It’s no secret Maxim has a soft spot for the hot girl-next-door types, which is exactly the point of the Hometown Hotties contest—to give those hometown gals a fighting chance at fame. 2007 Hometown Hotties Finalist Kenda Perez scored the fame—and a hosting gig on Spike TV—along with her Maxim title. We caught up with Kenda to find out exactly what she’s been up to since her stint as a Hometown Hottie Finalist.
MAXIM: Congrats on your new show The Best of Pride Fighting Championship. What made you want to go after this particular job?
KENDA PEREZ: I actually did the Hometown Hotties contest two years in a row and the second time I did it, I made it to the Finals so I got to go to New Orleans and do a photo shoot. We were also doing a lot of promotions for Ice House and they also picked me to go on the One vs. One Hundred game show to represent Maxim. So from stuff like that UFC saw me and they were looking for new talent for their show and they brought me in and interviewed me.
M: So what is your favorite part about working in that TV show?
KP: It’s my first television job so I’m definitely learning the ropes but I’m having a lot of fun and just traveling and meeting new people and just learning all the stuff for TV. It’s a lot different than modeling. I love it, though!
M: Do you have any favorite MMA moves that you’ve ever had to use?
KP: I’ve never had to use a move but I do know the rear naked choke; that’s the worst sounding one. I can put someone to sleep with my little arms.
M: The worst-sounding? If you say so. You entered our Hometown Hotties contest in 2006 and then again in 2007, what made you want to pursue the title?
KP: You know I had not done a lot of professional modeling. It was kind of just something on the side and somebody, a friend of mine, knew about the contest that you do every year and how it’s just ‘the girl next door’ kind of thing. They said, ‘Hey, you should enter this thing and see how far it goes,’ and we made a little video and it actually ended up paying off a lot. I have a lot of fans thanks to Maxim because it pretty much started everything with what I have going on right now. So it’s pretty awesome!
M: Did you have to take your friend out to dinner after they suggested that?
KP: Yeah I did and at that time I had a MySpace and I was on the Internet all the time telling people to vote. I was like my own walking advertisement but it paid off!
M: Indeed. How would you say, after being in the contest and making it to the Finals, your career has changed?
KP: When I started I didn’t have really a professional modeling career but definitely now after everything, after the appearances that I’ve done; it’s definitely professional now! That’s my career now and it’s something I take really seriously. The E! channel special on the hottest girls on the Internet and they featured Maxim and the Hometown Hotties, so I got to do that. So I love it and I definitely take it very seriously and that’s my career now.
M: You got to do a lot of projects like go on NBC’s One versus One Hundred and go to the photo shoot. What was your favorite Maxim-related project that you got to work on?
KP: Definitely going to New Orleans. That was actually my first trip away from home traveling by myself so I was actually calling my mom every night because I was homesick, but it was awesome just because it made me grow up a lot and see something totally different and hang out with the Maxim online crew—they were awesome! We had so much fun going to the alligator farm and that, I think, was my favorite Maxim project, just because it was something so different than I had done before.
M: Were you terrified having to pose with the alligator?
KP: You know it’s funny because they called me and they asked me for my permission first. They didn’t just write me and say, ‘Hey, you’re shooting this thing,’ they wanted to make sure it was okay first and I said yeah and they assured me that I wasn’t going to be with huge ones, even though they did have huge ones there. I was a little nervous but once I saw how the pictures were coming out I got excited!
M: Hot and brave. Truly Hometown Hotties material. Prior to working on The Best of Pride, what kind of gigs were you working on?
KP: I kind of started with Maxim. I always do photo-modeling side projects, advertisements and stuff like that and I still continue to do that even though I’m focusing on television now but really Maxim started it all, it kicked it off. So I have a lot of thanks and I’m always going to have a lot of love for Maxim!
M: The love is returned! What would you like your next move to be?
KP: I would love to go to acting school and, you know, get used to being on television. This show is just the start. I would love to host another season of The Best of Pride and do more things with the UFC. And any other projects—hosting or television things—I can get a hold of, if someone sees me. I would love to do anything. I’m pretty excited about this whole career starting so I would love to see some more television work.
M: What advice would you give to the ladies around the country who are trying to be the next Hometown Hottie?
KP: I would definitely say go for it! First of all, it’s fun to do. And when it comes time, I know you guys have them submit videos, I would just say be as original as you can. I mean guys think girls are sexy no matter what so you don’t have to worry about being too sexy—be different, be funny, have personality because that’s definitely what gets you further. You never know what doors it will open and seriously you could end up on the cover of Maxim years later, who knows?
Check out more or Kenda here! Want a chance at photo shoot fun and who know what else? Enter the Hometown Hotties contest! You can enter the contest through March 31, so get your Hometown Hottie on today!