Giuiliana Rancic has become a mainstay of red carpet reporting, travelling to the world’s biggest entertainment events and reporting back to E!. For the first time, on December 7, she covered the 13th Dubai International Film Festival’s opening night in collaboration with TV network OSN.
Rancic, who left her E! News anchor spot last year to focus on red carpets and chat show Fashion Police (a handful of hosts praise or tear apart celebrity looks), spoke to Gulf News tabloid! about doing Diff — and her current favourite E! News presenter.
You’ve seen red carpets all around the world. How does this one in Dubai fare?
Opening night of the Dubai International Film Festival was amazing. I had no idea what was in store. I knew it was going to be nice, because everything is nice in Dubai. But it was a very long red carpet, beautifully, beautifully designed, and really just a good energy, so I loved it. I’ve done red carpets for a long time, and it was an amazing red carpet.
You stepped back from doing E! News in July last year. What made you feel like that was the right time?
I hosted E! News for so long. I’ve been on that show 14 years and anchored a really long time. I’ve been able to build businesses and do things outside of E! News, so I am one of those people that can just see the finish line and go, ‘You know what? I did everything I wanted to do there, now it’s time to build my other businesses, and use that time over here.’ I’ve been able to build my clothing line, I have a wine business, restaurants. It’s really been incredible … But I love E! and do Fashion Police, and red carpet, which is so much more manageable.
Who’s your current favourite E! News presenter?
Oh, Jason Kennedy. Jason Kennedy and I were texting last night. He’s one of my best friends … He’s such a good host and he’s such a good interviewer and, honestly, one of the best hearts in the world … I just love him. He’s like my little brother. We’ve known each other for 10 years. That was one of the hardest things about saying goodbye to E! News, not working with Jason every day. But we still text and talk all the time.
There’s so much talk about body positivity in the world lately. How does a show like Fashion Police fit into that narrative?
Fashion Police, actually, a lot of people say it’s like a comedy show, with Margaret Cho... Nini Leeks is very funny, obviously Melissa Rivers is very funny — I mean, her mum [former Fashion Police co-host Joan Rivers] was one of the greatest comedians of all time. So for us, we really focus on the fashion and the clothes, and people love fashion. They love to talk about fashion. People go out at night and talk to their friends about fashion, [like] ‘Did you see that dress?’ It’s kind of just like a chat show, talking about fashion.
In the age of social media, when you can hear directly from viewers about what they like or don’t like, do you feel more pressure or accountability towards your audience?
Not really, to be honest. It’s nice to hear. It’s nice to hear comments and feedback, but, yeah, if there’s an interesting idea that comes from someone — I mean, we’ve had people tweet ideas for segments that we’ve used. That’s kind of fun. I love social media and I love engaging people, and I think it’s just incredible, the effect that it’s had on the ability for us to communicate. I see it as a good thing.
You’ve spoken to so many celebrities over the years. Who’s a celebrity who’s quite interesting now to sit down and talk to?
Last night on the red carpet, I interviewed Samuel L. Jackson, who was receiving a lifetime achievement award at Diff. I said, ‘Everyone talks about how you’ve been in so many movies. You’ve been in over a hundred movies. Do you even know how many movies?’ He goes, ‘Gosh, I honestly don’t even know.’ I almost looked at him like, ‘Wow!’ Most people would know how many movies they’ve been in. But he said something so interesting: ‘You know what? I grew up in a household where people woke up and [went] to work every day. And that’s what I do. I wake up and I go to work every day.’ It was a humbling thought … We’re all the same. We get up and go to work, and hopefully you love what you do.
I also talked to Tyrese last night on the red carpet … He said a lot of great words of wisdom and talked a lot about how he gives back to inner city kids. That’s what I love, too. And Tyrese goes: ‘You know what? When you die, no one knows how much money was in your bank account, all they know is what you did in this world and what you did for people.’
I love talking to actors and getting those types of stories out of them, because at the end of the day, I think that’s the most inspirational message to send viewers.
Finally, would you ever re-locate to Dubai? You’ve been here a few times now.
I have been here a few times. I love Dubai. If there was an opportunity to host a show here, or be a judge on a panel for a TV show, I would definitely look at that. I would definitely look at coming here for a period of time with my family. My husband loves it, too, but my son hasn’t been here, so we have to bring Duke out. There’s tonnes to do for kids in Dubai. So hopefully another opportunity comes up soon that is a long enough time that we can bring him out.
Maybe bring a restaurant out here?
I know. Trust me, we’re always thinking.
