Interview with Brooke Miller
Exclusive Interview: Brooke Miller, Former America's Next Top Model Contestant January 18, 2007 Brooke Miller was the youngest competitor on this past season of America's Next Top Model. Having just turned 18, Brooke's beauty and poise made her one of this past season's most beloved Top Models. Now at school at the University of Texas, Brooke tooke the time to sit down with us here at BuddyTV for an exclusive interview. We discussed her time on America's Next Top Model, the behind-the-scenes action and her plans for her future in modeling. How did you initially get involved with America's Next Top Model? Well it's a funny story. One of my best friends wanted to audition and had wanted to audition for a long time and she found out all the information on the website and all that good stuff. So, she kind of informed me that she was going to be going over to Dallas and wanted to know if I wanted to go, and I was like, "Okay, sure. I'll go with you." So, I went with her for a support system. I never intended to audition and, in fact, I was too young. I was only 17 at the time. But when I got there, I decided to see if they'd let me and because I was going to be 18 by the time the show started they were like, "Alright, we'll let you." One thing led to another and I ended up in Los Angeles kind of by a fluke. Were you a fan of the show beforehand? I was, actually. My girlfriends and I started watching the show consistently probably around season 5. We'd get together every Wednesday night and watch the show. It was kind of our little girls TV night; it was always fun. Did you do any modeling before America's Next Top Model? No, not at all. I'd always kind of thought about it and wanted to pursue it, but I was 5'7" and in the modeling world that's a shrimp, you know, and was never really taken seriously...I don't think I'd been taken seriously by any agents that I wanted to work with. So, this was kind of like a "Hey, why not?" Overall, how was the experience of being on the show? Oh, wow. The experience was definitely a once in a life time kind of thing. It was hectic, it was crazy, it was fun. We weren't getting a whole lot of sleep and there were tons of girls and tons of personalities. But, besides that, it was amazing. I got to meet some great people and make some great connections. I still talk to a lot of the girls today, so, it was an amazing experience and a great way to get exposure to a couple of different industries that I'm definitely interested in working with in the future. When you left the show, you were pretty emotional and said some things that made it seem like you regretted being on the show and sacrificing things like your senior prom and graduation night. Is that something you really felt, or were you just caught up in the moment when you said those things? You know, when it's all said and done, I can honestly say it was worth the experience. I was going into it knowing that I would have to give those things up like my high school graduation, but I was definitely caught up in the moment when I was being so emotional. I was completely shocked that I was going home that night and didn't expect it at all. When my head was on the chopping block, I was like, "Are you kidding me? Like, are you seriously kidding me?" Because, it was the actual night of my high school graduation. And after having watched the show myself, I don't know, I think there was some sort of drama tied up in that night, tied up in that episode. And I think that's exactly what they wanted. Who knows, though, when it comes down to it? It might have been just my time to go. You were the youngest person in the cast. What was that like? Was it intimidating? Yeah, it was a little intimidating at first because there were a lot of girls, especially like Melrose and Eugena, who had been out in the world, on their own, living on their own...self-sufficient girls. I was still living in my parent's house, mom was cooking dinner for me, doing my laundry. And here I was, kind of my first experience out in the real world all by myself in LA, in this crazy situation. There was definitely a period of adjustment that had to take place for not only me getting used to being on the show and being around cameras, but just being on my own period. But I think once I made that adjustment I was completely comfortable and was able to be pretty successful. Was it hard for you getting used to those cameras following you everywhere? Oh my God, yeah. We had to have microphones on us literally every second of the day until we had to go to sleep. And it was so uncomfortable, you'd be brushing your teeth in the morning or eating your cereal and there would be a camera person on you and I'm like, "You guys, this is so boring!" It was just funny the things they decided to capture and it would also be crazy because you'd know when something dramatic was going on in the house because like twelve camera people would show up all of a sudden out of nowhere, you know. It was definitely an adjustment. What was the hardest challenge for you? Hmm...the hardest challenge for me was probably the challenge I had to interview Janice Dickinson. (Laughs) I don't know if you caught that challenge, but I definitely called her bitchy and what people didn't see was that on the other side, we had the producers telling us, "Here's the three questions you have to ask them," and we had three very specific questions we had to ask them, and one of them had the word bitchy in it in some sort of way, like, "When is the appropriate time to be bitchy?" or something like that. And me, being the goofball that I