BOSSIP has learned that Andre Leon Talley is considering losing some pounds for his TV debut as a judge on “America’s Next Top Model.” He has made a career of helping other people look their best, and as Vogue magazine’s editor at large, has been a front-row fixture at fashion shows in New York, Paris and Milan for almost 30 years.

But sources say Andre was spotted leaving a medical building where he went to receive help in shedding some pounds.

The once-slender fashionisto has always been public about his struggles with weight and even appeared on Oprah in 2005 seeking a weight intervention from his peers, where he explained:

“I started noticing my weight gain around 1995 but I didn’t do much about it.”

In 2003, Andre says his weight spiraled out of control.

“I was traveling a lot, and when you travel, you just don’t focus on your diet or exercise.”

At over 300 pounds, Andre’s fashion designer friends created gorgeous garments to help him camouflage his excessive weight.

“I had long coats made by Karl Lagerfeld, and I describe it as a little teepee tent that you could put a whole Lilliputian family in.”

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From TheCut: Tyra Banks recently revealed that she toned down her look for the next season of America’s Next Top Model, in which André Leon Talley takes a seat on the judge’s panel for the very first time.

“This is the most clean you will ever see me in the history of ‘Top Model.’ I am wearing a chignon every single day. I went back to Yves Saint Laurent 1991, honey. I said, ‘This is André Leon Talley! No earrings, no nothing. Just me and the gahhment.’”

Last night following the Blonds’ fashion show, Jay Manuel explained,

“What she means by toned down is she wasn’t wearing any kind of weave pieces. She’s got her own natural hair. She’s still got a lot — she’s still got her makeup on and she’s still Tyra. But it’s kind of more that French sophistication as opposed to that kind of Tyra-fied look.”

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He also spoke on the new addition to the “Top Model” Team. While they were filming in New Zealand, André would visit showrooms of young designers and bring him back presents.

“He’d be out there and say, ‘Oh, these glasses are so Jay Manuel, he’s gotta have them.’ And I’d come back and they’d be in my trailer and I’d be like ‘André!’ He really is all-knowing. I mean, he’s super-articulate. He’s phenomenal. But I know with a lot of these fashion people we kind of think they’re snooty, it’s an elitist club, but he really isn’t. He’s a sweet pussycat — he’s not this big roar kind of like following Anna Wintour.”

André Leon Talley has already finished filming the fourteenth season of America’s Next Top Model. He replaces J. Alexander on the judging panel. (Miss J will only be returning to fix the contestants’ busted runway walks.)

From Fashionologie“

Tyra Banks first approached Andre Leon Talley to be on “America’s Next Top Model” eight years ago. “At that point,” he told WWD, “I said no because it was the beginning. I was thinking I wanted to see where it goes.” Fast forward to 2010 and cycle 14 of the show, which premieres March 10 on The CW, with Talley on the judging panel:

“I felt maybe I could contribute something to it that had not been on the show. I just felt that it was a way to step out of the box and associate myself with a very important American success story, a very important brand — Tyra Banks.”

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He’d never watched the show when he said yes, but he had “no hesitations at all,” and has signed on for three cycles. He also has a show wardrobe of 13 custom-made Chado Ralph Rucci capes, varying only in color or fabric.

He also created a catchphrase for the show: “dreckitude,” from one of his “favorite” words, dreck, and “quackitude.” He explained: “‘Dreckitude’ was whipped out when I thought the challenge was not met or if [the contestants] showed up in perhaps an outfit that I just couldn’t wrap my mind around.”

Even Tyra Banks felt intimidated.

“This is the most clean you will ever see me in the history of ‘Top Model,’” she said. “I am wearing a chignon every single day. I went back to Yves Saint Laurent 1991, honey. I said, ‘This is André Leon Talley! No earrings, no nothing. Just me and the gahhment.’”

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