"You Have Definitely Not Seen the Last of Me": An Interview with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search's Stella Diaz

RealityNewsOnline: How did you find out about the show?

Stella Diaz: A friend of my mother's had mentioned that they (NBC and Sports Illustrated) were doing a model search, there was an open call, and it was for Sports Illustrated, and she said, "You know what, she's got a great body and she loves it, she's got a great personality, I think she should definitely give it a shot." I went online and found out about all the information, and I applied and got on the program.

RNO: How hard was it to learn a new dance in one hour?

Stella: Well, I love to dance. I'm a party girl. For me it was easy, because I love to move. I can't keep still. If you're a person that's shy and doesn't dance a lot, it's obviously going to be more difficult, but it was pretty easy for me. I had a blast. If you have one hour, your adrenaline is pumping and you're thinking, "I got to do this. I got to give it my all." I was listening carefully to one of the other Clippers dancer (Tracy, the Captain), who were teaching us individually as well, and I was trying to go over the steps and kept asking a lot of questions.

RNO: When you went to choose the wardrobe, you chose that huge blonde wig. Did you have any way to see how you looked in that wig?

Stella: Well, I'm just going to do a correction on that issue. John Barrett was the stylist (in charge of) doing all the hairstyles. We had 10 minutes to do our makeup and hair. So I did my makeup and when it came time to do my hair, John said, "Oh we're going to put this wig on you, it's going to look great. It's the 70s shoot." And I was kind of shocked, because I didn't expect it, but then again, if you're a model and you're confident, and you know how to move, you trust what you do; you're a professional.

Anything they give you, you have to do it because that's what a model is. Maybe that was my mistake that I shouldn't have used it, but you know, if he put it on me, he was the one who wanted me to use it. I did my best with it, and then I realized it's not working for me. That's why in my individual shoot, I took it off because I went up to him and said, "It's not working, you can't even see my face. Please give me another hairstyle so I can do the (individual photos) completely different."

RNO: Back in the mansion, when you were sitting in the bathtub, with Jenna and Stacy, who did you think would be eliminated?

Stella: I had no idea who was going to be eliminated. It crossed my mind that if they're eliminating people because of attitude, maybe Betti, because she had a problem with John. Maybe they'd use that against her and eliminate her. I was hoping it wasn't me.

RNO: In the previous episode, there was cake as a temptation, and in the most recent episode there was pizza. Why do you think these temptations were kept in the house?

Stella: I have no idea, but I was happy about it because I love pizza. Maybe it was a way to trick us in some sense, but we were working out and once in a while you can cheat, so I had my share of pizza. It tasted great and I was hungry at that moment, so why not?

RNO: During the elimination, you were wiping away tears before Joel (Wilkenfeld, one the judges) announced that the judges had dropped you. When did you figure out that you were going to be the one going home?

Stella: I was very nervous; I am not going to deny I was so nervous. I wondered, "Is it going to be me?" and then I started thinking (that) it was probably the whole wig incident that was going to get me dropped tonight because seeing Joel's face, it was like he was not happy about it. Not that I think it was fair, but I was thinking they're probably going to do it. I was like "OK, let's get this over with." It was freezing out there; I was trembling. You didn't see it on the camera, but I was so cold.

RNO: What have you been doing since you were eliminated from the show?

Stella: Well, to be honest, I've been getting a lot of phone calls. I'm doing a lot of things now. I'm modeling here in Puerto Rico, but I'm very interested in going to the States. I'm checking out the phone calls, seeing what offers are good or not, and I'm taking my time doing that, but you have definitely not seen the last of me. I invite you to find out more about me by going to my website. It's www.stelladiaz.com. Who knows? I might even start an acting career!

RNO: Do you have any final words for the viewers?

Stella: Well, I definitely appreciate all the support that I've been getting. On the NBC site I was in third position (in the interactive poll) with, I think it was 7.7 (out of 10). I appreciate all their support and good ratings; it means a lot to me.

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