Olivia Lee

Olivia Lee

You may know her as the Balls of Steel interviewer who shoved a penis shaped microphone in the face of unsuspecting celebrities, amongst other pranks, or you could have caught Olivia on her 2010 monthly segments on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, but Olivia Lee has a new project coming to FOX tonight.

We got the chance to chat to Olivia about her new series Man Up, just what to expect from the show and why she decided to get involved.

What can you tell us about the new show?

What can I tell you about the show, well, what do you wanna know?

Tell us about the premise of the show.

Well, it's called Man Up and each week we take a geeky, hopeless guy, and we try our very best to transform him into a hero and a dateable lothario, and it's a challenge. (laughs)

What kind of characters can we expect throughout the series?

Well they're all obviously on the show for a reason, so they've all got their own issues and, you know, a lot of them - I'd say 99% of them don't have any confidence. They don't think they've got anything to offer a woman, they're not in jobs they like, they live at home, they haven't got any money, so they're really men that need a boost. They need some help to get their life on track.

How would you say they find themselves in this situation?

Well, we send them to see psychologists and really that is the biggest test for them, because a lot of these guys have never been to see a psychologist, they've never had to face their inner demons and, they do on the show - we really make them go deep within themselves to find out why their lives are not working.

They go through a week-long male reinvention programme on the show, what does that involve?

During the week, they see a psychologist; they get to meet lots of women and they get to be in scenarios where they can meet lots of women and practice their flirting and see what areas they need to improve on, and largely it's just making conversation with girls. Most of them are so nervous they can't even do that. We send them to see a stylist to get a makeover and then I put them in lots of different male environments to get them to kind of, 'man up', and hang out with proper blokes and stop being little babies! (laughs)

What was it about the series that influenced your decision to get involved?

I think it's a subject matter that's really relevant to what's going on in society at the moment - it feels very much in the ether. Thanks to feminism women are getting stronger and stronger and I think the modern man is slightly lost. They're asking themselves 'what does it mean to be a man?' and that really appealed to me about the show. There just aren't enough makeover shows for men, anyway. Especially shows that deal with the emotional aspect of things.

How would you say you found the experience of filming the show?

It was challenging at times, because you're dealing with guys that have a very short space of time to make the most of it and try and work out what's holding them back - so lots of long days and deep discussions and, as much as it was rewarding it was quite draining - in the nicest possible way!

Will we always see success throughout the series?

Why don't you watch it and find out? (laughs)

Alex Zane said he'd quite like Balls of Steel to come back but it would have to be in America - is that something you'd go back to?

Oh yeah! I'd always do it. I don't know if I've got the balls that I had then - that was seven years ago - I'm a little bit older, a little bit wiser so, I'd go back but I don't know if I'd be as ballsy this time! (laughs) I'd be a disappointment to the viewers I think.

Finally, what's next for you?

Well I'm writing a sitcom at the moment that I'm making a taster tape for, so yeah, that's exciting.

Olivia Lee's new show Man Up premieres tonight at 9pm on FOX.


by for www.femalefirst.co.uk
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