WEBVTT - Being Carson Kressley 0:00:01.880 --> 0:00:05.440 It's been years, God, it's almost been decades since I 0:00:05.640 --> 0:00:10.760 first met Carson. And Carson Cressley is such a character, 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:15.160 such an interesting guy, so creative, so out there, and 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:18.239 I first met him when I was hired to be 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:22.080 a guest on Queer I for the straight guy, and 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:25.439 I met him and he was so sweet and funny. 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:29.320 It's so popular, but I haven't really, you know, been 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:31.440 in touch with him recently and I'd love to know 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:34.360 what he's been up to. So I'm looking forward to 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:40.320 my conversation and UH, here is my conversation with Carson Cressley. So, Carson, 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:46.200 where are you now? I met my farm in Pennsylvania. Oh, Nice, nice, yeah, 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:49.400 how about you? Are you in Montclair, New Jersey? I know, 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:52.120 I know you're a Mont clary and I love Montclair. 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:54.720 It's so pretty. Yeah, thank you. You know, it was 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:57.480 a perfect amount of being close to New York City 0:00:57.600 --> 0:00:59.800 but getting out of New York City, so I could 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:04.520 you know. Yeah, yeah, so cool. Well, I mean, I 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:07.160 haven't seen you in so many years. I don't know 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:10.240 if you remember the first time I met you. Um, 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:11.800 I don't know what was the first time. I don't 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:16.280 remember hired when you were on queer I as a 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:21.160 makeup artist to get a bunch of firemen ready for 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:26.640 a calendar that you guys were shooting. Oh Yeah, lucky. Yeah, yeah, 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:28.760 I mean that was a long time ago and I 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:32.160 also met the photographer and his wife at the time 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:35.280 and I ended up hiring her as my creative director 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:38.000 and you know, and he shot a lot of my campaign. 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:42.200 So it was one of the yeah, wonderful. How how 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:44.880 great that worked out? Yeah, no, it was. You know 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:48.040 what it just you never know who you're going to meet. 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:51.280 When have you had that moments in your life where 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:54.080 you're like, I don't know, like random meetings with people? 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:57.600 Oh yeah, there's there's just people that you on Jael 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:01.320 with who are like your people and just even doing 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:03.840 like home collection projects and going to like the trade 0:02:03.840 --> 0:02:06.320 shows and like high point I'll be like, oh my Gosh, 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:08.480 how does this person not work with us like that? 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:12.320 Like they're amazing. And there's like, you know, five or 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:14.520 ten people I've met like during my career where I'm 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:17.440 just like okay, I literally like write them down in 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:19.960 my book. I'm like we need to hire them for 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:24.040 something at some point. So there you know, they're rare, 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:27.919 but you know, kind of instantly when, Um, you found 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:31.240 someone that's sympathic. Go Yeah, so, you know, the truth is, 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:33.040 I don't know that much about you. So I have 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:40.120 a million questions, you know. Yeah, shoot, I am from Allentown, Pennsylvania, 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:44.880 but not really like Allentown, like twenty minutes outside of Allantown, 0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:48.800 which is actually when people think about allantown Pennsylvania, they 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:52.239 think about like the Billie Joel Video Um for his 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:56.320 Song Allan toown and Steel Mills and uh, you know, 0:02:57.200 --> 0:03:00.680 steel towns. But I'm from the countryside. Out To Valentine, 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:03.040 where I'm from it, you know, it looks like the 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:06.520 Shenandoah Valley. We've got Blue Mountains and rolling hills and 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:09.880 there's lots of Pennsylvania Dutch people and my family was 0:03:09.919 --> 0:03:14.640 like practically amish. And Yeah, you could hear butter churning 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:17.240 in the distance. What is that? I mean, I know Amish, 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:21.079 but what is practically? Well in Pennsylvania? There, UM, there's 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:23.520 a huge group of people that came in the you know, 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:26.440 from the late seventeen hundreds through like the mid eighteen 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:32.960 hundreds that are dubbed Pennsylvania Dutch and they're really Pennsylvania German, 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:37.000 but the word for German was Deutsch, so they said 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:40.320 we're Deutsche. People were like, Oh, you're Dutch, welcome, but 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:45.480 it's been a misnomer. So all Amish people are Pennsylvania Dutch, 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:48.680 all like, but not all Pennsylvania Dutch people like me 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:51.760 are amish. I was Lutheran, which is just a different religion. 