Whereas Tyra Banks wasn’t on the Victoria’s Secret Style Present bodily, the previous “America’s Subsequent High Mannequin” host was there in spirit. Throughout a current interview, the legendary runway mannequin, who labored with the enduring style model till her retirement in 2005, opened up concerning the 2025 present and the model’s place in popular culture.

For these unfamiliar, the Victoria’s Secret Style Present was live-streamed on Amazon Prime and the corporate’s social media channels on Wednesday, October 15. Since Banks was a part of the present’s epic comeback in 2024, many assumed she’d have a task this 12 months as nicely. Nonetheless, the 51-year-old was lacking in motion, prompting many questions from involved followers on-line.

Talking with Leisure Tonight, the mom of 1 mentioned precisely why she wasn’t current for this 12 months’s present. “I am in Australia,” she acknowledged, explaining she was there engaged on her ice cream enterprise, SMiZE Dream. “I do not know. We’ll see.”

All through her noteworthy profession, which started within the ’90s, Banks has walked in a complete of 10 Victoria’s Secret Style Exhibits, together with the present in 2024. Describing the model, the “America’s Bought Expertise” alum mirrored on her time with the corporate, calling it “an American staple” that has now turn out to be a “international establishment.”

“I am so completely satisfied it is again,” she added earlier than explaining the main position the corporate performed in serving to her turn out to be one of the vital in style supermodels on the planet. “Ten years of being an Angel with them,” she mentioned. “Being the primary Black [model in] many issues for them. Breaking down these doorways and now seeing all that lovely variety following that door that we opened is so stunning. I’ve quite a bit to thank for them.”

Based on a earlier report from The Blast, Banks bought deeply private throughout her look on “The Immediately Present” when she mirrored on her determination to go away the corporate within the early 2000s, explaining that she walked away out of “worry” quite than “empowerment.”

As she continued, Banks revealed that as she aged, she thought the corporate seen her as irreplaceable. “As a result of within the modeling trade again within the day, they might kick you out at a sure stage,” Banks mentioned. “It was like, ‘Goodbye.’ So I used to be provided a three-year contract for Victoria’s Secret.”

And whereas Victoria’s Secret was not “age delicate,” Banks felt uneasy about her spot on the ultimate roster. “… however I walked away as a result of I used to be like, ‘However y’all gonna kick me out in three years.’ And I felt like I couldn’t be taken critically as a chat present host on the time, and so I walked away,” she mentioned.

This 12 months’s Victoria’s Secret Style Present featured a number of massive names, from Anok Yai to WNBA famous person Angel Reese. The Chicago Sky energy ahead spoke about her inspirations earlier than hitting the runway, shouting out legends similar to Adriana Lima and Gisele Bündchen. However the mannequin who obtained probably the most reward from the LSU alum was Banks.

“She was the primary to take action many unbelievable issues within the style house, and to have the ability to see her success proceed to develop is unbelievable,” Reese mentioned earlier than reflecting on the mannequin’s monumental comeback in 2024. “I had the best possible time final 12 months,” she mentioned. “I’m a HUGE Tyra fan and her second on the runway was so unbelievable.”