America’s Next Top Model?

Tyra Banks on 'Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model'.

Netflix

While Banks has previously defended and commended America's Next Top Model for breaking barriers within the modeling world, she has also acknowledged that the show had flaws and admitted that she sometimes "went too far."

When America's Next Top Model saw a resurgence in 2020, many viewers criticized the show and Banks for its controversial challenges and judges' commentary. Some of the specific backlash was directed towards a "race swapping" challenge, intense makeovers and body image comments.

Banks addressed the backlash on X at the time, and wrote, “Been seeing the posts about the insensitivity of some past ANTM moments and I agree with you. Looking back, those were some really off choices. Appreciate your honest feedback and am sending so much love and virtual hugs."

Banks also candidly addressed specific incidents in Reality Check. When it came to past contestants — including Joanie Sprague, Keenyah Hill, Bre Scullark and Whitney Thompson — calling out Banks and the other judges for "body shaming" them, Banks defended the position and cited the modeling industry.

“When it comes to weight, back then the fashion industry's beauty standards were so narrow,” she said in the docuseries. “That’s the world that we lived in.”

Meanwhile, in regards to controversial challenge themes — such as "race swapping," violent crime deaths, bulimia and homelessness — Banks claimed that higher-ups felt like each cycle needed to be heightened in drama and extremity.

“I knew I went too far. It was very, very intense, but you guys were demanding it, so we kept pushing it, more and more and more,” Banks said in Reality Check.

Another instance that drew backlash occurred in cycle 6 when Sprague and Danielle "Dani" Evans underwent extensive dental work as part of a "makeover." Evans initially refused the procedure — which aimed at closing the gap between her teeth — but she changed her mind and agreed to a partial closure after Banks allegedly threatened to send her home.

Banks said she previously apologized to Evans but also explained her rationale.

“That was between a rock and a hard place for me,” she claimed. “Because there were agents who would tell me, 'She will not work with those teeth. It’s just not going to happen.' "

Where is Banks now?

Tyra Banks attends the Franca Fund Gala on November 23, 2025 in Doha, Qatar.

Darren Gerrish/Getty

After America's Next Top Model came to an end in 2018, Banks hosted Dancing with the Stars for three seasons from 2020 to 2023. Later that same year, she moved to Sydney, Australia, where she launched an ice cream shop called SMiZE and Dream.

“So I have this ice cream company, SMiZE and Dream,” Banks shared on an April 2025 episode of Today with Jenna and Friends. “I’ve been going to Australia a lot because we were making a lot of our ice cream there in this big facility, doing our recipes.”

She continued explaining, “I just fell in love with it. Every time I went back, and went back ... and the three countries that eat the most ice cream: America, New Zealand and Australia. So I was like, 'I’m happy here and they love to eat some ice cream, so, are we going to do this family?’ And we did.”

Banks lives in Australia with her son, York Banks Asla, who was welcomed via surrogacy with her ex-boyfriend, Erik Asla, in 2016. She also moved to Australia with her partner, Louis Bélanger-Martin, whom she's been dating since 2019.

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”