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:56.400 and Um, but very midwestern, even though we're from the 0:03:56.440 --> 0:04:02.240 eastern seaboard and grew up around horses and Um, you know, 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:06.320 that was that's that's where I come from. Bobby Brown. Well, no, 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:09.839 I come from the suburbs of Chicago, Midwest. So I 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:13.400 you know, you know, putting the pieces together makes sense. 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:16.160 Did you have a big family, a lot of brothers 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:18.919 and sisters or Um? No, I have one brother and 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:22.680 one sister and I'm the youngest. Big shocker. I'm like hello, 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:27.240 over here, look at me. Yeah, and Um, yeah, I 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:30.719 grew up a very suburban, you know, uh life in 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:34.440 the seventies and you know it was people always say 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:36.440 like where did you get your like sense of style, 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:38.720 and I was like, I grew up in the seventies. 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:41.600 I grew up watching like, you know, three's company and 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:45.400 the Carol Burnett Show and seeing share wearing Bob Mackie 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:50.920 and there was a very rich um era for fashion 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:54.839 and flair in general. You. Have you ever met share? 0:04:56.279 --> 0:05:01.320 I have. Yeah, I did. Um. Oh Gosh, I'm trying 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:03.480 to remember the first time. I guess the first time 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:06.920 I met her was Um, she did a movie premiere 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:08.880 in New York. She did a film with the fairly 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:11.920 brothers called stuck on you, and it was not one 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:17.200 of her like greatest cinematic, uh accomplishments, but it's a 0:05:17.320 --> 0:05:20.160 it's a good movie and they had a big party 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:21.880 for it, back when they would have big parties, like 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:24.560 in the early two thousand's, and it was that. I 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:28.800 think it was at the SBA theater on twenty three street, 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:31.880 and then they had a party after and I walked 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:34.520 in and I got you babe was playing and share 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:37.839 was sitting in a booth in the distance and like 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:40.320 I made eye contact with share and she made eye 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:42.280 contact with me and then I started going like this 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:44.960 and I was like what is share telling me to 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:47.800 come over? But it was during like the frenzy of 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:50.320 queer eye and I guess she had watched the show 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:52.719 and she was a fan so she invited me to 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:56.600 sit with her and she was very, very, like warm 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:59.919 and wonderful. And then I was doing a column for 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:02.520 us weekly and I was going to go interview her 0:06:02.560 --> 0:06:05.720 the next day at her suite at the lows regency. 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:10.800 It sounds like it's nine. I went to do the 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:12.240 interview and I was like, Oh my God, what am 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:15.719 I gonna wear? What would what would share where? Um? 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:19.960 So I wore black Roberto Cavali leather pants with Purple 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:24.239 Python insects and like a Tuxedo shirt that was open 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:28.440 and I had like some Brazilian scapulare like medallion's on, 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:32.080 because everyone was doing that. And we did the interview 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:34.840 and she was like yours and I was like, Oh, 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:37.880 you can have a share, and I'm like my body. 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:41.000 And then she had like a do rag on, because 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:45.479 allegedly she has volumes of like hair up in braids 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:48.360 and always wears like and she had like a Bandana 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:51.800 on and her assistant was in the other hotel room 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:54.919 that I connected. And so the interview was over and 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:56.960 I was standing above share and I was trying to 0:06:57.000 --> 0:06:59.760 put this necklace on her, which is very fine, and 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:01.719 I couldn't get it over her head and it was 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:04.640 like struggling and she was like making a funny noise 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:06.120 and I was standing over top of her and then 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:08.279 the assistant came in. They're like are you attacking share 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:10.560 Um and I said no, no, I'm just trying to 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:13.360 put this necklace on, and so I did that and 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:16.280 then I didn't see her for like a while and 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:18.520 then one day I was sitting at my kitchen table 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:22.200 in Chelsea paying bills and my phone rang and I 0:07:22.240 --> 0:07:25.520 was like, oh no, what's it's a mystery number. I 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.440 hate answering those, but I hate getting voicemails even more. 