#RichKid's Jonny Drubel
The #RichKids of Beverly Hills star spills on the show, his spending habits and love life
Written by Andrea Piamonte
Photography Courtesy of E! Entertainment
Published in Vital VOICE Magazine, February 2014 Issue
On E!’s #RichKids of Beverly Hills, the show follows five 20-somethings as they conquer Instagram, Cabo and drama. #RichKids centers on Dorothy Wang, daughter of a billionaire mall developer, and Morgan Stewart, blogger for BoobsandLoubs.com and daughter of a super wealthy architect. There is also Brendan Fitzpatrick, boyfriend to Morgan and a successful real estate agent, and Roxy Sowlaty, the Persian princess.
Last but definitely not least of the circle would be Jonny Drubel, 25-year-old singer and songwriter. As the gay man in the bunch, I talked to Jonny about the controversial series and got to know him on a more personal level.
On his close relationship with Dorothy:
“I’ve known Dorothy for about six years. How do you describe six years? Honestly, the way to describe it is that we’re sisters. We just really are sisters. We go through the good and the bad together. We fight like crazy but you won’t really see us fighting that long.”
On how he handles dealing with the controversy:
“You know, when you are on a show, the title is called Rich Kids of Beverly Hills. I don’t think people are going to come right up to us with open arms. The title is supposed to be provocative and that’s just a very small part of the show.”
“I think I handle myself well because I’m the kind of person, to be honest, who doesn’t give a shit. I know it’s bad, but I’ve always been that kind of person where people are goin to say what they want to say and do what they want to do. You can’t let it affect you.”
On life after the show:
“Now that everyone has seen it, I’ll be honest and I think it’ll take a little more time for change. A couple of great things that have happened is that one, I’ve been getting a lot of calls for my music already, which is really exciting. Two, I think that there a couple of ex-boyfriends that have been coming out of the woodwork. It’s hilarious. They are calling and saying ‘Oh hey, I just saw your phone number and wanted to say hi…’ Please. Really? Ten minutes after the show starts airing… that’s not getting past me. No, thank you! You were put in the past for a reason and that’s why you are staying in the past.”
On coming out:
“I came out at the age of 16 and I was actually outed by a friend. I told someone in high school, who I thought I could trust, and she ended up telling pretty much the whole entire school. Because I grew up in such a small town of like 5,000 people, I didn’t want my parents finding out unless it came from myself. So although I wasn’t ready to tell them, I felt like I had to. I was so fortunate that when I told my parents it was more like ‘We love you. We don’t care about that and we want you to be happy.’”
On his love life:
“I am single, ready to mingle. I’ll fly to Midwest for it too. A meat and potato fed man? That’s my kind of man.”
…So are you into bears then?
“I guess I am kind of into bears… just nothing too hairy. I guess a groomed bear is what I’m kind of into. I like a man with chest hair — I mean I have chest hair. I don’t like anyone too waxed or coiffed but then again I don’t like tons of back hair. If it should be waxed, it should be waxed. I keep my things very tight.”
On whether he’d date someone with no money:
“Are you joking? That’s happened ten times over! I’ll go out with someone I fall in love with and they could be broke as a joke, but that’s not going to stop me from dating someone.”
On hobbies:
“I love to travel. It’s my favorite thing to do. So if I’m not writing or working, it’s usually because I’m traveling and that gives me my inspiration. And I’ll be honest, I’m not backpacking honey. That’s not happening for me.”
On what makes a good Instagram:
“I personally like an Instagram that just pops. Like you could be like scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll, OH that’s a good picture. It has to be raw and authentic. It could never be too posed. I don’t think it should be over filtered… although I am fan of filters, I’ll be honest.”
On biggest recent splurge:
I just got a new car today. It’s a CLX550 Mercedes. And it’s actually the first car I’ve purchased on my own so I’m very excited.”
On celebrity you compare yourself to:
“Ah! This is the hardest question. I’m going to go with, right now because of my mood… Jennifer Aniston. [Laughs] You wanna know why? Because she had a hard time with love and I’m kind of going through that right now. She’s got a good career and she works really hard. It took her a long time to get started but then she broke. And that’s kind of where I am too.”
Anything you want to say to haters of rich kids in general?
“Fuck off.”
#RichKids of Beverly Hills airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on E!
