Inside Tyra Banks’ ‘dream’ life in Australia with her young family

Iconic supermodel Tyra Banks opened up about settling Down Under with her young family amid a huge career move for the California-born star. 

Tyra shared on the Today show that she had fallen in love with Australia while creating her ice cream brand, SMiZE and Dream, and decided to move to Sydney with her partner, Louis Bélander-Martin, and her son, York Banks Asla, to launch her flagship store there. 

While filling in as a guest host on Monday’s episode of Today with Jenna and Friends, she detailed her new life in the sunny city.

Tyra Down Under 

“So I have this ice cream company, SMiZE and Dream,” she told her co-host, Jenna Bush Hager. “I’ve been going to Australia a lot because we were making a lot of our ice cream there in this big facility, doing our recipes.”

The 51-year-old continued: “I just fell in love with it. Every time I went back, and went back…and the three countries that eat the most ice cream: America, New Zealand and Australia. So I was like, ‘I’m happy here and they love to eat some ice cream, so, are we going to do this family?’ And we did.”

Tyra shares her nine-year-old son with her ex-partner, Erik Asla, and has been dating her partner Louis since 2018. 

She explained that her company was planning to open a 275-square-metre flagship store in Sydney, and shared her excitement about building her business in Australia.

A day in the life

Tyra took Today viewers through a day in her life in the city, making sure to showcase all of its most iconic sites. 

“Rise and shine. Welcome to my home in Sydney, Australia,” she said to the camera in the home video. “It’s 6:30 am, and that means it’s time to make my coffee.” 

She then travelled to one of her “favourite places” with her son: Tumbalong Park. 

“People come from all over Sydney to enjoy this park,” she detailed. “They have what we call a little mini water park. There’s swings and stuff for kids. There’s this new place that they’ve built for the bigger kids that you really can’t get your kid away from. So be careful when you come here.” 

She then proceeded to Darling Harbour, pointing out the location of her future store. 

“Look at the water, so amazing. And over there is where my future ice cream dream is going to come true,” Tyra gushed.

Living the dream

“Making ice cream has been a lifelong dream of mine and it’s all happening right here in Australia. This idea is a tribute to my mama Carolyn,” she said. Walking further towards Circular Quay, the Next Top Model host took fans to the famous Opera House.

“I think we know what that beautiful, beautiful building is right there,” she said in the video. “I just saw a show there. Do you know that being in Australia, I actually go see live shows at the Opera House? It’s just like a normal thing for us to do.”

She continued: “Now the best parts of Sydney are the views, and we get to commute by ferry. This is beautiful Sydney Harbour at night.”

Tyra finished her city tour by sharing why Sydney had a special place in her heart. “Australia has been a dream come true for me and my family,” she said.

To learn more about Tyra’s ice cream brand, see below…