This month, FWO takes a look inside the world of reality t.v. in our interview with Bee-Ex (a.k.a., T’wana Denard)- one of the women who vied for the affections of everyone’s favorite clock-wearing romeo, Flavor Flave, in the 3rd season of Vh1’s “Flavor of Love.”

FWO: Why did you decide to be on the show?
B: I really didn’t have a reason, I was just taking a shot. I was sitting at work, opened an email that had Flave pointing at me. I said, “you know what, let me try this.” So I sent my head shot and two weeks later they called saying they wanted me to come in. I did and they loved me. They asked, “Why do you want to meet him?” I said “well, he looks nice… and sweet.” A week later I got the call to come out to L.A. It was weird…you could see the other contestants… everyone was in adifferent room…

FWO: Was there anything about the show or the audition process that surprised you?
B: Well, about 30 or 40 of us had to go for psychological evaluations and meet with a psychiatrist to find out if we were stable. After that, about 25 girls went to the house. He got rid of 5 girls the first night.

I was also surprised by all the blood work and testing we had to get. There were blood tests, tests for STD’s, hepatitis, everything! It felt like we were in school again getting all these immunizations. But they wanted to make sure everything was safe since the girls were expected to kiss this dude in the mouth. The producers let us know that Flave was very affectionate and asked if we had a problem kissing him. I said “Yeah, I do!” but I said it in a joking manner so they thought I was funny. I was like, “yeah, I’ll take one for the team!”

FWO: Did you get along with the other women in the house?
B: Yeah, I got along pretty well with everyone. There was one woman who annoyed the hell out of me… asking everyone if they were “ready for this, ready for that, ready for kids…”

FWO: What was it like living in a house with that many women you didn’t know?
B: Words cannot describe! There were so many different characters. The hardest part was that I’m a very clean individual and many of the women didn’t want to clean, wash dishes… would leave dirty panties all over… It was like raising teenagers! I had to delegate cleaning responsibilities! Other than that, there were so many personality changes while we were there… maybe because of the menstrual cycles…but more than anything, the women had watched the previous seasons’ shows so much that they believed they had to be ignorant. I had to do a quick public service announcement in the house to tell them not to get in my face trying to cause trouble… I wasn’t afraid of going home, but they knew not to mess with me. I believe women should be ladylike whenever they can…, but so much time was spent arguing in the house.

FWO: Did anything about Flave surprise or shock you?
B: Yes! He is actually really very nice and genuine. That was shocking to me. I though he’d just want to rub everyone down all the time (laughs). But he was actually very respectful, VERY. If you didn’t like something you could tell him one time and he would never forget it. If you were upset he would take time out to talk to you. A lot of women were homesick or even fearful of bodily harm in the house because of all the arguing. He was very reassuring at those times. He can [also] cook! He’s actually a very good cook. He even cooked for some of us!

FWO: What was it like with the cameras rolling all day long?
B: It was different, but I also went into it knowing I would be on t.v., so I was always tv-ready (laughs)! You wake up on camera and go to sleep on camera, so I tried my best to stay ready all the time. After a while I started to like it- I got used to it. I started to feel like I could be on t.v. a lot and find a way to impact people’s lives. It was strange because everyday something was going on but what they showed on the episodes was he drama instead of the down-time we had when everyone was getting along. So I had to make sure I didn’t step out of my element and just make sure I was being true to myself. I think you can be a viewer favorite if you carry yourself in the right way.

FWO: Looking back is there anything you wish you’d done differently on the show?
B: I’m actually very pleased with the way I carried myself. I’m displeased with the editing that made me seem like I as a name dropper, or someone who was out to stalk celebrities. They made it seem like I said I knew lots of celebrities, when what I’d actually said was that I didn’t know a lot. At first it pissed me off, but I’m not upset anymore. People see me in the street and tell me, “You represented women well on the show!” Men want date me because of the show, but women are thanking me for representing Black women positively, especially after some of the ways that women behaved in the previous seasons on the show!”

FWO: Were you disappointed when you were chosen to leave the house?
B: NO! The house was getting too crazy! Women were getting cabin fever and were acting more and more immature. Plus, the challenges the women had to do after I left were too immature and not my speed, with the exception of the calendar, which I could have done since I do calendars every year anyway.

FWO: Have you gotten any new opportunities from being on the show?
B: Yes, I’ve been in some magazines. I’ve been in XXL Magazine, and I’ve done 3 ads since being on the show. Now I’m paid to do fashion shows, whereas before I was doing some shows here and there for free. I’m also putting together some swimsuit fashion shows, so overall my business efforts are just becoming more lucrative.

FWO: Do you think being on the show has hurt your career in anyway?
B: Just in that the way the show made me look like I was name dropping- some clothing lines like Sean John or Rockawear might not take me on now. But I put everything in God’s hands!

FWO: Was the drama on the show genuine or staged by the producers?
B: I know it may seem like the producers had something to do with it, but the girls were dramatic on their own. There was never a calm moment. The girls were loud and reckless. All the emotion was true, the people not liking each other was all true.

FWO: What are you doing now?
B: I’m actually taping my own show, which will be called “Up Next With Bee-Ex!” It’s a show featuring me, author Tracy Brown, and Melinda Perez that’s about male/female relationships where the 3 of us talk with male celebrities about relationships- so you’ll get to hear about relationships from both sides… You’d be surprised at some of the things the men are telling us! I’m hoping that we’ll be picked up by one of the cable networks! Other than that, I’m still modeling and doing my thing. People can find out more about me on www.modelmayhem.com or on my Myspace account!

FWO wishes Bee-Ex luck in all her endeavors and we look forward to seeing more of her in the future!