The America’s Next Top Model tea has been spilled!
Netflix has released a new docuseries called Reality Checked: Inside America’s Next Top Model on Monday about the popular competition show, which aired from 2003 to 2018, where Tyra Banks, along with some familiar faces, addressed the controversial photo shoots, on-set mistreatment, and more.
Related: Adrianne Curry Responds To ANTM Tyra Banks Doc Drama!
But some of the biggest bombshells in the documentary? What happened with Jay Manuel, Nigel Barker, and Miss J. Alexander! Ch-ch-check out all the details (below)…
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Tyra’s Falling Out With Jay
Fans know that Tyra and Jay were super close back in the day. As mentioned in the documentary, he began his career as a makeup artist working with many celebrities, including Tyra. When the supermodel started ANTM, she brought in Jay as the creative director to produce the photo shoots the aspiring models took part in each week. They quickly formed a friendship and hung out together outside of the show.
But after Season 8, Jay shared that he realized he needed to quit the show:
“There was a time when the creative of the show started to shift. We were supposed to be showing the behind the scenes of what the fashion world was — helping change the industry. But the show had evolved in a way I had never expected.”
The television personality “really struggled over some of the things” that went down on ANTM, including the photo shoot ideas like the “race swapping” one, which happened in not one but two cycles! Ick! Jay felt the show was “slowly depleting” him and “chipping away at [his] soul” because the “version” of him on the camera was “not really” him. He added:
“Tyra would always reinforce, ‘We need to keep it entertaining. We need to keep people watching.’ Of course there were gob smack moments where you watch, and you’re like, ‘Oof.’ But it was certainly not my place to tell them.”
So, Jay decided to quit after Season 8:
“Tyra and I weren’t the traditional work relationship when you work in such close proximity and are traveling together. I was afraid of saying the wrong thing. And I definitely did not want to make her upset. I tortured myself over the decision. It did not come lightly. I didn’t discuss it with anyone.”
Because the pair were such good friends, he wanted to tell Tyra he was leaving first:
“I knew that I had to tell her first. So I sent her the email just expressing the utter gratitude for this opportunity and to be able to help her realize I was trying to move on in my own life and career.”
However, Jay didn’t hear back from Tyra right away. She apparently “didn’t respond” for three days before only writing back:
“I am disappointed.”
Yeesh!
Following that email, Jay revealed “all communication just stopped” between them! Viewers know that Jay didn’t leave after Season 9. He actually continued with the show for nine more cycles before getting fired. So, what changed his mind to stay? It turns out he was then pressured into returning for at least one more season! Jay claimed:
“There was a warning that strikes the fear of God in you. People talk about being blacklisted. Those words were not used but I had suspected that that’s what it would turn into.”
OMG!
And because Jay wasn’t on good terms at that point, he had no one to talk to about the situation:
“I didn’t know who to talk to because the person I would always talk to was Tyra. I thought I could fix that.”
Jay ultimately didn’t leave the show, as we mentioned. His relationship with Tyra also didn’t improve from there. Before returning to filming for Season 9, Jay said he hadn’t “spoken” to the host. She even refused to acknowledge him on set unless the cameras were on:
“I was extremely nervous. I just wanted to [talk to her] real quick [before we started filming]. That was the first time I really realized there was a real problem. She wouldn’t speak with me. On camera, we learned to play and laugh but it was just clear that I was not allowed to speak with her outside of that.”
All because he wanted to leave? That’s pretty cold!
Jay recalled his time on set from that point was “psychological torture,” adding:
“After that first day, I thought there is absolutely no way I’m gonna survive the cycle. I just felt broken.”
If you hoped to get more answers from Tyra about the silent treatment, don’t bet on it! When producers asked her about the falling out with Jay, she wouldn’t say anything except for:
“I prefer … I should call Jay. I don’t want to do this here. But he’s a special man.”
Nothing else? Really? What’s the point of doing the doc if she’s not going to address all the important matters? Jay said that his job “changed” as time went on, explaining:
“I no longer was producing creative. The only thing I was responsible for producing per my contract is the final runway. I was now just on camera talent. I started really paying attention to what was starting to happen behind the scenes. That is where I started to learn the art of storytelling.”
He soon discovered the show wasn’t as authentic as it seemed:
“If there were certain girls that were not performing well on a shoot, I would sometimes be pulled aside and say, ‘OK, with this person we have this story. We need them to go forward at least a couple more episodes.’ Because if the photos are just crappy, it’ll become hard to say, ‘This person deserves to stay in the competition.’”
We wonder which contestants he’s talking about…
The Shady Firing
By 2012, ANTM made some changes once the network head switched. Tyra was on a phone call that year with the network and was told to fire Jay, Miss J, and Nigel due to low ratings. Jay recalled:
“I remember them saying, ‘We’ve decided we’re gonna go in a completely different direction.’ It was like being slapped across the face and slapped right back. [They compared it to] cutting the fat off the show that was bringing the ratings down. When I wanted to leave, I wasn’t afforded that. And then I work on the shows from cycles 10 through 18. I made so many concessions. That’s the part that’s the most hurtful.”
