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Branded as being abrasive and snappy for allegedly taking on Twiggy in panel (by asking too many questions), 20 year-old Victoria, a Yale college student, became the third eliminated contestant on America's Next Top Model. However, she was anything but abrasive when I spoke with her. In fact, she certainly dispelled the notion that she is an arrogant intellectual, as she was personable, down-to-earth, and filled with good humor as she graciously talked about her experience in the realm known as reality TV.
Hi, Victoria! How are you?
Hi, I’m great. How are you?
I’m good! Thank you for speaking with me today.
Oh, absolutely. Any time.
How did you become interested in applying for America’s Next Top Model?
Actually, it was sort of for the sheer hell of it, I guess. I went to the casting call sort of on a dare from my friend, and I ended up making all the cuts. Then, I made it onto the show, so I decided to go for it. It’s better to do things than to not do them.
Well, that was a question I had for you because I had heard you applied as a joke or on a dare.
Right. [laughs]
Had you watched previous cycles, and did you have any previous modeling experience?
I have no previous modeling experience. With the other cycles, I haven’t really seen much of the other cycles. I got called for the semi-finals very last minute—when I was in the middle of exams, so I tried to YouTube a lot of them, but it was sort of impossible to watch everything in two or three days.
You seemed kind of ambivalent about modeling. How are you feeling about it today, and is it something you want to pursue?
On the show, I really enjoyed doing the photo-shoots and most certainly found them to be a lot of fun, and I have a lot of respect for people who are actually models, or designers, or casting directors. So, yeah, I’d love to pursue modeling if anyone is up for it. But, I am in school, and I would never drop out to pursue a career solely in modeling.
That was kind of my next question. You are/were a student at Yale. What is your major, and what are your educational plans for the future?
Actually, I am a history major, so I do a lot of reading—a lot of reading. In terms of the future, you know, I’m not really sure right now. I do like being in school, but I don’t know if I’ll have the money to pursue it afterwards in getting a Master’s or whatever. But, we’ll see what happens.
After school, is modeling something you would actively pursue, or are you waiting for someone to call you?
Gosh! I haven’t really gone out there, I guess. It’s only been a couple days since I was eliminated, so I’m not sure. It would be great if I did get considered by a casting director or by an agency to model, but we’ll see. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.
Since you classified yourself as "hugely nerdy,” what makes you nerdy?
Oh, goodness. [laughs] Again, on the show, we were all kind of characters, so they gave me the nerd cut—the nerd edit. Everyone is nerdy in some way, I guess. I’m a very private person, and I do keep to myself, and I do read a lot. I’m very inquisitive, and I like to learn about different things. In that respect, I can be considered a nerd.
Were you particularly close with anyone in the house?
Oh, absolutely! I actually really liked everyone in the house a lot. I think they are all great girls. I really liked Chantal and Jenah; I think Jenah is hilarious. I got very close to Heather, who is amazingly talented. Ambreal is great. Ebony is great. Kimberly is a very sweet girl. You know, I really liked a lot of them to be honest. We are all very close, and we call each other and E-mail a lot, and Jenah actually came to visit me, which was a lot of fun, too.
Was there anyone in the house who was the most difficult one to get along with?
Not really. I think everyone pretty much got along. Yeah, there were a couple of fights, but I didn’t really get into any of that. For the part, I think, when I was there, people got along. I don’t know how it changed after I left.
Do you feel Heather was receiving special treatment because of her “disability?”
No, not at all! I think she is very photogenic and obviously amazingly beautiful and very talented as a model. She’s a natural. If she is good at what she does, I don’t think they should be hard on her. She was doing great while I was there.
Our readers always like to hear another contestant’s opinion of the other girls in the house. In a sentence or a one or two word description, could you tell me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear these names. You sort of already told me everyone was sweet.
Sure. To be honest, I really don’t like labeling people like this.
If you feel uncomfortable, you don’t have to do it.