am, got tongue tied and just spit it out as, "What makes you so bitchy?" Then she gave me the stare of death, and I was like, "Oh my God, that was not what I meant!" And of course you can't take it back. But people don't see that, so they're like, "You called her bitchy out of nowhere? You're crazy!" And then Janice Dickinson, of course, took it personally and my interview was kind of over at that point and I was like, "Ah, okay." There was really no forgiveness there so I just kind of had to suck it up and go on with it. What was one of the best things you took away from the experience? I took away an incredible working knowledge of the industry. I feel like I got an insider's glimpse of not only what you guys saw on TV, but even in the off moments, just being around people in the industry. And I also took away a lot of friendships, just because no one else had gone through the craziness that we went through. So, you know, the 12 girls or 13 girls that were in that house...I feel pretty close to a couple of them just because we all went through the same experience together and I have some great friendships to this day from it. Was there anyone in particular that you had a hard time getting along with? You know, for the most part I got along with everyone. Melrose and I had our bumpy patches after a while because she was older, like I said, and wasn't used to living with a bunch of young girls and she kind of liked to be the mother hen. So, we had some me getting annoyed moments, I guess. Me and Anchal started off a little bumpy, but in the end, I think it all worked out and I ended up loving every single one of the girls, especially now that the show is over. I really do love them all. You being a fan of the show first and watching it for so many seasons, and then finally getting an opportunity to actually interact with Tyra as a contestant on the show, what was that experience like for you? It was insane! Like you said, I'd sit on my couch every Wednesday night and watch her and watch the girls. And me being in front of them, like the very first time we walked into panel, I was like, "Whoa, this is so surreal!" So, it was definitely cool to be there and I always loved Tyra, and having her judge my pictures, it was a crazy experience. After your elimination, was there anyone in particular that you were rooting for to go all the way and win it? I was rooting really strongly for Jaeda because her and I were really close in the house. She was hilarious and I really thought she had a strong, strong look to take her to the top. But I was also rooting for CariDee; you just can't help but love the girl. She's so full of spunk and she's beautiful, so I had no doubt that she would win. Looking back on the show, do you feel that its portrayal of you was pretty true to life? Luckily, I feel like I was one of the girls that was portrayed pretty accurately. At times, it made me seem a little ditsy or a little naïve and young, and I definitely think that that was the character I was slotted to play because I'm not like that...entirely. But for the most part, I think they did a good job portraying me, I think the editing did a pretty good job. What do you think people or fans might not know about you based on what they saw on TV? Um...I'm a very smart girl! (Laughs) I graduated like number 25 out of 600 kids in high school and got into one of the best colleges in the state of Texas and, you know, I don't think people knew that from the show because I definitely came off as a goofball sometimes. But, yeah, I think I'm a lot more intelligent than a lot of people realize. (Laughs) I don't know if that sounds stuck up, but just from watching the show, I wouldn't think, "Wow, that's a smart girl right there!" (Laughs) What happened after the show when you finished filming? Well, when I was finished filming it was in the middle of the summer and I got to come home and, luckily, have my last summer at home. And then when it came August, I headed down to Austin, Texas to start school at the University of Texas and I'm majoring in Journalism there right now and loving every second of the college life. I've gotten a couple of offers for acting, from acting agents to sign up with me, and I haven't had a chance to pursue modeling like I want to because I want to work on my college education first and get a little bit of college underneath my belt. But, I think when the time comes, it's definitely something I'm going to do. So you do want to pursue modeling? Absolutely. I just think that school is really important and education is my priority right now. I just want to get a little bit of college underneath my belt before I decide, "Hey, I'm going to go out there and really hit the streets and try to see a lot of agents." Because once you get signed with an agency, your whole entire life changes and if I was to be signed and they want me to sign up and move out to LA, and I'm like, "Wait, if that doesn't work out in the future, then I don't have anything to fall back on." So, I just want to make sure I have something to fall back on. I think that's great. Yup. But, um...I also got to go to the VH1 Big in '06 Awards, which is a perk of the show, I guess you could say. A couple of the America's Next Top Model girls got invited out there so we had a really great weekend. Do you have any final thoughts for your fans out there? I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has supported me - my fans, my friends, my family. I've had such a great reaction, you know, so many messages on MySpace and that kind of stuff. It's just great to hear all the support and people don't know how much that means.
