Interviews: America's Next Top Model- Elimination Interview with Noelle

SpyRI writes, "Noelle became the 4th contestant eliminated from UPN’s hit show, America’s Next Top Model. Despite having great pictures, the judges decided to send her home, where she was able to reunite with her young son, and will keep working towards an acting and modeling career. In our conversation today, she talks about why she wasn’t surprised to be eliminated, Michelle’s ‘flesh eating bacteria’ scare, and why everyone loves Lluvy.

Hi Noelle!

Hi! How are you today?Oh, I’m good, thanks! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today!

(laughs) Well, that’s ok, I took the day of work, so why not?Well, I’ve got a bunch of questions, so I’ll start with the obvious- Were you surprised to be eliminated instead of Lluvy?

Not really!Really?

Yeah, I kind of knew- I think maternal instincts work in more ways than one! I really just kind of knew. I was comfortable with my picture, but I knew when my name didn’t get called out in the first few, I knew it was my time to go, and that’s ok. That’s why I kind of smiled, I’m ok with it.Of course, you must be back with your adorable son, who you seemed to miss a lot. Is that great?

Yes, oh my god, I love him so much. He’s the best ever. He’s my everything- my heart and my soul. I’m thrilled to be back with him. It must have been so hard to be away from him- Were you worried about being away from him for the filming of the show or how to juggle motherhood with a modeling career?

Do you mean now? Or how I thought then?

Oh, now, I guess

No... And here’s why. I think- well, that’s the longest I’ve ever been away from my son since he was born, so I think that now I’ve been through it and seen how hard it is when I can’t be with my son, I can find jobs modeling and acting where he can come along. I’m telling myself that just because I’m a mom doesn’t mean that I can’t make it happen. I don’t think it’s going to affect things.

I have to ask what the stylists, Tyra, the Jays and everyone all said during your makeover. For some reason, they seemed determined that your hair should be straight, not curly. I have curly hair too, so I was wondering if they said why your hair had to be straight? And did they blow it out, or use relaxing stuff or what?

Well, they blew it out and straight ironed it. I think, and they didn’t tell me this, so this is my assumption, but I think it’s because I look so young. I look very innocent, and very young, and I think the curly hair gives me the girl next door look- Not that everyone can have that hair, I mean, people pay to have curly hair, but I think they were trying to make me look a little bit edgy and more versatile. That’s the job as a model, you have to be able to pull off curly or straight, black or blonde, and they just wanted to see how I could carry off that look, I think.While you’re in the apartment, do you have anything to do in there? Like, books, or cards or games or anything?

I brought books- I love to read. I love to read. Oh, what’s your favorite book?

(laughs) oh, that’s so hard! I don’t have a favorite book, I have a favorite trilogy-The Three Sisters trilogy by Nora Roberts.

Oh, ok, I think I’ve read something by her..Oh, she’s amazing. And, oh we would do modeling practicing too- like it would be "Look sad!" and three girls would try to pull off a sad high fashion face- we would do things like that. We had a shaving cream fight.I hope they show that!

You find things to do, I guess, is my point. When you have no... well, making dinner can be an event! I don’t know, we just did what normal girls do, whatever that is!The Got Milk ads were amazing- how long did it take for them to do the makeup?

Oh, God, mine took a while, because I had a lot of body makeup too, to go with the dark skin. Oh, it must have taken two or three hours. They had to get the right coloring, and then they had to make my lips lighter... I loved the outcome! It was so cool! I’m half-black, and thought I’d never look black, so I was like now I do! I loved it- it was amazing.Well, last night’s episode was a pretty exciting one, with the amazing photo shoot and with the drama about Michelle’s skin condition. A lot of people online are confused about your conversation with your mom - just like the timeline? It seemed from what we saw that you told her about Michelle’s skin, and then she mentioned the flesh eating bacteria thing, later you said that your mom told you about the flesh-eating thing first, before you mentioned Michelle?

Oh, the way you saw it was correct- I called my mom, and was like, "Mom, this girl’s got this thing on her face", and she’s my mom, you know, and a week or so ago she’d been reading in the news about this bacteria eating people’s skin, so her maternal instinct just went off, and she was like "Oh my god", and thought about what she’d seen in the news, and said oh, stay away from her. So, yes, I have a big mouth, so I’m telling the girls, and Becca called her mom, who said the same thing, and Tatiana called her mom, and she said the same thing, so we’re all going eww! So I think it was a series of events where it just got escalated by all of our parents saying the same thing- it just got blown out of proportion.Who in the house was easiest and hardest to live with?

Let’s see... the hardest to live with... besides myself? (laughs) I think everyone has their moments. We all had moments - for me, I missed my son a lot, other girls missed their families... I couldn’t single anyone out. I think the easiest person in the house to live with has to be Lluvy. Has to be. The thing about Lluvy is that she is just as giggly and bubbly as she looks. It would be impossible to hate Lluvy- we all told her that! She’s just so nice, and so loving, she’s just very sweet. I’d have to say she was the easiest to live with, but there were others, too.Now that you’re out of the contest, who do you think will win?

Well, of course, I’m partial to the girls I became friends with, but I’d like to think... oh, well, I’ve got my top favorites, if that would help!That’d be great!

My top favorites would have to be Kahlen, Naima, and Rebecca.What are your plans now? Are you going to keep working at a modeling career? Will you stay in Reno?

