When Camille Linick '05 appeared on national television, her producers told her to be arrogant and confrontational-but to still play herself. Linick appeared on Warner Brothers' syndicated reality dating TV show Elimidate as one of four contestants vying for the affection of one man, Craig. The episode aired on Feb. 25.

Elimidate works like many reality dating shows. In the beginning of the episode, all four contestants go out on a date with the one guy and compete for his attention. One by one, the guy is forced to eliminate the girls. Since there are no specific criteria, he can just follow his instincts.

The winner is not chosen until the final scene of the show. Linick said the Elimidate producers have no control over the show's outcome.

Linick's episode was filmed in New York City. The show was filmed at two locations, The Westside Brewing Company and Star Nightclub. Warner Brothers paid for all food and drinks on the date and also awarded each contestant $100 for appearing on the show.

Linick, a longtime fan of Elimidate and reality TV in general, applied for an interview to appear on the show shortly after her 21st birthday. Linick explained that one afternoon she received a call from Warner Bros. asking her to come to New York for the interview.

"They cast me on the spot," she said, "because I said that I had to be on their show to make fun of these chicks."

The filming of Elimidate occurred in mid-December. The show's filming took about 12 to 13 hours, Linick recalled, from 10:30 a.m. to midnight. From this, only 24 minutes made the final cut and appeared on air.

"Was I nervous? No," Linick said. "I just wanted to have some fun." Her goal, she said, was to "make the show funny and entertaining."

Before and during the shooting, contestants meet with show producers to discuss their tactics. She said the producers feed contestants direct lines for their introductions, as well as suggestions before each scene.

"You definitely go through your strategy with the producers," Linick said. "I wanted to pitch a fit and start screaming and yelling. They conferred and said that I really shouldn't do that because they wanted [the show] to end on a happy note."

Linick said it was the producers' idea for her to "say something bitchy" when she was introduced to the other contestants. Although she changed the line they gave her, she said she embraced their idea of riling up the group from the start.

Throughout the show, Linick provoked the other contestants by answering their questions defiantly, kissing Craig within the first five minutes of the episode and later dancing quite closely with him.

"I wasn't going on the show to be myself," Linick said. "I certainly don't behave like this on a regular basis."

Linick was not allowed to meet Craig or the other contestants prior to the show.

Furthermore, she said that the producers did not allow the women to speak to each other while off-camera, ensuring that each dispute was caught on film.

On air, the girls competed viciously to win Craig's attention. In one scene, Linick and Craig left the bar alone and went outside. While standing on the sidewalk kissing, Linick lifted snow off the ground, stuffed it in Craig's mouth and kissed him again.

"Wow, that is what hot is all about," she said to him.

During the final round, Linick called the other remaining contestant a "psychopath" and flung water in her face twice. In return, the contestant slapped Linick in the face and stormed out of the room. Linick continued to tell Craig that this other girl was violent and crazy.

Craig chose this contestant over Linick. He said Linick was "a great girl and a lot of fun," but "a little too much" for him.

Though Linick was all over Craig on air, once back at Brandeis, she described him as an "unattractive moron," and said "he certainly didn't carry himself like a very intelligent person ... he was an idiot."

"I went seriously out of my way to be on this show," Linick said. "So basically, if you have time to be on this show, you are a big loser, which [Craig] is."

Linick said most of the people who participated in Elimidate seemed ditzy and were not students with time commitments like hers. She said that she was "very serious about doing the show ... [and] interviewed in the middle of school and filmed in the middle of finals." In fact, Linick left Brandeis directly after completing her physics final, in the middle of a snowstorm, to film the show in New York. The snow kept her there after the filming, and she asked a friend to e-mail her class notes so that she could study for her exams while in New York.

Linick is a pre-med student at Brandeis majoring in neuroscience. She said that upon graduation, she hopes to get her M.D. and Ph.D and open a clinic and research center to help people who have degenerative diseases.

Linick said her friends were very excited about her reality television stint. "They said I was born to be on Elimidate," she recalled. Linick said she is "a lot less inhibited than most people," which she said contributed to her ability to let loose on the show.

Linick also said that her parents were very supportive of her television appearance. During Thanksgiving, her mother helped her choose what to wear on the show and after the episode aired, her parents went as far as to seriously propose that she hire an agent and do acting gigs like this as a career.

Although Linick was eliminated in the final round of the show, her reality TV career and her association with Elimidate are not over. After filming this first episode, Linick was invited in January to participate in an all-star episode of Elimidate in Las Vegas that will air this coming May. Elimidate covered Linick's travel expenses and three-day hotel stay in Las Vegas. She was also provided with a stipend of $80 per day. There is also talk now between the Elimidate producers and Linick about her doing a third show, though this time she would do the choosing, eliminating one guy at a time from a group of four.

Though Linick is pleased with this new development, she said she still plans on becoming a doctor after graduation.