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NEED TO KNOW
In the new Netflix documentary Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model, Jay Manuel reveals that he wanted to leave the show much earlier than he actually did
When he told host and friend Tyra Banks about his desire to exit, Manuel claims she didn't take the news well
Banks says in the documentary that she did not want to talk about what happened with Manuel
Tyra Banks and Jay Manuel have a long, winding relationship, both professionally and personally.
Banks, 52, brought Manuel, 53, on forAmerica's Next Top Modelwhen it launched its first cycle in 2003. He had previously worked with her as a makeup artist, so when she needed a creative for the show on UPN, she called him up.
For several cycles of the show, the two friends worked together seamlessly, however, Manuel says he got to a point where he decided he was ready to move on to other things. In Netflix's new documentaryReality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model, Manuel reveals the story of his falling out with the model.
Manuel decided in cycle 8 that he was ready to part ways with the show, so he emailed Banks to thank her for everything.
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"She didn't respond," he shares in the documentary. "It was probably the longest three days ever. And she ultimately wrote back just three words. 'I am disappointed.' After that email exchange, all communication just stopped. It should've been the opportunity to have a heart-to-heart, but that did not happen."
Despite wanting to be free of the show, Manuel ended up coming back for cycle 9 at the request of the higher-ups in the network. He was told they just wanted him for one more cycle while they figured out who could replace him. He reveals in the documentary that he had hoped that coming back would give him the opportunity to address Banks.
He quickly realized that would not happen.
"Tyra chose not to speak with me at all while the cameras were off. When they were on, she'd speak to me," Manuel tells PEOPLE exclusively of what happened when he returned to film. "After [trying to leave], I did cycle 9, which was ... torture for me. I was so broken by the end of that cycle because of the mental torture of what was going on."
InReality Check, Banks was asked if she would talk about what went down with Manuel, and she declined, saying she "should call" him and deal with it personally.
"I never got that phone call," Manuel tells PEOPLE of what Banks said when they filmed the documentary about a year ago. "I don't think I'm getting a phone call. She's got my number."
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Manuel shares that he last saw Banks in 2017 (five years after he exited the show in 2012 alongside fellow panelists Miss J Alexander and Nigel Barker) when they were at BeautyCon. He says they had a "really nice conversation."
"Other than that, we've had no communication of any sort, text, email, anything," he says. "Tyra and I were close, and when we were in New York shooting, or even in L.A. shooting, she'd be at my house or I'd be at her house, and we would really download. But at the same time, and she knows this to be true, the things that are those really, really trusted important things that she has said to me, I will never repeat. I will forever honor my relationship with her in the past."
Despite everything that happened, Manuel says he's still "very open" to talking to Banks if she wants to.
"I'm in a healed place," he says. "I wish her no ill will."
That includes feeling healed from the way he, Barker and Alexander were removed from the show after cycle 18 in 2012. As the documentary shows, the three were unceremoniously removed together and thought they would be given an opportunity to make a statement to share the news. However, a "leak" in the media claimed all three were "fired."
Manuel tells PEOPLE how it felt to go through that — and what he claims really happened.
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On a two-year contract at the time, Manuel says he was actually already planning to be done at the end of cycle 18, but that wasn't the case for Barker and Alexander, whom he claims were in the middle of four-year contracts. Just before the "leak" happened, Manuel says all three of them received a phone call telling them their time on the show was over.
"[The network] always was looking for drama. The ratings were going down. They literally threw us under the bus," Manuel claims, adding that the whole situation felt like a "slap in the face."
The show continued for six more cycles, four of which included Banks still at the helm. She was eventually replaced as host by Rita Ora for the final two cycles.
Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Modelis streaming on Netflix now.
Read the original article onPeople
