An Interview with Brittany
“I Totally Overreacted” – An Interview with America’s Next Top Model 8’s Brittany by Phil Kural -- 05/07/2007 Brittany was at the top of the pack for the first few weeks this season on America’s Next Top Model, but was sent packing when her go-sees didn’t go so well and Tyra felt like she didn’t have the personality needed to be a Top Model. What does Brittany think? Before this season of America’s Next Top Model began, I had Brittany pegged to be one of the first three out. Boy, was I wrong! Brittany, even though she didn’t have any modeling experience going into the show, blew the judges away with her flawless photos during the first few weeks. It wasn’t until she messed up on the Cover Girl commercial and royally screwed up on the go-sees that the judges gave her walking papers. But did she deserve them? What did she think of how the other girls viewed her, and why the judges eliminated her? Well, here’s what she had to say! RealityNewsOnline: Hey, Brittany, thanks for taking time out of your schedule to talk with me today. Had you watched previous seasons of the show, and what factored into your decision to apply? Brittany: I never watched the show at all, and the reason I applied was because my friend said she’d never talk to me again unless I tried out for the show and gave modeling a shot. My mom actually took me to New York when I was younger to try modeling, but I was 14 and was being stubborn, so I never committed to it. RNO: I have to get this question out of the way as soon as possible. Dionne said you rocked the acting challenge, yet blamed your short-term memory for the commercial shoot. What was going on there? Brittany: I think Dionne made a very uninformed statement. Short-term and long-term memory are different. Long-term memory is when you commit to memorizing something. Short-term memory is when you only have two to five minutes to remember something, and then be able to say it. I think that by using the cue cards during the commercial, I messed myself up because I couldn’t look at them, remember them, and then say the line. We had two hours to memorize the acting script, so it was a lot easier. I actually went first for the commercial shoot, so I was only able to read the lines during hair and makeup. I was nervous, and using the cue cards made it even worse! RNO: Did you feel like you were offering up too many excuses, and did you realize the other girls saw you that way? Brittany: To be honest, I don’t think I was offering up any excuses! I’m a very matter-of-fact kind of girl, and I normally just say things right when they enter my mind. It wasn’t me complaining, I’m just that way! I think all the girls had their catty comments. I was the nice girl in the confessionals that didn’t say anything bad about the other girls, and that’s probably why you never saw me in there! I was too nice for reality TV! RNO: You did so well at the beginning of the competition, photo-wise, so did you feel like being eliminated based on personality was fair? After all, they are looking for a model, right? Brittany: I think my elimination was fair. Tyra wants to create a model from scratch – someone that will be her protégé, and that’s fine. I understand that I signed up for a reality TV show. I heard from people that girls that do well at the beginning of the competition usually get eliminated in the middle because Tyra realizes that she won’t have the opportunity to mold them from scratch. I’m fine with that. RNO: Let’s talk a little bit about your weave gone wrong. Were you even excited when you were told about your makeover? Brittany: I was actually really excited when I found out about the long hair. I had long hair back when I was in high school, so I was pumped. You never saw, but they dyed my hair seven or eight times to get the color close to the weave, and it ended up making my scalp blister! When they sewed the hair in, they broke the blisters and there was so much scabbing and bleeding underneath that Jael told me that had I not told the judges about it at panel, she would cut it out herself when I was sleeping! RNO: Do you think the girls were a bit hard on you when you would complain about the weave, or looking back, do you think that you might have made too much of a big deal about it? Brittany: I would say that I downplayed it! I went three weeks with the scalp bleeding and didn’t say anything about it. I didn’t want to say anything about it, and when I did, it was taken out of context. As far as the other girls, I just think they were bitter because I was doing so well, and if you notice, it was really only three girls that complained about me and the weave – Diana, Renee and Whitney. RNO: Jael wrote in a letter to you that she would have sacrificed herself for you had you been sent home when it was the two of you in the bottom two. She also said that to me in my interview with her. Do you believe it? Brittany: I really do. Jael is fantastic. She’s so sweet and even told me in the holding room that if it was me sent home, she’d sacrifice herself. That’s just the way she is, though. She’s so bubbly and full of life that people either love her to death or look at her and think, “What’s wrong with her?” I love that she takes every day and lives it to the fullest. RNO: Concerning the go-sees, did you know that Priscilla could hear your yelling and cursing right outside the door? Do you think you overreacted? Brittany: Ugh, I totally overreacted. I threw an immature tantrum and it was a disaster. I didn’t even know that she could hear me, and what you didn’t see, of course, was me apologizing to Priscilla at panel. I was out of line and threw a very unnecessary fit. RNO: At the time, did you realize that the designers you saw had such a bad reaction to you? What do you think you could have done differently to sway their opinions? Brittany: I had no clue that they felt that way! I should have been myself. I was just so petrified from the previous week when