Tyra Banks has hailed Oprah Winfrey a “wise sage”.

The 49-year-old model has always looked up to the media mogul and hopes her own influence on the younger generation can prove to be as powerful as the 69-year-old star’s has been on hers.

She gushed to Britain’s HELLO! magazine: “Oprah Winfrey has been my power woman for a long time.

“I find her to be a wise sage – she just happens to exist on Earth, but I feel as though she’s from a whole other place.

“What she means to the world and what she brings to the world, and to me personally, is something I treasure.

“One day I hope to be able to be a sage to a younger generation, as Oprah is to mine.”

The ‘America’s Next Top Model’ star is “obsessed” with trying new things in her career and doesn’t worry about taking risks because she has so much “passion” for her work.

She said: “I’m obsessed with pivoting. I’m obsessed with risk. I have no problem being first.

“I think that curiosity and that tunnel vision fuel the entrepreneur in me.

“Yes I had a very successful fashion career but my mom always said, ‘What’s next? Think about the next thing. What’s your pivot? And not a pivot on the runway but a pivot in life.’

“Right now, ice cream makes me get up every single day – no just to eat it, but also to grow and run my SMiZE + Dream company.

“It’s been a passion of mine and I think that passion naturally sustains relevance.

“I choose to be led by my passion, and being a businessperson and working on something that will outlive me.

“So, it’s not about being hot today – it’s how do you sustain and not be a trend or a fad, but something truly iconic.”