Chris Kelly sent along the following:

This week, the guys at “Running the Ropes” were very honoured to welcome the lovely former Miss USA winner and Tough Enough contestant, Rima Fakih to the program.

During this very exclusive live-recorded interview, Brian “Maveric” Bertrand asked Fakih about making the transition from being Miss USA to her involvement with the WWE and then into Tough Enough 2011: “One of the things I like to do is break stereotypes and let people know that you can be beautiful and tough at the same time,” said the former Tough Enough competitor. It was a great adventure. I have to say that coming to the Tough Enough was not only a highlight of my reign but my Journey as Rima Fakih.”

When asked about the pageant’s reaction to joining the WWE: “The reason, I think, was because I hosted Raw a couple of times and just thought that even though my organization and our (Miss Universe pageant) president, Miss Paula Shugart, was terrified when I told her ‘I can do it! I can do Tough Enough,’ everyone was kind of afraid for me.”

When going into the Tough Enough house, the guys at WWE started to tell her right away what was going to happen: “When they find out you’re Miss USA, you’re going to be looked at as ‘What are you doing here? You’ll be like the piñata.’ I told them ‘Great! I love the challenge!’ … I just wanted to prove myself in the ring. Let my actions speak for me.”

Regarding her future with the WWE, Rima gave us a bit of exclusive news: “Well I have been in talks with Triple H very recently. So I’ll definitely keep you updated.”

The interview in whole can be heard at www.archive.org/download/RunningTheRopes11-17-11/Rtr11-17-11.mp3.