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I copied and pasted the article from www.suburbanchicagonews.com
The Wonder Year
Joliet's Adrianne Curry talks about her year as a model
By Annie Alleman
STAFF WRITER
Adrianne Curry still gets recognized.
"People come up to me and are like, 'You look just like Adrianne Curry from 'America's Next Top Model.'' And I'm like, 'Thank you. What a compliment.' I just play along with it."
The 21-year-old Joliet resident went from obscurity to international fame when she won "America's Next Top Model" last year. The show became a breakaway hit for UPN in its second season, and now the network is re-airing the original season. "Top Model" was created, executive produced and hosted by supermodel Tyra Banks.
The green-eyed beauty has spent a year living and working around the world in exotic locales like South Africa, Milan and Austria. Curry recently had the chance to return home to Joliet for a brief visit. She was able to make time to sit down with The Herald News and discuss her year as American's Next Top Model.
She was dressed in short shorts and a stretchy white tank that said "Don't Feed the Model" across the front. Her long, brown hair was pulled back in a jeweled silver clip. Diamond earrings sparkled in her ears and a diamond pendant lay at her throat — gifts from her favorite client, Merit Diamond Corporation. She models exquisite jewelry from the Sirena Collection.
Tough year
She admitted it's been a tough year. Fun, yes. Exciting, yes. But nonetheless, a tough year — physically and emotionally. She was told to lose weight. She was told she was too old. She was mugged in New York and nearly drowned during a commercial shoot in Miami. It was definitely a year of discovery. "I didn't realize how much responsibility was ahead of me. I've grown up a hell of a lot in one year's time," she said. "I feel like I'm 33 as opposed to 21. I'm very cultured now." The biggest change, she said, was being alone most of the time.
"I don't know anybody anywhere I go, ever," she said. "I have to make friends quickly."
Winning "America's Next Top Model" meant the opportunity for a Revlon modeling contract, representation by top modeling agency Wilhelmina Models and a guaranteed appearance in Marie Claire magazine.
Some of that has worked out; some of it hasn't. She did sign a contract with Wilhelmina, and she appeared in the English and Spanish versions of Marie Claire in the December issue. As for Revlon, she did minor work for them — no big-league contract.
She's worked in Africa, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. She's hoping to go to Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia before the year is through. But she's not making the big bucks yet.
"I pay for everything because I'm self-employed. That's how it is," she said. "They'll front you the money, and that's how you know they're serious about you because they show faith that, 'Hey, you'll make it back and pay us back.' All I do is hire them to get me the jobs."
Those jobs have ranged from "embarrassing, cheesy catalog jobs" to "jobs where I've felt like a million bucks."
"I've done bikini ads, commercials, TV, conventions ... It all boils down to one thing — money," she said, laughing. "I don't even care if it's $500 and eight hours of work. You don't get jobs every single week. I always take jobs that other models won't take. I take every job, except for disgusting, degrading jobs. Clients like me for it because they see I'm a hard worker."
She — like so many others — is waiting for her big break.
"I'm actually going to try to get a hosting job on a show. I've had a couple people interested," she said. "Acting pays more. And when you're acting, you're also modeling. Because if you haven't noticed, who's taking over the modeling world — taking all of our spreads and all of our campaigns? It's getting really hard for models to work because we don't have the same level of fame as a TV star. I lucked out because I kind of got both, a little bit."
Her hard work paid off in one respect: She'll appear in Merit Diamond commercial.
"The commercial I filmed for them is coming out this fall nationwide," she said. "I was never into jewelry or anything before, besides, like, nasty leather spiked things and stuff, but once one of those babies glittered in my eye, it took my heart with it."
She got the acting bug when she appeared on a couple of sitcoms on UPN: "Rock Me Baby" ("Dan Cortez is so cute!") and two episodes of "Half and Half."
She doesn't know yet if she'll do anything else with UPN.
"Right now, they're filming season three (of 'America's Next Top Model')," she said. "I've e-mailed Tyra a couple times; she's e-mailed me back. They're busy, and they have hardcore locks on that show; nobody can interfere from the outside world while they're in it. It's like a fishbowl.
