It's been a while since FS cast its beady eyes around to see what its favourite easy target has been up to. This week, though, we heard that Ms Banks has big plans afoot. And lo, FS reached for its special ballpoint pen, a little shiver of joy travelling down its spine ...
"There are little facial expressions ... The chin goes back, like, 'Really?'", says Tyra to an interviewer. But no, rest easy, she's not teaching the world to smize - she is, instead, talking about the reaction she gets when people find out she's off to study at Harvard.
Yes, Harvard. The oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Harvard runs a three-year course entitled the Harvard Owner/President Management Program and the host of American's Next Top Model has enrolled. For those who are worried that this will eat into ANTM or talkshow time, fear not! Tyra will spend a mere three weeks on campus every year and will spend only $31,000 a year in tuition fees.
So what's her motivation? Maybe it's money. The college is, after all, the alma mater of 62 living billionaires. Perhaps Tyra is feeling a bit impoverished - after all, in 2009 she was listed by Forbes as having an annual income of just $30m.
Fashion Statement's tingling spidey sense detects, however, that the key to this mystery does not lie in Tyra's bank statements. It's all about things that money can't buy. A reputation, for instance, or a feeling of smug superiority. Yes! Tyra no longer wants to be regarded as a brainless model. She's adding a beauty and fashion advice website to her business empire this week (TypeF.com) and has already gained a whole new vocabulary for talking to her team. "I now can say 'what's the net present value on that?', 'What's the discounted cash flows of that?', and that's because of Harvard." Worth every penny, Tyra.