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:32.800 So it's just like hello, and on the other it 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:36.000 was like and I was like yeah, it's sure, and 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:38.440 I was like Oh my God, and share called me. 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:40.360 I don't know how she got my my cell number, 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:42.640 but she did, and she wanted to thank me for 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:47.080 like the necklaces and Um. So yeah, I have a 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:50.800 I think I'm kind of friends with share. That's such 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:52.840 a great story. Did you get a picture of you 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:55.920 and her? I did, I do have it's a polaroid 0:07:57.440 --> 0:07:59.720 and I've scanned it and I have it. You know. 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:03.680 I have the real one in a safe somewhere. That's 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:06.040 so cool. I I actually once got a call from 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:12.160 Ali McGraw, who is my my share, so I know 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:25.200 the amazing feeling. Before you were on Queer I, because 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:31.320 Queer I blew you up. Who Were you before? So Um, 0:08:31.360 --> 0:08:34.920 I uh growing up in Allentown. I knew I always 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:37.480 wanted to live in New York City. So literally, like 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:41.200 I went to college and then the day after I 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:43.920 moved to New York City, I went to get Gettysburg 0:08:44.000 --> 0:08:47.160 College in Pennsylvania and I think I graduated like on 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:51.440 May six and on May seven, like I'm moving to 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:55.760 New York. So I took I took the bus and Um, 0:08:56.160 --> 0:08:59.040 moved in with two other friends from college, two girls. 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:01.680 We lived in a one bedroom apartment on ninety six 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:05.520 and third and I slept in the dining alcove and 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:09.880 they took the bedroom and I started working for the 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:14.560 US Equestrian Federation and uh, I had that job lined 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:17.760 up before college ended and I was making thirty thousand 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:20.360 dollars a year and I didn't know about New York City, 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:22.000 like how expensive it was. So I was just like, 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:25.520 oh my Gosh, how I'm going to spend all this money? Um, 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:27.800 thirty thousand a year. I was like I'll get great 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:31.360 suits and it was like the Armani era and I 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:34.000 was like, Oh, I'll be fabulous, and then I found 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:36.479 out that the rent of the apartment was like seventeen 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:42.800 hundred dollars. M It was like wait a minute, like 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:47.280 everything I make for the year. Um. So the three 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:52.199 of US split that and we managed. But Um, eventually, Um, 0:09:52.240 --> 0:09:54.560 I decided I wanted to work for Ralph Lauren because 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:58.480 I loved the brand and I loved the VIBE. And Uh, 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:01.560 I was at my gym one day wearing like Black 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:04.880 Watch track pants and a sweatshirt with a teddy bear 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:08.839 holding a Black Watch basketball. And I had a Black 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:11.600 Watch basketball that I got from buying seventy five dollars 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:15.600 worth a fragrance at bloomingdale's. and Um, someone at the 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:18.080 gym was a headhunter and she's like, I don't know 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:20.040 who you are, but you need to work at Ralph Lauren. 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:23.360 I was like I do, and it was one of 0:10:23.400 --> 0:10:25.520 those moments where like, you dressed for the job that 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:29.840 you want and I somehow conjured it up and uh, 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:33.839 I started working for Jerry Lauren, who's Ralph's brother. So Hook, 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:36.880 you got a job inside, not the store. Yeah, no, 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:41.080 I got a job inside Um being being Jerry's assistant 0:10:41.280 --> 0:10:44.120 and I would, you know, get startine sandwiches and I 0:10:44.120 --> 0:10:46.360 would drop off shampoo and I would go to the 0:10:46.440 --> 0:10:49.640 apartment and I was I was basically Anne hathaway in 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:53.600 the Devilwa's products that everyone was really nice and preppy 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:58.679 and had a fantastic time there. I loved Jerry and 0:10:58.800 --> 0:11:01.760 Ralph and Bobby Renett, Alice and everybody who I worked with. 