Interview with The Real World's LaToya Jackson

LaToya Jackson is the most hilarious and outgoing person on this season of MTV’s ‘Real World: St Thomas’. Check out our interview with LaToya below –we discuss her cooking skills, her love of animals and her and Swift’s relationship – and be sure to follow LaToya on twitter. You can catch a new episode of ‘The Real World’ every Wednesday at 10/9c.

What made you want to audition for The Real World?

“It was on a whim to be honest. I had no intentions of really getting into the whole reality TV field, I was more so interested in television news at the time. I was working at a news station, but I had become bored with the job. Everything around me and everyone around me just seemed so cookie cutter and I started fitting myself into their shows. I started to realize that if i continued to pursue this, this may just become my life for the rest of my life. I just couldn’t imagine going there everyday and doing the same thing repetitively over and over again. So I was talking to one of my co-works and I was basically inquiring about a change and trying to do things differently and he recommended perhaps I pursue reality TV. It was something big at the time and he said I really had the personality for it. I’ve always been told that I had a good personality and that I was funny and my friends and family have always said they’d love to see me on TV. So one day, I saw that MTV was coming to Richmond and they were holding a casting call for The Real World. So I thought I should try that out just to see exactly how funny and entertaining I am. What do you know, I actually got selected.”

So did you end up doing an audition video?

“Oh yeah. Just like any other reality TV show, theres an audition video where you pretty much give them an idea of who you are as a person. I think to me that was my favorite part. Like I said, I went to school for TV and radio and I’ve seen a lot of commercials and videos in college. So for me, creating a video for the show was another fun project. It wasn’t anything hard for me to do. It was me telling my friends to record it for me, I edited it, sent it in, and they loved it.”

Did you do anything crazy in your audition video?

“I really didn’t. I wouldn’t say I did anything crazy or extraordinary that I wouldn’t do on an ordinary basis. It was just me on a normal day. I’m a fun cooky, crazy, sassy individual 24/7. So that was what was in the video, it was just me. To any other person, they probably thought I went out of my way, but I really didn’t. I had my friends follow me around and capture me in my everyday life. I did’t even go out of my way to do anything interesting. I was at home, I went to Walmart and around town.”

What did you miss most from back home while you were in the house?

“I definitely missed the cool airconditioned home that I was raised up in. I missed that the most. The house on the island was very open. We had an area in the house that had no roof, so all kinds of lizards, iguanas, and bugs would crawl up into our room every night. I was fighting bugs and spraying Raid every chance I could get my hand on the can. It was always hot, stuffy, and muggy. The mosquitos lived off our flesh and blood, it was just ridiculous. I really missed the cool air conditioning back home and an environment without all the bugs. I really wish they had shown a part in the show where you could just see everyone smacking themselves, smacking bugs, and itching. It was ridiculous. The mosquitos killed me, I think I went a little insane while I was there.”

Since animals didn’t seem to be your best friend, what was it like living around them?

“It was awkward. I’m used to seeing squirrels, but in St. Thomas, their squirrels are lizards and iguanas. Those are exotic animals to us on the mainland, but to them, it’s just an everyday little friend that just so happens to be walking down the street. So it was kind of weird to me because I love animals like cats and dogs, but when you get to the wild animals I’m not really a fan of them. I’m kind of disgusted by them. Seeing them everyday for three months, I kind of got used to it. In a way, I wanted to sneak a little lizard back in my suitcase, but I knew I couldn’t get it pass airport security. I got used to them because they were there all the time. You could be on the computer in the house and they would just crawl across the computer. They were our family on the island. They were cute and I kind of grew used to them, I grew a little compassion for them.”

This season was really coupley, but you and Swift didn’t seem to be feeling it with each other, did you ever feel pressured at the beginning to get together with him?

“To be honest with you, I definitely did feel the pressure and it was pressure amongst mainly my roommates. Everybody was linking up and connecting to whoever they were attracted to in the house. Just because they were linking up, they were saying “well what about you and Swift” and in a way forcing us upon each other. Just because you are shacking up in each others bed and you like him and you want to have sex with him and you like the way he looks, doesn’t mean that I have to follow your lead and be in a relationship for three months. That’s not what I came here for. If I was attracted to him physically or sexually, that would be a different story, but I don’t have that, and I’m not going to force myself into a situation that I’m uncomfortable in. So as far as the pressure was concerned, there was a little bit of pressure. You see your roommates every night, they’re lounging up with each other, they’re kissing, they’re flirting and chasing each other around the island, but I’m not a follower. I’ve been a leader my entire life, so just because they were doing it, doesn’t mean I was going to try to keep up with them and do the same thing. Swift and I had a friendship and a few things in common with each other. We’re both in college, we both like to party, and we had a couple other things that we came to term in agreeance in, but at the same time we both have big personalities. One thing with people with huge personalities is that they usually clash with someone with a personality as large as theirs. That was the case with us, we pretty much clashed. At the same time, we did come to common grounds on certain issues that we could agree with. I wasn’t going to force myself into a relationship just because “everybody else was doing it”. If everybody is trying to do one thing, I usually try to do the opposite.”

Who in the house was the worst cook?

“That probably would be me, I’ll take that one. Everybody used the stove more-so than me. I found it very ironic that in episode 3 or 4, they actually showed me cooking chicken nuggets. I was like “Wow, that was one of the two times I actually used that stove in the three months that we lived there.” They made me look like I was this great chef, like I was on ‘Hells Kitchen’ on TV. I really can’t cook, I never used that stove. I always just asked Robb for assistance, and Robb loves to cook. If anything, Robb would get the title of best cook and me worst cook. One of the episodes, you see me walking in there and talking to Marie, and I was like “I burnt up three strips before I got this one strip cooked real good.” I was always burning up food. I remember one night, I was fixing up some macaroni and cheese and I went into my room and started lolly gagging with my roommates, and I was like “Oh shit, I forgot about the macaroni and cheese.” So I ran into the kitchen and it was all burnt up. So yeah, I’m the worst cook. I’m the chick who burns boiled eggs. My mom banished me from using the stove back home because I remember one day I burned boiled eggs. Don’t ask me how I did that, but it happened.”

Did you have an overall favorite day in the house?

“Yeah I did. My favorite day was when we went jet skiing. I’m a motorcycle/hot rod type of chick. Unlike the other seasons, we didn’t get a chance to drive while we were filming because we had drivers that would drive us around on a boat. It was our mode of transportation, taking a speed boat from the island to the island of St. Thomas. The only chance I had to get behind the wheel of something that was motorized was when we went jet skiing. It was my first time jet skiing and it was amazing, I loved it. I think I was going about 75 mph just flipping over waves. I’m only 120 lbs, so my little light weight body was just going up and down and flying everywhere it was so much fun. It was definitely my favorite day.”

Would you ever want to do The Real World Challenges?

“I would! The whole time we were in St. Thomas they would call me Barbie, because I hated bugs, I hated lizards, I was always doing my hair and talking about going shopping. Little do they know, I have an athletic background. In high school I ran track and played tennis and was great at both of them. If I got invited to the challenges I’d be down. Honestly, my suitcase is still packed up from St. Thomas. I’ve been home for two months now, and I still haven’t unpacked my suitcase because I have no room in my closet for any more clothes. All I have to do is roll that thing to Richmond International Airport and I’m ready to go. Just let me know the date, I’m already packed, lets do this!