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Sandy Young Has Her Own Look

One of the first things that comes out of Sandy Young’s mouth as she stands before the judges on TV Land’s She’s Got the Look is “I’m a lesbian.” It’s said in succession with a few other descriptors of herself (mother, musician, etc.) The judges then ask if she is able to walk in a pair of heels, and if she’s comfortable in a dress.

Of course she is. This is a modeling competition, isn’t it?

Sandy Young is a 5-foot-9 raven-haired rock beauty that stands apart from her competitors on the 35+ modeling show – and not just because she’s a lesbian. It’s obvious from the first few episodes that Sandy is one of the most authentic contestants, wanting to stay true to herself while also getting the modeling job done. Sandy talked with us about her positive experience on She’s Got the Look, how the other contestants felt about her sexuality and why she believes straight women will learn the most from her being on the show.

AfterEllen.com: So far from the interviews I’ve read with you, it seems like you’ve had a really positive experience on the show. Did you get everything you wanted out of it? Sandy Young: Yeah, I pretty much did. It was a great experience. It felt like I wasn’t really put into a different realm, like a different city because I actually wasn’t far – I was one stop subway away from where I was living. All the other girls – a lot of them are from L.A. – and they’d be like “Wow, this is New York” and I’d be like “Yup!” So I didn’t have to be outside my city or anything like that. It was actually comforting.

AE: Were there ever any issues with the other women regarding your sexuality? Was there ever any tension about that? SY: Actually it was pretty good. One of the contestants was asking me a lot of questions about it. She actually confided in me that she had thought about it before when she was younger. Also auditioning a few of the girls standing in line were like “Oh my gosh, you’re a lesbian!” It really opened the door for them to be curious about it.

I was concerned about the women in the house, and how they would deal with it. Actually they were really, really good with it.

AE: Are there any future episodes dealing with your sexuality as an issue? From what we’ve seen so far, it seems the judges assume you might have boyish tendencies and might not be comfortable in heels. Is there anything else that will come up like that? SY: There was one situation that kind of irked me a little bit. It was really weird with [the woman]. I didn’t think she was gay, but she would say things to me like “I want to room in the same room as you” or “your girlfriend’s gonna have a problem with that.” And I’m like “Oh honey, you’re not my type.” She basically didn’t have any respect as far as me being in a relationship.

AE: So I wanted to ask you about [contestant] Laurie [who ripped off her shirt to get kicked off the show]. How did you feel about her tirade? SY: Oh, that there! I was really shocked and I was like “What the hell is this girl doing?” I try to have a positive outlook on everything, especially coming from a background where a lot of bad stuff has happened to me, I try to make a positive out of it. A lot of the time she just had a really bad attitude. I know her intentions were good, she was just a little off the wall. She wanted to take care of us. AE: How did you feel about her saying that she wanted to “take care of you?” SY: I pretty much stayed away from her but toward the end, I know she was trying to figure me out and talk to me and I was kind of stand-offish with her. I just didn’t like her attitude at all.

AE: Do you think it was like some stunt casting at all? Do you think they picked her because she’d make good television? SY: I do know that Laurie takes good pictures. She definitely takes great pictures. I think they might have known she was a little crazy.

AE: Were you ever worried you might be picked just because you were a lesbian or you were in a band or anything like that? SY: I definitely think that being different – a lot of people say I’m alternative and have my own style, I definitely feel like that was part of the reason I was picked. For instance, the whole first episode where we had to do a runway show, all the girls were putting on make-up, Rachel’s ripping up her clothes, I didn’t do anything. I just put my hood on my jacket and didn’t put any make-up on. I just went out there.

AE: You didn’t want to put a bunch of glitter on [like several other contestants]? SY: [Laughs] Yeah, I know! Glitter. I’m sorry, I’m from New York!

