COVER STORY...

Tyra Banks looks fierce on the cover of Entertainment Weekly's February 2008 issue. EW Reports- The statuesque beauty holding court in front of her studio audience on a recent January morning in New York City is ready for anything. And that's good, because Tyra Banks' fans do not hold back. Demands one woman, ''Is it true you moved your show to New York for a man?'' Banks, styled in a formfitting white dress, breezily rejects the claim that the relocation of her eponymous talk show — and her hit reality show, America's Next Top Model — has anything to do with her love life. The young crowd is primed with energy; hands shoot up and down like the critters in a Whac-a-Mole booth. To them, Banks isn't some inaccessible celebrity — she's their girlfriend, their incredibly cool older sister, their BFF. A pale brunette stands and asks, ''Can I get a hug?'' Banks assents, but not without commanding, ''You have to hug me fiercely, though.''