Jay Manuel is speaking out about where things stand with Tyra Banks years after their professional and personal split, and he says he has made peace with the silence.
Following the release of Netflix’s Reality Check: America’s Next Top Model, which revisits the behind-the-scenes dynamics of America’s Next Top Model, Manuel shared that he has not heard from Banks despite her suggestion in the docuseries that she would reach out.
“My phone number is the same. She knows it,” Manuel told Entertainment Tonight. “I haven’t gotten a phone call, and I don’t think I will.”
Manuel explained that their last real conversation happened years ago and that he no longer feels a pull to reconnect. “
If I never spoke to Tyra again in this lifetime, I’m okay with that,” he said, adding plainly, “I don’t miss the friendship.”
The rift traces back to the later seasons of the show, when Manuel said he wanted to step away and feared professional consequences if he did so against Banks’ wishes. The docuseries revisited that tension but did not include a deeper response from Banks, who declined to address it on camera.
Manuel is not alone in feeling left waiting. Miss J. Alexander also shared that Banks once mentioned visiting but never followed through. “She said she wanted to come,” Alexander said. “I’m still here.”