“I Have Cute Boobs”: An Interview with America’s Next Top Model 3’s Norelle

So there I was, basking in a sake induced haze after last night’s episode of America’s Next Top Model, when Phil Kural called to make sure that 1) I had managed to watch last night’s episode, and 2) that I would be available to interview the booted Norelle, as he had made call-backs for the Ice Capades.

Of course, I asked what time he wanted me to do it, thinking it might be something that I could fit in between my mint julep facial and pedicure I had planned for the day. Sadly, as I couldn’t tape our conversation, I had to scribble down my notes with Norelle using my Cover Girl eyeliner, since I couldn’t find a pen in my Prada handbag.

What I can tell you is this… Norelle is divine. Adorable. Sweet. Charming. Just the like we all saw her on TV. Being the polite Southern society darling that I am, I had to confess one thing to her right as we started off the interview.

“First thing’s first. Beautiful blue eyes. You have amazingly gorgeous blue eyes.” The fact that I was almost gushing was not lost on me or on Lydia, who was working on my pedicure in the salon.

“Awwww. Thank you! Thank you!” Norelle said back, and I instantly knew that if she had been in the salon with me at that moment, I would have treated her to a seaweed wrap followed by a rousing hour of reflexology from Sascha. But alas, she wasn’t with me, and we couldn’t be great gal pals on the spa circuit debating topics like where to get the best chai latte, or trading stock tips with each other while having our nails done. I had to do the next best thing, though. I had to ask her about the tea ceremony fiasco because I so felt for the lovely girl as she was being reprimanded for having her hand too high, or too low, or just not right at all.

“It was really, really, really hard,” she told me. “I think it’s something that takes more than a day to learn. Turn the bowl, wipe the bowl, bend. It was a lot to learn.”

Norelle confided that the short snippet that we saw of their training was just a mere glimpse into the entire day of tea ceremony training they had. Yes, dear readers, they had to be taught this for an entire day. But what was the deal with the door was what was really on my mind? She just could never seem to get her hand into the right spot.

“Your hand had to be seven or ten inches up on the door, I don’t remember which but it was very intense as to what you had to do and how you had to do it. It was just so much to learn!”

Okay, I thought to myself. That kind of makes sense. But let’s get to the good stuff – the fight with Ann, Eva, and Yadda (who Norelle did tell me was YAYA and not Yadda, and I silently promised to tongue lash Miss Kumquat Jones over that little slip of the tongue). Let’s face it. The fireworks were out last night with the majority of it surrounding an event that Norelle seemingly knew nothing about.

“I love Eva and Ann. We spent so much time with each other and have become such good friends. It was a competition. She told me she didn’t mean it, and I would like to hope she didn’t. She just gets stressed out and made the mistake of saying me, which made Ann wonder if she was talking about her in the same way as well.”

Norelle later confessed that she’s not a big drama queen either. With her eyes set on the goal of being named America’s Next Top Model, her focus wasn’t on forming friendships or fighting with her fellow castmates.

“I wasn’t there to scream and yell, and I don’t care if anyone said anything bad about me. I’ve been through high school and what the girls say there. Ann was really mad. [We] became such good friends that it was a shock to hear Eva say that she wanted to see me go. I really didn’t care what Eva had said.”

With the drama dealt with, we quickly moved over to her T-Mobile photo shoot. First, being the good society dame, Junior Leaguer that I am, I had to ask about her make-up, because I swear it would have taken me hours to achieve the same effect. Imagine my surprise when Norelle told me how “amazing” her make-up guy was, and that the entire effect only took half an hour to create.

I had to ask though, what did she learn from watching Tyra do her thing before heading out to take her moment in front of the camera which lead to a very captivating photo used in the final round of judging?

“You get really nervous when you get in there,” Norelle confessed. “You know that you have to take a good picture or you could be going home. Tyra was just amazing to watch. She threw herself around and did pose after pose. I just got nervous and didn’t want to risk taking a bad shot so I was more still than I should have been.”

Now, having never been to Japan myself, I did have to ask about her time spent at the capsule hotel, and to my delight, Norelle used my dear friend Kumquat Jones’ description of it – a kennel. To top it all, all of the girls had to wear a bracelet which bore the number of their capsule. And with the small confined conditions, she admitted to me that she did bang her head on the roof of her capsule on more than one occasion.