Tyra Banks has denied reports that she was overheard saying that Britney Spears should "kill herself."

According to a ‘shocked’ onlooker, the talk show host announced that Britney should follow in the footsteps of Marilyn Monroe and end her life by taking a drugs overdose.

The source said: "Tyra was saying, really loudly, 'Britney should just go ahead and kill herself after the album and go out like Marilyn, very grand. She should have done it after the last album.'

"It was terrible, nobody could believe she was saying it, let alone saying it without caring who heard!"

A representative for the America's Next Top Model host denied the claims, saying: "This is absolutely not true."