Reality TV Icon Reveals He Spent 5 Weeks in a Coma After Suffering Stroke

Miss J Alexander is opening up about his recovery four years after suffering a stroke that left him in a coma for five weeks.

The America’s Next Top Model star, who appeared on Tyra Banks’ iconic reality competition show for 18 cycles until 2012, looked back on his health scare during Netflix’s new docuseries Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.

“On Dec. 27 of 2022, I had a stroke,” he revealed during the series’ third episode. “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,” he continued. “I am not ashamed to say that I cried.”

Alexander’s ANTM colleagues Nigel Barker and Jay Manuel were both there to support him during his recovery, with Barker recalling, “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,” the former ANTM judge and photographer continued. “I was going to go see him. And that was just such a terrible shock and really upsetting and horrifying and scary.”

Manuel recalled feeling how distressed Alexander was during their visit, reflecting, “I can only imagine where he was in his mind.”

As the trio reunited for the docuseries, Barker revealed just how far Alexander has come in his recovery, telling him, “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.”

Asked if Banks had reached out after his stroke, Alexander said he had received a text from her, but that the supermodel had “not yet” visited.

Four years out from the devastating health scare, Alexander said he’s feeling “determined” to return to his role as “queen of the runway.”

“I’m the person who taught models how to walk. And now I can’t walk. Not yet,” he said. “I’m determined to walk. I’m sure you’re gonna see me again, I’m sure. It’s not over for me yet.”

All three episodes of Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model are streaming now on Netflix.