I sort of like Olivia Culpo for no real reason. She seems nice, she’s not particularly controversial, but she’s not so bland that I fall asleep reading her interviews. In case you’re all “WHO?,” Olivia is a former beauty queen and ex-girlfriend of Nick Jonas. She’s also a legit celebrity these days, in the same way that the Kardashians are legit celebrities. She models, she’s popular on social media, she’s one of the faces of L’Oreal and she gets paid to make one-off appearances for various brands. Her personal “brand” is all about beauty, health, fashion and… that’s about it? She also does a lot of charity work, so good for her. Anyway, Olivia covers the latest issue of Ocean Drive and God help me, I sort of like this interview. Some highlights:
She was a chubby kid: “As a little girl, I was really chubby. I don’t think kids know anything about diet, so I’m sure I was eating whatever I wanted to. And on top of that I was not athletic. I was definitely more into the arts. All of a sudden, I got really tall and lean. After my crazy growth spurt, I looked like a completely different person.”
She’s played the cello for years: “All of my siblings played different instruments, and we would drive an hour out of state to go to the best orchestras. In high school, the cool girls didn’t understand why I would always play my cello because they thought it was dorky. I remember wanting to hang out with my friends after school and my cello wouldn’t fit in their car, so I could never go home with them. And walking up the street with my cello and having to put it on the bus, and everyone yelling at me because they couldn’t get through the aisle and it was a safety hazard… There was a lot that set me apart. But as I grew older, I began to love that because it is such a unique talent to have, and I do respect my parents for pushing it on me. [Though] at the time, I thought it made me the biggest loser on the planet.”
Her diet these days: “I just want to do what makes me feel best. And I don’t think it means you have to be any particular size. It’s different for every person. I am not super strict, but if I have something coming up and I know I need to be in bikini shape, then I will amp up the diet and the exercise. Naturally, I prefer to eat pretty healthy, but I am not the type of person who will count calories. I also drink about a gallon of water every day.
Her thoughts on plastic surgery: “No matter how much surgery you have, whether you are the most sought-after beauty in the world or you aren’t, it’s hard to always be happy in your own skin. If people have surgery to be happier, it’s something that they should be able to do without being ashamed.
Pageant life: “My first pageant was when I got to college. I was 18 years old and that’s when I began modeling. I had to go to the agency and basically beg them to take me. They told me I needed to give them a check for $30, and I had no money, so I had to steal a check from my parents. My agency told me not to do the pageant; they thought it was tacky. My parents felt the same way. They thought it was vain…My parents were never about makeup or hair. My mom to this day still wears absolutely no makeup; she doesn’t even have face cream! So growing up in that environment didn’t exactly promote any sort of putting on makeup or wearing revealing clothes, showing off your features and your beauty. It wasn’t until I branched out of my home life that I realized I could model for a living. When I got to college, friends would tell me I should model.
First of all, the gallon of water a day thing… it’s absolutely true that switching out soda or tea with water is good for you. Water improves your skin, it improves your health and more. But a gallon of water a day? I checked the whole “you need eight glasses of water a day” thing and it turns out it’s a myth – Snopes decoded it here. If I drank a gallon of water a day, I think I would just be peeing constantly. As for the “chubby kid” thing – I was the opposite. I was a skinny little kid and when puberty struck, I became a chubby tween. Then I thinned out in my teens, then I chubbed out in my 20s. Olivia’s growth spurt sounds like heaven.
Photos courtesy of Ocean Drive.
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