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We usually applaud celebrities for their beauty, their skill on screen or on the stage, or their penchant for getting into mischief. But this time around we’re actually singling out some very special celebrities for their accomplishments on another front: Intellect. These 14 famous folks have not only soared to the tops’ of their respective crafts but have never felt the need to dumb themselves down.

Source: CBS

Tyra will not be left behind. While folks have been trying to convince Vogue to expand their brand to Africa, Tyra Banks and CBS Studios International have recognized that the future is in Africa and have subsequently expanded the America’s Next Top Model franchise to Africa.

Africa’s Next top model will launch in Cape Town, South Africa and eventually travel to Johannesburg. The show, will host 12 models from several countries including, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Angola and Tanzania.. Like the original, these models will participate in various challenges over 10 episodes until a winner is chosen.

Internationally renowned Nigerian supermodel, Oluchi Onweagba Orlandi will stand in Tyra’s place as the show’s host and mentor. Orlandi who was discovered at the age of 17, has appeared on the covers of Elle and Italian Vogue. She;s also been featured in Sports Illustrated and Victoria’s Secret.

Orlandi believes the show will become a cultural phenomenon following in the footsteps of the original.

In the CBS press release, Orlandi said: “I am excited to be hosting Africa’s Next Top Model and it is great to be part of the successful America’s Next Top Model franchise that Tyra Banks created and has hosted for an impressive 20 cycles thus far in the U.S. The African version of the franchise is long overdue and I expect the show to be a smashing success across the continent.”

Africa is the fourth continent to get a top model franchise. The show airs in 36 countries including Brazil, Canada, China and Italy.

This is some exciting news! We might not be able to watch it live on the tube but I personally will be trying to peep it the internet I know it’ll be beautiful.

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It’s no secret how professional athletes attract A-list celebrities. The million dollar paychecks, fame, and power an NBA or NFL superstar can hold is a magnet for some women more than others. Here’s a look at 15 celebrity women who just can’t get enough of athletes.

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Gabrielle Union has dated athletes for over a decade. The 40-year-old actress was married to former NFL running back Chris Howard for five years. Union moved on to safety Darren Sharper for a year before setting her sights on a new sport and new man. The Think Like A Man actress has been romantically linked to NBA superstar Dwayne Wade since 2008 and has stuck by the Miami Heat player’s side through a public and narsty divorce and custody case with his former wife Siovaughn.

In honor of Women’s History Month this March, we’re counting down monumental magazine cover firsts for African American women.

Though it was just a sketch, in January 1965, Donyale Luna became the first black woman to cover Harper’s Bazaar.

Source: WENN

Tyra Banks

CALLING: Model and mogul

WHY WE’RE SALUTING HER:

Tyra Banks ushered in a new type of model when she hung up her angel wings and showed the world you can have a nice body and an even more stellar brain in the modeling industry.

Tyra began pursuing a career in modeling when she was just 15 years old. She was rejected by six modeling agencies before eventually being signed by Elite Model Management at age 16.  Not long after, Tyra  got the opportunity to model in Europe so she put college on hold and moved to Milan. In her very first runway season, she was booked for 25 shows during the 1991 Paris fashion week, walking the runways for Chanel,Valentino, and Fendi. Tyra was also featured in advertising campaigns for Dolce & Gabbana, Yves Saint Laurent, Ralph Lauren, and Nike, and covered several magazines. She was the  first African American woman to cover GQ and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, and in 1997 she became the first-ever African American chosen for the cover of the Victoria’s Secret catalog.

Tyra modeled as a Victoria’s Secret Angel from 1997 to 2005 before hanging up her angel wings and focusing more on television and film. Tyra started her own production company, Bankable Productions, which produced The Tyra Banks Show, America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) and the 2008 movie The Clique. ANTM is now in it’s 19th season and airs in 170 different countries and regions internationally. From 2005-2010, Tyra also hosted the daytime talk show, The Tyra Banks Show, which won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2008 for her work and production, and a second one in 2009 for outstanding, informative talk show.

In 2011, Tyra became a New York Times Bestselling author after publishing her first novel, Modelland.  That same year, she enrolled in the nine-week Owner/President Manager Program at Harvard Business School’s open-enrollment extension school, where she earned a certificate after completing the Executive Education Training Program in February 2012.

Harvard Certificate under her belt, Tyra is now focusing on building up her TZONE program, which  she started in 1999. Aimed at leadership and life skills development, Tyra placed her office headquarters within the Lower Eastside Girls Club’s new Center for Community so that teens and adolescents could see the businesswoman hard at work. The television mogul is also working on a new sitcom, Fivehead, based on her life as an awkward teenager growing up in Inglewood. 

For never taking herself too seriously, but being serious about the business of uplifting young girls, we salute Tyra Banks.

Click here to meet all of our salutes

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Relationships are never easy but for these celebrity women cupid has been just a smidge more brutal. Whether they were subjected to cheating boyfriends or unappreciative mates, these famous ladies have been through the wringer when it comes to their love lives. Sure, some finally found happiness, but we’re sure the scars from their early lovers will never quite disappear.

