Cassandra – America’s Next Top Model

Q) Who is your favorite designer?

A) I would have to say Ralph Lauren. I love his Polo line since it is very classy and conservative. It’s just a classic polished look and I kind of think that emulates my style. I’m very conservative, traditional and classy. I think it’s very polished and refined, which is a great look for anybody.

Q) Why did you decide to apply for the show?

A) I was very interested in modeling. I thought this was something I wanted to do and looked at it as a great opportunity.

Q) What was your audition like?

A) I was not sure if I wanted to go to the casting call. I went back and forth probably twenty times about whether to go or not. I ended up going and it was a local affiliate casting call. The affiliate was to pick a winner who they were going to fly out and meet the casting director. Well, I lost. I ended up getting a call back a couple weeks later from the casting director who had seen my tape (they had taped all of the girls who had come through) and I ended up making it through all of the way.

Q) What was it like meeting Tyra Banks?

A) It was pretty cool. She’s a big time celebrity and has been for the last decade. It’s really cool seeing someone you always see in magazines or in Victoria Secret. You think, “Wow, I get to see her in person and see what she is really like!”

Q) Why didn’t you cut your hair, despite your mother’s support to cut it?

A) I talked to my mom for about twenty minutes and they did not air all of that conversation. My mom basically said that if it were her that she would cut her hair just another inch since she doesn’t care about her hair. But, since you are looking at it as a matter of principal then I don’t think you should do it. I think you should do what is going to make you happy. It wasn’t just the hair. The hair was kind of the final icing on the cake. That was just it. They kept trying to change my personality, the way I dress and told me I couldn’t act classy or lady like. They said I needed to act punk or edgy and that’s just not me. I didn’t want to not be myself, but to be someone that I didn’t want to be.

Q) Have you changed your hair since being on the show?

A) I am a brunette again and I have, by far, received the best feedback from that. I still have the short hair, my hair wasn’t long enough to get extensions, actually. So, I’m just growing it out and working on that. It’s still short, but it’s back to brunette and I’ve gotten a lot of compliments about having short hair, but the blond was a no go.

Q) Did you feel the judges were too fixated on your “beauty pageant image?”

A) Oh yeah! They just couldn’t get over the fact that beauty pageants are something that I do, but they don’t define who I am. They just threw it in my face every time something was wrong or every time they had something negative to say they kind of related it to pageants. There is a long-standing pageant/model rivalry and I think that’s what they chose to blame it on.

Q) What did you like about living in the house?

A) I loved the house itself. It’s just the coolest house I’d ever lived in. They had a hot tub in the ground! I really liked all of the girls, too. I had fun getting to live there and getting to know all of the girls.

Q) Who do you plan on keeping in touch with?

A) I still talk to Bre. I really liked Bre. Bre and I really got along very well and we kind of connected. I also will probably keep talking to Sarah. I talk to a few girls, but it is kind of hard to keep in touch with everybody.

Q) What are you going to do now that you are no longer on the show?

A) I’m back in school. I only have one year left; I’m a senior. So, I really wanted to go and get my degree and finish. I’m so close, so why not? I probably will be doing Ms. Texas again in June.

Q) Are you headed for the Tyra Banks show next?

A) Hopefully!

Q) Who do you think will win?

A) I don’t know. I think that they all have the potential to win the show. So, I guess you’ll just have to watch and find out.

Q) What is your most memorable moment from being on the show?

A) I really liked the super hero shoot. I am never going to have the opportunity to do that again. That was kind of off the wall. I am such an adrenaline junkie. I love bungee jumping and I took a course in rock climbing. Plus, I’d love to go skydiving. So, being strung between two buildings and getting to fly was so much fun!

Q) What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?

A) I would like to say thank you for understanding. A lot of people think it’s just an inch of hair and why did I not just cut it, but it wasn’t just the inch of hair. It was the fact that they were trying to change my personality and my style. Some people understand that and some people don’t. So, I’m just really thankful for the people that do understand that.