‘I don't believe in diets,’ the America’s Next Top Model presenter told a US magazine last week.
39 year-old Tyra, who famously modelled for lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret in her heyday, dismissed the juice diets followed by current angels Adriana Lima and Rosie Huntington-Whitely.
Insisting 'that liquid s—t’ is not for her, Tyra said that although ‘the class reunion diet’ might work in the short-term, ‘the minute you bite one piece of real food, you're going to gain [the weight] right back.’
I started seeing pictures and I thought, “Oh, I don't like that. That doesn't look good. I need some ass.”
She also warned that dieting can have a knock-on effect on self-image: ‘I lost weight a couple of years ago and that just changed the way I ate, it changed the way I thought. I actually got too thin because I have tunnel vision,’ she revealed.
‘So when they said this is what you have to do, I was too strict, and I realised I needed to cheat way more because it didn't look good. I didn't realise I was too thin until I started seeing pictures and I thought, “Oh, I don't like that. That doesn't look good. I need some ass.”’
The successful model, TV talk-show host and presenter added: ‘I was at the height of my success when I was at my biggest… I had Emmys and Top Model was at its peak and I was on Time magazine's top influential people two times in a row - all with a big ass!'
I have a lot of cellulite but it is what it is - I can't really do much about it
Neither does she encourage the contestants on America’s Next Top Model to diet: ‘I don't do a good job of helping [my girls] lose weight, even if they might need to,' she said.
‘I don't want them to feel all crazy like models in my day felt. I don't care - gain some weight, whatever. I know how to choose a shot that's the most flattering.'
But Tyra did admit that while she might love her larger derrière, she is not a fan of it’s dimples… ‘I have too much cellulite right now, the shape is fine, but, honey, I have on stockings! I can't do short skirts without stockings anymore, so I don't like that.’
‘I have a lot, I have a lot,’ confessed Tyra, but added: ‘it is what it is. I can't really do much about it.’