Tyra Banks will take on a recurring role as a panelist for the upcoming 22nd season of the fashion competition series “Project Runway.” The announcement came via a promotional trailer ahead of the season premiere scheduled for July 9 on Freeform, with subsequent streaming availability on Hulu and Disney+.

Banks, known as the creator of “America’s Next Top Model,” joins a permanent panel consisting of supermodel Heidi Klum, fashion critic Nina Garcia, and image architect Law Roach, alongside regular mentor Christian Siriano. She previously appeared as a guest judge during Season 21, but her involvement will be expanded for the new installment.

The new season will feature 22 contestants, the largest designer lineup in the franchise’s history, competing for a chance to advance their careers in fashion. The trailer (seen HERE) highlights Banks’ energetic presence on the judging panel and previews interactions with fellow judges as designers face a series of creative challenges.

Season 22 will also welcome a wide range of celebrity guest judges, including Ciara, Ice Spice, Iman, Niecy Nash, Nina Dobrev, Sergio Hudson, Willy Chavarria and Winnie Harlow. The contestant lineup includes returning designer Joseph McRae, former Miss Universe R’Bonney Gabriel and several designers with established reputations in fashion and entertainment.

The announcement of Banks’ involvement comes amid public legal disputes involving her and her former production properties. Banks recently initiated a civil defamation lawsuit against Netflix and EverWonder Studio concerning the production of the documentary series “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.” In her formal legal filings, Banks alleges the production utilized deceptive editing techniques to establish a “false and defamatory” representation of her historical behavior, asserting that directors utilized only 16 minutes of a comprehensive three-and-a-half-hour interview to create a misleading narrative.

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