Tyra Banks is still rooting for America's Next Top Model. Really, we're all still rooting for it.
For 24 straight seasons (sorry, cycles) leggy natives of Broken Arrow, Okla. and Pinson, Ala. turned up to her reality TV creation to learn how to smize and booty touch their way to the top. The hope? To build a career in fashion á la host Tyra, one of the industry legends tapped to pose for the recent 60th anniversary edition of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.
And though it's been more than six years since Tyra was last holding just one photo in her hands, the 50-year-old is hopeful she hasn't delivered her last critique.
"We have tried, so it's not us," she told E! News at the swimsuit issue launch party of her efforts to get her brainchild back on the air. "It's the powers that be. I'm not the biggest boss in the room, so it's not my doing. Maybe one day."
When the reality series premiered 21 years ago in May 2003, first on the now-defunct UPN, then The CW and, finally, VH1, it dominated.
At one point the series netted upwards of 6 million viewers eager to watch wannabe cover girls sob through their pixie cut "Ty-over" and attempt to nail the perfect commercial for LashBlast Mascara.
"I didn't realize that Top Model would be one of the most successful television shows in the history of television," Tyra admitted to E! when asked about the legacy. "Never. I thought it would be two seasons and that it. So big, big surprise."
And while one of the harshest critiques of the series is whether the winning models really landed on top, Tyra remains proud of how they moved the needle within the modeling industry.
"I think it's legendary because it opened the door for so much before diversity was a thing that people had to do because of the pressure of social media," she explained. "We were doing things that people would poo-poo, or go, 'Why are you doing that?' And, 'That person is not traditionally beautiful.' So we got a lot of backlash, a lot, for breaking down those doors. But sometimes when you're early in first, you get the bumps and bruises and you open the door for other people to come."
Plus, a six-figure CoverGirl contract and featured placement in a women's monthly was nothing to sneeze at. And, for the most part, each winner did go on to have a relatively fruitful career, whether that meant posing for brands such as Burberry and Guess, walking Off-White runways or finding their way in front of other TV cameras.
Let's take a look into where the victors landed after they claimed their spot on top.
—Reporting by Nikaline McCarley