Oh, I’m looking towards everything, I kind of think of this as a jumping off point for me, I want to get into modeling more, and I’d love to get into acting. I’ve been acting since I was talking, always in plays and in theater and everything. I want to do everything- I’ve told everyone this, but this is not the end of me- this is just a beginning! You’ll get sick of me from seeing me so much!Well, I’ll look forward to that!

This is not the end for me, I’m not giving up. When I accept my first Oscar, I’ll remind everyone of this! (laughs)That’s great, gosh, I just want to say thank you again, congratulations, and good luck!

Noelle, thank you so much and good luck to you! TVRules would like to thank Noelle and UPN for granting this interview.

Noelle took some fabulous photos, despite being the shortest contestant this cycle. Janice didn’t seem to think Noelle looked the part in person though, and even Tyra told her she wasn’t ‘modelesque’. Find out how Noelle is taking her elimination, and how her son reacted to seeing his mom on television!

Hi Noelle! How do you feel about the reasons behind your elimination? Do you think that the photos are more important than the ‘in person’ appearance?

I think they’re both important. They’re the professionals, and if they don’t think I’m “modelesque” enough, then that’s their call. I trust their opinions; they’ve been doing this for years.

I’m not too upset about the whole thing though, really! I wish I could cry for you and make up some sob story, but I’m just not upset. It was a great experience and I got do to all kinds of things I wouldn’t have done otherwise. What’s to be upset about?

What do you think it was that set you apart from the thousands of other applicants?

I’m loud! Maybe they thought they could use me as the disease card, with endometriosis. Ha! Seriously, I have the ability to be comfortable in any situation. I mean really, I was willing to walk in front of strangers, and on national TV, in a bra and panties after giving birth to my son.

Speaking of that, how did you get your shape back so well after delivery?

Oh, you’re going to hate me just like everyone else who has asked that question! I only gained 12 pounds during the entire pregnancy. I carried my son really far back and really high, so I never got stretch marks or anything like that.

Well I don’t hate you, but I’m a little envious! Okay, did you have to wait until the end of taping to see your son?

I saw my son when everyone else got to see their families. It was hard, but the reunion was even sweeter after all that waiting. I saw him in the car when they were pulling up, and I was just in tears!

How did Damien handle being away from you for so long?

Well my mom and my boyfriend’s parents looked after him (thank God!) while I was away, and they showed him lots of pictures and I got to talk to him on the phone. They read him the same stories that I read to him, and sang the same songs – they tried to keep things as normal as possible.

It was hard for him though. He cried every night for me. It broke my heart when they told me that.

So are you going to continue modeling now?

Oh come on! Do I really have to answer that question? YES! Of course!

That was so not the last time you’re going to see me! I don’t care if I have to break down doors, I’ll still be modeling!

You said on the show that you don’t really get the chance to watch runway models on TV because you’re busy with your son. Do you think you had a disadvantage because of that, or were the other girls unfamiliar as well?

Well, a lot of other girls had no idea what haute couture was either. Rebecca knows fashion, and Keenyah – that girl is a modeling genius. She knows everything about everyone.

But really, I mean I do my makeup in the car with my son in the back. When do I have time to learn this stuff?

How do you wear your hair now – curly or straight?

Oh boy, okay. My hair is naturally curly. I have to get up in the morning and get myself and a two-year-old ready to go out the door. I can either wash my hair and blow-dry it straight, which takes hours, or I can wash it, flip my head over and finger-comb it, and walk out the door.

So the answer would be curly.

Oh yeah. I do wear it straight occasionally, and it’s grown out again. It’s back down to my hips. I need to get it cut soon.

Did you let Damien watch Mommy on TV?

We did. He freaked out! “Momma? On TV? Nuh-uh!”

Should I tell you this? Why not. Remember the topless shoot we did? You know there were no nipples or anything showing, but at that time Damien was learning body parts. So he’s watching, and all of a sudden he says, “See boo-bee! Mommy boo-bee!” It was too funny!

Okay, I know you’ve been asked this all day, but do you think maybe you over-reacted just a bit to Michelle’s skin condition?

Oh, here we go! Totally, yes, I admit it. Straight up, I over-reacted. But look at it this way – I never said anything until I talked to my mom. Rebecca’s mom and Tatiana’s mom both said the same things too.

So when you’re watching someone’s skin falling off their face, and your family from the outside is telling you about this horrible flesh-eating disease that’s making headlines and killing people, who else wouldn’t over-react?

So yes, I over-reacted, but with good reason.

If you could trade places with one of the judges for one day, who would it be and why?

Hmm, there are two of them.

First, Tyra. Duh. She’s like an enterprise all on her own. Everyone knows Tyra Banks. And to be honest, I’d love to have boobs for a day. I have no boobs now that breastfeeding is done.

Second, and my boyfriend is going to kick my ass for this, but I’d trade places with Nigel. Just to see what it would feel like to be gorgeous and have an accent. You know, you’re there with a bunch of women and there’s no testosterone, and then here’s this great-looking guy with an accent …

But it would be fun to be a photographer too, and see what life is like on the other side of the lens.

Noelle, thanks a bunch – it was great fun talking to you! Good luck!!

Thanks Carrie – you’ll be seeing me again!