A Star Is Born
Well, sort of. Not exactly. But I will be on The Rachael Ray Show this Tuesday, November 4th. So, that's pretty cool. :)
Tuesday of last week (October 21st) I received a message through my It Works Facebook page from a woman claiming to work for The Rachael Ray Show. I can't say for what just yet, not until it airs, but basically it sounded super fishy and I thought it was just a scam. I read her message on the way to my car but by the time I got a few minutes down the road, curiosity got the best of me. "I might as well call," I thought. So, I did.
I talked to this awesome girl named Jessica who basically gave me a phone interview asking questions from do I have any facial tattoos to if I had ever been on TV before. After about 5 minutes of chatting, she said she had to talk to the other producers and see what they thought but as far as she was concerned, I was in. My commute home is an hour long and by the time I pulled into my garage, my flight itinerary and hotel room reservation was in the works... for the next day.
By the time I went to bed that night, I knew I was flying out of South Carolina to New York City the next day and would be taking Thursday (October 23rd) off of my internship. I went into school on Wednesday with my suitcase in the car and told my supervisor, "Uh, hey! I won't be here tomorrow... I'm going to be on The Rachael Ray Show." I only told a select few people at that time, mostly because I didn't know what I was allowed to post and also because I didn't know what to expect or even say. I knew there would be a ton of questions I couldn't answer so that's why I waited... forgive me!
I did, however, text my best friend Donny who happens to live in NYC. I got to my hotel around 10pm (tons of delays and terrible turbulence... I thought, if I die going to the freakin Rachael Ray show... anyway. I stayed in the Hilton just a block or so away from the studio. Donny got off work around 1am and once he got there it felt like we were just hanging out because I was visiting him. Definitely took the edge off, if I had even been a little nervous at all. Which, I wasn't. That is, not until 10 minutes before one of the staff members was coming to pick me up.
I thought I was going to puke. I had no idea what I was going to say or do. It's very similar to how I feel right before going on stage. I'll know my lines front and back, but RIGHT before I go on, I completely lose them and think, well this is just great. However once I met the cute little out-of-college girl that worked for the show, all my nerves went away and it was showtime. Almost.
I walked into the studio and it felt like entering The Hunger Games, sans killing people. I said goodbye to Donny (Cinna) and the doors shut behind me. And then, it was on. People with headsets were running around like crazy people, all with clipboards and ALL very young looking, which I really respect! I have to say, the RR staff was PHENOMENAL and a lot of them were fresh out of college or had been at the show since getting out of college, and that's pretty cool to see.
I was whisked back to hair and makeup where I met two amazing women who have been nominated for the Emmy for hair and makeup on daytime TV for the past two years! Of course, we started talking about It Works and OF COURSE the hair dresser is on top of her game and is a distributor! They all swear by Greens to give them energy throughout their long days and I told her all about how Hair Skin Nails has changed my life. When we say It Works is Hollywood's best kept secret, we aren't lying! You can check them out on Instagram: @carrieminchinhairandmakeup @robinhamilton and Twitter: @RRshowbeauty @carriefernow @robinnycmakeup
After hair and makeup, they took me and another girl who was on our segment backstage. Tom Bergeron, host of America's Funniest Videos (and apparently on Dancing with the Stars) was co-hosting and chef Ryan Scott were also in the segment I was in, so it was neat to meet them as well. I was looking forward to meeting Rachael Ray, but she was pretty consumed with learning what our segment was all about and didn't really take a minute to say hello or introduce herself or anything. Tom and Ryan did however, and like I said, her staff was the bomb.
We did our segment... which you'll have to watch November 4th and can click here to find out when and where it comes on in your area... which was really only about 8 minutes long. I'm sure it will be edited down to 20 seconds (ha!) but hey, 20 seconds of fame on daytime TV is kinda cool, right!? Once we were done with the segment, we were both taken directly to our cabs and shipped off to the airport. Delay after delay after delay, and I was finally home by 2am. Let me tell you, the life of a celebrity is intense! ;)
So all in all, that was a really cool 24 hours of my life. Definitely a really unique experience that I'm excited to put on my life's resume. I look forward to y'all watching and hearing what you think! XO
In what feels like another lifetime ago, I started a blog. I was 24, living in Italy, and thought this would be a great way to stay in touch with family and friends back home. This is a "past post" I resurrected for your reading pleasure. No grammar has been edited, but has been possibly harmed, in this process.
Estimated Post Date - 10/31/14