Tyra Banks Reveals the Victoria’s Secret Perk She Lost — & the Petty Way It Happened
Tyra Banks has eliminated many girls from the competition, but this time, she was the one sent home — by Victoria’s Secret.
The former Victoria’s Secret Angel shared a story this week that could’ve been straight out of an America’s Next Top Model judging panel — awkward, public, and just a little bit petty. You know, the kind of moment where even Miss J would clutch his pearls.
While appearing on Today With Jenna & Friends, the 51-year-old mogul recounted what she called an “absolutely mortifying” moment: strolling into a Victoria’s Secret in suburban Los Angeles with full confidence — and walking out without a single matching set. “It was in a suburb store in Los Angeles off the freeway, I can’t remember the name of the mall,” she said. “But oh my gosh, guess what happened, Jenna? I don’t match anymore — my lingerie is crazy!,” Banks explained.
The source of the chaos? A little plastic promise known as the Angel Card. “I had a free Angel Card that the head of Victoria’s Secret gave me,” Banks said. “They were like: ‘Forever. We love you so much, you have this card and you can go to any shop forever, and shop forever with no cap on it.’”
Tyra didn’t take it lightly. “So I would get lingerie for myself, matching tops and bottoms, every collection that came out, I got it.” And honestly, who wouldn’t? If the $1.5 billion company you helped build handed you an unlimited card, you’d grab every collection too — especially when you were the one modeling it.
And then… the fantasy ended. “A few years later, they put a contract on the table and said: ‘Let’s sign three more years!’” she recalled. “And I was like: ‘I don’t want to, I want to be a talk show host, I’m not gonna do it.’”
She walked away from the wings. But not from the card — not right away. “They let me have that Angel Card for a year later,” she said, “and then they said: ‘Give it back, baby!’”
Host Jenna Bush Hager asked what we were all thinking: “Did you actually go to Victoria’s Secret and they were like: ‘Sorry, this card is no longer accepted here’?”
“I hate saying this on national TV!” Tyra admitted.
“Did you have a whole pile of stuff?!”
“Yes, Jenna!” Tyra confirmed.
There it was: the woman who once closed the VS show in gold body paint, now getting declined at checkout with a full haul in her arms. It’s hard not to clock the symbolism. Even after her high-profile runway return last fall — where she handed Gigi Hadid Tyra Mail and winked in full VS glory at age 50 — the card remained revoked.
When asked if she’d return again, Banks didn’t flinch. “I would do a deal if you gave me my card back, let’s start there,” she said. “That is the most important thing — I want my card, and then I have to represent the brand.”
Until then? Consider this her final panel. And yes, she’s still smizing.
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