Last Tuesday, I attended the red carpet of Samsung's 8th Annual Four Seasons of Hope Gala to interview Whitney Thompson (the first plus size winner of America's Next Top Model). Let me just get this out of the way and say what everyone's thinking: this girl is nowhere near plus size---I'm guessing she's a size 8, at most.
I almost felt weird asking her questions regarding her size, because the truth is, no matter what I asked, her answers would in no way relate to the experiences of true plus size women in America. Nevertheless, I was invited there to ask her a few questions, so I did my duty. Red carpet "interviews" are approximately 45 seconds anyway; I was just happy I got to stand within three feet of John Legend (big crush) and Kelis (bigger crush).
(I'm excusing Kelis for this fug outfit because she's 8 months pregnant)Anyway, back to Whitney. She was wearing a cute bodycon dress, her makeup was flawless, and she was super sweet.
YFF: What has been your experience in the plus size modeling industry so far?
WT: Um, yeah, everything has been really great since I won the show. I've gotten a lot of support and it's a wonderful show because it's in 140 countries, which I think a lot of people don't realize. And a lot of people associate Americans with being overweight, which is just ridiculous because people deal with these issues all the time all over the world...so I get fan mail from people in Hong Kong and Australia and New Zealand and it's just really cool because I feel like I'm making an impact.
YFF: Cool. So what have you been doing since the show ended?
WT: I've been busy! I'm writing a memoir and I'm shooting a pilot for my cooking show, and I'm just doing a lot of stuff. I'm also signed with Wilhelmina now as well...so yeah, life is good.
YFF: Sounds great! Who inspires your fashion and style?
WT: You know, I'm pretty bad at styling anything. I'm really bad at hair and makeup and dressing myself... I depend on a lot of people. But, I've always looked up to, you know, the old classic icons, Tyra Banks, Cindy Crawford, and just people who were leaders in the fashion industry but aren't necessarily uh...
YFF: Fashionistas?
WT: Yeah, yeah, not the Kate Mosses, you know? I'm not walking around in my mini shorts and crop tops.
YFF: Got it! Well, thank you so much for your time, it was great meeting you.
WT: Thank you, nice meeting you too.
I don't know how I feel about Whit. She's obviously a total sweetheart, but I can't help but be a little off put that she's touted as ANTM's first plus size winner, as if she somehow proves that the modeling industry is okay with bigger girls. I guess in theory I should be happy that someone above a size 4 finally won ANTM, but I can't say I'm impressed. I hope Tyra and the gang eventually choose a winner above a size 10.