What are most people surprised about you?
That I don’t have the personality I have on America’s Next Top Model [AMTM]. I don’t say ‘Your pictures are not fierce, you’re not smizing and hello nice to meet you’. It’s a character that I created, but it’s not really me. I’m more like I am on my talk show, that’s not me trying to be a thing. On Top Model it’s a character… it just so happens the character’s named Tyra Banks, but she’s not me.
It’s easy to get into character now, so I don’t have to think about it. I don’t do it as much as I used to – I have a lot more me now. [But on AMTM] you sit behind a desk and she just appear
Happiest moments?
Driving my car on the weekends… far. Washing my make-up off at the end of the day… it just feels damn good, it’s really me when I look at the mirror. I’m like ‘That’s who she is, they don’t know her’. [And] making young girls feel good, having a young girl coming up to me and me complimenting her on something physically and see her face light up, that just makes me happy.
Guilty pleasure?
Popping pimples!
Favorite word?
Smize. It was an accident so that’s why I like it. I created this word because for years on Top Model I’d say smile with your eyes, smile with your eyes. I’m always watching myself, because I watch it [the show] more than the average person as I’m in the editing bay, and I’d be like ‘This is so long’ and one day I was like ‘smize! What gives me satisfaction is I’ve been in a restaurant totally incognito in the corner and there’s a group of girls who don’t know I’m there and they’re like ‘Let’s take a group picture… smize!’ And I’m like ‘Oh my gosh’. I’m proud of that word.
Life philosophy?
Have tunnel vision but do not forget your personal life. I’m all about teaching people to go for your goals, work extra hard, tunnel vision, tunnel vision. Now I say have tunnel vision but don’t forget your personal life. Now I talk to them about not forgetting your friends; yes you have to sacrifice but don’t forget your family, don’t forget if you want to have children. I waited too late for all of that. So I feel it’s important to have the balance, and I’m learning that now.
Ty-Ty is channeling her inner Beyonce in those pics, especially the cover image. Doesn't that just scream "Single Ladies" era to you?
BONUS: Arise also named the top 100 remarkable women shaping modern Africa today. Check out the full list below, did they leave anyone out?
The ARISE 100: Dynamic Women
Business + Law
Ayo Obe, Vice Chair, National Crisis Group, NigeriaBridgette Radebe, President, South African Mining Development Association, SA
Cherie Blair, lawyer, UK
Dambisa Moyo, economist, Zambia/US
Dr Eleni Gabre-Madhin, founder, Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, Ethiopia
Eva Muraya, co-founder and CEO, Color Creations Group, Kenya
Fatou Bensouda, Chief Prosecutor, International Criminal Court, The Gambia
Genevieve Sangudi, Managing Director, Carlyle Group Africa, Tanzania
Hajia Bola Shagaya, founder and CEO, Bolmus Group International, Nigeria
Irene Charnley, CEO, Smile Telecoms, SA
Isabel dos Santos, investor and businesswoman, Angola
Jonitha Gugu Msibi, Senior Partner, Ernst & Young, SA
Maria Ramos, CEO, Absa Group, Portugal/SA
Minoush Abdel-Meguid, co-founder, Union Capital, Egypt
Monhla Hlahla, Chair, IDC, SA
Ngozi Edozien, Director, Actis West Africa, Nigeria
Nombulelo 'Pinky' Moholi, CEO, Telkom SA LTD, SA
Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita, CEO, Arcelormittal South Africa, SA
Phuti Malabie, CEO, Shanduka Group, SA
Rosalind Kainyah, Vice President, External Affairs & CSR, Tullow Oil, Ghana/UK
Stella Kilonzo, Chief Executive, Capital Markets Authority, Kenya
Susan 'Santie' Botha, Chancellor of the Nelson Mandela University, SA
Teresa Heinz Kerry, businesswoman and philanthropist, US
Thuli Madonsela, public protector, SA
Tsega Gebreyes, Managing Partner, Satya Capital, Ethiopia/UK
Wendy Ackerman, retail tycoon, SA
Wendy Luhabe, social entrepreneur, SA
Culture + Media + Sport
Ahdaf Soueif, writer and activist, Egypt/UKAngélique Kidjo, singer and campaigner, Benin
