You know that "bad guy" speech from Scarface? The one where Tony Montana is all like, "You need people like me"? Well, Francesca Farago really exudes that type of energy right now. The Canadian Instagram model is framed as the villain of Too Hot to Handle, Netflix's latest dating reality show, basically from the first episode. And she's perfectly fine with that.
To be fair, Farago did break the rules of the series—which challenges twentysomethings vacationing on an island not to kiss, have sex, or, uh, manually override themselves—more than anyone else, resulting in a sizable chunk of cash being deducted from the $100,000 grand prize. But, hey, rules are meant to be broken. Especially the ones of a show predicated on the ungovernable libidos of its stars.
Regardless, Farago is defiantly #notsorry, because a) the show would have been hella boring without her antics, and b) that's sort of just her personality. She's unapologetically frank and gives few, if any, effs. Which may or may not be the reason that her relationships with her castmates—excluding Harry, who she's actually still dating—are apparently "worse" than ever. (Her words.) She spilled all that tea to Complex, revealed the weirdest DMs she's received since the show premiered, and told us how B.C. guys stack up against Ontario guys.
How did it feel to be the sole Canadian on the show?
I liked being the only Canadian, 'cause there were no other Canadians to compete with! I represented Canada, hopefully, to a good degree. I know I did some crazy stuff, but hopefully I didn't embarrass any Canadians and they're not, like, ashamed to be Canadian now. [Laughs.]
Well, I want to ask you about that, because on this show you come off as the villain. I don't know if it's the editing or what...
Yeah. I mean, I was definitely expecting to be the villain. Like, after filming, over the past year before the show came out, I was like, 'Alright, I'm the villain. I'm cool with that.' Like, I made those decisions. I was always the villain because I was breaking the most rules, per se. But I did start a relationship with someone and we are still together. So everyone else can suck it at this point.
Did you feel you got unfair treatment? I noticed the other contestants came down especially hard on you for breaking the rules, whereas when Chloe kissed dudes she didn't get hassled as much.
Yeah, I definitely got unfair treatment. Like, when I was breaking the rules—of course Haley and I breaking the rules was stupid, but we were just bored. And realistically, if you're mad a two girls for kissing, you're dumb. But yeah, like everyone afterwards and even during it was like, "Oh, Francesca, like, she sucks. We hate her. Like, let's not talk to her." I was so alienated. Like, they were not speaking to me for days at a time because I was breaking the rules. But yeah, like, Rhonda and Sharron lost $16,000 or whatever and Chloe was just kissing everybody, and there were no repercussions for them. I think I'm just, like, a less lovable person because I'm just so honest and I'm not fake and nice.
Did you patch it up with your castmates afterwards or is there still some weird negative energy there?
Like, we were in a group chat for a while with all of us and I ended up leaving the group chat last summer because everyone was just hating on me. Like, Harry and I got matching tattoos and they were like, "Oh, was that because the blowjob was electric?" So they were giving negative energy on my relationship still after the retreat. I was like, 'What the hell?' Like, if Rhonda and Sharron were hanging out still, everyone would be happy for them. But it's just under this negative cloud, honestly, still to this day. Like, there's just animosity towards us and I don't know if it's jealousy or what. Maybe because they didn't find something? But I have never been anyone's number one fan, like, no matter what I do. So I kinda was just like whatever. We have, like, okay relationships. But I really am only close with Harry and Haley right now. And Bryce. Bryce is chill as fuck.
Okay. So if you and Harry get married, who would get an invite and who wouldn't?
Haley would get invited. Bryce would get invited. If Harry wants to invite David he can do that, but I honestly think that would be it. It's not like after airing, the relationships got better. They didn't. It's kind of just been honestly getting a little bit worse. Like, I don't know. I don't know if it's the followers or anything that's creating animosity. Of course, we're still all on decent terms. We're just not, like, best friends.
"Like, there's just animosity towards us and I don't know if it's jealousy or what."
Is it because they're seeing stuff on the show that they didn't see when they were on the island?
No, because on the retreat, everything that I was doing was broadcasted and they knew what I was saying. So, I don't think it was that. I think it's maybe just, like, their storylines weren't portrayed as they were expecting.