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:06.160 They were just it was such a fantastic education and 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:09.559 it's one of those companies um where so many people 0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:13.480 have come through, whether it's Vera Wang or uh a 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:16.160 million people have come from Ralph Lauren. It's just a 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:20.920 great place to learn and Um you're able to climb 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:23.320 through the ranks. They're so beautiful. Like if you're a 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:26.640 hard worker and you get it Um, you just like 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:29.160 before I knew it, I was like, after two years 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:31.360 of working with Jerry, he's like you can do whatever 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:32.800 you want, like where do you want to work? And 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:34.560 I was like I'd really like to work in design. 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:37.360 So I worked in men's design and I did that 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:39.800 for a bunch of years and then I thought I 0:11:39.840 --> 0:11:42.720 had the greatest job in the world. Um, I would 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:45.720 style all the looks for all the ad campaigns. Oh, 0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:50.920 go on, you know too all that Bruce Weber and 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:54.320 the whole gang and Patrick and marcial yea and Mark 0:11:54.400 --> 0:11:57.920 Selliger and just all the you know, not every day. 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:00.480 I also, you know, I did a lot of NACY'S 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:03.600 DOT com shoots to like, you know, in Chelsea. So 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:05.640 when you would get to go like someplace, you know, 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:08.120 go to like the war haul of state in Mont 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:10.720 talk for a week with Bruce Weber and like people 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:12.839 are getting their nails done and I'm just like, Oh 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:15.360 my God, this is great, I love it. So I 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:17.719 did that for a number of years and then one 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:20.920 day one of my producers, who booked the photographers and 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:24.040 makeup artists and all of the talent Um, said I 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:27.040 heard about this show like in a cab on the radio. 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:30.119 It's called queer eye and it's gonna be on Bravo. 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:33.080 And I was like what's Bravo? And nonstick cooking spray, 0:12:33.160 --> 0:12:36.360 like I didn't know Bravo. I was, you know, young 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:38.920 and live in New York City. I didn't even have cable. 0:12:39.080 --> 0:12:41.800 You know, you just don't. You're out you're out being fun, 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:48.360 so they said. I I asked Jeeves. We didn't even 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:53.560 have Google back then. Um, I asked Jeeves, like where's Bravo, 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:55.840 and it gave me like a number in Jericho, Long Island. 0:12:56.280 --> 0:12:58.560 I called them. They were like, Oh no, a production 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:00.880 company makes the show, weest hair it. And I was 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:05.680 like okay, I knew nothing about TV. Called the production company. 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:09.040 They from Boston. Got An intern. She was like no, 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:11.240 they're only New York casting this show. I'm like, I know, 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:14.240 that's what I'm calling about. She said send a headshot 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:18.240 and like a letter via messenger or something to this 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:21.480 casting agency and Chelsea, which I had no headshot. I 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:24.240 had a picture of me like that Arnaldo and IA 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:26.920 Luca had taken, like, you know on set or something, 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:28.720 holding some sweaters, and I was like I'll send that 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:32.079 and then I went down and I was my Sassy 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:35.840 self and they're like we really like you. and Um, 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:38.800 we made a pilot in two thousand two and I 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:40.880 remember telling my boss at Ralph Lauren like I'm just 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:43.080 gonna take a couple of days off on vacation. I'm 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:45.280 gonna make this thing, but I just won't let you know. 0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:47.360 We made it in two thousand two and nothing did 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:50.280 happen and we didn't hear anything for like a year 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:52.800 and then, like in the beginning of two thousand three, 0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:56.920 the production company called and said, yeah, Bravo was purchased 0:13:56.920 --> 0:13:59.959 by NBC. They're revamping the network. It's going to be 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:03.160 very splashy. They want your show to be like the lead, 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:06.480 you know, for the rebrand. You need to quit your 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:08.960 job and I was like, do you even have dental insurance? 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:11.839 Like I didn't even know. Like I was like wait, 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:15.120 I'm supposed to quit my amazing job to do eight 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:18.240 episodes of a TV show for like three thousand dollars 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:22.640 in episode and then maybe never work again. But I 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:25.320 had the most amazing boss at Ralph Laurence. She's like 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:27.920 you should try it, it sounds amazing and if it 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:29.880 doesn't work out, we'll figure out a way to get 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:35.120 you back. And I was I was like, thank you Jesus. 