Tyra Banks reveals cheeky request she’s had for every VS Fashion Show she’s ever done

Tyra Banks reached supermodel status years ago, but even she has body insecurities like the rest of us.

Before returning to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show for the first time in nearly 20 years, the model and TV personality sat down with TODAY style correspondent Zanna Roberts Rassi to talk about her impressive career and spread some body positivity wisdom.

While looking back on her early years as a model, the 50-year-old said she started off “very thin” but soon encountered body-shaming when her physique started getting curvier.

“Maybe three, four years into me being this high-fashion ‘it’ girl in Paris and Italy, my body started to change. And my agency in Italy called my mother in. (They were) like, ‘You have to tell her to lose weight because it’s all going to go away,'” she recalled.

At the time, Banks was nervous about losing everything she’d worked so hard for, so she was inclined to listen to her agency.

“I was like, ‘OK, I don’t want my career to go away. I guess I’m going to skip meals. And (my mom) said, ‘Stop.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ And she goes, ‘We’re going to go eat pizza.’ And she put a pencil in my hand, and she said, ‘Write down every client that you can think of that likes a– because your a– is getting bigger. And I’ll be d—– if my baby starves for these b—— in this business,'” she said.

Banks explained that her mom encouraged her to write down Victoria’s Secret and Sports Illustrated on a piece of paper.

“‘Now on this side, I want you to write down models who are not stick skinny, whose careers you admire. These are your future clients, and these are the careers over here that you’re going to emulate, but make it yours. Do what never has been done before,'” Banks recalled her mother saying.

She went on to become the first Black model to sign a contract with Victoria’s Secret.

“It was surreal for me,” Banks said.

After about 10 years, she left the company and embarked on a career that included entrepreneurship and television.

On Oct. 15, Banks dusted off her runway walk and closed the 2024 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show while rocking a black crystal bustier, a sparkly pair of leggings, a silver cape and strappy heels.

While chatting with Roberts Rassi, Banks said she wasn’t sure what she was wearing ahead of the show, but had one request.

“Y’all better not have my booty out. People are like, ‘Oh my God, Tyra’s body is so great,'” Banks said.

“Every single Victoria’s Secret show I have ever done, my booty was covered in some kind of way,” she added. “That was just my kind of insecurity. And it’s still there, I can keep it real.”