Chrissy Teigen 'absolutely' still has help at home during coronavirus quarantine: We're 'incredibly lucky'
Circumstances notwithstanding, Chrissy Teigen doesn’t hate being in quarantine.
“We’ve been doing it since the second they told us to,” she tells Yahoo Entertainment from Los Angeles, where the city is under a “safer at home” order amid the coronavirus pandemic. “But I’ve been quarantining mostly my whole life. I’m not an outdoor cat.”
It certainly helps that she’s with her favorite people: her husband, John Legend; their adorable kids, Luna and Miles; and her mom, Vilailuck Teigen aka Pepper Thai. They’re hunkered down in a beachfront home, where the cookbook author/model/host has a seemingly endless collection of beautiful kaftans — and extra time on her schedule for activities with the kids, from crafting projects to officiating an elaborate wedding for two of Luna’s stuffed animals. (Yes, that happened — for all of the internet to see.)
When we talk, she’s working, promoting her funny new show Chrissy’s Court on Quibi, a streaming service with short-format content. In it, she’s the judge — with a robe, gavel and lots of opinions. But the cases are purposely ridiculous — a couple fighting over a “that b****” sweatshirt — and so is the operation, which sees Chrissy’s mom serve as bailiff, Luna chiming in from the gallery and humorous celebrity cameos including one by Legend, dubbed the “Sexiest Expert Live,” who weighed in on a music case.
Teigen — known for her quick wit (see: Twitter) — says she was looking to do a “funny judge show” and the mini-episodes, which clock in at the six-minute range, work because it’s just the “funniest moments” of the hours-long shoot. “It’s like all your greatest hits,” she says. “The way it flows, it’s perfect. It was such a good time that’s why. It was so silly and the stakes were low obviously.”
As for her résumé, Teigen says she has “obviously zero qualifications for a judge. All I have is a lifetime of watching Judge Judy with my mom. Judge Joe Brown. Judge Wapner [on The People's Court]. A lot of Night Court. This is really what I grew up on. When I was a kid, my mom wasn’t sitting with me watching baby TV shows or animated things. We were watching judge shows.” Plus, “A general love of justice has always been my thing.”
And while a massive billboard Quibi bought to promote the show in a high-traffic area of L.A. may have been a bust in light of the circumstances, shows that are light and filled with laughs are much-needed right now as counter-programming to the news. “I can’t think of what John and I haven’t seen on Netflix and Hulu” at this point, she says.
Quarantining at Chez Teigen-Legend isn’t roughing it — and she knows it. While they are both still working — Zoom meetings, interviews and the occasional virtual concert — the kids are “loving” having their busy parents at home 24/7. “We have a huge art table” that they re crafting on when they aren’t whipping up recipes together as a family. They currently have no other stuffed animal weddings planned, after the elaborate beachfront one, of Chloe and Nosh, a stuffed bunny and stuffed lamb, that they all hilariously participated in. (As for the happy couple, “I actually haven’t seen them in a while. They must have gone on their honeymoon.”)
Teigen is the rare celebrity who is transparent about having help at home — multiple nannies, a house manager and others — to keep things humming. During a pandemic, that is no different, she said. (Several of their helpers attended the “wedding.”)
“Ab-ab-absolutely,” she replies. “My mom is still with us and we have [others helping as well]. That’s why whenever I get asked like: How are you doing? I’m like: I can’t say anything but great because we have so much help. We have really wonderful people around us who are helping our world still go round, where we’re still able to work and take meetings — do these interviews — and get that break where someone else can take your child in the pool. I give an incredible amount of thanks to the people that we have who still want to be here with us.”
Especially in these times. “You look at the unemployment rates now — we’re almost at 11 million people — and people are struggling to work and pay rent and their landlords are still coming for their rent, which they don’t have money for. We hear that and understand all of it and I can’t imagine the scenario,” she says. “So more than anything, you understand that we are incredibly, incredibly lucky because we really do hear and see everything that other people are going through. It’s such an incredibly hard time for people right now — for a lot of people. It’s such a weird thing to be like: Yeah, we’re good. ‘How are you holding up?’ We’re holding up fine. It’s not us that anybody needs to ask that about, you know?”
And many people she’s worked with have been impacted. While Chrissy’s Court was in the can when the stay at home rules were put in place, Teigen did see production on another project — Family Style, her show with chef David Chang for Hulu — shut down, like the many, many others.
“An incredible amount of people worked so hard to have the set made — and make it happen on time. And people were flying in from all over the world to come do this show,” she says. “We did one episode and it all hit the fan. It’s a lot of people that are now not working. It’s unfair and it’s terrible.”
On a lighter note, is not immune from quarantine buying — including a gown you may see her in on a red carpet when this is all behind us.
“I definitely bought a gown,” she reports. “I don’t know why. I sent it to all my friends. I was like: ‘Should I get this gown?’ It has a cape on it. It’s red.” As for where she’ll wear it, “I have no idea,” she laughs.
She continues, “I was always an online shopper to begin with.” These days they’re also “ordering a lot of kids supplies,” including stuff from Lakeshore Learning and things to craft with. And then “honestly so much meat and freezable ground pork and stuff” for her Cravings recipes.
And because it’s a question we’re are posing to everyone in light of the toilet paper shortage, we ask where she’s getting hers.
“We actually always have had it,” Teigen says. “I personally never ran out. We made Costco runs long before this whole toilet paper crazy thing happened. We’re definitely not rationing it — or thinking about it.”
Like many, they also have a bidet, but that wasn’t a pandemic panic buy.
“I think I tweeted it — we have one Toto toilet upstairs that will wash and dry you,” she says. “People always love to talk about how this is such a first world, amazing incredible thing. I’m like if you go to any place in Asia, even in Thailand in my mom’s village, they do the little hose. Come on.”
Check out Chrissy’s Court, which is now streaming on the Quibi app.
For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC and WHO’s resource guides.
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