TV PREVIEW
“The Vanilla Ice Project,” 10 p.m. Saturdays, DIY
To many Gen Xers, Vanilla Ice represents a footnote in early rap history with his absurd high-top fade, huge harem pants and that “Ice Ice Baby” song dum-dum-dum-dede-dum-dumming its way into the brain.
But he hasn’t faded into the Color Me Badd woodwork. Instead, Rob Van Winkle (his real name) has found a second life as DIY Network’s most popular personality, a Floridian with an eye for renovation and a knack for flipping homes on his show “The Vanilla Ice Project.” It returned last Saturday for a fifth season, airing at 10 p.m.
The 47-year-old took a break from rehabbing a beachfront Palm Beach mansion to meet with press and DIY advertisers in Atlanta last week. At the St. Regis Hotel in Buckhead, he was gabby and upbeat, reflecting the glow of a wealthy man who is long past the depths of depression two decades ago.
Vanilla Ice still answers to that name and he relishes his past now. Asked about Justin Bieber’s recent roast on Comedy Central, he said he enjoyed it and wouldn’t mind being roasted himself.
“I have no shame in my game,” he said. “I joke about myself. Every day is a roast for me.”
On his DIY show, Vanilla Ice ebulliently embraces every project with a hip-hop flair.
In the fifth season debut, he assessed a 15-year-old kitchen with a rhyme: "This is dated and definitely hated."
He incorporated a customized copper hood vent above the stove, dubbing it the “Supa Mac Daddy” of hood vents. And while installing a super heavy oven, he says, “this oven is so massive, we need a fourth ninja.”
Vanilla Ice said he bought his first home as a teenager soon after signing with Atlanta’s Ichiban Records, and as the millions rolled in, he bought several other homes. He fixed up a few and sold them for huge profits. He realized this was a great way to generate income long after profits from “Ice Ice Baby” faded away.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, he flipped homes and made millions. When a production company around 2008 suggested he do a reality show, he scoffed.
“I lost my ego a long time ago,” he said. “I didn’t have to be in the limelight. I was very content when this opportunity came along.”
He was understandably skeptical even after he said yes and allowed DIY to film him: “Watching Vanilla Ice do construction? That sounded too normal to me.”
But it worked. Ratings were strong. “It was way more interesting than I even thought,” he said. “It’s informative and inspiring.”
While he gets compensated for the TV show, he purchases these homes with his money: “I’m at risk here.”
He made headlines in February when he was arrested, accused of stealing furnishings from what appeared to be an abandoned home. He made a plea deal last week after my interview: 100 hours of community service with Habitat for Humanity and $1,100 to $1,300 to the owner.
“It’s the biggest misunderstanding ever,” Vanilla Ice said. “I was waiting for Ashton Kutcher to show up when the cops came. I can’t believe that transpired. It was an abandoned house. I now have a contract on it. I had given that stuff to a needy family. I don’t need furniture! It was a really strange situation that turned into a tidal wave” of bad press.
