Mary Alice Stephenson, co-host of America’s Most Smartest Model, is a fashion industry insider whose smart looks and smart tongue control her show’s pretty people. Each Tuesday we talk with her about issues on the show. This time the subjects are Andre’s temper, Mandy Lynn’s attitude, and Jesse’s future (which isn’t going to be on the runway).

VH1: In the last episode, Andre’s anger became explosive. He’s the villain on the show. How did you feel about him?
Mary Alice Stephenson: He was a bit cocky in front of us, but he was never violent. On the night we were doing eliminations we were feeling it a little, and that’s why we called him out.

VH1: It’s pretty obvious that everyone hated him. He ate an entire cake by himself!
MAS: [Laughs] He deserved it. I didn’t realize to what extent people didn’t like him, though. But when I saw the extras, I was deeply shocked by how disturbing it was. On camera, he actually admits that he would hit Lisa. I was glued. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know all that stuff was going on. The producers wanted to keep us separate so we could judge them on their challenges. But when I saw how rude Andre was, and how he threatened Lisa, and how Daniel stood up for the girls, I was shocked. The producers had to talk Daniel into staying on the show.

VH1: OK. Let’s talk about the person who didn’t stay on the show — Mandy Lynn. You asked her to leave. She was pretty popular among fans, but by the end of the last episode, you could tell that she’d given up.
MAS: I love that Mandy Lynn just wants to be Mandy Lynn. That’s great, and I totally encourage people to be themselves in their lives, to dress how they want. But when you’re a model in my kind of fashion world, you have to adapt how you look. You have to be able to change at any given moment on a shoot when someone is like, “Chop your hair off.” You don’t have a say. If you’re hired for a job, you change how you look. That’s the difference. Mandy Lynn’s modeling is Playboy modeling. Those photo shoots entail . . . getting what you see. The girls are hired because of how they look. That look doesn’t vary so much in the world of lingerie modeling. Victoria’s Secret is a totally different story — there, they adapt [to each new season], and they’re all high-fashion models. Initially, Mandy Lynn’s willingness to adapt was keeping her in the competition, because she clearly wasn’t the smartest. That’s the sign of a great model — someone who’s willing to change for a great client.

VH1: But when she got to the point where she refused to eat in the challenge, showed up to work-out anyway, even though she was barred from the competition, and then gave up . . . you get the sense that she didn’t care anymore.
MAS: Yeah, we knew. I had my doubts, but I really liked her. I liked how she treated the other people on the show. That comes through in her interviews. She’s one of the only models who doesn’t badmouth everyone else, and to me, that’s really cool. That’s the kind of girl I respect, even though she wouldn’t eat the cake. I mean, what you didn’t see was that I stopped the whole challenge when she wouldn’t eat. [The producers] cut it out. I wanted to make sure that she didn’t have any sort of eating disorder, problem with sugar or allergies. I didn’t want her to lose the challenge because she had a problem that could have been serious. She and I talked. She looked me in the eye and said, “No, Mary Alice, it’s none of that — I just don’t want to eat it.” I was like, “Come on. It’s just a cake.” She only took one bite! So she was given a lot of opportunities. If she had lost the challenge for medical reasons, she wouldn’t have been disqualified. Later, when she came out to exercise, I thought that was cool. And even if she couldn’t physically compete, she went back to the room and used the time to dye her hair. That was good, but she knew she was on thin ice.

VH1: Is that why she dressed like that for the elimination? To rub it in?
MAS: Because they’re smart models, they’re supposed to style themselves. Usually, I’m working with actresses and models to come up with different looks. That’s not the case here. That night, I had told them to dress elegantly. That was the theme of the night. So when she came out, yes, she’d dyed her hair, but . . . you know, I’m all for Victoria’s Secret, but worn on the inside, not the outside! [Laughs] She had dressed elegantly, but right before she came out, she decided that she wanted to be who she wanted to be and she changed her whole tune. Ben was actually appalled. By that point she had won me over a little because she was so sweet and everyone else was so rude. Mandy Lynn had a lot of grace. But Ben couldn’t believe her outfit, and the two of us decided that it was time for her to go.

VH1: That’s funny, because they’ve cut the show so it looks like Ben’s fascinated by her breasts.
MAS: Ben definitely likes big boobs. [Laughs] He responds to that! You know, we’re not actors, but I think Ben was definitely playing to Mandy Lynn there.

VH1: Another thing I wanted to ask you about was how the show portrays Jesse. It’s like they’ve cut it so that he seems like a beleaguered underdog. As a viewer you get the sense that’s not the case.
MAS: OK, that’s a big conversation for me because I feel like I have to defend myself. Jesse, first of all, was one of the most fun, campy, over-the-top, flamboyant personalities on the show. He’s been edited to be very serious, beat-up, crying . . . that’s not the Jesse I know. During last night’s elimination, you see Jesse start to cry. What you don’t see is that I had a conversation with Jesse on the stage. The producers tried to keep me back. We talked. I wanted to make sure he was all right. Also, I said many times — which got edited out — that I would never expect Jesse to lose 10 pounds in two days. A lot of the message board comments have been like, “That’s so hard. How could she expect him to do that?” But that was never my intention for Jesse.

VH1: What tipped you off that he wasn’t doing what you asked?
MAS: The bottom line is that I was told Jesse was drinking tons of champagne and not working out. I kept asking the producers whether he was exercising, eating healthy and not drinking. The answers were no, he’s drinking, eating tons of food and he’s not working out, which contradicts what they’re showing on television. So I came down on him harder. This is a competition. I would expect him to take my comments seriously: to be healthy, work out and stay away from alcohol, because alcohol adds a lot of weight. Look, if he can’t take me bringing up something that would be brought up every day in the real world of modeling, he’s going to have get tougher. And when I heard that he was on the treadmill with a glass of champagne and eating everything in sight, well . . . you understand. But that said, I really did like him and his energy. I just wasn’t convinced that he is a model. Do I think he could walk down the runways of Milan or Paris for the men’s shows? No. Do I think he could be a spokesperson, modeling for commercials because he’s cool looking? Yes. I love his eyes and think he’s a beautiful man.