quote:
Another week in Tyra Bootcamp; another model feels the icy fingers of reality show doom. This week saw the expulsion of Brooke, who bubbled happily through the competition but failed at conveying sadness while she clung to Fabio (yes, that Fabio)’s leg like a recalcitrant toddler. At least she was eliminated in time to attend her high school graduation at home – oh, that’s right. She wasn’t given the boot until after she had no chance to go back for Senior Ditch Day. I guess it’s just as well, because she was believable as a final contestant, and spotting Brooke at a home game would have spoiled the suspense for us veteran watchers. Now, if she’d upped the drama just a tad, maybe there would have been hope for Brooke. What kind of reality show contestant doesn’t want to wipe her panties on people?
Hi Brooke, it’s a pleasure to talk to you today!
Oh, it’s good talking to you to!
I had pegged you to go all the way to the end, so I was surprised at your elimination.
Awww – well thank you, that’s sweet of you. I expected to go a little bit further than I did, but what’s past is past! (laughs)
How did you come to be on the show?
Ironically enough, one of my best friends, Lisa, was the one who wanted to do the show. She looked up all the information and figured out what to do and where to go, and just dragged me along with her. I was only 17 at the time, so technically I wasn’t old enough to be there. But I was going to be 18 by the time the show started filming so they let me audition. One thing led to another, and somehow I ended up in Los Angeles on the show. It was a crazy process.
How far did your friend Lisa get?
She didn’t even make it past the first day, so it was kind of sad. But she’s in L.A. doing her fashion design thing, so she’s living it up.
What did you think of the huge pictures of Tyra all around the house?
(laughs) There were definitely a lot of big pictures of Tyra around the house, and a lot of people were like, “I bet you got so fed up with it” – but it’s her show. She is obviously a great business woman, and has made a name for herself not only as a model but as a business woman. So, it’s her show. She produces it, and I guess she deserves to have those pictures if that’s what she wants. (laughs) And that’s all I’m going to say about that.
Do you think the striptease challenge with Dita von Teese was good preparation for the romance book cover shoot?
I guess if you take it in context, yeah, because they wanted you to be sexy on the cover of a magazine, so they’re going to teach you how to be sexy. I don’t know – sexy is different things to different people. I don’t necessarily consider sexy to be burlesque dancing or stripping or whatever you want to call it. I think it was good preparation, though. I’m game. (laughs)
Who were you close to in the house?
I was actually close to Jaeda, and when I tell people that they’re always surprised, but Jaeda was a comedian. They never showed that side of her on the show, but she was a cut-up, I mean like a complete ham,, the most laid back – we had a really similar background, a similar upbringing, and we got along really well.
I hate when I hear that about one of the girls and they didn’t show it on the episodes, you just have to wonder, why?
I know, I know! I’m hoping that in the upcoming recap episode they’ll show more. We had so much fun. We did impersonations of Tyra, and panel, and just cut up all the time. So I hope that you guys get to see that side of her because she was so much fun.
Can you give us your insight into the other women in the house? I’d like to read off their names and you could give me a few words or a sentence about them.
Absolutely!
A.J.: I didn’t really get along with AJ at first. Actually, I shouldn’t say that I didn’t get along with her, I just didn’t know her that well. She was so opposite of me. I’m kind of the bubbly, loud personality and she sort of kept to herself. A lot of people saw her as the dark, tortured soul, but once we started talking and became friends, I ended up loving her. She became so dear to my heart just because she is such a smart girl, and smart-witted. And she can take a beautiful photograph, so I love A.J.
Amanda and Michelle: They were such sweet girls. Michelle was more the comedian, and Amanda was the quieter, softer twin, but both of them were great. It was really cute to see how close the two sisters were during the competition – I wish I had a twin sister there with me, because they were each other’s support. It was sweet seeing their relationship unfold.
Did you feel like it was an advantage that you didn’t have to have a sister in the competition?
Oh, absolutely! We always gave them a hard time, saying we wished we had a twin sister. It would have been so much more bearable to have someone to talk to about the whole experience, and someone to go through it with you. I wish I had had a twin sister to go through the whole thing with me! (laughs)
Caridee: Caridee was such a character, I loved her. She has a groovy spirit. Very free-spirited, and fun, and loud and energetic. She can take a darn good photograph too, so I just loved her.
