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MODEL CITIZENS
BEAUTIFUL WOMEN! CATFIGHTS! BITCHY COMMENTS! HIGH FASHION! JAY MANUEL AND TYRA BANKS PROMISE ALL OF THAT - AND MUCH MORE - WITH THE MUCH-ANTICIPATED SECOND SEASON OF AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL

It has to be one of the gayest shows on television. It has drama, beautiful people, lots of makeup and enough catfighting and bitchy comments to put Melrose Place to shame. No, we're not talking about Queer As Folk. In fact, the main characters in this show are (mostly straight) women.

This past summer, Victoria's Secret main model and self-proclaimed "drag queen trapped in a woman's body," Tyra Banks, ended up on top with UPN's surprise hit America's Next Top Model. Tyra, who is our official "Chick We'd Switch For" this month, created ANTM to "show people just how difficult it can be to be a model." She says, "People roll their eyes when models talk about their work being hard, and of course it isn't the hardest work in the world-by no means-but there is a degree of difficulty that people don't know about."

But one of those people who does know how stressful being a supermodel can be is Jay Manuel, 31, who was introduced in the first season as Tyra's makeup guy. The openly gay Manuel, in fact, was the makeup artist for all the contestants' photo shoots on the show and, towards the end, even started to art direct. This season, which debuts on UPN this month, has him even more creatively involved with the show which, according to him, is exactly what Tyra wanted.

"Art direction and postproduction is what I do in my day-to-day job," Jay tells us. "Even with Tyra I art direct her through a lot of her shoots. Tyra wanted me to be seen in a position of power this season, so I'm the art director for all the photo shoots. I also worked with the network and give them what they wanted to see."

And what, exactly, are we going to be seeing this time around? Millions of gay men want to know! While we could get neither Jay nor Tyra drunk enough to reveal the secrets they had in store, Jay tells us, "I really wanted to validate the fashion industry this year, so there are bigger and better things. I brought in other big names to the show, in terms of hair, makeup and styling."
Well, Instinct has never been one to complain when things get bigger.

INSTINCT: Why are so many gay men attracted to the supermodel scene?

JAY MANUEL: Supermodels are drag queens in disguise. They're always doing drag in one way or another. I don't do drag myself, but I love power women. Models stomping down the runway. The whole 'Look at me, I'm here' mentality, which is a big part of gay culture-whether it's the muscles, or drag, or politically.

TYRA BANKS: I'm not saying all gay men like drag queens, but I think gay men are the most creative people on the planet. And supermodels are nothing but creations. How Tyra Banks looks is because of the image gay men have created for me.

It's funny because gay men seem to be more drawn to supermodels, who are usually the epitome of 'sexy,' more than straight guys.

JM: Gay men aren't lusting after them. When Tyra was walking in the Victoria's Secret fashion show [which aired on TV this past November], I was watching the monitor while she's out on the runway. She knows what she's doing, but I love to say, 'Work it for me. Do this when you get to the end.' There's something about that power, owning the room when she's on the runway, that attracts me as a gay man.

Jay, what's it like 'working on' somebody like Tyra? How much work goes into your, uh, 'creation'?

JM: Doing her up is sort of like working on a life-size Barbie doll. I called Tyra 'Power Barbie' during [the] Victoria's Secret [fashion show].

Tyra, would you get nervous if somebody working on your hair or makeup or wardrobe wasn't gay?

TB: I don't think that's ever happened! [Laughs] I wouldn't [be nervous], but I wouldn't feel as comfortable.

So, how funny is it that gay guys usually lust after the straight male stereotype, all scruffy and thrown together, while straight women want metrosexuals?

TB: I'm not attracted to metrosexuals! I like my men to be scruffy, and I hate a man who plucks his eyebrows-well, unless he has a unibrow. [Laughs] When I was little I loved the metrosexuals, like Ralph Tresvant of New Edition. As a little girl you don't want to be intimidated by too much masculinity. You felt like they sort of looked like you so they weren't gonna stick you-not yet, at least. [Laughs]

While Tyra's history as a model has been documented in just about every men's and women's magazine ("People love to have Tyra on the cover," says Jay. "Black men, white men, gay men-they all love her."), this is actually her first official gay press interview. Plus, and we're sure most of our devoted readers will know this, she's the first woman we've had on our cover in Instinct's six-year history.

