Odds are, Tila Tequila is your friend. The Maxim model and aspiring singer is best known for having more than 2 million friends on MySpace. The twist with this Tequila is that she’s a bisexual, and on her new MTV dating reality show A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, that sexual preference is on full display. Tila is at the center of a Bachelor or Flavor of Love or type show, the only catch is that of the 32 potential suitors, half are straight guys and half are lesbians. A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila premieres tomorrow night at 10pm on MTV.
Tila spoke with BuddyTV about her new show. Tila spoke about her relationship history with both men and women, how the contestants responded when they learned of each other, and how often she still checks her MySpace page. Below you will find a transcript as well as the mp3 audio file of the interview.
Hi, this is John from Buddy TV, and I’m talking to Tila Tequila, the MySpace queen who is the star of the new MTV dating reality show A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila. How you doing?
Hi, how are you?
I’m great. Now, how did this reality show start? Did you approach the network or did they approach you with this idea?
They approached me with this idea, ’cause you know, my whole life’s been out there on the Internet. Everyone kind of knew about the bisexual part, and coming to me was like, so what can we do with a cool show? And I was like thinking, well, I don’t want to do any typical follow me around doing music, or whatever. And, as they got to know me, they found out I was bisexual, and they thought like, “Wow, this is a great idea for a show. Would you mind doing that?” So that’s how it happened.
As someone who is bisexual, what has been your past experience with relationships? Have you dated more men or women, or has it been equal?
It’s been pretty equal, ’cause I’ve gone through phases where I’d like girls a lot. And I’m so sick and tired of chicks, they’re so dramatic, I get away for a while. And then after being on guys for a while and having lots of guy friends, then I’ll start missing the feminine stuff, and I’d be going over to the other side again. Oh wow, I wish I had a girlfriend, I’m so tired of guys. So it’s always back and forth like that, ’cause I’m always hanging out with just girls or just guys.
And what is the format for this show? Each week, do you eliminate an equal number of people from each of the two groups?
Yeah, because at the end of the day I’m looking for someone I can fall in love with, and that’s just gonna be one person. Whether it’s a guy or girl, that’s for the end of the show, but yeah, we keep it pretty fair. When I eliminate people, it’s the same amount of people from each side. I try to be as fair as possible, so one side doesn’t get up on the other side.
Yeah, and with shows like these, usually there’s competitions for the contestants to try to get alone time with you or private dates. Do the men and the women on the show do the same competition, or are there different competitions for each of them?
There’s so many competitions, but mostly when they’re in groups, it’s like boys against girls, we have the same competitions, so it’s fair. It’s funny because a lot of times you think these guys can pull it off, but it’s the girls winning and stuff. So it’s really funny. But then we also have other things, where they can win alone time with me. But mostly the competitions are the same. So it’s fair.
And at the start of the show, the 16 straight men and the 16 lesbians don’t know about each other, don’t know that they’re both competing for you. What happened when they first realized that? What was their general reaction? Were they upset with it, were they OK with it?
Because both sexes came in thinking that it’s just a show about the straight guys with me, or the girls thought it was a show about lesbians, and a lot of them were straight-up lesbians–they do not like guys at all. So when they found out, of course, I mean there’s 32 people standing there in shock, not knowing what’s going on, they feel tricked or whatever.
And once they start to find out, the guys are all excited, of course. And some of the girls, they did feel a little bit upset that there are guys around. So there’s a lot of emotions going on, and the fighting begins, and just gets really crazy from there.
And this may sound like a stupid question, but when the 16 straight guys saw them, did any of them try to convert any of the other 16 lesbians onto their team?
Well, boys will be boys, right? I mean, yeah, guys. At the same time, though I told them that I’m watching always. So if they’re really there for me, then they’re gonna be there for me. So I was watching them, but there’s definitely lots of crazy stuff going on. Living in a house with guys and girls together, of course you’re gonna have a lot of stuff go down.
And just on personal dates, how do you respond differently? Or how do you act differently with a man versus with a woman, or is it kind of the same feel?
Not really. That’s the whole purpose of me being bisexual, because it’s very different. Actually when I’m on a date with a guy, I’m a little bit more tough on the guy. Like I’m very, it’s harder for a guy. For a girl I just spoil her right away, like it happens really fast for lesbians, it just goes down really fast.
You let her know how you feel, I spoil her with presents, and that makes me feel good because it makes her smile. And for the guy, I put him down, I make smartass remarks about him. But in a joking way, of course, I’m very playful with a guy.
Yeah, and before this show, were you a fan of the other, The Bachelor, Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, all those kinds of reality dating shows?
I didn’t watch much TV, really, but I definitely love Flavor of Love. I mean, that show’s crazy.
It definitely is. And you’re most famous, obviously I think, for having over two million friends on your MySpace. How often do you actually get to go in and go online and check your MySpace and read what people are writing to you?
I do it everyday, like five, seven times a day. Because I wouldn’t be where I am if I wasn’t always online checking on everyone else.
That you are, and finally, I just have one last question. Who would be your ideal man and your ideal woman?
My ideal man would be Leonardo DiCaprio. And my ideal woman would be Lindsay Lohan.
That’s quite a pair.
Yup.
-Interview conducted by John Kubicek
(Image courtesy of MTV)
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.
