Is ‘America’s Next Top Model’ Ending? Tyra Banks Clarifies Cancellation Comments

Tyra Banks wants fans to know that they decide how long “America’s Next Top Model" will last. The CW reality show, which is about to start Cycle 22, was the center of some controversy when Banks recently suggested that the show would have to end eventually.

“We may be coming to an end soon,” Banks told Fox. “There is only so long that a show can last and it is kind of nice to walk away from something before it walks away from you. That is what I did with modeling. I was like, ‘I don’t know how may years I have left, so let me go out real big.’”

After her comments caused a flurry from "ATM" viewers, the 41-year-old entrepreneur went on Twitter Wednesday to clarify that there weren’t any plans to cancel “America’s Next Top Model” just yet.

Journalists r very clever & pull quotes that work 4 a sensational story. #ANTM fans r die-hards & the show will live as long as they want!
— Tyra Banks (@tyrabanks) August 5, 2015

Ratings have been gone down quite a bit since the early years of “ANTM.” The past three seasons averaged just over 1 million viewers, according to TV Series Finale. That’s a steep decline from when it averaged 5 million viewers an episode during Cycle 9, but the CW doesn’t always need big numbers. As long as there is a dedicated following watching the show to offset production costs, the network will likely keep the reality competition on the air.

Banks’s fans took to Twitter to assure her that they wanted the show to stay on the air.

@tyrabanks does that mean we can have an ANTM cycle 100 i might be dead or too old too walk but i'll still be watching hahaha
— Nickilee (@TheNickilee) August 5, 2015

@tyrabanks We're with you! You are a positive and encouraging mentor to your models and your fans. You and your show are great! Can't wait!
— ribbonzs (@ribbonzs_kt) August 5, 2015

@tyrabanks Preach it TyTy. Been watching since Cycle 1. _
— Nathan Alan (@GesundheitNG) August 5, 2015

@tyrabanks it's not a show that you could easily put down.
— Gabriele Melodia (@GabrieleMelodia) August 5, 2015

@tyrabanks expect rage when cycle 92 doesn't air on the nursing home tv. #ANTM
— Black Jesus Barbie ™ (@RihTweetMe) August 5, 2015

The “America’s Next Top Model” host and executive producer is hoping that those fans will also watch her next TV endeavor. Banks is returning to daytime television with “FABLife,” an ABC talk show that she says she wants to feel different from all the other morning shows.

“I'm always about things that are first or unique or best and I was like, ‘Yeah there's no daytime show that has these different pillars to it,’” she told the Hollywood Reporter. Banks will co-host the show with model Chrissy Teigen, interior designer Lauren Makk, fashion editor Joe Zee and YouTube star Leah Ashley.

“America’s Next Top Model” Cycle 22 premieres Wednesday at 8 p.m. EDT on the CW. “FABLife” premieres Monday, Sept. 14, at 9 a.m. EDT on ABC.

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