ANTM Interview: Lauren Brie Harding
October 18, 2008 by Erin Balser
Yesterday, I sat in on a conference call with Lauren Brie Harding, the most recent eliminated contestant from America’s Next Top Model. LB was eliminated last week, but the poor girl was sick and we had to delay the interview! Thankfully, she’s all better now and chatted with us about getting into modeling, her surprise elimination and much more!
Miss the episode? Read the recap here!
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Full Q&A below the jump!
Tell us how you got involved in Top Model.
I was looking for way to get back into the industry. I was looking online and saw that ANTM was taking applications, so I applied and got on the show.
Why did you think you could be America’s Next Top Model?
I saw the show as a great opportunity to get involved in the industry again. I was modeling at fourteen and was signed with Elite, but it wasn’t the right time for me. I wanted to focus on school and sports and push modeling aside for a while. But when I decided it was time to get back into it, I was really unsure how and the show seemed like a great way to do that.
The judges had concerns that you didn’t evolve as a model. Do you agree?
No. I felt that I did really well overall. Some of my photos and my portfolio are stronger than some of the girls who are left in the house. Yes, my final photo shoot wasn’t the greatest, but overall I felt like I was a strong competitor. I know they did have concerns about my personality, but you’re only in front of panel for a very short time. There’s all the other girls there, you’re getting critiqued, how am I supposed to show my personality? I saw ANTM as a business opportunity, as you would with an agency. I tried to act as courteous, professional and attentive as possible, but I guess I went about it the wrong way and it wasn’t what the judges were looking for.
Who do you want to see win?
There’s some great girls left there right now. Elina has a great face. Analeigh has a great runway walk. It’s really up in the air and anyone could take it. I honestly couldn’t tell you who might win.
Did you leave a goodbye note for the girls? What did it say?
I did leave a note for everyone! I don’t remember what it said, because I was so upset when I wrote it.
What are your future plans, now that the show is over?
Right now, I’m a senior at university. I want to finish school and graduate. After that, I plan on moving to New York, get signed with an agency and start modeling.
Did you keep your makeover?
I did! I was blonde going into the show and they just made me blonder. It looked great, so I kept it.
What was your favorite part about being in the house with the other girls?
Probably having a pool. We didn’t have a place to workout in the house, so I swam a lot of laps to keep in shape.
Is there any advice you’d give to future contestants?
Be yourself. Everyone has their own opinions and everyone is entitled to them. But you can’t constantly change yourself to adapt to all these opinions. Share your opinions, be strong, work hard, and it will come.
What was your favorite experience on the show?
After we had done the voting is sexy shoot, and I didn’t do a great job, we did the hot air balloon shoot. That was my favorite shoot and I did really, really well in it. To learn that much about modeling and from the Js in such a short amount of time and to be able to put into practice was a great feeling. I was so proud of what I accomplished there and proud of that photo and of that shoot in general.
Were you surprised to be sent home?
Clark was eliminated the week before me, so we knew that anything could happen. If the judging was only about photos, I knew I had it in the bag. One weak photo shouldn’t be enough to send me home, my portfolio was pretty strong. But I knew if they made personality an issue, I could be in trouble. So when I was in the bottom two, and it was between me and Sheena, I knew I was going home. Sheena has a big personality and the judges love that and commented on it a lot. So I didn’t stand a chance!
Thank you for speaking with us today!
It was my pleasure!
Damn, I’m bummed that she got eliminated! Like she said, she had the strongest photos in the group, yet she was elminated because of ONE picture?? It didn’t make any sense to me. I’m not keen on watching this season and now that my favourite is gone, what’s the point??
I agree. I think this season is unfair. [like last season, im sorry but although she did a great job, the plus size girl is not top model material] you should be judged on your over-all performance..not ONE bad photo. I love top model, but it seems to be all for TV these last few seasons, and not modeling.
