US Trends

what happened to miss jay alexander

Miss J. Alexander is alive, but he has been dealing with serious health issues after suffering a major stroke in late 2022, which left him paralyzed and largely unable to walk as of early 2026.

What happened to Miss J. Alexander?

  • On December 27, 2022, Miss J. Alexander (J. Alexander Jenkins) suffered a debilitating stroke.
  • He spent about five weeks in a coma and then remained in the hospital or rehab for roughly a year and a half.
  • The stroke affected his mobility so severely that he has been unable to walk and uses a wheelchair, despite being famous for teaching models how to walk on the runway.
  • He had to relearn how to speak and continues to work on his recovery.

“I taught models how to walk, and now I can’t walk,” he says in the Netflix docuseries, highlighting how drastically his life changed.

His life and career today

  • Before the stroke, after leaving America’s Next Top Model , he stayed active in fashion, appearing at events and doing projects like Instagram Live talks with former co-judge Jay Manuel.
  • Since the stroke and long recovery, he has kept a lower profile, which led many fans to ask “Where is Miss J?” on his older social media posts.
  • In early 2026, he reappeared publicly in the Netflix documentary Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model , explaining his health journey and updating fans.

Relationship with Tyra Banks and ANTM circle

  • Miss J., Jay Manuel, and Nigel Barker were all let go from America’s Next Top Model after Cycle 18 due to a network direction change, which complicated some relationships behind the scenes.
  • In the new documentary, Miss J. shares that Jay Manuel and Nigel Barker visited him in the hospital after his stroke.
  • He says Tyra Banks has not visited him in person since the medical emergency, though she did send a text saying she wanted to visit.
  • This detail has fueled fresh forum and social media discussion about their friendship and the show’s legacy.

His outlook now

  • Despite paralysis and ongoing use of a wheelchair, Miss J. repeatedly says he is determined to walk again.
  • He emphasizes that his story is “not over yet” and that he wants people to see him again, not just remember him for ANTM.

Why this is trending now

  • The question “what happened to Miss J. Alexander” is trending again because:
    • The Netflix docuseries Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model was released in February 2026 and includes his first on-camera interview in years.
* Clips of him describing his stroke, paralysis, and feelings about Tyra Banks are circulating widely in entertainment news and on social platforms.
* Many fans who hadn’t heard from him since his _ANTM_ days are only now learning about the 2022 stroke and its long-term impact.

TL;DR: Miss J. Alexander did not disappear; he suffered a severe stroke on December 27, 2022, spent weeks in a coma and many months in recovery, and is currently paralyzed and using a wheelchair, but he is publicly sharing his story, expressing determination to walk again, and re-entering the spotlight through a 2026 Netflix docuseries.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.