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

 

Linda Kazdová
by The Prague Compass with Dan Levine

Prague Compass : How did you learn about the show?
Linda Kazdová: I found out from Karolina, and I also heard about it from my modeling agency. So we agreed that we would go for it [laughs].

PC: What did you expect to happen during the 30 days of the show?
Linda: I was expecting adventure, it was really exciting for me to go and film the show. I thought it was a good combination of my experience in modeling and traveling, and I was also hoping I would meet the right guy. I didn't know how many girls there would be and we were also told there would be more guys. We only found out about a week before the show actually started that there would be one American guy with European girls.

PC: How did you get along with the other girls on the show?
Linda: Quite well at the beginning, because we spent a week together before the show started. So we became quite a strong team, but then after we met David I didn't like the fact that they all became so, kind of arrogant and looking down on him like he was a stupid cowboy. They were like really making fun of him and I didn't like that. I didn't like the attitude in the group...in all of them except for I think me.

PC: What was your general impression of American guys before you met David?
Linda: It was good, I met a few Americans while I was traveling in the States and I like them, they are open and friendly and I think they like brunettes [laughs]! They are gentlemen.

PC: How did you feel when you found out David was worth $60MM?
Linda: 80! I don't know, it wasn't very important for me. If he had the money it would be his money, so it didn't matter to me. I'm used to making money for myself, so it wasn't a very important issue for me whether he had money or not

PC: Would he really qualify as a dream date for you??
Linda: Yeah, of course! He was good looking and … exciting. I don't know, it was exciting to find out about his lifestyle, he was from a totally different culture and background.

PC: What was the most interesting thing about him for you?
Linda: His experience living on a ranch in the beautiful nature and riding horses. You know, things like that.

PC: What was the funniest thing that happened on the show?
Linda: We had a lot of fun, I think it was so funny when they told us who he actually was and we were so full of anticipation and we didn't know what would happen. They told us that he was a cowboy and I think we really had a lot of fun with that ... I think that [the funniest thing that happened] was when we were supposed to meet him for the first time and we were standing in front of the villa waiting in a line with a rope in front of us and I thought, oh my God, he's gonna ride up on a horse … and he did.

PC: When did you first think that you might want to leave the show?
Linda: After the third date we had, which was when we were horseback riding on the ranch. Basically we stayed over night at a vineyard and ranch. That's when I kind of started to kind of feel like I should leave…Now with the perspective of one year I don't know why I did it. Because I think it looked really cowardly for me to do it. But I think I was under a lot of stress and pressure from being on camera all the time and on microphone, and I didn't want to deal with the girls and the attitude in the group…they were constantly making fun of him, [saying] that he was stupid and not intelligent enough and stuff like that, but on the other hand when they saw that he was giving me some attention, like if he would ask me to go horse riding, he would always ask me to go first. So the girls were like, "Linda…" you know the other girls were like, "why are we really here?" (laughs) Because they kind of knew that is was me that he liked.

PC: What was the reaction of the producers when you asked to leave, and how long into the show was it?
Linda: It was a week. I didn't talk to the producers, I just told David, and after that nobody talked to me about it and I didn't even talk to him about it, so basically I just told him in one sentence that I wanted to go and I never had a chance to discuss it again…it was at a breakfast at the ranch and then our date ended. I spent a day in the villa and at the end of that day during the elimination he eliminated me.

PC: And when you told David at breakfast that you wanted to leave how did he react?
Linda: He acted as if he wasn't really surprised; I found out that he already knew it from Cat [a German contestant who was the last girl to be eliminated]. Because she told him I wanted to leave. There was really terrible gossip there, so she had already told him that I wanted to leave and he wasn't even surprised. He didn't even talk to me about it or try to persuade me and at the elimination I was kind of hoping that he would keep me you know because I knew already by then that I was acting really impulsively and that I had made a mistake, but he acted as if he really didn't care. Except for at the elimination itself when he was really emotional and he talked to me and he said he didn't want to eliminate especially one girl and he looked at me. So it was really obvious that he had a hard time with it. But yes, he let me go…it was quite brave (laughs)!

PC: How did Cat know?
Linda: I think it was the biggest mistake that I made, that I talked about everything with everybody. So basically what I think happened was that she wanted to use it. She wanted me to leave.

