Model andBling Empirestar Kevin Kreider is more than just a handsome face.
“And I think that’s going to blow people away.
Letting people be vulnerable.”
Credit: Netflix
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How exactly did you become friends with this group?
I moved to L.A. three years ago and I certainly didn’t fall into meeting a bunch of billionaires.
KEVIN KREIDER:No, I got lucky.
Back in Philadelphia I was thinking about moving, to go somewhere else and start my career up again.
I was like, “I’m moving to L.A. actually at the end of the month!”
Then, when I moved there, I met her right away.
They were these ruby red extravagant shoes.
And I’m like,is this what I signed up for?
Me and Kane clicked immediately [though].
We hang out all the time and we share the same interests, which is amazing.
I never thought I’d share the same interests as him.
We have this other producer, who’s going to do it.
He helped produce theKardashians.
He’s on his own and Kelly knows him."
And I was like, “You know I’m not rich.
Are you sure you want me to be in this?
That might ruin you guys' vibe because I don’t know that world very well.”
And they’re like, “No, you’d be perfect.
Let’s just do it.
Let’s try it.”
I don’t think that was what it was meant to be.
I just kept being shocked, appalled, amazed or whatever, and everything just kind of came out.
I had so many viewpoints and opinions coming from a middle-class family.
I was like, “What is this?
How much does that cost?
Do you ever think about this?”
It just came out because I was genuinely curious about this world.
Having experienced it, how would you describe the show to people?
I would tell people, yes, there’s bling.
Discovering my identity as an Asian American, I think that was huge for me.
So it’s really about identity and finding your place in the world.
I think that’s very relatable, not just with Asians, but anybody.
That’s what I hope people see when they watch this.
Did doing the show help you feel like less of an outsider with the group?
Trust me, it was a little awkward in the beginning.
There’s a lot to get used to [Laughs].
I do feel less of an outsider now.
Like I said, Kaneand Anna [Shay]really helped me with that a lot.
I would say Anna buying three Mercedes Benz cars in one day.
Oh, I need one.
Oh, one for Kane too."
And I was like “What?!”
It just blew my mind.
I’m just like, “Well…
I need a car.
I didn’t know we were in a giveaway, three car special.”
And, I drove in the same car with her on the way home.
She really bought it.
What were you surprised ended up on the show?
Whether it be like the penis pump moment or how deep it goes into Kelly and Drew’s drama.
Make people forget about their problems.
But this was so deep and emotional that they were hesitant to show that part.
And you know, they were questioning me, like “Was that real?”
I didn’t expect any of that to happen.
I thought I’d have to fake this or something.
I didn’t think regression therapy did anything.
I didn’t even really know what it was.
I’m in a relaxed state on my back, and all of that stuff came out.
At least I’ll know what happened.
I was really happy to know that that part of my adoption was in the show.
What’d you learn from doing the show?
I think it’s more to trust myself.
I didn’t think Anna was testing me, [so] just trusting myself.
Let’s just do it."
We went there not knowing anything.
And everything just worked out the way it was supposed to.
I mean, probably not.
That’s probably normal.
What’s a big gesture actually is the effort of just finding one closed door [after] another.
That’s something I’m sure I did for Kim.
We could’ve easily given up, like “Oh, he’s not here.”
Was that ever addressed while filming the show?
And we talked a lot afterwards like, “Was that real?
Was it not?”
I don’t know.
“Hypothetically, say I made a move, would you have accepted?”
“Maybe,” she said, so that wasn’t very promising.
But yeah, we talked about it.
“I like you, but I’m going to pick on you.
It’s this weird dynamic that I think we’re still trying to figure out ourselves even.
I just couldn’t stand her.
I mean, I tolerated her because she was Kane’s friend, and she’s a DJ.
Cool, I get it, it’s fun.
But nah, I couldn’t stand her in the beginning.
I just thought she was some rich Malibu wannabe gangster DJ, but she’s not.
She’s a lot more than that.
Is there anything else you’re excited for people to see in terms of the show?
Whereas in movies and TV, they’re not so real.
They still represent you, but they don’t.
I think it’s a really important representation that we’re even doing this reality show.
You see all types of Asians.
People who are middle-class, people who are working for their careers and goals.
That’s what I’m excited for people to see.
I can’t wait for them to know that they were wrong.
Bling Empireis streaming on Netflix now.