I was almost sent home that I was being overly polite and cordial because I didn’t want to screw up. It sort of backfired. I was just so frustrated and started to feel like there was no world outside of the show, and that’s exactly how they want you to feel because then you act irrational, like how I was. They got their reaction out of me. However, I’m not bitter – I know what I signed up for! RNO: Were you surprised that the judges barely even mentioned Natasha being disqualified from the challenge? Just because the clients liked her doesn’t excuse her lateness, right? Brittany: It does and it doesn’t. Natasha should have been allowed in since the clocks in the taxi were five minutes slower than the clock at the agency. When I showed up, the clock said I was a minute late, so by the cab’s time, Natasha made it. As far as it not being mentioned that much at panel, I think that’s because Tyra has been singing Natasha’s praises and setting her up to do very well. The pool thing wasn’t mentioned either! RNO: Standing with Dionne, did you think you had a chance of staying or did you feel you were going home? Before elimination, you said you didn’t even think you’d be in the bottom two! Brittany: Oh, I was positive that I was going home. Before I left for the show, I was told by friends that the girls that do well early in the competition usually get sent home when there are five or six girls left so that they are the shocking elimination. I know that when I was doing well so early that I would be one of those people, but I’m fine with that. From what I’ve heard, the girls that get sent home around this time get more work than the winners! RNO: What type of advice would you give to girls that are thinking of applying to future seasons? Brittany: You really just need to be yourself. Be genuine, and you can’t go wrong. That’s my advice. RNO: What’s your plan from here? Do you think you are going to still pursue modeling, and do you think the way you were edited on the last episode might actually work against you in the real world? Brittany: No, I don’t think that. Most people in the fashion industry know that it’s a TV show and don’t even take it that seriously anyway. They know it’s an edited reality TV show, and base things more on interviews. I’m moving to New York City after the show is done airing so that I can attempt to pursue a career in modeling. I think I’ll fit in better in NYC then I would in Australia or LA. RNO: Is there anyone specific you are rooting for now that you have been eliminated? And who do you think has the most potential to take the title of America’s Next Top Model? Brittany: I’m rooting for Renee or Natasha at this point. They are both such strong women and both are beautiful. I think they both have the attributes to not only go far in the competition, but in the industry as a whole! RNO: Is there anything you would like to add or say to fans of the show? Brittany: Just thank you to the fans. I really did have a blast! RNO: Thanks, Brittany!
“I Totally Overreacted” – An Interview with America’s Next Top Model 8’s Brittany by Phil Kural -- 05/07/2007 Brittany was at the top of the pack for the first few weeks this season on America’s Next Top Model, but was sent packing when her go-sees didn’t go so well and Tyra felt like she didn’t have the personality needed to be a Top Model. What does Brittany think? Before this season of America’s Next Top Model began, I had Brittany pegged to be one of the first three out. Boy, was I wrong! Brittany, even though she didn’t have any modeling experience going into the show, blew the judges away with her flawless photos during the first few weeks. It wasn’t until she messed up on the Cover Girl commercial and royally screwed up on the go-sees that the judges gave her walking papers. But did she deserve them? What did she think of how the other girls viewed her, and why the judges eliminated her? Well, here’s what she had to say! RealityNewsOnline: Hey, Brittany, thanks for taking time out of your schedule to talk with me today. Had you watched previous seasons of the show, and what factored into your decision to apply? Brittany: I never watched the show at all, and the reason I applied was because my friend said she’d never talk to me again unless I tried out for the show and gave modeling a shot. My mom actually took me to New York when I was younger to try modeling, but I was 14 and was being stubborn, so I never committed to it. RNO: I have to get this question out of the way as soon as possible. Dionne said you rocked the acting challenge, yet blamed your short-term memory for the commercial shoot. What was going on there? Brittany: I think Dionne made a very uninformed statement. Short-term and long-term memory are different. Long-term memory is when you commit to memorizing something. Short-term memory is when you only have two to five minutes to remember something, and then be able to say it. I think that by using the cue cards during the commercial, I messed myself up because I couldn’t look at them, remember them, and then say the line. We had two hours to memorize the acting script, so it was a lot easier. I actually went first for the commercial shoot, so I was only able to read the lines during hair and makeup. I was nervous, and using the cue cards made it even worse! RNO: Did you feel like you were offering up too many excuses, and did you realize the other girls saw you that way? Brittany: To be honest, I don’t think I was offering up any excuses! I’m a very matter-of-fact kind of girl, and I normally just say things right when they enter my mind. It wasn’t me complaining, I’m just that way! I think all the girls had their catty comments. I was the nice girl in the confessionals that didn’t say anything bad about the other girls, and that’s probably why you never saw me in there! I was too nice for reality TV! RNO: You did so well at the beginning of the competition, photo-wise, so did you feel like being eliminated based