Interview with "Make Me A Supermodel"’s Ronnie Kroell

VH1 may have been trying to disprove the dumb model stereotype with their show America's Most Smartest Model, but it might take Bravo to finally dispel that particular myth. The cable channel once again adds to its stable of reality programs with their latest contribution, the remake of British import Make Me A Supermodel. Continuing the network's gay-friendly casting ways, the show includes one out model in the competition. His name is Ronnie Kroell and he's not just another pretty face. In fact, he's a political science major, runs his own not-for-profit organization, is politically active, and hopes to one day be president.

We recently talked to him about the show, those White House aspirations, and his porn star ex-boyfriend.

AfterElton.com: Hi Ronnie, thanks so much for talking to us.
Ronnie Kroell: Absolutely. It's my pleasure.

AE: We know you're 24, from Chicago, IL, you've acted and modeled, and you're studying political science. What else should we know about you?
RK: I am an only child and my parents are divorced. I am interested in working out. I work out just about every day.

AE: After seeing the show, I would have guessed that.
RK: [laughs] And I have a very deep passion for the arts and diversity issues. I actually started a not-for-profit organization about three years ago now called 4 + 1 Productions.

AE: What does the organization do?
RK: It’s a production company dedicated to bridging diversity through the arts. We're trying to build ourselves into being a very strong network of artists in the Chicago-land community. By supporting their work in the community, we hope we can work together to break down prejudice and stereotypes at all levels. At one point, we were going to be focused on the GLBT community, but we decided to broaden our horizons. Our definition of diversity is the unique experiences and differences that we each bring to the table as human beings.

AE: In the casting special you mentioned you have a boyfriend. How long have you been together?
RK: Actually, we are no longer together. We broke up just before the Thanksgiving holiday and decided to become good friends.

AE: Well, that's always good too.
RK: [laughs] Definitely. It's good to be friends.

AE: You mentioned that a previous partner turned out to be a porn star and escort. How did you find out and what did you say to him?
RK: [laughs] It's actually pretty funny. I can laugh about now in hindsight. About six months into our relationship, a friend of mine called me and told me I really need to sit down before I heard the information he had to share with me. I asked why and he said, "Just sit down. Ronnie, your boyfriend is most definitely a porn star and you have to go to this site."

So I went to this site and, sure enough, there was my current boyfriend in every Kama Sutra position you could come up with. [laughs] It was one of those situations where I was a little frustrated, as you can imagine.

I never had anything against what people decide to do with their lives, I don't judge people in that manner, but this was my boyfriend so of course I did have a conversation with him. I asked him if he wouldn't do that while I was with him, and we worked on it for quite some time, to the end of a three-year, on-again-off-again relationship. It didn't quite work out. He kind of went back to everything. It was an interesting time of my life.