AE: When you’re modeling, you’re putting on a different persona. Did you ever feel like you had to compromise yourself or is it just part of the job? SY: Definitely I just look at it is part of the job. But as far as the make-over, I have mixed reviews. Some people liked my make-over, some people liked my hair before. Even when we walked into the makeovers, the hairstylists were looking at me, and some of them approached me and said “We loved your hair. We didn’t want to do anything with your hair.” AE: But they have to do something? SY: Yeah and I really kind of didn’t like it so much but didn’t say that I didn’t like it. I liked my hair beforehand. But as far as compromising, putting on earrings and make-up and evening gowns and this and that, that is what I wanted to show as a job-type thing, that I can pull it off. [Judge] Robert Moody really loved my style. I was the only one in the house he had nothing to say bad about my style.

AE: So why did you pick a cocktail dress to wear on the first casting call challenge? SY: That was such a big mistake on my part. “Chic in the city” – my chic in the city is skinny jeans, combat boots and a tie. That’s my “Chic in the city.” We basically didn’t have much information to go on so it was just a bad choice on my part and if I could do it over again I definitely would.

AE: I wanted to talk a little bit about your band, Who But She. How would you describe the kind of sound you guys have? SY: I get compared a lot to Chrissie Hynde and Shirley Manson of Garbage, vocals wise. The band is more like pop rock, alternative with a little bit of electronica on there.

AE: Do you talk about the band on the show? SY: It’s funny because when it comes to modeling, I try to be really quiet about being in a band and it was the contestants on the show that were pushing me to sing. I sing a couple of times on the show, like three times. The producers were asking me to sing, too, and really wanted me to sing. I wasn’t pushing it on the show, it was more like they were pushing me to do it.

AE: What’s your fan base like now and do you think it’ll change now that you’re in a more public arena? SY: We have a lot of young people because our music is a little punk as well. Definitely a lot of young girls and boys. A lot of punk people – I’d say our age range is 16 to late 20s. It’s definitely good for the market.

AE: Do you think you will get some older fans now because of the show? SY: Definitely, I think we’ll get some older fans and that would be great. I write my own music and write from my own experience and a lot of people like and respect that.

AE: Do you hope to be seen as a style icon or are you just trying to be who you are? Like, when you dress to perform on stage, is it something you dress up for like when you’re modeling? SY: I do get a lot of praise for my style and I make a lot of my own clothes as well. As far as being a style icon, I definitely would like to be that but I stay true to myself and whatever follows after that, follows. As far as being on stage, I really don’t change it up that much. I really don’t. What I wear on stage is what I wear in normal everyday. I just feel like it’s so much of who I am that I don’t need to put on anything different and it works out really well, actually.

AE: How do you feel about the stereotype that lesbians have poor fashion or senses of style? Why do you think we get a bad rap? SY: I know a lot of lesbians dress a certain way, and there’s a lot of people that see me and say “Oh my gosh, you’re a lesbian? You look so different!” and this and that. I just feel like I don’t define myself as being a lesbian only – that’s just a part of me. I kind of want people to see that lesbians can be different. There’s so many lesbians out there that don’t dress that one certain way. I kind of want to show that lesbians can be really femme in dresses. As far as a bad rap, maybe some of them do dress like that I guess!

AE: Do you think that you being on the show that has an audience with an older age range – a straight audience – will see that lesbians don’t all look the same? SY:Yeah, I want straight people to see that lesbians can be all together and not totally look like the stereotypes. And I want lesbians that are stereotypical or maybe wear jeans, flannel and short-hair because they think they have to to see you don’t have to dress “like a lesbian” – you can be whoever you want to be.

It’s all about being yourself – it doesn’t matter what your sexual preference is.

AE: What can we look forward to now that you’re done filming the show? SY: Right now, the music’s going great. We have interest from labels which is great. And basically wherever I’m supposed to be like model, sing, perform with a band, acting as well – everything! I’d like to do a little bit of everything.

AE: I know you can’t say too much about it, but what can we look forward to on She’s Got the Look? SY: Basically a lot more drama.

AE: Are you involved in the drama or are you just watching the drama happen? SY: I actually am not one that really likes drama too much, but yeah, you’ll have to wait and see.

She’s Got the Look airs Thursdays on TV Land. Follow Sandy on Twitter, and check out her band on MySpace.com

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