Angelina Jolie, actress, US
Buika, singer, Spain/Equatorial Guinea
Charlayne Hunter-Gault, journalist, US
Charlize Theron, actress, SA/US
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author, Nigeria/US
Genevieve Nnaji, actress, Nigeria
Dr Johnnetta B Cole, Director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art, US
Kanya King, founder, Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards, UK
Kerryn Greenberg, Curator (International Art), Tate Modern, SA/UK
Lira, musician, SA
Mariam Doumbia, vocalist, Mali
Oprah, media mogul, US
Oumou Sangaré, musician, Mali
Rungano Nyoni, filmmaker, Zambia/UK
Serkalem Fasil, journalist, US/Ethiopia
Sophie Okonedo, actress, UK
Thandie Newton, actress, UK/Zimbabwe
Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator, Studio Museum in Harlem, US
Tirunesh Dibaba, runner, Ethiopia
Wanuri Kahiu, film director, Kenya
Yvonne Chaka Chaka, singer, SA
Fashion
Alek Wek, model and campaigner, South SudanAnn McCreath, KikoRomeo designer, founder of FAFA and Fashion for Peace, Kenya
Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, founder, soleRebels, Ethiopia
Candice Swanepoel, model, SA
Deola Sagoe, fashion designer, Nigeria
Folake Folarin-Coker, fashion designer, Tiffany Amber, Nigeria
Franca Sozzani, Editor-in-chief, Vogue Italia, Italy
Hanaa Ben Abdesslem, model, Tunisia
Iman, model, campaigner and entrepreneur, Somalia/US
Laurence Chauvin Buthaud, designer and founder, LaurenceAirline, France/Côte d'Ivoire
Lisa Folawiyo, founder and Creative Director, Jewel by Lisa, Nigeria. Liya Kebede, model, Ethiopia
Liya Kebede, model, Ethiopia
Nadiyah Spencer, Director of Sourcing and Production, SUNO, US/Kenya
Oluchi Orlandi, model, Nigeria
Sharon Wauchob, Creative Director, Edun, Ireland
Vivienne Westwood, designer, UK
Politics + Activism
Hon Aicha Bah Diallo, Chair of the Forum for African Women Educationalists, KenyaDr Asha-Rose Migiro, former UN Deputy Secretary-General, Tanzania
Awa Marie Coll-Seck, Minister of Health, Senegal
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, activist and writer, Somalia/Netherlands/US
Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé, former Prime Minister, Mali
Diezani Alison-Madueke, Minister of Petroleum Resources, Nigeria
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President, Liberia
Elsie Kanza, Director, World Economic Forum, Tanzania
Graça Machel, advocate for human rights, Mozambique
Ida Odinga, Founder, Ida Odinga Trust, women's health campaigner, Kenya
Joyce Banda, President, Malawi
Joy Phumaphi, Vice President, Human Development Network, World Bank, Botswana
Leigh Blake, founder, ACT V, UK
Leymah Gbowee, peace activist, Liberia
Melinda Gates, philanthropist, US
Mphatheleni Makaulule, founder, Mupo Foundation, SA
Dr Mphu Ramatlapeng, former Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Lesotho
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance, Nigeria
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chair, African Union, SA
Odile Sankara, activist and comedian, Burkina Faso
Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, speaker, Ugandan Parliament, Uganda
Sarah Brown, campaigner, UK
Waris Dirie, model, author, campaigner, Somalia
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, politician, SA
Baroness Valerie Amos, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs & Emergency Relief Coordinator, UK
Zainab Hawa Bangura, UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Sierra Leone
Science + technology
Dorothy K Gordon, Director General, Advanced Information Technology Institute, GhanaJuliet Ehimuan, Google Nigeria Country Manager, Nigeria
Isis Nyong'o, Vice President and Managing Director for Africa, InMobi, Kenya/US
Maggie Aderin-Pocock, space scientist and BBC presenter, Nigeria/UK
Dr Natasha Sauven, paediatrician, Sierra Leone/UK
Ory Okolloh, Google Policy Manager for Africa, Kenya
Tebello Nyokong, scientist, Lesotho
Thyla van der Merwe, Association of South African Women in Science and Engineering, SA
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