PC: What were your feelings when you won?
Linda: I felt as though it was the right thing to happen. I kind of had this feeling throughout the whole end of the show that I would be the one he would choose because I thought he loved me. So I felt great! (laughs)…I was in love with him for sure after the show.

PC: What happened between you and David after the show?
Linda: The last episode was filmed in Texas, and even there after the filming of the show we didn't have any private dates. When we went for dinner the production people would be there sitting next to us and it was very strange. We had one dinner together and the next day I flew back to Prague and he flew back to LA and after that I didn't see him for almost three months. I really couldn't believe how they could have done it, they didn't let me go to the US and they didn't let him come to Prague, so they kind of ruined the whole relationship…He came later but he wasn't the same David as the David on the show. When I watch the show now, after one year, I think maybe we could have done more, but at that time it was very stressful, I wasn't allowed to talk about anything, I wasn't able to see him, and I thought we were supposed to be, I thought we would have to stay together and all that! Oh my God you know all that stress and pushing me into something, I think that's why it didn't work.

PC: So if David asked you to come live with him in LA now would you?
Linda: I think I would now, go see him, and I don't know if I would live with him, but I would like to see him now. I'm actually going to the States next week, so I emailed him to see if we could meet. I'm much more relaxed this year and yeah, I see him differently now.

PC: What do you think about having been cast as a gold-digger out to find a rich guy?
Linda: It's not true, because when we were cast we didn't know the guy would be a millionaire...people don't realize that the girls didn't know when they went on the show that they would be competing for some rich guy. We thought it was a new international reality show. I also think that none of the girls really believed he was rich, so it didn't really play a big role...maybe European girls are different in that respect. I've heard that in the States the guys really pay for everything and all the girls are hunting for the richest guy, but I don't think it's that way in the Czech Republic.

PC: Do you think any of the other girls were really interested in getting a rich guy?
Linda: No, I don't think so…

PC: What did you think about Cat?
Linda: Cat was a big surprise for me, a big mystery. I tried to get along with her, I think I was the only girl who tried, because she seemed nice to me from the beginning, but then I saw that she was quite mean, even to me. She was really unhappy when I came back [to the show], although I was still trying to hug her and support her, sometimes she was really mean, she wouldn't talk, she was very unfriendly. I was really happy when it ended (laughs).

PC: How did you come back to the show?
Linda: I think the reason was because when I was eliminated I had a really bad time, a bad night, and the next day when I stayed at the hotel I was really upset. You know feeling that he's calling me. I don't think I've ever been down that much in my life. I think the people in the production kind of saw it too and they asked me if I regretted it. I said I did, but I was supposed to fly home, so I was already packed and at the airport when they asked me if there was a chance that I would consider coming back. So I think that's how they came up with the idea and they saw that I regretted what I had done…they thought it might be interesting for the story.

PC: How long where you back in Prague?
Linda: First they kept me in Italy for five days and I was waiting to see if it [returning to the show] would be possible from the legal point of view. But they told me that it wouldn't be possible. After that I flew back and I had been in Prague two days when they called and said they had seen the exit interview that I had done in Italy and that I could come back

PC: The next Joe Millionaire just finished airing in the CR, have you had any feedback?
Linda: Yeah, sure! Even today when I came here on the subway some kids recognized me and yesterday as well. So it's a new feeling for me that people, mostly kids and young people, stop me on the street and ask me for a signature. It's funny because I never thought I would be a celebrity, you know. So I try to be nice to everybody and I'm really glad that people watched the show and liked it. I hope I can continue with some work in tv or media that interests me. So it was definitely a good experience for me. 14. Has the show opened any doors for you? I think so, yeah, I've done several interviews with magazines and yeah, I have some feedback, so I think it has. It hasn't in modeling really because in the States the ratings were not very high, but I think here in the Czech Republic I have a good opportunity. It's my home country and I studied here and I have more things to combine, so I think being on the show can help me.

PC: What do you plan to do now?
Linda: Right now I'm considering some opportunities in television as well as some marketing and advertising work. I just finished school last week and I'm looking for a job but I'd love to stay in front of the camera. So if I get an opportunity to be a TV presenter I'll be very happy.

PC: Anything else you'd like to tell our readers about this experience?
Linda: I hope they liked the show and that they didn't cry like my grandma [laughs]!

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