Exclusive Interview: Brooke Miller, Former America's Next Top Model Contestant January 18, 2007 Brooke Miller was the youngest competitor on this past season of America's Next Top Model. Having just turned 18, Brooke's beauty and poise made her one of this past season's most beloved Top Models. Now at school at the University of Texas, Brooke tooke the time to sit down with us here at BuddyTV for an exclusive interview. We discussed her time on America's Next Top Model, the behind-the-scenes action and her plans for her future in modeling. How did you initially get involved with America's Next Top Model? Well it's a funny story. One of my best friends wanted to audition and had wanted to audition for a long time and she found out all the information on the website and all that good stuff. So, she kind of informed me that she was going to be going over to Dallas and wanted to know if I wanted to go, and I was like, "Okay, sure. I'll go with you." So, I went with her for a support system. I never intended to audition and, in fact, I was too young. I was only 17 at the time. But when I got there, I decided to see if they'd let me and because I was going to be 18 by the time the show started they were like, "Alright, we'll let you." One thing led to another and I ended up in Los Angeles kind of by a fluke. Were you a fan of the show beforehand? I was, actually. My girlfriends and I started watching the show consistently probably around season 5. We'd get together every Wednesday night and watch the show. It was kind of our little girls TV night; it was always fun. Did you do any modeling before America's Next Top Model? No, not at all. I'd always kind of thought about it and wanted to pursue it, but I was 5'7" and in the modeling world that's a shrimp, you know, and was never really taken seriously...I don't think I'd been taken seriously by any agents that I wanted to work with. So, this was kind of like a "Hey, why not?" Overall, how was the experience of being on the show? Oh, wow. The experience was definitely a once in a life time kind of thing. It was hectic, it was crazy, it was fun. We weren't getting a whole lot of sleep and there were tons of girls and tons of personalities. But, besides that, it was amazing. I got to meet some great people and make some great connections. I still talk to a lot of the girls today, so, it was an amazing experience and a great way to get exposure to a couple of different industries that I'm definitely interested in working with in the future. When you left the show, you were pretty emotional and said some things that made it seem like you regretted being on the show and sacrificing things like your senior prom and graduation night. Is that something you really felt, or were you just caught up in the moment when you said those things? You know, when it's all said and done, I can honestly say it was worth the experience. I was going into it knowing that I would have to give those things up like my high school graduation, but I was definitely caught up in the moment when I was being so emotional. I was completely shocked that I was going home that night and didn't expect it at all. When my head was on the chopping block, I was like, "Are you kidding me? Like, are you seriously kidding me?" Because, it was the actual night of my high school graduation. And after having watched the show myself, I don't know, I think there was some sort of drama tied up in that night, tied up in that episode. And I think that's exactly what they wanted. Who knows, though, when it comes down to it? It might have been just my time to go. You were the youngest person in the cast. What was that like? Was it intimidating? Yeah, it was a little intimidating at first because there were a lot of girls, especially like Melrose and Eugena, who had been out in the world, on their own, living on their own...self-sufficient girls. I was still living in my parent's house, mom was cooking dinner for me, doing my laundry. And here I was, kind of my first experience out in the real world all by myself in LA, in this crazy situation. There was definitely a period of adjustment that had to take place for not only me getting used to being on the show and being around cameras, but just being on my own period. But I think once I made that adjustment I was completely comfortable and was able to be pretty successful. Was it hard for you getting used to those cameras following you everywhere? Oh my God, yeah. We had to have microphones on us literally every second of the day until we had to go to sleep. And it was so uncomfortable, you'd be brushing your teeth in the morning or eating your cereal and there would be a camera person on you and I'm like, "You guys, this is so boring!" It was just funny the things they decided to capture and it would also be crazy because you'd know when something dramatic was going on in the house because like twelve camera people would show up all of a sudden out of nowhere, you know. It was definitely an adjustment. What was the hardest challenge for you? Hmm...the hardest challenge for me was probably the challenge I had to interview Janice Dickinson. (Laughs) I don't know if you caught that challenge, but I definitely called her bitchy and what people didn't see was that on the other side, we had the producers telling us, "Here's the three questions you have to ask them," and we had three very specific questions we had to ask them, and one of them had the word bitchy in it in some sort of way, like, "When is the appropriate time to be bitchy?" or something like that. And me, being the goofball that I am, got tongue