by Gina Scarpa and Michelle Spigner

 

Last night, on America's Next Top Model, the remaining seven girls find out that their international destination is New Zealand... but only six of them will get to go. After competing in a runway challenge, judged by special guest Whitney Port (of MTV's The City), the models head to their photo shoot, in which posed with hair - lots and lots of hair! In panel, Tyra eliminates Anslee, feeling that she is only capable of taking up close, beauty shots, and needs to learn to model from head to toe. Today, Anslee spoke to RealityWanted in an exclusive interview about her experiences on the show.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: When did your interest in modeling begin and what made you want to try out for Top Model?
A. Anslee: I've done beauty pageants. My mom started me out really young and it sort of stuck with me over the years. I was 15 or 16 when I first filled out an application for America's Next Top Model and then my parents got divorced so it wasn't the right time. My friend called me about a opein casting call in Atlanta and I tried out with four hundred other girls.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: How do you balance modeling with being a mother?
A. Anslee: It's not easy. Sometimes it's extremely stressful. Anytime I do anything and my husband isn't around, I have to find a babysitter. I have a very good nanny that I sent her to. It makes it less stressful but it's not easy. I make it work.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: In the beginning, you had some conflicts with the other girls in the house. How did you deal with the drama?
A. Anslee: In the beginning, I let it bother me and I said stuff and I acted out. We're all stressed and we're all under tension. It is a competition. Everybody's got something to say because everybody comes from different backgrounds. Later on, I just decided that  I wasn't going to let it affect me and I'm not going to open my mouth. I'm going to be here for me. I realized that a little too late. Where I come from, people voice their opinions. My husband isn't but he accepts me for the way that I am. That's something that he likes about me.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You said that you wanted to do the show for your family. What were you hoping that Top Model would do for them?
A. Anslee: My day to day life then was me working two jobs, raising my daughter, and my husband working from 6am until 6:30-7 at night doing manual labor. That's hard work. He's done that for me from day one. When our daughter was first born, the whole first year, I didn't work. He didn't want me to. I felt like I owed something back to him even though he said that I don't. That's the type of person I am. A lot of it I did for my family but a lot of it I did for myself and I don't think I said that enough. That was a big dream of mine.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Tyra complimented you on your ability to pull off amazing beauty shots. Are those your favorite to do?
A. Anslee: Obviously, what comes naturally is always easier and the favorite. I think the beauty model stuff comes from doing pageants when I was little. You walk around, you turn your head, you smile, it's not complex. It's something I learned to do from a young age. The rest of it was a little sketchy. That was stuff I had to learn as the show went on.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Have you taken the advice that Tyra gave you when you were eliminated, about learning to model from head to toe?
A. Anslee: I've been doing some test shooting, not anything work related or used for that. Just for my own personal use. Standing in front of a mirror helps. That's the biggest advice I can give to girls who have trouble learning poses. You don't have to hire a photographer and do test shoots, although it does help because you can see what it looks like on camera. It works the same standing in front of a mirror. I've been making the best of it and trying to use her advice.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What's next for you and how will you continue to balance modeling and motherhood?
A. Anslee: Like I said, I have an awesome nanny that I use whenever I do things for modeling. She's willing to travel with me, even if I want to bring my daughter with me. There are some agencies I've considered in Atlanta and surrounding states. I wanna make sure I make a smart decision and not a stupid one. I'm gonna do what's best for me and for my family.

 

 

America's Next Top Model airs Wednesday at 8/7c on the CW.

 

(Image courtesy of the CW)

 

Follow Gina at twitter.com/ginascarpa

 

For more Top Model links, visit SirLinksALot.net