Apr 9 2007
After they are given their walking papers on America's Next Top Model, the eliminated contestants talk to About.com about what it's like competing on one of TV's hottest reality shows.
In my latest interviews with the fabulous Felicia, Diana, and Sarah of season 8, I learned a few things we didn't know about America's Next Top Model.
The Girls Get No Sleep
"The hardest part was no sleep," Felicia told me. "We would wake up like 4:30 in the morning or 5:30 and wouldn't go back to sleep until like around 1 am. We basically lived off like 3 or 4 hours of sleep a day."
For Some Girls, Being Eliminated Is More Devastating Than We Imagined
"I felt like my life was over," Felicia revealed. "Everything did not matter after that to me. But then it came to a point where I was like, you know, I have to look at this for the better. I can't change it so I might as well try to have a positive outlook on everything. That took about a month."
For Others, Being Eliminated Is A Relief
"I did not feel like [Felicia did] at all," Diana said. "I really couldn't deal with the cameras in my face, 24/7. Having no phone, no radio, no music, no TV whatsoever. They just want you to interact with each other. And sometimes you want your alone time...that wasn't available to us. When I got eliminated, yeah, I didn't want to go. But I realized that now, I'm going back to real life. I can actually live and not worry that the camera is right there...[Being alone in my hotel room for the first time] felt amazing. I didn't know what to do with myself. I turned on the radio. Mind you, I got there at 2 in the morning. The radio was blasting. I had the TV on. I was just like running around. I pulled the curtain because I was paranoid that the camera was still outside. I didn't know what to do first. It was crazy."
Editing Is Fair For Some Girls
"I was just myself. They portrayed me as myself on the show. I was happy about that," Sarah said.
Editing Isn't Fair For Others
"Thanks to editing, they made me sound like I didn't want to be there," Diana said. (When Jay asked Diana why she wanted to be on the show, it was edited to look like she answered "Just cuz." )"In reality, that's just how I started out giving him my detailed and thorough explanation," Diana said. "The way it was edited it made me look like that's all that I said. Like I said just cuz and put a period at the end and that's all that I said."
Being Eliminated Isn't The End
- Diana is finishing up her degree in Forensic Psychology, but she will also pursue modeling.
- Contrary to one comment made on the show, Felicia doesn't want to be a music video dancer. She is focused on high fashion modeling right now.
- Sarah is still working as a photographer, pursuing modeling, and recording an album that she calls Sheryl Crow meets Corinne Bailey Rae. You can hear some of Sarah's music at http://MySpace.com/SarahVonderHaar.
