Carson Kressley
Answers OUT Spoken’s questions

Carson Kressley, you're hosting The True Colors Tour, featuring Cyndi Lauper, the B52's, Rosie O'Donnell among many others. Whose trailer do you hang out in?
That's a great question. I've been hanging out a lot with the B-52's and Cyndi, who's been amazing. But Rosie's been taking me under her wing, and she's an awesome person and I think she's such an inspiration and she's super funny. And we've just, we've all been bonding; it's like, you know, summer camp for the gays and rock stars. It's awesome.

How are you traveling?
Everybody has a bus, like Rosie has a bus, and Cyndi has a bus, and all the bands. I'm flying, because they were going to get me a bus, but I was like, 'Guys, I don't have a van, so I'll just be driving across the country with some guy named Bob singing '100 Bottles of Chanel on the Wall.' I can't do it. Um, so I am flying from city to city, but might take the bus with the crew for some locations.

How do you manage the main stage, with all those personalities, for a five-hour, nonstop music show?
Ritalin. Um no, it's just that we have so many great acts and each act, you know, is so fun and so good and so entertaining. I have the easy job where I just come out and introduce them and um keep the audience entertained when we're changing the stage. You know, I'm just like the host of the party. I'm putting the 'ho' back in the host.

Is the True Colors Tour a good way to get out the vote?
Yeah, it's a great way, and you know, and I think Cyndi says it best, when she addresses the audience about midway through the show, and kind of confirms to everybody that we're not out there saying this is who you should vote for. Although some of the artists you know, do. Also, HRC and PFLAG, who are helping us do the tour, are onsite at all of the locations, and they really provide great information so that you can just really be an informed voter. So, it's really a great way to get people thinking about it while having a great night of entertainment.

Who should come to the True Colors Tour?
I think what's great about it, is that it's a great show for everybody. It's for everybody, not just for gay people. It's for the whole community. It's for anybody who loves music. I mean the B-52's and Cyndi have a great mainstream following.
Well right now I have a show in July that they're going to do without me on QVC, and then I have show in August, and I have a new fall collection coming out in October. So I will be all over QVC airwaves, and then I go back to L.A. in August and I finish up the second season of 'How To Look Good Naked'.

Would you ever get naked and throw your picture on top of a building in New York City? Would you ever do that yourself?
I would, I would. It would probably scare small children and babies, but I would do it. I've actually been fully nude on an episode of 'Queer Eye' when we did a nudist colony episode. I actually stripped down. I was like, what is this lifestyle all about? And so I've already done it, been there, done that. I just had to throw my hat in the ring and compete with the best of them.

Okay, you're always on, you're super funny in this interview. How do you relax, Carson?
What I try to do for fun -- I have seven horses, and I compete with them. I have saddle-bred horses and they're really cool and fun.

You're an equestrian?
I am. So I try to do that. You know, it's incredibly relaxing when you're up there just trying to stay alive. I know it sounds like a contradiction, but it's really, it's the one thing where you forget about everything else because you're so focused on staying on.

You've won a primetime Emmy and you're nominated for another. How does it feel to be recognized by the television industry?
Being recognized by your peers and the other people in the TV world who vote for those awards -- I guess, really humbling, and it's amazing and it's something I absolutely never expected. And now um, Lifetime's nominated me, you know, to be nominated for an Emmy for 'How To Look Good Naked', for Outstanding Really Host, which is a new category, and also for Outstanding Reality Program, so, keep your fingers crossed.

And my toes. How do you use your celebrity besides your work with HRC and this tour?
Mostly kids. You know, that's what I'm really passionate about. And making sure that gay kids, you know, GLBT kids and questioning kids have the opportunities to be who they want to be. So charities that support that are really near and dear to me. I work a lot with The Trevor Project.

You were discovered as a stylist with Ralph Lauren. Is he a little pissed that he lost you to fame and fortune?
No. Actually, right after the show had come out, I had to go there, for like a work thing, like to pull clothes for a show. And he was in his office, and at the offices they kind of know where everybody is and what everybody is doing. And the phone rang, in this office that I was in, and they said, 'Ralph would like to see you.' Which is really scary -- it's kind of like getting called into the principle's office. I went in there and was like, 'Oh no, what's he going to say?' And he was just like, 'Wow, Carson, I'm really proud of you and you're dong great!' So he's been really cool about it. You know when this is all over I might need a job there again, so I've got to keep the lines of communication open.

Hey, TV audiences are fickle.
Exactly!

 

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