Interview with Survivor: Micronesia’s Chet Welch

AE: You were interviewed in a very interesting article in the Chicago-Sun Tribune about how many gay men are involved in pageants, but that it's not talked about too much because the event is so much part of Middle America. You've mentioned several times that you're out in your life and in your local area, but are you also out in the business?
CW: Oh, absolutely. I would say probably, six out of every ten people involved in pageants are gay men.

AE: Really. Why is that, do you think?
CW: One of the reasons I think gay men are so successful in pageants is that a girl does not want to hear criticism from another female. She's not going to get offended if I tell her she needs to change her makeup or hair, but she will get offended if another girl tells her to change her makeup or hair.

They're much more responsive to men. They don't consider them a personal threat. They feel a female is trying to change them to look like them, but a gay man is telling them how to look their best. I think that's why men are more successful in the beauty pageant world because the contestants are just more receptive to them — especially gay guys. A pageant girl never feels threatened by them sexually in any way. They feel very comfortable with them. They know the gay guys are very driven and they want to win as well.

Some of my most serious decisions I've made with contestants have been made at happy hour in gay bars. [laughs] That's where I always take my contestants. They feel very comfortable there, the guys love to talk to them, and the ideas that can come out of a group of gay guys about a girl's gown or hair is just incredible.

AE: Have you ever experienced or witnessed any homophobia in the business?
CW: Truthfully, I'm going to say no. If I did, then it wasn't so obvious that I acknowledged it. Especially in pageants, I'm going to say no. Not at all.

AE: Then why do you think it's not more open or talked about?
CW: The reason I think is that pageants are very big in the Southern states, and Southern states are very closeted still. A gay man might be able to assume an openly gay lifestyle in pageants that he feels he can't carry home with him, if you know what I mean.

AE: Did you see Miss America: Reality Check, Michael Urie's new show on TLC where they're revamping the Miss America pageant?
CW: Yes, I did.

AE: What did you think of it?
CW: I think it's demeaning, I think it's trashy, and I think it's going to bring down the pageant. I've been doing the pageant for 25 years and this isn't what girls get involved to do. They get involved to go to, at that time, Atlantic City, now Vegas. I will be there in two weeks at Miss America. Girls go to compete, they don't go to play games, even though Miss America is the first and original reality TV show.

I did not like the show. I will not watch it again. Miss Pennsylvania, Rachel Brooks, was one of the girls I worked with. She's better than they're portraying her on the show.

AE: There's been so much talk the last few years about how Miss America needs to be modernized or revamped in some way. Do you think it does need that and this just isn't the way or do you think it's fine as it is?
CW: I think what the Miss America pageant needs to do, and I've talked to all the executives about this and know them all very well, they need to go back into the 80s, pull a script out of their files, and do the same show they did in the 80s.

They've tried to make Miss America too relevant. The thing is pageants, and especially the Miss America pageant, shouldn't be relevant. Miss America was always a true Cinderella story, where the American public could watch a girl next door become an idol overnight. It doesn't have to be relevant to today's society. They do not have to have a cause. They shouldn't have to have a handicap to win. They shouldn't have to fight in Iraq to win. They should win because they won. They're trying to make it too relevant. They need to back off and go pull a script from 1983, use these girls, and do the same everything from then.

AE: So you think they need to get back to that element of fantasy that we all remember from our childhood?
CW: Yes, they do. That's what America wants in their Miss America pageant. It was an escape away from everyday life and the news. I mean now, you watch Miss America, every girl has a disability, every girl has an issue, every girl lost somebody, every girl has overcome something. I don't want to hear that. I want to see the beautiful girl walk out in the beautiful gown and win the pageant.

AE: Chet, thanks so much for talking to us. Good luck on Survivor. Maybe we can talk to you again after the show.
CW: I'd love to. I appreciate you guys, and anything I can do for you or for the gay community, just let me know.

AE: Thanks again, we'll be rooting for you.
CW: Thanks!