The Cast of “Sweet Home Alabama” (Skip Bolen/Getty)
She isn’t a “homewrecker.”
That’s the message Hailey Glassman, who two years ago was thrust into tabloid fame over her relationship with Jon Gosselin, is trying to get across as a contestant on CMT’s reality dating show “Sweet Home Alabama.”
Glassman, one of 22 female suitors vying for the heart of Tribble Reese — the runner up from the show’s first season — is trying to shed the “false image” she’s been branded with.
“I was never a homewrecker; everything that the media has portrayed me as is false, from the littlest to the biggest things. I’ve been constantly judged in rag mags and tabloids. I’m a very kind, sweet, nice girl. People said things, they [the media] will pay anything to get a story and frame it how they want,” Glassman says.
The girls, split into two groups — “city” and “country” — were both aware of Glassman’s reputation coming into the house, and some of their reactions caught her off-guard.
“Going into this house I figured the city girls would know. Never did I think these girls from the deep south would know who I was. I had no idea I would be verbally attacked at first,” Glassman says.
Glassman came into the house wanting to clear her name, but the whole concept of the show — and of course Reese — led her down the road to become a reality TV starlet of her own.
“Ever since [the Gosselin incident] happened I have been tortured, and my name has been scarred from that. I came into the house wanting to clear the air, wanting love and I figured it would be a great experience,” Glassman says.
Glassman says trying to win over the former Clemson quarterback was not the hardest part of being in the house.
“If you think it’s hard to win over one guy’s heart, let me tell you, it’s a whole lot harder to win over 22 girls!” she adds.
Ultimately, Glassman not only shed her image within the house, but she also taught the others what she considers a valuable lesson.
“There was so much more going on in the house. There’s a lot that goes on in this show that people will learn. The girls learned so much, they learned not to judge someone by what you read about them,” Glassman says.
As for the viewers, Glassman seems excited they would get to see “the real Hailey,” not the one everyone remembers from 2009.
“This is who I am. In my head, two years ago the Kardashians weren’t married or had any kids, now you get to see the new Hailey Glassman, not the tabloid Hailey Glassman,” Glassman says.
The second season of “Sweet Home Alabama” airs tonight at 9 p.m. EST.