Lorenzo Borghese and Charles Ferri Are Esquire’s ‘Lucky Bastards’

Last week, Esquire Network launched its new reality series, Lucky Bastards, focusing on the lives of six successful New York bachelors. But what sets the series apart from other shows about the hip and single life? And what are these half-dozen businessmen, who clearly don’t need the fame, doing on a reality TV show in the first place? We asked stars Lorenzo Borghese and Charles Ferri to shed some light on the show for us, and here’s what they had to say.

“My friends have always asked me, ‘What’s it like being you for a day?’ and I always felt the question was ridiculous,” said Lorenzo. “I was then approached to do this show.  A show that follows my daily life.  Although I’m certainly a Lucky Bastard, I wanted to show people that I’m no different nor special than anyone else.

“Additionally, as an entrepreneur with two businesses – a pet line called Royal Treatment and a lifestyle brand called RumGolf – and a not-for-profit called Animal Aid USA,  I felt that getting national exposure for these brands was too important to pass up. So I said yes.”

“Having the opportunity to show our unique friendship while living in the best city in the world was a no-brainer,” agreed Charles. “I think it was about time us guys had a show that we can relate to.”

What are the important things the guys want us to know about them as we’re tuning in to get an inside look into their busy and unique lives? “That’s a difficult question as people’s perception varies greatly,” Charles said. “Some might like me, some might hate me, but I have stayed true to myself throughout the show by working hard, doing crazy outrageous stuff with my friends and living my life.”

“I want people who watch this show to laugh – both at us and with us.  Most times we don’t take ourselves too seriously and neither should the audience,” Lorenzo told us. “I feel that each minute of our limited time here on planet earth should be valued like gold.  That said, who said work shouldn’t be fun?  If you’re in a job and not happy, change it.  If you’re unhappy, then do something that makes you happy.  What the audience will see is us constantly laughing, and the people around us doing the same, and we want the laughter to spread to our viewers.  We want them to be happy.  We want them to smile and laugh with us and at us.”

Lorenzo might be a familiar face to some reality TV viewers, as he was ABC’s The Bachelor back in 2006. Asked if that experience prepared him for this one, he said, “The Bachelor was such a very different show than this one, but any TV experience helps you prepare for the awkwardness of having cameras constantly around you.  The more experience you have, the less you notice them and the more you can be yourself.”

“I personally felt it was much easier than I thought it would be,” said Star Vodka founder Charles of being on television. “I always had dreams of what it would be like to capture some insane, crazy moments I have had with the guys, so when it came time to document it all on TV, it was much easier than I ever imagined.  We just did what we always do.  The real hard part was getting people in my business life to agree to be filmed on a reality show, with the their fear that the show would be about drama and hating on each other, but Lucky Bastards is about a group of friends having fun and living it up.”

“Filming for Lucky Bastards was a total blast!” he continued. “You will see some funny outrageous things I can’t believe I even did like the Polar Bear Plunge, hot wing challenge, our trip to Miami, and I’m super proud that everyone will see the hard work and determination that I have put into building Star Vodka.”

What were Lorenzo’s favorite moments? “There are two for me and they revolve around my charity and business, RumGolf.  We filmed the closing of Animal Aid USA’s Miracle Ranch in Georgia because the town commissioners wanted us out. Although this was a sad event, I hope it brings awareness to the viewers about the importance of pet adoption,” he said.

“The second was a scene at the RumGolf brewery, in which I finally got to taste-test our first batch of beer while listening to a presentation about a new patented electrolyte that will be added to our beer.  In my wildest dreams, I never thought I’d own a brewery and tasting my own beer.  But the moment was actually happening.”

If you missed last week’s premiere episode, Esquire Network has made the entire thing available online. Here it is for you to check out.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/S1gEkpvI4Uo]

However, Lorenzo and Charles aren’t solely reality TV personalities. They’re businessmen first and foremost, so we asked them to let us into their off-camera lives, and educate us on what else they’re working on. “I will be officially launching the RumGolf fashion brand on April 16th, my RumGolf IPA in May, and the RumGolf electrolyte beer at the end of June,” Lorenzo told us. “We also plan to open another Miracle Ranch this summer so that Animal Aid can continue saving thousands of dogs each year.”

You can find out more about Lorenzo via his official website (lorenzoborghese.com), and check out his businesses via their official sites (rumgolf.com, royalpetclub.com, animalaidusa.org, and valentinevines.com).

As for Charles, “You can find out more information by looking at our website (starvodkausa.com), as well as following us on Twitter (@starvodka) and Facebook,” he said. “Stay tuned as I look to expand our spirit line into whiskey and gin.”

We asked both guys to give us one thing that they’ve learned – either in business or in life – that they would pass on to other people, and they gave us some solid advice. “Nobody knows you better than you!” Charles enthused. “Try to block out all the chatter and outside pressures and live the life you want to live – and never give up on your dreams!”

“Never ever give up!  I know everyone says this but it’s true,” agreed Lorenzo. “For every one business I have that works, I’ve had ten that failed.  You should see all the different business plans I’ve worked on and only 10 percent have made it.  Just remember, if it were easy, everyone would be successful.

“Thinking of the thousands of hours I’ve logged on failing businesses makes me a little queasy. But each time I fell, I got up again stronger than before.  You can’t enjoy success without going through failure.  You can’t enjoy the sun without having rain…I could go on and on.”

Ultimately, neither of these gentlemen are looking to gain some sudden fame or feel like superstars because they’ve agreed to be on a reality TV series. Asked what they’re hoping the audience takes away from looking into their lives, Lorenzo told us, “I want them to realize that this is not about our egos, nor is this a negative show.  It’s a fun and funny show.  I want people to laugh and be happy as they watch us.  I want them to say things such as, ‘What an idiot,’ ‘I can’t believe he just said that,’  ‘Did that just happen?’  I want them to watch us with hands over their eyes as if they were watching a horror movie but with an enormous smile on their face.”

Charles might have summed the whole thing up perfectly, telling us simply that he hopes viewers understand “That we truly are a group of lucky bastards!”

Lucky Bastards airs Wednesdays at 10 PM ET/PT on Esquire Network (check your local listings for specific channel).

(c)2014 Brittany Frederick. Appears at Fanbolt with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted. Visit my official website and follow me on Twitter at @tvbrittanyf.

Photo Credit: Esquire

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