Cree Crawford has been a figure on the Las Vegas club scene for some time, both as proprietor of BachelorPartyVegas.com, and more recently, of Vegas Passport, a collection of VIP club passes and other services. But none of that lifestyle could have prepared him for what lay in store when his wife got him to apply to be on a reality show that was initially billed as a test of masculinity. [Disclosure: Martin Stein and Cree Crawford are friends, even after seeing Cree in a dress.]
Walk me through how you wound up being on He's A Lady.
As you know, Monica did that Maxim thing last year [Monica Crawford, Cree's wife, was a finalist in the 2004 Maxim magazine Hometown Hotties contest], and that was me. She didn't even know about it until she started getting pretty far along in the thing, and then she thought she'd do a little quid pro quo, and she took a casting call—found it online—and sent it to me and said, "Because you did this to me, you've got to do this, and go down and give it a shot." Of course, my thought process was that this was going to be a real display of athletic and jock-ular kind of thing.
It was originally called All American Male?
The All American Man. Not International Male—just kidding. The All American Man, that's what the title was that we knew about up until the end. So we thought we were going to do some real crazy things like get dropped into the Amazon with a Snickers bar and come out with it uneaten. Finally, after a couple of months, they culled through all the interviews, and we found out that we were slated to be some of the final people to be cast, and we were flown to California. It was neat. We were sequestered in the hotel room, we couldn't leave without an escort. It was very, very clandestine, very secretive stuff. We weren't allowed to see anybody before we went to do the taping, and it was really neat. We didn't know who else was on the show or anything. We all drove down, a group of us went down to the soundstage, and the guys were actually separated from the ladies, and we were sequestered and didn't know what was going on. And one by one, people were pulled out and brought up and we were given the ole switcheroo.
How did they break it to you?
We were brought up on the soundstage. Our wives and significant others were standing right up there with the host, who's a great guy named Tony [Frassrand], and he's sitting there with a big smile on his face, and the money's right there. Psychologically, they played this great. They go, "Hey, you up for a challenge? Well, you're not going to have to eat pig intestines or whatever ..." Which was good because I was really nervous I was going to lose that part anyway. "And you're not going to have to do all sorts of crazy stuff like jump out of airplanes or helicopters," which I was kind of disappointed about cause it would've been fun. He said, "But you're going to have to do something more difficult. You're going to have to walk in your wives' shoes and you're going to have to live like a lady for three weeks." And that point, I was like, "Oh man!" And then you're just thinking of all the repurcusions in your hometown, and then I'm like, "Wait a second! I'm from Vegas! I can do this!"
How much money is at stake?
A quarter of a million dollars, which was our masculine, jock-ular fallback position in case anyone wanted to make fun of us.
What was your 6-year-old stepson Jared's reaction?
He's such a little character. He's so theatrical and likes to dress up in superhero costumes. He thought it was funny, he thought it was great. In fact, one of the guys even asked him a question, "Do you think it's funny that Cree's dressed up like a lady?" He goes, "I would never laugh at my stepdad." What a sweetheart. I didn't have to coax him or anything. He's such a great little guy.
What sort of things will viewers have to look forward to on the show?
Look forward to a lot of challenges that no man has probably ever had to go through. Look for a lot of depth. The dressing up is the most superficial, but there was so much depth to this. It's such an onion. A lot of reality shows out there are just so one-dimensional and this thing had so many dimensions. You could take all the cast members and throw them in a house without it being decorated like a Barbie dollhouse and there still would have been some really interesting occurrences, but then when you're taking us away from communication with our families, having us living like women and going through all these challenges, you get some real major depth. There are a lot of emotional challenges.
What was the biggest discovery that you made about the world of women?
How much we as men—I don't want to make a global statement but I guess I will—I think society in general puts so much on external beauty and feminity and I think because it's the easiest thing to do, it's the easiest thing to notice. I think that we put so much pressure on women to look a certain way and be a certain way, to wear certain things, to put on makeup. This whole makeup ritual, and "ritual" is a perfect word, it just blows me away. There's so much to do. But I've got to tell you, though, makeup does work. It makes your eyes stand out. There's a reason makeup is a billion-dollar industry.
So you learnt all the little tricks of how to hide your flaws?
Oh, I'm one big feminine flaw. And you know me, you've seen pictures, I'm not a pretty girl.
To be honest, Cree, as your friend, no, you're not. You make one hell of an ugly woman.
I've overcome that, and I was really trying to work on the personality side and it doesn't matter.
Has Monica noticed any changes?
I know that wearing heels is not exactly the most comfortable thing, although it's very enhancing in certain parts of your body, and everybody appreciates it and understands it. But I'll give her a free pass, she doesn't ever have to wear them again. [Inside sources—OK, my wife talking to Cree's wife—tell us that Cree also is much more helpful with chores around the house.]
She might hold you to that.
You know what's funny? They don't, because they know they look good. It just shows how much stress society puts on looks. All in all, it was great. One thing I have to say is that one of the biggest things I took away from this is that I've such a supportive, close-knit group of friends and family that will support me through anything.