Many still remember Linda Clems as the Last Girl Standing during the Gulder Ultimate Search (GUS 3). Not only did the English Language graduate of the University of Abuja beat the other ladies to the crown, she stirred up emotions with her attitude all through the duration of the contest. Clems, an actress, for all those who watched the GUS 3, is not one to hide her feelings, not minding whose ox is gored. Correspondent, Kemi Yesufu caught up with her for this exciting chat on the Ultimate Search, her love life and the movie industry.

The Gulder Ultimate Search V has just come to a conclusion. Viewers saw the rigours the contestants had been put through. Most contestants were in the game either for fame or the cash prize. As someone who participated in 2006, would you say the stress was really worth it? Do people still recognise you on the streets?

I think it matters on the personality of the contestant because till today most people still recognise me as the last girl standing in 2006. It is few people who pick my face from the movies I have done. People still call me 'Linda Ultimate Search.' So, for me it is more about the way you carry yourself during the show that counts when it's over. I can say that even Hector, the last man standing in 2006, I don't think people recognise him as much as they do with me. If a contestant carries herself well, makes sure that she is heard, even in ten years' time, people will still recognise her. That doesn't mean that one has to go into the competition with the goal of being controversial, because I was just being myself.

You were quite controversial during GUS 3. You certainly know that many people will find it hard to believe that you did not go into the contest with the goal of making yourself unforgettable.

It was not like I did the things I did for lasting recognition. I was just being me. And for the fact that I was already into movies before I was made into the Ultimate Search, facing the camera was no big deal. The other contestants tried so hard not do certain things on camera, on national TV, but I was just being myself. In the first place, I am someone who can't pretend for long time, most especially as we were somewhere we went through a lot of stress, in a place where we were tensed up and hungry. It was hectic. So no matter how much I could have pretended, the real me was bound to come out.

You are therefore saying in a nutshell that you are not the controversial bitchy girl some people thought you were. I say this because when the other girl was evicted from the search, you jumped for joy because her exit automatically made you the last girl standing.

I was only being real; I was not in the competition to make friends. I had many friends already. I was in the competition for the price money and what it could do for my career as an actress. There is no one who is in GUS search and when someone else not he or she is evicted that will honestly say that he or she wasn't excited over it. The contest is a game, which at certain points somebody must leave. When the person is picked and it's not me. I said halleluyah that it's not me. I don't think I am bitchy. People close to me know and nobody has ever described me a bitchy girl. Some people say I am a snub, but I know that I am, most times, a friendly person. You can't be nice and jovial all the times. But I guess that most times when people recognise your face from a movie or a show, they want you to be happy to meet new people at all times. They want you to relate with them like your close friends. Some people met me and said "Lynda, that stupid film you did. Why did you behave like that." For goodness sake, celebrities are human beings, they have their moods and when, like some people do in Nigeria, they approach celebrities like their pals and they don't react accordingly, they go telling people that the celebrities are snubs. But they wouldn't tell their friends how exactly they approached the celebrity.

Some people say you were a pain in the neck at the GUS 3 camp.

Really? Honestly, I am not bothered by what people said, I was only being my self. And if I am to do it all over again, I will be the same Linda they watched, because I was only being myself.

A large number of viewers said you struggled with the swimming tasks in 2006. The next year rather unfortunately, a contestant died in the river. How did you feel when this happened?

I cried. I felt bad. Truly, I struggled with the tasks that had to do with swimming. I don't think I will take such a risk again. I will not advise anybody to take such a risk either. Gulder Ultimate Search is not, in anyway, stage- managed. It is hundred percent reality TV show. Nobody helped me when I struggled with my swimming, in fact, I was crying. What I did was to move to the safer side of the river where the current was not so speedy. I am not sure if our instructors noticed that I have difficult time with the swimming. But I guess you know that the contestant who died last year was the best swimmer. I must add that in the Gulder Ultimate Search it is better when you follow instructions. That helped me during the swimming task.

During the search did you have moments where you just wanted to walk away because the stress was becoming unbearable?

Yes, many times. There was a day I woke up crying. I was very hungry it was like I was going to die. I was saying I wanted to leave the camp. In situations like that the producers will wait until it is time for your daily interview so you could tell the audience yourself that you want to leave. As I said earlier nothing is stage-managed during the search. But when it was time for my interview, I said to myself that I came here for a purpose and I wasn't going to let myself down. So I did not announce my wish to make an exit. Sometimes we were given tasks that were so tedious; I wondered how I was going to survive. But at the end of the day I scaled through.

You scaled through, but a greater number of the fans of the GUS argue that a woman cannot win the competition. What is your take?

I will say yes and no. Yes, because in the real sense of it, Gulder is a man's drink, girls hardly drink it. I don't think that a girl can convincingly sell the Gulder brand like a guy will. No, in the sense there are girls who can do all of the tasks to the very last stage. For me, if I could, I would have loved to make it into the final stage. So, you never can tell, one season, a woman may just win the coveted reality show.

How did you spend your cash prize, over a million naira?

I spent it wisely. I don't think I am doing badly. So my cash prize was well spent.

We spoke the months after the GUS 3, we talked about your future and you said you wanted to marry a pastor and raise a family. From the look of things that hasn't happened, why?

(Laughter)This is an unfair question.

Okay, you're not married to a pastor but are you in a relationship?

I have so many friends from the opposite sex, so I can't really say that I am in relationship with any of them. I just have good friends around me.  Continued    Source: Alayande Dayo