Tyra Banks said she considers turning 50 a “blessing” as she is wiser and her mind is “fiercer than ever”.
The US model and TV presenter, who created the reality show America’s Next Top Model in 2003 with iterations across the world, said “I can’t believe I’ve been on this earth that many years” when talking about her birthday.
“So many fear getting older,” she said in a post on Instagram.
“That’s understandable. Things just aren’t the same anymore. Our bodies. Our energy. Our minds.
“But I gotta say, my mind is FIERCER THAN EVER. Wise, baby. But still… I think we have to look at aging and these big milestone years like, ‘I GET to be that age’. A Blessing.
“If you’re younger than me, I HOPE you get to reach my age and BEYOND. Because it feels damn good.”
Banks said what “doesn’t feel so good” is the sciatica she is experiencing after falling in a scene while filming comedy Life-Size 2.
She continued: “Wise words from Auntie TyTy: You don’t have to stay stuck. You can start off doing one thing, and as the years go by, you switch that ish up.
“I started in the fashion world and did the whole magazine covers, catwalks and couture thing and more but I have pivoted, baby. Again. You can too. Can’t stop. Won’t stop. You hear me?!”
Banks said she has been putting in “hard work” seven days a week on her ice-cream venture titled SMiZE & DREAM and is celebrating her birthday with new graphic art for the company.
“Y’all may not know this, but I can write – scripts, essays, fiction – and I’m damn good at it. (When you’re 50, you can brag about yourself!)
“And now, I’m co-writing a SMiZE & DREAM graphic novel that’s all about age and dreams and yep, lotsa yummy ice cream.
“It’s called THE HOUSE OF SMiZE.”
Smize is Banks’ famous expression for models smiling with their mouths and eyes.
Banks encouraged her seven million Instagram followers to “dream really big” as 2024 is “around the corner”.
The 50-year-old, who was an original Victoria’s Secret Angel in 1997, is a two-time Emmy award winning presenter for The Tyra Banks Show which ran from 2005 to 2010.
She has also had stints hosting America’s Got Talent and Dancing With The Stars.