ONTD

Yes bitches, I just put a picture of Laura's big giant Bad Mommy face outside of an LJ-cut. Deal with it, haters!! I *love* this bitch.

This was posted at the source on 09/25, but I don't remember seeing it on here. If you're on TEAM LAURA like I am, then this is a fantastic phone interview w/ her done by the queens at Out Zone TV.

It is kinda TL;DR - the best bits is her talking about how she loved Kayne and his talent and was sad to see him go. She also goes on to say she only critiqued people she honestly liked because she wanted to see them succeed, and that she was very upset when Robert Best left. There is also some stuff about her crazy family, how her sons are completely gay, her favorite "Project: Runway" blogs, and her thoughts on being a fag fan favorite.



Taking nothing away from Tim Gunn, Robert Best, or any of our other illustrious "Runway" all-stars -- if you ever get the chance to spend 45 minutes on the phone with Laura Bennett, we’re pretty sure it can cure cancer. Laura caught us up on how things are going, her totally gay chidren, and some of her likes and dislikes.

OZ: Hi Laura. So, you’re largely beloved by the gays. Before we go any further, I have to tell you that we’re recording, so if you want to go off the record, you let me know.
I’m pretty outspoken, I don’t really see myself as an “off the record” kinda girl.

OZ: Excellent. So, a lot of our gay friends have said that you’re like the mother we wish we had.
Yeah, I don’t know though. The mother we wish we had? You know, I guess I’m an OK mother. My kids seem to like me OK. I’m not sure, though, what does that mean? When gay guys respect a figure, they see her as a mother figure?

OZ: No. I think it just means we want to go drinking with you.
I know. See, now that, to me, is a more normal response than the whole mother thing, because I didn’t think I was especially mothering on the show.

OZ: Really?
You think I was?

OZ: You definitely had charge of the room.
Well that’s just 'cause everyone else were wimps.

I'm kidding, of course.

OZ: A friend of ours said the other day that you’re like the best character in an off-Broadway play.
Oh, like "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolfe" -- where I’m drunk and fighting with Richard Burton? I like that.

OZ: We’d pay good money for that. Why do you think the gays love you?
You know what? One time, I went out for Valentine’s Day with my husband for dinner. And we went to this place where all the waiters were transvestites. Here in the city. And I had taken this long red dress and just covered the bodice with roses. You know, I just made this whole thing out of Valentines Day -- this theme. And these guys loved it. And they asked me, you know, why don’t women do this? Why don’t they be more fabulous? You know, you guys have to struggle to be able to do it, you’re dying to do it, you do it anyway, even though society -- you know, you have to deal with all the issues. And we’re women. We have free reign! And there are women who don’t take advantage of it! I think it’s that I take advantage of being a female and wearing the clothes. And I think that’s what gays like about me. I celebrate my woman-ness, and I there’s an aspect of “Wow, I wish I could celebrate myself in that way and get away with it like she does.”

OZ: I think you’ve just made sense of the entire Judy Garland obsession.
You know? To have it accepted and not such a difficult thing? I think that’s why they like me.

OZ: Was there anything on the show that you felt was misrepresented?
No, I don’t. I mean, look, it’s what we do -- this is what we signed up for. It’s reality television. I gave them the footage. Nobody forced me to say anything or do anything. I do think I was represented fairly. That’s not to say that they didn’t get a range there. In some episodes I was the buddinski bitch, and then in some episodes I was the hormonal crazy woman. They did it more of the beginning, where they would edit me walking around giving unsolicited critiques.

I’m used to working in a studio environment where you talk to other people about design, and, honestly, I adored Kayne and that’s why I gave him critiques because I was always so worried about … you know, he had such great ideas, and he’s so talented and he’s such an amazing sewer, and I just thought, if this child just put one idea in the dress, instead of eight, he would kick all of our asses. So every critique I give of Kayne, it’s just because I adored him. And that’s the only thing that didn’t come across necessarily on television. I wouldn’t call it a misrepresentation.

OZ: I think it comes off that you’re doing it from a place of caring.
There seemed to be some question on the internet as to whether I was just a bitch.

OZ: Do you read the comment boards?
I don’t read them myself. But my husband and I are very close. And his way of being involved over these last couple of months, while I’ve been sitting at my sewing machine twenty-four/seven, putting the final collection together. He would sit next to me on his computer and read the blogs. And he would print out funny comments. You know, the Project Rungay boy things are amazing. And some of the recaps are just amazing. They’re better than the show, some of them. So, I didn’t read them myself because it just takes a lot of time, but my husband was up on everything and he kept me very informed, so essentially I was getting someone to read it for me.