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:38.640 Heard Liz Paley and I owe Um, I owe my 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:42.680 life to her because she gave me that Um flexibility 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:45.360 to take a risk. Yeah, but you also, I love 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:48.160 the fact and whoever's listening like what you did, like 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:49.760 when I moved to New York. I opened up the 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:54.840 yellow pages because I didn't know anything, sourceful and not afraid, 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:58.200 like you have a like you seem naive, like all right, 0:14:58.240 --> 0:15:02.840 I'm just gonna do this and I think great quality. Yeah, 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:07.720 I have the ignorance is bliss Um Syndrome, and I've 0:15:07.720 --> 0:15:09.600 heard that some people have the opposite, where they're like 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:13.040 they always feel like an imposter. I just always felt 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:16.160 like I could maybe do it, like I didn't know that, 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:19.560 like I wasn't this enough or that enough to like 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:22.720 do what I was trying to do. I just said, Oh, 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:24.560 I'm going to go to an interview at Ralph Lauren, 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:26.920 I'm gonna Wear Cute Ralph Lauren outfit and I'm gonna 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:30.040 do my homework and I'm gonna be very enthusiastic, and 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:33.440 it continued to work. Yeah, I think it's being naive 0:15:34.120 --> 0:15:36.480 and I kind of am the same way. So I 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:40.880 get it. So you did. So you quit your job. 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:43.840 To do ever go back to Ralph Lauren? Or No? No, no, 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:47.960 I never. Um, we started making the show in March 0:15:48.040 --> 0:15:50.440 of two thousand three. It aired in July of two 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:52.480 thousand three and like a week or two later we 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:56.760 were on the tonight show and Doing Ellen and Um, 0:15:56.800 --> 0:16:00.520 I have. Fortunately, I've been working in of bits for 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:05.000 twenty years now and and there are moments, like show 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:09.400 Biz or like fashion or the beauty business. Um, you know, 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:11.720 their their highs and lows, where you're just like, Oh 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:13.440 my God, I'm gonna pack it in, like this is 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:18.520 not working, um. But you, if you're persistent and you keep, Um, 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:22.800 the right attitude and always looking for opportunities, you can, 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:25.160 you know, make it through those slow periods and then 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:27.240 you you know, start to ride the wave again. So 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:32.080 I've been doing that for a long time. Okay. So, so, 0:16:32.120 --> 0:16:34.560 how many years were you on query? And I'm sorry, 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:39.240 that's my dog scratching in the back. Don't worries, Um, Um, 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:42.400 I we did Um, I think it was about five years. 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:45.720 We did five seasons and a hundred episodes. So that 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:48.320 was also like a great you know, who gets that 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:51.120 as their first television show? Like I was like, Oh, 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:52.720 I guess, you know, you do a TV show and 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:55.240 then you just event you get an emmy the next year. 0:16:55.360 --> 0:17:00.480 Like I didn't know how, Um, how rare was and 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:03.560 how lucky we were, and we were just so caught 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:07.200 up in the whirlwind and I wish we had instagram 0:17:07.320 --> 0:17:11.120 back then because people will literally say to me remember 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:13.240 that time we all went to the White House and 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:16.239 we met and I was like no, I don't. I 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:19.879 vaguely remember, but there were so many fun things and 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:22.040 it was such a whirlwind for those first two or 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:25.800 three years, Um, that I wish I had a better 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:28.520 record of it. But you also you must have gotten 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:31.920 an agent right to negotiate your deal, or did? Yeah, 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:34.200 I mean, and then then things just kind of took 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:37.000 off right. I mean, besides Queer, I didn't. I mean 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:40.680 you did a whole bunch of other things. Yeah, yeah, 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:44.480 once the show was successful. Um, then you can get 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:46.879 an agent, which is, you know, kind of backwards, but 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:50.440 that's how it works, and then you're able to people 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:52.880 know you and it becomes easier and they say, oh, 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:56.960 we were doing this show about beauty queen contestants and 0:17:56.960 --> 0:17:59.360 there's a big makeover element. We should get Carson. So 0:17:59.640 --> 0:18:03.680 what are some of your highlights, like what are like? Um, well, Queer, 0:18:03.760 --> 0:18:06.720 I obviously, and then, Um, this one was dancing with 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:09.680 the stars. So you are on dancing with the stars. 