Fashion Designer Korto Momolu, who was a finalist on Season 5 of PROJECT RUNWAY, is also a die-hard Y&R fan. She chatted with Digest after recently touring the set of her favorite soap.

Soap Opera Digest: How long have you watched Y&R?
Korto Momolu: I started watching it when I was 12 because I went to this all-girl boarding school in Canada, where Y&R came on at 5:00 in the evening. We had this old TV set that only had three channels and the one that Y&R aired on was really clear so all of us girls watched it. When it was 5:00, all the girls would be running to the TV to see what was going on with Y&R. So I got addicted and I was one of the girls running to the TV at 5:00. From there, I kept on with it. I also watch B&B and ATWT but Y&R was the one that was always constant.

Digest: What were the stories then?
Momolu: That was when Michael Baldwin first came to town. He was the bad boy and after Christine. Also Phillip and Nina were living at the Chancellor residence and nobody liked her.

Digest: How did your set visit come about?
Momolu: I told my publicist how much I loved that show and she said, "Oh, my god, I can get you on the set." And I was like, "Are you kidding me? Let's go!'"

Digest: Who did you meet?
Momolu: I met Jeanne Cooper [Katherine]. She looks great. I met Elizabeth Hendrickson [Chloe] and she's so tiny! I met Tammin Sursok [Colleen], Eileen Davidson [Ashley] and Peter Bergman [Jack]. He's a sweetheart. He said his daughter was going to die when she finds out that he met me and I was like, "Are you kidding me?" Jess Walton [Jill] was there but I was scared of her. I met Sharon Case [Sharon] too. That was the most fun I had after doing PROJECT RUNWAY. I was like a kid at the candy store.

Digest: You were always so serious on PROJECT.
Momolu: I'm really crazy and funny. We were always cracking up but they decided to portray me as this serious African woman. I am that person as well but the runway was so nerveracking. On the first episode I was getting great critiques on my design and I did this big thing of, "Ah, the worst is over." Then it was Heidi's [Klum] turn and she gave me this, "I don't think so, sweetheart." That's when I thought, "I'm never going to smile on the runway again." So I was really serious from that point on.

Digest: Were any of the Y&R actors PROJECT RUNWAY fans?
Momolu: They all were, which is really crazy! Christian LeBlanc [Michael] is a huge fan. He said, "Oh, my God, I love you!" And I said, "I love you too!" It was hilarious. They knew who I was. It's cool when famous people know who you are.

Digest: What did they ask you?
Momolu: Oh, questions like: What are you doing? Where do you live?

Digest: So, what are you up to?
Momolu: I'm working on my line for fall and trying to get my stuff into stores. Unfortunately, I didn't win the $100,00 prize so I'm still looking for investors. I'm also doing a show in the Virgin Islands called The Summer Sizzle.

Digest: Where do you live?
Momolu: In Little Rock, Arkansas. Everybody here knows me now. That's the good thing about being from a smaller city because there is not a lot of designers out of Little Rock so it's a big deal here. I even got my own day; November 13 was Korto Momolu Day!"