Jan 11 2007
Andrea Lowell, 23, is best known as a Playboy TV covergirl. But this year, Andrea dropped everything to join the cast of VH1’s
The Surreal Life, a reality show that puts a group of celebrities in a house together while the cameras roll. During filming of
The Surreal Life, Andrea partied, showed off her body, made lasting friendships, and butted heads with Brady Bunch mom Florence Henderson. Here’s what Andrea had to say about her experience on
The Surreal Life.
Andrea on how she ended up on the show
I had always been a fan of
The Surreal Life. It's the one reality show that actually has to do with like D-list celebrities. I found it entertaining. And then they called me and I thought it was a prank call because I don't watch TV. I've never seen
Friends. I've never seen an episode of
Survivor. I do not watch TV but I watch
The Surreal Life. They called and said ‘Can you come in and do an interview?’ and I'm like ‘Who the f**k is this?’ It was just too coincidental. After things evolved, I found out that they were having a hard time finding kind of like the Adrianne Curry of season six. They called Playboy TV and asked if there was anyone they thought would be a good addition to the cast. And from the entire Playboy enterprise, I was the only name that they gave. Playboy kind of referred me and I had like two interviews with the casting directors and I was on the show the next week.
Andrea on finding out she would be living with CeCe Deville, Tawny Kitaen, Sherman Hemsley, Maven, Steve Harwell, and Alexis Arquette.
They don't tell you until you go. I didn't find out until I was actually there. And honestly, when I walked in I was like 'who are these people?' I had never seen
The Jeffersons, I had never listened to Poison. I knew who Steve from Smashmouth was but I didn't really know who he was but I knew that he looked familiar. With Sherman, I didn't even know he was black. I thought he was like Eastern Indian. I was trying figure out who he was. I was asking everyone like 'Who's the dark guy?' because I didn't want to be like 'Who's the Middle Eastern guy?’ They were like 'Andrea, he's black. I was like 'Oh s**t, he is.' I don't know if it was ignorance or not but I didn't know who those people were.
Andrea on how the show was edited.
I'm disappointed in what they selected as like the final product, but you just have to own it. I'm not happy that I pulled my boob out at a bar. I'm not happy about dancing like a freak on stage. And I'm not happy about being drunk and then talking s**t about Florence Henderson. But everything that they've edited, I actually did. So I just have to own it and use it as an opportunity to learn. If you don't want something shown that way, don't do it. I think it's funny that every single point was like something not cool that they showed.
Andrea on how she feels about Brady Bunch mom Florence Henderson.
Same as ever, I just don't care for her. She's just such so closed minded and I felt that se was just putting on an act. I felt like in reality, she might not care about what I do. That's not all I am. I do a lot of other things than just get naked for Playboy. But that's all she would talk about. And I think it was all just an act for her fans. I think that she needed to uphold her Carol Brady image and act like a mother to someone. Alexis Arquette is a transgendered female. She has no problem with that. That's kind of hypocritical to me. Tawny obviously has some kinds of issues which I can't talk about. Tawny also put a high-heeled shoe through her husband's thigh. Florence had no problem with that. CC Deville has been in and out of jail for drug use and beating up his girlfriends. She doesn't care about that. And, you know, all I do is do tasteful nudity for a seasoned magazine and I'm scrutinized. Okay, that makes sense Florence. That makes a lot of sense…The whole cast is keeping in touch but Florence.
Andrea on her real life after The Surreal Life.
My website memberships have just gone through the roof -- $14.95 membership, I'm not mad at that. [My fans and I] are just all really happy that I'm getting that exposure that I so desperately needed. Being a Playboy model, you're really pigeonholed and you're really just exposed to one fan base. Now I get letters and emails and little things to my PO Box. There's a lot more people who are exposed to me now. It's been quite an experience.