"I hang out with Sara (Racey-Tabrizi) from season two," she said. "We got to meet the Bachelor guy (Jesse Palmer) together, whom I think is very cute. My publicist keeps telling me that I should hook up with him because he's single now." She laughed. "He's from the Midwest, too. He's a nice boy. It's been an awful year of being single."
She still keeps in touch with Tyra Banks as much as possible.
"She writes me now and then, or I write her," she said. "It's weird. We'll talk about diets, like what diet each other's on, things like that. I don't think either of us like talking about the show."
One thing she misses about her friendship with Banks is the meals they used to go to.
"We would eat the most fattening dinners ever. The last dinner I went out with her was probably in January," she said. "We ate so much! She's always getting like eight desserts and trying to make me share every single one with her. It's great to know someone else eats."
Her closest compadre during her stay in the model house for the show became Elyse Sewell, who was in the final three. She and Curry still keep in touch.
"She's doing awesome in Hong Kong. She just got the cover of Vanity Fair," Curry said. "Hong Kong loves us. I'd say they're the biggest fans of the show — people in Hong Kong. They like sent me all this stuff to my agency ... It's weird. It's like David Hasselhoff having a singing career in Germany. People take the smallest celebrities and make them huge in other countries."
Mugging victim
When she's not out of the country, Curry has an apartment in New York City. She found out the hard way that living in the Naked City comes with a price.
In October, she was mugged in the Penn Station subway. The man had just robbed a news stand and ran full-force into her while fleeing the scene. Her portfolio, backpacks and her purse flew out of her arms.
"So naturally I was like, '(expletive deleted),'" she said. "And he turns around, and that's when I notice that he's a bum, and not only is he a bum, he's completely cracked out of his mind. His eyes were just blood red, and I'm like, great. He slams my head into a tile wall ... which almost knocked me out, but not quite. When I started coming back, I saw he was running away."
That's when she realized the man had torn her purse — her new Miss Sixty designer purse with $900 in rent money — off her shoulder. The half-Italian girl from Joliet got mad. She grabbed a stick from the news stand owner and took off after him.
"He's going down to F Train, which has a particularly long escalator. And I look over, and this bastard's giving me the finger because he's halfway down, thinking I'm not going to get to him.
"I don't know why I did this," she paused, laughing and shaking her head, "but I flipped over the side and landed directly on his head. Then we scuffled for quite awhile. I ended up coming out the winning hand, but he busted up my face really, really bad. I couldn't work for two or three weeks. I realize now it was really stupid because if he would have broke something in my face or chipped a tooth, that could have screwed me.
"But I work hard for what I have, and I'm not appreciative of someone just walking up and taking it," she said. "I got my purse back, and I still have the purse to remind myself that I'm now a New Yorker because my turf was invaded and I fought it off."
She had another harrowing experience at a commercial shoot in Miami in April. The shoot called for her to be in a deep diving tank from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. It was a dark, silent, claustrophobic environment.
Physically, it was a demanding shoot, to stay under water for so long barely able to see or hear anything. She used a regulator to breath, which needs to be purged of water before a breath can be taken. At one point, she didn't purge well enough.
"I took in a deep breath and I swallowed a chunk-load of water," she said. "Which triggered the reaction of barf, which I didn't want to do (in) water that I had to film in, so I swallowed a considerable amount of water. Then I got out and vomited violently for about an hour. Then I got back in and did the rest of the shoot."
She laughed. "They had paramedics on the scene. I came out and definitely gave everyone a show for a long time."
At a casting call in South Africa, she potentially saved the life of a British man on a moped who had just been hit by an African couple. She saw the accident and ran down to investigate.
The man was seriously injured around his ribs and knee. Because medical help is so slow to arrive in Africa, she took off her shirt and stuffed it in the man's wound to slow the bleeding. That left her wearing a bra-type top that wasn't made to be outerwear.
"All these male models started running up, and they started taking care of things and telling me to step back, and this really cute guy ... gave me his shirt."
She ended up not going to the casting because everyone — including the casting directors — were at the accident scene.
"The guy was going to be OK ... It wasn't as bad as it looked," she said. "It makes me appreciate America so much more. Here, if someone had an accident that bad, you're not going to see people walking away from it."
