'Wrap Battle' judge Carson Kressley hopes the Freeform show inspires people but reminds fans that there's going be drama as well
Americans know Carson Kressley as the man who judges all our favorite reality shows, and he is back with yet another potentially fan-favorite show for the holidays, ‘Wrap Battle’. The Freeform series celebrates the art of gift wrapping, and according to Kressley, promises to be a “very, very fun show.”
“It is part of Freeform's 25 Days of Christmas and it's like a holiday party. We have amazing guests and amazing guest judges like Candy Spelling - the goddess of gift wrapping - and our super funny host Sheryl Underwood and all of that with tones of creativity, glue guns ablazin' and a little bit of drama make for a really, really fantastic kind of holiday ride,” Kressley tells MEA WorldWide (MEAWW), adding how he also hopes the reality competition show would also prove to be an inspiring one.
He believes that ‘Wrap Battle’ will teach people that they can “create gifts and presents that are really, really over the top and amazing and personal and fun, and that's really what the holidays are all about - the joy of giving and making it very personal.” To him, the Freeform series was about so many things because “I love the holidays and anything that has to do with design and style and presentation… I put my Christmas tree up the day after Haloween. I am a total holiday fan and I just knew I had to be a part of this show. I love anything relating to design and then to add the holiday element to it just adds another level of fun and I like to work and be on TV, so I was like 'Yes mam, I will take it'.
Having been a judge of so many reality competitions from the Miss Universe pageant to the 'RuPaul's Drag Race’, Kressley had seen it all when it comes to fashion and creativity, or so he thought. “I have been around for a long time and I've worked in the design world but I was blown away by the creativity and also the non-traditional materials that the wrappers were using to create the most exquisite, most personal, most celebratory gift packaging that I have ever seen and they are also not just creating beautiful presentations. They are also doing things that require a lot of creativity and a lot of ingenuity,” he relates.
When it comes to judging any competition be it a drag show or a beauty pageant or wrap battle, what Kressley looks for is a stamp of individuality. “We have to have a set of criteria on which to judge the contestants against, and they must fulfill those criteria but on top of that what I think makes a winning contestant or artist is somebody that can meet all of the challenges of the criteria but then add their personal touch and make it look like their work and really put their own stamp on it so that when we see their finished creation we know who the maker was and it really has been branded by them,” he narrates.
Each competition on the show is for $50,000 and so, he promises that there is that classic reality competition show drama and reminds us how “it wouldn't be the holidays if someone weren't crying. So, we have some drama as well.” Thankfully, Kressley will have help from Sabrina Soto, one of his favorite designers, in determining the big winner of the $50,000 prize.
“These are really creative artistic people from all over the country who are the best at creating gift wrap magic and they bring so much to the show - all of their personalities and all of their joy for the holidays. It is really fun to watch,” he promises, reiterating how the show will inspire fans to try their hand at creating some of these amazing, fun, non-traditional, whimsical creative creations. That's first and foremost.
'Wrap Battle' will premiere on Monday, November 25th 9/8c