"Jay asked me to do this shoot with him," says Tyra in what Jay calls her "little girl voice," which, according to Mr. Manuel, is what assures you Tyra's just being herself. "I said, 'Anything for you, honey.'"

Jay's story about how he got to the point where he could convince Tyra Banks to appear on the cover of Instinct with him isn't a short one. And, because we know our average reader's attention span is probably running out of fuel just about now, we'll keep it short-and juicy.

Jay was born in Toronto. "I always had my 'artistic' side," he recalls, "but I was convinced that I was going to become a doctor or scientist." However, the "creative arts" kept creeping back into his life. He started singing privately at 15. He won a Polaroid photography competition at 18. At 19, his voice teacher at the time flew him to New York to study singing; there he also met Bill Hicks, one of the assistant conductors of the Metropolitan Opera and a voice coach on the side. "I moved to New York just like that," Jay remembers with a chuckle. "One day in Toronto, the next trying to become an opera singer."

Then his "career" took a rather strange turn. Linda Miller, his first voice teacher and a well-known opera singer, had to audition for a movie: The Age of Innocence. She ended up getting the role, partly because Jay helped her with her headshot. "She had to meet Martin Scorsese with a picture, so I did her hair and makeup, I did the set, the lighting, shot the photograph and printed it in a darkroom. We look at it now and just howl," Jay adds with a smile. "Her hair was teased out like the 1950s, she had bobble earrings on-it was a mess. It is so embarrassing."

But while working on Miller's makeup for the movie, Jay was told he was very talented and soon landed his first big job: doing makeup for k Luciano Pavarotti when he was 22 years old. "I not only had to do his makeup," says Jay, "but the Metropolitan Opera messengered over the wig he wore during Il Trovatore. A lace-front wig. They said it was Luciano's favorite and I'd be responsible if anything happened to it." Jay pauses, then adds, "You've got to remember, I'm a tenor singer, so he's an idol of mine, and I have pictures of me leaving the house with his wig on the wig head, smiling; I was so proud of myself."

After that, through word of mouth, Jay met Tyra for the first time in 1998.

What was your first gig together?

JM: GQ's Men of the Year awards.

TB: Yeah, Jay swears it was the GQ awards. I remember, though, that he did my makeup for free, like, three times. Which is so smart, because he realized if he invested his own time and showed a commitment, that it would pay off in the long run, and now, child, he's running my life! [Laughs] I understand you have to pay your dues, and when I see someone else doing that, I know they're not just in it for the quick buck.

Any myths you'd like to dispel? Like, are all supermodels mega-bitches?

JM: No, it's mostly the opposite. People say supermodels are bitches because, let's face it, it's a woman in power and at the top of her game. One of the few, if not the only industry where the women are more powerful than the men. A male model will never reach the status of a top female model, therefore they say they're all bitches because they're not in control.

TB: Please! All the stories are true! [Laughs as Jay looks at her in disbelief] I really experienced a lot of horrible drama. It was like a soap opera. All the stories are true!

Oh, really? What's been your nastiest backstage brawl, Ms. Banks?

TB: I had this model that was tormenting me throughout my career. I was 17 or 18 years old, about to walk onto the runway for some Italian designer in Milan. She comes up to me and says, 'You think you're all this, you think you're all that? You're not shit, and I'm going to kick your ass!' It was right out of that Aaron Spelling TV show, Models, Inc.

Damn, we really wish you could name names!

TB: I do, too!

So, any plans for an America's Next Top Male Model?

JM: I don't think there's as much interest with men. Men aren't going to claw their way to become a top model. It would be a little boring. They wouldn't care as much about losing.

What about if it were America's Next Top Gay Male Model?

TB: There'd be so much more drama!

JM: That would be better than the female version! Could you imagine putting 12 gay men in a house together to be the next top model?

Well, with 12 hot gay men, you wouldn't get to show any of the footage because they'd probably be getting in on with each other the whole time. So, why can't male models achieve the same status as females?

JM: First of all, you have the adoration of the gay public. Then you have women looking at these women in an aspirational way. Then you have straight men looking at these women in Sports Illustrated or wherever, going, 'Oh yeah, these women are hot.' Probably some lesbians, too. [Laughs] That's a majority of public interest there. Most straight men aren't looking through fashion magazines at other men, going, 'I want to look like that.' It's changing; more and more straight men are becoming conscious of the way they look, but they are not into the male models. Plus, women don't lust after male models as much as straight men lust after female models.

