So, were you hurt by anything that you read?
In the very beginning, when I graduated, I started to take a look at the message boards and you know, there were a lot of positive things, and then there were a lot of negative things. You either like me or you hate me, but you know what? I realized that as soon as the first person recognized me outside of the house when I came home, I got defensive. Even though I looked at the message boards and laughed and said ‘ha ha ha. These people need to get a life. ha ha ha,’ it did bother me. Like I said, the first time someone came up to me after recognizing me, I felt like I had to defend myself for my behavior. I guess it did affect me and I did stop going on the boards because no one likes to hear criticism and especially when it’s not constructive. I can take it from my friends and family, but for total strangers who don’t know me at all, it’s hard to really read, it is.
You describe yourself as being a person who doesn’t sugar coat, but was there one thing on the show that you wish you didn’t say?
Oh, Latoya. There are so many! When I first came into the house and some weeks when I progressed, even then I thought I was changing but then there were these moments where I thought I was just being cute or funny and I would hurt somebody’s feelings. Like Cassie, for example. The first day I got there, there was the dog thing when she told me about her son and she told me she was trying to find him because she put him up for adoption. And then they showed a picture of my dog and I said 'He was adopted too. Maybe we can find his parents." And I really thought I was being cute and funny, and I didn’t realize I was hurting her. Things like that, I wish I could take back. But it helped me grow and see how I do affect people. When I say things that I think are funny, I have to be more sensitive. Everything I did, I learned from it.
Is there anything that you wish the editors had kept in there that they didn’t show?
Tawanda and I were very close and they didn’t show that. We celebrated her birthday together and I got a her a little cake. We just had a really good time on her birthday and they didn’t show that. They made it look like she had a terrible birthday and nobody did anything for her birthday. We did enjoy it and we had a lot of fun, sisterly moments that they didn’t really show.
What was your favorite room in the house?
I’d have to say the bathroom in my bedroom because it had this huge master bathtub, like a Jacuzzi tub. And I used to love to take baths in there at night when Candy, my roommate would go to sleep. I could relax and kind of get rid of all the tension of the day. Even though she said I left a ring around the tub. I still enjoyed my baths and she cleaned up after me.
When you left the house was it hard to readjust to regular life?