Weighty issues
A couple of things really stood out as big eye-openers to the modeling world. A lot of the girls had eating disorders, she said, and they were constantly being told to lose weight. "I've lost as much weight as I can in a healthy way," she said. "I've dropped about two dress sizes and I've lost a whole cup size. But I eat the same; it's just that I started running a good hour a day and then going on the bicycle a good 45 minutes. I work out almost three hours a day, and it's so I can look this way and still eat whatever I want. I diet at times, but I'm just naturally muscular and bigger, so it's harder to battle. Although they want you to. But I'm happy with the way I look." Since she can't fight nature, she's going to use her curves to her advantage. "I'm trying to market as a sex object. I know it's bad, but sex sells; that's what makes money," she said. "The big (name) models normally aren't androgenous, anorexic women; they're normally cut like a woman. So I just have to get that one big break where I don't have to worry about doing high-fashion stuff anymore and I can actually do stuff where I can look like — I'm not even going to say real women because they're still like little Barbie dolls — but with a little curves here and there."
Some of the work she misses out on is runway modeling.
"I would have to lose about 10 to maybe 14 pounds to get on runway," she said. "The things I see the models go through to stay skinny ... I'd rather *********** than do all that. Yeah, I'm starting to miss out on more work than other girls, but I know I'm not fat, and if the day ever comes that I ever start thinking stupid thoughts like that, then I'm out of this industry. I'm not going to let it mind-warp me like it has everyone else."
Her best job so far has been working a diamond convention in Las Vegas for Merit Diamonds. She was able to fly her mom, Christine Curry, out for the trip.
The worst job wasn't because of horrible conditions or extreme physical challenges; it was because of a heartache.
"I did a test cover shoot for Lucky magazine, and I would only say that was the worst job because it was advertised on a couple of big things, like 'Entertainment Tonight,' that I was going to be on the cover, and I was so excited," she said. "And then when it came time for it to come out, it had some chick from 'That '70s Show' on it, and I was like, 'Nooo!' But maybe the pictures didn't turn out the way they wanted them to. That stuff happens all the time in the fashion world. For everything you're excited about, there's about 80 disappointments right behind it."
But she's learning to get a thick skin, despite the hard times.
"I have bad days," she said. "I've had days where I'm like, 'I just want to quit; I just want to go home. This isn't worth it. Nobody here cares about me; nobody would care if I got run over by a car.' Then I get angry for thinking that way. I get angry that I'm getting hindered in some way because of this image that fashion is supposed to be, which I don't understand, because I don't think anybody agrees with it, except for in the fashion world. It gets frustrating, but then it makes me want to kick a lot more ***."
She would like to see some changes made in the modeling industry.
"There was a time in the '90s when Clinton said he was going to put a smack down on the modeling world because of drugs, because of the promiscuous-looking ads with really young girls in it, and it hasn't stopped," she said. "I meet a girl and I'm like, 'How old are you?' 'Oh, I'm 14,' (she affects an accent) 'I'm from Russia, I'm from Hungary.' I see her in this ad, and I'm like, they just made her look 23 and look like she's about to jump on this guy and have sex with him in this ad, and that's horrible. I would never let my kid do this. Ever."
She's got some advice for Yoanna House, the winner of season two of "America's Next Top Model."
"She's going to hit a lot of obstacles, and she's going to have to really push," she said. "Sadly, we're both in our early 20s (Curry turns 22 Aug. 6), and we're considered ancient in the modeling world because the biggest models of last year that received all the top modeling awards were ranging in ages from 14 to 16. These are frickin' children. When I look at a 14- and a 16-year-old, I don't see someone sexy ... but the fashion world does.
"I've seen so many ads of chicks I know, and I'm like, 'That's so wrong.' And then to be told that I'm too old, but to dress all these chicks up to look like me, I'm like, what's the point? You're wasting all that makeup to make her look older, and here you could just hire me."
Best part
The chance to beef up her passport working in these exotic foreign countries has been the highlight of her year.
"South Africa's the most beautiful place on earth," she said. "I would cry sometimes just waking up and looking out of my window because it's so breath-takingly beautiful. It was like, 'I'm living here?'
