Tyra Banks Fires Back At ‘DWTS’ Critics, Says She Knows How To Be ‘Perfect’ If She Wants To

Tyra Banks said she could be perfect on Dancing with the Stars if she wanted to. Amid criticism that her delivery as the host of the ABC celebrity ballroom competition isn’t up to par, the supermodel said her imperfect moments are what make for good television.

Tyra told Us Weekly that every host messes up on live TV and that’s it’s “normal” to do so. She noted that if the show wasn’t live there would be no mess-ups.

She added that even during her long-running stint on America’s Next Top Model, she would mess up her lines and tell her editors to “leave it in” because that’s what makes things “human.”

“If I didn’t want to mess up, if I wanted to be perfect, I know how to do that. There’s a very clear way as a host that you just read the words and you’re perfect and you know exactly how to do that. But when you’re relaxed and you keep it real, the mess-ups happen….It’s better than being like a doll.”

The star also admitted that while she uses a teleprompter, she also skips around it. She said she has not let the negative comments get to her amid a steady stream of complaints from viewers who are still demanding Tom Bergeron back. The OG DWTS emcee helmed 28 seasons of the show before Tyra was brought in to take his place this fall.

Tyra has been accused of talking too fast and cutting off the judges during their critiques of the celebrity contestants. However, some viewers have admitted she is finding her groove and pulled off her best hosting stint on the most recent episode.

“Hosting wise, I think Tyra was her best last night,” one viewer wrote on Twitter.

“Big Shout Out to HOST Tyra Banks… Awesome job gal!” tweeted a second fan.”You get better, relaxed, more each week. Well done, hang in gal doing a super job!”

Tyra has admitted she knew she had some big shoes to fill when she replaced her popular Dancing with the Stars predecessor and she even urged him to “hit her up” in the DMs if she made any mistakes.

In addition to schooling her critics on live TV form, Tyra also noted ratings are way up for the Dancing with the Stars since she joined the show. She has pointed to this as “validation” her team is doing something right.