Determined to leave Little Rock in the rearview, (“I wasn’t even hungry, I was starved to get out,”) the 5-foot-11 beauty acquiesced slightly when informed host Tyra Banks wanted her to eliminate the space between her front teeth.
“I was not going to allow something that is physical on my face to stop me from getting out to make a better life for myself,” she explained in 2020. Still, she stressed to her “young queens” she fully believes beauty is on the inside.
As for her thoughts on Tyra pushing her, she shared in Netflix’s 2026 docuseries Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, “Me getting my gap closed is not opening any doors for me. You knew what you were doing for the show. You were making it good for TV, at my expense.”
In fact, the champ said she felt thrown “to the wolves” post-show. “I remember my first show season I didn’t book any shows,” she reflected. “What I was told was that nobody wanted to book me for their shows because I was viewed as this reality star.”
Eventually, she dissolved her contract and sashayed away from the modeling industry, calling that “the best decision of my life.”
In addition to publishing a 2013 book, The Skinny on Getting In: An Inside Peek Into the Fashion World for the Aspiring Model, she launched her unisex hat line, Monrowe.
“I eventually want to expand into other niche home items,” she told Ghidotti, “but most importantly I want Monrowe to just reflect me as an individual.”