"Italy was beautiful, but ... the guys were kind of gross. They were really rude, just shouting anything out at you," she said. "That's why I learned how to say (rattles off a phrase in Italian) which means, 'You have a really small penis.' I had no idea what they started yelling at me afterward."
Clearly, the year hasn't altered her personality. She's still salty, still a tomboy at heart.
"Everybody that I know, when I come home, they're like, 'You haven't changed at all,'" she said. "That's the only thing that matters to me, is to not let this get to my head."
Curry always has loved animals; no amount of money or fame could change that. She's trying to use her notoriety for a good cause. She's hoping to put together a fund-raiser for the Will County Humane Society.
"They need help. They're over-loaded on their animals, and they're backed up on some vet bills," she said. "I want to try to find some big event that will let me raise money. We're hoping this October to perhaps put together something big.
"I've always wanted to do something with animals, and I've donated to different organizations, but I can't give money that's actually going to make a difference because I have so much crap that I have to pay for everywhere," she said. "A round-trip ticket to Italy is like $2,000. Living in New York is about $2,000. You live in a rat hole with roaches, and it costs you an arm and a leg."
Happy ending
So, does Adrianne Curry's story have a happy ending?
She paused.
"I would have to say yes," she said slowly. "I mean, everybody knows the Revlon contract thing didn't totally come through the way most people thought — and the way I thought. I did convention work for them ... (and) some little cheesy video that they showed editors of magazines to pump up their new products, but they have some pretty big faces with them. I don't think they wanted to take a gamble on a reality reject." She laughed self-effacingly.
"Besides that, if this hadn't happened, I'd still be working in a restaurant in Joliet, trying to save for college. And I may not have saved that much money as of yet, but (that's because) I have a crapload of new bills that I have to pay.
"It's nice to know I'm making it my own. I'm independent now ... and I've done more things than some people that are 50, 60 years old in just one year. So I'd say it's a happy ending thus far, but hopefully it hasn't ended."
Want to see Adrianne win all over again? Check out the final two episodes from season one at 8 p.m. Tuesdays on UPN. The finale airs July 27.
07/18/04
The Wonder Year
Joliet's Adrianne Curry talks about her year as a model
By Annie Alleman
STAFF WRITER
Adrianne Curry still gets recognized.
"People come up to me and are like, 'You look just like Adrianne Curry from 'America's Next Top Model.'' And I'm like, 'Thank you. What a compliment.' I just play along with it."
The 21-year-old Joliet resident went from obscurity to international fame when she won "America's Next Top Model" last year. The show became a breakaway hit for UPN in its second season, and now the network is re-airing the original season. "Top Model" was created, executive produced and hosted by supermodel Tyra Banks.
The green-eyed beauty has spent a year living and working around the world in exotic locales like South Africa, Milan and Austria. Curry recently had the chance to return home to Joliet for a brief visit. She was able to make time to sit down with The Herald News and discuss her year as American's Next Top Model.
She was dressed in short shorts and a stretchy white tank that said "Don't Feed the Model" across the front. Her long, brown hair was pulled back in a jeweled silver clip. Diamond earrings sparkled in her ears and a diamond pendant lay at her throat — gifts from her favorite client, Merit Diamond Corporation. She models exquisite jewelry from the Sirena Collection.
Tough year
She admitted it's been a tough year. Fun, yes. Exciting, yes. But nonetheless, a tough year — physically and emotionally. She was told to lose weight. She was told she was too old. She was mugged in New York and nearly drowned during a commercial shoot in Miami. It was definitely a year of discovery. "I didn't realize how much responsibility was ahead of me. I've grown up a hell of a lot in one year's time," she said. "I feel like I'm 33 as opposed to 21. I'm very cultured now." The biggest change, she said, was being alone most of the time.
"I don't know anybody anywhere I go, ever," she said. "I have to make friends quickly."
Winning "America's Next Top Model" meant the opportunity for a Revlon modeling contract, representation by top modeling agency Wilhelmina Models and a guaranteed appearance in Marie Claire magazine.
Some of that has worked out; some of it hasn't. She did sign a contract with Wilhelmina, and she appeared in the English and Spanish versions of Marie Claire in the December issue. As for Revlon, she did minor work for them — no big-league contract.
