The American supermodel has been living a low-key life for the past 18 months between Sydney and Los Angeles.
Most fans were unaware of Tyra living down under to work on her new ice cream store chain, Smize & Dream.
The 51-year-old spoke with The Daily Telegraph on Sunday 12 January, of how she has managed to blend in with the Aussie locals.
TYRA BANKS IN AUSTRALIA
“We’ll get some breakfast in the mall, then we’ll go to a Hoyts cinema,” said the supermodel.
“We’ll get some ice cream at the cinema, see a movie, then we might get a foot massage. Then we’ll have some lunch… Then we go to Target or Kmart.”
Sounds like the Aussie dream, right?
Tyra shared her additional Aussie supermarket favourites commenting, “We’ll do Coles, Woolies, Harris Farm, whatever, and so that is a whole day at the mall and we don’t do that in America.”
Since it has become public knowledge of the model living in Australia, Tyra sat down for an interview on Sunrise to talk about the expansion of her business.
Tyra held back tears during her interview as she shared the devastating news that her home in Los Angeles had been taken by the fires.
“I lost my house … I haven’t really talked about it, um, but yeah, I have,” she said.
“I just didn’t want to pull a lot of attention to me, I feel like there’s a lot of people that need that attention so I haven’t talked about it. But I can’t sit here and not tell the truth.”
After sharing the heartbreaking news, Tyra went on to say she was at a dinner party with her partner, Louis Bélanger-Martin when she found out the news.
The pair had been living between her Australian and New York home, and most of her possessions were not in LA.
TYRA BANKS CAREER
In 2005, Tyra stopped modelling at the age of 32, but returned to the recent 2024 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
“In the past, I would walk for myself, but this time, it wasn’t just about me. I felt like I had every woman especially women over 50, women who are insecure walking with me,” Tyra shared on the Drew Barrymore show.
“I felt like a vessel. It was about representing all of them,” she added.
Speaking to Daily Mail, Tyra shared that whilst modelling isn’t on the cards she hasn’t ruled out a return to television.
“I think I’m going to go back to do some TV. I might even do stuff here—morning shows, hosting, something. When I do, it’s going to feel like home.”
TYRA BANKS FAMILY
On top of her business ventures and her busy schedule, Tyra is also a busy mother of York Banks Asla, 9, shared with her former partner Erik Asla.
The model welcomed her son into the world via surrogate in 2016 and whilst her son is spoken of in interviews he is kept private online.
Tyra and Erik split when York was a little older than a year old, however, they continued to work together and have been co-parenting their child.
TYRA BANKS ICE CREAM VENTURE
Tyra is set to open her first Smize & Dream store in Darling Harbour by midyear, so we can imagine seeing a lot more of the supermodel around.
The opening date of the ice cream store is yet to be announced but we can expect it to be popular with her website stating, “My Mama Carolyn taught me to dream big, but WOW. This is Major.”
Major it will be… and delicious!
Although Tyra has plans to expand her business in Australia, she has stated that the country feels like home to her.
Speaking to Daily Mail, she said, “It’s very special to me, very special to my family.”
“Australia’s not real to Americans. I know you guys, this is where you’re from, but this is like fantasy land,” she joked.
