America's Next Top Model

Dionne Walters became the tenth girl eliminated from America's Next Top Model Cycle 8 last night. After making it to the final four, Dionne continued to struggle with softening her facial expressions during her shoot, and needed constant direction from Jay. During judging panel, the girls were asked who they thought had the most amount of Top Model potential, and Dionne was the only girl to not say herself. Before eliminating Dionne from the race to become America’s Next Top Model, Tyra asked, “If your path is rocky, and you don’t believe in yourself, who’s going to believe in you?” Dionne took some time to stop by BuddyTV earlier today to talk about her experience being on the show, the challenges she faced, and what she regretted most about last night.

Read the full interview transcript below and listen to the MP3 audio after the jump.

How did you end up on America’s Next Top Model?

The way that I got on to America’s Next Top Model, I went to the interview in my home town in Montgomery Alabama. They were having casting calls and I went there and probably a few days later I received a call saying that they wanted me to come to Atlanta for a call back. And I went there and I met the casting director Michelle Mock and she said she liked me so they invited me to LA for the semi finals and I went through a lot of signing papers, a lot of testing, a lot of IQ tests, you know see a psychiatrist and from there, Tyra decided that she wanted to choose me as one of her final 13.

What would you say was the best part of the experience for you?

The best part of the experience for me was actually just getting to know all these people, getting the opportunity to do something that I would never have gotten to do if I hadn’t went to that interview. So I think that there are all of these people and just having a great opportunity was the best part for me.

What was the hardest part?

The hardest part of being on Top Model was being away from my little girl. You know she was a year old when I started Top Model, it was very hard, but I didn’t let it show. So that was basically the hardest thing for me.

On last night’s episode, you weren’t very thrilled about the “dance” challenge and you admitted you didn’t really try as hard as you could have. Do you think your performance hurt your chances of winning in the end?

No, I really don’t think that hurt me in the end. At this point I kind of really feel that she had, they had already made their decision as to who they wanted to leave and who they wanted to stay. So I don’t really feel like it affected me at all.

What did you think of Natasha in general…it seemed like the rest of you were kind of teaming up on her?
Well, first off we did not team up on Natasha. You know there was never a time where Jaslene, Renee and I decided that were going to get together and form an alliance and gang up on Natasha, that was not the case. In fact, that never happened. I would say that, my thoughts on Natasha now is that she is a wonderful girl, she has a positive attitude and now that her communication is better with me, I understand what she is saying now. My whole overall thought of Natasha is that she’s a wonderful girl and that she would be a great friend to keep in contact with.

One of the criticisms you received was when it came to your photos was that you struggled with being able to really connect with the camera and tended to look controlling and mean. Did you agree with their feedback?

Well some of the feedback I did agree with. The things that they said that I had this mean look on my face all the time, you know, I don’t know that I’m doing that, it’s just a natural look for me. I really tried to correct that, I tried practicing that in the mirror, I tried different looks and things, different expressions, but I guess when it was time for the photo shoot, they didn’t see that, so I guess I wasn’t trying hard enough for them because they always said that I was looking mean. You know it’s just something that I have to overcome, it takes practice, practice makes perfect, so I just continue on practicing and making sure that I get better at the situation from what it was then.

What were you thinking when you found yourself in the bottom two for the 2nd week in a row, and given that it was Natasha that was in the bottom two with you?

Oh, well, being in the bottom two again sucked. No one wants to be in the bottom two because when it’s time to go to panel, we all know that those feelings we had the first day, the first time we ever went to panel are going to come back. It’s a feeling that’s indescribable because you’re scared, you’re nervous, you don’t know what you’re gonna say, you don’t know what they’re gonna say to you, so that was like a crazy experience. I was a little ticked off that I was once again in the bottom two and I couldn’t understand why when I thought I did a great job in my photo shoot. I thought I did a great job during the challenges, you know, and at the same time I felt like I did not deserve to be in the bottom two once again. But we were down to the final four, so obviously they had to make a decision on who they wanted to be in the bottom two.

How did you feel about their decision and being sent home instead of Natasha?

The decision that they made, I really think that they should have thought a little bit longer on that because I felt like it was not my time to go. I was not ready to go home at all because I had this desire to win it, I had this yearning to be a model and I just felt that it was not my time to go, but by them choosing Natasha it hurt. I’m not gonna lie to you, it hurt me really bad, to where I was speechless, I couldn’t say anything. Overall, I think that they probably did make a great decision in choosing Natasha, but at the same time, none of us was very pleased. We all came through obstacles to get to where we were, so just making the final four, I’m absolutely happy with that.

Speaking of obstacles, what would you say was the toughest challenge for you?

I would probably say that the dance challenge was probably the toughest challenge that I had to overcome. Like I said again we were out in the wilderness and it was cold and I couldn’t adapt to the environment or anything so I think that one was probably the hardest.

Was there anything you wish they showed about you, that they didn’t?

Actually they showed me really well. They actually showed my character because that was me being me. Usually the footage you do get to see, you would basically get to see me cleaning up or something, you know, cleaning the bathroom or cleaning the kitchen, or you know some motherly stuff that women do. Other than that I think they did a good job of portraying me other than at the beginning when they showed me as the girl that was so talkative, which was the total opposite. Other than that everything was fine.

Who do you think will win?

The two that I would think that would be in the final two would be Jaslene and Natasha. The reason I say them is because there hasn’t been a Latino to win or a Russian to win, so they’re obviously two unique people that were in the competition because they were different. I would have to say that it would be between those two.

So what are your plans now? Will you continue to model?

My plans now, yes definitely I will continue to model if someone comes across me and is like hey, we want to look at you and sign you, definitely, I would definitely continue to model.

Do you have any final thoughts about last night or the show in general?

Last night’s show I would definitely say I only have one regret and that’s the final question Tyra asked me, “Who do I think has the most potential?” If I had the chance to do it all over again I would have definitely said myself because I did not, it was a lack of communication because I didn’t really understand that she was asking out of the four of us and that it was just the three. So definitely, if I had the chance to do it again I would definitely have said myself.

Do you think your response had a big effect on the judge’s decision?

Yeah I think my response had an affect on the judge’s decision because she wants someone, Tyra wants someone that is passionate and that believes in themselves and by me stating that to her, that made her seem like, Oh, Dionne doesn’t really believe in herself, you know what I mean? It was the complete opposite because I do believe in myself and I know that I can be a Top Model and I think that was the breaking point right there for her when she decided, no I don’t want to keep Dionne in this competition.

(Interview conducted by Royce Yuen)

(Photo courtesy of CW)