She's worked in Africa, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. She's hoping to go to Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia before the year is through. But she's not making the big bucks yet.
"I pay for everything because I'm self-employed. That's how it is," she said. "They'll front you the money, and that's how you know they're serious about you because they show faith that, 'Hey, you'll make it back and pay us back.' All I do is hire them to get me the jobs."
Those jobs have ranged from "embarrassing, cheesy catalog jobs" to "jobs where I've felt like a million bucks."
"I've done bikini ads, commercials, TV, conventions ... It all boils down to one thing — money," she said, laughing. "I don't even care if it's $500 and eight hours of work. You don't get jobs every single week. I always take jobs that other models won't take. I take every job, except for disgusting, degrading jobs. Clients like me for it because they see I'm a hard worker."
She — like so many others — is waiting for her big break.
"I'm actually going to try to get a hosting job on a show. I've had a couple people interested," she said. "Acting pays more. And when you're acting, you're also modeling. Because if you haven't noticed, who's taking over the modeling world — taking all of our spreads and all of our campaigns? It's getting really hard for models to work because we don't have the same level of fame as a TV star. I lucked out because I kind of got both, a little bit."
Her hard work paid off in one respect: She'll appear in Merit Diamond commercial.
"The commercial I filmed for them is coming out this fall nationwide," she said. "I was never into jewelry or anything before, besides, like, nasty leather spiked things and stuff, but once one of those babies glittered in my eye, it took my heart with it."
She got the acting bug when she appeared on a couple of sitcoms on UPN: "Rock Me Baby" ("Dan Cortez is so cute!") and two episodes of "Half and Half."
She doesn't know yet if she'll do anything else with UPN.
"Right now, they're filming season three (of 'America's Next Top Model')," she said. "I've e-mailed Tyra a couple times; she's e-mailed me back. They're busy, and they have hardcore locks on that show; nobody can interfere from the outside world while they're in it. It's like a fishbowl.
"I hang out with Sara (Racey-Tabrizi) from season two," she said. "We got to meet the Bachelor guy (Jesse Palmer) together, whom I think is very cute. My publicist keeps telling me that I should hook up with him because he's single now." She laughed. "He's from the Midwest, too. He's a nice boy. It's been an awful year of being single."
She still keeps in touch with Tyra Banks as much as possible.
"She writes me now and then, or I write her," she said. "It's weird. We'll talk about diets, like what diet each other's on, things like that. I don't think either of us like talking about the show."
One thing she misses about her friendship with Banks is the meals they used to go to.
"We would eat the most fattening dinners ever. The last dinner I went out with her was probably in January," she said. "We ate so much! She's always getting like eight desserts and trying to make me share every single one with her. It's great to know someone else eats."
Her closest compadre during her stay in the model house for the show became Elyse Sewell, who was in the final three. She and Curry still keep in touch.
"She's doing awesome in Hong Kong. She just got the cover of Vanity Fair," Curry said. "Hong Kong loves us. I'd say they're the biggest fans of the show — people in Hong Kong. They like sent me all this stuff to my agency ... It's weird. It's like David Hasselhoff having a singing career in Germany. People take the smallest celebrities and make them huge in other countries."
Mugging victim
When she's not out of the country, Curry has an apartment in New York City. She found out the hard way that living in the Naked City comes with a price.
In October, she was mugged in the Penn Station subway. The man had just robbed a news stand and ran full-force into her while fleeing the scene. Her portfolio, backpacks and her purse flew out of her arms.
"So naturally I was like, '(expletive deleted),'" she said. "And he turns around, and that's when I notice that he's a bum, and not only is he a bum, he's completely cracked out of his mind. His eyes were just blood red, and I'm like, great. He slams my head into a tile wall ... which almost knocked me out, but not quite. When I started coming back, I saw he was running away."
That's when she realized the man had torn her purse — her new Miss Sixty designer purse with $900 in rent money — off her shoulder. The half-Italian girl from Joliet got mad. She grabbed a stick from the news stand owner and took off after him.
"He's going down to F Train, which has a particularly long escalator. And I look over, and this bastard's giving me the finger because he's halfway down, thinking I'm not going to get to him.
