January 24, 2024 at 5:54 p.m
Despite her own notoriety, Chrissy Teigen admitted that interacting with celebrities gave her “terrible anxiety” – until she got the chance to delve deeper into her new Freeform show.
“Chrissy & Dave Dine Out,” premiering Wednesday, welcomes a series of A-list guests — including Jimmy Kimmel, Simu Liu and Regina Hall — as they dine their way through L.A.'s vibrant restaurant scene while having meaningful conversations that helped Teigen have overcome their “crazy nervousness”.
“I see a lot of the guests we have on the show in passing, maybe here and there at a cocktail party and awards shows. But sitting down and sharing a meal with someone is really unique and different,” Teigen told TheWrap. “Honestly, it was nice for me, who has always been so afraid – and especially terribly afraid of celebrities – to see them as people and not as beings.”
Co-hosted by Teigen and restaurateur David Chang — with special appearances by Joel Kim Booster during meals — the unscripted series marks a significant departure from talk shows, whose intensive preparation by segment producers ensures guests “know exactly how the conversation will happen”.
“There was none of that on our show,” Booster said. “It took some people a little time to get comfortable with it, but once they do, I think you get really interesting answers to some of these wild questions because they forget the cameras are there … and the food is really disarming. “You can see these people losing their courage.”
Booster, who worked with Chang on Apple TV+'s “Loot,” sees himself playing the role of a “detective” on the show who enjoys asking guests “invasive questions.”
“I also share a lot — I don’t just expect people to share a lot about themselves without doing so in turn,” Booster said. “I think that makes for a really interesting dinner party.”
The final product of “Chrissy & Dave Dine Out” looks very different than the show's original concept, as Teigen noted that the original iteration of the show took place on a set with a prefab kitchen and bar.
“With the first edition of the show we brought guests to us, [and] “We still wanted the audience to learn some facets about the guests that they might not have known about, and use the food as a bridge to get to that point,” Chang said of the setup.
“It felt very uncomfortable and strange and very indoors,” Teigan added. “So we decided to take it outside and hit the streets of LA to enjoy some of the best meals we've ever had.”
“Chrissy & Dave Dine Out” premieres Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on Freeform and streams the next day on Hulu.
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