Returning to the city where it all began -- and staying at the same hotel they called home no less -- was a surreal experience for the three remaining finalists on Canada's Next Top Model.

Back in Toronto to do media interviews in advance of next Tuesday's season finale, Linsay, Meaghan and Nikita spent a night at the Soho Metropolitan where they lived during the duration of the competition three months earlier. They didn't expect to be so overcome with emotions.

"I just started to cry," says Nikita, as she remembered all the fun they had had.

"The guy opened the door and grabbed my bag and I was like, 'Whew, here we go,'" says Meaghan.

"It's like going back to an old apartment. It was your home once," adds Linsay.

After a whirlwind ride that included working with some of the best designers and photographers in the industry, glamorous photo shoots and trips to The Bahamas and New York City, the girls returned home to resume normal life all while having to keep everything that had happened a secret.

"People knew I had tried out for Top Model so when I came back and my hair was cut and I was gone for a while they kind of were putting pieces together -- but nobody knew 100 per cent where I was," says Linsay.

Nikita recalls getting some weird comments about her super-short bangs from some new friends she made after returning home to Calgary, Alta.

"They didn't admit it to me until now ... but they were like, 'When we first saw you we were like why are this girl's bangs so whacked?'" she says with a laugh.

Once the show began airing in May it all made sense to everyone else but it didn't mean the girls could spill any of the details of the competition -- including who will be crowned the winner during next week's final episode.

"People ask but I just tell them they have to watch," says Meaghan.

"It doesn't bother me at all knowing and (other people) not," says Linsay. "Let them wait."

Clearing the air on Maryam and the rip

And while the girls don't have any regrets about what they said or did during the competition, they would like to clear up some stuff that happened with fellow competitor Maryam, who was voted off this week.

During a runway challenge wearing designer dresses made of bathroom tissue, Maryam reached over to help Linsay zip up her dress and it ripped. Maryam claimed it only ripped a small amount and Linsay herself tore it the rest of the way when she later tripped up the stairs. It resulted in a heated exchange in front of the judging panel that continued backstage, leaving Maryam in tears.

Linsay says she was just angry that Maryam had lied.

"If she just said right out, 'Yeah I ripped that dress' and told the truth about the damage she actually did it would have been done with for me,'" says Linsay.

Nikita and Meaghan were also shown imitating Maryam earlier in the episode, repeating the phrase 'Whaaat?' that Maryam had said after being asked a fake question about a sex tape at MTV. The two girls say it wasn't meant as a personal attack and that the three of them actually joked about it together.

"I just wish it was portrayed the way it actually happened. She knew. It was an ongoing joke," says Meaghan. "I wish it didn't look like we were personally attacking her."

"It wasn't against her or her accent or her nationality or anything like that, it was just jokes," adds Nikita. "And the fact that we were a little bit upset that she lied and we just wanted to make sure that the judges understood really what happened. We weren't trying to gang up on her. We love Maryam to death."

And even though they have been in touch with Maryam since the competition ended, they were planning on reaching out to her again now that the episode has aired.

"I think we might give her a call tonight," says Nikita.

Role models for girls

The girls say seeing themselves on TV has definitely been a weird experience.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to it," says Linsay.

"I don't think I will either," agrees Nikita.

Getting recognized on the street has also been an adjustment.

"Like when I go to IKEA and there's girls hiding behind racks looking at me behind toilet plungers," says Nikita with a laugh.

As well as getting recognized, the girls have also been receiving a lot of feedback through blogs and social networking sites from fans who have been watching them on the show, in particularly Linsay, who hails from Sucker Creek reserve near Edmonton, Alta.

"I was really surprised but a lot of young Aboriginal girls, even their parents, their grandmas, grandpas, lots of people have been like, 'You're a great inspiration' and just wanting to let me know that they're proud and they have a positive role model," says Linsay.

No matter what Tuesday night's finale brings, Linsay, Meaghan and Nikita all say modeling is in their future and are still so glad they were a part of Canada's Next Top Model.

"One hundred per cent," says Meaghan.

"No regrets at all," says Nikita.

"I'd do it all over again," says Linsay.

The season finale of Canada's Next Top Model airs Tuesday, July 14th at 8 pm ET on CTV.