Top Model 13 Exit Interview: Sundai
California pint-sized (she’s 5′3) Sundai Love was the little model that could on Cycle 13 of “America’s Next Top Model.” Despite being one of the shortest models and not being an early judges’ favorite, Sundai, 18, stuck around for weeks until the water (specifically, an underwater photo shoot) did her in during last week’s “Dive Deeper” episode. In her Real Blogger Exit Interview, Sundai talks about getting hit in the head, driving with Miss (Rae) Daisy, and her aspirations to have her own show on a certain kids’ channel.
Real Blogger: I’ve got to ask: What’s up with all those cakes for Laura’s birthday? There were a ton of them.
Sundai Love: (Laughs) Oh, man. We made two cakes, Erin made cupcakes, I had a cake. We stayed up all night making them. We made all kinds of stuff, we made tacos…
RB: Not to mention the Spam. (Ed. note: The girls made Laura a Spam and eggs breakfast)
SL: Spam is really big there. I had never even tried it before. We fell in love with it.
RB: So one thing that everyone seems to be talking about in your finale was the scene when you’re sucking your thumb. Is that a frequent thing, or just random they caught you doing that?
SL: (Laughs) Oh, my gosh. It’s weird they never caught me every other time. Sadly, I suck my thumb. I do it all the time.
RB: In that challenge, you had a tough time with the water. What was that jump like?
SL: I was completely tore up. To get to there, we were climbing up the rock, and I cut both my feet. So when we had to jump off of there, I was trying to hold a pose as long as possible until I hit water. I hit water, all right (laughs). They told me when you hit the bottom to swim away or the water will take you away and slap you against the rock. I tried to do that but (I got disoriented) and I hit the rock and it really hurt. It messed me up for a week.
RB: Did that affect the way you were in the photoshoot? I know you said you have asthma — I have asthma, too, so I can relate — but was it the experience with the rocks that had you anxious?
SL: It did hurt, but I wasn’t going to mention it until Jay said, ‘Didn’t you hurt your ear?’ and I said, yeah. And not breathing (because of asthma concerns) is something you can’t avoid.
RB: Did you use the respirator?
SL: I used it the second time… but it wasn’t really working.
RB: Was the shoot a lot more difficult than you thought?
SL: I thought it was going to be so easy. Not breathing was a difficult part, but then I had a tough time with my hair (floating all around her face). It was a lot going on.
RB: Was that your toughest week?
SL: That one was my most difficult week. It was always something after something… that photoshoot was terrible.
RB: Would you have changed anything about what happened?
SL: I definitely wouldn’t have said anything. It came off as complaining. I didn’t want Tyra to think I was the kind of person who complains. And I know they wouldn’t have let anything bad happen to me.
RB: Man, I loved it when Tyra did an impersonation of you.
SL: The sad thing is, I really talk like that.
RB: It seemed like everyone was getting along this season. Was it really like that?
SL: I think this was the friendliest cycle of Top Model ever.
RB: You did seem to get frustrated when Nicole kept winning all the challenges.
SL: I feel like if somebody doing better than you, don’t frown upon it. Try harder yourself. So it wasn’t a problem. We were friends.
RB: So if last week was the toughest, what was your favorite week?
SL Um, I don’t know how to pronounce it. Circus da…
RB: Cirque de Soleil?
SL: Yeah, that (laughs).
RB: I have trouble pronouncing it too. What did you like about that one?
SL: I did really well, and (at judging) they said the other two girls (Ed. note: Nicole and Erin) brought my photo down … they said I did the best on that one out of all the photo shoots.
RB: It’s too bad they didn’t get to use any of the other photos.
SL: I know! It was like, dang, I don’t even get to see the other photos.
RB: Let’s talk go-sees. Now, you said Rae drove like a mom. Rae told me she was driving the speed limit. Your response?
SL: (Laughs) They made it seem like ‘Rae, you are driving too slow.’ But we got along so well. They only mentioned when I said, hurry up, speed up … we were so late there was no avoiding it.
RB: I can’t believe you were late, since you’ve seen Top Model before and know you can’t be late for a go-see. Every year, there’s a girl who’s late. Did you think you were going to be late, or it just ended up like that?
SL: We weren’t expecting that. The (Top Model) people called and said, your clock is wrong, you have another hour. We thought, we can’t get to Wilhelmina an hour early, so we went to another go-see. I got so many positive critiques at the go-sees and then (Sean Patterson, the president of Wilhelmina reamed Sundai and Rae out for being late), and it was like oh, my God.
RB: He wasn’t joking around at all.
SL: He was actually really, really mad. I thought, ‘Oh, my goodness, this is bad.’
RB: What’s next for you, Sundai? Are you going to model still?
SL: Yeah, I’m still going to try to model. I want to try to get an agency. Actually, I want to get on the Disney Channel. I want my own show, that applies to being a model and trying to make it.
RB: Wow, Disney? I can see you doing that. And they also mentioned on the show about your foster home background. Do you want to do anything with that as a spokesperson?
SL: If there is anyone who wants to speak, I’d love to go to local foster places, orphanages - there are so many kids who give up and just feel terrible. But you don’t want to stretch yourself to become (a spokesperson) unless they want you. And if I get famous and make a lot of money, I’d donate a lot of money back to the foster homes.
RB: Sounds good. Best of luck on the modeling and the Disney show. Any thoughts on a show title? What about “Spam-odeling”?
SL: Ah, nice.
RB: I think I’ll put a patent on it.
