Pre-show interviews
2 shorter NYers on 'America's Next Top Model' are ready to stand tall in competition
Lulu Braithwaite's friends always told her she lived her life like she was on a reality show.
Well, now she's going to be.
Braithwaite, from Brooklyn, is one of 14 women on the new season of "America's Next Top Model," premiering Wednesday night at 9 on the CW.
"Top Model," hosted by Tyra Banks, features women competing for a modeling contract. And Braithwaite, like the rest of her competition in this cycle, is shorter than the modeling industry standard - 5-feet-7 and under.
"I feel like this show is going to open so many doors for us girls who are on the shorter side," said Braithwaite, 19. "We just have to believe in ourselves because you can be 5-foot-2 but have 6-foot-2 confidence."
Queens native Lisa Ramos also made it into the top 14 of this year's "Top Model." She's 5-foot-5 and says she'd been trying to break into the modeling industry for two years before landing on the show.
"Tyra told us it didn't matter if we were short," said Ramos, also 19. "If we really wanted to model, we just had to keep at it."
Both Braithwaite and Ramos say seeing Banks in person for the first time was like meeting a walking, talking Barbie doll.
"It was insane," said Braithwaite. "I felt like I was looking at the television screen, even though she was sitting right in front of me. She is so gorgeous."
And both were well aware of the drama that often comes with living with 13 other girls under one roof. Especially after having watched previous seasons.
"There have been a few contestants in the past who made me think about how I was going to act," said Ramos. "I didn't want to act a fool, but I knew I wasn't going to disrespect anyone's privacy or anything like that. I understand boundaries."
"I'm very outspoken and need to think before I speak sometimes," Braithwaite admitted. "I can see how that would annoy some people, so I tried to censor myself in those kind of situations. It made me go nuts a little because I wasn't really being myself."
You'll have to tune in to see how the women fare in the competition (and in their "Ty-overs," aka makeovers), but you can rest assured both will continue to pursue modeling whether they won the big prize or not.
"I learned so much about the modeling industry and how competitive you have to be," said Ramos, who's also a full-time student at Stony Brook University, majoring in health science. "I'm definitely going to keep at it."
"This show gave me hope," Braithwaite said. "I'm not going to let the height issue stop me anymore."
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Meet our 'Top Model'
If ambition could be measured in inches, Cal State Bakersfield student Sundai Love surely would tower over her competitors on "America's Next Top Model," which begins its 13th cycle on The CW network Wednesday.
Alas, drive and guts might add character but they don't make you taller, and at 5 foot 3, Love is actually the shortest girl in the bunch. But the fact that a half-pint hottie like Love would make the show at all is good news for short women everywhere and a first for the reality show, where the leggy Tyra Banks reigns supreme.
Dubbing this round of the popular series "Little Women," the show accepted would-be models no taller than 5 feet 7 inches.
"There have been top supermodels in the past that weren't as tall as the industry demands, like fashion icon Kate Moss," noted Banks in a media release.
Whether Love can outpose, outwalk and outscheme the 13 other pretty faces remains to be seen, but just getting her stilettos in the door was a big deal.
"I auditioned in Los Angeles and it was a very stressful process," Love said. "The room was filled with beautiful girls that were much taller
than me. ... "I was so nervous, I was the only one that messed up saying my own name! ... Then out of all
the girls that were there she only called out about five numbers and mine was one. I was so excited I couldn't believe it. My sister actually didn't make it past that cut. After that, I had a call-back where the audition process was even longer with triple as many girls as the first."
Love has lived in Bakersfield her entire life, starting at Plantation Elementary and attending Liberty and Golden Valley high schools. She was a Bakersfield College student when she learned she would meet Tyra.
Love's family, which consists of her mother and big sister Kristin is tight, and she has quite a little managerie of pets. As for hobbies: "I like to pogo stick even though everyone thinks I'm crazy for pogo-sticking. I love cartoons and sadly that's where a lot of my time goes, if I'm not wrapped up in BYS (Black Young Stars) a group I'm in on campus."
More of our e-mail chat with Love:
How did you find out that "America's Next Top Model" was going to feature shorter women?
My sister has been trying out every year even though she's not 5'9" and this year she found out they were casting models 5'7" and under. She told me I should come and try out and they might like me because of my unique features, but I thought they would pick my prettier sister over me. I'm more of a tomboy but I still wanted to model as much as her. So we both drove down to L.A. to try out.
How were you notified that you had been selected?
I got a phone call in the middle of my class by a guy and he said you have made it to casting week. I tend to day dream and I didn't really hear him. The next day he called asking me many questions about myself and I said "Why are you asking me all this? Did I make it to the show?" He told me, "YES, silly,I told you this yesterday. No wonder you didn't sound excited." I started screaming and jumping all around so much that me and (my friend) Anthony almost got into a car accident.
What did you do to celebrate?
Sadly, I couldn't tell many people at all so I only told my sister and mother. They acted more excited than me when I told them. We didn't celebrate but my mom did make me spaghetti -- my favorite -- before I left and my sister took me to get sushi, my other favorite.
What did you think of Tyra when you met her?
It was amazing seeing Tyra. I had been waiting for so long to meet her and she's much taller and even more beautiful in person than she is on TV. I felt so small seeing her.
Have you always wanted to be a model?
I have always wanted to be a model even as a small child and having an older sister that wanted to be a model too really help.
Have you done any modeling before this?
I've done small acting and modeling roles before the show. Some print work, a hair runway show, and a few music videos.
Are things changing for models shorter in stature? Can a model of an average or below-average height expect to have a career as a supermodel?
I always believed in one saying "You can be and have whatever you want on this earth if you try hard enough," and getting onto the show really proves it. Anyone of any height can be a model if they really apply themselves and make sure they're one of the best.
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CU student competes in 'America's Next Top Model' finals
Nicole Fox, a sophomore at the University of Colorado majoring in fine arts, doesn't fit the stereotype of a reality show contestant.
The 18-year-old Louisville resident says she's "just the girl next door," and a former Monarch High School teacher describes her as "a quiet person."
But it was recently revealed Fox would be the first Colorado contestant to make it to the "America`s Next Top Model" finals. Season 13 of the show, which features Fox and 13 other model hopefuls, premieres at 8 p.m. Wednesday on CWTV. This season's twist is that all the contestants are 5 feet, 7 inches tall or shorter -- putting them all under the industry standard for runway models.
Fox said she's gone through awkward phases, been "none too popular with the in-crowd" and driven her mom's car into the garage door.
"I represent a lot of American girls out there," she said. "One aim of 'Top Model' is to show that models are actually just real, regular girls who struggle with the same problems any other girl might."
Fox graduated from Monarch High a year early, in 2008. She also attended elementary school and middle school in Louisville.
Monarch High art teacher Connie McGinley said she was surprised to learn Fox was competing on a reality show because of her quiet nature. But, she said, she expects her former student to do well.
"She's very intelligent and very creative," McGinley said. "She's a beautiful person on the inside and on the outside. She has a lot going for her."
She said Fox, who turned down a scholarship at the University of Denver to attend CU with her older sister, is one of the best artists she's taught in her 30-year-career.
Fox said her dream job is a combination of artist, model and writer.
"I admire the artistry involved in the fashion industry," she said. "From designers to photographers to stylists, the industry is filled with creative, passionate people -- a world I would love to be a part of. Models get to embody an emotion and to use their bodies to convey that feeling for the camera. In doing so, you become a work of art yourself."
Though at 5 feet, 7 inches she's one of the tallest contestants on the show this season, she said being shorter than a typical runway model is "not the ideal." But, she said, photographers want to work with the best models, regardless of height.
"Either you have it or you don't," she said. "If you don't, it won`t take long to find that out -- and by find that out, I mean be informed bluntly and to your face numerous times."
Fox said she bought concert tickets for the night of the premiere because "I really don't relish the idea of watching myself on TV."
"I'm well aware that most episodes are filled with the most embarrassing footage of the contestants," she said.
Instead, she said, she's hoping her two sisters will tape the show for her to watch later.
"That way they can brace me for anything ahead of time," she said.
The winner will receive a $100,000 contract with CoverGirl Cosmetics, a contract for representation by Wilhelmina Models and a cover and six-page spread in Seventeen Magazine.
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