Andy DehnartThere may be changes coming once again to the judging panel on America’s Next Top Model: The CW has denied a report that says first-season judge Kimora Lee Simmons will return to become the new, permanent judge on Top Model 14. That report also suggests Miss Jay will no longer be a judge, but instead just coach runway.
Citing “on-set sources,” The New York Daily News reports that the show, “which is experiencing the lowest ratings of its 13 seasons[,] will get a helping hand from none other than Banks’ on-again, off-again frenemy, Kimora Lee Simmons, who Tyra has recruited to serve as a judge next season. Apparently, the divas have remained friends despite rumors that Kimora was fired after her appearance on the show’s first season.”
However, a CW spokesperson said that was “not true.”
The paper also says that Miss Jay, who revealed on Tyra’s talk show Tuesday that he has a seven-year-old son with his ex-boyfriend, will be replaced, too, as “J. Alexander is getting bounced back to his original role as runway coach and will be replaced by Vogue editor at large Andre Leon Talley.”
This season, guest judges have filled the chair left empty after Paulina Porizkova was fired, and Tyra has comically refused to discuss her relationship with past judges.