‘Rock of Love With Bret Michaels’: How Lacey Sculls Saved the Show
Fans of Rock of Love With Bret Michaels might have a strong distaste for Lacey Sculls (née Conner). That’s because she played the villain during season 1. In reality, Sculls intentionally set out to be the most hated contestant on the reality show.
Sculls recently spoke with Showbiz Cheat Sheet over Zoom about her decision to become the villain and, ultimately, how it saved Rock of Love.
Lacey Sculls shook things up on ‘Rock of Love With Bret Michaels’
After VH1 experienced success with shows like The Surreal Life and Flavor of Love, the network decided to give Poison frontman Bret Michaels his own shot at finding love in a reality television setting.
Michaels was put in a luxurious mansion with 20-some women. Much like The Bachelor, the women would compete to win group dates and one-on-one time with the rockstar.
Sculls was one of those women — she was one of Michaels’s final three. She made it as far as she did in the competition because of a conscious choice. Sculls was going to be Rock of Love‘s villain.
Lacey Scull was inspired by another VH1 villain — Tiffany ‘New York’ Pollard
Tiffany Pollard was one of the women dating Flavor Flav on season 1 of Flavor of Love. She was given the nickname “New York” by Flavor Flav himself, then went on to be referred to as the “Head B*tch in Charge.”
Pollard’s ability to manipulate the other contestants and villainous attitude helped her make it to the show’s finale.
“When I watched Flavor of Love, I had the same reaction toward ‘New York’ as a lot of people had when they watched me,” Sculls told Showbiz. “I was like, ‘Why is she still there? She’s terrible. Send her home.'”
Flavor Flav chose Nicole “Hoopz” Alexander as his final girl, but fans loved Pollard so much, they wanted more. She returned for Flavor of Love Season 2 and went on to star in her own series, I Love New York.
Having seen “New York’s” plan of attack work, Sculls decided she was going to be the villain for her stint on Rock of Love.
‘Rock of Love With Bret Michaels’ was almost ‘mundane’
As Sculls reported, Rock of Love With Bret Michaels was almost a very different show. During our chat, Sculls recalled the very first night in the Rock of Love mansion.
“Within a few hours of all of us girls being in the house, I remember Mia [Tidwell] and a couple of other girls were talking about doing [their] nails or talking about something that was like very mundane,” Sculls explained.
As cameramen zoomed in on this “mundane” conversation about manicures, Sculls remembered thinking: “Oh, my God, this show is going to be a f*cking flop.” At that moment, Sculls decided to embrace “New York’s” villainous attitude.
Lacey Sculls played villain to make ‘Rock of Love With Bret Michaels’ entertaining
When Sculls agreed to do the show, she wanted to create memorable television.
“My primary goal was [to make] this TV show the best that it can possibly be,” Sculls explained. As such her mindset was: “I want to contribute in whatever way that I can to ensure that this TV show is going to be a big success and that people are really going to enjoy it.”
Throughout season 1, Sculls’s plan of attack was to pick the other women off one by one. Each episode, she targeted a different woman, finding their weakness and preying on them until they cracked. While not very nice, Sculls’s move ultimately created some of the most entertaining television.
Today, Sculls is still celebrating her villainy with many other VH1 reality stars on the Talk of Love podcast. Ironically, many fans have changed their attitude about the Rock of Love villain.