OZ: Any favorite "Runway" blogs?
Project Rungay. When they’re on, they’re really on. They’re so cute, those boys. It’s funny, because I get recognized on the street nowadays. People stop me and I answer their questions and I take my picture with them and then one day, I said to myself, "You know, these guys are so funny, and they spend all these hours a day, promoting the show, and in turn, promoting me, I should contact them."

You know? I take the time to talk to these people on the street, so I thought I should take the time to talk to them. So I actually do email those Project Rungay boys. The other day, actually, my Blackberry was sending emails to them on it’s own.

They wrote me these great messages about having a relationship with my Blackberry. And I said, "No, be warned, those electronics, they’ll screw you over every time. Stick with Hermes, she’s much more loyal." I don’t know whatever became of their relationship with my purse, but I hope it went well.

And then I also read the girls from Blogging Project Runway, even though it’s gotten a little bit boring. It’s a little too sweet lately. You know, they don’t allow nasty comments and you know, that’s no fun. Come on, if you can’t dish. But I talk to one of the girls from them, just because of all the work they do over there. You have to.

OZ: How did you get into architecture?
I always wanted to be an architect, from the time I was a little kid. I guess I thought that it was sort of artsy, but more respectable, and maybe you could actually get a real job. The only thing I ever wanted to be besides an architect was -- I loved commercials and advertising and logos and I loved the idea of capturing an audience in 30 seconds with one tiny sentence. So advertising was the only other career that I ever considered besides architecture.

OZ: Did you always like to sew?
Yeah, I’ve always sewn, ever since I was a little kid. I had a sewing machine when I was 10 years old. And I’ve always just sewn for myself, so not that I thought I was good at it, I just watched the show and thought: "I could do that." But the samples I brought to the audition were my own personal clothing. And that was all I had to show.

OZ: We love that you’re foul-mouthed. What’s your favorite word?
The f-word. I do try to use frickin sometimes. It can’t be done all the time. And obviously I don’t think much before I say anything, and when you do that, it just kinda all comes out. But I do say that kind of a lot.

OZ: How did your friends and family respond to the show?
Well, part of the reason I did it is because I thought it would be fun, not just for me but for my friends and family. I always enjoyed watching the show and I thought, "Oh I could do that," but I never expected to really get on there.

No, actually, I have to admit, I thought I could get on there, because I didn’t think they had a character like me before. I thought, "they’re trying to make TV -- it’s not all about design so there’s going to be a certain amount of kids right out of fashion school, there’s a certain ethnic mix, this that." I mean they’d had older women on before, but not like me. So I thought I could make it on the show, but I didn’t think I’d make it that far.

So really, just the whole thing was just so that my friends and family could have fun watching. And I think everyone has had a lot of fun with it. You know, you get these husbands that are addicted to it, who under any other circumstances would never be watching reality television shows about fashion design. But everyone had a lot of fun with it. Except for the weeks that I was away. My husband really had to pick up a lot of slack.

OZ: How did that go?
That went … that was tough for him. I mean, obviously, it was harder for him than it was for me because he didn’t know what was going on. He was taking care of all these kids. He was doing his job, plus my job, and you know, here at home. And we had great help from the girls that work with us, but he definitely made it all possible. I mean, I didn’t come out in Bryant Park and dedicate my show to my family and my husband who’s been so supportive, because I thought that was just really cheesy. But in my heart, I knew that it was my husband that made it possible. Yeah, forget it. Without him, there’d be no way.

OZ: How was that, living in that place with all those girls?
I have to tell you that my roommate got eliminated on the first challenge, Stacey. So I had a room to myself, and I guess the other girls were scared of me and they never really came in. So, you know, there we are at Atlas, and it’s basically a one-bedroom apartment, so there’s two beds in the living room and then two beds in the bedroom, so I really had the bedroom all to myself. But we don’t spend a lot of time in the room. We’d get there at one, two in the morning, and we'd go straight to sleep and then wake up and start the next day.

It was tough. The lack of sleep was definitely the hardest part. The challenges were easy, they were fun. I enjoyed all that part. It was just the not sleeping.

Of course, I started to get more pregnant, my feet were swollen and my ankles. And I’m very vain, especially when it comes to my shoes. And so it was like, God’s worst punishment. “How can we upset Laura the most? Oh, I know, I’ll give her cankles.” So, that was terrible.

