Stylista is the CW’s newest fashion related reality TV show, and Jason is the latest contestant to be eliminated from the show. Jason was sent packing last night after providing underwhelming photos for his team’s Elle Living page, but he’ll be better known as the guy who had a panic attack.
Jason sat down with BuddyTV today to shed light on his whole ordeal. Turns out that he was actually very ill prior to having the anxiety attack and there may have been a lot more going on that was edited out. He also gave us his honest opinion of Stylista‘s resident bitch, Megan, who might not be so bitchy after all.
Hi, this is John from BuddyTV, and I’m talking to Jason from Stylista. I want to get right into last night’s episode because you had that panic-anxiety attack. Was there anything that they didn’t show to explain further what was going on there?
Of course, of course. It is reality television and there’s so much great footage you can get in something, and I understand that. But people didn’t see was after our elimination, I actually was sick. So I ended up getting a fever and a rash and basically everything that you can think of that are cold symptoms. I kept pushing through for the next couple days because obviously I wanted this so bad. And it’s almost as if, as I was telling somebody, if you’re ill and you keep pushing and pushing and pushing, you’re going to have a finale of something bad happening. I think the anxiety attack, or whatever people are saying, it had a lot more to do with, I did have a fever, I did have this rash out of nowhere. I mean, I was ill, I was weak. My whole entire body and my bones were hurting and it felt like they were breaking. So that all was at the house, so it was something that you didn’t see. They showed that clip where I bring Danielle, Cologne and Ashlie into the room and I was crying because that was the day of elimination, saying that I don’t know if I’m physically able to go there. But basically, I kept pushing and pushing and ended up at Elle offices. When I got to the offices, I was feeling horrible, and I went to the bathroom to chill out and relax, and then that’s when my heart started pounding really fast and I couldn’t breathe and I felt dizzy and nauseous. And then voilà, you have an anxiety thing, or whatever people are calling it, which is more than that.
I’ve been modeling and designing in this fashion industry almost nine years, and this never happened. And I’ve been under way more stressful situations than an elimination process, you know. So there was more to it than a panic attack. That could have added on to all of it, but being very ill, I think, led up to all of that happening.
When you were eliminated, then, the criticism was of the photography. Do you think it was just the photography? Do you think your illness may have somehow contributed to that?
I think so. Honestly, I’m not 100 percent sure, but Joe Zee and Anne [Slowey] were always good to me. They gave me advice and criticism that I took in a positive way and everything like that as well. But a lot of times, I tell myself, if I would have ever told anyone that I was sick and just kept pushing through, would the things happen different? Because I’m not necessarily sure if Anne or Joe Zee knew that, hey, this kid just got back from the hospital less than an hour ago and now he’s doing an elimination in front of all of you. You know, I think that things may have been a little different because, if you think about it, if you’re running a well-known magazine, photography that’s not that great over mixing up captions on photos, the world can decide for themselves what one is worse. Do you want to read a magazine that has captions that don’t even go together, or a magazine with photos that are somewhat nice but not your favorite?
With only two episodes, were there any skills or certain talents that you felt would have helped you in the competition, but which you just never got a chance to show off in these first two episodes?
Yeah. I think that in the first episode, what you guys didn’t see was that I was the leader for that group. I basically got my group together and led our group to what happened, saving us from elimination. But the second time, I think that none of those people really wanted to hear what I had to say. And in the episode, you can see me talking about, you know, Anne wanted leisure, Anne wanted style, and that’s what I’m telling them and none of them are listening. I mean, I don’t know. I think that these people knew what they wanted to do in the beginning by having me eliminated, so they didn’t care what I had to say or anything.
What are your thoughts on the other contestants you got to hang around with? We’ve seen a lot about not a lot of people like Megan in the house, and I’m wondering, is that just for TV, or is that actually how everyone felt?
Like I told somebody else, I honestly think that Megan is a good person. Seeing her say the things about me last night was kind of shocking because there was a time that Megan and I, outside of the house, were able to go to church because I was going to church in remembrance of my grandmother and my mother who passed away. So me and Megan did go to church together. No one else in the house wanted to go with me. She volunteered to. And we had a very deep conversation about life and death and everything. Both of us were teary-eyed and things like that, and it was a side of Megan that nobody saw. And of course we weren’t miked and it wasn’t filmed or anything. I do think it’s for TV. I do think it’s for TV. When you’re labeled as the Omarosa of Stylista, in order to stay on the show, you’re going to keep acting that way. You’re going to keep doing that. But of course, I’m sure she didn’t like certain people in the house; no one is ever going to get along 100 percent. But I honestly think it was just for TV.
What are you going to be doing in the future in the fashion industry?
I have been working on my men’s and women’s clothing line. I’ve been doing that since I was a teenager, so lots of fashion shows and things like that around the United States. So, basically, just trying to get both of my lines launched and coming out with a fragrance. And a new music video for “So What,” and I’m actually going to be designing for one of the contestants on the upcoming season of American Idol. I’ve just been getting lots of great offers from people to work with them. Good things are happening to me, and I think it has definitely been a positive experience. I’m very thankful to Anne and Joe and Tyra and everyone giving me the opportunity to be on Stylista. It’s done nothing but help my career in a way that I never imagined.
-Interview conducted by John Kubicek
(Image courtesy of the CW)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
