Tyra Banks reveals identify mom needed to offer mannequin
Tyra Banks is getting actual about how shut she got here to residing life with a really completely different identify — and actually, we will not think about it! In the course of the April 15 episode of At this time with Jenna & Pals, the 51-year-old supermodel opened as much as Jenna Bush Hager, 43, about her unique would-be identify and her emotions about it.
“Tell me about ‘Tyra.’ Did you like it growing up?” Bush Hager requested. Banks didn’t maintain again, revealing that her iconic identify wasn’t the primary selection within the household brainstorming session.
“But my mom told me that she was gonna name me ‘Kelly Banks,’” Tyra shared.
A shocked Bush Hager repeated, “Kelly Banks?” clearly attempting to image the legendary mannequin and mogul with such a distinct vibe.
Banks couldn’t assist however surprise, too.
“And I wonder if I was Kelly Banks, what would I be?” she mentioned, imagining a very completely different path.
Channeling some playful cheerleader vitality, she joked, “It sounds like a cheerleader name,” even spelling it out in a sing-song voice. “It feels like a happy name!”
Bush Hager identified that Kelly was positively a go-to identify once they have been rising up, and Banks agreed, noting that ladies named Kelly have been often “popular” again within the day.
She even reminisced about Barbie dolls named Kelly — due to course they existed!
Because the dialog turned to names and reinventions, Banks additionally spilled concerning the completely different variations of her identify she tried throughout her early modeling profession.
“When I first started modeling, it was ‘Tyra Banks,’ and then I got to Paris and I was like, ‘I gotta take off the ‘Banks,’ so I was ‘Tyra,’” she defined.
However the single-name branding didn’t final without end.
“And then I started acting on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and the first time I saw the credits at the end of the show, it just said ‘Tyra,’ and I thought that didn’t look professional, so I added ‘Banks’ back,” she mentioned.
Truthfully, whether or not she’s Tyra, Kelly, or something in between, there’s no mistaking the vitality — and the legacy — she brings.
