The spicy Giuliana Rancic continues to dish celebrity news on E! every week. She grades the red carpet on the Fashion Police with cohorts Joan Rivers and Kelly Osbourne. Her reality showwhere she celebrates her love with husband, Bill (the aptly titled Giuliana & Bill)is now completing its fourth season. Giuliana chatted with Nunn before the Emmys using a whole new lingo she created herself.
Windy City Times: Ciao, Giuliana. I met you and Bill at the Cable Show event downtown over the summer.
Giuliana Rancic: Yes, I remember. It was fun.
WCT: My first question is do people butcher your name?
GR: They used to, but not as badly anymore. You know what is funny? I used to hate my name so much. I was embarrassed because it was hard to spell and pronounce. Every year the government puts out a list of the most popular baby names. My name would never break the top 1,000. I thought another year of people butchering my name. About two months ago an article came out with baby names for 2011 that are up-and-comers. My name was at 300! It just showed as much as I hated it and wanted to change it, you have to stick with it. Stick with that your momma gave you!
WCT: Well, it makes you unique. Speaking of mom, how was it going back to Italy and filming that trip for the show?
GR: It was awesome. We had the best time. I got to show Bill my childhood home. He loved it. It was great seeing my cousins again and the family.
WCT: Let's talk about your "gusband" Robbie. He seems to be your gay personal shopper.
GR: He's my personal everything. Are you kidding me? And I am his. We love each other to death. He's the best. We have been texting all morning sending each other funny pictures. I just love him. He's the most caring sweetest person. He is obviously very easy on the eyes. Bill asks me if I am sure he is gay because we spend so much time together and he doesn't want something coming out in US Weekly. I told him it will be fine. Robbie is the best.
WCT: Are you excited about the Emmys?
GR: I am. I will be on the red carpet with Ryan Seacrest interviewing the celebs. It is my ninth year. It is TV so they have a better sense of humor and a carefree show. It is not as stiff as some of the other shows.
WCT: You studied journalism so you knew you wanted to do this your whole life.
GR: I did. My dream was to be an anchorwoman in Washington, D.C. I used to watch the 10 o' clock news and dreamed of being this one woman on there. I thought it was the coolest job. I studied journalism in D.C. so it was more politically based. When I would come back to class with my segments everyone would just die laughing because I would ask senators and congressmen what they do for fun and what was the last great movie they saw. "Godfather One or Two?" Like the dumbest questions on earth! My professor told me there was no place for that. I said, "You don't think CNN will eventually lighten up?" He said "no" so I went to Hollywood. My goal was to work on E! MTV or VH1. The music channels were all about the hosts in the '90s. Thankfully, E! panned out.
WCT: Has there been an interview that meant a lot to you?
GR: I interviewed Lady Gaga a few times and we just have had an amazing rapport. She is incredible with everything she has managed to accomplish. She is an Italian chick like me. We grew up in a very similar manner.
It blew me away the other day that when the interview was over she asked if the camera was still rolling. She wanted to go on the record that I gave a great interview and I am always respectful and pleasant. Everyone in the room was stunned because it was coming from the pretty much the biggest superstar in the world. It was nice after all of these years to hear a subject make a comment like that. I take great pride in that. I never try to blindside anyone or make them feel uncomfortable. I talk to them like human beings.
WCT: I work the same way, too. I love talking to people like Joan Rivers, who is on your show the Fashion Police.
GR: Fashion Police is so fun. Joan is amazing.
WCT: She carries that show and you get to ride along with her.
GR: It is like a hilarious road trip. You are right and she is driving. It is a blast. I have learned a lot from her. She is such a professional. She is incredibly prepared. She is probably the hardest working person I have ever worked with yet she doesn't even need to be. She could phone it in at this point. She has proved herself. That never stops her. She doesn't think like that. She acts like it is her first day every day.
WCT: It is so fun to watch Chicago as part of your reality show. The party at the Elysian [Hotel] aired just recently.
GR: It is a big deal for us. Obviously, Bill is a total Chicago boy. It will always be his home and in his heart. From the first time I came I loved it. It is an amazing city with such great energy and wonderful people. It is actually my favorite city in the country, more than L.A. or New York. It is very important for us to showcase the city. We show it to the world because our show is international.
We air in about 100 countries. We are happy we get to the show the city everywhere. We spend a lot of time at places like the Elysian. That hotel is just stunning. What a beautiful property. We get to show that and our favorite restaurants.
WCT: How is your restaurant coming along?
GR: Great; we are looking at January. We have already started demolition. It's in the old Ben Pao space. We are super-thrilled to do it.
WCT: Anything else you want to mention about your reality show?
GR: I still can't believe we only have two episodes left. There is some drama in the finale. We hadn't talked about IVF [in vitro fertilization] in this season because this season was for fun. But the baby stuff comes back in the finale.
WCT: I wanted to say you are "amazeballs" for juggling different projects!
GR: Love it, Amazeballs USA! You are an amazeballs interviewer. You are so sweet and I am sure I will see you soon in Chicago.
The finale of Giuliana & Bill airs Monday, Sept 26, at 7 p.m. with info on the front page of www.mystyle.com . For her E! Channel shows visit www.eonline.com for listings and details.