Screaming Mimi: An Interview with Milenna Saraiva of Bravo's Work Out

"Do you guys think I'm a bitch?" These are the first words Milenna Saraiva purrs at the onset of our interview. We're in her room at the Loews Hotel-outfits and cosmetics strewn about-with an entourage consisting of myself, a bubbly photographer, and a cute, yet unidentified Brazilian female who may or may not be more than just a friend. I think to myself, quite frankly, yes Mimi. I was definitely prepared to go head to head with the reality diva for days. I saw those clips of you on Workout; biting people, flying off the handle, throwing glasses and whatnot! I knew this was about to be Bitchfest 2007-Mimi vs. Matt, gurrl! Imagine my surprise when I meet a humble and demure young woman, even modest at times. So to answer that question-after getting to know the real Milenna, who's sweet, charming, and playful, but also driven, strong-willed and level-headed after having to deal with all of the drama of being cast as the "bitchy girlfriend" on Bravo's hit reality series-no. She's not a bitch. But she will bite you!

You seem like a sweet person, actually meeting you!
Thank you! My mom thinks so too.

How do you like Philly?
I like it. Beautiful architecture, the people are cool. It kinda reminds me of NY, but more chill.

You were born in Sao Paolo, do you go back to Brazil often?
I go back [to Brazil] every year for Christmas and New Year's and spend some time with my family and my friends. Everybody's there, I'm here all alone!

What's life been like after Workout? Now that you've acquired reality TV celebrity status?
In West Hollywood, people recognize me because [the show] is big in the gay community. If I'm at the gym or supermarket, people look at me and think they know me but they don't know where from. So they're like, "I know I know you from somewhere" and I'm like "Ok, you saw me in this reality show" and they're like "Oh my God, that's right, you were the crazy one!" It's interesting because a reality show is reality, but not. I've always hated reality shows and now I was in one.

It seems you were thrust into the "temperamental spitfire" role, of course us gays love a spitfire!
People either think I'm great or they think I'm a bitch and a psycho. In the beginning it was hard because I had strangers approaching me saying "You're the bitch from the show, right?" Excuse me? Who the hell do you think you are to talk to a stranger like this, no matter if you saw me on the show or not. Now, I've gotten used to it. I know who I am. I learned how to accept that it's not their fault the editing was done the way it was done. I let them think that I'm crazy-which I am a little. I'm not gonna lie, I am temperamental!

You must get tons of fanmail-especially the ladies-what do they have to say?
I receive emails everyday. Today this girl emailed me, "I think it's great that you're open, and you're pretty and you're not afraid of speaking your mind and being who you are and I love the way you challenged Jackie to be a better person.

Some may say you got the famous reality edit. Do you feel misrepresented by the show?
Jackie and I always had a tumultuous relationship, and when they started shooting we were fighting a lot. They saw that as a great opportunity to have a bad guy in the show. Everybody was so polite and looked good for the camera, and I was so angry with her and I just couldn't hold it. They edit in a way that they take something I said in the morning and tape it together with something I said at night! It was weird to see all that happen, because I am a nice person.

How about what other people had to say behind your back... Jackie, for instance?
I was devastated to hear what came out of Jackie's mouth-my own girlfriend. I cried hysterically for a week and I thought about moving back to Brazil after the show. Most of the shit that she said was not even true. When the cameras were off she would be so sweet. She wanted to make herself look like a hero. It was hurtful to me and I would never do that to someone; I felt betrayed. She apologized to me, and we got back together after the show. I forgave her and she said to me "I had so much pressure, and they were telling me that we needed this and we needed that' and I told her she definitely made a choice there, which was to put her career in front of everything. We broke up right after that. Nobody knows Jackie like I do, and if there's anybody who was immature in this relationship I can put my foot down and say it was her. She didn't have the right to humiliate me on national TV, and she did.

Working through things in your relationship are hard enough without having cameras rolling the whole time. ..
I forgot the camera was there. Jackie completely changed in front of the camera. She was the character. The hard thing was to have all that bad stuff exposed. It gets amplified and makes things so much worse.

Any regrets? Do you wish the show never happened?
In the beginning I did, I was so mad and I wished I had never done it. Now, I think it's good, I saw her true colors and saw how she acted under pressure, and also I learned how the world works. From every negative experience, you learn a lot...

Is there anything you need to clear up? I wanna know about the biting, personally.
The biting! The biting! I bite, I do, but not hard. They made a big deal out of it, but it's a form of affection, a passionate one. I've had many people emailing me, telling me they want me to bite them! I went to a party at Kathy Griffin's house and she said "Mimi, Mimi, I love you, come here you crazy Brazilian! Let's take a picture." So we take a picture and she's like "do that thing you do best" and I'm like, I'm not going to throw a glass at you, forget it, it will ruin your hair. She's like "no, no, bite me!" So I'm like are you serious? With all of these people around? And she said yea and stuck out her arm and I bit her! I heard someone saying "her behavior is so erratic" and went on and on about the biting. What's the big deal?! It's not like I bite everybody. I'm vaccinated!

And throwing the glass?
I'm proud of that! That was the one episode I was looking forward to watching-even though they edited the hell out of that too. I had a plan in my mind, it was the last episode, and Jackie and I were on such bad terms by the end of the show. But I was like, I'll control myself, be cool, calm and not do anything. So the night goes by and everybody starts drinking. A couple of things that were cut from that episode: how much she was yelling at me from across the bar, calling me names, telling me to go back to Brazil, calling me a whore. I was just looking at her patiently, until my blood started boiling, and then all of the sudden, I saw red. I threw the glass at her-and they did it in slow motion and that made it even better! It was perfectly aimed to just scare her. It hit the glass behind her and broke, and after that I picked up another glass and threw it again. So then someone picked me up and took me out of the bar and I could just hear the directors on their microphones saying "get her back, get her back!" Thank God it didn't hurt anybody. I felt bad, but she deserved it.

So what have you been up to since then? What else is going on in your world?
I've been doing a couple of things. I shot America's Top Trainer. It will air sometime soon; it's a competition for the best personal trainer in Los Angeles. I'm also doing my art. I had an opening in LA, at Nuni Gallery. I've just been taking some time to recharge and start 2007 fresh. I needed to recuperate. 2006 was crazy, it was a tough year.

What else can we expect from Mimi in the future?
I want to open an art gallery in Los Angeles and one in Sao Paolo and exchange artists; bring Brazilian artists to LA and new talents to Brazil. Help people that are just starting, because the art world is a small circle and it takes so much-diplomas and stuff-to get in the middle. I came from a different way y'know? Instead of getting my Masters, I started doing other stuff, like the reality show. I want to help people that didn't have that type of opportunity to show their stuff to limited circle.

Any last words?
One thing I want to say, since I've been talking about Jackie... obviously I've talked about all of the negative, but we had a lot of good also, and I wish her the best. I have no resentment toward her. We're friendly right now and we're recognizing that a relationship doesn't work because of two people, not one or the other. We both see that we loved each other very much, just the two of us together was not healthy. It was toxic. Sometimes people bring that on each other and it's not anyone's fault, it's just how it is. I don't hold on to things, it's not good for you. So I want to say that she's a great person and I wish her the best that life could bring her, happiness and that she fulfills all of her dreams.

Check out Mimi's website milenna.com , or she'll cut you!

Mimi will be appearing on America's Top Trainer, scheduled for Fit Tv on the Discovery Channel, and appears on Bravo's Workout fighting and fussing with Jackie.