Nate Berkus
When it comes to making people the stars of their own talk shows, Oprah Winfrey seems to have the Midas touch. Regular guests whom she has featured on her "Oprah Winfrey Show" have gone on to headline their own highly rated, award-wining TV series, including Phil McGraw (a.k.a. Dr. Phil), Rachael Ray, and Dr. Mehmet Oz (a.k.a. Dr. Oz). It’s no coincidence that their shows are from Winfrey’s company Harpo Productions. Looking to join the ranks of Winfrey’s successful talk-show protégés is interior designed Nate Berkus. "The Nate Berkus Show," which launches in syndication on September 13, will feature not only information about design but also general lifestyle advice and celebrity interviews.
Topics covered during the first week of the show include Berkus revealing his Instant Design Studio (using 3-D- technology), as well as a kitchen makeover, on the September 13 episode, while the September 14 episode is about home makeovers on a budget. The September 15 episode has an interview with Dolly Parton, as well as the launch of the "Nate’s Crate 911" feature, in which a lucky fan will get the contents of a mystery crate sent to their home. On September 16, the show will talk about how to look thinner in photos and how to raise cash quickly. The September 17 episode will feature an exclusive daytime talk-show interview with Elizabeth Edwards at her home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In a telephone conference call with journalists, Berkus chatted about starting a new chapter in his life as the host of a nationally syndicated talk show, what his relationship with Winfrey means to him, and why he’s proud to be a role model for the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender community.
We can assume that you’re going to have the best-looking set on television. Were you a part of that process at all?
Yeah. The set was designed by me with collaboration with a set designer named Jeff Hall, who’s done lots of different TV shows. But we had a deal that he would do everything that made it function. And then we would sit down together and I would be able to do my thing and pick every finish and all the furniture and all the fixturing and everything like that. I wanted the set to feel like somebody was walking into my home every day … so it’s very fresh. It’s not like a fake home set with a staircase that leads to nowhere and books no one’s read. But it’s a mix of vintage and new things. It’s going to change up periodically as I become interested in different things that are happening the world of design. But it’s definitely different than anything that’s out there.
Phil McGraw, Suze Orman, Oprah Winfrey, Mehmet Oz and Nate Berkus on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," May 2010
You’re the latest friend of Oprah Winfrey’s to get your own TV show. It also took you a little longer than Dr. Phil and Rachael Ray. Why do you think getting your own TV show feels right now?
First of all, for me, what happens more often than not and what feels right to me more often than not is when things happen organically. And my participation as a contributor to the "Oprah" show happened because I met a producer by chance at an art gallery and we started talking and that led to me doing a makeover and it resonated for Oprah and for the audience and for me.
So I was not in a rush to do this. I wanted to do this really in a way that felt like the right way for me because I was very happy with my role on the Oprah show. And I think that the timing is great right now because there’s always been so much interest in people’s homes, and always been so much interest in living well but I’ve had years to prepare for this.
One of the reasons I think you’re so popular is you’ve always been very open about your personal life and your sexuality. Is that something we’ll see on the show?
You know what? I’ve never played anybody but myself on TV, and it’s not my intention to try to do that now. You’ll see more of me actually than anyone ever has. So my day to day will definitely be a part of that show.
Has it been getting some used to being front and center for your own show?
Yeah. There’s a different mindset in going from a gracious guest to the host of a show. And I think one of the most important elements of that is that it’s my responsibility to make my guests comfortable and my audience comfortable which means I have to keep both hands on the wheel. If I take a hand off the wheel then that makes my guests uncomfortable and in turn that makes the audience feel like something’s not right. So that’s been I think what’s been one of the most interesting things about this process for me.
Nate Berkus on the set of "The Nate Berkus Show"
Why did you decide to film the show in New York and not in Chicago?
The truth is it just made sense, business-wise, for me right now. Everything from studio space to where my staff, where all the résumés were coming in from the staff that I needed to hire. And ultimately, Oprah is in her 25th year and I’m launching a daily syndicated show. Oprah has one control room over there on Carpenter Street, so I didn’t want to be the guy that said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, just give me another 10 minutes I’ll be out of here for you." Chicago’s been such a wonderful city to me and helped me so much, business-wise. My businesses are still based in Chicago and will remain so.
