About this episode
Bling Empire’s Andrew Gray steps back Behind The Rope (Part I of our chat aired February 9th, 2021. If you haven't checked it out - feel free to do so.) Bling Empire is THE hottest show of the moment and we are LIVING for it. Andrew chats about how he got involved with Netflix’s break out 2021 hit show about a group of very wealthy, and we mean very very wealthy, Asian “friends” living in Los Angeles and what filming was like. Andrew is very forthcoming about his “role” as the shows “villain” (his words, not ours), when he knew he was going to be portrayed this way and how he feels about this edit. Speaking of his edit, we chat about the resulting public’s outcry about his on screen relationship with girlfriend Kelly Mi Li. Andrew opens up about having his behavior and relationship analyzed and called “toxic”, “abusive” and even that which should come with a “trigger warning” all across the world. A key crucial scene that led to much of this public disapproval came from the fateful Paris trip with Anna Shay. We discuss that trip, what was real versus “non-real” (imagine that a reality show not being 100% real), and how Kelly and he reacted to this scene when watching it back together. Of course, we discuss the evolution of his relationship with Kelly Mi Li - meeting, first date, when they fell in love, how filming a reality show affected their relationship, break ups, make ups and the current status of their relationship today. On a more serious note, we discuss how forthcoming Andrew and Kelly were to show it all on Bling Empire, including each of their own struggles with mental health. Finally, we chat about Andrew’s career, discuss what it is like for an actor to be more recognized because of a viral reality show than any past work, how life has changed since the show first aired and last, but certainly not least, what is it really like to be The Red Power Ranger (twice over). @andrewgray @behindvelvetrope @davidyontef Bonus Episodes Available at - https://www.patreon.com/behindthevelvetrope Brought to you by Mint Mobile https://www.mintmobile.com/velvetrope Brought to you by Better HELP https://www.betterhelp.com/velvetrope Merch Available at - https://www.teepublic.com/stores/behind-the-velvet-rope?ref_id=13198 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices