FEATURE STORY • SPECIAL • NIGHTLIFE • ART+CULTURE • FOOD+DRINK • TRAVEL • STYLE

 

Karolina Chuda
by The Prague Compass

Prague Compass: How did you learn about the show?
Karolina Chuda: I heard about it from an American living in Prague who owns a bar where people from Hollywood hang out when they are making movies here. He met the casting agent who asked him if he knew some girls who might be good for this kind of show.

PC: Why did he choose you?
Karolina: Because he thought I met the profile; they were looking for a single woman who speaks great English, maybe educated, good looking, and who has traveled.

PC: Did they try to find out anything specific during the casting?
Karolina: The main thing they asked was, what do you know about reality shows and what shows have you seen. They were trying to find out whether you had heard about Joe Millionaire. If you mentioned it you would be out. That was the main thing, then in London you had to pass drug test.

PC: Why did they choose so many Czech girls?
Karolina: I think the Czech girls were really professional and they were pretty much what they wanted. In the first casting they cast girls and videotaped it, then sent the tape to Hollywood. Then they would say, yeah we like this girl and send her to the next round. They cast maybe 50 Czech girls and took 5 of them but from the casting in Italy they sent 200 tapes [to Hollywood] and they didn't like most of the girls.

PC: What did you expect to happen during the 30 days of the show?
Karolina: I really didn't know, at the beginning I thought there would be more girls and more guys, that's what they told us…that we were going to travel somewhere to a romantic island or city. And I thought it would be like some summer camp or something with lots of girls and guys…now I know all about reality shows

PC: What was your general impression of American guys before you met David?
Karolina: A good impression. I dated two American guys before, so I kind of knew what to expect from American guys and I actually don't think that David fit the profile of an American guy really. I had a good impression and David wouldn't change my impression, because … I've known so many Americans and I've lived in America as well so, one guy from the middle of nowhere won't change my view.

PC: How much time did you get to spend privately with David?
Karolina: none

PC: Would he really qualify as a dream date for you??
Karolina: No, he was not my dream date at all [laughs]! Let's put it this way, I´m not saying he was a bad guy and it's not that I didn't like him, he was nice, but I wasn't interested from the first moment I saw him.

PC: What do you think about having been cast as a gold-digger out to find a rich guy?
Karolina: Well we didn't know this, but I never felt that we were gold-diggers and I don´t think it was really shown that way in the show. You meet somebody and the first thing he says is, "I have $80MM" and it's like, so what? If somebody watches the show and thinks that you're a gold-digger then it's their problem, I don't care at all.

PC: What were your thoughts when you were told that David was worth $80 million?
Karolina: I didn't believe it first of all, and even if he did have $80mm it wouldn't change anything for me. Because what would it mean to me? So what if you are rich? He was like nobody to me. There was nothing interesting about him.

PC: How did you feel when David eliminated you?
Karolina: I felt kind of relieved at the beginning, because as I said there was no freedom so I felt like, I'm free. Then I was wondering why he would eliminate me. Then he said that he eliminated me because of Linda anyway. The production told us not to tell David we were friends, but we said why should we hide it.

PC: The next Joe Millionaire just finished airing in the CR, have you had any feedback?
Karolina: A little, some people recognize me and everybody asks why I left so early!

PC: Has the show opened any doors for you?
Karolina: I don't think so, not really…I know that I lost one commercial because of this show, because they didn't want any media-known face for the commercial. Not any positive effects so far. I like the acting business, but I also have another job in a different field, so I don't expect anything, of course if I got some offer…

PC: What do you plan to do now?
Karolina: I'm working, I have a serious job in finance with an oil company.

PC: Anything else you'd like to tell our readers about this experience?
Karolina: I think that it was a great experience, I would never regret it. It's very interesting…I would basically like to say that a reality show should be a real show, and show what really happens, but it's really 50% screenplay.