Tyra Banks opens with the loss of his home in Los Angeles.
The 51-year-old model, revealed Monday January 20 during an Australian morning show Sunrise that she is one of the celebrities whose house burned down devastating forest fires which began on January 7.
Banks said she and her businessman partner Louis Bélanger-Martinlearned the sad news while in Australia, where she splits her time when not in the United States.
“I lost my house”, the former America’s Next Top Model shared host. “I haven’t really talked about it, but yeah, I’ve talked about it. I just didn’t want to draw a lot of attention to myself. I feel like there are a lot of people who need this attention so I haven’t really talked about it, but I can’t sit here and not tell the truth, yeah we lost our house.
As wildfires continue to spread across the Los Angeles area, several celebrities are taking to social media to share how they have been affected. “Evacuated and safe with children, dogs and cats. I am praying and grateful to the first responders,” Mandy Moore wrote in an Instagram Story statement on Wednesday, January 8. In a follow-up post, she (…)
Banks continued: “We were here at a friend’s house and we were partying and having fun. I kept checking my phone, not for my house, but for my friends and family, making sure they were evacuating and everything. And then I asked my partner, I was like, “I see something here, what do you think?” and he (nodded). And I just put it together and I didn’t tell my friends and I stayed in that moment and then we went home and we cried and we had our moment.
Banks noted that she and Bélanger-Martin split their time between Australia and New York, so most of her belongings are safe. “A lot of those memories are here and in New York, so I haven’t lost them, thank God,” she said. “There are memories that we have lost… it’s hard.”
Fueled by powerful Santa Ana wind gusts and drought, the wildfires have decimated thousands of homes, displaced Los Angeles residents and killed at least 25 people. According to the Associated Pressthe fires burned across 63 square miles of land.
Stars including Spencer Pratt And Heidi Monday, Paris Hilton And Billy Crystal also lost their homes in the fires.
Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic; Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images Many reality TV personalities have evacuated Los Angeles amid wildfires that broke out in the Pacific Palisades on Tuesday, January 7. “My heart goes out to those affected by the fires here in Los Angeles County,” former Bachelorette Katie Thurston wrote. via Instagram Story on Wednesday, January 8. “Waking up this (…)
“I didn’t know what to do,” Montag said Us every week on Wednesday, January 15, referring to the moment she realized she and her family had to flee the out-of-control fire ravaging the Pacific Palisades. “Nothing could have prepared me for this… You just can’t understand this.” I started packing things that had meaning – I didn’t really think about anything else.
Montag revealed that, in a panic, her priority when packing up their lives was “the kids’ stuff.” (THE Hills (former and Pratt share children Gunnar, 7, and Ryker, 2.)
“I don’t have any pictures,” Montag said. “I have all these photo albums that I made for Spencer before there was Instagram, TikTok and iPhone. These photos (that) I will never have again. All those sentimental things are gone, you know?
Check the LAFD website for local forest fire alerts and Click here for resources on how to help those affected.