“I Didn’t Think We Would Be Judged On What We Did In The House”– An Interview with America’s Next Top Model 5’s Lisa

I was pretty excited to interview Lisa, I have to admit. Although I wasn’t the biggest fan of hers, I was shocked when she was cut. Was she shocked? Find out right here! I’ll say one thing though – I expected Lisa to be a little calmer now that she isn’t on the show anymore, and wondered if she was just hyper when the cameras around. That was put to rest from the second I started speaking to her and her fireball personality came out. I have to admit, I had fun with Lisa!

RealityNewsOnline: Lisa, before I ask anything else – WHY did you think it was cool to pee in a diaper?

Lisa: Okay, first – it was a photo shoot with the “Wildboyz!” I thought it was going to be fun and everything would be okay and that nobody would be uptight, but it turned out that most of the girls were even more uptight with them around! I wasn’t trying to steal the attention away from Nicole. I was actually upstairs swimming for about an hour before all that, and when I got out of the pool, I needed something to wear, and there was this thing full of diapers right there. I swear I was set up – it was so convenient! So I put one on and thought it would be funny and get a laugh! I guess not…

RNO: Okay, with that out of the way, had you watched previous seasons of the show, and what factored into you decision to apply?

Lisa: I had never seen the show. I don’t really watch TV, but I do remember a few seasons back catching a clip of the girls reading Tyra mail and thinking “This show is so lame.” My friends had been trying for a year or so now to get me to apply, so I sent in a tape and kept getting a call back after each round of interviews. I think they liked that I was confident and knew my stuff.

RNO: Looking back, do you think it came across the wrong way when you were trying to “coach” the other girls on how to take better photos, especially since it seemed like you were just repeating what the judges said?

Lisa: That whole thing is just weird. I mean, if they were doing well, the judges wouldn’t HAVE to give them advice. I knew what I was doing. Let me put it this way – if you want to be a scientist, you should know something about science. These girls had no idea what they were doing and knew nothing about modeling. I mean, in my head I was thinking “Open up a Vogue or something!” I was just trying to help and even at the shoots, Jay Manuel would go off on them. I tired to help, but if you try to help you look like a know-it-all, and then you look over confident. There was no winning for me!

RNO: Do you think the editing might have played up your drinking for TV, or do you think the girls were justified in calling you a “drunk?”

Lisa: Oh, it was so played up. I normally only drank after the photo shoots, but who wouldn’t! Let me tell you something, Phil. I asked the producers before the show started if we would be judged on only the challenges and the shoots, or if our behavior in the house would count as well. I was assured that they were totally separate worlds. So I took the living part of the show as a vacation and a chance to live in an awesome house, so I was always having fun! I didn’t know that me drinking after shoots would be a subplot!

RNO: We all know you can be spunky and outgoing, but did the judges give you any warning that it was causing them to possibly eliminate you?

Lisa: No, because I don’t think it was my personality that eliminated me. I think it was because I wasn’t going to fit the “mold” of what they wanted. At one judging they basically told me to always wear t-shirt and jeans. I agreed, of course, but I never did. That’s just not me! I had to represent and respect myself. I don’t think I was what they were looking for.

RNO: Personally, I felt that you took the best pictures of the group most of the time, so do you think it was solely your over-the-top personality that caused you to be cut?

Lisa: Well, I mean, my personality might have seemed a bit over the top at times, but I mean, when you put someone with personality in a house with a bunch of girls that are too concerned about their image in front of the camera, of course I’m going to look over the top. Bre is the only other girl in the house that kept it real like that!

RNO: Did you feel accepted by the other girls or alienated most of the time?

Lisa: Oh, I totally felt alienated in the house. For the first half of the show though, I didn’t realize that they all hated me so much, and thought they were all my friends. Everyone always wanted to borrow my clothes and such, and it was hurtful to see how much they disliked me. Of course, there were personal issues, and even with Coryn, the girl lost 15 pounds in two weeks. As a friend, I wanted to say something and tell her to stop working out. It might sound harsh, but it’s a bit funny – she was starting to look like a piece of celery. Peel a piece away and she’s all ligaments. I’m rambling, I know!