When Michael Heverly graduated from Hallandale High School in 2007, everyone told him he should be a model.
The Hollywood native just wanted to start living, traveling and meeting new people. “And there was no better way to do it, I guess,” he said, laughing.
From that point, the 6 foot 1 aspiring model faced what he calls a “hell of a journey” from rough photo shoots to fly-by-night agencies.
Until his friend Renee Bhagwandeen, a South Florida model who appeared on cycle 20 of “America’s Next Top Model,” snapped photos of Heverly and sent them to producers of the reality TV show.
“And the rest is history,” said Heverly, 25. Heverly is one of 14 contestants, both male and female, competing for the title of America’s Next Top Model on cycle 22 of Tyra Banks’ show. The new season premieres Wednesday, Aug. 5, at 8 p.m. on The CW.
After a long process of interviews, pictures and videos, Heverly hadn’t heard anything until a late-night phone call from producers, asking him to fly out to Los Angeles.
“I’ve been told no so many times … To hear that Tyra Banks saw something in me… I didn’t sleep for the rest of the night,” Heverly said, laughing.
Heverly says that he brought to the show a touch of South Florida. “I’m a beach guy. I have a chill understanding of life from a different perspective,” he said.
But living under the same roof as the other contestants proved to be challenging, he said. His game plan?
“I just wanted to open up and be really honest about everything and let everyone know who I am and what I’ve been through – both good and bad,” he said.
He promises cycle 22 to be one of the most fun, sexiest yet.
“They did a crazy job of getting people from everywhere. Nobody has the same look and no two people have the same ideas,” Heverly said.
Heverly said he’s learned more being on the show than throughout his six-year career.
“The biggest thing is staying determined and to humble yourself for the mindset of succeeding,” he said. “I feel like it could happen for everybody – and I was handed an opportunity of a lifetime.”
Heverly left his job at the Holiday Bowling Center in Hallandale Beach to accept Banks’ invitation to come out on top.
Starting as a dishwasher at age 12, the now assistant manager says his family at the bowling alley was nothing but supportive.
“Everybody was like ‘Wow, you talked about this when you were 13 and look at you now,’ ” he mused, thinking back to before he flew out to Los Angelas for the fierce competition.
“I told him, ‘You can come back to work, whatever you wanna do, just go for it, because you earned it,’ ” said Bernie Harrold, his manager at the bowling alley. “Everybody likes Mikey, he’s a son to me…And he’s been a good kid forever, always taking care of his family.”
He plans to turn off all the lights at the Holiday Bowling Center on Aug. 5 to celebrate the premiere.
“We’re going to have a special night… he’s going to be here with us, and it’s going to be a good old time,” he said.
Six VIP lanes will be set up for Heverly, with all the TVs in the bar and restaurant screening the show. Because, Harrold says, Mikey started here.
“I put South Florida on the map and represented for us,” Heverly said. “Hopefully I made everybody proud.”
brerickson@tribpub.com or Twitter @brianarerick
