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'America's Next Top Model' Winner Krista White on Her Skin Color, Acting Ambitions, and Tyra Banks

by Beth Cooney Fitzpatrick (Subscribe to Beth Cooney Fitzpatrick's posts)
Posted May 13th 2010 at 5:50PM  
7 Comments
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americas next top model winner krista white

"America's Next Top Model" winner Krista White. Photo: Tony Drayton/The CW

She may not have been the youngest or most conventionally pretty girl (a fact she readily concedes), but Krista White was definitely the most determined to nab the title of "America's Next Top Model."

A former store manager for Max Azria, the 26-year-old cycle 14 "ANTM" winner is ready to make her mark with a modeling contract, a CoverGirl beauty ad, and a fashion spread in Seventeen magazine.

StyleList caught up with the jubilant Pine Bluff, Ark., native just hours after her win, which judge Andre Leon Talley declared was accomplished without a hint of "dreckitude." We couldn't agree more.

StyleList: You tried out for "ANTM" several times before and kept getting rejected.
Krista White: Every time! I started trying out on cycle 1. I went back every season -- and I would have kept going back if they hadn't picked me this time! That's how bad I wanted it.

SL: What would they tell you at the casting calls?
KW: Not very much. I never got much further than the first phase, where you wait in line for a long time, walk in a room, they ask your height and weight, and that's it. When I finally did get past that point, I was amazed. I was like, "Are you sure?"

SL: What do you intend to do with this win?
KW: What I want to do more than anything is mentor little girls. I want them to see someone like me and see that there are many definitions of what beautiful is. I want them to know if they have ever been told they are not beautiful, that isn't true.

SL: You spoke openly about getting teased for being dark skinned. How did that impact you?
KW: I got a lot of that growing up. There really is a message in our culture that lighter is better and more beautiful. One person who helped me deal with that, even before I was on ["ANTM"] was Tyra Banks. She had a show about how dark black is beautiful. It did begin to help me change how I feel about myself.

SL: The judges described you as a student of the modeling world. What did you learn from them?
KW: The most important thing I learned was how to listen. As a human being it is so hard to be criticized, but I took it. And I didn't just take the critiques they gave me. I listened to what they said to all of the other girls. I would go back to my room and take notes. Then when we had competitions I just dominated.

SL: Vogue's Andre Leon Talley said you had the potential to be a true force as an international model. What's it like to get that kind of praise?
KW: I was so excited. For a man who knows fashion like he knows fashion to say that -- wow! That's been my dream forever, so when he says you can be international, you can't quite believe it. I'm from a small town in Arkansas, but I always wanted that kind of career as a model. I do want to travel the world.

SL: Where did you get your passion for fashion, growing up in a small town?
KW: I was strutting down the hall in high heels when I was five. People always said I should play sports because I was so tall. I was like, "Don't hand me a ball; hand me some heels!" I was a total girlie girl. I was watching fashion shows on TV and online when I was a little. I was going to be involved in fashion one way or another.

SL: "Top Model" takes some hits for not producing models who dominate the fashion world. What's your game plan?
KW: I have to be as determined now as I was when I was trying out. There were girls on the show who thought, "This is all I have to do; now the world will notice me." For me, this is just a beginning: I would love to try acting; I want to keep modeling; I want to do those international shows. But I need all the determination I needed in the beginning and more if I am going to make the most of this.

For more "ANTM" cycle 14 news, read about the contestant who was knocked off a runway twice by a swinging pendulum .
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Filed under: Fashion, News
Tags: Americas Next Top Model, andre leon talley, krista white, Modeling Competitions, Models, Reality TV, Tyra Banks
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READER COMMENTS

(7)Add A Comment

Ms. Sher, 5-13-2010, 7:48PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Ms. Sher

Let me first Congratulate you Krista for winning ANTM this season. When your competitor made the statement that a real young model (like her) should have the Seventeen spread I decided I wanted you to win. However, imho your personalty in the house was at times cruel, haughty, and underhanded in belittling your roommates. Snide and catty remarks about your roommates were an integral part of your personality during the season and that is what marred any beauty that you could have presented to the world. Internal beauty shines without and enhances natural physical beauty. Hopefully, you will leave those catty traits behind you and truly shine beautiful to the world in appearance, dress, and more importantly your demeanor and attitude...

Reply »

Jolly, 5-13-2010, 10:31PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Jolly

I like watching ANTM, but when I saw who won on the internet, (I was watching another show at the same time)I thought, "Oh great, another anerexic model." Although Kristi is pretty, she is SO thin and also, you can see her bones....ewww how gross is that. Why can't these models EAT! Even now some agencies won't accept really thin or aka; anerexic models.

Reply »

Jolly, 5-13-2010, 10:40PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Jolly

In this article, Krista says that she wants to mentor little girls, well, if they saw how THIN she is, then they will get inside their heads that to be able to be a model, you need to be REALLY THIN, which thats not right. You can be thin, but not so thin that you look like skin and bones. I am getting so sick and tired of looking at these really thin models on ANTM. At least Tyra looks great! I really hope that Tyra does a season of "America's Next Top Full Figured Model" because although many women in this world are not model types, they are pretty.

Reply »

Tyara M Reed, 5-14-2010, 11:31AM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Tyara M Reed

This top model really inspire me. I am so hard on myself, people tell me all the time I should interview with Tyra, but I think I am not pretty enough. I would love to be a model to be into makeup and pictures. I would love to be a person that could help us teens learn to love each other, and stop saying so many hurtful words to one another. I think it is so hard to be a teen. I think I am hated for now reason, and I think if Tyra find me she could help me talk about how much I want teens to learn to embrace each other even if you are different. I am now inspired to find myself and learn to believe that I can make my dreams come true.

Reply »

Allen24, 5-14-2010, 10:35PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Allen24


Calling all Top Model fans... is Tyra's show still 'fierce' - or is it in need of a facelift?

Ahead of Cycle 15, here's 6 great ways to keep the show fresh for seasons to come...

http://www.remotepatrolled.com/2010/05/top-model-tyra-banks/

Reply »

amina, 8-02-2010, 11:01AM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
amina

Finally someone speaks to the issue of prejudice against darler- skinned females. Rarely do we see such females featured in movies, media unless they are there for comedic relief. It can be seen in the "doll test" and in the CNN feature "kids and race" where kids labed the lighter -skin as smart, pretty and the one adults prefer.
This prejudice can be seen in the USA, Asia and other parts of the world where people have been colonized/enslaved. This labeling of darker as negative started hundreds of years ago ( slavery) and persists today.
In Asia teachers say how difficult it is to have outdoor activities for kids because parents fear their child may become darker which will label them as "low class"
Bleaching cremes ( even though they cause cancer) are sold in many 3rd world countries so women will not be rejected by a society men which label "dark as ugly"
Even so -called modetn rap artist feature fair-skinned women as the "trophy girl" in videos. This brainwashing may have started 500 years agos but it can be seen in 2010 and is a part of the legacy of slavery.
Chad Ochocinco when asked by TMZ why there were no Black girls on his show said " Well, I 'm a man of class and distinction."
Thanks to Tyra for emancipating us from "mental slaveryy"

Reply »

modelagentur, 8-10-2010, 11:42AM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
modelagentur

modelagenturSie interessieren sich für modelagentur, models, model, casting, castingagentur oder agentur? Dann sind Sie bei Mister-Wong genau richtig.

Reply »

 
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