"I don't know why I did this," she paused, laughing and shaking her head, "but I flipped over the side and landed directly on his head. Then we scuffled for quite awhile. I ended up coming out the winning hand, but he busted up my face really, really bad. I couldn't work for two or three weeks. I realize now it was really stupid because if he would have broke something in my face or chipped a tooth, that could have screwed me.
"But I work hard for what I have, and I'm not appreciative of someone just walking up and taking it," she said. "I got my purse back, and I still have the purse to remind myself that I'm now a New Yorker because my turf was invaded and I fought it off."
She had another harrowing experience at a commercial shoot in Miami in April. The shoot called for her to be in a deep diving tank from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. It was a dark, silent, claustrophobic environment.
Physically, it was a demanding shoot, to stay under water for so long barely able to see or hear anything. She used a regulator to breath, which needs to be purged of water before a breath can be taken. At one point, she didn't purge well enough.
"I took in a deep breath and I swallowed a chunk-load of water," she said. "Which triggered the reaction of barf, which I didn't want to do (in) water that I had to film in, so I swallowed a considerable amount of water. Then I got out and vomited violently for about an hour. Then I got back in and did the rest of the shoot."
She laughed. "They had paramedics on the scene. I came out and definitely gave everyone a show for a long time."
At a casting call in South Africa, she potentially saved the life of a British man on a moped who had just been hit by an African couple. She saw the accident and ran down to investigate.
The man was seriously injured around his ribs and knee. Because medical help is so slow to arrive in Africa, she took off her shirt and stuffed it in the man's wound to slow the bleeding. That left her wearing a bra-type top that wasn't made to be outerwear.
"All these male models started running up, and they started taking care of things and telling me to step back, and this really cute guy ... gave me his shirt."
She ended up not going to the casting because everyone — including the casting directors — were at the accident scene.
"The guy was going to be OK ... It wasn't as bad as it looked," she said. "It makes me appreciate America so much more. Here, if someone had an accident that bad, you're not going to see people walking away from it."
Weighty issues
A couple of things really stood out as big eye-openers to the modeling world. A lot of the girls had eating disorders, she said, and they were constantly being told to lose weight. "I've lost as much weight as I can in a healthy way," she said. "I've dropped about two dress sizes and I've lost a whole cup size. But I eat the same; it's just that I started running a good hour a day and then going on the bicycle a good 45 minutes. I work out almost three hours a day, and it's so I can look this way and still eat whatever I want. I diet at times, but I'm just naturally muscular and bigger, so it's harder to battle. Although they want you to. But I'm happy with the way I look." Since she can't fight nature, she's going to use her curves to her advantage. "I'm trying to market as a sex object. I know it's bad, but sex sells; that's what makes money," she said. "The big (name) models normally aren't androgenous, anorexic women; they're normally cut like a woman. So I just have to get that one big break where I don't have to worry about doing high-fashion stuff anymore and I can actually do stuff where I can look like — I'm not even going to say real women because they're still like little Barbie dolls — but with a little curves here and there."
Some of the work she misses out on is runway modeling.
"I would have to lose about 10 to maybe 14 pounds to get on runway," she said. "The things I see the models go through to stay skinny ... I'd rather *********** than do all that. Yeah, I'm starting to miss out on more work than other girls, but I know I'm not fat, and if the day ever comes that I ever start thinking stupid thoughts like that, then I'm out of this industry. I'm not going to let it mind-warp me like it has everyone else."
Her best job so far has been working a diamond convention in Las Vegas for Merit Diamonds. She was able to fly her mom, Christine Curry, out for the trip.
The worst job wasn't because of horrible conditions or extreme physical challenges; it was because of a heartache.
"I did a test cover shoot for Lucky magazine, and I would only say that was the worst job because it was advertised on a couple of big things, like 'Entertainment Tonight,' that I was going to be on the cover, and I was so excited," she said. "And then when it came time for it to come out, it had some chick from 'That '70s Show' on it, and I was like, 'Nooo!' But maybe the pictures didn't turn out the way they wanted them to. That stuff happens all the time in the fashion world. For everything you're excited about, there's about 80 disappointments right behind it."
But she's learning to get a thick skin, despite the hard times.