Eugena: Oh, people make her seem like she’s so mean, but she was one of the people I was really close to in the house. She kind of told it like it is, and you either liked her or you didn’t for it. I appreciated someone so honest and blunt in the house.
Jaeda: She was a ham, like I said, she was a cut-up and we had a really good time together. She would always talk about how she didn’t know if modeling was what she really wanted. She missed her boyfriend and her family back home all the time. I told her, “Girl, if you have passion for this, combined with your amazing look” – because I thought she was really striking – “you’re really going to go far.” I was always talking to her about wanting it more in the competition. I told her that she has the goods and she’s really got to want it, she’s got to have the passion behind it.
Megg: Rock and roll Megg. She said it just as much as they showed it on the show, if you’re wondering. (laughs) It’s all about rock n’ roll. I wasn’t super duper close to her, but I definitely appreciated her rock and rollness. Game for anything!
Melrose: We were close at the beginning, but I think she wanted to be the mother figure for everyone, and I got sick of it really fast. I think she’s a wonderful model, and I think she knows what she’s doing and does it well – but sometimes,(sounding reluctant) she would really get on my nerves. (laughs)
Hey, that’s nothing. Monique called her a monster.
(laughs) Yeah, I’m not about to accuse anyone of being a monster. All in all, I got along pretty well with all the girls. I never had too much drama, and it was easier that way because I think drama was just a burden when you’re trying to compete and you have drama back at the house, you just want to get away from it.
Anchal: She is such a stunningly beautiful girl. Obviously, I mean, everyone thinks she’s beautiful. So with Anchal, it was just trying to get her to believe in herself. I was like, “Oh, you’re beautiful, you just have to own that, baby!” She was fun, though. She slept right next to me – our beds were right next to each other – so every night we had our little ritual, we would tell each other good night. We were close.
How about Monique?
Monique wasn’t as psycho crazy as everyone makes her sound. She was crazy. She just wasn’t flat out malicious all the time. She did some crazy things, though. I was really grossed out when she wiped her panties on Melrose’s bed because I slept right next to Melrose, too. I remember all that drama unfolding. We were like, “This is so unnecessary, we’re here to model, not to wipe our panties on people and things.” (laughs)
What did you think of Tyra scolding you for saying you missed graduation?
You know, a lot of people took it as Tyra scolding me, but I really didn’t. I think that was her way of saying, “Just be proud of how far you got, no regrets.” A lot of people have said to me, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe Tyra had the audacity to tell you not to be sad, that you should be happy that you’re here over your graduation;” but I didn’t see it so much as scolding as just, “Be happy you got as far as you did, don’t be sad.” I think she was trying to be nice about it, but it came off in a roundabout way. (laughs)
You mean that’s what you thought at the time? But what did you think when you saw it on television?
I was in California so I actually saw it two hours later than all my friends back home in Texas, and they called me to say, “I can’t believe Tyra said that” -- so I was worried. I thought, “Oh my gosh, is that how it’s going to come off, that I was ungrateful for the whole experience and Tyra was mad about it?” But when I watched it, I didn’t see anything wrong with it. I was genuinely expressing myself that I was sad at how unfortunate it was that I got eliminated on the actual night of my graduation. I think she was just was just trying to say, “Hey, you knew that coming in that you were going to give that up, just be glad that you’re here because there are a lot of girls who wanted to be where you are.” And she was right, you know? I don’t regret anything for a second. I don’t have a regret in the world. Looking back, I had a wonderful time. Getting to go and live the whole Top Model experience – I wouldn’t have traded it. A graduation is a ceremony. I got my diploma, I didn’t need the five hour ceremony. (laughs)
Do you think you’ll get a phone call from Atoosa Rubenstein?
I would love it. I would totally love to hear from Atoosa again. I had the most fun out of the whole experience doing the Seventeen photoshoot. Seriously, that was the highlight of the whole experience for me, just because I think that’s the kind of modeling I was made for, not the high-fashion really edgy stuff, just the fun, commercial, Seventeen kind of stuff. So I would love to hear from Atoosa again!
Can you tell me about your plans in the future?
I’m actually in college right now, my first semester at the University of Texas in Austin. I’m majoring in broadcast journalism. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of modeling opportunities come my way, and hopefully, some do! I’m very open to pursuing modeling if the right thing comes along.
Thanks so much for your time, Brooke.
Sure, and I just want to let you know that I’m a big fan of FORT. I read it all the time! (laughs)
Cool! I’m happy to hear it!