Tyra Banks is trading the ballroom for the boardroom.
The American TV personality announced she will be leaving her hosting gig at Dancing with the Stars after three seasons at the competition show’s helm.
Banks, 49, dropped the bomb to TMZ on Thursday. While leaving a Whole Foods in Santa Monica, Calif., Banks said she will be switching career gears to focus on being an entrepreneur.
“I’m really focused on business,” Banks told TMZ.
She said she wants to focus on her building her brand — an ice cream company called Smize & Dream — and on producing more television, though from behind the scenes.
“I think it’s time to graduate from the dance floor to the stock market floor,” she said. “From the ballroom to the boardroom!”
When asked directly if she really would be leaving Dancing with the Stars, Banks responded simply, “I think it’s time.”
“I’m an entrepreneur at heart,” Banks explained. “My heart, my soul, is into my business. It’s also into producing new TV, which we’re working on.”
She said it would be impossible for her to focus on her entrepreneurship while hosting the competition show.
Banks took over Dancing with the Stars hosting duties in 2020 after Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews left the show. Bergeron, 67, had been hosting the dance program since its inception in 2005. Andrews signed on in 2014.
Banks has appeared in a large swath of popular television series over the years. She created the immensely popular competition show America’s Next Top Model, which premiered in 2003. She has also hosted The Tyra Banks Show and one season of America’s Got Talent.
Season 32 of Dancing with the Stars is likely to air on Disney+ in mid-to-late September.
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Sarah Do Couto
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