Tyra Banks’ ANTM co-host Jay Manuel says model ‘didn’t want to speak to me’ upon his return to show after hiatus
TYRA Banks’ America's Next Top Model co-host Jay Manuel said the model ‘didn’t want to speak to me’ upon his return to show after hiatus.
Despite the makeup artist being part of the show since its inception, he took a break towards the end of cycle 8.
Jay Manuel, 47, talked to about how his relationship changed with Tyra, 46, after he took a break from the show.
"It was really, really unfortunate because the show became a global phenomenon,” revealed the former judge of America's Next Top Model.
"We had such magical moments. Tyra and I had a relationship, a work relationship, that started well before America’s Next Top Model and we became friends."
Jay, who was the creative director of the show up until cycle 18, explained he felt he’d “given the show all that I could bring to the show” when he told the he’d be leaving before cycle 9.
He further explained: "I was ready to kind of move on.
"I look back at it [now and] I think she probably felt offended that I was leaving kind of the show at its height.
"I, again, I can’t speak for what she really thought at that time, but what was difficult [for me] was the reaction."
Their relationship changed further when he made the decision to come back for cycle 9 after being asked "last minute." He said: "I can’t even say that she was angry.
Despite him being "assured" that things would be "normal" if he came back, he remembers otherwise.
He revealed: "I showed up and she didn’t want to speak with me.
"I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t know what to do with that.
"And I did not have the tools at the time to process that. So that, that was difficult for me."
He added: "For that cycle, I actually wasn’t producing for that one cycle, because I was brought on just to do one-off cycle.
"I was just talent. So, it was just very, very, very uncomfortable.
"What was difficult for me was, you know, when the cameras were on we’d talk, but when they were off, I had no communication.
"It was uncomfortable."
Ultimately, Jay Manuel stayed up until cycle 18 when he and photographer - and long-time judge - Neal Barker did not get their contracts renewed.
Most recently, Jay slammed his former co-worker for telling cycle 5's Kim Stolz not to show off her sexuality, after she said she was proud to be gay.
The 47-year-old told : “I was in the room, and I was sitting right next to her. I remember feeling a little uncomfortable with the statement.
“I could see Tyra trying to draw the parallel and what she was trying to illustrate, and I was confused by it.
“Because we ask these girls to come in the room and the producers remind the girls before they come in, ‘Tell them who you are. You’re not just a pretty face. You have to have a discussion about who you are.’”
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The Canadian makeup guru continued: “These girls are coached to speak their truth and tell Tyra who they are, and then Tyra said that, so it seemed a bit unfair.
“You can see it on that model’s face, like, ‘Wait a minute, I was told to say everything about myself, and now you’re telling me to not say this?’”