MONDO EXTRAS

Cassie says that modeling is her dream, and that New York is where it's at. She meets with agents, all of whom measure her and tell her that her hips are too big. She's had a few promising prospects out of eight interviews (LIE #25!), all of whom tell her to come back when she's lost two to three inches off of her hips. She's going to spend the spring semester getting in shape and losing weight. Flashback to her telling Tyra that sometimes she throws up, but doesn't consider herself bulimic since she doesn't do it at every meal. Present-day Cassie tells us that she doesn't now have, nor has she ever had, bulimia (LIES #26 and 27!). She runs every day and is on a low-carb diet, so she's doing things properly to lose weight. We saw how well it worked for Dr. Atkins, after all. Cassie says that she does want to finish her degree, but that modeling is first right now. You can lose inches, she says, but not the dream to become a model. Not until you take that long, sticky-floored journey back to the pole. Commercials.

We return to the obligatory shots of Tyra as a young model. She says that when she first started out, models had to be skinny because that was the idea of beauty that they were supposed to represent. But, she tells us, the industry is changing (LIE #28!) along with the definition of beauty (LIE #29!). I guess that's why I've been hearing so many women talking about how they're struggling to gain those extra ten pounds that will fill them out. Over shots of the lovely Toccara, Tyra tells us that plus-sized models are among the most successful in the business, and "judging by her bigger-than-life personality, Miss Toccara could be the biggest star of all." We get footage of Toccara's irritating casting interview, before we learned that she was actually the coolest. Present-day Toccara tells us that she's America's next plus-sized top model. Guess she's been cured of that "I can hang with all the regular models" thing. Toccara, on a photo shoot, says that she's modeling, in New York, and living the life she's always wanted. The shoot is for plus-sized clothing line Ashley Stewart, and it's her first professional modeling job. The clothes are kind of ugly, but she looks good. Toccara jokingly makes comments about being a celebrity, and says that it's okay to be plus-sized and to have a shape, because real women have shapes. The folks at Ashley Stewart rave over Toccara's photos, and she is excited. I love Toccara.