If there’s one thing Tyra Banks misses about being a Victoria’s Secret model, it’s all of the free swag.
While on the “TODAY” show, Tyra Banks opened up about having a “Free Angels Card” that entitled her to an unlimited amount of free lingerie from the company. However, after she decided not to renew her contract, the “America’s Next Top Model” host revealed that she learned the company had taken the perk away in an embarrassing way.
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Tyra Banks ‘Free Angels Card’ Declined After Not Renewing Her Contract
“I had a Free Angels card that the head of Victoria’s Secret gave me,” Banks told Jenna Bush on “TODAY.” “They were like, ‘Forever. We love you so much. You have this card, and you can go to any shop forever and shop forever with no cap on it.’ So I would get lingerie for myself, matching tops and bottoms, every collection that came out, I got it.”
But when the time came for Banks to extend her contract with the company for another three years, the mother of one declined.
“I was like, ‘I don’t want to. I want to be a talk show host. I don’t want to do it,’” Banks said. “And they let me have that Angel card for [one more year], and they said, ‘Give it back, baby!’”
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Tyra Banks’ ‘Angel Card’ Declined At A Los Angeles Mall
As the conversation continued, Bush asked the former “America’s Got Talent” host whether her “Angels Card” ever declined in public, to which Banks confirmed.
“I hate saying this on national TV! I hate saying this,” Banks said before revealing she was getting ready to purchase a trove of VS items. “It was in like a suburb store in Los Angeles off of the freeway. But oh my gosh, guess what happened, Jenna? I don’t match anymore!”
Banks later joked, “I’m going to call Victoria’s Secret [and say] give me my card back.”
“I would do a deal if you gave me my card back,” Banks said. “Let’s start there, that is the most important thing. I want my card. And then I have to represent the brand. So we’ll see.”
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Tyra Banks Opened Up About Being Scared That Victoria’s Secret Would Drop Her
In April 2025, while also co-hosting “TODAY” with Bush, Banks spoke once again about her career with Victoria’s Secret, but from a different angle. This time, it was about her decision to leave the company and the modeling industry on her terms, saying, “… it wasn’t just about empowerment, it was fear.”
“Because in the modeling industry back in the day, they would kick you out at a certain stage,” Banks said. “It was like, ‘Goodbye.’ So I was offered a three-year contract for Victoria’s Secret.”
She then shed light on why she didn’t sign, admitting that she believed her talent wouldn’t be respected elsewhere.
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“They weren’t age sensitive,” Banks explained. “They were loving the age and all of that, but I walked away because I was like, ‘But y’all gonna kick me out in three years.’ And I felt like I couldn’t be taken seriously as a talk show host at the time, and so I walked away.”
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Does Banks Regret Walking Away From Modeling On Her Own Terms?
Bush then asked Banks whether she had regrets about her decision to leave the industry on her own, to which Banks replied, “Yes, I do. Oh, Jenna, I regret it.”
Banks went on to explain how she believed she couldn’t be more than one thing. “But Victoria’s Secret was telling me that I could be more, but I still was saying that I couldn’t. So that was kind of weird,” she said.
Banks Reflects On Her Legacy With ‘ANTM’
During a previous interview, covered by The Blast, Banks reflected on her decision to create the wildly popular competition reality show, “America’s Next Top Model,” which ran for 23 seasons from 2003 to 2018.
“To show different beauties at a time when the world was like, ‘What? You casting that? And what? Was it that?’ A time when people in the fashion industry were telling me, ‘You putting the girls from the hood on your show?’” she said. “I was like, ‘Why can the girl from the trailer park become a supermodel, but the girl that’s chillin’ in the park in the hood can’t?’ And we fought, and we struggled, and we made it happen.”
