‘America’s Next Top Model’ Alum Yaya DaCosta Reunited With Tyra Banks to Heal ‘Real Trauma’

Before she was an actor on Chicago Med and The Lincoln Lawyer, Yaya DaCosta was a runner-up on Cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model, a reality series hosted and executive-produced by Tyra Banks. And DaCosta says she and Banks recently had a regenerative reunion that healed some of the “real trauma” of the show.

DaCosta ran into Banks at the ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards in Los Angeles on February 27, where Banks accepted the first-ever Luminary Spotlight Award.

“I haven’t had a real interaction with this woman since 2004,” DaCosta said in an Instagram video on Saturday, March 15. “The story I’d been telling for so long was a story of trauma.”

 

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DaCosta mentioned the controversies and allegations around the show — the problematic editing, the negative impact on contestants’ body dysmorphia and eating disorders, and the show’s use of blackface.

“Yes, there was real trauma,” DaCosta said. “And it wasn’t by accident. It was by design. The goal was entertainment over real-world modeling preparation, and especially over mental health.”

But when she saw Banks at the awards show, DaCosta saw “an amazing opportunity for me to close that chapter as I’m beginning a new one and to model grace,” she said. “I was so excited in this moment to walk over to her, to reach for her hands, and to greet her with warmth, with gratitude, with love.”

DaCosta agreed with what Banks said in her acceptance speech that night — that for all of its problems, Top Model also made strides for onscreen representation. DaCosta told Instagram followers the show spotlit “versions of beauty” by featuring plus-size models, trans and gay models, and male and female models.

“Yes, things change,” she said. “Like she said, we all evolve. Society as a whole is shifting, and so no wonder we as individuals are shifting. Let’s not pretend the show wasn’t wildly successful, because its audience was right up there on the judging table.”

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She went on: “We all evolve. We are all doing the best we can at all times with the resources that we have. It doesn’t mean that we accept abuse, but we know that everyone is just trying to get their human needs met. When I hear this speech, what I hear is courage. It takes courage to get up in front of people and finally say what’s been on her mind and heart for so many years and insist on recognition for the positive, and not just the negative.”

And before she and Banks parted that night, DaCosta gave the former Top Model host what she wanted to be a transformative hug. “Y’all, I held that woman,” she said. “And when it was time for the hug to be over, I held some more. I took a deep breath because I wanted her to feel what it feels like to fully be forgiven, appreciated, and loved. And we offer support in hopes that when it’s our turn, that we receive support, too — when it’s our turn to stand up, and whether it’s in front of one person or millions of people, and hold ourselves accountable, that we are received.”