“I hadn’t spoken to Tyra. I was extremely nervous,” he said. “We sit down, and I was, ‘Oh Thank God, I’m taking a moment. I can just talk to her.’
“I’m like, ‘Hey, Tyra, like, I just wanted to real quick…’ And that was the first time I really realised there’s a real problem. She wouldn’t speak with me.”
Although she later asked for his views on prospective contestants, he felt the boundaries were clear.
“But it was just clear I was not allowed to speak to her outside of that,” he said, describing the atmosphere as “psychological torture” and adding: “I felt broken.”
Asked in the documentary whether she would address the situation, Banks declined.
“I should call Jay. I don’t wanna do this here. But he’s a special man,” she said.
Manuel remained with the programme for 18 cycles in total, but ahead of season 19 he, Barker and Miss Jay were dropped.
He said they had been assured they would be quoted in a joint statement about their departures in 2012. Instead, reports emerged suggesting they had been fired.
He suggested the contracts were not renewed in an effort to revive ratings, adding: “When I wanted to leave, I wasn’t afforded that. And then I work on the show from cycles 10 to 18. I made so many concessions.”
Evening Standard has contacted Tyra Banks’s rep for comment.
Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model is available to stream now on Netflix
