When it comes to celebrities, it’s easy to get starstruck. We’ve all imagined what it would be like if we were to meet our favorite celebs. Naturally, there would probably be some tears, screams, and incessant fangirling involved. However, there are those who don’t get overwhelmed in the face of Hollywood’s top stars, and Rachelle McCray is one of them. Now, the entertainment host and red carpet guru is recalling her favorite interviews.
Recently, I had the chance to speak with McCray where we talked about her most memorable interviews. As a former beauty queen and NFL cheerleader, McCray has gotten to arrange celebrity interviews for programs like CelebTV and more. So, when it comes to pop culture encounters, McCray has plenty of stories to share.
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“My favorite interview was probably Tom Hanks and his wife,” she admitted. “I’ve had the opportunity to interview them at least three times. Every time, they’re very kind. They remember you on the red carpet, which is not always the case.”
“They’re really amazing people. They take time with every single person on the carpet or in the sit down interviews. I would say he was probably, by far, both of them, him and his wife, Rita, really amazing people. They would be people that I would love to just sit down and have dinner with and just listen to. You know, you don’t have to say anything, let’s talk.”
We also took time to talk about how she avoids getting starstruck on the red carpet. McCray has had the chance to speak with top talent like Caitlin Jenner and Ludacris, and McCray said her best tip was to remember that celebs are normal people “who lives these extraordinary lives.”
“They’re just people and talking to them like normal people who live these extraordinary lives is just the easiest way to approach it. They’re very gracious,” she said.
“They live their life in the spotlight, they get to do some pretty extraordinary things, but at the end of the day they’re just human beings. I’m just intrigued by their lifestyles. In general, whether it’s a celebrity or a non-celebrity, I think people’s stories of their lives are very interesting. I find that everybody has had some different type of human experience that makes us all the same.”
McCray also shared some of her craziest on-screen moments. From trying luxury facials to testing experimental virtual reality headsets, the host has been able to do plenty of far-out things – but she said she draws the line at snakes.
“I have had to hold reptiles and snakes on camera before. I am deathly afraid,” she explained. “I don’t do well with these critters. I would say that that’s one thing that I’ve done once and I was like, I can’t. I don’t want to do this. And I didn’t. Snake, I’m like, ‘Not going to happen.’ I would say that that was probably top of my list right now. I would never want to do that again.”
