“America’s Next Top Model” runway coach Miss J. Alexander has revealed she is unable to walk after suffering a severe stroke and being hospitalized and in a coma for several weeks.
“I had a stroke on December 27, 2022,” he said on the third episode of Netflix’s “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model,” released Monday.
“I woke up. I didn’t know where I was except in the hospital. I spent five weeks in a coma and couldn’t walk. And I couldn’t talk. And I thought, what am I going to do? I couldn’t walk or talk.”
The 67-year-old famous runway coach further elaborated on the “emotional” experience, saying, “I cried. I’m not ashamed to say I cried.”
During his stay in hospital, Alexander was visited by former co-stars Jay Manual and Nigel Barker.
“When he saw me, he was happy and we both cried and I hugged him,” Barker said.
The photographer further added, “I don’t know if he wanted me to see him like that. I was going to go see him and it was a really bad shock and really upsetting and scary and scary.”
Manuel recalled the visit “how upset” Alexander was, adding: “I can only imagine what he was thinking in his mind.”
When the companions reunite in the next scene, Barker acknowledges how Alexander is “struggling” with his healing process and expresses support for him.
“When we first saw you in that hospital, you could hardly move, you could hardly speak. Now you sit and do interviews, chat, talk, roll your eyes and make us laugh.”
When asked if he received a visit from ANTM host Tyra Banks, who once coached him to walk the runway, Alexander said, “No, not yet.”
However, he shared that the “Large-to-Life” actress contacted him via text message and asked to meet him.
Alexander went on to reflect on the changes she’s experienced since her health scare, saying she misses “being the queen of the runway.”
“Of course, the catwalk. I was the one who taught the models how to walk, and now they can’t walk…yet,” he concluded optimistically.