Seriously. Who do you think is buying Playgirl? Tyra, I have a question: What's up with that silver smudge?

TB: [Pauses, then laughs] That was you?! [Turns to Jay] Okay, so I went to opening night of Glitter, and there was this group of guys sitting behind us in this tiny theater, making comments at the movie. [Turns to me] My favorite line was when the guy picked up the letter from Billie [Mariah Carey] and it was signed with a 'B,' and they said, 'Barbra?' 'Bette?' 'Beyonce?' [Turns back to Jay] They called out to me because Mariah had this silver smudge on the whole movie, 'Tyra! What's up with that smudge?' I turned around and was, like, 'I don't know, girl!' [Laughs]

Wow. That's awesome that you remember that. So, this is your first gay press interview. Do you get the sense that fags adore you? k

TB: When I first started getting known in the modeling industry-this was years and years ago-my makeup artist at the time and I used to go into the Village in New York and just walk around-and I felt so loved. If I was ever suffering from low self-esteem, I was, like, 'Let's go to the Village.' All these gay men coming up to me, saying, 'I love you,' just when I needed it.

It was great that you had Ebony, the bald, black, lesbian model, on ANTM last season. When people think of lesbians, 'supermodel' is one of the last things that comes to mind.

JM: But there are lesbian supermodels! I was on a big shoot with two huge models-one of them was lesbian, one was straight. It was a very intimate photograph. The lesbian model, though, got really turned on. The straight model was, like, 'Whatever.' But you're dealing with two women, whereas there would have been issues with two male models in the same situation.

TB: What attracted me to Ebony was that she was beautiful and strong and opinionted on her audition tape. She talked about being a lesbian without being ashamed. Plus she was tall and had dark beautiful skin, which I think is important to show.

This season, along with Jay's increased presence on the show, there are some changes fans will want to know about. Bluntly honest former model Janice Dickinson returns (most likely with more caustic one-liners, like, "There are so many teeth in her mouth-maybe she should have a few removed." New judges include Eric Nicholson, a Jane Magazine senior fashion editor, and the handsome model-turned-photographer Nigel Barker (who shot the fashion feature for Instinct this month, page 64). Moreover, instead of ten girls, we now have 12 beauties. And, instead of eight episodes, there are ten.

So, are there still lots of bitchy comments this time around?

JM: Oh, sure. But I hate it when people say bitchy things just because they're on television.
I believe in saying the truth, and sometimes that comes out as catty.

How did the contestants' emotional states hold up?

JM: Oh, you're in for a lot of fights, tears, a lot of drama, I was really surprised. I was wondering if the girls realized there were four cameras in the room capturing everything.

Well, we already know what makes a man sexy to you, Tyra. What makes a woman sexy?

TB: I hate when people say, 'Confidence.' I remember being backstage at the Victoria's Secret show, and these interviewers were walking around, asking what makes a woman sexy, and everybody's reply was the same: 'Confidence.' Shut up, girl! You've got lipstick and your hair done. Anybody would feel sexy after three hours of hair and makeup!

Okay, so what chick would you switch for?

TB: This is where everybody says Angelina Jolie, right? [Laughs] I've read that in your magazine! But I'd switch for Oprah.

She'd be like a momma to me-powerful, spiritual, intelligent and in control.

Okay, now we're glad we've made you the first female to appear on our cover. What's one thing you always fight about when it comes to how Tyra looks?

[They both look at each other and scream out]

JM and TB: Eyebrows!

JM: I like to finish off the tail perfectly and groom the hair upwards. The perfect brow. 'No, Jay, it's too diva supermodel,' she always says. She takes the brush and messes up the eyebrows so hairs are going every which way. It drives me crazy.

TB: Jay is so great, but he will try to draw my eyebrows. He gives me these 1993 eyebrows! Jay, you don't have to draw them so perfectly anymore. I just take the eyebrow brush and brush all that stuff out of them and keep them natural. I always do it, but he always insists on filling them in.

Okay, Tyra, what goes through your head when you're strutting your stuff in front of a national viewing audience, wearing nothing but underwear?

TB: What I tell every single model that's nervous and asks me for advice. I tell them to say, 'I'm the finest bitch on this stage. Nobody is finer than me. Get back!' That's confidence-and it ain't always sexy!