Andre spoke with WWD today and revealed that Tyra asked him to judge the show years ago, but he turned the offer down. He’s changed his mind after thirteen successful seasons, but admits he’s never seen the show.

When pressed about Anna’s reaction to the decision, Andre maintained she was completely fine with it. “Her reaction,” said Talley, “was, ‘Fine, André. Just let me know when you’re going to do it and how it’s going.’”

WWD confirmed this when Anna gave them a statement through her spokesperson: “André is always onto new things on television, and I think his latest adventure sounds like a lot of fun and I look forward to watching him on the program.”

This season is going to be interesting. I wonder what Andre will be like on panel.

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However, Tyra has gone and said something to E!’s Watch with Kristin that nearly confirms the first rumor. Check it out:

Andre Leon Talley, the American editor at large for Vogue is a new judge. Miss J came to us and said that he wants to go back into the field with the girls because he feels so many of the girls have busted walks, and his name was on that walk.

Sounds fishy, eh? Vut maybe this means we’ll see more of Miss J. Even sicne he joined the panel, his one-off catwalk lessons that were more jokes than lessons were silly. It will be nice to see him get back in the trenches and actually teach these girls something.

Image: Newscom

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Now Jay Manuel has stepped up to the plate. NoH8 Twittered his ad earlier today:

@mrjaymanuel THIS is your best shot! Thank you for lending your face to equality! #NOH8

Kudos to Jay for getting involved in such a great cause! I love that his hair almost matches the duct tape.

Image via @noh8campaign

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Nigel promises that his book will be unlike any other fashion and beauty book out there:

It’s a book that looks at beauty from a different perspective. It’s not a book that shows lots of photographs of models doing their thing, it’s a book about real girls, real people, models and celebrities but the focus is on inner beauty and how that affects your outer beauty.

Nigel also confirmed Andre Leon Talley’s participation in the show and is thrilled he’s signed on:

We’ve just signed up a new judge called André Leon Talley who is the American editor-at-large for Vogue magazine. Which is a big deal for us. To have someone as important as him in the fashion industry on board further cements our place in the fashion industry.

You can read the red of the interview here. Nigel’s book hits stores this fall. I’m definitely intrigued. It does sound different, but is different good?

Image: Newscom

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The interview is pretty brief, but it’s funny and makes me want to pick up his book Follow the Model. I was hoping to get it for Christmas, but didn’t. Have you read it yet?

Read the interview here.

Image: Newscom

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Nigel talks about how beautiful and inspirational New Zealand is, why they chose to film there, what he does in his down time and more. He promises that NZ will get a lot of screen time in the upcoming cycle and that the contestants were very excited to be traveling there:

They were screaming when they found out they were coming. Our contestants come from all walks of life. Some didn’t even have passports – they hadn’t travelled out of their state, let alone their country. Some live in urban parts of the US in hard environments. We have one who has a very difficult back-story, who comes from almost the streets, and all of a sudden she is waltzing around in fields of New Zealand where Lord of The Rings hobbits used to hang out.

Read the entire interview here.

Hmm…could the girl with the difficult backstory be Angelea from Cycle 13’s semi-finals?

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Now, the talk is that Kimora was never in, Miss J is not out and Andre is in. Andre will be replacing the rotating celebrity guest judge.

Cassius Blog (which is an awesome place for ANTM spoilers this cycle) claims that “Tyra, Nigel, Jay M., Jay A., and new judge, Vogue Editor-at-Large, André Leon Talley, have been in Auckland since the first week of December, and we’re not kidding when we say, everyone is obsessed with spotting or stalking them like an endangered species lol, which they are as New Zealand rarely hosts many Hollywood celebrities.”

I quite like this idea, as the celebrity guest judge didn’t add anything to the panel whatsoever. And with only four voices, Tyra completely dominated each and every panel. It was nice when someone else got into the mix and added another opinion. Andre seems like a vocal and opinionated guy who could add a lot to the panel.

However, the CW has yet to confirm this. Until they do, I’m taking it with a grain of salt.

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Other rumors include Kimora Lee Simmons returning to the judging panel to replace the rotating celebrity guest judges. Replacing Miss J? Vogue’s Andre Leon Talley.

A CW representative denied that Kimora is returning by stating: “Not true.”

The only rumor I think has any inkling of being true is that of Miss J’s decreased role. Kimora was already on the show and it didn’t work out. I highly doubt anyone from Vogue would come near ANTM with a ten-foot pole. Yes, they are getting more media savvy, but if they plan to enter the world of reality TV, they’d do it Anna-style. A high-end documentary-style show about the magazine (think a way better Running with Heels) would be more appropriate for the magazine than anything affiliated with Tyra Banks.

What do you think?

Image: CW

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“Look at me at panel,” he said of “America’s Next Top Model.” “I look crazy, don’t I? That’s how I keep it fresh. I mean, I’m battling Nigel [Barker]’s good looks. Jay Manuel’s prettiness, cause he’s so pretty. And Tyra Bank’s is just drag. She’s just larger, larger than life. So I’m just competing with myself, basically.”

A video of the interview is below.

They didn’t address rumors that Miss J wasn’t returning to the show for the fourteenth cycle. If he doesn’t, who will they get to replace him? Will Mr. Jay finally join the panel? Or will they bring in someone completely new?

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“I’m a dad,” he told Tyra. J and his ex-boyfriend Alex both acted as sperm donors and both are equally active in the child’s life.

“A French lesbian had asked if we would be sperm donors,” he said. “So we thought, ‘OK, you want me to do you?’ And she was like, ‘Ooooh, I’m not that talented.’ So I said, ‘Okay fine.’ So we did a little test tube.”

J acted like any proud father, raving about how smart and sensitive his son is. He remained adamant about protecting the child’s privacy and didn’t divulge his name.

J’s book is in stores now. Will you be picking it up?

Image: Newscom

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