This show has never really been so much about modeling as it is about personality. Tyra wants a personality to shill for CG and 17. The modeling is secondary. LB was never going to win with such a subdued personality. Also, remember, Tyra controls what photos get shown at panel and which of Mr. Jay’s notes get presented at panel as well. The voting may be democratic as Paulina has said, but Tyra is controlling this as much as possible. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sheena win. It’s not about the best model but about who knows how to play Tyra’s game.
I agree, i think that it is all just becoming so staged. like Tyra picks their “best photo” but how do you REALLY know it is their best? The show was better when it wasn’t as popular and they didn’t have as much money so things weren’t as completely over the top as they are now.
She got eliminated for the better me thinks. Now she can find an agency to focus on a real modeling career. And she is not exposed too much in the show so it shouldn’t really affect people opinion on her.
HMM
SHE WAS AMAZING, LOVE LB!
I didn’t like Lauren Brie, but i think she was the strongest in pictures next to Marjorie.
This show is going downhill, i still watch it , but the winners aren’t picked based solely on modeling i think. Last season, a girl left within the first month, bc she didnt take compliments well. what the heck?
you’d think tyra is trying to make it, miss congeniality/americas next top model or something.
clark should have left earlier, her pics were never any good. Sheena should have been out by now, but she’s not bc shes bubbly and loud, and tyra likes it. Mckee, Marjorie, Lauren Brie, are the strongest by far. But I have a feeling they will dismiss Marjorie bc of her nerves, which i can’t believe she hasn’t tried to work on yet.
I love Analeigh, but she doesn’t stand out as much.
I wonder how much these girls practice on their home set. If i was them, i’d be for hours daily.
A few seasons ago, Anchal, was terrible, but they kept her around for so long. Tyra just keeps girls for drama, and who can keep the viewers interested.
It was unfairness… ;-(
though i loved LB she had 3 really good pics but 3 not so good pics. could be the editing but she came across as bland. though she should at least be in top five with marj, eline, ana, and sam
aw she is so darn beautiful she should have stayed over sheena. but i rlly like sheena to
she is beautiful and should’ve stayed atleast until the top 5. She was amazing!
Honestly this season in my opinion was the worst one yet. Lauren Brie’s elimination was the first thing to really set me off. How could Tyra eliminate a girl who she said herself had “one of the top five best photos in antm history” besides delivering two amazing photos back to back after that. All three of those photos were amoung the top ten best photos of the entire season according to BuddyTV. When a girl has delivered so much strong work she deserves to stay, and “no personality” is the oldest excuse in the book to send a girl home and in this case a complete contradiction.
Sheena should not have been in the bottom two. Elina continued to perform worse and worse each week after the bathing suits shoot. Besides this Elina was the DEFINITION of no personality. When Lauren brie was eliminated Elina had taken her third bad picture. Why should she stay when she is just continuing to do worse and worse in her photos AND she has no personality (she also continued to do worse and worse until she was eliminated.) She took ONE strong photo in the beginning and stayed all the way to the final 5. WTF?! She was a waste of space.
Joslyn was a joke and her pictures never compared to the other girls’ and Sheena’s photos was mediorcre and neither looked like models at all.
Marjorie did take interesting photos and I can understand why the judges would wanna keep her around but a big part of America’s Next Top Model is runway. Marjorie’s walk was terrible BEYOND fixable. If Hannah wasn’t chosen to be eliminated in the runway challenge then Marjorie would’ve been gone right there. Runway is so important yet they do it once in the beginning of the season and never really bring it up again until the end.
Despite all of this, all 4 of these girls make it further than Lauren Brie. Sam and Analeigh I cannot say anything bad about about. They earned their places. Mckey… well honestly she also has NO personality and I cannot stand her. She’s strange… But anyway my point is if the show was really a modeling competition the order of the girls would be based on modeling ability. If that was the case, the order of the girls would be very different from the judges’ choices. Also I don’t believe each episode should be based solely on that week’s photo and challenge. The judges really need to think about their overall body of work. It’s just strange and unfair for a girl to wow the juges so many times and get sent home for one bad picture and lack of personality.
she was right. it was unfair she was eliminated
Lauren Brie had an amazing portfolio i dont agree with her elimination. sheena did a lot worse. i thought she would go much farther