The weak state of the economy – not an off-screen catfight with host Tyra Banks – led to Paulina Porizkova’s birthday dismissal from America’s Next Top Model, the show’s executive producer told PEOPLE on Monday.

“I wouldn’t know [what kind of person Tyra is] because all I know of her is literally when we are on set talking to each other in front of the cameras. That is the only time she would speak to me,” Paulina said of her relationship with the Emmy-winning former supermodel, who allegedly fired her on April 9 — her birthday.

While Paulina recently claimed she was dismissed from the reality show after having “a little bit of an issue” with Tyra showing up more than an hour late for every judging, Top Model co-executive producer Ken Mok attributes the change in cast to a change in the economy.

“The current state of the economy has forced shows to make major budget cuts industry wide; and ‘America’s Next Top Model’ is not immune to these financially challenging times,” Mok said in a statement Monday. “We’ve had to make significant cuts in every area of the production and, unfortunately, Paulina was a casualty of these cuts.”

The supermodel made the shocking announcement that she has been fired from Tyra Bank’s ANTM judges panel — on her birthday (April 9) no less -during an appearance on CBS’ Late Late Show.

Tyra won’t be pleased about this little revelation.

“Listen, do you know why I am in Los Angeles?… Because I am looking for a job,” Paulina told host Craig Ferguson. “I was fired by ‘America’s Next Top Model’ on my birthday,” she said.

“The reason I was told I was fired was because, it seemed that ‘America’s Next Top Model’ has gotten too fat and they needed to cut some fat and the fat was me,” Paulina blabbed, bitterly spilling the beans on her impromptu depature.

“So I figured it was either that or my gigantic huge ego, which I wasn’t aware of until I was told by the producers that I have an ego problem,” she later said, adding that Tyra’s people let her go during a conversation over the phone.

Paulina replaced ’60s fashion icon and runway trendsetter Twiggy as a judge on The CW’s fashion reality competition earlier this year. The winner of the current cycle of ANTM will be revealed on Wednesday’s show.