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.
