Figure skater Johnny Weir not competing, but spotlight still finds him
For somebody who hasn't competed since taking sixth in men's figure skating at the Vancouver Winter Games, Johnny Weir has bucked the trend that typically follows each Olympic cycle: With his irreverent but relevant image, Weir remains smack-dab in the public eye.
He's a celebrity judge on ABC's "Skating with the Stars" (which includes Tanith Belbin as co-host and Grosse Pointe Woods native Brooke Castile as one of the pro skaters). Filming for the second season of his reality docudrama, "Be Good Johnny Weir," is already in the works.
He has 75,000-plus followers on Twitter, more than Olympic champion Evan Lysacek and silver medalist Evgeni Plushenko combined.
"It's been almost a year now since the Olympics, and we've been going nonstop every week, almost every day," Weir said by phone Monday from Los Angeles. "It's been crazy. It's wonderful to be busy, and thank god I'm busy."
On Saturday night, Weir will be in Flint, where his agent is producing an ice show -- Holiday Dreams on Ice -- to help support the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan. Weir said he'll perform two programs and plans to even croon on the ice, singing his debut single ("Dirty Love") for the first time in public.
Asked whether the song's lyrics are tame enough for a family ice show, Weir laughed: "It is kind of a scary title, but it's not about sex and lovemaking. It's about sort of everything I've learned from skating and how to play with media and play with people's imaginations."
Weir, a three-time U.S. champion and world medalist, is taking a break from competition, at least through this season. Although he said he's comfortable with his decision -- "My off-ice life is great right now," he says -- he also sounds like a skater who wants to be in the mix for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Weir will be 29 then.
"I still have the fire, and I'm exploring all sorts of ways that I can get myself back in competitive shape, back in competition," he said. "I definitely haven't put skating away forever."
Weir will make an appearance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships next month in Greensboro, N.C., to accept Skating magazine's Readers Choice Award for Skater of the Year. The event falls in the middle of his book tour to promote his memoir, "Welcome to My World," due to be released in mid-January.
Weir said the book's racy cover was designed to be unconventional and "eye catching."
"Sitting on the shelves at Barnes & Noble, you want a cover that pops out at people," he said. "It's bright pink. There's a disco ball. I'm in heels. I'm in a skintight furry costume. It's very fun. But my story is very pure, and a lot of people don't see me in that light. They think I'm a crazy diva person, and I wanted to give them all the misconceptions they have about me on the cover. But the story inside is from the heart -- it's everything I believe in. I wanted almost that situation of where people judge a book by the cover, and then read it, and have a completely different feeling about me."
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He's a celebrity judge on ABC's "Skating with the Stars" (which includes Tanith Belbin as co-host and Grosse Pointe Woods native Brooke Castile as one of the pro skaters). Filming for the second season of his reality docudrama, "Be Good Johnny Weir," is already in the works.
He has 75,000-plus followers on Twitter, more than Olympic champion Evan Lysacek and silver medalist Evgeni Plushenko combined.
"It's been almost a year now since the Olympics, and we've been going nonstop every week, almost every day," Weir said by phone Monday from Los Angeles. "It's been crazy. It's wonderful to be busy, and thank god I'm busy."
On Saturday night, Weir will be in Flint, where his agent is producing an ice show -- Holiday Dreams on Ice -- to help support the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan. Weir said he'll perform two programs and plans to even croon on the ice, singing his debut single ("Dirty Love") for the first time in public.
Asked whether the song's lyrics are tame enough for a family ice show, Weir laughed: "It is kind of a scary title, but it's not about sex and lovemaking. It's about sort of everything I've learned from skating and how to play with media and play with people's imaginations."
Weir, a three-time U.S. champion and world medalist, is taking a break from competition, at least through this season. Although he said he's comfortable with his decision -- "My off-ice life is great right now," he says -- he also sounds like a skater who wants to be in the mix for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Weir will be 29 then.
"I still have the fire, and I'm exploring all sorts of ways that I can get myself back in competitive shape, back in competition," he said. "I definitely haven't put skating away forever."
Weir will make an appearance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships next month in Greensboro, N.C., to accept Skating magazine's Readers Choice Award for Skater of the Year. The event falls in the middle of his book tour to promote his memoir, "Welcome to My World," due to be released in mid-January.
Weir said the book's racy cover was designed to be unconventional and "eye catching."
"Sitting on the shelves at Barnes & Noble, you want a cover that pops out at people," he said. "It's bright pink. There's a disco ball. I'm in heels. I'm in a skintight furry costume. It's very fun. But my story is very pure, and a lot of people don't see me in that light. They think I'm a crazy diva person, and I wanted to give them all the misconceptions they have about me on the cover. But the story inside is from the heart -- it's everything I believe in. I wanted almost that situation of where people judge a book by the cover, and then read it, and have a completely different feeling about me."
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