Your mother has a blog on your site. Is your mom is going to play a role on your show?
My mom does play a role on the show. We’re still trying to figure out how significant that role will be but she’s done some shooting for me in preparation for the launch of the show.
Can you tell us anything about any of the guests that you’ve interviewed so far?
Yeah. Absolutely. Speaking to the launch week, Dolly Parton is going to be a part of the show on Tuesday, September 14. And then Friday the 17th — which I’m not sure if this is of any interest to any of you, but it happens to be my 39th birthday — Elizabeth Edwards and I are together on the show as well.
Elizabeth Edwards and Nate Berkus in "The Nate Berkus Show"
You talked earlier about the design of your set on the show. If you could make over anyone else’s set on their talk show, whose would it be?
Wow. You know what, what I have learned so far is that … the role that the set actually plays on my show is almost like another character. I don’t think I would try and step and redo anybody else’s.
Who would be your dream guest?
You know what? That’s also a good question. I don’t have a dream guest. I’ve been very, very lucky that the people that I’ve been very captivated and fascinated by have agreed to be a part of the show. And I don’t, you know, for me after almost nine years of being part of the Oprah show and traveling around the country and meeting people in all these different cities, I don’t know that I know who my dream guest is, because I’m learning something every day from the people that are a part of the show. Not just celebrities but regular people and bloggers and newsmakers and everyone that we either have booked or I’ve had the opportunity to meet.
What did you learn from Oprah?
I learned to always speak my truth, I learned to remain authentic and I learned to listen before I speak.
Suze Orman, Nate Berkus, Mehmet Oz, Phil McGraw and Oprah Winfrey on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," May 2010
Is there any chance we will see her on your show?
If there’s something that makes sense for the show, my door’s … always open. She’s always welcome, but Oprah I know is ready for me to have my show. She wants this show to stand on its own. If there’s an opportunity that works out, and we feel it’s a good fit then by all means.
And how do you pick your topics?
In brainstorming sessions with my producers that go on for about eight hours.
Can you talk a little bit more about how you kind of came up with the format for the show?
Sure. My pleasure. The format — well first of all, what we’re doing is we’re letting the stories of the people that we find lead us to different contributors on the show and expanding out different segments and things like that. So ultimately, the show is really about living well and that involves a great deal of design of which there’s several signature segments.
My Instant Design Studio, which has become a part of the show, which is 3-D gaming technology that allows me to basically have that decorator moment where you walk into a space and you know every detail that you would change instantly, to be able to do that with a touch of my finger on a computer program that was designed exclusively for me.
To a segment that we have called "Nate’s Crate," where we have this crate that can end up anywhere at any time with anything in it. An example of that would be it might end up on the doorstep of three different viewers in three different cities across the country and contain materials inside that create a challenge for them. Or it could contain that one thing that’s going to change that person’s story and be the catalyst to help that person move forward. So you can only imagine how much fun and how creative we can get with that.
We also have something called "Curbside Pickup," which I love where wherever I go, wherever I am at the shoot or I see something on the side of the road or send my friend Katie Lee the chef out to New Jersey to work with the garbage men to bring back vintage finds and antiques that people throw away. And we recondition them and at the end of the year, we’re going to use them in different makeovers throughout the season and at the end of the year we’re going to produce a catalog with an auction and donate the proceeds to charity. So the format has some concrete signature segments that we plug in and we plug out but it’s also very compelling, exciting, energetic hour of TV that changes everyday.
Marina Pariano (Bally marketing director) and Nate Berkus at Bally's Fashion Night Out party in New York City, September 2010
What do you think that viewers will learn about you or come to know about you that maybe they haven’t in all your previous television appearances?
I mean, I think the sky’s the limit with that. For me to be out there every single day for an hour everything is going through my lens. It’s my show, it’s my name, it’s my stamp on everything. So they’ll see how inept I am in the kitchen, they’ll see the tension between my mother and [me]. As much as that’s a great relationship with my mom, we’re like fighting on camera. People will see all facets of me.
