So it turns out I blew an easy $50 by not betting before last week's "America's Next Top Model." I had a friend who was convinced Claire was going to win it all and who was willing to put her money where her mouth is.

I'm thinking that it's going to be Anya or Kat, particularly considering how the judges are digging Kat's new haircut. My erroneous friend thinks that Whitney could have a shot since Tyra would love to give a plus-sized model a shot. I'm thinking I have a better chance of being America's Next Top Model than Whitney does, but we'll see what shakes out.

This week "ANTM" only has a clip show. In the meantime, here's what Claire had to say for herself.

MSN: Claire, what do you think happened to lead to you getting voted off of "America's Next Top Model?"

Claire: I think it just started to get a little negative for me in the competition. I was missing my baby, my family and everything. I started to think a lot about what the judges would want from me instead of doing what would feel natural to me, how it should be just naturally being a country girl. I think it started from there. If I had done well on that shoot, I think I wouldn't have gone home.

MSN: Why did you participate in the competition in the first place, given that you did have a young child?

Claire: It was kind of my baby who inspired me in a way to do it. Once you have a child, you have this amazing person. You just think anything is possible and any dreams you have you should go do them. You don't want to have to say to your child when he's older, "Oh I could have done this, I could have done that but I was a chicken." I really felt I wanted to go for it and be the best person I could be.

MSN: So what did you learn about yourself from being in the competition?

Claire: I learned how fragile and all my fallibility really is. I'm not this strong superwoman who can do it without my family on my own and just tough things out. I'm so used to being strong and handling so much pain and adversity. But this was a big test for me. You start to see where your limits are and you start to see the ugly side of yourself. Now I know no matter what I happens I don't want that to come out and I don't want to be portrayed that way.

MSN: What do you consider the ugly part of yourself?

Claire: Well, it takes so much to cross me. I have a really high tolerance for people. But once I am actually angered, I'm just so merciless and cruel. I have that evil scorpion bite that will come and get you. I don't think anyone deserves to see that part of me.

MSN: That part came out because of Dominique. Is that a fair statement?

Claire: Yeah, I unleashed my unkind self on Dominique.

MSN: What was it about Dominique that brought that out of you?

Claire: It was just her alarm clock really, that she disregarded my pleas for her not to set her alarm clock so early. She did it many many times from the very first day. She was setting her alarm clock for 4 a.m. and she wasn't getting up to turn it off and it would go on and on and on for hours. I tried to set it for her, I tried make her do it in front of me. Nothing worked. And the next day when she was saying, "Oh no, it wasn't my alarm clock," "Oh no, I did set it," "Oh no, I don't know how to use it," it seemed like she didn't really care, that she was trying to escape the blame, that she never really own up to it. I just lost all respect for her. I really got along with her before that. I didn't mind her that much. If you lose all respect for me, I lose all respect for you. I just treated her like the dirt I walked on. I apologize for that.  I don't think it was entirely fair.

MSN: How did you grow as a model from being on the show?

Claire: I think I learned some key things about myself as a model and some really easy things about how to model better. Some of the things Mr. J said about using motions and Tyra's using pain and just for myself about how you have to forget about everything else when you're there and connect on whoever you're trying to speak to on the other side, really be in the moment.

MSN: Speaking of pain, you got to experience some real pain from that last photo shoot.

Claire: [Laughs] Yeah, I did get a little hurt. It wasn't that bad. ... They showed us how to fall in the water, and I asked if it was OK even though the plastic was taut and there wasn't that much water. It was just the way that I fell and had my jaw sticking out. The plastic hit my jaw, and it was like getting punched in the face kind of.

MSN: Have you kept your makeover?

Claire: I have kept my makeover. I think it looks great. But I don't know how long I can keep it, being environmental. It's so much chemicals to put on my head and wash into the ocean afterwards. But it does look good.

MSN: If you could change anything about your time on the show, what would it be?

Claire: I would definitely change being so cruel to Dominique. The second time I was laughing at her and all that, that created a cycle of negativity throughout the competition.

MSN: And who do you think is most likely to win?

Claire: My personal picks would be [Kat] or Anya. But I think Whitney has a really good chance, seeing that she's a plus-sized model and can really work it. I think Tyra has been dying for a plus-sized winner.

MSN: How do you think your child is going to react seeing you in the show ten, 20 years from now?

Claire: It depends. If she's a teenager, like all teenagers, she'll probably hate me for it. But right now, she watches it and really gets a kick out it. I think she'll think it's really cool. She does modeling too and she loves it. She poses when the show's on and she knows what it's about even though she's only 16 months old.

MSN: Really? Like?

Claire: She takes something and acts like, "Oh, this is such a beautiful thing I have." She just acts in the moment. She's a natural. She's cute.

MSN: Claire, anything else you want to say?

Claire: Just for everyone to be kind to the Earth. Recycle today and everyday.

- posted by Raoul