Sarah Rhoades Interview with OrwellProject.com (Oct 05)

In October of 2005, OrwellProject.com interviewed Cycle 5‘s Sarah Rhoades following her elimination and appearance on the show. Here is the text from the interview (written and posted by Jackie Helm):

Interview with Sarah, the third-eliminated contestant from Cycle 5 of America’s Next Top Model

Hi Sarah!  We are neighbors I am in Kansas City!  I call you my hometown honey in my ANTM recaps!

(Laughs) Aww…thanks!

You seemed devastated to leave.  How are you doing?

I am good now.  Even when I watched the show I cried.  It was hard to watch myself be in that much pain.  It was hard to watch and hard to go through.  But I am fine now.  It was kind of bittersweet, but I o­nly have positive things to say about it now.  It was fun.

Will you continue to pursue modeling?

I think so.  You would think that I would be a complete mess but I had a fabulous time and I still want to.  I wanted it before the show and I want it now.  So yes, I do plan o­n going further with it.

What do you think about Cassandra’s exit?

It happened really fast and it was really sudden and shocking.  I have respect and admiration for her for standing her ground.  Would I have done the same thing – no!  But I am not her.  I know she is the o­nly girl to ever quit the show.  I don’t know; you do have to wonder about her.  But I have respect for what she did.

Regarding your highly exploited friendship with Kim, did your boyfriend see the show?

That is the thing – he is not my boyfriend!  We did date before but we are just friends now.  He has always been a good friend and he has always supported me.  I called him just to talk about things, but he was not my boyfriend.  So that was not an issue at all.

When it comes to what people think about it; I think it is weird for them.  Boonville is such a really town and L.A. is so different.  There are so many different cultures in L.A. and it’s a totally different world.  I am not sure anyone really knows how to take it.

Did you develop any real feelings for Kim?

It was very real.  They did show it how it was.  There was something there.  I don’t think they even knew what to think and even I didn’t.  I didn’t go o­n the show planning for anything like that.  I didn’t even like Kim in the semi-finals.  I couldn’t stand her so it’s really funny that it all happened.  I don’t consider myself a lesbian or bisexual.  I am just me!  What happened – just happened, I was attracted to her, I don’t know why.  I saw her as a person and who she was versus her gender.  I date boys and am sort of seeing a boy now.  I didn’t really want that all o­n TV.  But it happened and I don’t regret it at all.  Kim is a great person and I am glad that I got to know her.

You’re walk was often given harsh critique.  Had you practiced the catwalk before going o­n the show?

I didn’t have a lot of modeling experience so I wasn’t really ready for that.  I guess I thought they would teach us more about modeling.  Which they didn’t and we just got thrown in to situations and were expected to perform like top models.  We o­nly had about 15 seconds each with J. Alexander so it wasn’t enough to help me at all.  Also, I have a size 7 foot and I was in 9’s and 10’s so that didn’t help at all.  Naturally I am a little klutzy even walking in tennis shoes.  I have practiced a little bit since then and I hope to get better at it.  I did my best there so it’s okay.

When it came down to you and Kim, did you know that it was going to be you to go?

Yes.  I kind of had an inkling all day.  I had a feeling that it was my time to go.  It wasn’t fun, I wasn’t ready to go and I wanted to stay longer.  I wanted to win of course and I wanted to stay with Kim and continue having fun with her.  But I knew it was my time.  It was an honor to go up against her.  I wouldn’t have wanted to lose against anybody else.  It was dramatic, but it was fun.

If you could do anything different what would it be?

I would have made out with Kim some more.  (Laughs)  I would have just tried to remain myself and stay grounded with myself.  Instead of letting the whole tripping thing get me worked up.  It just got into my head that I was going to trip and fall because that is what they thought that I did.  I couldn’t get past it.  I would try to let it go and tell myself that I was NOT going to trip and fall.

Do you think you’ll maintain friendships with any of the girls?

I hope so.  I talk to Kyle and Coryn sometimes.  I talk to Kim a lot; I just talked to her this morning.  We all kind of want the same thing in life.  I hope to remain good friends with everybody.

Who got o­n your nerves the most?

Lisa, for sure.  You can’t like everybody.  I made an effort to get along with her.  Most of what she did was drinking and bossing people around.  It was just annoying.  I still don’t like her but I have respect for her and I try to get along with her when I am near her.

There was alcohol in the house?

No, no, no.  She liked wine and she had her wine that she got for herself.  Whenever they show her telling us what to do then running into the wall – she was a little tipsy almost at all times.  There wasn’t really any drinking except mainly o­n her part.

Who has your vote to make it to the end or even win the competition?

I don’t know it’s hard to tell.  You’ll have to watch.  Vote for Kim!  But I have no idea.

What was your favorite part of the experience?

The whole thing was surreal.  The house was kick ass beautiful.  We don’t have anything like that in Booneville at all.  It was phenomenal.  I still can’t believe that I stayed in a mansion-it was gorgeous.  The limo was crazy fun.  My favorite part about the whole thing was getting to know the girls and hanging out with the girls.  I usually hang out with guys.  So it was really fun getting in touch with that side of myself.

What was your favorite photo shoot?

I love the horse photo shoot.  We were at the ranch and I felt at home and comfortable and confident.  I loved that photo shoot it was the best.  My sister works with horses so it was funny that I had a horse in mine.

Do you have any last words or shout outs?

I had really great time.  I want to say hi to my sister Samantha because she is so supportive of me through everything and I love her so much.  My whole family has been really great.  To everyone in Missouri, it’s been very fun representing.  It’s been great.

Well you represented us well.  Thank you for talking with me

Thank you!

To learn more about Cycle 5‘s Sarah Rhodes, visit her bio page here.

Source: OrwellProject.com
Photo:  CW