Photo Credit: Buzz Foto
An intrepid photographer managed to snap Tyra Banks leaving her New York apartment, maybe headed for the gym. You don't get to see Tyra without makeup very often and she looks like she has a lot less hair in this picture. If it weren't for the expensive looking handbag, we'd wonder if it was really her.
Photo: Getty
Whoa! Tyra Banks must not have practiced posing in the mirror wearing this dress before she left home - she made all the wrong moves for photographers. This angle combined with the overdone gown makes Tyra look much larger than she really is. (But the color looks great on her.) She's on the red carpet here for the Daytime Emmys and the fact that she carried home an award more than makes up for any bad photos.
Plus size model Whitney Thomson was anointed by Tyra Banks as America's Next Top Model just last night, and already we have a model photo of them together looking suspiciously svelte. (Whitney bears an uncanny resemblance to Anna Nicole Smith) There has been a lot of speculation that Whitney was Tyra's special choice because it puts Tyra squarely on the "models don't have to be stick thin" bandwagon, so popular now. Popular, but unrealistic. Unfortunately, it remains to be seen if Whitney will get modeling work that involves her body.
Is there no end to the Audrina Patridge pin-up photo collection? One thing for sure - as cute as she is, Audrina would never make it on the show "America's Top Model." We can just IMAGINE Tyra Banks getting a load of this photo. "Your mouth is tense and your eyes look dead! Your shoulders are hunched up and your pose looks uncomfortable and awkward. There's nothing sexy about this picture!"
Photo Credit: Splash News
Tyra Banks is intent on keeping her boyfriend John Utendahl undercover, so they arrived five minutes apart at the BET Awards in New York. Maybe the reason for the cover-up is the fact that Tyra has been accused (by her own employees) of moving her TV show from LA to New York just so she could be close to John. She vehemently denies it, but hasn't offered a better reason for uprooting the show and staffers. John, 50, seems to be a good catch - he's an investment banker and quite a looker.
We hear that Tyra Banks' staffers are disgruntled because they got no Christmas gifts even though they uprooted from LA and moved to New York for her. It's rumored that Tyra moved her show to New York because she had a boyfriend there, but she negotiated a 30 million dollar deal. She DID throw a modest holiday party at a lower east side dive bar and her employees drank a lot because there was no food. According to our source, Tyra arrived for a brief stop, looking like a million bucks, and said she was on her way to Italy. Before she left, she told them "I want to thank you guys for working so hard- - I have a special guest - here's Santa!" Everybody ran to Santa's big bag and found it was full of limp McDonald's cheeseburgers! Employees got cheeseburgers for Christmas! (Our source isn't sure if the higher-ups got private bonuses but the everyday people didn't.) Staffers tore open their burgers, hoping for gift certificates. Nothing. Unhappy workers ended up drinking themselves senseless and brawling in the street. One needed an ambulance. Tyra could learn a thing or two about generosity from Oprah.
The other day Tyra Banks taped a show featuring several personal trainers who had previously been assigned an ordinary person to shape up. The trainer whose client lost the most weight over a certain time period was to be declared winner. One competitor was Jillian Michaels from The Biggest Loser and she was VERY disappointed when her client weighed in and had lost the LEAST weight. According to our source, Jillian became hostile and viciously attacked the client, blaming her for everything. The client burst into tears and Tyra tried to comfort her. Jillian turned her rage on Tyra and insulted HER! The audience started BOOING Jillian and she turned on THEM, snarling "F--- YOU!" and stormed off the show! How Tyra's editors cut her tirade out of the show will prove to be interesting, and we can't help but wonder of there was some roid rage happening here.
It had to happpen - Tyra Banks has developed a fanatical following of girl fans who want to be JUST LIKE HER! The studio where Tyra films her talk show is right next door to The Grove shopping mall in LA. On taping days groups of girls around 18 to 20 years old can be seen strolling around in packs of 4 or 5. They come in all skin colors and they wear tight jeans and layered tank tops with a big belt, ballet flats, and flat-ironed hair - just like Tyra. Mall salespeople have dubbed them "The Tyra Girls." The girls are regulars in Tyra's audience and usually they can be heard discussing the last show they saw or the next one coming up. Tyra, who also hosts "America's Next Top Model," seems more and more like a young Oprah.
Since the first time Tyra Banks shared a stage with Oprah, she has wanted to BE her. A younger version of her, of course. Tyra admits Oprah has been her inspiration and her show is successful so she's obviously appealing to viewers. Tyra has even gained WEIGHT and made a big deal out of her body image problems like Oprah. Tyra's cool and her coworkers like her (like Oprah) but Tyra has a long way to go to touch Oprah in one department. Oprah is famously generous with her staffers - she's given them Hawaiian vacations, cars, fat bonuses, and much more. This Christmas Tyra gave each employee a thank-you note and a ten dollar gift certifiate for iTunes along with a list of her recommended songs.
Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova spent a lazy weekend talking about tennis and doing other fun things at the Bacara resort in Santa Barbara... Tyra Banks devouring fried chicken at The Farm at The Grove- carefree and and loving every minute of it... Anthony Kiedis eating healthy food and vegetable juice at The Newsroom with two other rockers.... Gilmore Girl Alexis Bledel flirting with the waiter and digging into a salad at Bono's in Belmont Shores.....Chowing down on New York style chinese food, Sopranos star Michael Imperioli created a stir at Genghis Cohen on Fairfax...
Apparently Supermodel Tyra Banks isn't kidding when she says she feels like SHE has flaws too. In fact she's self-conscious enough to teach the cameramen on her talk show exactly how to shoot her. Tyra has a strict rule: NO SHOTS OF MY BUTT! Camera operators are instructed NOT to follow her rear end with the camera in situations where she's walking away. "Keep it above my waist " she warned. Sometimes even flattering lighting isn't enough.
(Above - a rarely seen view of Tyra)
