Two-Bite Interview: "Flipping Out"'s new employee, Chris Keslar

If you've been watching Bravo's guilty pleasure OCD real estate opera Flipping Out (I know I have), you may be wondering what the deal is with New Chris, the house assistant who was hired after Garbage Chris was promoted following the departure of the old lead assistant, who was apparently tired of being mauled by Monkey the Cat and headed for greener pastures.

Turns out New Chris has a last name (it's Keslar), he is a gay, and he was kind enough to answer some of our questions about how he came to the Lewis nest, whether or not things are as nutty as they seem on the show, and just what is up with the nanny-cam sting that was teased in the latest previews.

AfterElton.com: So tell us a little about yourself, for starters.

Chris Keslar: I’m 31 years old. I’m a double Scorpio – Scorpio sun, Scorpio rising. I grew up in western Pennsylvania, just outside Pittsburgh. I went to college at the University of Pennsylvania. I lived in Philadelphia on and off for about eight years after that and then I moved to West Hollywood in 2003 and I’ve been here ever since.

AE: Now you wanna do what Jeff does, right? 

CK: Yeah. My undergraduate degree was in English and theater, so when I moved to Los Angeles, my idea was to quote-unquote "get in the biz." And I had one of those LA stories: my first day I rolled into LA, I got a job working as a casting associate on a reality show. And so, for the next like two, two-and-a-half years I spent my time in the reality world as a casting producer and I also developed and had some shows sold and optioned. And then I took a break from that and went into scripted television and then worked on Ugly Betty for the first part of the second season, right before the writers’ strike.

So when the writers’ strike happened, I was out of work and looking for a job and I didn’t know where the writers’ strike was going to go so I was like, you know what? I think maybe exiting out of the entertainment industry for a little bit might be a good time. I’ve always loved real estate. I grew up with my Dad, who was a contractor and a land developer. ... So it had always been in my blood and I love interior design, like many a gay. ... And then I was led to Jeff through a friend and it was just one of those fated – I was looking for work and I was looking to do informational interviews with people in the field that I wanted to go into and my friend takes care of Jenny’s dog. ... He contacted Jenny and they were looking for body, so that’s how it happened.

Chris and Jeff
 

AE: So did Jeff pick you or did the show pick you? 

CK: No. My involvement with Jeff and Jenny was totally separated from the actual production of the show. Again, it was just like one of those fated coincidences. Ugly Betty ended, I worked up until the end of December and then we went on indefinite hiatus. And then I started working for Jeff at the beginning of February and so I had about a month down time and it was during that time one of their current assistants who you don’t see on the show – his name is Josh – he was leaving ... so it was just one of those things. My first day was the first day of filming, so the timing worked out perfectly, for them and for me.

AE: Are you still working for Jeff now? 

CK: You’re going to have to wait and see. I can’t talk about that right now.

Lots more after the jump!

AE: Has he been easier to work with or harder to work with than you expected? 

CK: In the beginning, I was very bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and as you get used to the demands of the job, it starts to take its toll on you. So, for me, in the beginning, he was very understanding and everybody did their best to kind of show me the way. So I would say he was about what I expected.

AE: I think it was in the first episode, there was allusion to there being some drama upcoming with you. Is that fair to say? 

CK: There is definitely drama involving all of the characters this season. I can definitely say that. Everybody certainly has their own little storyline. I think that what you’re referring to – I mean, quite honestly, it’s reality TV so they’re going to tease you and make you think it’s one thing, but actually it ends up being the other thing. I definitely am party to it, but it’s not all about me.

You’ll see from the time I begin until the end of the episode, I definitely go on an emotional journey, let’s just say that. And there is definitely a dramatic storyline with me. There’s one with Chris. There’s one with Jenny. I mean everybody has their time in the sun. 

AE: Is Jeff going to learn anything about you on the nanny-cam?  

CK: It’s definitely fair to say that everybody up here ends up appearing on that nanny-cam because we’re all in that office every day and that’s part of our job, like when Jeff is gone, I mean, we have the list as you see on the show. And so there are a list of things that get done in the house every day.

AE: How did you feel when you found out about the nanny-cam? 

CK: When I found out about the nanny-cam, honestly I was like totally taken aback. At first I thought it was a joke and then I realized that – because sometimes Jeff has a really great poker face and so sometimes it’s hard, especially in the beginning for me it was hard to tell when he was being serious and when he was joking. When I found out that he was actually really serious about it and the ramifications of it, I was quite frankly I was shocked. I was completely blown away. It’s not something that you respect to have your boss do to you. I think my first thought was like, is this even legal?

AE: I was just going to ask that, if that was even legal. 

CK: You know what, at the time, it was like – you know what – the fact of the matter was that for me, when I found out about it, I was still relatively new. In the beginning, just in general, I don’t think anybody would deny that my work ethic is pretty strong. I’m a hard worker. Like I say in the first episode, “I’m an I-dotter and a T-crosser.” Jeff is OCD. Like, I don’t think I have full-blown OCD, but I definitely like things to be a certain way in my own life so I understood that part of him and respected that part of him. So in the beginning especially I knew that I hadn’t done anything wrong, so when he told me that there was the camera, I wasn’t –

AE: You weren’t thinking you’d been caught. 

CK: Exactly. I mean, but then you start to think like, what have I done? Was I picking my nose? Was I like emptying the shredder? I don’t know. All these things go through your mind. It was only after initially hearing it and then getting to go home and process it and everything, then I started to realize it was just a violation, a total violation. However, it’s his business and if he thought that there was wrongdoing, I mean, he’s the boss. It’s not Chris Keslar, Home Restoration. It’s Jeffrey Lewis, Home Restoration. So everybody has the ability in any situation to choose and to decide for themselves whether or not it works for them, if the environment works for them, that that type of behavior works for them in the workplace. So, you know, it was what it was and I accepted it and kind of just tried to put it out of my mind and you know, went on as best as I could.

AE: I’m curious, are you single? 

CK: Yes, I’m single. Very, very single.

AE: Would you ever consider dating Jeff, because I know he’s single. 

CK: Nooooo. Not so much. Not so much. Yeah, that was never in my realm of comprehension, dating Jeff. Yeah – no.

AE: Thanks.