"I have bad days," she said. "I've had days where I'm like, 'I just want to quit; I just want to go home. This isn't worth it. Nobody here cares about me; nobody would care if I got run over by a car.' Then I get angry for thinking that way. I get angry that I'm getting hindered in some way because of this image that fashion is supposed to be, which I don't understand, because I don't think anybody agrees with it, except for in the fashion world. It gets frustrating, but then it makes me want to kick a lot more ***."
She would like to see some changes made in the modeling industry.
"There was a time in the '90s when Clinton said he was going to put a smack down on the modeling world because of drugs, because of the promiscuous-looking ads with really young girls in it, and it hasn't stopped," she said. "I meet a girl and I'm like, 'How old are you?' 'Oh, I'm 14,' (she affects an accent) 'I'm from Russia, I'm from Hungary.' I see her in this ad, and I'm like, they just made her look 23 and look like she's about to jump on this guy and have sex with him in this ad, and that's horrible. I would never let my kid do this. Ever."
She's got some advice for Yoanna House, the winner of season two of "America's Next Top Model."
"She's going to hit a lot of obstacles, and she's going to have to really push," she said. "Sadly, we're both in our early 20s (Curry turns 22 Aug. 6), and we're considered ancient in the modeling world because the biggest models of last year that received all the top modeling awards were ranging in ages from 14 to 16. These are frickin' children. When I look at a 14- and a 16-year-old, I don't see someone sexy ... but the fashion world does.
"I've seen so many ads of chicks I know, and I'm like, 'That's so wrong.' And then to be told that I'm too old, but to dress all these chicks up to look like me, I'm like, what's the point? You're wasting all that makeup to make her look older, and here you could just hire me."
Best part
The chance to beef up her passport working in these exotic foreign countries has been the highlight of her year.
"South Africa's the most beautiful place on earth," she said. "I would cry sometimes just waking up and looking out of my window because it's so breath-takingly beautiful. It was like, 'I'm living here?'
"Italy was beautiful, but ... the guys were kind of gross. They were really rude, just shouting anything out at you," she said. "That's why I learned how to say (rattles off a phrase in Italian) which means, 'You have a really small penis.' I had no idea what they started yelling at me afterward."
Clearly, the year hasn't altered her personality. She's still salty, still a tomboy at heart.
"Everybody that I know, when I come home, they're like, 'You haven't changed at all,'" she said. "That's the only thing that matters to me, is to not let this get to my head."
Curry always has loved animals; no amount of money or fame could change that. She's trying to use her notoriety for a good cause. She's hoping to put together a fund-raiser for the Will County Humane Society.
"They need help. They're over-loaded on their animals, and they're backed up on some vet bills," she said. "I want to try to find some big event that will let me raise money. We're hoping this October to perhaps put together something big.
"I've always wanted to do something with animals, and I've donated to different organizations, but I can't give money that's actually going to make a difference because I have so much crap that I have to pay for everywhere," she said. "A round-trip ticket to Italy is like $2,000. Living in New York is about $2,000. You live in a rat hole with roaches, and it costs you an arm and a leg."
Happy ending
So, does Adrianne Curry's story have a happy ending?
She paused.
"I would have to say yes," she said slowly. "I mean, everybody knows the Revlon contract thing didn't totally come through the way most people thought — and the way I thought. I did convention work for them ... (and) some little cheesy video that they showed editors of magazines to pump up their new products, but they have some pretty big faces with them. I don't think they wanted to take a gamble on a reality reject." She laughed self-effacingly.
"Besides that, if this hadn't happened, I'd still be working in a restaurant in Joliet, trying to save for college. And I may not have saved that much money as of yet, but (that's because) I have a crapload of new bills that I have to pay.
"It's nice to know I'm making it my own. I'm independent now ... and I've done more things than some people that are 50, 60 years old in just one year. So I'd say it's a happy ending thus far, but hopefully it hasn't ended."
Want to see Adrianne win all over again? Check out the final two episodes from season one at 8 p.m. Tuesdays on UPN. The finale airs July 27.
07/18/04
I'm shocked! I thought she had an amazing body on ANTM. She's dropped two dress sizes and would have to lose 10 more pounds to do runway shows? Something's not right there...
