Tyra Banks says this season will be the last for America's Next Top Model. Photo/Richard Robinson
Tyra Banks has a reason to shed a few tears on her next birthday - it coincides with the last ever episode of America's Next Top Model.
The long-running reality show, which attempts to turn wannabe models into potential supermodels, will end in December, American TV network CW confirmed.
The show was created by Banks in 2003 and has run for 22 seasons.
On Twitter, Banks said the show's last episode would screen on December 4, a date that coincided with her birthday.
Banks had signposted the news on Instagram, writing that the latest season should "be our last cycle" but she was "so proud of what Top Model has done".
"Yeah, I truly believe it's time. Our diehard fans know we've expanded the definition of beauty, presented what flawsome is, tooched and booched and boom boom boomed, shown the world how to show their neck, rocked couture/catalogue/commercial poses, have found our (and your) light, strutted countless runways, gone on tons of go-sees, added guys to the girls mix, and have traveled around the globe and back again. Yeah, it's time. It really is."
She also paid tribute to the show's achievements.
"We were the first reality show based in the fashion world. I never thought my little idea would have people everywhere thinking differently about how they take photos. And I never thought we'd do 22 cycles. Whoa! So many!!! And what rhymes with 22? You. And you and you and you and you! YOU made Top Model what it is. We are a global force that has so many international versions around the world because of YOU! That's amazing and beyond anything that I ever dreamed."
At its peak, Top Model created minor celebrities out of its contestants and judges, including "noted fashion photographer" Nigel Barker and former model, Janice Dickinson.
The show was replicated around the world, including two local seasons of New Zealand's Next Top Model.
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