“I Am an Adrenaline Junky!” – An Interview with Wickedly Perfect’s Darlene

RealityNewsOnline: Thank you so much for doing this interview!

Darlene: Thank you for asking me.

RNO: I was sad to see you eliminated.

Darlene: You were sad? I cried for five days! I have been beating myself up for four months, wondering where I went wrong. I must have relived that challenge in my head at least 55 hundred times.

RNO: How did you learn about Wickedly Perfect?

Darlene: My sister-in-law Katherine in L.A. sent me an e-mail with the CBS link and said, “You should check this out,” so I went to the site and got goose bumps. I called my husband George into the computer room and showed him the contest information. He said, “Oh, doll, you’ve got to go for this! I’m behind you 100%.” That was all I needed to know I had to pursue a chance at the competition.

RNO: Did you see yourself in a leadership role during the game?

Darlene: Honestly, we shared leadership roles depending on each individual’s area of expertise. I feel as though we may have accomplished more and done a better job if there was a designated leader, as they do on The Apprentice. The landscape challenge in particular lacked leadership, but due to the number of “type A” personalities, there were too many chiefs, too little trust, and not enough Indians. I had more of a leadership role in the Living Art episode because of the costume sewing involved and my theater background. Most of the other challenges, my ideas were overruled by majority and everyone just did their own things, allowing the chips to fall where they may. In retrospect, even if I had forced myself into the leadership role in the landscape challenge, I don’t think it would have saved me in the competition. As the leader, I would have intercepted Heather’s pergola way before so much time was wasted. I may even have been able to help her with the initial planning, which would have altered the results slightly by giving all of us more time to get the plantings completed but still not enough of a difference for the win.

RNO: What did you learn the most? Which skill did you develop the most?

Darlene: I learned that I never knew that I had such a rubber face! I realized that I am so much more than a little near-do-well housewife from New Port Richey, Florida… that I have more talent and common sense than I realized. I would have to say that I even surprised myself with my woodworking skills. I was forced to “get ‘er done” and I applied logical sewing knowledge to carpentry and it worked! Yeehaw!

RNO: How long did it take you to make that incredible picnic table in the vacant lot challenge?

Darlene: It must have taken me three or four hours, including the two benches. After I completed the table and benches, Mychael did all the painting and transformed the raw wood into bold red picnic furniture!

RNO: Did your impression of any other contestant change dramatically throughout the game?

Darlene: Oh, yes indeed! Where do I begin? How can you meet 11 strangers and not have your first impression of them change over 30 days? In my eyes, some became the Pavarottis of the home dec world and others turned out to be Milli Vanillis.

RNO: Which challenge was your favorite?

Darlene: My favorite had to be the camping challenge because I had never been camping and I love to go on adventures and learn new things. I also love the woods and being outdoors. It makes me think about the early pioneers of this great land and how thankful I am that they had the guts to come here and rough it and work with the earth so that my life today can be comfortable. But if I had stayed on the show, I know that episode nine would have been my favorite, and my competitors’ least favorite because I have been preparing craft and sewing demos and teaching and selling them live on air for eight years.