MONDO EXTRAS

We see lovely Paris. Then we see lovely Nicole. She says that coming to Paris is amazing and that she's excited to claim her prize-winning haute couture spread. She is definitely reading from a script. She defines haute couture for us as being super-fancy, expensive, beautiful, and over-the-top. We see Gilles, and he is creepy as ever. Nicole says that she was nervous, but that this is a big moment for her career, and she is confident that she can do it. We meet some foreign lady whose name I don't catch. She is the style director of Elle, and says that haute couture is a magic word ["or phrase" -- Wing Chun], and is for princesses, and that shooting a couture spread for Elle "is like to live in a dream." Next time I am in a jam, I will be sure to yell "haute couture!" at the top of my lungs to be transported into a dream filled with creepy foreigners. And since I will be a princess, that means I'll also be a creepy foreigner, too, so the others won't bother me so much.

And speaking of Gilles Bensimon, he has some thoughts, which the Top Model editors have handily captioned for us: "Couture is a challenge for somebody new because it's not just a fashion story; it's more than that. But...it's a good challenge." The Elle style director continues to talk up haute couture. Nicole wears some crazy-elaborate clothes and feels pretty, princess-like, sophisticated, and chic. Her photos look good, but she seems really sad, like she's had all the goofy life force taken out of her. She claims to be happy, but she's still reading from a script.

Back to the other Season 5 girls, who seem to be having a much better time. They are asked who was the biggest drama queen. Several girls say Kim, which seems pretty funny given a certain incident called Granola-Gate. Kim points the finger at Cassandra, what with the whole hair incident. Cassandra mock-denies it and says it wasn't her, but we see the clip of Jay telling her to leave his set. Cassandra says that she made ANTM history. She knew that her decision to leave a show would be a big deal, but had no idea exactly how big. Just like the rest of us, Cassandra Googles herself. I find that kind of charming. She says that she's set to host a regional show in South Texas.