Interview with "Design Star"'s Matt Locke

AE: There’s nobody on there right now with your kind of design approach at all. And I think it’s a gap in the network. And that was one of the reasons that I wondered if it had been up to the judges or the network, rather than America, if you might not have won, even though I love Jennifer. I mean, I’m not saying she shouldn’t have won, I’m just saying if I were trying to fill a gap on HGTV I would have gone for you instead of her. Which brings me to a question about the voting.
ML: Ok.

AE: I talked to Sparkle Josh on Friday. And I asked him the same question I’m about to ask you, only now we know that you didn’t win. I’m not trying to trick you or say that Jenn didn’t win fair and square, because I believe she did. But I wonder if the fact that you’re gay did not possibly hurt you in the voting that was thrown open to America, not enough, perhaps, to change the outcome, but to some extent. I’m just asking you because I don’t know how much you watch the HGTV boards –
ML: I wasn’t supposed to, but I totally read ‘em.

AE: Well HGTV cleans them very fast, but I was watching them pretty carefully during the evenings of the broadcast, and I saw many comments before they were removed or edited, and I talked about this with Josh, and he agreed that he saw the same exact thing. And there was some nasty stuff, ok?
ML: Really?

AE: Yeah, there was.
ML: I never would have even thought that.

AE: Yeah, and they clearly had some words entered in their filter on HGTV, because people would start spelling them out with spaces or asterisks between them, so they would slip through the filter. And not just aimed at you, but at [Season 3 gay contestant] Michael Stribling as well. And in fact more so at him, and a lot of stuff at Mikey V., which was even worse. They were really good about removing them, but they were there, and people were talking about it.
ML: I did see those about Michael and Mikey, but I never saw them about me.

AE: I saw some.
ML: You did?

AE: Yeah. And I saw some comment about, specifically as it became more and more apparent that you were going to be in the final three, and then the final two, this repetitive idea that, because David Bromstad had won and was gay, that another gay man shouldn’t win.
ML: Ohh!

AE: And that’s what I talked at length to Josh about. And I’d actually interviewed him back when he was just a contestant, before Season 2 aired, and I said, “Did you worry when you told them you were gay, that they would think that because David Bromstad had won, that they didn’t want any more gay contestants?" I don't think it's an issue with HGTV, nor with the judges – I think HGTV has been great on this issue. I’m asking you right now, with your family history, with everything, do you think that there are people who might have voted for you if they didn’t know you were gay, and wouldn’t vote for you because you were? Is that possible?
ML: It’s possible, but it never entered my mind this entire time – I never even considered it. And the reason I didn’t is because of David Bromstad, and also because of the way HGTV handles sexuality, which is that it’s a non-issue. So they don’t talk about it, and they don’t censor it – it just is. I even think I’ve read where you talk about this –

AE: Yes. That’s what I love about HGTV.
ML: Yeah, the gay couples, and there’s no mention, like, “There they are." And so I kind of feel like the audience is the same way, in that there are definitely people who watch the network faithfully who are not ok with homosexuality, but I don’t think they mind if you don’t put it in their face.

AE: Right.
ML: So as long as they can watch from home and they just see this couple, and nobody talks about what’s going on, no problem. And that’s really the way I portrayed myself all throughout the season. I don’t really address it.

AE: No.
ML: So I never came out on the show, I never specifically talk about anything, and so I feel like, if people figure it out, and I’m sure they did, but since it wasn’t pushed in their face or made an issue, like, “By the way, this is me and you need to get used to it," I really don’t think that came into play for me. So maybe a lot of the people who were voting actually didn’t think about it – it was just the people on the boards. Because the casual viewer, or even the invested viewer, like my mom, doesn’t even know what a message board is, and wouldn’t dream of getting on and posting.

AE: I got the impression, watching the show and from my first interview with you, that you and Mikey V. were good friends  –
ML: Oh yeah – totally –

AE: Have you talked to him since the whole scandal broke out?
ML: I sent him e-mails – I just said, “I support you 100 percent - I hope you’re ok." I even said, “I watched the video, and you’re hot” –

AE: [Laughter]
ML: “And I like your hair."