tied and just spit it out as, "What makes you so bitchy?" Then she gave me the stare of death, and I was like, "Oh my God, that was not what I meant!" And of course you can't take it back. But people don't see that, so they're like, "You called her bitchy out of nowhere? You're crazy!" And then Janice Dickinson, of course, took it personally and my interview was kind of over at that point and I was like, "Ah, okay." There was really no forgiveness there so I just kind of had to suck it up and go on with it. What was one of the best things you took away from the experience? I took away an incredible working knowledge of the industry. I feel like I got an insider's glimpse of not only what you guys saw on TV, but even in the off moments, just being around people in the industry. And I also took away a lot of friendships, just because no one else had gone through the craziness that we went through. So, you know, the 12 girls or 13 girls that were in that house...I feel pretty close to a couple of them just because we all went through the same experience together and I have some great friendships to this day from it. Was there anyone in particular that you had a hard time getting along with? You know, for the most part I got along with everyone. Melrose and I had our bumpy patches after a while because she was older, like I said, and wasn't used to living with a bunch of young girls and she kind of liked to be the mother hen. So, we had some me getting annoyed moments, I guess. Me and Anchal started off a little bumpy, but in the end, I think it all worked out and I ended up loving every single one of the girls, especially now that the show is over. I really do love them all. You being a fan of the show first and watching it for so many seasons, and then finally getting an opportunity to actually interact with Tyra as a contestant on the show, what was that experience like for you? It was insane! Like you said, I'd sit on my couch every Wednesday night and watch her and watch the girls. And me being in front of them, like the very first time we walked into panel, I was like, "Whoa, this is so surreal!" So, it was definitely cool to be there and I always loved Tyra, and having her judge my pictures, it was a crazy experience. After your elimination, was there anyone in particular that you were rooting for to go all the way and win it? I was rooting really strongly for Jaeda because her and I were really close in the house. She was hilarious and I really thought she had a strong, strong look to take her to the top. But I was also rooting for CariDee; you just can't help but love the girl. She's so full of spunk and she's beautiful, so I had no doubt that she would win. Looking back on the show, do you feel that its portrayal of you was pretty true to life? Luckily, I feel like I was one of the girls that was portrayed pretty accurately. At times, it made me seem a little ditsy or a little naïve and young, and I definitely think that that was the character I was slotted to play because I'm not like that...entirely. But for the most part, I think they did a good job portraying me, I think the editing did a pretty good job. What do you think people or fans might not know about you based on what they saw on TV? Um...I'm a very smart girl! (Laughs) I graduated like number 25 out of 600 kids in high school and got into one of the best colleges in the state of Texas and, you know, I don't think people knew that from the show because I definitely came off as a goofball sometimes. But, yeah, I think I'm a lot more intelligent than a lot of people realize. (Laughs) I don't know if that sounds stuck up, but just from watching the show, I wouldn't think, "Wow, that's a smart girl right there!" (Laughs) What happened after the show when you finished filming? Well, when I was finished filming it was in the middle of the summer and I got to come home and, luckily, have my last summer at home. And then when it came August, I headed down to Austin, Texas to start school at the University of Texas and I'm majoring in Journalism there right now and loving every second of the college life. I've gotten a couple of offers for acting, from acting agents to sign up with me, and I haven't had a chance to pursue modeling like I want to because I want to work on my college education first and get a little bit of college underneath my belt. But, I think when the time comes, it's definitely something I'm going to do. So you do want to pursue modeling? Absolutely. I just think that school is really important and education is my priority right now. I just want to get a little bit of college underneath my belt before I decide, "Hey, I'm going to go out there and really hit the streets and try to see a lot of agents." Because once you get signed with an agency, your whole entire life changes and if I was to be signed and they want me to sign up and move out to LA, and I'm like, "Wait, if that doesn't work out in the future, then I don't have anything to fall back on." So, I just want to make sure I have something to fall back on. I think that's great. Yup. But, um...I also got to go to the VH1 Big in '06 Awards, which is a perk of the show, I guess you could say. A couple of the America's Next Top Model girls got invited out there so we had a really great weekend. Do you have any final thoughts for your fans out there? I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has supported me - my fans, my friends, my family. I've had such a great reaction, you know, so many messages on MySpace and that kind of stuff. It's just great to hear all the support and people don't know how much that means.