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 MTV Canada's Dan Levy and Jessi Cruickshank. (Marie-Joelle Parent/SUN MEDIA) |
NEW YORK - They're the kind of people who don't pull any punches when it comes to what they think of the stars from The Hills.
The popular hosts of MTV Canada's The After Show, Dan Levy and Jessi Cruickshank, were at the channel's Times Square studios for the live taping of their show's special broadcast that caps off The Hills and The City seasons, two of MTV's most popular reality TV shows.
"It's a huge opportunity for us. MTV is giving its biggest night of television, besides the VMAs, to two outcast Canadians. It's a huge honour," Levy said, sitting next to Cruickshank in the living room of their Times Square hotel. "I woke up with a knot in my stomach."
The co-hosts were nervous before the broadcast. There's no room for mistakes in a live show. A list of celebrities included Kristin Cavallari, Brody Jenner, Whitney Port and Olivia Palermo. Stars they regularly mock were also on the show. "We were warned that some could get upset," Cruickshank said.
But they still planned to their most uncomfortable questions live on camera. "Even if we have our hands tied behind our back for certain questions, we're pretty good at asking them anyways. It's live TV," she said. "We have our invisible script," Levy added.
They were even warned that Olivia Palermo (one of New York's most prominent socialites and star of The City) might leave the stage if she doesn't like some of the questions. "It's the kind of thing that makes me nervous," Cruickshank said. "Who cares," Levy answered. "If she leaves, she loses."
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Still, it's hard to believe that a simple comment show on after The Hills in Canada has ended up influencing its content. Levy and Cruickshank are now part of the The Hills machine. The Canadian duo spends its time critiquing a very American concept, a fact that still makes them smile.
"When we started this (five years ago), we were just a show with 10 people shooting out of a small studio in Toronto. We thought, 'who's gonna watch us, we can't get in trouble for this,'" said Levy. "We were really just filling air time in MTV Canada's mind, and then it started to catch on and have more and more following. Now, we're in 90 million homes across America," Cruickshank said.
The creator of The Hills told them he watches the After Show to see what parts they were interested in. "This is why they integrated more humour in this past season. Some scenes are straight out of a sitcom," Levy explained.
"Now Audrina (The Hills) tells us that her mom watches every week and tells her all the updates. Heidi, Spencer and Stephanie Pratt also watch. Some will get upset, some find it funny."
These lead actors also have a habit of phoning them. Cruickshank remembers one call in particular from Spencer Pratt. "I said something about Heidi suddenly having a completely new face. The next morning, we got an angry voicemail from him not happy at all. He started to call every morning after the show."
Since then, Cruickshank has gotten to know "Speidi" a little better after spending an entire weekend following them around for a report. She describes the experience as one of the weirdest things she's every done. "I got a glimpse into a world I didn't know existed and I think it's a world only they live in. They are two very unique individuals and they will stop at nothing to be famous," she said. "They saturated, they pulled a Paris Hilton. We get it, you're around. Your 15 minutes is up," Levy added.
I had to ask how their producers feel about their Canadian hosts. "We're a bit of a shit disturber when it comes to the States," Levy told me. "They like (it to be) Disneyfied and very whitewashed and inoffensive."
"Hmm... they know at the root that we're excited about the show and we're just talking about the stuff that people are already thinking at home," Cruickshank explained. "There's a little bit of love and hate there, but I don't think they would bring us to Times Square to do a huge finale if they didn't like us."
"We certainly created a buzz around the show in Canada and a sense of importance to it, but to be honest, I prefer to do the show that we do every day back in Canada," Levy said.