Is there any advice that you’ve received from Oprah as you get ready to launch?
For me to remain authentic and still stay connected to what I’m doing and speak my truth.
And how involved is she in your show, since it’s from her Harpo Productions?
Well, she’s just busy right now. But Oprah and I have a wonderful friendship that’s gone back years and years. So when I have a question or a doubt about a big picture issue, I call her.
Nate Berkus and Simon Doonan (creative dirctor of Barneys) at the book party for Derek Blasberg's "Classy" in New York City, April 2010
Is being gay just something else that just happens to be a part of you, or is this a big, important thing, in terms of LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender) visibility, to have your own show?
You know what? For me it’s important for me as a person to put my best foot forward and lead by example. I don’t define myself by only being gay, although I am gay, just like I don’t define myself by only being Jewish or only being anything. I think all of us have a lot of different facets to one another and I think having my own show is an enormous responsibility for several reasons one of which is to lead by example.
How have you overcome sort of the stereotype that exists about the gay man as a designer? Is that something that you’ve encountered often or something that you feel you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t know that I’ve overcome that.
Is it an issue for you at all?
Not at all.
Nate Berkus and designer Diane von Furstenberg at the GQ Best New Mendswear Designers Party in New York City, February 2010
Will you have lots of other interior designers and decorators on your show? And if so, can you tell me the names of anyone you’ve booked so far?
I haven’t decided that yet. I’m having lots of different people as contributors on the show and will highlight a lot of talent on the show that I admire and respect but I can’t release any names to you at this point.
Will you be covering the subject of organizing and de-cluttering and things on the show?
[It's the ] first step to every healthy home. So definitely, yes.
Why do you think design is so popular right now? There are so many shows about it and people can’t get enough. Why is it important to people in their lives?
I think it ties into a central issue that all of us would like to live a little bit better regardless of how much money we that actually have or how much time we have to devote to that. And I think that when we make changes in our spaces and are given the tools we need to elevate the way that we live it makes us feel better.
Nate Berkus at O: The Oprah Magazine's 10th anniversary Live Your Best Life event in New York City, May 2010
If you hadn’t gone into this line of work, the design world business, what would you be doing? What would be kind of the backup plan?
I studied sociology in school, so I’m fascinated with sociology. I also am really interested in jewelry. I love like learning about the different stones and the different ways that they’re combined and mounted and where everything comes from. It’s sort of similar to how I apply myself to learning about furniture or decorative arts or things like that. It’s always the stories behind things and the origins behind things and how to combine them in ways that are striking and fresh.
You went through terrible tragedy with the tsunami in 2004. How might that have better prepared you to be a talk show host and to be sympathetic and to get people through whatever crisis they’re going through?
I had had prior to that happening, of course, different things that were challenging for me as a person: coming out to my family when I was in college, dealing with sickness and things like that in my family. I never had gone through anything that stopped me in my tracks and brought me back to zero really. It was almost like hitting a reset button or at least it felt that way at the time.
And learning how to survive the emotional pain of that, what became apparent to me is that who I became as a person was magnified. So my strengths were magnified and my weaknesses were magnified and what that did was make me much more empathetic than I was before. And I think if you are empathetic you become a better listener. Listening is I think one of the most important components to good talking.
And as tragedies unfold — for example, the current tragedy in Pakistan — will that be part of the show? If you see crises that are going on in the world do you hope perhaps to put a spotlight on those things and lend your expertise and your guidance?
You know what? I don’t know how to answer that. I think that if it’s something that I think that I can help out with, yes. But I’m not an expert in everything, I don’t try to be. I also think that there’s probably much more effective ways of highlighting things than on a daily syndicated talk show with a lens of living well. But I do think that we all need to do our part, and a lot of what I’m active in is actually off-camera as well, when it comes to things like that.
Photo credits: Phtos #1, 2: AP. Photo #3: The Nate Berkus Show. Photo #4: Michael Tackett. Photo #5: Reuters. All other photos: Getty Images.
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