Why Tyra Banks Regrets Leaving Modeling on Her Own Terms

• Tyra Banks appeared as a cohost on Today with Jenna & Friends with Jenna Bush Hager on April 15
• She opened up about deciding to leave the modeling world behind two decades ago, revealing that she has regrets about it
• She said now she has a different perspective on all of it

Tyra Banks has one major career regret.

The former supermodel, 51, appeared as a cohost on the April 15 episode of Today with Jenna & Friends where she opened up about why she regrets leaving modeling.

“I was a model and I decided to walk away from the runway and magazines on my terms,” Banks told host Jenna Bush Hager. “And it wasn’t just about empowerment, it was fear.”

The former America’s Next Top Model host continued to share that models used to be considered disposable. “Because in the modeling industry back in the day, they would kick you out at a certain stage,” she said. “It was like, ‘Goodbye.’ So I was offered a three-year contract for Victoria’s Secret.”

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Banks explained that she had already been modeling for the lingerie brand for 10 years when she was offered the contract. “They weren’t age sensitive,” she explained. “They were loving the age and all of that, but I walked away because I was like, ‘But y’all gonna kick me out in three years.’ And I felt like I couldn’t be taken seriously as a talk show host at the time, and so I walked away.”

When Bush Hager, 43, asked Banks if she regretted her decision, the former model said, “Yes, I do. Oh, Jenna, I regret it.”

“You do?” the host prompted. “Because really, I think, what you are saying is that women can do a million different things.”

Banks agreed but added that she had a different perspective at the time and ended up limiting her own potential. “I was still in that mindset that you were told, ‘Oh no, you’re going to get kicked out and you can’t be more than one thing. You can’t be a Renaissance woman. You have to be one thing.’ But Victoria’s Secret was telling me that I could be more but I still was saying that I couldn’t. So that was kind of weird,” she said.

As for where she stands now, Banks said, “Just leap and keep going and defy what people are telling you. Now I am.”

Banks retired from modeling in 2005. She hosted the hit reality competition series — which has been the subject of many controversies — from 2003 to 2018, and also served as an executive producer. 

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The former model made a brief return to the Victoria’s Secret catwalk at the 2024 fashion show, when she strutted down the runway in a silver cape with black lining, a crystal-crusted bustier, sparkly leggings and heels.

Banks seemingly addressed the backlash to her reality competition series at the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards on Feb. 27, where she was the first-ever Luminary Spotlight honoree.

“Did we get it right? Hell no. I said some dumb s—,” she said of the show during her acceptance speech. “But I refuse to have my legacy be about some stuff linked together on the Internet when there were 24 cycles of changing the world. And I am so excited that I, and so many of us, have opened that door for others to follow.”