11-time Olympic medalist, Ryan Lochte, has finally gotten his own reality show on E!, the entertainment channel, famous for shows such as Keeping Up With the Kardashians according to Deadline Hollywood. Suzanne Kolb, E! Entertainment president, made the news public during the TCA press tour.
What’s this series going to be called?
What would Ryan Lochte Do?
The series will follow the swimmer on a first-person tour of the world through Lochte’s eyes. Kolb said the E! executives had a lot cooked up for the Olympic champion and they couldn’t wait to share it with their audience.
Lochte debuted on E! News as a Fashion Week correspondent, and it’s reported that “talks about the series” had been ongoing since that TV appearence. Lochte attended the 2012 Golden Goggles with a film crew in tow. When asked about the production team, Lochte was slightly cryptic:
“We’re shooting footage for a reality show, but not one that’s negaitve. We’re focusing on the positive side of life… We don’t have distribution, but…I’m pretty sure we’ll get someone to pick the show up.”
That someone is clearly E!
Lochte has made the rounds in Hollywood since his 2012 London Olympic performance doing cameos on 90210 and 30 Rock, however, he has always maintained that competitive swimming through the 2016 Rio Olympic Games is his first priority.
Can’t wait to watch Lochte ghost ride the whip on national TV
I don’t know if this is necessarily going to be positive or help swimming at all but who knows!
I think it’ll be fun. Swimming needs a lot of different personalities. I can’t imagine swimming without someone like Lochte. He’s an original.
Agreeing with Gold Medal Mel on this one. Considering with all the success that E! has had with their reality shows, this is going to be just like the others. I really can’t wait to see if it’s going to go the direction that they will go in. I just hope that the don’t make him seem like an idiot.
Sure these types of shows are lucrative for the network. Does anyone actually respect “reality stars,” who have very little or no substance?
Ryan has actual incredible talent & IMO if he goes through with this, he is throwing away the last shreds of respect people had for him.
I get he is trying to get swimming exposed in a different arena, but filming the partying in midtown, asking out randoms, & airing on the debacle on E! is not the way to do it!
I agree too on this argument Mel !
Mel is right on. Swimming gets a lot of great press..people outside the sport might be more drawn in if they saw other aspects vs just swimming laps and the cool people behind it…I showed a few non swimming buddies the video of the sprint classic mel did and they thought it was pretty cool.
What would Ryan Lochte do, you ask? Plenty. He would heavily hit on girls, tease a feud with fellow superstar Michael Phelps (cameras caught him saying “f*** Phelps” under his breath), address the one-night-stand fiasco, swim hungover, and cry. Oh yes — Lochte would cry. Because as the band Live once infamously told us, even the dolphins cry. (It’s in the air we breathe tonight! Love will lead us! She will lead us!)
http://www.hollywood.com/news/Ryan_Lochte_Reality_Show_E_What_Would_Ryan_Lochte_Do/47709726
sounds charming…NOT.
This will hurt his swimming a bit, but I’m sure he knows it and is ok with it. this is the year to do it since folks still remember who he is;it’s unlikely to last more than a season so he’ll still have a couple years to prepare for Rio
Sure Ryan is a personality, but an 11 time Olympic medalist should be above that & deserves better! I think having the show on E! is the worst possible network choice for his reality show!
As a longtime Lochte fan, it sucks to see him cash in on his respected name for fleeting fame. Maybe if he had a more likable rep outside of the swimming community right now, it would turn out better.
It is mind boggling to understand why he isn’t professionally modeling & doing more things inside of the swimming community. But I guess his time is taken up filming…
This will hurt his swimming a bit this year, but I’m sure he knows that and is OK with it. This is the time to do it; folks still remember who who he is from London, and since most reality shows don’t go beyond a season or less, he should have plenty of time to get serious about swimming before Rio.
I feel like this is going to be a bit boring, like Tyrell Owens reality show. I just see this premise not working well or for very long. The swimnerd in me wants to see if they will have footage at workouts, seeing those Gator Pros throw down would be pretty cool. Other than that, I don’t have much interest in him sounding like most of the old interview clips out there on the interwebs, I could see this going that direction. Regardless of what he wants.
I’d rather see one about bff’s Nathan Adrian and Natalie Coughlin. But cool people never get reality shows.
I definitely would watch one with Natalie and Nathan.
As much as I love swimming, I don’t know how I’m going to like Ryan’s reality show. We’ll see how it goes.
Lochte’s been the Johnny Knoxville of swimming for years. I think the show could actually be mildly entertaining.
Well….. if he lets a baby crocodile bite his nipple or shoots a bottle rocket out of his @ss, I suppose I’ll tune in….. Y’all let me know……
Great swimmer, total Dbag.
total dbag? Yeah because total dbags always
take time to sign autographs, take pictures and
talk to fans…and give away their world champ
medal to a kid in the stands. Maybe you should
meet someone before calling them a dbag…”coach”
Ryan is awesome. If you have to hide behind a name, and you are going to talk trash, at least have something to back up your argument. This website allows for anonymous comments and at times the comments can get kind of chippy because of them.
We will all see (well, I will have to write since TV is banned in our family) if Lochte can finally put together a sentence that sounds intelligent.
Lochte’s show will be added exposure for swimming. It may not portray swimmers in the most positive light but it will help people outside the swimming community connect with the sport.
Plus, I can’t blame Lochte for wanting to capitalize on his fame and make some $$$$ off of it.
…and all this time I thought reality TV died when “Pumpkin” hocked a loogie on “New York” in “Flavor of Love”…
lol! I don’t know that reference, but sadly, no. It keeps getting worse and worse, I think. I do hope they focus a lot on his killer swim and dryland workouts and his competitions but given that it’s “E” instead of ESPN, something tells me they won’t….