Our next top lesbian model

Kim Stolz’s sexy androgyny might not be the kind of look that fans of UPN’s America’s Next Top Model would expect to go far on the fiercely competitive reality show, but the brainy beauty managed to make it all the way to the top five. While her elimination might seem questionable to some—why she got cut before the irritating Jayla is a riddle for the ages—Stolz established herself early as one of the show’s most engaging personalities, especially after memorably crowing, “One down, 11 to go” (after kissing fellow competitor Sarah) and winning one of the show’s best prizes—a guest shot on Veronica Mars.

In an exclusive interview with Advocate.com, Stolz talks about what really went down with Sarah, and dishes a little dirt about bratty Bre and the infamous “granola bar incident.”

I always like to ask reality folks—do you think the show’s editing was fair to you and to what you experienced?
I think that for the most part the editing was fair. The only part that was a little bit exaggerated were the parts that involved Sarah and me. That was exaggerated to a pretty ridiculous point. With Sarah, there were conversations that we had that were left out that made the whole experience with her obviously much less serious than it was portrayed.

Are you still with the same girlfriend you had when you started the show?
Yes.

And did you have to explain to her what wasn’t being shown?
Yeah, we had a few of those conversations. [Laughs] In the episode, it was clear that I was interested in my girlfriend, and my girlfriend only. There might have been some instances where someone questioned it—not my interest in my girlfriend, but questioned what was going on with Sarah—but in the end I think it was very clear that there was nothing meaningful going on between Sarah and me and that my heart belongs to my girlfriend. And my girlfriend understood—I was on a reality show, which is sort of an out-of-life experience and very out of the ordinary. We worked through it, and obviously it wasn’t her favorite thing to watch [laughs] but she knows that I love her and that I’m not interested in anyone else romantically.

I am a bit of a conspiracy theorist on this one, so talk me down if I’m wrong. I felt that no matter how well you did on the show, they were going to have to cut you at some point because Cover Girl isn’t ready for an out lesbian spokesmodel.
I have the same conspiracy theory as you, and I certainly am not in a position to say, “Oh yeah, I know, Cover Girl’s not ready for me, so forget them!” I think the person who wins deserves it more than I do; I think a lot of people took better pictures than I did. At the same time, had I been completely successful with every picture that I took and perfect in every challenge, I’m still not sure that Cover Girl, being the reflector of a relatively conservative U.S. society, was ready for someone who thinks that gender is a socially constructed term or someone who’s really out and open with her sexuality. I’m not sure that Cover Girl would have been so keen on that.