Beloved ‘ANTM’ Judge Says Tyra Banks Didn’t Visit After His Medical Emergency

America’s Next Top Model catwalk coach Miss J Alexander revealed that host Tyra Banks, 52, did not visit him after he suffered a debilitating stroke.

Alexander, 67, is best known as the beloved 6-foot-5 runway expert who taught contestants on the fashion-focused competitive reality show to walk with confidence, sophistication, and perfect posture. He appeared on ANTM from 2003 to 2012.

In the new Netflix documentary, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, Alexander said that he suffered a medical emergency after his time on the popular show.

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“On December 27th of 2022, I had a stroke,” he said in the docuseries, which re-examines the show through a current-day lens, including subject matter and storylines that are now considered controversial.

“I woke up. I didn’t know where I was other than in the hospital,” Alexander said, revealing that he spent five weeks in a coma.

He continued, “I couldn’t walk. And I couldn’t talk. And I thought to myself, what was I going to do? I couldn’t walk; I couldn’t speak. It was emotional. I cried. I’m not ashamed to say I cried.”

While in the hospital, Alexander was visited by two of his fellow ANTM figures: English fashion photographer Nigel Barker, 53, and makeup artist Jay Manuel, 53.

“I don’t know whether he even wanted me to see him in that way, but I was going to go see him,” Barker said of the visit. “And that was just such a terrible shock and really upsetting and horrifying and scary.”

“I could feel how upset he was, for sure,” Manuel added, “I can only imagine where he was in his mind.”

The visit was emotional, Barker recalled: “When he saw me, he was happy to see me, and the two of us cried together, and I held him.”

Alexander shared that he was emotional over shared memories.

“I thought back to how we did the show together, and I cried because I just missed them so much,” he said.

Alexander was asked whether Banks had visited him.

“No, not yet,” he replied, adding, “She just sent me a text [that] she wants to come to visit me. But no, not yet.”

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Banks had many controversial moments during the show, including famously yelling at a contestant in what would one day become the show’s most-memed moment. She admitted in the docuseries that she “went too far” at times.

Barker noted that his longtime friend had made dramatic progress since the incident. “When we first saw you in that hospital, you could hardly move, hardly talk,” Barker said to Alexander. “Now you’re sitting up doing an interview, chatting, talking, rolling your eyes, and making us laugh.”

Alexander also spoke about his current condition, saying he missed being “the queen of the runway.”

“I taught models how to walk,” he said. “I can’t walk. Not yet. Not yet. I’m determined to walk. I’m sure you’re gonna see me again. It’s not over for me yet.”