I would actually rather just say that I really do like and respect all of them, and I know that we are all portrayed a certain way, so I’m not going to define people like that.
That’s fine. Our readers like this part, but that is okay. I understand that. Could you label yourself?
Oh, goodness! Well, I could tell you how the show edited me. [laughs]
No, you tell me how you define yourself or describe yourself. [laughs]
I’m pretty happy-go-lucky, which is sort of why I ended up on the show. I’m curious about learning anything I can about the fashion industry, or anything else for that matter. I’m definitely not what they portrayed me to be on the show. Like, I am probably the least abrasive person ever. [laughs] I also don’t go around being, “I’m from Yale. I’m so smart.” They took one interview I had and put splices from it in every episode. I didn’t even tell the girls I went to Yale. The producers told them and tried to make it into an issue. It was so not an issue. Don’t you think that they would show clips of Bianca or somebody calling me out on it if it was an issue? I really did not talk about it or bring it up. They just had that one interview and played edits from it all the time, which I kind of expected that to happen, but it’s sort of unfortunate to have things like that.
Just so you know, I thought you were the type of person who wouldn’t want to say anything about anyone else because it might be taken out of context. [laughs]
Right! [laughs]
I have a random question for you. How tall are you?
[laughs] I’m actually 5’ 9 ½”.
Do you read any of the online sites discussing the show?
I’m actually a big fan of your site. I think you get a wide-range of opinions on there. You know, its fun to read what people think about you, but it is kind of upsetting when the show edits you to look a certain way when you’re obviously not like that. But, no, I like FoRT, and I think it’s great, and I like all the sort of images they put up, which are a lot of fun.
Well, our readers have a lot of questions for you!
Actually, I’d be happy to answer any of them!
Oh, good. There’s a thread in there and it says: Interview Questions for Victoria, so if you ever have a chance stop right on by!
Okay, great! Absolutely. I will! [laughs]
During makeovers, there is the person who inevitably goes bald. You stated you were happy with your makeover, but would you have let them shave your head?
It’s always easier to say you would when, you know, you didn’t have it done to you, so. . . . But, hair is hair, and it grows back, and I think I would have been okay with it. Again, I can say that not having it been an issue for me, so I don’t really know. It would have been okay, I think. I would trust them in their judgment.
Usually, if you have long hair, you’re one of the first to be buzzed.
Absolutely! [laughs] If you have short hair, you’re one of the first to get a weave!
You were called out for being abrasive and snappy.
Right.
Do you agree with that assessment—I already know you don’t—and do you feel you were portrayed accurately on the show?
Oh, my goodness. It was actually almost ludicrous the way they edited it. Actually, Jenah called me after this show, and she was just like, “Wait! That wasn’t a conversation. That never happened. What? What? What did they do?” Because, they just took sort of . . . I have to sort of give them props the way they did it because it really did make me seem pretty awful. The thing is I knew they were trying to eliminate me even before the photo-shoot happened—for whatever reason. I was well-liked in the house, and so they couldn’t get me for that. My pictures were okay, so they couldn’t really get me on that. So, what they got me with was asking too many questions at judging, which is fine—or not wanting it enough, I guess. I actually like and respect Twiggy a whole lot. I was kind of in a catch-22 situation. She tried to label me as insecure when I was quiet, but when I asked questions, I was abrasive. I also didn’t cry or cat-fight, so they really didn’t know what to do with me on the show. I wanted to learn more. They knew that I had no experience and no knowledge, so they would tell me things like: “Your face is so different. Your bone structure is so different. You know, that’s really great.” So, I’d ask questions wanting to know how I could use that to my advantage in the next photo-shoot, but they always got really flustered when I asked them questions and couldn’t really back up what they said very well, which they didn’t show on the show. But, I guess they’re not used to being questioned on what they say, which is fine. I mean, they have a lot more experience than I will ever have. So, yeah, I guess they’re just not used to that, and that came off very badly for them. I was definitely not rude or anything like that. They didn’t show this is the final elimination I was in, but Tyra is calling me with Saleisha in the bottom two, and she is telling me that I’m very abrasive in person, to the judges, and that I need to learn to be more polite. So, I asked—I actually called a vote with the other girls and asked them to raise their hand if I was being abrasive, or impolite, or rude, and none of them raised their hands. They could have really called me out on it because it is a competition, and people sell other people out to get ahead, but nobody raised their hands. Then, I asked them if I was one of the nicest girls here, and they all raised their hand. Obviously, they didn’t show it because it made Tyra look really bad, and she really didn’t know what to say. I left with the girls knowing what happened. It was sort of an unfortunate event that it’s been taken that I attacked Twiggy, because I didn’t attack Twiggy. I think Twiggy is great. I just wanted to learn more about the industry.
