J. Alexander Says Fellow “ANTM” Judge Tyra Banks Has Not Visited Him Since His 2022 Stroke

NEED TO KNOW

• J. Alexander was known as the runway coach and posing expert on America’s Next Top Model

• In the new docuseries, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, Alexander opens up about having a stroke in late 2022

• Alexander’s fellow panelists have rallied around him during his recovery, though he notes Tyra Banks has yet to visit

J. Alexander has had a difficult journey since the end of his time on America’s Next Top Model.

Appearing in Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, the runway coach, 67, opens up about health problems he has faced since his 2012 exit from the show.

“I was asking, for 15 years, ‘How do I maintain my icon status?’ Very simple — be me and be authentic. I’ve always been authentic. But then, everything changed.”

Alexander reveals in the docuseries that after spending a decade continuing to work in fashion and media, he had a stroke in Dec. 2022.

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“I woke up. I didn’t know where I was. I was in the hospital. I spent five weeks in a coma,” Alexander shares.

“I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t talk. And I thought to myself, what was I going to do if, in fact, I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t speak. It was emotional. I cried. I’m not ashamed to say I cried.”

Alexander was comforted when, while in the hospital, Jay Manuel and Nigel Barker came to visit.

“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. “And that was just such a terrible shock and really upsetting and horrifying and scary.”

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

“When he saw me, he was happy to see me and the two of us cried together, and I held him,” Barker shared.

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

The three enjoy a short on-camera reunion during the documentary, where they expressed their happiness to see the strides Alexander has made in his recovery. He shared, “I’m glad we are together.”

“I miss being the queen of the runway. The catwalks, of course. I’m the person who taught models how to walk. I taught models how to walk, and then I can’t walk, not yet. Not yet. I’m determined to walk. You’re going to see me again, I’m sure. There’s hope for me yet.”

Asked if Tyra Banks has visited him since the stroke, Alexander shared, “No, not yet. She just sent me a text, she wants to come to visit me. But no, not yet.”

PEOPLE has reached out to Banks for additional comment.

Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model is streaming now on Netflix.

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