Top Model's Shandi Tells All

Although Yoanna House ultimately won America's Next Top Model, 21-year-old Shandi Sullivan crowned herself the resident drama queen of Season 2. This weepy Walmart clerk was full of true confessions, wasn't she? She told her fellow Model wannabes (and the nation) how unloving her parents are. She told judge Janice Dickinson she had tried drugs, and even robbed a Kansas City candy store back in 2001. She also phoned boyfriend Eric to admit cheating on him with an Italian stud in Milan. Why is Shandi's life such a mess? Only a qualified therapist could really answer that, so here, TV Guide Online just rings her up for some candid dish, Shandi-style.

TV Guide Online: You had such drama on this show. It must be exhausting to be you!
Shandi: [Chuckles] You have no idea.

TVGO: Why do you think the judges cut you?
Shandi: I let it fall apart at the end; I wasn't concentrating. I was starting to tell myself, "You don't deserve to win this." I let the stress of everything get to me. My walk wasn't as strong as the other two girls, and you could tell from my photo-shoot picture that I wasn't really there. Before they even made the decision, I knew it was my time to go.

TVGO: Why call Eric during the show to confess your infidelity? Couldn't you have waited to do it privately at home, rather than embarrass him on national TV like that?
Shandi: I had a whole day to think about whether I wanted to do that. I knew there was going to be pain... I just couldn't hold it in. We were still going to be in Milan for another week after it happened.

TVGO: A week isn't a very long time, though...
Shandi: No, but I couldn't just not say anything. I was going to call him anyway, and I couldn't pretend that nothing had happened.

TVGO: How are things between you and Eric now?
Shandi: Things worked out. He's actually sitting next to me right now! We're working on it, but it's alright. It's OK.

TVGO: You were brave to out yourself about the candy-store thing, unlike other reality stars whose past troubles get exposed for them.
Shandi: I figured everyone would find out. There's always somebody that's curious enough to go that far. It's a part of who I am and I won't pretend it's not. It partly made me who I am today. It happened, I got through it and I'm fine now. So it didn't bother me to tell Janice at all.

TVGO: Didn't it suck when TheSmokingGun.com posted your mugshot?
Shandi: [Laughs] It's actually pretty funny. My boyfriend ran to my work and said, "You're going to be so mad when you find out somebody's posting your mugshot online." I said, "Well, is it really ugly?" He's like, "Yeah." So I just started laughing. They showed me on TV as this rags-to-riches supermodel, and then here comes this really ugly mugshot of me!

TVGO: You discussed being your family's black sheep on the show. How are relations with them now?
Shandi: Me and my sisters have gotten a lot closer. I hear from my sisters that my mom and dad are proud of me, but I haven't talked to them since the show started. I think my broadcasting that they were bad parents on television really made them sad. At least I have my sisters. If I didn't have them, I'd be goin' nuts right now.

TVGO: What's next for you?
Shandi: I'll be moving to New York soon and I hope to get signed by an agency. IMG has the first dibs on all of us [contestants] for the next two weeks. If they signed me, that would be amazing!