Tyra Banks

Next Top Model Seeks New Host

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AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL is coming back to television screens, it was confirmed today, just months after creator and executive producer Tyra Banks announced its demise after 22 seasons. The modelling reality show - which has never been hosted by anyone other than Banks, although other members of the judging panel have changed throughout the years - is now on the lookout for a new host ahead of its launch on a new channel, VH1.

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Read more: Could Next Top Model Return Without Tyra?

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"After creating an incredible, global brand, I am beyond excited to have the show reborn," Banks told Deadline. "I will continue as executive producer, but must turn my attention to new business endeavours, so I want to find a new host. I'm pumped to identify that person and bring back the show. Top Model fans, you demanded that the show come back, and VH1 answered the call. Get ready for a fierce-a-fied rebirth!"

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Banks had another birth to celebrate recently - as she welcomed her first child, son York, via a surrogate - and as she turns her attention to developments both business and personal, thoughts turn to who could take up the hosting reins. The channel has asserted that the show will be "reinvented for a new generation", meaning that one of Banks's supermodel-era contemporaries is unlikely.

Jourdan Dunn.PA

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As one of the world's most in-demand models in the Nineties, Banks's shoes will not be easy to fill, but Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner would certainly fit the bill - and both have the captive social-media audience that the show needs to thrive. Victoria's Secret Angels Alessandra Ambrosio and Adriana Lima - who stepped into Banks's role as two of the top, and now the longest-serving Angels, following her departure in 2005 - would both be big enough names to carry the show; and if secured as a double act would be even better.

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Banks worked alongside fellow model Chrissy Teigen on The FabLife, the now-cancelled chat show, and the Sports Illustrated model has an accessibility that would work well on ANTM. British model Jourdan Dunn could be another good option since she has emulated Banks's career - crossing between high-end catwalk and editorial and more commercial projects with ease. She is also similarly outspoken, having shared her views on everything from racism in the industry to being dropped by Victoria's Secret, which no-holds-barred Banks is sure to admire - and has also earned her stripes as a presenter already, helming her own YouTube cookery show, Well Dunn.

Read more: Tyra Announces End Of America's Next Top Model