Please welcome Ashley Graham.
(applause and cheering)
-Well, isn't this nice? -Welcome to the show.
-This is nice. This is... -Hi, guys.
(applause and cheering)
This is nice, because we... we met a while ago, and, uh,
I said to you, "Are you gonna come on the show?"
And you said, "Yes," and then you walked away, and I was like,
-"She's not coming to the show." -And here I am!
Here you are. Thank you very much for being here.
Congratulations coming back for another season
-of America's Next Top Model. -That's exciting...
-That's right. -Is this gonna be the first one
where you are on the same season as Tyra now?
-The same season as Tyra. -Is that... is that a little bit...?
The queen is back, and the whole time I was sitting next to her,
so it was Drew, Tyra, me and then Law Roach.
And I'm taking notes.
I'm trying to get as close to her as possible
just to, like, get her energy on me as much as I could be...
-Right. -She has turned into an amazing mentor.
I mean, I could call her right now and be like,
"What business decision should I make in this particular move?"
-Right. -And she would be like, "Well, this is what I did.
"This is what you should do. Here's the mistakes I made,
-and this is where I thrived." -Wow.
-Yeah, she's great. -So you could just call her
and say anything. Like, could you just call her and be like,
"So Trevor wants to have, like, drinks with you or something."?
-Yeah. -(laughter)
-Like any call? -Uh-huh.
Wow. That's insane. We should try that.
-Um... -Do you like girls that are taller?
Do you like taller girls?
I-I don't know if she's taller than me.
-She is. -(laughter)
She is.
-The, uh... Let's, uh... -If you're into that.
-(laughter) -Let's talk about the book.
-Okay. -Let's talk about the book.
-Um, the book is coming out in paperback... -Yes.
which is really cool.
The title of the book is A New Model, right?
And, uh, what you talk about in the book is confidence,
-beauty and power, and what they really look like. -Yeah.
You've been on a journey that has been one
that I think you've shared with many people in America,
and that has been the journey of a curvy woman
trying to find her place in,
not just in modeling and in fashion, but in society.
In the world, yeah.
I have been told I'm not good enough
because of my thunder thighs.
I've been told I wasn't going to get covers of magazines
because I was too curvy, too loud, too tall, too outspoken.
So many different things about me
-that weren't good enough. -Right.
And the more I persevered and the more that I said,
"Oh, really? Well, I'm gonna keep working hard."
Because that's the kind of family that I come from.
I don't take "no" for an answer,
and I finish what I started.
Then you can have whatever you want,
as long as you know that your dreams are attainable.
And you didn't just work hard at it,
you had to work hard against an industry
that in many ways told you you didn't belong.
-Yes. -How did, like... how does modeling...
deal with that paradox?
Because it feels like one-- it's like modeling goes, like,
-this is what modeling is... -Right.
and now there are new voices coming forward saying no,
this is not what modeling should be about.
Well, we've had so many different generations
of models, right?
It's always been about, like, the body or the...
Now it's really about activism,
-and also Instagram numbers, unfortunately. -Right.
But it just is what it is.
Um, so now you're seeing models standing up
that are talking about something that they really believe in.
And I want women of all shapes, sizes and races to know
that I had to go through some ugly times
in the fashion industry, just like so many other women
that have gone through different roads and paths
in their own careers, to get to where I am today.
-Right. -And you can have whatever you want,
you just have to really believe in yourself.
And I talk about it in my book.
I hit really low times in my life
where I thought I wasn't good enough.
I was in a terrible relationship where my boyfriend chased me
around the kitchen with a butcher knife,
and I still stayed with him,
because my confidence was so low.
And it's in those moments that I share with the reader
and I let them know, I was just like you,
I hated who I was, but you can have whatever you want.
And I had to explain that to the people
in the modeling industry, and I think explaining myself,
telling my truth, and really truly who I am
is what got me to where I am today.
Because now people want to hear from models.
We're not just silent pretty little girls anymore.
We're big, bold women who have something to say.
-You don't just have something to say... -(cheering, applause)
You also say it loudly and beautifully.
I mean, there are a few sections in the book
that really touched me.
I mean, like, um, one of these is really impressive.
I-I enjoyed this because it was something different
-I'd never heard, and that... -Thanks for reading my book.
-(laughter) -"In the last..."
You say, "in the last few years,
"I've become an icon for curvy women,
"an example of how to be big and beautiful.
"In 2016, I was named Glamour Woman of the Year
"for being a body activist.
"In 2015, I was called on to be a true expert in my field
"when I gave my very first TEDx Talk,
'Plus-Size? More Like My Size.'"
That's an interesting title, because people wrestle with that
quite a bit-- they go like, "Is it 'plus-size,'
"is it 'curvy,' is it..."
Like, "What are people supposed to be saying?"
But I love that you said "my size."
Right. Because people have always put a label on me,
and that label has always been "plus-size."
