Misc. Reviews

"AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL," Giselle Samson

Age: 18 years old

Height/Weight: 5'10" / 130 lbs

Hair/Eyes: Brown hair / Brown eyes

Hometown: Corona, Calif.

Occupation: Works at Disney

Self-Description: Goofy, outgoing and loud.

Background: Has been with her boyfriend for 2 years. Her heroes are her mother and little brother.

Favorite Things: TV show: "Even Stevens;" Movie: "Miss Congeniality;" Food: Mexican; Music: Pop, Michael Jackson and Brittany Spears; Supermodel: Gisele Bundchen.

Other Activities: Enjoys football and gymnastics.

Life Motto: "You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you."

The Interview

Giselle Samson was spunky and personable on the phone, which was what we expected after watching her for a few weeks. Of all the girls, Giselle was the one I could see as one of my friends. Giselle first heard of America's Next Top Model when a friend called, telling her she had seen a commercial and was sending in Giselle's photo. That was in March. By December Giselle hadn't heard anything and figured it wasn't going anywhere. Until a phone call on New Year's Eve led to a meeting that very night. The next day she met with the network, and on January 4th was whisked off to New York. Giselle wasn't even aware of the casting calls the other girls had to go through until the first episode. "I wasn't a part of that at all."

Her whirlwind adventure brought her to New York - which she claims was "awesome!" The reality show ("Why do they even call it reality TV? They should call it.. Extras Improvisational Work, not reality TV. Do you really think the girls were acting normal? They knew there were cameras going 24/7. They weren't acting normal.") was everything she thought it would be. "I wasn't surprised by how I was portrayed. A lot of cut and paste." She also went on to tell me how in the first elimination Tyra told her that she was too confident, "she told me not to be so cocky or confident." Not wanting to be portrayed the wrong way, Giselle pulled back a bit. And look how it turned out. Deemed the least confident of the bunch, Giselle's elimination appeared to be due to lack of confidence. "I'm really not that catty or bitchy. And the confidence thing - not even me. In fact, it's almost the opposite of me." Giselle admitted that it kind of bothered her because she doesn't want it to affect her modeling future. But it didn't seem to surprise her at all, and had an "awesome time." When asked if she would have done anything different, she relied with an emphatic "no!"

Giselle also spilled the beans a bit about Tyra Banks. "Off camera she was down-to-earth, funny... but on camera she was acting for the show. For the ratings. She's completely different when I talk to her now. I like her now."

Giselle had only begun modeling shortly before moving to New York. She's been a dancer "for a long time. Since I was 3", and now looks forward to a career in dancing, acting, singing - and modeling. It was while filming the commercial in the 4th episode that the acting bug bit her - hard. "I loved it!" She wants to continue modeling in either commercial or print work - but isn't willing to starve herself for the runway life. She had also made it clear during the 5th episode that she isn't willing to do any nude modeling - something that she thinks will hinder Shannon and Robin pretty soon. The next episode takes the girls to Paris, and when I asked Giselle who she thought would be eliminated she quickly replied "One of the Christian girls." After explaining that some nudity was required there, I asked if she was glad she didn't go to Paris. "Everything happens for a reason." The remaining girls left for Paris the day after heeliminationon, and although this half-French gal would have loved to see the sights, she does believe that she was eliminated for a reason.

So who does Giselle think will win? "Either Adrienne or Elyse. American loves Adrienne. She's this cool chick. So either they're gong to pick someone everyone loves, or they're going to choose Elyse. People hate Elyse right now, so they could pick her for the shock value."

Giselle's tearful post-elimination confession pulled at our heartstrings. "My mom, I know she's going to rub it in my face," she explained, "because if I'm coming home, it's because I didn't do so well here." Happily she explained her mother's reaction, "She didn't know how far I had gotten. She's very proud of me. Typical Mom stuff." So Giselle is a "star" in her mother's eyes. She is in ours, too.

~June 2003

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