America’s Next Top Model star reveals he was in coma for five weeks after stroke

EntertainmentLifestyle
17 Feb 2026 • 11:28 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

image is not available

  • America's Next Top Model runway coach Miss J Alexander revealed he suffered a stroke in December 2022, which left him in a coma for five weeks and temporarily unable to walk or talk.
  • Alexander stated that while former co-stars Jay Manuel and Nigel Barker visited him in hospital, Tyra Banks, the show's creator and host, did not, although she did text him about wanting to visit.
  • Despite his health ordeal, Alexander, 67, expressed his determination to fully recover and walk again, lamenting that he misses 'being the queen of the runway'.
  • The revelations were made during the Netflix series Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, where Alexander reunited with Barker and Manuel, who expressed shock at his initial condition and marvelled at his recovery.
  • Separately in the documentary, Tyra Banks reflected on her infamous on-air clash with contestant Tiffany Richardson, admitting she 'lost it' and 'went too far' during the confrontation.

IN FULL