The only thing that stands out more than Jes Rickleff’s tell-it-like-it-is personality is her blond-and-pink hair. The outgoing Naperville native, 23, is one of the finalists vying to become Bret Michaels’ leading lady on VH1’s reality show “Rock of Love,” which airs at 8 p.m. Sunday. RedEye talked to her earlier this week.
What made you try out for the show?
Someone found me and wanted me to audition for the show, so I did. To be honest, I wasn’t going on there looking for love. It was kind of like, “Let’s see if I could promote myself,” that’s pretty much why I did it.
Do you get recognized a lot?
I can’t go out to dinner without someone coming up to me. It’s cool to a certain extent, but I just didn’t know what I was getting myself into. Now I understand why famous people shave their head and go into rehab.
What was your favorite part about the show? Biggest regret?
I actually came out of it with a lot of really good friends. I’m still really good friends with all the chicks on the show from Chicago. I did some really cool stuff like moto-crossing that I probably wouldn’t have done otherwise. But when you’re on a reality show, it’s not necessarily all reality, and you let yourself get manipulated, and that’s one regret I have. I probably said things I wouldn’t have said otherwise. I wasn’t as strong of a person as I thought I was, but then I learned from it.
