The former 'America's Next Top Model' host reveals she had a 'magical' 50th birthday with her family in Australia, but celebrating it with a drink 'wasn't worth it.'
- May 2, 2024
AceShowbiz - Tyra Banks had a "magical" 50th birthday a few months ago which sounds like almost perfect, had it not been she had her first alcoholic drink. Although she had tasted alcohol before, the model says she really drank booze for the first time when she turned 50, but it "wasn't worth it."
"I could not wait to be 50," Tyra tells PEOPLE in a new interview reflecting on her milestone birthday, which happened to be on December 4, 2023. "I felt it was a rite of passage to be my true self. I like to challenge misconceptions about aging by saying, 'Child, I'm 50!' "
The catwalk beauty says she rang in her 50th birthday with her family in Australia, where she has been working and living with boyfriend Louis Belanger-Martin and son York Banks Asla. She dishes on her birthday celebration, "My mom and my best friend surprised me there, and it was so magical. We took a seaplane, had a meal in the middle of nowhere."
Recalling the time she had her first alcoholic drink, Tyra shares, "I even had an alcoholic drink for the first time! It wasn't worth it. I was like, 'This is nasty!' I've tasted alcohol. But to have a drink...for the first time at 50."
Tyra says at 50 she has let go of certain expectations and is embracing her age with open arms. "I'm a momma and an entrepreneur," she says of her Smize & Dream ice cream venture. "I do Zoom meetings with no makeup and throw my wig on... 50 feels good."
She, however, reveals that she had different ideas of being 50 when she was younger. "When I was younger, in elementary school, I thought 50 was like great granny," she shares. "I thought I would have little glasses and just have a quilt on my lap and watch soap operas all day."
"I was wrong," Tyra admits, though she has no complaint about her life now as she gushes, "What my life is like now is totally different than what I thought. I'm poppin'. I am not insecure about myself. It feels real good." She goes on praising the likes of Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez and Julia Roberts for having "flipped the script" with their age-defying looks.
As for advice she would tell her younger self, the former "America's Next Top Model" host says she wishes she wasn't so preoccupied with romantic relationships. "In my twenties, I wish I knew that he wasn't worth it," she explains. "Like, why are you tripping? Why are you looking at his phone when you go to the bathroom? Why are you calling your friend and being like, 'I broke up with him' 15 times. What the hell? I wish I would've known that he isn't worth nothing and he's going to be trying to slide into your DMs 25 years later. I wish I would've known that. It would've saved a lot of time."
Now a mother of one, Tyra emphasizes the importance of inner beauty rather than a physical appearance. "Handsome is just one thing and you have nothing to do with that," she says of the value that she instills in her child. "But you have the power to be kind, and to be helpful, to be giving, and to be forgiving and all of these things. So we practice that in our house a lot."
