Since 2003, America’s Next Top Model has been one of the major avenues for us normals to obsess over the potential careers of professional beautiful people. Honestly, if you’ve never spent a rainy afternoon marathoning a cycle of this show, have you even really lived? You’ll start caring about a person’s walk and whether they have the right attitude for the runway in no time at all.
However, in 2016, the show moved from The CW (after initially starting out on the erstwhile UPN) to VH1 and Tyra Banks, head judge and Queen of Smize, left the show while staying on as executive producer. A whole new panel of judges took over after the switch, including singer Rita Ora and supermodel Ashley Graham. However, the 23rd season never quite hit like it did in the past, so according to Entertainment Weekly, Banks will be returning to her rightful throne as the head judge for season 24.
https://twitter.com/tyrabanks/status/842495780657143808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
EW reports that Ora will be leaving the show after one season as head judge. Executive producer Ken Mok released a statement on the return of Banks and what this means for ANTM going forward:
“Tyra has always been the heart and soul of the franchise and her absence was deeply felt by our fiercely loyal fans who missed their Queen of the Smize. We’d like to thank Rita Ora for being a great partner and total pro. She infused this new iteration of ANTM with passion and creativity and we wish her nothing but the best in her future endeavors.”
That might be the politest “Girl, bye” in television history. Banks recently signed on to take over the hosting duties of America’s Got Talent from Nick Cannon as well, so prepare to see a lot of the media mogul and former model a lot in the future. Most people should be pleased with this development, except for maybe Tiffany.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
