Tyra Banks Is Out Of Retirement On Sports Illustrated Cover

Tyra Banks has come out of modelling retirement to feature on the front cover of Sports Illustrated. 

The model, TV personality, entrepreneur and activist returned to her roots for a very special photo shoot with the magazine.

Photographed in Great Exuma, Bahamas, by Laretta Houston, she posed in a yellow Andi Bagus string bikini and explained during an interview on Good Morning America, “My first one was 23 years ago, how crazy is that,”

Editor MJ Day said, “Since Tyra’s first cover in 1996, she’s transformed herself into nothing less than a mogul, a cultural force and a supernova of inspiration and empowerment … she’s kind of the Swimsuit Issue ethos comes to life, everything we know this franchise can be.”

She has recreated her iconic polka dot bikini moment during the Bahamas shoot for the 2019 issue, with Tyra explaining, “We couldn’t find the exact one in the archives — it was the polka dot bikini so we recreated that bikini … I recreated it [the shoot] — 25 pounds heavier.”

Tyra Banks on the front cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2019

She was the first black woman to grace the cover of the magazine alone in 1997, and this marks the 23rd anniversary of that historical moment.

You can purchase the print edition by visiting the Sports Illustrated website.