Don’t judge a book by its cover! Former NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. admitted that he is a huge fan of reality television.
Earnhardt Jr., who hosts the “Dale Jr. Download” podcast every Monday, admitted that he and his wife, interior designer Amy Reimann, are “big fans of Housewives shows.”
“My wife is in control of 95% of the television we watch, which is fine,” the 44-year-old exclusively told Us Weekly. “We watch a lot of Southern Charm and Vanderpump Rules and shows like that, so we’re in step with that crowd a little bit.”
Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise has spawned several spinoffs in various cities, from Beverly Hills to New York. However, the retired race car driver admitted that he mostly prefers to watch the Georgia-based series.
“I like Housewives of Atlanta. That’s probably my favorite of the Housewives shows,” he revealed to Us. “There’s a couple of them that are pretty good, but Vanderpump Rules is really — Southern Charm and Vanderpump Rules both, but [really] Vanderpump Rules has been our go-to for many years and Southern Charm is just down the street. That’s in Charleston.”
Unlike most Southern Charm devotees, Earnhardt Jr. has been fortunate enough to form real-life friendships with some of the reality show’s stars. He shared with Us that he and his wife “had dinner with Patricia [Altschul] and the gang and gotten to hang out with Shep [Rose] a few times.”
“It’s been really fun to kind of meet those folks. They are who they are,” the Racing to the Finish author said.
“The show that you see on TV, that’s them in real life,” said Earnhardt Jr. “Most reality shows, none have really been local, in a sense, to North Carolina and Charlotte, where I’m from. So to have a show out of Charleston, it feels like, ‘Wow, I can drive down there. This is our backyard.’ It’s really cool.”
Earnhardt Jr. retired from being a full-time NASCAR racer in 2017, one year after he married Reimann, 37. The couple welcomed daughter Isla in 2018.
For more on Dale Earnhardt Jr., including his journey to quitting smoking with help from Nicorette Coated Ice Mint Lozenge, check out the exclusive video above!
