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Move over, Lamar, there’s a new Alexander in town.

Nicole Alexander, also known as “Hoopz,” a popular reality show television star from VH1 shows “Flavor of Love,” and “I Love Money,” has claimed Blount County as her home.

Alexander, 26, lives with her boyfriend Boo Jackson, a professional basketball player, in Louisville. “This is my home. I love it here. It is amazing,” she said in a recent interview at Tomato Head.

The couple came here two years ago when Jackson played for The Knoxville Noise, an American Basketball Association team.

“We came down here from Michigan, and I loved it. I was like; ‘We’ve got to move here.’”

Even though they call Blount County their home, traveling is a large part of their everyday life.

“We go to the bigger cities to work — L.A., Miami, New York, but we’ll always come back here,” Alexander said.

Currently Alexander is a contestant in the VH1 reality competition show “I Love Money” where former participants of VH1 dating shows compete for a $250,000 prize. The show debuted in July and will complete the season at the end of September.

Recently, Alexander was featured in Maryville for the first episode.
“VH1 came to Maryville and did a ‘Where are they now’ to see how we were living,” Alexander said. “They (VH1 television crew) came out here and they didn’t want to leave.”

Alexander is still filming interviews for the show and will participate in a reunion show next month. New episodes air on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. on VH1.
Fellow contestants hail from other VH1 shows: “Rock of Love” (with Bret Michaels, lead singer of the band Poison); “I Love New York” (with Tiffany Pollard, aka “New York,” a reality show star); and “Flavor of Love” (with William Jonathan Drayton Jr., AKA “Flavor Flav,” a rapper from the group “Public Enemy”).

Alexander was the winner of the first season of “Flavor of Love” in 2006, beating out 20 other women for the affection of Flavor Flav.

On the show, Alexander was known as “Hoopz,” a nickname she received from the rapper because of her background as a basketball player in high school, in community college and in Italy.

She describes the show as “a dating game where they had us competing for the love of one man — Flavor Flav.”

“Obviously he went his separate way, and I went my separate way.”

After three seasons of “Flavor of Love,” the rapper admitted to having a girlfriend who was the mother of his seven children.

“That’s entertainment. That’s how it goes,” Alexander said.
Fantasy world

She said life on a reality show is a unique experience.

“It’s like a fantasy world,” Alexander said. “You’re stuck mostly in a beautiful mansion; sometimes, like on “I Love Money,” on a beautiful island. You’re trapped in a house with however many other contestants. This time (on “I Love Money”) it was boys and girls together. There were a lot more hookups going on.”

As an athlete, Alexander said she was attracted to the show for the emphasis on physical competition. “It was a challenge for me.” she said.

While taping, she found the physical competitions were not as difficult as the mind games that fellow contestants played.

She discovered her teammates were often playing both sides and were not trustworthy even after an alliance had been formed.

“Everybody is out for themselves. You see the cutthroat stuff people will do for money,” she said.

Alexander is still in the game and could not say whether she was a contender for the prize. She won’t find out until the final episode airs.

She said working in reality television has been a positive experience.

“I developed a great relationship with VH1, and they called me back for several different shows, and it’s just a matter of what I choose to do,” she said.

It took her two years to agree to be on another reality show following “Flavor of Love.”

“At first I turned down a few shows from them because they would have me doing a lot of crazy stuff,” Alexander said. “If you notice and if any of you have watched any of my shows, you’ll know that I’m more laid back but if you mess with me, I’ll mess with you.”
Chance encounter

Alexander said she began her reality show career in 2006 as a chance encounter.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” said said. “I was in L.A.; I was with a friend; he was going to see his agent, she saw me and she was like, ‘You need to go over to this building. They’re doing this casting thing.’”

The casting thing turned out to be the reality dating show with Flavor Flav, who had just completed a season of the reality series “The Surreal Life.”

“I had no idea how any of that worked,” Alexander said. “I wasn’t in the business. I didn’t know anything from a can of paint, and it worked out for me. They (VH1 producers) loved me. He (Flavor Flav) picked me, and I happened to win.”

The show in 2006 served as a springboard for other projects in the entertainment industry.

Alexander has also been on the MTV reality show “Wild N’ Out” with Nick Cannon (Mariah Carey’s husband).

She has also appeared in music videos, including one with Will Smith, and has completed several modeling projects.

“My main focus is probably just trying to act and get into serious movies,” she said.
She will release a DVD soon called “Hanging Wit Hoopz.” Alexander said the DVD was created for her fans.

“It is more based on just what we’re doing out here,” she said. “You know the things I do, like I just shot a photo shoot for King Magazine. It’s about how we live our life everyday.”

She is also working on her clothing line, labeled “Alexander,” with hopes to add an accessories line in the future.

Fans can visit her website, www.hoopzonline.com to purchase items from her label and can also follow her schedule and view upcoming projects.

Alexander wanted to warn her fans from using any My Space pages because those sites operate without her permission.
Loves fans’ attention

She said her fans in Blount County have been very supportive but surprised to see her.

“They’re just like, ‘I can’t believe you’re here! They always ask, ‘What are you doing in Maryville? I’m like, I live here. I love it here.’”

Alexander has been surprised that her fans hail from all age groups and backgrounds.

“Teenagers, parents, kids and even your country guy with the cowboy boots and cowboy hat that I would have never expected to watch the show come up to me and they’re like, ‘You’re Hoopz!’”

She doesn’t mind the attention or signing the occasional autograph. She has signed “receipts, dollar bills or whatever they bring out. I’m very friendly.”

Alexander said that reality shows often portray participants as being involved in a romance and rumors are created online.

“It takes an extremely strong person, but I have to deal with his career also because he’s a professional basketball player,” she said. “We know what comes along with it and we’re growing in our careers together.”

Jackson and Alexander were college sweethearts at Eastern Michigan.

“We lost contact for a little while (after college), and we just found each other again,” Alexander said. “We haven’t left each other’s side since then.”

Along with Jackson and their families, Alexander finds support in her fans.

“My fans and everybody that loves me; that’s what keeps me going,” she said. “For every one person that loves you, there’s two or three people who hate you.”