Style Watch: Smartest Model‘s Mary Alice Stephenson Behind the Scenes

Mary Alice Stephenson is the co-host of America’s Most Smartest Model, the game show where chiseled specimens of humanity compete to discredit a musty pop-culture cliche: that pretty people are dumb. (Guess what? They’re not.)

We caught up with Mary Alice after the premiere to learn the inside dope on what went down, and to get her take on style in general. Interview after the jump.

In addition to her hosting duties here on VH1 with Ben Stein, Mary Alice is a noted luminary in the fashion industry, where, for the past 17 years, she’s worked with style’s best and brightest. She’s currently a contributing fashion editor at Harper’s Bazaar, but has worked as a stylist, creative director, commentator and consultant for everyone from ABC to Victoria’s Secret. Mary Alice is the real deal, people.

VH1: You bring a lot of professional experience to bear here. Do you find that models are generally unintelligent?
Mary Alice Stephenson: Everyone knows that models are beautiful, and for the most part, they are smart. This myth that we’re trying to debunk — it’s in jest, poking fun at stereotypes. It’s a bit tongue in cheek. Everyone that I know is just in love with the characters, like how seriously Andre takes modeling.

VH1: Andre and Nietzsche’s Superman, they have a lot in common.
MAS: Absolutely! If there was a president of the World Modeling Association, Andre could run and win.

VH1: Let’s talk about first impressions. What did you think when you saw the cast?
MAS: The first impression viewers have was the same one I had, which was, “Oh my God!” I literally wanted to take the red eye back to New York and get the hell out. I was very prepped to be on the show, and I’m a huge fan of Flavor of Love and I Love New York, so I knew what I was getting myself into. But when I was standing there and all the models walked down the runway, a lot of them were so far from the models that walk the runways of my reality that at first I was like, “Ooh, help me, Jesus!” But once I got to know who they were, and how serious they were, my attitude changed. Because in their worlds, each of them are models — whether they’re a lingerie model, or catalog model, or have shot for Prada.

VH1: The male models seem more model-y than the women.
MAS: I was more impressed with the guys. Andre has worked with big names, like Steven Klein, and I recognized Pickle from a Prada campaign. The girls . . . well, I was kind of like, “Oh my God.”

VH1: Did you think you were going to be more in Tyra’s position? Were you expecting this to be more like America’s Next Top Model?
MAS: Kinda! But when you sign up to do a show on VH1, you know that what makes a show successful is its characters. Ultimately, this show isn’t claiming to find a top model. This show is about finding a model who is smart. I had high hopes that the female contestants would be a little more model-esque, but they were smart in how they played the game, so they got to stay.

VH1: Like Mandy Lynn?
MAS: Well, Ben saved her last night in the first elimination. I would have never done that. Ben was just like, “Please, please!” There was a lot of begging going on behind the scenes. Since it was my first elimination with Ben, I thought, ‘OK, Ben really believes in this person, so [sighs] I have to let her stay.’ I would have kicked her off the show immediately.

VH1: She seems proud of her nude modeling.
MAS: Yeah, for me the stumbling block was realizing that she wanted to be a Playboy model, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Once Ben saved her and she was willing to take off her makeup — and she did well in the spelling bee — I got the point.

VH1: Models aren’t orange!
MAS: [Laughs] No! That was the other one that we did kick off. But Mandy Lynn had a lot of heart. She really wanted it. So how the contestants reacted to situations, that made me adore them. In the real fashion world, the most beautiful girl is not always the most successful model. The girl that can adapt to the situation, can show that she wants it, can deal with people and get along with people in any situation — they’re the best models.

VH1: During the runway challenge where the models had to name things that smell and Gaston responded, “dirty penis,” did you find that as funny at the time as it was to watch?
MAS: We were all dying! I couldn’t believe it! I’m not accustomed to anyone using the phrase “dirty penis” in my life — I don’t think anyone’s ever said that to me, not even my two year old! [Laughs] I was knocked off my chair. That was the moment where I was cringing, worried that my 60-year-old father in Michigan was going to turn off the show. But truth of the matter is that Gaston looked model-y. There was an actual model in there somewhere. I could see him actually walking the runways. But he was such an idiot — a basket case and really rude — that he had to go.

VH1: How did you get into fashion?
MAS: When I was 15, I told my mom I wanted to be the fashion director of Harper’s Bazaar. I would sneak out and buy the fashion magazines. I’d have to read them in the back yard because my mom thought I was too young to be reading them. I grew up in the Midwest, and Avon was our idea of glamor. I was so obsessed with fashion that I became the youngest Avon lady in the state of Michigan. I was 11 or 10 at the time. When I first saw the Avon commercials, I was like, “Those women are so beautiful, I want to be just like that.” But then when I went to my first Avon convention at the Holiday Inn, I took one look at the Avon ladies and resigned. [Laughs] But right out of college I got a job in New York. You know, working for a fashion magazine pays no money, and so I roughed it, lived with a bunch of roommates, and my first job was at Vogue.

VH1: Under Anna Wintour?
MAS: Yes. She interviewed me with her big sunglasses on, and to this day I still don’t know how I got hired. I was probably the least fashionable person in the Vogue offices. I’ll never forget: For my interview, I put hot rollers in my hair, so I had this crazy Midwestern hair, and this huge purple Tahari jacket with shoulder pads in it. But I got the job because I was smart. For some people style is innate, and for some people it’s learned. Because fashion was my bliss, I learned about style.

VH1: Your guests on the show are friends from the industry, then.
MA: Yeah, Luke Storey is a stylist who’s done covers for us at Spin [where Mary Alice consults]. He recently shot the Marilyn Manson cover. That’s how we met. He and Manson hit it off, and he just styled Marilyn Manson’s world tour. Christa Klayman, runway director at L.A. Models, VH1 brought on. I was really happy she wasn’t some circus act teaching the kids how to walk. A lot of other reality fashion shows — where do they find these people to teach the kids how to walk and juggle at the same time? It’s not that difficult. It doesn’t have to be this huge flamboyant moment. You just walk in a straight line down the runway, turn around and walk back. Olga Liriano has worked with Bruce Weber for like 20 years. She’s worked specifically with him, and she’s now photo and bookings director at Bazaar. She really told it like it was and picked on Andre. Ben and I didn’t see what was actually going behind the scenes. We were kept away from that. It was pretty crazy.

VH1: What can we expect to see in Smartest Model?
MAS: Some of the kids take the whole thing a little too seriously, so you’re going to see a lot of tears. You’ll see them ready to beat each other up. You’ll see them fall in love. There’s just all this kooky, over-the-top madness that comes when you put 14 models in a house together, and half are men and half are women. Ben and I were hammering in instructions — sleep, look your best, study, behave. On real shoots, no [craziness] is acceptable. You have to show up on time. You have to get a full night’s sleep. When I’ve been on shoots and had a model go crazy on me, the model’s gone home. But the producers were like, “Wait a minute, you guys. This is a reality show. You have to let them have some fun, too.” So we had to be a little permissive.

VH1: What does it take to win?
MAS: There’s a whole lot of whining over the course of the show about how I don’t think the contestants are good enough. I’m sure they’re all great in real life, but I’m running a competition. Modeling is very tough. Being a model is about adapting and listening. It’s about doing what needs to be done for every client. You have to be able to change your look on a daily basis.

Above: Mary Alice Stephenson wears a jacket by YSL Yves St. Laurent, top by Carolina Herrera, earrings by Smithwick Dillon.

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