The situation only worsened when news of the firings leaked in the media. According to Jay, the original plan was to release a joint statement:
“We were going to put out one joint press release, and they said we would all get a quote in this press release. We see it all the time in television shows, people saying, ‘So and so and so and so have decided to part ways.’ And Tyra, she’s like, ‘We’ll put out in our press release how we’re going to continue to work together.’ So we agreed to that.”
However, everything changed when the news got out early. Since the trio was robbed of getting to “move forward in their career with grace,” they decided to appear in an interview and expose how they felt “blindsided” by the decision. Jay shared:
“We had to speak very carefully, contractually at the time. There are only certain things you could speak about around the production and what you legally could say.”
For her part, Tyra insisted that firing Jay, Miss J, and Nigel was the “hardest” thing she has ever had to do in her career:
“It was probably some of the hardest news I have ever had to deliver, in my existence. I cried myself to sleep that night. You know? They were there from the beginning. They were some of the closest people to me in my life and I had to deliver that news that the deal is up and that it’s over. You can imagine what that feels like.”
She also insisted she did NOT decide to fire them:
“Bosses have bosses, and the big boss was very clear — there are no sacred cows. And I heard that meaning, ‘You too, Tyra. So pick up the phone and do what I’m telling you to do.’ And the thing is, I don’t believe that they knew that it came from above. No matter how much I was explaining, ‘This was not our decision.’ To this day, I think they think that it was me.”
Perhaps a phone call to clear the air would solve the issue…
Where Jay & Tyra Stand
But guess what? Tyra and Jay still haven’t talked about everything that went down! He told People she hasn’t called him nearly a year after filming the documentary:
“I never got that phone call. I don’t think I’m getting a phone call. She’s got my number.”
Something tells us that call is never coming! Oof!
Miss J’s Scary Health Crisis
Unfortunately, life after ANTM hasn’t been kind to Miss J. Elsewhere in the documentary series, the runway diva extraordinaire revealed he suffered a stroke four years ago that left him unable to walk! Oh no! He said:
“On December 27th of 2022, I had a stroke. I woke up. I didn’t know where I was other than in the hospital. 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. It was emotional. I cried. I am not ashamed to say that I cried.”
Miss J was known for being the best at strutting down the catwalk, so to end up unable to even take one single step forward? We can’t imagine how hard that must have been!
While in the hospital, Jay and Nigel stayed by his bedside. The fashion photographer recalled the visit:
“When he saw me, he was happy to see me and the two of us cried together and I held him. I don’t know whether he even wanted me to see him in that way. I was going to go see him. And that was just such a terrible shock and really upsetting and horrifying and scary.”
Jay just remembered feeling “how upset” Miss J was, adding:
“I can only imagine where he was in his mind.”
So sad…
However, Nigel expressed that Miss J has made a ton of progress in his health journey:
“You are batting through. When we first saw you in that hospital, you could hardly move, hardly talk. Now you’re sitting up doing an interview, chatting, talking, rolling your eyes and making us laugh.”
Miss J is also determined to continue to get better… and walk again:
“I miss being the queen of the runway. The catwalks, of course. I’m the person who taught models how to walk. And now I can’t walk…Not yet. I’m determined to walk. I’m sure you’re gonna see me again, I’m sure. It’s not over for me yet.”
We’re keeping our fingers crossed! Hopefully, it’ll happen one day!
How Tyra Reacted
We know that Jay and Nigel supported Miss J in the hospital. But what about Tyra? How did she react to his health crisis? Well, Miss J revealed he hasn’t really heard from Tyra since the stroke! He said he received a text message from the former talk show host stating that she wanted to visit him, but added:
“No, not yet.”
Wow…
Nigel’s Thoughts On Tyra
As for Nigel? He is calling out Tyra for her behavior on the show! He told the Mirror US on Wednesday that he believes she “came from a good place” when starting ANTM:
“It didn’t necessarily come from a place of pure greed or anger. It came from a place of wanting to open the market up to people and show them what was possible.”
However, Nigel feels “things went too far.” Between the race-swapping photo shoots, filming a sexual assault on camera, body shaming the models, and more, yeah, we would say the show definitely went waaaay too far. And despite what some may think, Nigel insisted Tyra was exactly the same on and off camera – which is what he thinks made the show so successful:
“If you hire people to act or perform, you immediately have a disingenuous, unauthentic show because we’re not trained actors. Tyra didn’t cast a bunch of celebrities to be on America’s Next Top Model. She cast a bunch of friends and regular people who worked in the fashion industry.”
Where They Stand
Despite the firing drama, however, Nigel and Tyra are on friendly terms with each other. Nigel shared that they just don’t see each other often:
“We have had lunch and done other things together since we left, but we’re both very busy people with lots of things going on. I live on the East Coast, and she lives on the West Coast or in Australia.”
At least Tyra managed to keep one friendship following ANTM…
What are your reactions, Perezcious readers? What shocked you most from the documentary? Tell us in the comments (below)!
[Image via Netflix/YouTube]