But if you look at the average-size American woman,
-she is a size 14. -Right.
So why are we categorizing women
because of the number and size of their pants?
We don't need to do that. We don't do that to men.
-So... -Fortunately, yes.
(laughter)
I don't even want to ask you what your name would be?
I'm just saying I have some junk, that's all I'm saying.
-(laughter) -You've heard it here first, people.
-(laughter) -So-so...
Okay, so, I... yes, I thought it was very important
to talk about how I don't want to be labeled
because of the number on the side of my pants,
-you shouldn't, either. -Right.
When you look at the labeling
and when you look at the stigma that comes with it,
how would you respond to somebody that says,
"But, then, Ashley, why not just get out of modeling?
"Why go into an industry that's going to make it hard for you
-to be yourself?" -Well, I didn't...
I didn't go seek modeling; modeling found me.
And it was really interesting, I was in a mall in Nebraska,
12 years old, and it just kind of started to happen,
and it stuck, and it was something that made me feel like
I had, like, something tangible,
like I knew that this was something that I wanted to do.
I just didn't know how successful I was going to be.
And I didn't get into modeling
to feel pretty, get rich, or get famous.
I got into modeling because basketball, soccer,
and volleyball didn't really work out in high school.
So, um, but I always tell young girls,
if you think any of those things are gonna happen to you,
they're not, because fame is sheer luck.
You could make a lot of money and then spend it all,
and then buh-bye, because nobody teaches you any of that.
And if you think that it's gonna make you feel pretty,
it's only gonna make you feel worse.
So, yeah, people ask me why did I just not give up?
Because I was raised to finish what you start.
And the moment that I actually heard the first young girl
come up to me and say, "You changed my life.
"You changed my life by posting a photo of yourself
without airbrushing your cellulite in a bikini."
I was like, "People care about that?"
I had no idea.
I mean, I knew that people knew that I had confidence,
and that it was, it was contagious, in a way,
but to be able to talk to millions of people
and say, "Your cellulite, your back fat,
"the cellulite on your arms, it doesn't matter. Who cares?
"Don't let society change your view of who you are.
You have to be true to yourself."
That kept me going.
(cheering and applause)
Let me ask you this.
Like, I know that, like, I-I haven't been immune to it,
uh, immune to it in my life.
Many guys have also had our perceptions
of women shaped by what we've seen,
what we've grown up seeing, you know?
Um, whether it's making jokes about fat women,
whether it's perceiving what a fat woman is,
-or how she should be seen-- -Mm-hmm.
Have you found that your job, or you being a model,
and being a model the way you have been,
has changed the way men perceive beauty as well?
I think that there's been definitely a conversation
that has even just gone beyond what you always heard.
Like, "Oh, men don't like women without meat and bones."
And it's like, but I think that men
all have different types and tastes,
and it's not really about what they like,
'cause who cares what men like? It's about how you feel.
-Right? Right? -Right.
So, (laughs) just saying.
So I've always been told I have to look good for a man,
'cause that's just how I was raised
in a very small town kind of mentality.
And the moment that I let all of that go
and I said, "Well, I don't care."
And it's not really gonna be about this,
and it's gonna be about this,
my sexy fine husband came into the picture
and saw, saw me for me, you know?
And I think that that's-that's what women have to understand is
it's not about looking good for a man,
it's not about fitting into a stereotype for a guy,
it's really about being true to who you are.
One last, um, passage from the book
that, um, really got to me was a beautiful one.
You said, "I owe a special debt of gratitude
"toward women of color, for whom by body type
"as a standard of beauty is not unique.
"For many black and brown people,
curves have long been desirable."
Why was that important for you to include in the book?
Well, I have recognized over and over and over again, that,
first of all, I'm not the first plus-size, curvy, curv--
-I mean, whatever you want to call me-- -Right.
uh, model, to make it, or to be on the cover of any magazine.
But I am the first one to have-- I do have firsts, yes--
but women of color, for centuries,
have had my body type, and now, all of a sudden, it's like,
"Eureka! A white woman with curves. (gasps)
"Let's put her on a pedestal and see what she has to say
about feeling good in her skin."
Well, when all of these women of color have felt just gorgeous
in their skin and they've been praised for being curvy.
And I wanted to make it very clear, I'm not trying
to take anybody and-and say, "Well, you know,
"this is my body and I love it.
-"Um, and it's the new kind of body, -Right, right.
-and the new kind of sexy, 'cause that's not it. -Right.
-This, this... -It's been a sexy.
It's been a sexy for centuries,
and I wanted to let those women know, like,
"I see you. I respect you.
And thank you for paving the way for me."
-Thank you so much for being on the show. -Thank you.
-Wonderful to finally have you here. -Yeah.
The new season of American's Next Top Model
premieres January 9 at 8:00 p.m. on VH1.
And the book, A New Model, is available now.
Ashley Graham, everybody.