Tyra Banks dons fat suit to understand obesity

‘It seemed like the last form of open discrimination that’s OK,’ she laments

Mike Rozman / AP

Heidi Klum, left, dances with talk show host and model Tyra Banks while taping the "Secrets of the Supermodels," episode of "The Tyra Banks Show," on Oct. 20.

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updated 4:36 p.m. ET Nov. 2, 2005

LOS ANGELES - Tyra Banks has gone undercover as a 350-pound woman.

Banks wore the fat suit to experience what it’s like to be obese.

“It seemed like the last form of open discrimination that’s OK, and I decided to put on a 350-pound suit myself and live that life for a day and see what happens,” the 31-year-old former supermodel told AP Radio in a recent interview. “And it was one of the most heartbreaking days of my life.”

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Banks said she was shocked at the reaction.

“I started walking down the street and within 10 seconds, a trio of people looked at me, snickered, looked me right in my eye and started pointing and laughing in my face,” the talk-show host said. “And I had no idea it was that blatant.”

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The segment will air Monday on “The Tyra Banks Show.”

Banks, who had a sonogram on her show in September to prove that her breasts are real, is also planning a Nov. 18 segment on pursuing “a beautiful booty.”

She will reveal her own “dimpled butt” and receive endermologie treatment on the set.