Despite having undergone the most drastic makeover in the bunch, Sara Blackamore, a full-timemother from Menifee, California, was the second America’s Next Top Model contestant booted from the competition last night.
But it wasn’t her darker locks and lighter brows that did Sara in: Instead it was a challenging photo shoot inspired by fallen angels. Instead of looking heavenly, most of the models appeared uncomfortable and confused, leading Tyra to proclaim the shoot “almost” an all-out failure. Unfortunately for Sara, her performance was deemed the worst among the bunch, and she was sent home.
I had the chance to chat with Sara this morning about everything from her drastic makeover to the challenges she faced in the fallen angel photo shoot:
Congratulations on making it onto the show! How did you decide to try out?
I tried out before in cycle 11, because that’s when I first started getting interested in modeling. And I just felt like if I made it on the show, it would be the biggest benefit to really get my career started.
Is that your son in the background?
Yeah, sorry!
No, that’s great! We saw photos of him on the show, and now I’m hearing him. Tell him I said hi!
Kaiden, they say hi!
Did he watch the show with you?
Yeah, he watched the beginning, but he fell asleep. [Laughs]
What did you think of Tyra’s decision to go more high fashion this season? Is that something you were interested in?
I was interested in it. Like I was going to respect whatever decision she chose for my makeover. But looking back on it, I think it was a horrible idea … like, I mean, watching it on TV and seeing it, I am really not a fan of it.
So you think it looked better in person?
Yeah, I think it looked better in person. But I didn’t keep my makeover. I’m definitely growing my hair out long, but I’m going to keep it dark. So I kept that. But my eyebrows, I definitely dyed back dark.
Yeah, I can see how that might look great in a highly stylized photo shoot but maybe not when you’re, you know, at the grocery store.
Yeah, I got a lot of looks from it.
How was it living in the Top Model house? Which of the girls did you connect with?
I was really good friends with Chelsey, even before we got into the house we had been friends because we met in L.A. when the casting started. So we kind of went through it all together. I got along with everyone. I pretty much connected with everyone except for Esther. I don’t know, I never really made a connection with her. I didn’t get in fights with anyone. I got along with all the girls, and it was just like, thirteen girls to share you clothes with.
There doesn’t seem to be much drama yet, at all.
Yeah, while I was there there really wasn’t a lot of drama. I think that because the stakes are so high, we were all pretty much more focused on modeling instead of fighting.
So are you rooting for Chelsey to win?
Yes, I definitely am. She’s my favorite.
What did you think of Tyra’s decision to expand her gap between her front teeth?
You know what? She thought it was a good idea, and the gap is always something that helped her in modeling, from what she said. So she was happy about it. It really wasn’t that big of a deal. It didn’t change that much, like if you would have seen it up close. She did, when she was younger, spend a lot of money to fix her gap, so she was a little worried for that reason.
Let’s talk about the fallen angels photo shoot, because it seemed to pose so much difficulty for everyone. Why do you think that is?
I just think that we had a lot of different elements. We were harnessed up. I felt like we kind of just got thrown into the photo shoot without really knowing what we were doing. We got there, we did our hair and makeup right away, and before, everything was so quick. We found out we were working with male models, then you’re up in the harness that’s painful. I think it kind of psyched a lot of us out.
How did you feel about your performance going into elimination?
I knew I was in the bottom two. I knew it didn’t go that well right from the start. When I got up there, me and my male model, I was trying to talk to him, and I was like, “This is the word that I chose, and we need to decide what we want to do and everything.” And he goes, “Oh, we have time. Don’t think too hard because the photographer is going to give us more direction.” So we get down there and he just doesn’t know what to do. And I was the second girl to go, and in the beginning we were harnessed higher in the air, so it was harder for us to maneuver ourselves. So I felt horrible about it, and I just knew I would be in the bottom two. But I didn’t think I was going to go home.
You said you felt guilty about leaving your son after you were eliminated. Have you come to terms with that feeling at all?
At the time I did feel guilty, but looking back, and even when I got home and I saw that my son was fine, and he still remembered who I was, I knew it was the right thing to do. It was a great experience that so many people would die to have, and it’s a good starting point for my career.
So you plan to continue modeling?
Yeah, definitely.
Do you think you’ll go more high fashion?
I don’t think high fashion so much. I think if it had been a normal cycle, I would have done a lot better. I felt like the whole cycle, everyone just kept saying, “Oh, you’re too pretty. You’re too California.” I think that worked against me the whole cycle.
(Image courtesy of the CW)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
Meghan hails from Walla Walla, WA, the proud home of the world’s best sweet onions and Adam West, the original Batman. An avid grammarian and over-analyzer, you can usually find her thinking too hard about plot devices in favorites like The Office, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and How I Met Your Mother. In her spare time, Meghan enjoys drawing, shopping, trying to be funny (and often failing), and not understanding the whole Twilight thing. She’s got a BA in English and Studio Art from Whitman College, which makes her a professional arguer, daydreamer, and doodler.
