Photos: Tyra Banks comes out of modeling retirement to grace Sports Illustrated once again after 22 years

Legendary supermodel, Tyra Banks returns to the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, more than two decades after being the first Black woman to grace the cover of the magazine alone in 1997.

Tyra came out of modeling retirement specifically for this shoot, photographed in Great Exuma, Bahamas, by Laretta Houston. “My first one was 23 years ago, how crazy is that,” an Tyra told Good Morning America where she revealed her new cover.
“I’m like damn — I’m 45 dog!” For the 2019 issue, Tyra recreated her iconic polka dot bikini moment during the Bahamas shoot. “We couldn’t find the exact one in the archives — it was the polka dot bikini so we recreated that bikini,” she said. “I recreated it [the shoot] — 25 pounds heavier.”

This is for everybody that has been told that they are not good enough because of their body, their age, their everything. #BanX is here to tell you that you ARE friggin’ fierce no matter what anybody says!
Drop mic now!@SI_Swimsuit 2019 pic.twitter.com/bgUqGunhAe

— Tyra Banks (@tyrabanks) May 8, 2019

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#Yellow #Yeah #Yahoo #ThisIsForYOU

A post shared by Tyra Banks (@tyrabanks) on May 8, 2019 at 9:53am PDT

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This is for everybody that has been told that they are not good enough because of their body, their age, their everything. #BanX is here to tell you that you ARE friggin’ fierce no matter what anybody says! Drop mic now! @si_swimsuit 2019

A post shared by Tyra Banks (@tyrabanks) on May 8, 2019 at 9:54am PDT

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#Thankful for your fierce love and support all these years. #BanX

A post shared by Tyra Banks (@tyrabanks) on May 8, 2019 at 9:54am PDT