For years, Chet Hanks has haunted our lives with the audaciousness of a top-tier reality star. Controversial, obnoxious, and strangely likable — he has all of the traits of a good reality star and has been fielding reality TV offers for years. Somehow, it wasn’t until The Surreal Life: Villa of Secrets offered him a spot on the show that he finally caved. What makes this show so special? According to Chet, The Surreal Life isn’t like most reality shows.
Chet was born for reality TV
For anyone doubting that Chet would make a good reality star, let’s not forget that he started flirting with Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Kim Zolciak within 5 minutes of making his reality TV debut. He was made for this, and he recently explained to TMZ why The Surreal Life felt like the perfect entry point for him.
According to Chet, he’s received tons and tons of offers for reality shows but always turned them down. He said that the shows that usually seek him out are “messy,” so he hasn’t wanted to participate. After all, he is Tom Hanks’ son. He can’t just be doing any old reality show.
“I’ve gotten throughout the years so many offers to do reality TV,” Chet explained. “And I’ve always said no because they’ve been from the shows that are really messy and negative.”
He continued, “I’ve never wanted to do anything like that.”
When the offer came in for The Surreal Life, Chet did his research and watched the most recent season. Once he saw what the show was about, he felt like it was a “good kind of vibe” because it focused on “personal growth and new experiences.” Chet said he felt like this show would allow him to show people who he really was. Overall, he said the premise of The Surreal Life made him “comfortable.”
“I got a great vibe from the producers,” Chet recalled. “I discussed it with my family, and everyone agreed that this would be a very good opportunity for me, and it was.”
Chet said that even his A-list parents were going to be tuning in. They gave their son full support going into the show. Whether or not they support his showmance with Kim is a different story. Either way, he said his parents will “definitely” be tuning in.
The Surreal Life: Villa of Secrets airs on MTV, Tuesdays at 9/8c.
TELL US – ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT CHET DIDN’T DO REALITY TV SOONER? ARE YOU ENJOYING SEEING HIM ON THE SURREAL LIFE?
