Bianca Richardson had one simple question for America's Next Top Model's judges when she found herself among the bottom two for the third time: Why?
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"Like, 'What's going on? Why?' That was mostly it," Richardson told Reality TV World during a Thursday conference call.
"I got my answer. As [Tyra Banks] said, 'Bianca, you're the whole package. You have everything going for you, but the softness you give me right now by just looking at me needs to translate onto camera.' That's all it was."
The 21-year-old 5'7" student from Columbia, SC who currently resides in Washington, D.C. became the fifth finalist eliminated from America's Next Top Model's thirteenth season during Wednesday night's broadcast of The CW reality series.
"Of course you go in it to win it. That's your goal to stick around, so of course I wanted to stick around," Richardson told Reality TV World. "But I guess in my whole modeling life, everything happens for a reason. So it is what it is."
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Richardson found herself on the chopping block during Wednesday night's episode for her inability to deliver softer facial features -- which she told reporters was "not necessarily a surprise" even though it was the first time she received that criticism.
"I've actually never been told that," she said. "It could have been attributed to many different things, like the environment -- because it is a competition and you are probably a little nervous. It could have been [Banks] wanted a softer side at that point and time, period."
Richardson had previously found herself in the bottom two during the first week of the competition after she was criticized for complaining about her makeup during a photo shoot, and she explained where her aggravation came from.
"Like in any show, you have an image of how the model is supposed to look. My face looked nothing like the image. So I was like, 'My face doesn't look like that," explained Richardson. "I didn't look like the image I was given at the beginning."
While she was able to survive a few more panels, her Top Model journey eventually came to an end.
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"I just take all of my constructive criticism after this, I'm going to seek representation and keep going from there," she told Reality TV World. "I believed in myself as a child that I would make it to this show and I believe that I can continue to make it other places as well."
Richardson said she began modeling in middle school and it's a career she's always envisioned for herself.
"I was extremely, extremely interested in modeling -- I've always been interested in modeling," she told reporters. "I've been modeling for a while, and I thought that America's Next Top Model would further my career, which it will. I know it will."
Since she won't be walking away with the title, Richardson said Sundai Love, Nicole Fox and Laura Kirkpatrick are her favorites.
"I think Sundai because of her bone structure, Laura because she's like a chameleon -- she has the ability to turn things on and off, like different personalities -- and I would say Nicole because she's a thorough individual," said Richardson.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio