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Paulina Porizkova Returns to the Catwalk Via Top Model

Paulina Porizkova, the newest judge on America's Next Top Model (Wednesdays at 8 pm/ET, CW), sounds off on her hidden talent, beauty secrets and picture-perfect marriage. TV Guide: Were you a fan of America's Next Top Model before joining the show?Paulina Porizkova: I watched the marathons on VH1 or MTV. Last season I became enamored of Heather, the girl with Asperger's syndrome. Once she was voted off, I didn't watch anymore. TV Guide: Do you think you would have been a good Top Model contestant?Porizkova: At 18, I would have been voted off the show because of my attitude. I'd have been up there going, "Yeah, I don't care about this show, and I don't care about modeling." And they would have said, "Bye-bye." TV Guide: How are you different from the show'

Kate Hahn
Paulina Porizkova, the newest judge on America's Next Top Model (Wednesdays at 8 pm/ET, CW), sounds off on her hidden talent, beauty secrets and picture-perfect marriage.

TV Guide: Were you a fan of America's Next Top Model before joining the show?
Paulina Porizkova:
I watched the marathons on VH1 or MTV. Last season I became enamored of Heather, the girl with Asperger's syndrome. Once she was voted off, I didn't watch anymore.

TV Guide: Do you think you would have been a good Top Model contestant?
Porizkova:
At 18, I would have been voted off the show because of my attitude. I'd have been up there going, "Yeah, I don't care about this show, and I don't care about modeling." And they would have said, "Bye-bye."

TV Guide: How are you different from the show's previous super­model judges?
Porizkova:
I'm not as entertaining as Janice [Dickinson] or as ladylike as Twiggy. My No. 1 thing is, I'm honest. I'm blunt and somewhat tact­less. I got into a couple of little scraps, mostly with Nigel. But I don't go easy on the girls, because it does them absolutely no good. You know, if you want to be a model, you're going to have to learn that people are going to say evil, wicked things about you when you are standing right in front of them. And the things they will say are far worse than anything we would ever say on a TV show.

TV Guide: Has the modeling world changed much since your days on the catwalk?
Porizkova:
Models are not superstars anymore. With cheap computer retouching, anybody can be a cover girl. You can be 50 and have acne, but look gor­geous by the time they're done with you. Models are back to what they were in the '70s: clothes hangers.

TV Guide: Why do you think girls want to be models?
Porizkova:
Probably the same reason I did — they're looking for love because they didn't get it at home. They think, "I'm on TV; people will realize that I'm worth some­thing." But once the TV's over and they join the real world, it'll be a whole different thing. It's a vicious business.

TV Guide: But didn't you find love when you met your husband, Cars frontman Ric Ocasek?
Porizkova:
My life has not been ter­ribly easy, but this is the one easy thing that I got. My big, big present from fate or God was meeting my husband at a fairly early age, 19, so that I didn't have to do a lot of frog-kissing. We've been together 24 years and have two sons — Jonathan, 14, and Oliver, 9. I also have four stepsons and now three of them have children. So I'm a three-time grandmother! We have a very big, noisy family.

TV Guide: You have one of the only long-lasting model/rock star marriages. What's the secret to your success?
Porizkova:
We know that "happily ever after" constitutes a lot of work. We put our careers last. They started going downward once we met. [Laughs]
TV Guide: Do you have any hidden talents?
Porizkova:
I'm a die-hard knitter. In between all the Top Model judging scenes, I knit fuzzy yarn hats for Tyra and me.

TV Guide: What is your best tip for looking great?
Porizkova:
Sleep. And lots of under-eye makeup that doesn't cake up. Namely the Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat. It really does lighten, but gently, so you don't look like a raccoon.

TV Guide: Why do you think the Top Model winners don't become popular models?
Porizkova:
Top Model is its own entity. The winner is expected to speak well, [to] represent the show and young girls. She's not necessarily going to be a super­model. The fashion business takes pride in creating their own: "You don't tell me who's the next top thing. I'll tell you."

TV Guide: Did you have a favorite contestant?
Porizkova:
I was fairly clear on who my favorite was. I'm a bad mama. You'll see it on the show.

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