Plus-Size Top Model Winner Dishes out Food for Thought
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67 days 17 hours 2 minutes ago
Are we at last at the end of the era of stick figures on the catwalk? If
America's Next Top Model winner Whitney Thompson has anything to say about it — and does she ever! — the answer is a resounding yes. But before the 20-year-old Floridian takes off to change the world, TVGuide.com rang her up to discuss what's really important: her bitchy housemates, Tyra Banks' mind games and that questionable Anna Nicole Smith makeover. So pour yourself a diet soda — no, a
regular soda — and enjoy!
TVGuide.com: After being in the bottom two four times, how shocked were you when you won this thing?
Whitney Thompson: [Laughs] Did you see my face? Pretty shocked! I never really thought that I would make it as far as I did. You tell yourself every week that you’re going to, and then when it actually happens, you think, “What? Are you sure?” It’s shocking.
TVGuide.com: Week after week, the judges seemed to be gunning for you, and yet they kept passing you through to the next show. That had to mess with your mind.
Whitney: It really [did]. “You’re fake! You’re ugly! And… we’re keeping you.” They definitely try to break down everyone’s ego on the show, which is great, but it’s incredibly humbling. You really have to remember that it’s constructive criticism. They really are trying to help you, even though sometimes they do it in the nastiest possible way.
TVGuide.com: Do you think Tyra might have cut you some slack because she really wanted a plus-size model to win this time around?
Whitney: Definitely not! I worked my butt off every single week. One thing that separates me from other plus-size models who have been in earlier cycles is that I’m saying, “I’m not emaciated, I’m not starving myself and yet I’m considered plus-size. Why is that? Why is a healthy size considered too big?" So I have this message that I’m trying to carry with me. It was incredibly difficult, but I kept thinking, “If I don’t make it, then who is going to be a role model for my 13-year-old cousin? Who are the first-graders that I teach in elementary school going to look up to? Are they going to be a completely lost generation because all of their role models are in rehab or have eating disorders?" I told myself that failure was not an option and pushed through.
TVGuide.com: The judges kept ragging on you for being fake, but when I watch a CoverGirl commercial, they don’t exactly strike me as spontaneous. What am I missing there?
Whitney: As a viewer, you see me 24/7 on camera. You see everything that I do, everything that I say. As a judge, they see me 10 minutes once a week at panel. We’re standing there, we have one picture, we say about two sentences and that’s that. Then we say our goodbyes. I’m sure the judges have a different perception of me after watching the show — now they can see my personality. I mean, I think if I was fake and pageant-y, I probably would have had a lot more friends and been a little nicer in certain situations. But I’m pretty blunt. So I think the judges just got the wrong impression, which is incredibly difficult to overcome.
TVGuide.com: Speaking of being blunt, some of the other girls have said in their exit interviews that you’re not as nice as you seemed on camera.
Whitney: [Laughs] I’m sure they’re not happy that I won. I’m sure that’s a difficult thing to deal with. But I actually made a lot of friends in the house that they didn’t even show on camera. So I thought I looked a lot meaner on camera [than I really am], because they don’t ever show me being friends with Anya or Fatima… <
