Tyra Banks
Tyra Banks will be the first to admit she spent a long time covering up her “real” hair. “Like I’ve worn weaves and wigs and pieces and clip-ons and clip-outs and clip-downs and around since I was 17, 18, and I wanted to show the real me,” Banks said on Larry King Live after finally, in 2009, going au naturel (via E! News). “My natural hair texture is very kinky,” the supermodel and TV host told King at the time, inviting him to touch her tresses.
And while she no longer hides her natural hair, Banks explained to W Magazine in 2018 that the journey to self-acceptance was a long time in the making. When she first started out, her natural hair almost led to her losing her big break at Victoria’s Secret. “I was sent home the first day because the hairdresser didn’t know what to do with my African American hair, so it looked crazy,” Banks said.
Happily, a year later Banks convinced the lingerie company to give her one more chance. They agreed, and, she explains, “After that, they hired people who could do my hair for 10 years.”
