J. Alexander

From model to runway coach to reality television star, Alexander "Miss Jay" Jenkins wore many hats in his two-decade long career in fashion and entertainment. Jenkins was known to most as the flamboyant and outspoken "Miss Jay," runway coach and one of the judges on "America's Next Top Model" (2003- ), an influential reality TV competition hosted by Tyra Banks. A long-time friend of the supermodel, "Miss Jay" joined the show in its first season, quickly becoming one of the program's star attractions, both for his outrageous fashion sense and his quick, sometimes acidic tongue. Jenkins' presence on "Top Model" was the culmination of a long and successful career in modeling and fashion design that stretched back to the late 1980s when he first began modeling for the prestigious Elite Modeling Agency. Jenkins spent much of his time backstage coaching the other models, including a teenage Tyra Banks, on how to properly walk the runway. By 1991, he began to coach and cast models full time, becoming one of the fashion industry's most influential and well-respected coaches, but it would be "Top Model" that made "Miss Jay" a household name.