You know what? I’ve addressed this in questions that I haven’t asked you yet, and you’ve sort of answered, but I’m going to ask them anyway. [laughs]
Absolutely! Go ahead!
You appeared to be confrontational with Twiggy at every panel, but I saw it as your getting constructive feedback and clarifying misconceptions she had of you. In particular, what went on with the “prickly” comment? Twiggy said that you were going after her, but it looked the other way around to me. I get the sense that there had to be some significant stuff cut out from what the viewers saw.
Absolutely. Absolutely. It’s so funny because I almost wonder if they made me a cactus just so they could say I was prickly. [laughs]
Well, the thought had occurred to me, too. [laughs]
Right! I know, right? I got up there, and they didn’t like my picture, and I agree with them. I said, you know, this isn’t my greatest picture; I thought I had better ones. Then, the photographer was like, “I don’t like your face”—or something like that. It’s like, “Okay, that’s fine.” Then, Twiggy was like, “But, I really like your profile.” I’m like, “Oh, thank you so much. That’s great.” I was sort of joking around and saying that maybe I’ll just stand like this for the rest of the panel, and I showed them my profile. They all laughed and thought it was funny.
The judges on panel thought it was funny or the other girls?
The girls and judges thought it was funny. They always laughed when I went up there because I would ask so many questions. I don’t remember exactly what happen, but Twiggy just out of nowhere said, “You seem sort of defensive or sort of prickly.” Tyra said I was being too quiet or something like that, and I got really frustrated because it’s either one day I’m too quiet; one day I’m asking too many questions. So, I told her that I wasn’t a quiet mouse as they were trying to portray me as, and then Twiggy sort of said I was prickly. I sort of got confused, so I stopped talking, and they called the next girl. But, after they called the girls, we went back and waited for them to deliberate. I asked the girls, “Was that kind of weird? Was I being prickly, annoying, or something?” They were, “No, no. I don’t know where that came from. That was kind of strange.” So, it was definitely taken out-of-context or something because the way they played it up on the show definitely did not really happen that way. [laughs] You know, I like Twiggy. I think Twiggy is great.
So, you didn’t feel as though you had a personality conflict going on with her?
Oh, no! Not really. Not at all. I mean, I didn’t. I don’t know how she feels, but I took her comments very seriously, and I thought, you know, she has a lot of experience in the industry.
What kind of feedback did you receive during your photo-shoots—both positive and negative, and did you feel you were making improvement with each shoot?
The first photo-shoot, the smoking one, Jay was really impressed and really rooting for me, and he absolutely liked the leg on the table I did. So, they picked that picture. It was a really fun photo-shoot to do. The second one also was a lot of fun, although I had a lot of physical ailment on the show, which they didn’t really get into because I tried to keep it to a minimum, and I didn’t really complain about, but I actually lost my hearing during that photo-shoot. But, the second one was the rock-climbing one, which, again, was a lot of fun. That one went well, too, I think. Jay and I had a lot of fun doing that one. The third one I was sort of getting hints they were going to make the photo-shoot hard so they would have more of an incentive to eliminate me beforehand. [laughs] It started off pretty rocky, but it definitely got a lot better, and towards the end, Jay was telling me that I had a good picture. It was when I did a specific pose, and it’s kind of strange because that pose wasn’t in the picture that they showed. I think my pictures got a lot better toward the end, but I don’t think they showed those pictures for whatever reason.
