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A reality power couple is back with a new network base.
E! personality Giuliana Rancic and her Apprentice-winning husband, Bill Rancic, will debut the seventh season of Giuliana and Bill on April 1 on E!, rather than its recently shuttered sister network Style. With the move comes a new iteration of the long-running reality series that Giuliana calls “louder” and “more fun.”
The hourlong series, which follows the Rancic family as they juggle the pressures of busy careers and marriage, will soon focus on the parenting of their young son, Duke. The Hollywood Reporter caught up with the couple to talk about the upcoming season, the moments they don’t let the cameras in on and the secret to their happy marriage.
STORY: Giuliana Rancic Reveals How She Picks an Oscar Gown, Why Lupita Nyong’o’s Prada Grew on Her
How do you think the move from Style Network to E! has affected the show?
Giuliana: I think it’s even much more fun and louder than it was on Style, now that it’s on E! Our dream all along was always to be on E!. It’s nice having it all under one roof now.
Bill: We’re certainly still the same couple, and it’s the same ups and downs that most couples face that have attracted them to the show for the last seven seasons. For us, it’s been great because we’ve been able to make a show that we’re proud of, and that’s the one thing, that we’ve always been true to ourselves by not making a show just for the ratings. We’ve created a show that you can watch with kids and not have to cover their eyes.
With busy schedules that have you shuttling back and forth between Los Angeles and Chicago, why continue to do the show?
Bill: For us, it’s been a lot more rewarding than we ever thought. When we were first approached to do the show seven seasons ago, I said, “No way.” I had no interest in doing it. Little did I know how much we would be able to help others as a result. Throughout the last seven seasons, we’ve tackled issues like infertility and breast cancer and all the work we’ve done in Haiti. There isn’t a day that goes by where someone won’t come up and say, “Thank you. My wife and I are going through fertility struggles and now my family knows what we’re going through. We’re not ashamed to tell them anymore,” or “I went in and got my first mammogram because I watched Giuliana and Bill’s show.” I know it sounds crazy for a reality show, but we’ve been able to have an impact on people’s lives.
Giuliana: We’re actually a very real reality show as well, and we haven’t sold our souls to the devil in seven seasons. What’s kind of incredible is that we’ve never ever regretted anything that we’ve done or shown in any of those episodes. We have not sold out for ratings. We don’t flip tables over to get people to watch our show.
VIDEO: ‘America Now’ Featuring Bill Rancic Sneak Peek
What won’t the cameras ever see?
Giuliana: Some of the other shows don’t mind having a camera in the bedroom when they’re rolling around making out. We’re not into that. We don’t want to do it on camera as much as people don’t want to see it. I don’t need to see that on a reality show. I don’t need to see people half naked, hooking up with each other in the hot tub or in bed or in the shower. I just feel like that is intimate, and that should be behind closed doors for a couple.
Where’s the line with your new baby, Duke?
Bill: He’s our priority No. 1, certainly. We want to make sure that he is protected, and that his life is not going to be exposed in a way that isn’t fitting. So far, it hasn’t had an impact and it hasn’t been too intrusive on his routine and his schedule, but we’ll see moving forward where it goes. I think he’s a little bit of a ham. He’s fascinated by the boom mic and the whole process. We have a great crew and they’re just so good with him.
What is the secret to your marriage?
Bill: I think throughout our marriage we’ve had some interesting challenges that have presented themselves, and for us, it brought us closer together. When you have major health scares and hurdles in your life, it turns the volume down on the things that aren’t that important. Certainly when you’re facing cancer and some of the things that we’ve had to handle in our marriage, it’s made the small stuff kind of go away and fall by the wayside.
What shows do you enjoy watching on your own time?
Giuliana: I love reality. I actually don’t watch scripted anymore. I only watch reality because unless I’m watching someone’s real life, I’m not interested in fabricated characters anymore. It’s funny because especially in my business where I interview all sorts of celebrities and watch movies and TV shows, I watch scripted projects when I have to for awards season, but it’s not what I enjoy doing. I watch everything from Real Housewives — especially Beverly Hills and I like Atlanta, too — to Kardashians.
Bill: I watch a lot of the Discovery and the NatGeo reality shows. I love Restaurant Impossible on the Food Network.
What can viewers look forward to this season?
Bill: Certainly this is a big season with our son, Duke. We’re like any other couple, struggling and juggling our work lives with our personal lives and making sure we raise our son in the best possible way. But along the way, we’ve had a lot of fun things that we’ve been able to do. I tackled a New York Marathon and we documented that whole process. For Giuliana’s birthday, I surprised her with a Broadway audition.
Giuliana and Bill premieres Tuesday, April 1, at 8 p.m. on E!
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