THE | DIET DETECTIVE^®

Am I the only one irritated at the Tyra Banks backlash after she was photographed on an Australian beach in a not-so-flattering swimsuit? The way the tabloids jumped on her, you’d think she was photographed kicking puppies.

Let’s start with the basics: Tyra Banks is 33 years old, 5-foot-10, and weighs around 160 pounds. (Not 200, as some tabs reported.) Plug those numbers into the BMI calculator, and you’ll see she clocks in right in the middle of the “normal” range. So what’s the problem? Well, really, it’s that no one in Hollywood is normal.

That would explain why going public at a healthy weight prompted clever fat puns like “ America ’s Next Top Waddle.” And Perez Hilton, a blogger who could spend a little more time on the treadmill himself, ranted that Tyra had shown the world “why she is now retired from the runway.” I'm not seeing it.

Three weeks after the pictures were taken, Tyra sported the same swimsuit on her show and proceeded to flip out. “I look at this picture and I think it is curvy, I think it is hot, I think it is sexy….the booty’s looking a little thick, but I still think it’s sexy,” she said. She then counted the dimples of cellulite on her thighs (ten, to be exact) and added, “If I had lower self-esteem, I would probably be starving myself right now. And that is exactly what is happening to women all over this country.”

Now she’s getting flack for that—bloggers and forum-dwellers are snickering that she’s just mad that a bad photo of herself surfaced. What do you think? Is it really so awful to look like this?