The 'Tough Love' Interview With Chris, a.k.a. Mr. Peter Pan

The first person to end up in the Hot Seat on Tough Love: CoEd was Christopher, one of this season's most difficult-to-change participants on the show. Chris admits that he's a zany guy, he'll even cop to being a douchebag, but call him an ass clown and you've got another thing coming. We spoke to Chris today after the premiere of episode one to see what he thought of his time in the Hot Seat.

What was it like to see yourself on TV for the first time?

It was awesome seeing myself in the first episode. Being on TV, it was sweet, it was well-produced, it was a wild ride and a lot of fun.

How did you feel getting criticized in general, but also being the first person of the season to land in the Hot Seat?

You know, I've been criticized before. I can take criticism pretty well. Some of it was a shock --- the whole freakin' ass-clown bit, I was not really prepared for that but, you know what? It actually set me up pretty good for the whole entire season. Once I learned that that's the kind of stuff I was about to get involved in, it kinda helped me out. It's gonna be a lot of fun with this guy just yelling at me. I can take criticism and Steve didn't really tell me anything I hadn't heard before. Maybe I'm single for a reason. The fact that I'm a little wild and zany --- we won't go with ass clown --- it's not the first time I've been called that stuff, it;s just the first time I've been called it on TV.

Were you actually insulted then, or was it just that you were being called names on TV?

It is an insult, but in the episode, I tried to explain to him that I thought ass clown was a bad description of my personality. Am I entertaining? Yes. Can I be the life of the party? Yes. Do people laugh at me when I allow them to laugh at me? Yes. But that's fun, that's the kind of guy I am.

What is it about the term ass clown that you hate so much?

I think it was just said for shock value. And actually, now me and my buddies call me ass clown all the time, it's kind of funny. Actually, my mother saw that my bio said I was class clown, and she was insulted by the term "class clown." She was like "Christopher, you were never class clown. You got in trouble and made teachers cry, but you were never the class clown with the dunce cap on." I think me being as witty and clever as I am is entertaining, I am not a clown.

If, as you said, you knew what some of your bad dating habits were already and you had been called out on them, why didn't you do anything to change them?

Don't get me wrong, I go on a lot of dates with girls, and there are a lot of girls who appreciate me. I'm funny, yes. Am I the loudest person in the room sometimes? Yes. Does that make me an ass clown? No. I've met many women that appreciate a funny, outgoing guy. I don't care what other people think, they either think I'm funny or I'm not. Actually, there are the ones that like me and the ones that don't.

How did you get along with the rest of the cast?

Oh, the rest of the cast was awesome. It was a little rough at first with Kyle because she was a little bit crazy at first, but the whole cast was awesome. We had so much fun together. Everybody was fun and loud, when we walked around together, we were the life of the party, we're all still really good friends.

Did you ever feel the urge to armchair-analyze your cast mates, like offer your two cents about what you thought their issues were and how they could change?

Actually, me being 32, the same age as Steve, I actually gave the girls a lot of advice that Steve ended up giving them in our group sessions. I think it was just the male perspective on a girl.

Was it hard to take another guy's advice on how to better yourself, or was it easier to take advice from Monica, his sister?

Okay, number one, I would take any advice Monica Ward ever gives, I am totally sweet on Monica Ward, she was like, my favorite part of the show. But you know, I take advice pretty well, it was just the fact that I didn't like Steve's advice. He ragged on me for the qualities I find my most charming and individualistic. You see it on the Hot Seat when he calls me a man-child. I had to ask him why being a man-child was such a bad thing. What's wrong with being a man with a great job but who acts like a kid sometimes --- that's a bad thing?

What do you think you learned from this while experience?

Maybe sometimes less is more, when it comes to my outgoing personality. Yes, even though I like acting like that, it can come off as a tad bit much. Maybe if I see a girl, maybe, Chris, you might need to rein it in a little bit. But I pretty much am what I am.