Tyra Banks cut Katarzyna Dolinska from America's Next Top Model (Wednesdays at 8 pm/ET, the CW) because she wasn't Miss Personality. And when TVGuide.com caught up with the 22-year-old New Yorker…well, she wasn't quite as vivacious as she is photogenic. But she did seem bright and pleasant enough. And her candid comments about her rivals definitely made the call worth the quarter.

TVGuide.com: Did Miss Tyra ever learn the correct pronunciation of your name?Katarzyna Dolinska: [Laughs] I don't remember, which means if she did, it was very rare. It's alright. It's an unusual name to remember how to say. But I guess after that number of times, you would hope that they'd get it!

TVGuide.com: Were you surprised when the panel kept plus-sized Whitney instead of you?Katarzyna: Sort of. Whitney had been in the bottom two a few times before, which means [she'd been among] the worst every single week. You think they would figure out that if that person is the worst every single week, they would get cut eventually! That was my first time in the bottom two, so I should have had another chance since Whitney had already had so many chances to get out of the bottom two.

TVguide.com: As you were exiting, you said you didn't feel like the judges ever got to know your personality. So tell me something that makes you stand out from the crowd.Katarzyna: I have a lot of fun with my friends. For example, during the show, Marvita and I became close friends. Sometimes we'd sleep together! But they never show that on the show. In the post-show interviews, many of the girls said that I was funny or that they really liked me, but on the show, you didn't get to see any of that.

TVGuide.com: There doesn't seem to be much room for humor in front of the firing squad.Katarzyna: No kidding! No humor during panel! It's not so funny when they're making fun of you and they are criticizing you.

TVGuide.com: It's got to be hard when Paulina Porizkova is saying, "No, do your eyes like this!"Katarzyna: I was just happy that I got rid of [what she called] my "Eastern European tackiness." That was very exciting.

TVGuide.com: Did she make you sorry that you weren't on during a Twiggy season? Katarzyna: Yeah, she did. [Laughs] I'm not afraid of criticism. If it's constructive, it's good. But sometimes, Paulina would say things to me that were a little mean about Poland. One time, Dominique wore something that Paulina didn't like, and she said, "You look like you're strolling around at a shopping mall in Warsaw." She just made negative remarks like that that I didn't think were necessary.

TVGuide.com: And you didn't crack at all?Katarzyna: I guess that they wanted to see me crack, because I didn't really show a lot of responsiveness. I think that's where the whole no-personality thing came in.

TVGuide.com: Is personality important in a model? Katarzyna: Yes and no. I feel like America never gets to hear a model speak, except in a commercial, and then it's scripted. So I feel like you never really know what a model is like. But designers, when they hire girls, they look for girls that do have something special.

TVGuide.com: Do you think Dominique really has a shot at the title?Katarzyna: When you see Dominique do her poses, she's actually pretty good. She's much better than Fatima, who is clueless! And better than Whitney as well. Dominique knows what she's doing. She has talent. She just doesn't necessarily have the youthful look that's big with models right now.

TVGuide.com: Is there a girl that you're rooting for?Katarzyna: Anya, definitely. Dominique has her moments of being kind of into herself, but I think she has a good heart. But Whitney and Fatima are very mean-spirited. But Anya is sincerely a sweetheart. I don't think there's any double face.

TVGuide.com: What are you doing now? Are you back at your desk working in finance and thinking about heading to New York?Katarzyna: No. I thought about doing that, but after the show and being exposed to so much creativity, I just couldn't see myself doing anything that wasn't like that. I'm young, and I want to make something of this experience! I'm going to try and model and see what happens — see what doors this might open.

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After five decades in TV news, Barbara Walters has finally written her autobiography. Audition: A Memoir (Knopf, $29.95) hits the stores May 6, the day Walters is on The Oprah Winfrey Show. "It will be unusual for me to be answering the questions instead of asking them," she says with a hint of nerves. Though she saved the details of her sizzling secret affair with the married Edward Brooke, the nation's first black U.S. Senator, for the Oprah appearance, the Queen of "Gets" sat down with TV Guide to talk about her "extremely personal — maybe too personal — story.

TV Guide: You've always been discreet about your personal life. Why a memoir now? Barbara Walters: It's a time in my life when I'm very happy and very much at peace. I don't have anything to lose by being open.

TV Guide: Why call it Audition? Walters: I've been auditioning my whole life. As a child, because we kept moving, I was auditioning to make friends. In my career, I felt that up until two minutes ago, I was auditioning. And I'm auditioning with this book. [Laughs] I think I've finally finished.

TV Guide: It's very revealing. Walters: I had to tell the whole story, and my life's influences. My sister was developmentally disabled, and my father, owner of one of the most glamorous nightclubs in New York, made and lost fortunes. My family's [problems] made it imperative that I keep working and put up with a lot of things I might not have.

TV Guide: What is the greatest misconception about you that the book clears up? Walters: That I'm very together and very authoritative. That I never bled.

TV Guide: You don't say anything bad about your three ex-husbands.Walters: They were very nice men. The first one I barely remember. I was walking into a building and a man [came out] and I thought, "He looks familiar." Then I realized it was my first husband. The other marriages were to very, very nice men, both of whom were in show business, which, for me, was a mistake.

TV Guide: You write a lot about your insecurity in your career. Walters: I always thought it was going be over tomorrow. It was very tough as a woman. For example, when I was on the Today show with one of its hosts, I had to wait until he asked three questions before I could ask one.

TV Guide: Frank McGee?Walters: Frank McGee. It was only after he died that I was made co-host — after eleven years.

TV Guide: What was your low point?Walters: When I was at ABC in the '70s [as coanchor of the evening news], I thought I was a total failure. Some of the things that were written about me were horrendous. Then I got a wonderful telegram: It said, "Don't let the bastards get you down," signed John Wayne. I had to work my way back, and that's when I did some of my best interviews.

TV Guide: You're tough on those who hurt you professionally. Is this payback time? Walters: None of this is payback. It's the way it was. Even with The View, where we had our problems, I know what the different women contributed. I have enormous affection for Rosie [O'Donnell]. She's a large talent with many lovable qualities. And I called Star [Jones] and we had breakfast.

TV Guide: You've been criticized for too friendly attitudes in interviews with such infamous leaders as Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. What's your answer?Walters: Critics can say what they want. These were not friends whom I was entertaining in my home and having cozy lunches with. If you saw the whole interview with Chavez, it was very tough.

TV Guide: Oprah said to you she feels like she "was born for greatness." Was Barbara? Walters: What Oprah meant was that she born to do great things. And indeed she has. At one time she used to imitate me. I say I take full credit for being her mentor. [Laughs] But I wasn't destined for this career. A lot of what happened to me was that I was there at the right place at the right time. And I worked very hard.

TV Guide: Do you feel you broke ground for TV newswomen? Walters: Without sounding pompous, I feel that way now. I'm very proud if I helped other women. But I was also fortunate — because there were so few others, I had a chance to make a mark.TV Guide: So is "retire" an ugly word? Walters: No. I will retire some day. I will walk out of television at the top. But not this year, I still love what I do.

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