on personality was fair? After all, they are looking for a model, right? Brittany: I think my elimination was fair. Tyra wants to create a model from scratch – someone that will be her protégé, and that’s fine. I understand that I signed up for a reality TV show. I heard from people that girls that do well at the beginning of the competition usually get eliminated in the middle because Tyra realizes that she won’t have the opportunity to mold them from scratch. I’m fine with that. RNO: Let’s talk a little bit about your weave gone wrong. Were you even excited when you were told about your makeover? Brittany: I was actually really excited when I found out about the long hair. I had long hair back when I was in high school, so I was pumped. You never saw, but they dyed my hair seven or eight times to get the color close to the weave, and it ended up making my scalp blister! When they sewed the hair in, they broke the blisters and there was so much scabbing and bleeding underneath that Jael told me that had I not told the judges about it at panel, she would cut it out herself when I was sleeping! RNO: Do you think the girls were a bit hard on you when you would complain about the weave, or looking back, do you think that you might have made too much of a big deal about it? Brittany: I would say that I downplayed it! I went three weeks with the scalp bleeding and didn’t say anything about it. I didn’t want to say anything about it, and when I did, it was taken out of context. As far as the other girls, I just think they were bitter because I was doing so well, and if you notice, it was really only three girls that complained about me and the weave – Diana, Renee and Whitney. RNO: Jael wrote in a letter to you that she would have sacrificed herself for you had you been sent home when it was the two of you in the bottom two. She also said that to me in my interview with her. Do you believe it? Brittany: I really do. Jael is fantastic. She’s so sweet and even told me in the holding room that if it was me sent home, she’d sacrifice herself. That’s just the way she is, though. She’s so bubbly and full of life that people either love her to death or look at her and think, “What’s wrong with her?” I love that she takes every day and lives it to the fullest. RNO: Concerning the go-sees, did you know that Priscilla could hear your yelling and cursing right outside the door? Do you think you overreacted? Brittany: Ugh, I totally overreacted. I threw an immature tantrum and it was a disaster. I didn’t even know that she could hear me, and what you didn’t see, of course, was me apologizing to Priscilla at panel. I was out of line and threw a very unnecessary fit. RNO: At the time, did you realize that the designers you saw had such a bad reaction to you? What do you think you could have done differently to sway their opinions? Brittany: I had no clue that they felt that way! I should have been myself. I was just so petrified from the previous week when I was almost sent home that I was being overly polite and cordial because I didn’t want to screw up. It sort of backfired. I was just so frustrated and started to feel like there was no world outside of the show, and that’s exactly how they want you to feel because then you act irrational, like how I was. They got their reaction out of me. However, I’m not bitter – I know what I signed up for! RNO: Were you surprised that the judges barely even mentioned Natasha being disqualified from the challenge? Just because the clients liked her doesn’t excuse her lateness, right? Brittany: It does and it doesn’t. Natasha should have been allowed in since the clocks in the taxi were five minutes slower than the clock at the agency. When I showed up, the clock said I was a minute late, so by the cab’s time, Natasha made it. As far as it not being mentioned that much at panel, I think that’s because Tyra has been singing Natasha’s praises and setting her up to do very well. The pool thing wasn’t mentioned either! RNO: Standing with Dionne, did you think you had a chance of staying or did you feel you were going home? Before elimination, you said you didn’t even think you’d be in the bottom two! Brittany: Oh, I was positive that I was going home. Before I left for the show, I was told by friends that the girls that do well early in the competition usually get sent home when there are five or six girls left so that they are the shocking elimination. I know that when I was doing well so early that I would be one of those people, but I’m fine with that. From what I’ve heard, the girls that get sent home around this time get more work than the winners! RNO: What type of advice would you give to girls that are thinking of applying to future seasons? Brittany: You really just need to be yourself. Be genuine, and you can’t go wrong. That’s my advice. RNO: What’s your plan from here? Do you think you are going to still pursue modeling, and do you think the way you were edited on the last episode might actually work against you in the real world? Brittany: No, I don’t think that. Most people in the fashion industry know that it’s a TV show and don’t even take it that seriously anyway. They know it’s an edited reality TV show, and base things more on interviews. I’m moving to New York City after the show is done airing so that I can attempt to pursue a career in modeling. I think I’ll fit in better in NYC then I would in Australia or LA. RNO: Is there anyone specific you are rooting for now that you have been eliminated? And who do you think has the most potential to take the title of America’s Next Top Model? Brittany: I’m rooting for Renee or Natasha at this point. They are both such strong women and both are beautiful. I think they both have the attributes to not only go far in the competition, but in the industry as a whole! RNO: Is there anything you would like to add or say to fans of the show? Brittany: Just thank you to the fans. I really did have a blast! RNO: Thanks, Brittany!