Last Wednesday night, A.J. Stewart, a student from Sacramento, California, was the fifth girl eliminated during the during hit reality TV series, AMERICA′S NEXT TOP MODEL.
During the judging, the girls were asked to be impromptu correspondents and give their best commentary of red carpet footage featuring the ANTM judges. When A.J. froze and let her self-consciousness get the better of her, the judges began to doubt her desire to be a model.
Our own RealityTVWebsite.com Elaine James caught up with A.J. in this exclusive one-on-one interview.
Elaine James: Tell me about how you were feeling up to the point of this week′s show. You had been in the competition for awhile, you were starting to know the girls and get a feel for the experience as a whole.
A.J Stewart: The overall experience was very unique. I enjoyed figuring out how to model. For me that was the most interesting part, because I had not done it before. I also made some good friends.
Elaine James: You looked like you were having a hard time interviewing Mark Steines. Tell me more about that.
A.J. Stewart: I think that I actually am an outgoing person sometimes, but in other times when I′m in a situation that really isn′t me when I′m not. You know, I thought we were there to be modeling, and then we get this curve ball that now we are supposed to be anchors too. That′s not my thing to go up to strangers and being bubbley and ask them probing questions. It just seemed fake and it′s just not my personality.
Elaine James: What did you think when you were told you would be interviewing Janice Dickinson?
A.J. Stewart: I had a very vague idea of who she was. I actually had no idea who she was until I started leaning about her. I heard she was to be feared, that she was crazy. I actually that she was funny and I enjoyed her quite a bit. I wasn′t put off by her or anything, I think it was just the experience of trying to be an interviewer.
Elaine James: You had a hard time interviewing Janice and she kept making fun of your hat. I don′t see you persuing a career in journalism do you?
A.J. Stewart: I just thought it was funny. I didn′t let it bother me too much. I was flustered because of the yacking in my ear with the earpiece. It was distracting and the whole time I didn′t know what I was really doing and it was really weird. For me it wasn′t really something that I was cool with.
Elaine James: What did you think about being both Jennifer Lopez & Marc Anthony?
A.J. Stewart: Personally, I thought it was ridiculous. I thought I looked ridiculous, but what can you do when you are the white girl trying to play Marc Anthony? I gave it my best shot at the time. I thought some of the girls had easier parts to play that had more personalities to them. I felt like JLo and Marc Anthony were kind of hard to embody.
Elaine James: During panel, the judges said that you take beautiful pictures, but they weren′t sure if you really cared. How do you feel about this?
A.J. Stewart: I think they have a point. I definitely cared or I wouldn′t have given anything in my photos. What they were looking for was the whole package - the girls that are so stoked to be there that they can′t even breath any time they walk in the room. Part of my problem was probably that I hadn′t watched the show and I wasn′t aware of how big a deal this was to some people. It didn′t seem like a big deal to me.
Elaine James: So now that you′ve been on the show with no previous modeling and now you′ve been in the middle of it and learned about the modeling world, what do you think? Is it for you?
A.J. Stewart: I really enjoyed modeling and am going to try to persue modeling. I liked it quite a bit.
Elaine James: So what is next for you now?
A.J. Stewart: I going to try and model I guess. I′m going to put myself out there and see what happens.
Elaine James: Who will you be rooting for to win?
A.J. Stewart: I am rooting for either Caridee or Anchel. They are good girls and have good hearts.
