"Shear Genius"'s Charlie Price misses the final cut

Photo credit: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

Every good reality show needs a “villain” to keep things interesting. And Season 2 of Bravo’s hair cutting reality competition show Shear Genius was certainly no exception. Fortunately, thirty-eight-year old Charlie Price of Denver, Colorado was more than happy to fill that role. But Charlie is much more than just a reality show contestant with a sharp tongue. With twenty years as a professional hair stylist under his belt, Charlie has worked with such luminaries in the fashion world as Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Marc Jacobs as well as others.

AfterElton.com recently caught up with the five time nominee for International Stylist of the Year to talk about why he lost to Dee, how he came across on the show, his partner and more.

AfterElton.com: Were you surprised you came in second?
Charlie Price: No. Not surprised. As soon as I saw Sally Herschberger, I knew. That’s a lot of lesbian energy for one room.

AE: Do you think the judges made the right decision in picking Dee’s final cuts or did they make the wrong call?
CP: Oh, I think it was wrong, or course, but it’s subjective. Everybody has an opinion on taste. But I just thought it was like she barely finished it and I thought the two that she did that were curly were just like letting someone’s hair dry and there was no skill involved in what she did. In either the color or the cut. 

AE: What did you feel about Kim Vo’s comment that your first model’s hair looked like an unfilled burrito?
CP: Well, I usually think that Kim doesn’t feel because of the plastic surgery, so I don’t think much about what he says. 

Clockwise from top left: Judge Kim Vo,
Dee's final cuts, Charlie's "burrito" updo

AE: How accurately would you say the show portrayed you as you really are?
CP: Yeah, the show was accurate. My personality is like that, but it’s more ramped up for TV. I was hamming it up for TV. But, you know, I can be sweet or I can be vicious. It just depends on what my meds are doing that day. 

AE: You won four of the nine elimination challenges and two of the short cut challenges. Do you feel you earned the right to be a little cocky or superior to the other stylists.
CP: Not superior, no. I think, you know what? It’s a combination of luck and skill, but it’s also just people’s opinions, so I’m not superior to any of them. 

AE: Do you feel that you came across that way sometimes?
CP: Cocky? No, I think I’m more scathing. I think I’m sarcastic, but I don’t think I’m really cocky. 

AE: What did you think about the judging? It sounds like you weren’t particularly a fan of Kim Vo, given your previous comment. Is that accurate?
CP: Well Kim Vo has a bunch of canned things that he wants to say and he just says them whether they have any regard to what’s going on or not, so when he judges things, I just don’t even listen. And then, as far as the rest of them, sometimes I thought they were right on and sometimes I thought they weren’t. And obviously it changed with each judge, but I would say that the one thing that I thought was that sometimes the assignments we were given didn’t necessarily correspond to what they were judging us on. So you have to just take yourself away emotionally, because it’s not reasonable, generally.

AE: Who was the best guest judge?
CP: Well, I liked Josè and I liked the two big guys, Dean from American Idol guy and the little David Babaii. I thought those guys were very good. Oh, and I liked Mark Townsend. He was great. On the red carpet. I thought everything he said was really intelligent and right on the money. And actually, of course, Linda Wells was amazing. I don’t know. If I had to pick one, I’d say Linda Wells.