Mount Vernon woman still in running to be Hilton's 'BFF'

Reality, loosely speaking: Vanessa Fontana has outlasted half of the 18 contestants on the MTV reality show "Paris Hilton's My New BFF," where each week, people try to prove they can be part of the heiress' entourage.

While Fontana, 22, moved from Mount Vernon to Los Angeles two weeks ago, she checked in with The Herald to talk about the last episode and set up tonight's show, scheduled to air at 10 p.m.

Q: You almost kissed Shelley during a commercial shoot to show you could sell perfume last week. Did you feel like that was a fair test of your salesmanship?

A: Yeah. We knew that sex sells, and we knew that Shelley's the good girl and nobody would expect it from her. So when we thought up the concept, which was mostly my idea, we knew everybody would think it was great, because they wouldn't expect it.

Q: What was it like getting grilled by gossip-monger Perez Hilton, who tried to figure out which of you was the "fakest"?

A: It was intimidating. I didn't know what to expect. When we found out he was there, I remember talking to (fellow contestant) Onch, and he said, "Get ready, he can get any kind of dirt out of anyone." We were all thinking, "Oh gosh, what kind of dirt do we have?"

Q: Speaking of Onch, he got the boot over Corrie. Considering he's now your roommate in real life, what was it like seeing him go?

A: It was really sad. Actually we missed (watching the airing of) the 10 o'clock show that night (Oct. 21), so we watched the 2 a.m. Both of us cried.

Q: Next episode, you have to spend "seven minutes in heaven" with a rapper, going into a closed room with the guy. How does that factor into whether you can be Paris' best friend, exactly?

A: She's in the public eye all the time, and she needs someone who can compose themselves behind closed doors. She needs to know you won't make yourself look bad, and her look bad.



Writer Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455 or arathbun@heraldnet.com.