J. Alexander Jenkins was fondly known as “Miss J” throughout his participation in America’s Next Top Model. The runway coach became part of the modelling competition from the very first “cycle” in 2003. Tyra Banks, who created and hosted the show, invited Miss J to join after he aided her in perfecting her runway walk during her teenage years.
Thereafter, Miss J continued to serve as the lead runway coach and later as one of the judges until his exit in 2012. Afterwards, Miss J kept appearing on international versions of America’s Next Top Model, assisting other models with their walking techniques. Get the full information about Miss J from America’s Top Model Now.
Where Is Miss J From America’s Top Model Now?
After departing from America’s Next Top Model, Miss J participated in the global versions of the program and taught at the renowned Savannah College of Art and Design for 15 years. On December 27, 2022, Miss J experienced a stroke and spent five weeks in a coma. He had to relearn his ability to speak, and as of February 2026, he is still struggling to walk.
I was unable to walk, and I was unable to speak, and I pondered, ‘What was I going to do?’ And that I couldn’t walk, and I couldn’t speak. It was emotional. I cried. I’m not ashamed to say that I cried,” he shared emotionally in the documentary. During his year-and-a-half hospitalisation, Miss J received a touching visit from Manuel and Barker.
Who is Miss J?
Miss J, raised in New York City, began his career in the modelling industry after forming a friendship with Monique Pillard, the president of Elite Model Management, who subsequently signed him to her agency. His life took a turn when he realised he had a talent for teaching aspiring models how to walk confidently on the runway.
He met Banks backstage at a show when she was just 16, and he commenced giving her lessons. “I was simply Alexander, Queen of the Catwalk,” he reminisced in Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, later adding, “I emerged from my mother’s womb wearing high heels.”
When Banks started proposing the concept for America’s Next Top Model in the early 2000s, Miss J was “the first person I contacted,” she mentioned in the Netflix documentary. “He was like a godfather, a mother, a diva, and a notable figure,” Banks remarked. “He was the genuine article.”
Are Miss J and Tyra Banks still maintaining their friendship?
Miss J and Banks enjoyed a friendship for many years prior to her inviting him to be the runway walking coach and subsequently a judge on America’s Next Top Model. Throughout their collaboration, they remained close friends.
Nevertheless, the dynamics of Miss J and Banks’ relationship shifted in 2012 when she was informed that the show would be taking a more ‘mature’ approach and that she needed to ‘let go’ of ‘three of my hearts’, Miss J, Manuel, and Barker. ‘For my birthday, Tyra sent me flowers,’ he recounted in the documentary. ‘I thought,
I remarked, ‘Oh, how lovely!’ There was a note that said, ‘Happy birthday, my love, Tyra.’ Then, just five days later, I was let go. While neither Miss J nor Banks specifically addressed their current relationship in the documentary, they still follow each other on Instagram and seem to communicate from time to time.
Following Miss J’s stroke in 2022, he became emotional when Barker and Manuel came to visit him in the hospital. When asked if Banks had visited him or seen him since his health issues arose, he replied that she had not. “No, not yet,” Miss J replied. She just texted me expressing her wish to come and see me, although not just yet.
