Michael Urie's Reality Check

I've been very curious about the new miniseries Miss America: Reality Check that TLC has been plugging like crazy lately. The show takes 52 aspiring Miss America contestants and runs them through a makeover in an attempt to put to rest some of the worst pageant cliches. 

The pageant stuff I really couldn't care less about, despite the fact that they're having a bit of a reality show renaissance as of late. What I find interesting is that Ugly Betty's wonderfully witty Michael Urie (Marc St. James) is the host, and from all outward appearances he's carrying quite a bit of his on-screen fashionista persona with him into this reality show project.

Urie has declined to discuss his sexuality publicly, which is of course his choice and completely fine with me. But it does seem odd that Urie is comfortable appearing as himself in a manner that so closely resembles his insanely flamboyant and very gay television character. Since he's playing a gay character, people will naturally speculate that he's gay, and if he doesn't want to address that, that's fine. But doesn't it seem an odd choice to then take a project that would only fuel speculation by tying his gay character more directly to his off-screen self? Maybe it's a trivial point, but it did strike me as a bit odd. Still, he's the reason I'll be tuning in. 

TLC has uploaded a second commercial for the show that jokes about Urie being their version of The Bachelor (the spot's much funnier overall than the ad that's showing every 3 minutes on TV). Check it out over here!