Adam Rippon on YouTube Series 'Break the Ice,' New Book, & Pride Month

Olympic figure skater and entertainer Adam Rippon recently paid a visit to the Hey Qween! set in Los Angeles to chat with PRIDE about his latest projects, and it doesn't sound like he's slowed down at all since he took the world by storm last year.

At the top of the list is Adam's newly-launched YouTube channel featuring a talk show called Break the Ice, where he brings on celebrity guests who've never skated before and interviews them while teaching them a few moves. 

"The fun thing about this show is that the people we've brought on have done a ton of interviews before in their lifetime," he says. "But when you're doing something that you're a little uncomfortable doing, like ice skating if you've never done it before, you are able to break down those barriers."

His first guest on the show was Lilly Singh (aka IISuperwomanII), the openly bisexual YouTube superstar who just landed her own late night talk show — great inspiration for Adam's new career in entertainment. "I think her authenticity, her willingness to speak on tough issues, to share so many different parts of herself are so important. I think she speaks to a lot of people who see themselves in her, and I think she's just an incredible role model."

Meanwhile, he's been busy writing a memoir, Beautiful on the Outside, due in bookstores this fall. He told PRIDE that the project is more challenging than he thought. "I would say the biggest challenge is not only getting everything down on paper, but it's little things I didn't even think about, which was going back and forth between an editor, and now going back and forth between a lawyer. There’s just so many steps that I didn't even realize were part of making a book."

The title is about the ability he learned as a figure skater (and now as a celebrity) to stay beautiful and smile for the audience, even when everything is a mess behind the scenes. It's also a nod to the way he used his trademark comedy to deal with intense media attention after calling out Vice President Mike Pence for his anti-LGBTQ policies. 

"While all of this drama between me and the Vice President was going on, I remember I tweeted something along the lines of, 'With everything going on in the media, I just don't want people to forget how beautiful I am (on the outside).' It was just my way of interjecting a little humor into the situation, because while I was at the Olympics, I really felt like I couldn't do any sort of interview without being asked about it. Which I didn't mind talking about, but there were so many other things going on that I wanted to share. I wanted to share who I was, where I was coming from. I wanted to make people laugh, I wanted to connect with people."

Adam also took a moment to share his thoughts about Pride Month, and why it's important to honor all the LGBTQ+ activists who fought for our rights. 

"Pride this year is really special. It’s the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. And for me, it’s really a reflection of all the people who’ve come before me — who really helped pave the way so that I was able to have the experiences that I have now, and the experiences that I had at the Olympics. I feel like I was truly embraced by so many people, and I’m grateful every single day."