The New York Post has some big news about your favorite reality modeling competition: the daily rag is reporting that beloved judge Andre Leon Talley will be leaving Tyra Banks‘ show at the end of the current season. Tragic. ALT is maybe the only person alive (besides like, me) that can match Tyra’s campy theatrics and top them with grace, elegance, and taste. When it comes to ANTM judges, it doesn’t get better than Andre Leon Talley: even Tyra pales in comparison.
All that being said, it’s clear why Andre needs to go. Beginning with this season, ANTM made the decision to shed its pretensions of model-making and turn to star-making instead. Tyra brought back models from previous years for an “All-Stars Cycle” and chose girls on the basis of their fan appeal—meaning, she brought back the drama queens. ANTM was always in the business of making C-list celebrities rather than A-list models. Now it’s in the business of making slightly higher-grade reality celebrities, and it’s basically become a spin-off version of itself. ALT seemed to revel in the silliness of the show after so many years in the stuffy fashion industry, and his presence lent the competition a whiff of legitimacy. In his tenure at Top Model, contestants were expected to pose for photoshoots sans live tarantulas or water tanks and winning contestants landed editorials at Vogue Italia. But now that we’re no longer pretending that any of the girls stand a chance to have real modeling careers, there’s no reason for the Vogue Editor-at-Large to keep hanging around.
Instead, Tyra’s bringing on reality star and People’s Revolution head Kelly Cutrone to replace the great ALT. The PR whiz is a natural fit for ANTM‘s new format, but she’s no Andre.
[NyPost via HuffPo]