We hear that a lot—that the girls don’t think that they necessarily show the best picture at judging.
Right. They don’t. I think that was the case.
You had better pictures?
Oh, yeah, because Jay told me that when I was doing a very strange, high-fashion-y pose, he loved the picture. “That is a great picture. That’s the best work of the shoot.” Then, the one they showed—I was really excited to see that in panel—they chose one that was kind of boring, so who knows? [laughs]
Jay stated that you were over-analyzing the shoots. Are you an overly-analytical person by nature, or is that just a stereotype that was perpetuated because you were a Yale student?
Oh, goodness! It was definitely a stereotype. I’m really not. I just sort of take things as they come. You know, the first photo-shoot Lisa was, “Oh, you know what? Should we practice our expressions? You know, what should we do?” I was, “Oh it will just happen naturally, and, hopefully, we got good pictures.” So, no, I think they were playing up the intellectual aspect of the show, which they really did all the time, which was a pain because I really don’t think it was a factor in modeling at all. That was definitely a critique that he had, which is maybe legitimate. I feel that I performed similarly in every photo-shoot, so that comment was kind of strange to me.
You commented that high-fashion modeling is sometimes ludicrous—especially when models are dressed up as cacti, roses, and baby’s breath. [both laugh] Are you concerned that you might have offended some with those comments and that it appeared you weren’t taking modeling seriously?
It’s not that I don’t take modeling seriously. It’s that I don’t take reality TV seriously, and you know, it’s true. I kind of knew what the character they were trying to portray me as was being this sort of arrogant, Ivy League girl.
Snobby, too.
Yes, there you go—which is so unfortunate because that is not me at all. I’m just not like that. Ask any of the other girls. I was very well-liked by the girls in the house, and I never talked about Yale. I never talked about, “Oh, I’m so smart. I’m going to win because I know every thing because I’m smarter than everybody else.” That never happened. They just took, again, what I said in one or two interviews and put splices in it whatever they could. Then, you just feel such a pressure to say nerdy things all the time. It was kind of weird how it works.
At the last panel, a lot of the girls seemed upset and teary-eyed in the background after everyone had their photos evaluated. Were the judges a lot harsher than what was shown during that episode?
I guess so. I guess they were. You know, the competition was stepping up, so they were a little bit harsher in their critiques, which I find sort of refreshing, but it can be very stressful and very emotional. We were also tired and on-edge about everything, so it was very emotional for a lot of people. But, I’m not really a crier, so I didn’t cry, I guess. [laughs]
What is your favorite memory you will take from the show?
Oh, wow! Oh, goodness. I guess the first night when we all got into the house, and we were just having a great time together. A lot of girls went down to the pool and jumped into the bathtub. That was really fun, and I had a great time hanging out with all of them.
So, would you do this again if you had the chance?
You know, I’m not sure. I don’t regret doing it. I just sort of regret the way they portrayed me. I think I would do modeling in the future, but I’m not sure that I would do reality TV.
I think most people who do watch reality TV know that everyone is put into a certain role.
Absolutely!
That’s not a new concept, and it’s for entertainment purposes.
Yep! [laughs]
Are there any final thoughts you’d like to leave with our readers?
I’d just like to say thank you for everyone who was rooting for me, and I hope you have a lot of fun watching the rest of the show. Also, just that I keep things in perspective, and I probably kept things too much in perspective on the show, but I had a good time. So, thank you for watching.
It’s been fun speaking with you!
Yeah, you too!
Congratulations on making it as far as you did, Victoria, and best of luck for whatever you may do in the future!
Oh, great! Thank you. Bye-bye!
Many thanks to THE CW and Victoria for this interview opportunity!
Photo credit: THE CW
Victoria sounds like a real sweetheart.