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:15.560 I was. Yes, I think I was, like I lasted 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:18.679 for like five or six weeks and I was a 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:21.679 terrible dancer, but I had really great costumes and I 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:25.560 did full on productions with like smoke effects and like 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:31.160 I was really into it, you know, like like does it? What? 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:34.399 Does anything make you nervous? You know, that should have 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:39.399 made me very nervous. And, Um, my philosophy and life 0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:42.840 and with show bizines that I usually say yes and 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:46.320 then I figure it out later. Um, and this is 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:48.880 like a theme throughout my life, like, Oh, I want 0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:52.560 to buy this farm in Pennsylvania, I'm just gonna do it. 0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:56.040 I'll you know, fast forward to me like in February 0:18:56.080 --> 0:18:58.720 with like frozen pipes, like, Um, who do I call 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:02.720 about this? I don't have the super anymore. Um, so 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:06.320 I you know, I just kind of say yes and 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:07.960 then I figured it out later. So I should have 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:11.080 been nervous about dancing with the stars. I didn't realize 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:16.159 how hard it was. and Um, here's some backstory that 0:19:16.200 --> 0:19:19.399 nobody knows. But Um, they had wanted me to do 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:20.760 the show a couple of times and I was like, 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:23.280 I'm gonna wait, like so I have like more of 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:26.520 a lull or something, or have more time or just 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:28.600 doesn't seem like I need to do it now. And 0:19:28.640 --> 0:19:30.239 then the year that I did it, which was like 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:33.800 ten years ago, they had called just before Labor Day, 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:36.200 because the show always starts like in the first week 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:39.280 in September, and they said, oh, we had a last 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:43.159 minute cancelation, somebody had backed out. Um, we really need 0:19:43.200 --> 0:19:45.560 you to do the show, and I was like okay. 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:47.600 So they called and said, okay, we're gonna, you know, 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:50.480 here you up with your partner and I said, Oh yeah, 0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:52.080 I just want to go to fire island for the weekend, 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:53.800 it's Labor Day, and then I'll start on Tuesday. And 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:55.960 they're like no, no, no, you're like a week behind already. 0:19:56.520 --> 0:19:59.600 You need to start now. And I went for like 0:19:59.680 --> 0:20:01.520 that for rehearsal and I was like, Oh my God, 0:20:01.560 --> 0:20:04.399 this is no joke. And I am very bad with 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:09.159 numbers in general, so like choreography doesn't make sense to me. 0:20:09.200 --> 0:20:11.439 They're like and on the three count and I'm like, 0:20:12.320 --> 0:20:14.760 it's music. Why are we counting like we're supposed to 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:18.639 just be feeling Um. So I was terrible, but I 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:21.560 had a great time and I embraced it. Your partner, 0:20:22.359 --> 0:20:26.639 I had this amazing Russian Um professional dancer named Anna 0:20:26.680 --> 0:20:32.480 Treblin Skaya, and she was really, really fantastic and very 0:20:32.560 --> 0:20:36.440 like stern and a good Yang to my Yang, and 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:38.199 we had a deal that I would buy her like 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:42.959 Lu Boton's every week that we made it through. We 0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:45.879 did five weeks and we actually we had I think 0:20:45.960 --> 0:20:48.480 the very first dance I did was the encore dance 0:20:48.520 --> 0:20:51.200 that they wanted. They wanted to see again the next 0:20:51.359 --> 0:20:55.000 night because they enjoyed it. So it was a great experience. 0:21:04.960 --> 0:21:08.440 So what are you working on now? Right now I'm 0:21:08.520 --> 0:21:12.000 I've been very lucky, Um, where I was the groundbreaking 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:17.119 show for several reasons. Um, twenty years ago, and I'm lucky. 0:21:17.200 --> 0:21:20.160 I've been working for the last ten years, ten seasons 0:21:20.320 --> 0:21:24.520 on Rupaul's drag race. Um, we won four Emmys for, 0:21:24.680 --> 0:21:29.200 you know, Best Reality Competition series the last four years. Um, 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:32.720 and Um it's just it's Super Fun. First of all, 0:21:32.880 --> 0:21:36.000 Rupaul was amazing because he seems like he'd be a 0:21:36.080 --> 0:21:40.080 really nice guy. Um, he is. There's a few people 0:21:40.119 --> 0:21:42.640 I've worked with in my, you know, lifetime, whether it's 0:21:42.680 --> 0:21:47.879 like a share or Dolly or Oprah, Um, and there 0:21:47.920 --> 0:21:51.239 are people that are just so wise and they just 0:21:51.560 --> 0:21:55.280 they understand people. They understand life, they understand show business 0:21:55.280 --> 0:21:58.320 like it's not that deep Um, and he has that 0:21:58.600 --> 0:22:06.040 very um grounded, wise Um Um vibe and um he 0:22:06.200 --> 0:22:08.480 is the reason why that show is such a big hit. 0:22:09.000 --> 0:22:12.719 And we have amazing producers and amazing contestants and but 0:22:12.960 --> 0:22:17.800 you know, it's it's from the top down and that Um, 0:22:17.880 --> 0:22:21.960 the aesthetic, the sensibility, the heart, Um, that's all kind 0:22:22.000 --> 0:22:25.080 of Um comes from Ruth. So I'm very happy that 0:22:25.119 --> 0:22:26.960 I get to work on that. And I worked on 0:22:27.080 --> 0:22:29.520 fear I too, shows that have really helped a lot 0:22:29.560 --> 0:22:32.400