‘America’s Next Top Model’: Anslee on Alasia, ‘She doesn’t know who she is’

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Anslee, the former pageant girl and married mother of one, was eliminated last week on “America’s Next Top Model.” She may have had one of the harshest elimination episodes we’ve seen this cycle.

In the drag queen runway challenge, she says the show made it look as if not one audience member clapped for her. In the elimination, Tyra Banks told her she might be more suited to beauty modeling, which means only taking close-up pictures from the chest up. Ouch.

Anslee says she’s still working on her modeling career and she already has a couple of local offers on the table. At any rate, the Dacula, Ga., native would have loved to have had just a little more time on the show.

“There’s always those little things where you wish you had more time in certain areas to ask more questions or learn a little bit more,” Anslee says. “But, overall, it taught me a little bit more about the industry and what it wants from girls these days.”

What was it like competing on the show while being away from your daughter?
I didn’t just do it for myself. I did it for her, so I kind of just kept that in my mind and kept thinking that it will only last so long and then I’ll be back with her soon. It wasn’t as bad as it looked like on TV.
So, you still think it was worth it?
Oh, yes, completely. The first time the show aired, that right there made it all worthwhile. [My daughter] was completely mesmerized.

Who did you get along with the most?
Krista and Alexandra, I was actually friends with them. I still talk to Alexandra probably once or twice a week. I haven’t been able to get a hold of Krista lately, but people have their lives that they go back to. But, yeah, those were my buddies.

Who were your least favorite women in the house?
I wouldn’t say I had any least favorites. Of course, I had confrontations with certain people. You know I’m one of those people that believe everyone is different and they’re different for a reason. If we were all alike the world would be quite a boring place. I didn’t really get a long with Brenda that much, because she whined a lot. And I just thought she thought her problems were worse than anybody else’s and it’s a little frustrating to hear her whine about her hair all the time. I mean you weren’t the only person who got their hair cut off.

That’s true. She did talk to me a lot about her hair.
Well, I think she’s the kind of girl that gets stuck on ‘this isn’t my personality’ and ‘this isn’t who I am.’ Modeling is not about who you are, but who you can portray you are.

Earlier in the season, didn’t you have a run-in with Alasia?
Yes, I did. That’s another thing where TV plays it up a little more. I went back and apologized to her and told her I was sorry for yelling at her. I explained to her why that set me off the way it did. Sometimes the way she acts and the way she says things don’t really go off well with others. I’m one of those who believe that if you have something to say to me, say it to my face. Don’t say it when you’re 10 feet down the hallway away from me. She’s young and the more I watched her, the more I started to understand that about her. She doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know who she wants to be. I remember being 18 years old. It wasn’t that long ago. I don’t think she really thinks before she opens her mouth.

When you left the house, Alexandra was feeling down. Do you know why?
She was just feeling the pressure. There is a lot of pressure and there is a lot of stress and a lot of emotional stuff that maybe you’ve never been through in your life, but you start going through there. People are picking you apart and people don’t deal so well with that. She was like me. I went through that at one point. I didn’t go through it as bad as she did. It’s when you’re sitting there thinking I haven’t won anything, I haven’t gotten best picture, I haven’t won a challenge. And you start getting down on yourself. I think she’s like me in that she has a close-knit family and when that happens you’re used to your family stepping in and picking you up. And there wasn’t anyone there to do that for her. I think that made it even harder for her. She’ll pull through it. She’s a strong-willed person.

A lot of plus-size models start well, but then hit a rough patch after not fitting in the costumes or having less dresses to pick from. Do you think that had anything to do with Alexandra’s mood?
Even me not being a plus-size model, the clothes didn’t fit me. I mean I’m busty, but I’m not a plus-size model. That was something that I fought with just as well. If there’s anything that anybody should realize about Alexandra is that she is one of the most comfortable people with her body. That’s one of the most comfortable girls in her own skin that I’ve seen in a long time.

In the last episode, you didn’t do too well in your drag catwalk. What happened there?
That’s so funny, because it was so dramatized. It wasn’t that bad. Do you honestly think that I would have stood there with my arms in the air and not a single person in there was clapping for me? I mean, come on. That’s a little extreme.

So, you’re saying the show took some editing liberties with that scene?
Yes. I’m not saying that people clapped and clapped and clapped for me, but how funny would it look if I did moderately OK at a challenge and then I get eliminated the same night. That would look pretty weird. You’ve got to kind of remember that when you’re watching the show.

Before you were eliminated, Tyra said you might be more of a beauty model. How did you feel about that?
You know it’s like that double-sided compliment, because you never know what somebody really means. On the one hand, it’s a great thing. On the other hand, it’s terrible. It’s like saying yep, you’re beautiful and someone can use you for a makeup campaign, but the rest of your body sucks. I didn’t take it as bad, because she said she was looking forward to the one-on-one photo shoot with me. I don’t think it was a bad thing. I think it was a way to say, ‘You just have to work on your poses and you’d be more apt to being a complete model.’

Who are your top three picks for the win?
Of course, I would say Alexandra and Krista, because they’re my buddies. Realistically, it’s going to be anywhere between Krista, Raina and Alasia. Alasia, because she’s favored. Raina, because she’s absolutely gorgeous and she takes fabulous pictures. The only downfall is her pictures look the same a lot, if you’ll notice. And Krista, because she’s coming out of her shell and in the next couple of shows, she’s really going to show everybody what she’s capable of.

— Jethro Nededog (follow me on Twitter @TheRealJethro)

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Top photo: Pictured: Anslee, the Dacula, Ga., native and the last woman eliminated from ‘America’s Next Top Model.’ Credit: Jonathan Mannion / Pottle Productions