TV Guide Online: Is it hard to look surprised every week when Tyra announces what you'll win if chosen as America's Next Top Model?
April Wilkner: [Laughs] I gotta say the hardest part of this whole thing for me was always the judging room. You feel like you're on display, and it's tense.
TVGO: Ever get a chance to express your feelings to Nigel?
April: We just have a great model-photographer chemistry, but it totally stays in the studio. He's a happily married man and I have a boyfriend.
TVGO: Would you think him a catch if neither of you were attached?
April: [Chuckles] Obviously, he's an attractive guy, but it was totally professional with him. He's a gentleman and I look forward to working with him again in the studio.
TVGO: Why didn't you stop Shandi from hooking up with the Italian guy?
April: Shandi's a grown woman. If she was going ahead and doing what she did, you just gotta assume it's because that's what she wants to do. It wasn't my place at all.
TVGO: Did you keep quiet in hopes that Shandi's tryst might cost her victory?
April: It was made very clear to us that what goes on behind the scenes is not part of the judging criteria, so that never even crossed my mind.
TVGO: After the Milan shoot, Janice Dickinson said "[April's] photograph looks like the battery has died in her vibrator." Yikes! What's your reaction to such sass?
April: Janice is crafty with her words. You've got to give her credit. I was like, "OK, I guess I didn't do too good on that one. Mental note to self: I'll have to work on my vibrator-just-died pose." Some girls would've taken it a lot worse. I basically roll with the punches.
TVGO: You appeared ashamed of your half-Asian heritage on the show. Anything you want to say about that?
April: I am extremely proud of all sides of my heritage. I am half Japanese, [as well as] German, Irish, Scottish and Welsh. I'm a mutt, loud and proud! I really felt the judges were trying to put me in a box, like, "You're just Asian and that's all you are to us." I didn't want to lay down for that and neglect half of who I was. People want to stereotype you and put you in a category.
TVGO: They suggested that your employment choices are limited as an Asian-looking model, right?
April: What I really wanted them to do was see past that and see me as more than the token Asian girl. I'm very proud of being half Japanese. It's great! I just didn't want them to force me into that category to make things simpler [for themselves].
