It’s hard not to have a crush on Brad Goreski. It’s not just the fact that he’s always dressed to the nines – although the bright-colored suits, bowties, and black-rimmed glasses are certainly adorable. It’s that he has instant charisma. The kind of positive, “I wish I was your best-friend” energy that draws you to him.
But viewers who watched The Rachel Zoe Project last season are well aware that stylist Brad Goreski came off as less than favorable. After three seasons of working as Rachel’s assistant and style director, Brad up and left Zoe Inc. to start his own styling business. And while we didn’t see his exit on screen, we certainly heard about what went down. Rachel and her husband Roger painted Brad as someone who betrayed their trust, snatched their clients, and used their name (and their show) to start his own career. All under the guise of “wanting to spend more time with his family.”
There are two sides to every story, though. And Brad is ready to tell his, on his own Bravo reality show, It’s a Brad, Brad World, premiering tonight at 10pm EST.
In case you were wondering, Brad doesn’t waste any time addressing the issue on everyone’s mind.
“We don’t speak anymore,” Brad says of Rachel in the premiere episode. “I kind of have an idea why, but I feel like those reasons are unjust. I feel like I have conducted myself with honesty, with dignity, and with grace, and I will continue to do so no matter what is said about me.”
On a call with PopBytes a few weeks back, Brad was a little more honest about his real motivations. “When I left Rachel, indeed a lot of time was spent at home with my dogs and my boyfriend. But my intention was always to be a stylist and to create my own business. So, you know, I love my boyfriend and I love my dogs but a girl has to pay the bills. I broke off with the intention of becoming my own stylist. And [Rachel and Roger] were aware of that.”
Whether or not Rachel and Roger were aware of Brad’s intentions, you can imagine why they’d be nervous. After all, it’s been just over a year since Brad went on his own, and already he’s racked up a pretty serious client list (see Jessica Alba, Noomi Rapace, Rashida Jones, Abigail Spencer, Christina Ricci, Shay Mitchell and Demi Moore, for starters). All that, plus the recent news that he’s been named Kate Spade New York’s exclusive brand stylist? I’d be nervous too.
Getting there wasn’t easy, of course – and It’s a Brad Brad World explores Brad’s journey as he builds his business as an independent stylist. “It’s a lot for a celebrity to put their image in your hands,” Brad explains. “And that’s where the drama lies: whether or not I get a job, and if the client is going to be really happy and want to book me again. As opposed to an overwhelming amount of work, fittings, and missing FedEx boxes.”
For the record, Brad says he hasn’t misplaced one FedEx box. Yet.
Brad’s also learning one tough lesson: what it’s like to be the boss. Responsibility rarely falls on the shoulders of the assistant. It falls on the boss. It falls on the stylist. So Brad is learning to delegate. Learning not to be passive aggressive. Learning not to lose his temper. “I think people will really get to see how I work and how I’ve developed and I’m still kind of developing the process in which I work,” Brad said.
As if all that business wasn’t hard enough, Brad’s also writing his first book – a memoir called Born to Be Brad: My Life and Style, So Far. We’ll see the writing process in at least one episode this season. The book is set to come out in March (best-selling author Mickey Rapkin serves as co-writer).
Life isn’t all work for Brad, and nor will his show be all about styling. Brad will also be exposing something he’s kept hidden from the cameras through three seasons of The Rachel Zoe Project: his relationship of ten years with television writer Gary Janetti. And if you’re looking for a Rachel/Roger argumentative relationship, you may want to look elsewhere. “We don’t really bicker that much with each other,” Brad assures us. “We have a really good life with a family around us that supports us. That’s an important message to send out there especially at a time like this with this increase in homophobia/bullying going on. Anyway to be visible and be out and be gay is a positive thing.”
Yet no matter how good Brad and Gary are together, audiences are still hoping Brad and Rachel find a way to reconcile their relationship. For the record, Brad seems to be on our side: “I really wanted to leave with a clean slate,” Brad told us, “just because of what had happened with Taylor [Jacobson] when she was dismissed. And I really didn’t want things to turn out that way. I didn’t want it to be that Rachel and I could never speak again. I respect Rachel very much – to work with somebody of her caliber and her talent and to be able to learn from her and watch her work is really an incredible thing. I’d like to be friends again. It’s awful silly.”
Something to look forward to for season two, I guess.
Number of times I used “Brad” in this piece: 32!