America's Next Top Model

Last night, on America's Next Top Model, Claire landed in the bottom two for the second week in a row.  Though she takes decent photos, the judges hadn't seen any improvement in her and felt she lacked listening skills in her photo shoots.  As she stood next to Lauren last night, the viewers seemed confident that Claire, a three time Cover Girl of the Week, would be granted another chance.  Tyra shocked everyone and sent Claire home.  Many strong models have come and gone early in the season.  First Marvita, now Claire.  What is going on this season?  Today, Claire tried to explain in her exclusive BuddyTV interview.

Below, you will find the complete transcript and mp3 of the interview.

Hey everybody, this is Gina from BuddyTV, and today, I'm talking to Claire from America's Next Top Model.

Hi.


Hey Claire, how are you?

Good, how are you?


I'm good. Thanks so much for doing the interview.

You're welcome. Thanks for having me.


I'm a mom too, so I was wondering how hard it was for you to leave your baby behind to go on the show. I was sympathizing with you and thinking that must be really difficult.

Yeah, it was basically impossible. I still can't believe that I did it. It's so hard even, I've been a day away from her now in L.A., and I'm still missing her. It's so hard to tear yourself into two, like I had to kind of syke with myself into, okay, this is model Claire, competition Claire. It was hard to leave that behind, and I think it caught up to me in the end.


You had such a strong start too, being Cover Girl of the week. When you watched that back, were you excited to see how the viewers received you on the show?

I couldn't believe it. I was so amazed to win Cover Girl of the week over and over again. It's so wonderful to feel that support out there, and it was also that they were editing me to look so great so that I could have this great fall.


Being a mom, you must have felt more mature than the other girls in the house. Did you feel different than they were? They were fighting about alarm clocks and coffee, and all kinds of silly things. What was your take on it?

Yeah, it was silly, but it is really easy to get caught up in it also. You start feeling like you're in high school again. But I did feel separate from the house in a way. A lot of times I'd be going around and I was just in my world. Even if these girls are screaming at the tops of their lungs to each other, you just walk by and keep on doing what you're doing.


I really liked your makeover this season with the short blond hair. I'm wondering if you kept it, or if you went back to your darker hair?

My hair is still blond. I've kept it for now, but I don't know how long I'll be able to keep it up. It's so much chemicals to be pouring on your head that it can't be good for me, or the environment. I don't know, my hair might start falling out or something.


What happened in last night's photo shoot? I definitely didn't think it was the weakest, and a lot of BuddyTV readers were shocked that you went home. What did you think happened?

Well, one interesting thing is, it was not the best picture, but it wasn't that bad. Tyra actually said, "Claire, your roll was a beautiful roll of film." She loved it, and she said it was like watching a dance to look at my film. So that was kind of stinging, and also Mr. Jay said that it was a really great shoot and they were so excited after I was done with my shoot. Then to go home was kind of heartbreaking in a way, but after being in the bottom two the previous week, it was kind of hard for them to choose anyone else.


It seems like this season it's becoming a little bit more about personality than talent when people are getting eliminated, especially with you and Marvita going out so early. Do you agree with that?

I think what the judges, now especially, they want to see improvement more than just skill. The fact that I wasn't impressing them more every single week is like the greatest fault that you could have.


Do you have any opinion as to why Lauren is still in the competition? I think she takes great photos, I just can't see her on a runway. I'm wondering why you think she's still there?

The judges just love Lauren. She takes amazing photos, and it's like anything that Lauren does, they just love it. She doesn't do high heels, they love it. She's awkward, they love it. It's one of those things, like she does seem like a real model, kind of all awkward and a raw beauty. I think they gave me another chance after being in the bottom two the previous week, so they wanted to give her another chance.


Yeah, they definitely have a thing for the awkward models in the last few seasons. Do you have a favorite photo that you took this season?

I liked the homeless shoot, just because of the cause and raising awareness about that. The makeover photo was nice. The one on the bridge I think is just funny, because I look like a superhero.


How do you plan on balancing motherhood with a career in modeling now?

It is going to be tricky as always, but I've always been trying to balance motherhood, making films and videos, and work. So it's with a lot of help from my husband. We'll just see how it goes.


Do you have anything you want to say to your fans who have supported you all season?

I want to say thank you to all the fans, and I'm sorry that I didn't make it all the way. You'll definitely see lots more of me in the future.


Thanks so much Claire, I really appreciate it.

Thank you.

- Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of CBS)