Until now, the “new girl” twist on Flavor of Love 3 has been a mystery — where did these girls come from, and why were they brought in? That all changes in the interview below, in which Prototype explains exactly how it all worked. Also discussed: Flav’s modeling stigma, an unaired fight with Sinceer and her aversion to men who drink.

How did being brought in mid-season work? Did you audition for the show when everyone else did?

Yes. I knew that I might be coming on later in the season, but it wasn’t written in stone at first. I got to the set when all the other girls did, right before they were supposed to go to the house. I talked to a couple of the producers and they said that they were thinking about doing something a little different, that they liked my personality and I’m classy and educated. They were thinking of a little twist for the show. They said they were sending a few of us home, and that we might be called be in a week or so. And they did, and they told us about the new-girl idea. We knew that we were going to be the girls to come in and stir up trouble and be the more classier group. I thought that was really cool because I see myself as being a very classy and educated woman. But I knew it was going to cause some problems.

We saw on TV that the “old girls” were defensive when you came in. Was that animosity worse in person?

It was, a little bit. I understood where the girls were coming from, being angry with us popping up in the middle of the show. They’d been on so many challenges and had been there so long and then here we are, more competition. I understood where the animosity came from, but at the same time, the girls handled it very childishly. You saw some of the immature things that they did: jumping on the bed and loud talking and getting in front of people’s faces. I thought that was very unnecessary, but I knew it would probably happen. I got into it on one occasion with Sinceer, and I’m actually glad they didn’t show that. I don’t want people to see that side of me. I kinda let her get to me, and I usually don’t let people get to me like that because I feel I’m above that type of drama.

Did you scream at Sinceer?

I didn’t really scream at her. I caught myself in the midst of our argument. I don’t like to come off as this ghetto, rude, ignorant girl. That’s not me. She caught me off-guard. She came storming in the room and was yelling in my face, talking about, “How could you tell Flav that I’m not good for him?” I told her, “Honestly, I felt something was wrong with you.” I do really feel like the girl has a couple of screws loose. I told her, “No, I don’t think you’re here for Flav, and I don’t think you’re sincere at all.” I told her that if she wanted to get her story straight, she should come to me with facts. She kinda did her little booty dance in front of me and was very childish, but then she walked out the room. It didn’t escalate.

There was definitely an us vs. them vibe when the new girls came in. Did you feel bonded to your group?

I did. We met each other right before we were getting ready to go to the house. We talked for a little. We knew it was going to be us against them, so we made a pact to stick together. I bonded a little more with Black and Luscious D, as opposed to Tree. Tree was cool when we met her, but when we got into the house, she kinda had this split-personality. I had to look at her, like, “OK, who are you for real?” Black and Luscious D I still speak with on a regular basis.

Were there any of the old girls that you connected with?

After sitting down and talking to Prancer, I connected with her. I don’t keep in contact with her that much. I had sent her a letter and she called me once, but I can relate to her just because when we got there, she spoke to me about how they were ganging up on her for modeling, and that’s what I do on a regular basis. I was glad that someone else there was doing what I was doing, and wasn’t hiding it. I made clear that, yes, modeling is something that I do, and that’s not the reason why I came on the show. Trying to get exposure wasn’t something on my agenda, because I’ve been on TV before in commercials and music videos.

What do you think about the stigma that Flav places on having worked in the entertainment industry?

A lot of people think that this show is for exposure, and honestly, I think that’s why a lot of the girls did come on the show. The majority of them, even. It’s just all entertainment. It’s all fun.

Have you seen any change in your modeling career since you’ve been on the show?

A little bit. I have a lot of interviews and more people calling me to host parties as Prototype, as opposed to my regular modeling name, J. Marie. I’m actually glad I’m getting positive feedback, because some people look at doing this show as negative and degrading. But I made sure that when I went on this show, I was me. I wasn’t going to degrade myself or act out of character just because I was being filmed.

My sense was that you eliminated yourself.

I did. I actually did think that Flav was a really cool person. I had met him before the casting call even came about. We talked and I saw a whole other side of Flav. We talked at a night club and he was very cool. So when I went on the show, I figured that I could try to learn a little bit more about this person. But when I saw him take back that glass of Hennessy, it kind of threw me for a loop. I’m very sensitive when it comes to men who drink. I’m not saying I’m this angel, and I don’t want my man to drink at all. But a person who drank on rare occasions would not drink like that. I didn’t want to stay there knowing that my feelings for him would not evolve into anything greater than a friendship, because I would not get involved with a guy like that. I kinda knew that telling him that would send me packing, but I wasn’t mad at that, because I knew that he wasn’t for me.

Going into the show, you didn’t have a sense that Flav drinks the way that you witnessed?

Not really! I had a lot of people send me messages: “Oh, girl, you knew that he drank. That’s just a front.” I actually never really watched any of the other Flavor of Love seasons. It’s hard for me to watch TV at all. I’m like a little Jamaican, working so much and doing so many different jobs. I may have caught an episode or two, so I didn’t know he could drink like that.

Were you physically attracted to Flav?

I won’t tell a lie. No. He’s not one of the finest people that I’ve met. But I have, in the past, dated people that I would usually not be attracted to but they were sweet people who treated me well. I’ve had some really bad relationships, and I figured, hey, everything I’ve been doing to meet guys has not been the right way. It hasn’t been working for me. So when the opportunity presented itself, I decided to try it out. Flav’s a very sweet person, very genuine, and I could definitely see having a lifelong friendship with him.

I saw that you posted a blog on your FlavorOfLoveWorld.com profile titled, “Why Do Women Hate On One Another.” Why do women hate on one another?

Myself and one of my friends, Monique, talked about this. Our theory is that a lot of women hate on one another because they have insecurities within themselves. If you find a woman that’s successful, who’s doing good things with her life, if she sees another woman doing well, she’ll congratulate her. But if you have someone who doesn’t have as much going for themselves, all they can do is say something negative to get a laugh or make themselves feel better. Jealousy and insecurity is our theory for that.

Keep up with Prototype via her FlavorOfLoveWorld.com profile and her MySpace.