Tyra Banks explains alter ego Santa Smize following bizarre performance in Australia 

A December 9, 2025, Daily Mail report stated that Tyra Banks caught fans off guard when she dropped by a Sydney pub without warning. She spent about half an hour at The Beresford in Surry Hills, taking on DJ duties as her newly invented persona, Santa SMiZE. Wearing a striking yellow wig and long gloves, Tyra Banks used the appearance to spotlight her Christmas song, which follows an ice-cream maker from the South Pole who ends up in a holiday clash with Santa. She kicked off the performance by singing,

“Ho ho ho is my cookie dough dough dough, we're gonna sing Santa Smize so here we go! Santa smize, Santa smize,” she said.

Then, on December 11, the outlet ran another report noting that Tyra Banks had finally spoken about the odd cameo. During her SMiZE & DREAM gathering in New York City, she said the character emerged from her efforts to introduce “hot ice cream,” a product designed to keep customers buying even in cold months.

“I just said that I am Santa SMiZE. She had a Southern accent and people were like, ‘Tyra's lost her mind.’ What they didn't realize was she's specifically there to bring awareness to ice cream in the winter,” Banks explained.

“And now Santa SMiZE is Tyra's rival,” she added.

Expanding on that rivalry, she explained,

“Tyra's team hot ice cream. Santa SMiZE is team cold ice cream.”

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Why Tyra Banks chose Sydney as the home for her SMiZE & DREAM empire:

Tyra Banks’ creation of her Santa SMiZE alter ego followed the opening of her SMiZE & DREAM ice cream store in central Sydney back in June. In a conversation with Daily Mail Australia, the supermodel-turned-entrepreneur said her attachment to the city predated the storefront's existence. She explained that she had been flying in regularly for more than a year while producing ice cream for a cruise line client, and somewhere in the routine, the place won her over.

"I was coming for about a year and a half and just fell in love with it, and I said, should we make this move? And here we are," she shared.

Tyra Banks noted that Sydney’s calm energy and close-knit feel played a major role in her decision to plant her business there. One area, in particular, held her attention.

"I love Darling Harbour because of this park. Tumbalong Park is magical," she said,

She added that her family spent weekends there even before the shop opened. Adding that friends from much farther out made similar pilgrimages.

"I have friends that live an hour and a half away and on the weekends they drive here just to go to the water and put their feet in with the kids."

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Tyra Banks opens up on nerves, nostalgia and the holiday chaos behind “Santa SMiZE”:

A December 8, 2025, report from Rolling Stone noted that “Santa SMiZE” marked Tyra Banks’ first official musical release since 2004’s “Shake Ya Body,” the track that premiered during the second season of America’s Next Top Model before becoming a club favourite. Returning to the studio after more than two decades, Banks said the experience felt far less intimidating this time.

“Back then, I was so nervous, paralyzed nervous, people were behind the glass looking at me. They probably were not judging me, but my brain was screaming, ‘They hate you. They hate your voice. They hate everything.’ Now, I am completely different. I know my strengths, I know my limits, and I just wanted a holiday moment that fixed a craving,” she recalled.

When Rolling Stone asked what inspired “Santa SMiZE,” Tyra Banks offered a detailed explanation

“I love Christmas songs, and I was craving something that felt like a real, energetic family holiday party. I also realized I have never heard a holiday song that name checks family members in this way. I wanted people at holiday parties to wait for their family role to pop up and then shake their thing like, ‘Oh my goodness, Uncle Joe is doin’ too much’,” she said.

She added that the song also touched on desserts from around the world.

“And then there is the global dessert breakdown. I have traveled my entire career, and I did not want to just shout out the obvious desserts everyone knows. I wanted to honor the ones that make someone stop in their tracks and say, ‘Wait… Santa SMiZE! She’s talking about my childhood dessert? She sees me',” Banks explained.

In the end, Banks’ return to music, her oddball Santa SMiZE persona, and her growing connection to Sydney all pointed to the same thing: she had entered a phase where she followed her instincts.

Whether she was DJ’ing in a pub, shouting out childhood desserts, or building a business half a world away from home, she seemed entirely comfortable steering her own unpredictable holiday ride. And for fans watching from afar, that confidence might have been the real surprise of the season.