VH1 Interviews Laurice (Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch)

Laurice did a post show interview with VH1.com she says that she is not a follower, she also wanted to leave the show because her (who she never met) died of cancer. She also says that Jasmine and Lisa were obsessed by calling her "Maurice" she said she went along with it.

How was your time on the show?

It was all right, I guess. I’d say the good part was getting to meet people. There were people in the house that I still talk to. The bad was…getting to meet other people. It sucks being in the house with 16 other girls. I’m not a big fan of females. I don’t know, it was a good experience, though.

Did you remain friends with Tara and Ericka?

Yeah, and Angie, who was there for not very long. Tara’s coming to my town and we’re going to hang out.

What did you think of the suggestion that you were her puppet and weak-minded overall?

I think it’s really funny. I wasn’t in the house that long. I’m not the person who approaches situations balls-to-the-wall crazy. I like to sit and watch people first and get to know who I’m around. I was kind of quiet to begin with, but it’s not like I changed and became a follower. I sat back and watched these girls and decided who I wanted to be friends with and who I didn’t want to talk to. As far as being weak minded, that’s just funny.

You at least stayed strong during your argument with Jasmine. You remained composed.
Thinking back, I should have punched her or spit in her face or something. I’m not a combative person. Arguments and confrontations are really stupid to me. I don’t see the reason why you need to yell at each other to get your point across. That whole situation was just dumb in general.

I was impressed that you walked away from an argument regarding a bed during the first episode. Bed arguments tend to be big arguments on VH1.

Like I said, I don’t like to fight with people. Why argue over a bed? There were other beds in the house. I’m not going to sit there and pull your freaking hair for a bed. I was trying to help her and Tiphani get a room together. The room I actually got ended up being better for me, anyway.

The fact that you don’t get along with females and aren’t into arguing makes it strange that you signed up for reality TV, which is full of both of those things.

I’m not looking to be the next reality TV star. The whole casting process fell in my laugh, and it was something I felt like I should do as a life experience, maybe to teach me something. Some kind of lesson. I guess you can say I’m a spiritual person. I was at a nightclub and someone said, “I’m casting a show, and I want you to do it.” I went along with it, but I never thought they’d actually want me. I figured once they did that if it was going to be this easy, I might as well go along for the ride.

Did getting to know Chad factor into your decision?

Yeah. I’m always interested in getting to know people. It’s not like I wanted to meet him and be a cleat chaser, if you know the term, just going after a celebrity. I didn’t know too much about him before going on the show, but some people I know did, and after hearing from them I figured it would be cool to get to know him and see why people loved him so much.

What did you end up thinking about him?

I think he was a real person. He’s a showy person, but that’s just his personality. He’s in the spotlight and he is who he is. He’s ultimately a nice person, a funny guy. Do I think he makes wrong decisions? Sure. Everyone does. But I have nothing bad to say about him.

I appreciated that you called him out for that laundromat date. That was definitely a downgrade compared to all the other dates on this show.

That was probably the worst date I’ve ever had in my life. It was probably the crappiest date in history.

But, at least you got jewelry out of it.

Yeah, but I don’t know where that necklace is. I feel kind of bad about that.

What did you think about being eliminated with April someone on your same “team?” Was that pulling the rug out from under you?

Yes and no. Maybe it’s just me, but I kind of wanted to leave the show, and I’d been asking. Probably 10 minutes before my fight with Jasmine, I found out that my father died. My mother told me she’d gone to his funeral, so that night, I asked to go home. We got into that fight and I knew that this was not the best place for me to be. Production asked me to stay and get to know Chad, so it was kind of up in the air at that point.

Your father died, but you were still unsure if you wanted to leave the show?

I’d never met him. I found out before going on the show that he had cancer, and I planned to meet him after the show. I did want to go home, but I didn’t want to give up on something. I was already committed to the show, I wanted to see what would come of it, and there was nothing I could do about my father passing. I figured I could mourn after the show.

What did you think of the girls calling you “Maurice?”

I would hear them talking about me all the time. I don’t have anything bad to say about you if I don’t like you – I’d rather just ignore you. But Jasmine was really obsessive, her and Lisa. There was a clip of them just sitting around talking about me. It was really weird. I didn’t do anything to them, and I feel like they just figured, “Oh, Laurice thinks she’s someone. We’re just gonna pick on her.” It’s really strange. But calling me Maurice, I just went with it. All day, I talked in a lowered voice: “Hey what’s up, I’m Maurice.” If you want to be catty and like a 10-year-old, I’ll go with it. I’m not offended by you calling me a man. I know I’m not a man. It just makes them look dumb. Life goes on. I have my own life to worry about and I don’t need to worry about those girls.

What did you think of your portrayal?

I didn’t like it but I didn’t hate it. It’s weird now having people come up to me and say, “Don’t let people persuade you, don’t listen to people.” Or, “I can’t believe you listened to that girl.” It’s weird having people tell me about myself without knowing me or the situation.

What do you do when someone comes up to you like that?
I just laugh at it. It’s dumb. It’s funny to me. People think they know you. It’s just so strange.