Maybe they're just jealous because you were kind of carrying the show. I mean, in my opinion, you were, like, the main character, really.
Yeah, but I also put myself out there a lot and I did some crazy things to immerse myself in the experience. So if anyone's mad at me for putting myself out there, like, that's just how it is. They can't get grumpy with me for doing what I had to do because they just sat around and did nothing.
Just how much surveillance was there? Like, I know you couldn't even masturbate, but what about in the showers or even under the covers? Couldn't you just sneak one in?
So there were, like, very, very strong microphones everywhere. Like, there were microphones under the table where we ate, even though there were no cameras there. There was a microphone hanging in the shower, there's microphones outside the shower. And every time we showered, we'd have to put our mic pack right by the shower. There were cameras that could see our heads and our feet. And in the scene where I ended up doing, uh, something to Harry, you can hear it, and I was being veeeeery quiet. Like, we were like little mice, but the mics picked up eeeeeverything. So obviously, there were people watching 24/7. Like, throughout the night, there were people staying up, watching all of the cameras. So you literally could not get away with anything.
Oh, so that's how they caught you doing that? They heard it?
Yeah, because I guess I said, "It's cold up here." I don't know why I said that. And then you could, like, hear a little, you know, sloppy noise. I don't know. Like, the mics were very strong.
Wow. Such an invasion of privacy. Okay, I need to know something. So, you and Harry went back to that chastity suite and couldn't touch each other in order to win back the $20,000. What exactly went down in there? Because you could definitely hear Harry moaning...
Yeah, I think I was just, like, whipping him with the sex toys that were in there, and that's where the moaning came from. Obviously, we were just joking around. We were both running around naked. Like, I think you can see my tits at one point; like, we were just having fun with it. But we knew, like, if we really wanted to be little shits, we could have [touched each other]. But at that point, we had already learned so much about ourselves and about the experience. And we really wanted to prove to everyone else that, like, 'We got this and you guys can all suck it. And here's your money back. You ungrateful bitches.' [Laughs.]
"Everyone in Ontario just thinks that they're Drake."
So, you're Vancouver-based. Do you ever come to Ontario?
Yeah, I was born and raised in Ontario and I moved to Vancouver like three years ago.
I'm curious. In your dating experience, how do B.C. dudes compare to Ontario dudes?
I think B.C. dudes are more chill. They care about clout more than Ontario dudes. But Ontario, they have Toronto, where everyone thinks that they're Drake and they all dress like Drake and talk like Drake. And they have this, like, really weird slang. But honestly, I have not been able to find anyone, like, worth, you know, dating [here]. I usually do long-distance and find someone in L.A. or in a different country and just do it that way because there's not many... I mean, there are very wholesome Canadian country boys, but that's also not my type. So, obviously, I decided that this show is good for me for a reason, because, like, I've been unable to meet anyone on the same wavelength as me.
Interesting. B.C. dudes care more about clout, you say. Like, Instagram shit?
Yeah, because we're close to L.A., so they're more, like, hippie vibes. And then everyone in Ontario just thinks that they're Drake.
What's the weirdest DM you've received since being on the show?
I don't really see the weird ones. There's been a lot of people proposing marriage in my emails. My manager said, 'You get 30 marriage proposals a day.' So I think that's probably the weirdest part. Like, I'm posting pics of my boyfriend, but they're still asking me. There's a lot of people asking for a throuple, like a three-way relationship. And there are people asking Harry to send them his sperm via email. Like, it's just very strange.
Any DMs from celebrities?
Yeah, Ariana Grande reached out, which was insane. She said I was cute and she followed my bikini brand! I'm like, what? But I guess everyone's in quarantine, so everyone's watching it—like, even celebrities that are usually traveling the world and doing shows and appearances. Like, everyone is stuck at home. I know Kristen Bell reached out to Harry yesterday and stuff like that, so it's been, like, a crazy amount of [attention.] Like, we did not expect this many eyes on us. And now I think we're, like, I'm going to be friends with these people, which is crazy as well.
So, Ariana's getting a wedding invite.
Oh, 100 percent. Definitely. Like, can you be my bridesmaid? Oh my god. I know we don't know each other but can you be my bridesmaid?
