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Miss J Alexander rose to fame as the vibrant catwalk coach on the acclaimed show America’s Next Top Model. With a rich background in high fashion and years of collaborating with top-tier designers and supermodels, Alexander infused the reality series with both theatrical panache and authentic industry expertise. His dynamic personality and candid mentoring style were instrumental in shaping the show’s initial seasons. After the series concluded, Alexander experienced a stroke, a topic he later delved into on Netflix’s Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model. Here’s what you need to know.
Miss J Alexander discussed having a stroke in Netflix’s ‘Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model’
Longtime viewers of America’s Next Top Model will recall Miss J Alexander’s tenure as the cherished runway coach. He initially appeared as a recurring coach from cycles 1 through 4, was elevated to a main judge from cycles 5 to 18, and then returned as a runway coach in cycle 21, before making a guest appearance in cycle 22.
In a poignant segment of the Netflix documentary Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, Alexander candidly shared details about a significant health ordeal he faced at the close of 2022. On December 27, 2022, the iconic runway coach suffered a major stroke that resulted in hospitalization, leaving him unable to walk or speak. He was in a coma for five weeks and awoke with no recollection of the incident. The documentary captures his emotional account of grappling with the loss of functions that were crucial to his identity.
“I didn’t know where I was other than in the hospital,” Alexander recounted to E! News. “I spent five weeks in a coma, and 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.”
He also expressed that the ordeal was deeply emotional, admitting to shedding tears over the challenging health journey.
Now, Alexander says he’s “determined to walk” again. “I miss being the queen of the runway,” he said. “The catwalks, of course. I’m the person who taught models how to walk. And now I can’t walk…. Not yet.” He added that he knows it’s “not over” for him just yet, as he expects to return to the runway someday.
The catwalk coach said Tyra Banks hadn’t visited him since the stroke
While speaking on Reality Check, Miss J Alexander admitted that Tyra Banks had not visited him since his stroke.
“No, not yet,” he said when asked in the docuseries. “She just sent me a text; she wants to come to visit me. But no, not yet.”
However, America’s Next Top Model alumni Nigel Barker and Jay Manuel showed up in the hospital for Alexander. In response, the runway coach said he “cried” from missing them.
Barker, a photographer and judge, described a funny and sweet moment with Alexander after the stroke. “He was completely paralyzed, and lying there, and only half of his face could move, and one eye,” Barker recalled. “And I said something to him. I’m like, ‘Oh, good. You can’t move. That means that I can really take advantage of you now.’ And he looked at me with his one eye, and he opened it. And he rolled his one eye. I’m like, ‘OK, you’re still there.’ If you’re able to still roll that one eye of yours, I’m like, we’re going to get you back. There’s no stopping Miss J.”
Fans have a lot of love for Miss J Alexander, even with ‘America’s Next Top Model’ in the rearview
America’s Next Top Model fans are seeing the series in a new light thanks to Reality Check. While problematic aspects of the series have come to the forefront, fans still love Miss J Alexander. Many fans on Reddit noted how Alexander genuinely wanted to help the models on the show succeed.
“Always served. Always fair. And an actual mentor with good advice to help girls improve,” one Reddit user commented. “Miss J is the model of what a reality TV contest judge should be.”
Several other fans didn’t find it odd that Tyra Banks didn’t visit Alexander in the hospital following the stroke.
“Personally, I wouldn’t want the boss who fired me seven/eight years earlier showing up at my bedside (in hospital or at home) while I recovered from a major stroke,” another Reddit user noted. “Unless we had somehow managed to stay in touch and had a ‘visit’ kind of relationship already, that would feel awkward and invasive to me.”
“He doesn’t seem sore about it, or at least isn’t trying to create a media thing over it,” another fan pointed out regarding the coach’s relationship with Banks.