The reality show Curl Girls (airing on Logo, AfterEllen.com’s parent company), follows the intertwined lives of six very different lesbian and bisexual surfer girls as they play and work together in and around the beaches of Southern California.
The show’s only bisexual cast member, Los Angeles clothing designer Gingi Medina, talked to AfterEllen.com recently about how she ended up on the show, why tensions ran so high between her and fellow surfer Jessica, and who she’s dating now.
AfterEllen.com: How long have you been surfing? Gingi Medina: When the show found me, I had been surfing for about three weeks. I was very new. I suspected I was not the best candidate … [but] they disagreed with me.
AE: I think they were looking for more than just girls who could surf well. GM: Yeah. I think so too.
AE: You said the show “found” you? What does that mean? GM: I was working out at the gym and this woman had said to me: “We’re always here at the same time. Can we work out together?” I didn’t know if she was hitting on me or sincerely wanted to work out with someone. But nonetheless, I said, “Oh, sure. No problem.”
The one week that she called me, I just happened to be learning how to surf. A couple of weeks go by, and she said, “Hey, I gave your number to a friend of mine … she’s producing a show.” I told her, “Oh, I’m not an actress.” But she said: “No, it’s fine. It’s a reality show.” Oh God. Even worse.
AE: Seriously. GM: [But] I decided to go in. They sat me down and said, “We have two days before we shoot and we want to cast you and what do you think?” It was a last-minute thing with me.
AE: What do you like about surfing, beyond the obvious benefit of hanging around the beach all day? GM: It’s spiritual, actually. I wasn’t really looking for it to be that, but it’s turned into that. It’s healthy. It fuels your soul.
Also, I have a great fear of the ocean. I don’t swim very well [and] I’m petrified of the waves. I thought I could challenge myself and take on something I’m really afraid [of]. Nonetheless, when I get in the water, sometimes I get my butt kicked.
AE: That’s called “challenging your fear of drowning.” GM: [Laughs.] At that very moment, that’s what I think I’m doing. Yeah. My mom asks, “Are you trying to kill yourself?”
AE: On the show, you work hard at becoming a better surfer. Do you know surfing lingo now? What’s Sex Wax? GM: Sex Wax is a wax that you put on your board. It gives you traction.
AE: So, it has nothing to do with sex? GM: It has nothing to do with sex. People like to play on words to sell a product. I thought it was a good idea when I first heard of it. I thought “Oh my God …” AE: I was hoping it was something else. Never mind. GM: Exactly. I was like, “Wow, where’s the whip?”
AE: Yeah! GM: No. Just kidding. [Both laugh.]
AE: Jessica, the other beginner surfer on the show, seems more interested in getting in your face than getting in the water. Which is more exhausting: surfing or going 10 rounds with Jessica? GM: [Laughs.] Oh God. I would say surfing because I can probably handle Jessica a lot easier. Yeah, I definitely can.
AE: What is her problem with you? GM: To tell you the whole truth – and you probably can’t print this – she didn’t know if she wanted to f— me or fight me. I walked on the set, and she was more than welcoming and flirtatious, and then she realized: “I’m not getting the attention. It’s time to hate her.” She was either flirting with me or fighting with me. It was one or the other, [and] it was constant.
AE: Jessica also makes a lot of noise about you being bisexual. GM: You know, I never actually dealt with friction with my bisexuality until I was put into that situation. My friends ask me who I’m dating, and their second question is always, “A girl or a boy?” It was just understood. The lesbians were a lot harder on me than the straight community, I suppose. I never thought it would be an issue, but it was. It was strange.
AE: Are you dating anyone now? GM: Yes.
AE: I guess my second question has to be: Is it a man or a woman? GM: A woman.
AE: Details, please. GM: She’s tall. I usually date women that are taller than I am. She’s a model. She’s an amazing girl, and she lives in New York. So we’re both kind of doing the bicoastal thing.
AE: So, you really are bi. GM: In every sense of the word, I am bi.
AE: And dating a model. GM: Someone wanted to do an article on us ’cause it was the whole “designer dating a model” thing. I never really thought of it like that. I don’t really look at her and say, “You’re my model. Come here.”
AE: I would. GM: Sometimes she’ll have trouble on a shoot, and she’ll ask, “Can you please come and style me?” And I’ll [go and] stay there for a couple of hours.
AE: You’re a good girlfriend. GM: Yeah.
AE: Can you tell us her name? GM: Hmm … yeah. I guess so. Her name is Yaya.
AE: Yaya? GM:Mm hmm.
AE: And your name is Gingi. It sounds like a band — Gingi Yaya. GM:[Laughs.] Yeah. We could definitely start a band.
AE: Is Gingi short for Gingilina or Gingerbread or something like that? GM: [Laughs.] It’s just Gingi. It’s actually a song. You know “The Girl from Ipanema”? The same musician who wrote that song then wrote the song “Dindi” [or “Gingi”] later.
AE: But you’re not from Ipanema. GM: I am not from Ipanema. No.
AE: Where is Ipanema? GM: Brazil.
AE: Damn it. I thought I had you there. GM: I’m a bag of useless information.
AE: OK, then tell me this. When you all go to East/West, Vanessa streaks the club. Of course, they had to mask out her breasts with a black box … GM: She was always covered in so many layers of her clothing. You don’t really know where Vanessa’s sex appeal is most of the time. [Then] she takes off her shirt … and there it is.
AE: So, what’s it like behind the black box? GM: Vanessa has a good rack.
AE: Nice.
Curl Girls airs on Monday nights at 10 p.m. ET on Logo; visit our Curl Girls section for more photos, videos and episode recaps.
