Extra Extra: Olympian Adam Rippon

This man needs no introduction.  Sass-master, Clarks Summit native, bronze medalist, and celeb Adam Rippon did a private interview with me backstage September 5th at his Reality Check event at Mohegan Sun Convention Center in Wilkes-barre, PA. We cover his views on fashion and his insight on a few other more pedestrian things. Thanks for reading!

Maggie McGregor: What designers do work well with? What [fashion] experiences have you enjoyed? Can you tell us about that?

Adam Rippon: I went to the Oscars and I wore Jeremy Scott.

MM: I loved loved that look and it got mixed reviews, but I love harnesses.

AR: You know what, when I saw it I just thought it was a twist on what a normal tuxedo usually is and usually I think in men’s fashion especially in a tuxedo you can play with the texture of the material or the color and there really isn’t much of a change in the design. I thought it was really cool and I loved it when I saw it on the runway at the 2018 Fashion Week, I think it was, when Jeremy premiered it from Moschino I loved it then. I love Moschino ‘cause it’s fun and quirky and usually it’s pretty bold. I always love Gucci too because it’s really fun. My favorite kind of pieces are classics with a twist, because they kind of work for everybody. 

MM: So you wear a lot of gold. Can you tell me about? I noticed in magazines you where the Cartier Love [bracelet]. Was that kind of a post-olympic splurge?

AR: So, I didn’t make the Olympic team 4 years ago, when you make the Olympic team you get a ring, you get an Olympic ring.  And I was kind of upset that everybody was going to be getting this ring, like all of my friends who made it, and I was like, “I’m not going to have one,” and it’s not the end of the world, but, I did one competition and with basically all the money that I had I bought this Cartier ring and I told myself it was going to be my motivation. So I used it as my motivation and I had some really good seasons and the year before the Olympics I broke my foot so I was like “Fuck it. I’m going to get myself something really nice because I made it so far no matter if I go to the Olympics or not I’m going to get myself a gift.”  So it was like a pre-olympic splurge.

MM: So, it was like encouragement?

AR: Yes!

MM: Yes!  I tell my readers exactly that.

AR: This was encouragement (gesturing to his layered gold necklaces and bracelets)!  I’m just trying to encourage myself! laughs

MM: So what is the next goal that this is encouraging you toward?

AR: I try to tell myself that what I have on and what I’ve been getting, it’s encouragement to try and transition into a new career path. Because I’ve spent my entire life focused on a goal and it was to get to the Olympics and it was to skate well and have those Olympic experiences, come away with the medal and I was able to do that. And the Olympics weren’t that long ago so what my next focus is figuring out what that next step is. So that is what I try to motivate myself to do. In my fashion, I try to dress maybe a little bit more professional and less athletic, which is a big transition because I feel like I was wearing workout clothes all the time because that’s all I was doing…

MM: Yeah, your athleisure…

AR: Yeah, and I love athleisure! But I wear a little bit less of it now because I feel like in my mind I’m trying to transition a little bit.

MM: So I just have some fast questions for my readers that I thought would be fun. What is your order at Starbucks?

AR: My order at Starbucks is usually pretty simple. I get a tall coffee in a grande cup, I fill the rest up with half & half, and I put six Splenda’s in it.

MM: I do six, too!  

AR: You do!?

MM: Yeah! No judgement there.

AR: And if I want a treat, and you know that might taste like a treat, but, usually I get an iced caramel macchiato, when I’m doing well and I want a fun drink.

MM: What is your favorite beauty product? I notice you kind of like a glow, like a highlight, so what do you use for that?

AR: My favorite beauty product is probably St. Tropez Tanner because I just love having a tan and it’s like the best and usually the way that it goes on I don’t need to wear much and sometimes instead of putting makeup on I wear a tinted moisturizer and just keep it at that.

MM: What’s your favorite absurd rumor about yourself?

AR: Hmm.  I don’t know.  Most are pretty absurd. They thought my butt was fake.

MM: Go-to snack for watching Netflix?

AR: Go-to snack is probably Skinny Pop.

MM: Yes! Oh my god we are so alike.

AR: I know!

MM: I’m one of six [children], too. <– (Adam is one of six children)

AR: So we are like kindred spirits.

MM: Last question.  Who is the fictional character you most relate to?

AR: Maybe Meg Griffin from Family Guy.  No, I think Miss Piggy. She thinks that she is the most beautiful, glamorous person ever but in reality she’s just a pig. I think that’s perfect.  In my own mind I’m gorgeous. And no one can tell me otherwise.

MM: What do you have to say to the haters?

AR: Hesitation.

MM: You did this.  It was all you and like you said you didn’t make the Olympic team.  One of your quotes was, “I just keep getting better and better. I just keep coming back.” And now you are moving on to something else, but what do you have to say to the people who were saying, “He’s not going to do it?”

AR: I think I used it as motivation.  Sometimes I’m so hard on myself that I can be my own biggest hater and when I would get out of my own way I finally was like, “No, I can do this.” And when somebody would try to tell me otherwise, I didn’t really feel anything about it, I just didn’t believe them.  So if anybody gets in the kind of situation where somebody tells them they can’t do something they should just not believe them and do it anyway. Because they [the haters] don’t know!

MM: They weren’t auditioning for the Olympic Team.

AR: No they were not.

Words to live by.