As much as we know about Naomi Campbell, from the diva status she has incurred over the years, to her penchant for violence in the past, if she were an everyday sista that lived around the corner from you, you would probably not have very many nice things to say about ‘ol girl. But there’s something so awesome about Naomi Campbell when she steps in front of a camera that makes you forget all about her past drama, at least for a second, and say, “Now THAT’S a bad chick!” And at 42? To look this fabulous, you have to give the woman props, whether you’re a fan of her or not.

The iconic model sat down with ELLE magazine’s Mickey Rapkin to talk about her new reality TV show, The Face, her admiration of Tyra Banks (any other opinions about her she’s learned to keep to herself), and her hope to move forward from the negative rep she has due to past anger issues.

The Face, which will premiere on Oxygen (the same channel which is working so hard for Shawty Lo and his 11 baby mothers), is set to jump in the fashion and modeling reality TV ring, bringing in some of fashion’s biggest names right now, including Campbell, model Coca Rocha, and Karolina Kurkova. While always looked at as a diva, Campbell wants people to know that the show is about mentoring up-and-coming models so that they can compete against one another for a modeling contract. Clearly these young women will be learning from the best. When asked why she wanted to take part in the program, Na Na had this to say:

“Because it was done for me! When I first got Yves Saint Laurent Couture, I didn’t know how to take off a cape. I would ask Katoucha and Dalma—the real divas of the runway—‘Can you show me?’ I’ve never been afraid to ask for help. I care for my girls. Every single one of them. I’m not here to put anyone down.”

Campbell also talked about the other modeling reality shows that are out, and when that conversation came up, she shut down any questions about Tyra Banks before they could be asked (the author pointed out that she never asked her anything about her formal rival). Coincidentally, she’s working with Nigel Barker on the show, who used to be a judge on America’s Next Top Model:

“I don’t watch the other reality model shows. I’ll never have anything to say. If you ask me about Tyra Banks. I’m proud of her as a woman of color. She’s given girls opportunity, and God bless her.”

And as for her cell-slinging past, Naomi acknowledges that she made a mistake and would like to move forward, however, she like most people, knows that it’s something that’s going to affect the way people look at her from now on, no matter what she tries to do to get past it.

“I’m never gonna get away from it. It’s part of my history. I was remorseful and regretful. I’ve served. I did that time. And I never want to be in that position again.”

You can actually check out the full interview where Campbell talks about the blood diamond scandal people tried to pull her in (she allegedly accepted diamonds from the former president of Liberia), as well as her bucket list, inspired by the likes of the late Alexander McQueen. Also, check out more fierce photos from her ELLE shoot on the next piz-age.

Source: Harper’s Bazaar Singapore

We’ve known, for what seems like forever, that Tyra can work a runway, a photoshoot and certainly a magazine cover; so it comes as no surprise that even at 39, Tyra still delivers like no one else. What may surprise some of us though, is how serious she is about having children. Like for real.

Tyra’s talked about and even gotten emotional about having children in the past…on several occasions actually. I just googled “Tyra Banks talks about having babies,” looking for a specific clip from her show, and trust me, she’s talked about it a lot.

But in a recent interview with Harper’s Bazaar Singapore, the media mogul talked about why being a mother is so important to her.

“I want to have kids and I think it needs to happen very soon. I feel like I was born to be the experiment of the definition of beauty and to be a mother.” She continues: “It’s something I have to do. I won’t be happy if I’m not a mother.”

Oh dear.

It’s really deep for her. Not only does she want to have children, she feels it’s her purpose in life to do so. I can understand that. I just sincerely hope that she doesn’t attempt to rush having a child to fulfill this purpose. I don’t think being a mother is something Tyra hasn’t thought about over and over and over again; I’m just hoping at this point she doesn’t end up rushing it. If you’re going to bring a child into the world the lifestyle and environment you bring him or her into should be as “right” as possible. And I’m not just talking about having a partner to help you, as a parent, it would be best for you to be in the “right” space as well, mentally and emotionally. (Not that Tyra isn’t.) Furthermore, I hope Tyra knows that if her purpose in life is to have a child or be a mother, it’ll happen, one way or another.

Do you understand where Ms. Banks is coming from? Do you feel like your purpose in life is to be someone’s mother?

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Hosting a talk show isn’t a career path that’s for everyone. If you don’t have a catchy personality and if your people skills suck, it’s likely that you won’t be a great talk show host; hence some of the celebs on this list have had a great run in the daytime arena and others not so much. Let’s take a look.

FayesVision/WENN.com

Some women have all the luck. If it’s not enough that they’re world famous actresses, they have also scored big-time in the leading man department. No nerdy, unfortunate costars for these stunners. So due partly because we’re incredibly impressed by their choice of projects and partly because we are crazy jealous of their penchant for scoring some truly amazing eye candy, we salute 15 lovely, talented ladies whose string of costars have left us weak in the knees.