During the height of The Rehearsal–mania this summer, it seemed as if everyone was talking about Nathan Fielder’s zany, reality-bending show but Fielder himself. He retreated from the spotlight and let the discourse run wild, giving no interviews and issuing no clarifying statements to address the public’s frantic speculations. In a recent GQ “Hype†issue, however, that finally changed. Months after the show was green-lit for season two, Fielder opened up a little about what went on behind the scenes at The Rehearsal. But, naturally, he did it in the most Fielder way imaginable: through an interview with Kor Skeete, the breakout, trivia-loving, famously not-master’s-degree-educated star of episode one of the series. In an article published online December 14, the pair dove into their experiences with each other. Well, sort of. First, they worked through a series of banal tech-support issues Skeete was having with Zoom and his speakerphone, and then they went on a series of conversational tangents that ultimately revealed very little. “Geez, this investigative journalism stuff is taxing,†Skeete exclaims at one point.
One of the ideas floated by Skeete during one of these tangents was a reunion of The Rehearsal hosted by Andy Cohen in the style of one of his infamous Real Housewives reunions. Here’s his pitch in full:
“It’s been suggested — I was suggesting myself — that since the show got renewed for season two, you could actually sell tickets if you got Andy Cohen involved. Since Andy Cohen’s famous for those reunion shows for the Mob Wives and Housewives of every city. You can host a reunion of the doppelgängers or the Oregon residents and me, the New Yorker resident. I mean that would also be a big sell.â€
It’s a magical idea that conjures images of Robbin Stone refusing to sit on the stage because the number of chairs on it gives off a “bad vibe,†a confrontation between Angela and Miriam Eskenasy — Fielder’s Hebrew tutor — about the former’s antisemitic beliefs, and more. Perhaps they can even hold the event in the decommissioned replica of Brooklyn bar the Alligator Lounge.
Elsewhere in the chat, Skeete, who revealed on The Rehearsal that he’d never seen Fielder’s previous show, Nathan for You, despite being a self-proclaimed television expert, offered his thoughts on the show, having finally seen it. After Fielder suggests he “hated†it, Skeete clarifies that he doesn’t like shows that make people look a “a little foolish,†but he admires the craft that went into making it. “You’re not just your typical prankster,†he said. As for his thoughts on The Rehearsal? Skeete said he’s still “getting used to it†but gives it a score of 8 out of 10. He’s nonetheless happy about his involvement because it shores up his legacy: “There’ll be no way if something happens to me in the future, God forbid, that I won’t get a writeup in the New York Times.â€