America's Next Top Model, Cycle 9 - Interview With Janet
Janet
Age: 23
Hometown: Bainbridge, Georgia
Occupation: Aesthetician
She was glamorous, sassy, and a true Southern beauty, but unfortunately Janet ended up as the 4th eliminee from the CW’s reality series, America’s Next Top Model 9. We recently caught up with her during a conference call interview, to find out what’s been going on since leaving the Top Model mansion.
Hi Janet. How’s everything going? Thank you for talking to us.
Janet - Hi! I’m okay. No problem.
Despite what the judges said, what is your interpretation of why you were eliminated?
Well, I guess lately they weren’t too satisfied with my photo shoots, but I actually thought that I progressed pretty well throughout each week and through each elimination. So, I felt pretty pleased with the photo shoot that day. I think mainly a lot of it had to do with television. All of us obviously have the potential to be models. They chose 13 girls out of 30,000 so there’s definitely a place in the modeling industry for us. I really stressed myself a lot. I was still dealing with the fact that I was separated from my boyfriend who was deployed while I was on the show. I spent a lot of time thinking about him and missing him.
I just wanted to have a certain reputation within the modeling industry after the show was over. I wanted them to know that I’m serious about it and it’s very important to me. I want to work and I want to get things done and do well. I didn’t cause a lot of drama in the house so I think that helps. I imagine that helps you stay on the show even if you don’t take the best pictures, for example, Bianca. Maybe if I was a little more dramatic or stirred up a little more trouble around the house, they would’ve kept me around longer. The truth is everybody’s got to go at some point, except one. So, I’m happy where I ended up.
Was your experience the way you imagined it would be?
My experience was totally, totally different. People ask me all the time, and when they see me on the street if I would do it again. I would do it again, but with different expectations. When you watch it forever you expect certain things out of it. I feel like I learned more when I watched other episodes than I did when I was on it. I don’t know. Just a lot of how you get separated from reality. I expected it would be a little more relaxed. We were escorted to and from the bathroom. It’s a big deal. They are responsible for us and the confidentiality of the show is so big. Everyone is dying to know who makes the season and who gets eliminated each week. I completely understand them having to exercise caution. It was definitely different than I thought it would be, but it was good.
What was the highlight of this competition for you?
It has to be when I did the Brazilian wax for Tyra on the cruise ship. It was the number one nail biting video on AOL so I thought that was pretty cool. It doesn’t matter what you get recognition for. It was awesome because very few people know about what goes on in an aesthetician’s life and it’s not just the waxing, it’s everything… skin care, make up, artistry and a whole lot of other things. It’s fun to add humor to what you do. It was great that Tyra put herself out there and climbed up there and interacted with me and put herself on my level even though she’s so much more advanced and so much more successful at her age. That was a very cool moment, when I gave Tyra what she calls her “kitty cat wax.”
Of the many top notch professionals who worked with the girls, is there anyone in particular that really offered a lot of help?
We worked with a ton of great people that’s for sure. Mr. J’s brutal honesty was really helpful a lot. He just told you what he saw or what he felt. Sometimes it hurt your feelings but it was honest. At times it might have seemed like he was picking on you but it’s because of all that we were going through and the stress. He just wanted us to learn and do our best. I definitely took in a lot of what he said. You learn a lot of things during panel, too. On the last night, I was concerned about having my underwear hang out on national television and I didn’t know if was appropriate while I had a shoot for that to happen. I learned that for editorial or high fashion you just get the shot no matter what and they’ll go back and edit. But, in catalog you have to make sure you’re all put together. Your underwear and bra straps aren’t showing or hanging out. That was cool. We learned little bits and pieces of information through the time that we were there. It just really helped to understand the industry better.
What did you think about the judges comparing you to Liza Minnelli?
I love Liza Minnelli but I’ve never gotten that ever in my life. I’ve gotten Wynona Ryder, I’ve gotten Julia Roberts on a meltdown… it depends. I am a chameleon to change and I have changed my looks well over a hundred times so the makeover wasn’t scary. I guess I have a little bit more predominant nose and my hair was black and cut off like hers. I don’t really think we look a whole lot alike, but like I mentioned before, I have danced a good portion of my life, so maybe the performance aspect of us is comparable. If I’m as successful as Liza Minnelli, hey, I’ll take it.
If you had the opportunity to turn the tables and give the judges a piece of advice who would it be and what would it be?
You know, maybe I could give them some advice about skin care or Brazilian waxing but a lot of them have a lot more background in the modeling industry and modeling experience. Twiggy’s been there for a long time. Twiggy says she doesn’t really see me as a model but in her day, a lot of people didn’t see her as one. It’s everyone’s opinion. I think all of them have their specialties in the industry and I think they all know what they’re speaking of.
What did you gain from this experience?
I actually learned that even though I was surrounded by a 12 million dollar house and all of these lavish things that I really love family and the reality of my life so much. I was so homesick for my boyfriend. Because of my family I didn’t want to second guess myself or do hurtful things because I just wanted them to be proud of me. I wanted my mother and father to be honored as they watched it so I became a lot more selfless and tried to help the girls and help them have a more relaxing experience there; kind of like the house mom. Also this experience is so much more than me. It’s about everyone that’s involved with the show.
You tried to encourage order in the house. Did it help?
It was disgusting! There was like yogurt that was coming down the side of the cabinet and onto the floor. There was like milk that had congealed into something else. I have never been at a point in my life where I didn’t respect or didn’t acknowledge the wonderful things that were thrust upon me. As I look back, I realize I was the oldest girl in the house. I know 22 is not old but I’ve been through a lot of things in my life and have been pretty fortunate. There’s a level of expectation you should respect other things and other people. We were 13 girls in one house and when everybody eats one meal and throws their dishes in the sink it’s overflowing. I just wanted everybody to respect themselves and other people. That house wasn’t ours or the CW's so we were just really blessed to live in a place like that. I was okay being the house mom.
Do you have any behind the scenes house stories to share?
There’s a handful of things that don’t make it into the hour because so much happens. Every time there was drama in the house, I was nowhere to be found. I was taking a nap or practicing on the runway trying to better myself in the competition so I kept my nose out of that.
What is your opinion then on Lisa who is a stripper?
You know it’s funny because I feel like Lisa’s a very real person and she never tries to be two-faced on the show. She genuinely cares about the industry and has potential as a model. As an all-around role model for girls, maybe the dancer performance background isn’t the best. But, she says she dances at a nightclub in a bikini so more or less, she’s a go go dancer. She uses the term exotic dancer and I’m sure Bianca uses that to make herself seem more solid or more worthy of the title. There’s a lot more honorable things you could do but I know that Lisa has endured a lot of hardship and a lot of things in her life. If this is what she has to do to support herself until she gets here then to each his own. Lisa has a lot of potential as a model.
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