"They Picked Attitude Over Results": An Interview with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search's Betti Formeus

RealityNewsOnline: How did you find out about the show?

Betti Fomeus: I had an agent of mine tell me there were going to be some castings and she said vaguely about it being a reality show, so I said, "What the heck" and just went ahead and did it.

RNO: In the second episode, you weren't too pleased about your haircut, but it turned out to be a good thing since the shoot had a '70s theme. How did you feel upon learning that?

Betti: I found it very ironic how everything fell into place. I'm very comfortable with my hair. I appreciate that [the theme] kind of went to my favor.

RNO: Did John [Barrett, the celebrity hairstylist] know the theme and that's why he styled you like that?

Betti: You know, that's a good question. If he understood how an Afro would work, I wouldn't have been through everything I had been through on the show.

RNO: What was it like rooming with Alicia? Did the two of you get along?

Betti: Yeah, I got along with her very well. We had a common ground on a lot of different things. We never really had a strong disagreement. We just respected each other.

RNO: What did you have in common?

Betti: We both play basketball. We both understood the moral of respect; we never bashed each other. We would work out together and we're both competitive people. We were able to find things in common and talk about it without being confrontational.

RNO: What was it like shooting with that husky dog?

Betti: (laughs) It was different. You're shooting with a dog, but then you're shooting with a dog that's from Alaska. They're very expressive animals and they're not easily tamed. It wasn't difficult, but it was different. I guess the challenging part was the weather - 30° in a bikini is not a pleasant thing, but I maintained focus, my shots were gorgeous and I was just proud that I was able to go through the difficult challenges in the competition and still brought out gorgeous pictures. It did not show at all in the pictures how uncomfortable I was, and that's the idea of modeling.

RNO: The judges commented on that white hat that you wore for the winter photo shoot. Why did you choose to wear that hat?

Betti: We had a stylist there. Because my hair was short and pulled back, I was able to put a hat on. The hat was not to cover up anything; the hat was just to continue the look. When I took the hat off, I wanted to show, 'Look I can do this too.'

RNO: Why do you think it came down to you and Alicia in the eliminations?

Betti: You know what? I still think about that. I'm not sure what was on those judges' minds; my pictures came out wonderful. My thing is they picked attitude over results.

It was very hypocritical that they did that because on one hand they were eliminating models pertaining to the way they looked, the way they smiled, the way the moved. They used those constructive criticisms based on how a model would be in a real professional photo shoot, and yet they did not use that same type of criticism on that particular competition. So I really felt that they falsely projected a false image of how the industry really works.

I was disappointed how the business is not the way this competition was run. They should have stuck to what they were doing and didn't get distracted with anything else. I felt disappointed that the constructive criticism they used wasn't good enough to eliminate me.

RNO: In your interview on the show's NBC website, you tell aspiring models to "know yourself first before exposing yourself" and yet the reason Roshumba gave for your elimination was that you could sometimes be insecure about yourself. How do you reconcile these two statements?

Betti: The thing is, she said that. So you'd have to ask her why she said that. In those pictures, I projected such a powerful sense of security it was unreal. When it was time for the elimination last week [at the end of the second episode], and the judges asked me, "Am I ready? Do I really want this?" There was no hesitation at all and even the editor of Sports Illustrated [Jule Campbell] wished she had my sense of confidence.

So when [Roshumba] said I had some insecurities, not only did I not understand it; I couldn't relate to it. Even the president of NEXT [Joel Wilkenfeld] did not specify anything negative towards me at all regarding my body, my pictures, my moves. As far as the person that was given the million dollars, she never said it. I think that was an opinion on her [Roshumba's] part - something that only she saw.

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

Betti: As soon as I came back I was doing Function Week, which was in Miami. I did fashion shows. I was just doing a lot of photo shoots. I'm finishing school. This is my last year and I'm getting into my internship. I'm just keeping myself going. That show wasn't going to make me or break me. That was just another stepping-stone and I'm glad I made it that far. I'm definitely more determined to reach my goals and show everyone I'm going to make it on top no matter what.

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