Tyra Banks says she's leaving 'Dancing With the Stars': 'It's time'
Tyra Banks's Dancing With the Stars days are done, Yahoo Entertainment can confirm.
The supermodel said she'll no longer be hosting the reality competition show after three seasons.
She made the reveal to TMZ, saying, "I feel it's time for me to really focus on my business and my entrepreneurship, and also producing more TV — but behind the scenes. I think it's time to graduate from the dance floor to the stock market floor... from the ballroom to the boardroom."
Aware she was breaking news, she said, "Wait, wait, wait — mic drop."
Banks, who was interviewed as she left a grocery store, was asked if she really was leaving the show, which moved from ABC to Disney+ last year.
"Don't you think it's time? Yeah, I think it's time," she replied. I'm an entrepreneur at heart... I think my heart, my soul, is into my business, it's also into producing new TV, which we're working on. We have a new business show coming soon. But, I really, really want to focus on my business, and you can't do that hosting a show."
Banks, who also served as executive producer of the show, said she'll be creating things, not hosting things because she's "crazy, crazy, crazy focused on business."
The show, which is expected to air its 32nd season this fall on Disney+, hasn't yet made an official announcement. However, a source confirmed Banks's departure to Yahoo.
Banks first joined the show in 2020, Season 29, replacing longtime host Tom Bergeron, who had been there from the beginning, in a big shakeup. Bergeron had different co-hosts through the years: Lisa Canning (Season 1), Samantha Harris (Seasons 2 - 9), Brooke Burke (Seasons 10 - 17) and Erin Andrews (Seasons 18-28).
Bergeron said in a 2021 interview that when he was fired, the show he left was not the one he had joined. He said it changed so much and not for the better, in his opinion.
Banks, who said she had been a longtime fan of the show, initially helmed it solo. Last season, Alfonso Ribeiro became her co-host. The judges for last season were Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, Derek Hough and Len Goodman. (Goodman retired at the end of the season.)
Banks rose to fame as a model in the 1990s and quickly achieved supermodel status. She branched out early, acting on TV (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) and in films (Coyote Ugly), creating a long-running competition series (America's Next Top Model) as well as launching a daytime talk show (The Tyra Banks Show). The queen of the "smize" hosted America's Got Talent for one season prior to DWTS. She has a production company, authored books, had a beauty line and completed Harvard Business School's Owner/President Management Program in 2012. She currently has an interactive show, ModelLand, which teaches people how to model in one day, and has launched a ice cream line, Smize & Dream.