Tyra Banks reflected on her iconic comeback to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show earlier this week, nearly two decades after retiring from the lingerie brand’s annual catwalk to pursue other entertainment opportunities.
While appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show to discuss closing the show, the supermodel turned mogul, 50, discussed feeling true joy as she returned to her role as a Victoria’s Secret Angel for the evening.
After the host, 49, said Banks looked like she felt ‘good about’ herself and was truly ‘living in the moment and really present’ during her runway walk, Banks said that description perfectly captured what it was like to dust off her wing after so many years.
Unlike in past years when the mother-of-one said she ‘would walk’ for herself, the Life-Size actress said, this time, she ‘felt like everybody was inside of’ her as she took the stage.
’50-year-old women, insecure women — I just felt like there was more, and I look at the playback and I’m like, boom, boom, boom. I was stomping because I felt like I was a vessel more so than it’s just all about me. It was different,’ Banks raved.
The America’s Next Top Model creator also reflected on how her body has changed over the years.
‘Also what was different is my boobies were like 10 times bigger because I was about 40-50 pounds heavier on this runway than when I retired,’ she told viewers. ‘So I was like, “Don’t fall out, don’t fall out.”‘
While serving as a VS Angel, Banks walked nine shows, before announcing her retirement from modeling in 2005.
Victoria’s Secret announced in August that Banks would be joining the star-studded fashion show.
Tyra teamed up with Gigi to confirm the event’s return after a six-year hiatus.
Tyra handed Gigi an invitation to the show in an Instagram video, mouthing ‘see you there’ to which Hadid replied ‘I love you.’
She also teased her appearance the following month in a TikTok video.
‘It feels crazy being back on the Victoria’s Secret runway. I mean, like, cray-cray as in cray-cray good. I never thought that I would be back on this runway, to be honest. I remember — what was it, like, 19 years ago — and I was like, “This is it.” And I remember all the press, “Tyra’s … last … walk.” It was so over the top, and I was like, “I’m out.”‘
Banks walked in her first fashion show for the lingerie brand in 1996.
Her final Victoria’s Secret runway appearance took place in 2005, before she embarked on a career in television.
The 2024 show also saw the return of Victoria’s Secret vets Alessandra Ambrosio and Adriana Lima as well as next generation icons Taylor Hill and Barbara Palvin.
Cher served as the night’s headlining performer along with Blackpink alum Lisa and rising star Tyla — marking the show’s first-ever, all-woman musical lineup.
In May, Banks celebrated her 50th birthday.
In 2009, she opened up about no longer believing in diets.
‘I have been on diets in the past. They are a bunch of bologna,’ she said on The Tyra Show in 2009. ‘It’s not about being skinny. It’s about being in the best shape you can be.’
