Huntington News

Issue date: 9/27/06 Section: The Inside

Media Credit: Photo Courtesy/Jennifer Toof Former Northeastern student Jennifer Toof was one of 20 contestants on the Vh1 reality show, "Flava of Love 2.

When Northeastern graduate, Jennifer Toof, class of 2006, received an e-mail in search of contestants for the second season of the popular Vh1 reality show, "Flava of Love 2," she didn't hesitate to sign on.

"The first season was such a huge guilty pleasure for me," she said. "I was like, 'this show's ridiculous. I should make an audition tape.' And I did, and the rest is history."

The show, which aired last summer, stars the clock-toting Public Enemy rapper Flava Flav and is a play on a familiar formula, most notably, ABC's "The Bachelor." For 10 episodes, viewers watched as 20 women competed for Flava Flav's affections through single dates and special competitions.

From romantic restaurant dinners to late nights in the jacuzzi, Flava Flav took contestants on a private date and made his elimination choices based on how he connected with each woman.

But while the women were typically cast off either because of Flava Flav's own personal taste or because they were causing too much conflict in the house, Toof was eliminated because Flava Flav and the show's producers discovered her past work in the pornography industry.

"In college I realized that there was no way I could work a real job with the amount of schoolwork I had," she said. "So I went back to modeling because it's fun and easy and you make a lot of money for only working a few hours a week."

Toof said she neglected to share the details of her past job because she didn't feel it was important for Flava Flav or anyone else to know.

The former psychology major said the modeling work she did while at Northeastern was usually tasteful. In a few instances, she posed nude for photos and acted in adult films.

She kept this information well hidden until the middle of show, when Flava Flav discovered her deception and informed her she wasn't "keeping it real."

Although Flava Flav repeatedly stressed that honesty was the virtue most likely to make him say, "yeah boyeeee," Toof said the premise behind "Flava of Love 2" is far from that ideal.

"By keep it real, they mean follow the script you're given," she said. "Having some sort of substance abuse problem is wildly entertaining. Show as much skin as possible or be the most annoying, irritating person on the show. If you can do both, you're a shoe-in. It helps to look cute, with the appearance of compassion but a soul of evil."

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