Banks: Sayonara models! Hello pols.Photo: Getty Images
The CW plans to run America’s Next Top Model for at least two more cycles after this current run, but Tyra Banks may not stick around for it. According to OK magazine, Banks is feuding with photo-shoot creative director Jay Manuel to such an extent that the two don’t even speak. OK also reports that Banks barely hangs out with the contestants and shows up only on judging days. So what happened to the Best Girlfriend/Mother Hen Tyra we grew to love over ten (and yes, it took all ten) cycles? She wants people to take her seriously, it turns out, and ANTM just isn’t part of that vision:
“She’s really throwing all her weight behind her talk show,” according to a source familiar with “The Tyra Banks Show.” “She’s putting lots of pressure on her staff to keep her show on the map. She had Barack Obama on, she had Hilary Clinton on — she got a taste of playing with the big boys and now ‘Top Model’ seems to detract from her big plans.”
We wonder if her big talk-show plans will include having the cast of the Bad Girls Club back on the show, or perhaps Naomi Campbell for a second go? You know, the “filler” between the political stuff.
Banks is supposedly looking for a supermodel to replace her on ANTM. After the jump, we’ve compiled a list of models we’d like to see in that center seat on the judges’ panel.
1. Gisele: She might be a bit too classy for the CW, but she’s always pleasant and smiley. We can’t see her acting as mushy or nasty as Tyra does, but we can certainly see all the girls vying to be her BFF. Also, she can talk Tom Brady into a cameo.
2. May Andersen: We’ve no doubt May would enhance the drama factor. We picture her taking the girls to dinner where they all get tipsy and dance on tables. Considering her assault-charge ridden past, things could get pretty interesting if anyone acts out of line.
3. Agyness Deyn: Who doesn’t love Agyness Deyn? She can teach the girls and the world how to put together outfits with wild abandon and still look fabulous. And maybe she could give the show a little edge.
4. Kate Moss: She’d be way too cool to party with the contestants, but the episode about “how to bounce back from a scandal” would be epic. Also, she’d upstage Twiggy, who was never as interesting as we’d hoped.
5. Naomi Campbell: Aside from the fact that we know she’s capable of quick changes like Banks, wouldn’t it be brilliant if Banks’s arch-nemesis came on and ratings spiked? Then she could go back on Tyra’s talk show and they could tackle a whole new batch of Banks’s hard feelings.
6. Tyson Beckford: He’s going to be out of a job when Make Me a Supermodel ends. Plus, all the contestants would fall all over themselves in his smokin’ hot presence. Or he could host some sort of America’s Next Top Male Model spinoff, the idea of which makes our heads dizzy with delight.
7. Karlie Kloss: We’ll do anything to see this girl teach someone the runway walk Banks so rudely mocked.
No more ‘Top Model’ for Tyra Banks? [MSNBC]
