Adrianne Curry has zero regrets about walking away from Hollywood!
As Perezcious readers may know, the 41-year-old model rose to fame after she became the first winner of America’s Next Top Model in 2003. Apart from her modeling career, she starred on reality television shows like The Surreal Life or My Fair Brady — notably with her ex-husband, The Brady Bunch actor Christopher Knight.
Related: Marvel Star Evangeline Lilly ‘Stepping Away’ From Hollywood For THIS!
But these days? Adrianne is no longer strutting down runways or appearing on our television screens! Now she’s living a quiet life in Montana with her husband, Matthew Rhode. And she’s loving it! See (below):
When speaking about her time in the spotlight in a new interview with People on Tuesday, the former television personality isn’t look back on it fondly — she doesn’t even smize! In fact, she’s glad she didn’t make it bigger in the business!
After winning the Tyra Banks competition show, Adrianne thought she would have a massive career in high fashion, like supermodels Naomi Campell, Cindy Crawford, and ANTM judge Janice Dickson. However, that’s not what happened. She came nowhere near close to it, and she felt “betrayed and lied to by the show.” Adrianne explained:
“They told us every day whoever was going to win was going to be a big Revlon model, and then they dubbed over voiceovers when it aired on TV because they never intended that. They lied to us because none of us would’ve fought as hard as we did for some half-ass prize. We’d be like, that’s stupid. That’s the industry. That is what it is. It is cutthroat. It is lying. It is predatory. [America’s Next Top Model was] a polished jewel that prepared me for the awful truth that I couldn’t trust anybody, even people that I thought I could, and even knowing that I still got screwed over.”
Oof. Although Adrianne once wanted a glamorous career as a model, she is happy she didn’t make it as big as she planned. Why? The reality star doesn’t feel she would be a “good person” if she’d become super successful in the fashion industry:
“I’m grateful that things didn’t pan out the way they were supposed to because I don’t think I would be a very good person if I had found major success in modeling. I just don’t think my young brain would’ve been able to wrap itself around that in a good way.”
Of course, she didn’t always feel this way. During her time in the limelight, Adrianne felt “very vindictive” and “hurt” after she didn’t receive her flowers after her ANTM win. Those feelings only grew when they tried to ruin other opportunities that came her way like The Surreal Life. Adrianne claimed to People the MTV show’s producers told her Top Model — and “her people” — didn’t want her to do the series as they felt it would make the modeling series “look bad.” As you can imagine, she wasn’t happy when she heard this. Adrianne expressed:
“It hurt my feelings that they were trying to throw a wrench into the cogs of my career. I was like, ‘Dude, you guys already f**ked me over, and now you’re trying to stop me from making some money?’”
It wasn’t until years later, though, that Adrianne finally had enough and decided to leave Hollywood for good. The final straw? She received a job offer that would have racked in a lot of money, but it came with a price. Adrianne would have had to actually get face fillers — something she was simply unwilling to do. She recalled:
“I felt that I was on a cusp. I was 32 years old and I got offered a job for face fillers, and it was a huge payday with free face fillers and one up to my contract and all this stuff. And I remember sitting there, and that money was so good that I considered it. Then I thought, I am willing to deface, to mutilate myself for money? I had to really start to question like, ‘Okay, where is this path going to take me if even for a second I considered injecting something in my face for a payday?’ At 32 years old, you don’t need that.”
The actress then met her hubby, who worked as a voice actor for movie trailers, and they both questioned whether they wanted to stay in the business. Ultimately, the couple both realized it was time to leave fame behind. She said:
“We didn’t think we were going to survive if we stayed there. I saw a future on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills with my face full of filler and me clinging to youth that is gone. I just felt like there was something more out there than just relevancy and money, and I made that decision to leave.”
Adrianne continued:
“I found peace with the earth and myself, if that makes sense… So I left and I make a hell of a lot less money, but I feel like I have my dignity, my soul. I felt like from when I won Top Model to that point that a lot of me had been chipped away. And it’s like every year you chip another piece off and you’re like, ‘Well, I won’t miss this little piece,’ just to keep it going.”
Although Adrianne isn’t making as much money now, she still feels “richer” than ever before. She spends her days with Matthew, with all her animals, and doing the things she loves, such as snowshoeing and hiking. But most importantly, Adrianne is finally content. She told the outlet:
“It’s like a complete reversal of where I used to be, and I feel richer than I ever was, and I have less than I ever did. I want to die and leave this earth with people saying good things about me in terms of who I was to them as opposed to accomplishments or how many Prada bags I have.”
Wow!!
It sounds like Adrianne definitely doesn’t miss the glitz and glam of Hollywood! Reactions, Perezcious readers? Drop ’em in the comments below.
[Image via Adrianne Curry/Instagram, Daniel Tanner/WENN, America’s Next Top Model/Hulu]
