It”s time for Jeff Lewis and his trusty (and sometimes not so trusty) crew to set sail on season five of “Flipping Out” (the season premieres on Bravo Wed. July 6, 9 p.m. EST). In a conference call Lewis and his COO/sometime rapper Jenni Pulos revealed a few reasons why you”ll want to tune in this season.
Two employees will get the ax this season: Lewis claims that one termination viewers will see coming a mile away – but only one. “After you watch the season, one is very expected,” he said. “Then completely out of the blue something happens and the other is completely unexpected. And now we”re scrambling here because we”re still filming and I”m trying to fill their spot. I”m actually still shocked. But with one, you”ll say, ‘My God, just let them go.”
Jeff”s new boyfriend will be on hand to shake things up: This season we”ll be introduced to Gage Edward, Lewis” new head of business development. He”s also Lewis” boyfriend. Lewis is quick to point out it”s Edward”s role in the business, not Lewis” private life, that made him part of the show (and that Edward was his boyfriend first and employee second). “I view this as a workplace dramedy,” he says. “I”m not comfortable with diving too deep into my private life. But Gage works with me, so there was no way to film around him. It was either give up the show or open the door to this part of my life.” Still, some things will be left private. “You”re not gonna see sex scenes, I”ll tell you that right now.”
Jenni will get a boost to her rapping career: “Major street cred could be coming my way,” Pulos says. “I can”t name names but watch what happens. I”m very excited.” Pulos, who says she”s a fan of Snoop Dog, Lil” Jon and Will Smith, is still working on her children”s rap album, too. I”m glad to be doing something good for kids, so there”s no such thing as bad street cred when you”re doing something good for babies. Word!”
You”ll be seeing a lot of Jeff”s animals: Lewis, who has three dogs and two cats at last count, promises his furry companions will be an integral part of the plot. “One of them in particular,” he says. “We had a little drama with one of them. But everything”s fine now. It ends up working out, but it was really kind of traumatic for me. She”s doing okay.” (Hint: his dog Casey is female).
You’ll be getting a new and improved Jeff Lewis — sort of: “I’ve learned that I’m an asshole,” Lewis says, half joking. “When the market fell and the flipping business came to a complete screeching halt, that was the biggest dose of humility for me. It gave me a little more empathy and sympathy for people.” But he’ll still get nasty if he needs to. “I don’t walk into a room and be a jerk to be a jerk. I start out nice. But when I don’t get any response, I have to be a jerk.” Ah, now that sounds like the Jeff Lewis we know and love!