OZ: Who was the hardest contestant for you to see eliminated?
I love Robert, and I have to say, of everyone who got eliminated, I knew that I would miss him the most. He made fun of me all day long, but it was so hilarious, that you just had to love the guy. I was never really sure, you know, if he liked me or not. With his sense of humor. Because he says everything the same way.

And so sometimes he would give me -- I mean he was blatantly making fun of me and I knew it. He would say, “If this were Oz, and Tim Gunn was the wizard, Laura would be the wicked witch.” That kind of stuff, I was clear about. But then he would say things like, “Oh Laura, you sew so well, you can get a job as a sample maker any day.” And I‘m thinking -- did he just diss me?

OZ: Robert said of you, “Laura is tough, she’s got thicker skin than any of us. She’d just laugh in your face and hit you right back.”
He was so interesting for me to have around because I’m the first person to be able to laugh at myself. So it was really interesting interpreting the … “does he like me or not.” I’m still trying to figure this out. And he’s so clever and so interesting that I knew I would miss him the most.

OZ: Are you still in touch?
I’d really like to speak to Robert Best, because I’m really lost as to what to do next, and I think he would be good to speak to, because I think we have a really similar design aesthetic and I know he’s sort of tried to do a high-end line before and I just wanted to talk to him about it. I know he has my number, but he hasn’t called. I think I’ve been dissed by Robert Best.

OZ: We’re calling his ass. We’ll get him on the phone for you.
Right. “Laura really wants to get in touch with you.” And then, Tim Gunn calls me the other day. Like, out of the blue. And you know, we don’t have a lot of social contact with Tim. Every time he talks to us, there’s a camera. So he calls me and he said, “You know, Laura, I’d really like to talk with you, can you come to my office and chat?" And I say, oh sure Tim, I’d love to, I’ll be there. And I hang up the phone and I’m like, "Oh shit, I got called in by the Dean." Do you think I'm in trouble?

OZ: Doubtful.
And I’m so stupid, I didn’t think to say, but why? Am I in trouble Tim? Is there a problem Tim? Instead, I’m just, “Hey sure, OK Tim.” I guess I'll let you know how it goes.

OZ: Everyone’s that way with Tim. Speaking of being afraid, let’s put this to rest: Are you afraid of dogs?
No. Listen, I was at this party one time, and this woman was going on and on about Lily. Poor Lily had fallen and his this horrible accident and was in intensive care, and they didn’t know if she was going to make it. And she spent the entire Christmas holidays in the hospital, and I thought she was talking about a child, and then at the end I find out she’s talking about her goddamned dog.

Somebody in Bergdorf Goodman offered it a treat, and it jumped off the cosmetic counter or something, and here I had sat there for thirty minutes, just bleeding heart, thinking, “this woman’s poor child” and it turned out to be her flipping dog. She was this really scary thin, thin, overly thin, blonde, overly botoxed New York woman, you know the type? Who carry their dog with them into Bergdorf Goodman? So I just have this bad taste in my mouth for those types of people, but I have nothing against those little.…

I am not afraid of dogs. I like dogs. I’ve had dogs, but I like big dogs. That dog was getting hairs in my nose. And I know people got all upset about my “I don’t have the emotional energy to care for a dog” comment. Look, we have tons of animals, we always have in our family. There’s a tortoise walking around right now. Free in our apartment somewhere. So I have nothing against animals, and especially dogs. But those little foofoo dogs, I just don’t have the patience.

OZ: Who did you like from the other seasons?
Jay McCarroll is fabulously talented. I thought Chloe was … eh, Chloe didn’t move me necessarily. This is really bad. I don’t know. Nobody was as fabulous as I am.

OZ: What fad do you hope will die?
Oh my God, these low slung jeans. What is it with those and the buttcrack thing? I’m sorry, I understand that it reduces the amount of fabric that’s on your ass, and somehow somebody thinks that it makes your butt smaller. But, you know, I don’t see it looking good on very many people. And then 16-year-old girls and stuff, walking around with that muffin roll over the top of their jeans. They just don’t get it. I’ll be happy to see that look go away. I didn’t like it in the 70s and I don’t like it now.

OZ: If you had to make out with any of the other contestants, who would it be?
Oh god, that’s just gross.

OZ: Alright. We’re going to ask you some of our rapid fire questions.
Middle Name: Eugenia.

Celebrity Crush: Does Jimmy Stewart count? Can I still have a crush on Jimmy Stewart?

Hometown: New Orleans.

Favorite color: My husband says that this has something to say about me emotionally, but grey. Sort of a nice charcoal grey. Medium charcoal grey.

