Las Vegas' Monica White is the epitome of the all-American sex bomb: blond hair, doe-eyed and buxom. And sweet. Did we mention sweet? But White is more than just a pretty face and a fantastic form. She's also one of the 10 hottest women in the country, according to the readers of Maxim. The winner of the Hometown Hottie contest will be announced in conjunction with the Super Bowl; at stake is a full-on professional photo shoot for the laddie mag, no doubt to be followed by appearances on some sort of reality TV show. Until then, she keeps herself busy working for Las Vegas Development Co., a commercial real estate firm; helping to run her own website, MonicaWhite.com, as well as BachelorPartyVegas.com; and heating up a kitchen. We caught up with White shortly before the Christmas holidays.
(Oh, and for the record: five piercings, one tattoo, tequila, the 49ers and Bob Marley.)
What prompted you to enter the Maxim Hometown Hotties contest?
Actually, Cree [Crawford, White's business partner] was online and came across the contest and submitted my pictures. I had no idea he'd even done it until I was online. He got an e-mail saying that I'd been chosen out of over 10,000 entries to be one of the 1,000 online. And so I looked and my pictures were online, and it was weird. So it was cool how that happened.
Had you thought about doing anything like that before? Were you pursuing a professional modeling career?
Not completely. I had been focusing more on my real estate. I had had a couple of photo shoots done for my portfolio and I had been doing a couple of trade shows, but I hadn't really been pushing the whole modeling thing. This has just really exploded. I was really surprised at making it as far as I have.
Did you have any embarrassing moments during the photo shoot?
I don't really have anything I'm really embarrassed about. I had some really eccentric stuff that I did in that photo shoot. I was sitting on the counter and they covered me in peanut butter and jelly. I was making sandwiches. And I always make sandwiches in my lingerie. That's just something I do all the time. But no, it was really funny. They really had some great ideas for the photo shoot. It's going to come out in the March issue and it's really going to be interesting to see.
It sounds like it.
It was really fun. In my second shoot, they rubbed me down with dirt and I was gardening in some other lingerie.
So basically, they were trying to make the photo shoots as realistic as possible.
They were. They were trying to go for less glamour because we are girls next door. So they wanted to shoot us doing domestic stuff, like housework.
In lingerie.
Yeah, well of course! There's nothing better than that. Getting your hair and makeup all done and walking around in your lingerie and washing the dog.
So what do you think of the other contestants?
I think that some of them are really, really nice. Either you have chemistry with people or you don't, and if you're a people-person, you just go with it. I got along with pretty much everybody.
But what do you really think of them?
[Laughs] I think that the competition is going to be tough. All the girls are pretty, but the thing is that we all have something different to bring to the table, so it's going to be really interesting seeing the outcome of it. Everybody is just so different. It's really incredible how they've pulled us all together. One girl rides motorcycles and she's very eccentric and she was in gangs when she was in school, I guess. And then to the other girl who was very mousy and quiet and shy, and just your complete, all-around, American girl next door, going to Princeton. They've really hit all corners of the continent.
How do you feel about your chances?
I think I have a pretty good chance. I think that the competition is really hard because, like I said, we all have something different. I also think I'd be pretty happy if some of the other girls did win. I'd be comfortable if the girl from Princeton won, just because she's such a sweetheart. But, of course, I want to win.
I'm sure the single guys who read the Weekly will want to know, are you single or are you taken?
I usually don't discuss that. I really try to keep my personal life private through all this. Everybody wants to see a beautiful girl single, so that's what I try to portray.
What's the worst pickup line you've ever heard?
There's a party in my pants and you've got a one-way ticket to paradise.
If you were interviewing yourself, what would you ask?
Probably one of the most important questions. It's interesting because people will view you one way, and so I think one of the most interesting questions is: "How do you describe yourself?"
And how would you describe yourself?
I describe myself as fun and energetic. It's hard for me to sit down for a long period of time. I'm always doing something.
What would you do to relax?
To relax, I usually just pick up the remote and eat some popcorn and watch some TV. Which is rare. That's a rare occasion. Right now, we're making cookies.
What kind of cookies?
Christmas cookies, of course!