For nine years, Manuel featured on every cycle of the show, becoming one of the biggest shows in the United States during this period. Manuel joined America's Next Top Model in its first cycle in 2003 as the Creative Director. He has been a makeup artist and stylist to celebrities such as Tyra Banks, Naomi Campbell, Iman, Alicia Silverstone, Rebecca Romijn, Rupert Everett, Bridget Moynahan, Angela Bassett, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mýa, Kim Cattrall, Natalie Cole, Toni Braxton, Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon, Vanessa Williams, Patti LaBelle, Rosario Dawson, Pink, David Bowie, and Jennifer Lopez. Manuel has also worked with noted fashion photographers such as Herb Ritts, Richard Avedon, Annie Leibovitz, and Francesco Scavullo.
He has worked as a makeup artist and stylist for Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, Victoria's Secret, Revlon, and CoverGirl. He has worked in 'the business of managing to aesthetic' for seven years. Before entering the fashion industry, Manuel was a pre-med student and also studied opera. He was raised by adoptive parents in Toronto where he attended Dr Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute and York University.
Manuel was born in Springfield, Illinois to a mother of Italian and Czech descent and a South African father of mixed Cape Malay descent.