Best movie ever: Auntie Mame with Rosalind Russell.

What are you listening to lately: I’ve been listening to a lot of classic rock like Queen. And Led Zeppellin. But I also really like Rascal Flats, and Brooks and Dunn. I love that Country and Western stuff, but the modern Country and Western. I don’t so much listen to like, Patsy Cline or anything like that. I like the pop country and western stuff.

Beverage of choice, not pregnant: Tanqueray martini, up with olives.

Beverage of choice, pregnant: Tanqueray martini, up with olives. 'Cause that’s when I really need it. Come on. Who are we kidding here? God knows, if I ever needed a martini. Usually though, my husband will order it, and I sip from his glass. That’s our way of handling that situation.

First crush: I think his name was … I can see his face, he was very pretentious, it was in New Orleans. He was one of my sailing instructors. I’ll have to get back to you.

First kiss: I can’t remember, I was a late bloomer with all that kinda stuff, but I can assure you that whoever it was, he turned out to be gay.

High school mascot: It was this greek warrior looking guy, but it was very cartoonish and silly. So it’s not like … no, was he roman? There was a toga. It was drawn in such a way, that it looked more like Asterix and Ceasar.

TV show you love: I like those real estate shows. I like the ones that reveal the prices of everything. I hate it when they just talk about – then the offer came in. I want to know what the offer was, what the difference between the asking and the offer was, generally the ones on BBC tend to be more upfront about price.

I used to like the move-the-furniture-around shows a lot, but then they got scary with the decorating shows. Where the teams would come in and use what they could find in your shed to redecorate your house. And then it just started to get out of hand. And there was way too much of that sponge faux finish going on. So I had to get off of those. That’s when I turned to “Flip That House.” You know where they buy a perfectly good house and then they go to Lowe’s and they fuck it up, and then they resell it? But because it’s new and shiny and it’s got all those appliances from Lowe’s, it’s better now? I like watching those shows

OZ: What do you hope that your children pursue?
My children, they get it from my husband and I. We’re both pretty artistic. So I expect them to go into the arts of some sort. Whether it’s architecture or painting, or …of course at the moment all he can do is drape dress forms and sew. You know? Because that’s what’s happening in his life at the moment. But they do seem to be talented in the arts, so I would be disappointed if they didn’t somehow go in that direction, but I would never push any of them in any particular direction. I just hope that at least one of them is gay. I think the odds are with me. If I have five boys, isn’t it one in ten? I think I’m doing OK.

OZ: Your odds are OK.
I have one child who wants to be Austin Scarlett when he grows up. And then when Tim Gunn was over here, he pulled these two Nelson benches that I have that I use as a coffee table, he pulled them apart and made a long catwalk and did his walk down the catwalk for Tim Gunn, so I’m feeling positive about that one.

(There is the noise of a great ruckus behind Laura.) Hold on, I just had an influx of children. You want a what? You want a noonie too? Alright, well go ask your brother to ask Nicole and then it’ll be like a whole … they all want pacifiers. These kids are four years old and they’re still sucking on things. See, that’s the one I think might end up being gay.

I do worry for my children, I mean, I think it must be a really difficult thing. I have no problems with any of my boys being gay, and like I said, God knows they have room for a feminine source in the house. With my fifth boy in a row on the way here.

But I do. I worry that it’s difficult for teenagers.

OZ: Well, there’s an internet. Which should, you know, be monitored, but they can at least get some more information. You know? A lot of us grew up thinking that we were the only gay people in the world.
I guess especially by the time my boys are teenagers. Well I have a ten-year-old, I don’t think that that one’s gay. But I guess by the time that they’re teenagers, I guess it’ll be an accepted lifestyle.

OZ: We can only hope so. We don’t handle that kinda thing, but we hope for the best.
Yeah, one interview at a time. Good for you guys. I just hope it’s not too difficult for them. It would definitely be a welcome thing in this house. Actually, a lot of people think my husband is gay.

OZ: 'Cause he’s fashionable?
Well, he’s not fashionable at all, but when he runs he does have this twinkle toes thing about him. Which he claims he’s doing it for us on purpose to make us laugh. But I’m not so sure.

OZ: Your husband runs like a girl?
He does! And he moves his hands, he’s actually got … one of the things I love best about him are his hands, they’re very beautiful and they’re very elegant, but he moves them in a kind of fey way. He’s very expressive. I’m keeping him whether he’s gay or not.



Okay fine, def. downgrade for her mentioned that she really doesn't give a shit if she enjoys sipping a martini while preggers. Shame on you, Laura.

SOURCE