Olympian Johnny Weir

What's up? Tatiana here at the Young Hollywood Studios at the Four Seasons, hanging out with Johnny Weir. How are you?

Very good.

So you're known as the most fashionable guy in figure skating. Tell me how you got Obviously, you are, look at the shoes. Obviously. Yes. So, you make your own uniforms.

Well, I don't make them, I design everything. I'm I can't sew a whole sparkly catsuit together by myself.

You design them. Have you always been designing all of your costumes since you were little or when did this start?

Pretty much since I was little. I have a very clear opinion of what I want the world to see of me and what uh what sort of boundaries I'm willing to push. The thing that people forget about figure skating costumes is that they are costumes. It's not clothes that we would wear walking down the street.

So you're not wearing like pink sequins out on the street.

Well, I may, but not not not on a velvet Wednesday.

How do you get it, how did you get involved in the whole figure skating world? Were you very young?

I was not so young. I was 12 when I started to skate. Which is pretty old for Most people start when they're two, three or four.

Right.

So um I was I was very old. I'm from a very small town in Pennsylvania. It's Amish country, there's no ice skating. I didn't know who Whitney Houston was by name until maybe I was 12 or 13.

You didn't know about Whitney?

It was a very closed, very small town. So um I I watched skating at the '94 Olympics on TV and uh fell in love with the sport and and the idea of being very athletic while being artistic and showing a performance. It wasn't just a sporting event, it was a performance. I spend, you know, five hours a day falling down on a giant ice cube, bleeding, crying, going through, you know, I worked very hard. I made a goal. I said I wanted to go to the Olympics.

Small goal.

Small goal. When I was when I was 16, I was the second alternate for the Olympic Games. That's just four years after I started to skate, so it was very quick. And um four years later I went to my first Olympics in 2006 in Torino. And then I just finished the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

How is that experience for you?

You know, it's it's incredible. In Vancouver I skated the best two performances I've ever done competitively. And uh it it was fantastic.

Besides figure skating, obviously you have a lot going on. So what could possibly be next for you?

There are lots of opportunities coming my way now. People are wanting me to test for movies and and to do different spots on television. I have my own show. I've recorded a song, I'm writing a book.

Okay, let's let's talk about that. I mean, there's lots going on.

I mean I'll try anything. If somebody says we want you to finger paint, I will finger paint because it'd be fun. And uh I haven't had two days off since the Olympics were over.

That's a good thing.

It's it's a good thing. Staying busy is a good thing. I mean, I haven't passed out from exhaustion yet, so.

That's a good thing.

So it's good.

Sounds like you have a lot going on. What about your show? You're getting a lot of hype for the show. What's the show about?

The show is the show in general is about me. It's called Be Good Johnny Weir. Um but it's really about my journey to the Olympics and and my journey as a person, as a young adult, as, you know, just somebody coming into their own. And I wanted people to see the backstory.

We'll check it out on the Sundance Channel.

Check it out. Watch it or I'll throw sparkles at you.