Flashback to Rachel Lindsay’s season of the Bachelorette. I heard there was going to be a Minnesotan on her season, then out of the limo, Brady Ervin, appeared with a sledgehammer and a block of ice. In an effort to “break the ice” with Rachel.
As a fellow Minnesotan myself, Brady quickly became one of my favorites, and I was very excited to be able to get to know him. We grew up in different parts of Minnesota, him from the Twin Cities and me from the North Shore. We have quite a bit in common, which is very cool- both from Minnesota, spent most of our summers on the lake, and have both lived in Chicago! Hey Brady, did we just become best friends?
So let’s get to it, it’s time to get to know Brady Ervin, the Food God Extraordinaire!
You’re from Minnesota, tell me about your time growing up in the land of 10,000 lakes?
BE: “Yeah the 10,000 lakes part is no joke. SOOO many lakes in Minnesota. And I loved it. We had a family boat growing up and used it all the time. We had a nearby lake where we’d take the boat to go tubing or wake boarding. We also took a few family trips up north to go fishing and golfing of course. There weren’t too many family trips that didn’t include golfing. And when I got old enough to drive the boat myself I used to take it out every weekend to Lake Minnetonka where me and my friends would spend all day Saturday partying on the lake with other boats (I was the DD of course). But I grew up in the suburb of Minneapolis called Eden Prairie which has about 60,000 people and has one of the biggest high schools in Minnesota. My graduating class had 800 kids so I’m not from a small town which a lot of people assume hearing I’m from Minnesota. I have two amazing parents, Brad and Kathy. And I have two brothers Brett and Blake. I’m the middle child.”
Why did it say you were from Florida on the Bachelorette?
BE: “Yeah that was super annoying. I was proud of my Minnesota roots, but for whatever reason they put Miami. Probably because I was going through the interview process during the winter and since graduating college I’ve spent most winters in Miami Beach, FL for modeling.”
You have a successful modeling career- what has been your favorite place/company to model for?
BE: “My favorite place to model has got to be Miami. Modeling has a season in Miami so you’re really only there for the winter, which is the best time to be there. The weather is amazing and you get a lot of cool companies that go there to shoot their spring/summer stuff. In fashion, you always shoot a season ahead and Miami has the beaches and tropical climate in the winter months that no other place really does. So I got to do a big Abercrombie & Fitch campaign in Islamorada which is in the keys, I got to work on an Armani Aqua Di Gio fragrance campaign on the beach, I got to work for JC Penney also in Islamorada and stayed at the same nice resort I did for A&F. And Miami also has the resort jobs so I’ve gone to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and Negril, Jamaica to shoot for different resorts. Nothing beats staying at a resort and doing things people do on vacation and getting paid for it. So, yeah, Miami is definitely my favorite place to model, and Negril, Jamaica at the Sandals resort was my favorite location for a photoshoot.”
Do you ever happen to be looking at magazines or online and your face pops up from one of the ads you’ve modeled for? What’s that like?
BE: “Yeah a few times. When I was in Cosmopolitan wearing nothing but a towel, that was weird, especially when your parents and your friends’ parents see it. I also had a full page in Vogue International Hommes Paris, and that was more of a proud moment than Cosmo. I mean, when people see you in Cosmo, they usually laugh or make fun of you, but when they see you in Vogue, they’re like “dang” and give you some respect. Which is often the battle of male modeling. Being taken as a joke a lot of the time and trying to be taken seriously as a professional.”
What was it like competing for Rachel Lindsay’s heart? What an experience, did you ever imagine you would be on the show?
BE: “Oh man, so weird. Dating the same girl with a bunch of other guys is ridiculous. Especially when you hardly ever see her or get to spend that much time with her. Which maybe makes it easier. You see her so little you often forget you’re even on a dating show. I mean you spend more time hanging out at the house with a bunch of guys, so it feels more like you’re on the Real World. And most of the guys are saying they want to spend more time with Rachel or they can’t wait to see her again, but they only want to spend more time with her, so they can win the show. It’s a game and everyone is trying to win. Few guys actually could see themselves marrying Rachel. I got a group date with Rachel’s friends and after the group date I was like “dang, I’d rather hang out with her friends. This isn’t good.” Luckily she got rid of me the next night because after realizing I wasn’t that into her, I was pretty much there to hang out and do cool stuff with some cool dudes. To be honest, I always could see myself on the show. I mean, when you watch it you picture yourself in the given scenario and usually think, “wow, that guy is an idiot, I’d be so much better than him. Why is he even on the show? Why is she even talking to him? I would have said this or that, oh man I’d win for sure.” Then you get on the show and you realize everyone there thinks they are better than the next guy.”
What is your favorite memory on the show?
BE: “Favorite memory on the show is probably having pillow talk with the guys I shared a room with like Dean, Peter, Bryan, Will and Josiah.”
Do you still talk to any of your former castmates?
BE: “Yeah I’m actually about to be roommates with Jamey! I met Jamey on the show, and now we are about to share a two bedroom in West Hollywood. Me and Jamey get along really well because we are both genuinely nice guys and pretty laid back. I talk to a few of the other guys but haven’t really seen any of them.”
You own the drool worthy “Brady’s Brunch” Instagram account- tell me more about that?
BE: “Well, it really started as a cheat day while I was living in Chicago. I would eat healthy and calorie restrict all week and have a big brunch on the weekend to relax and enjoy good food. So it became a mission to find the best brunch places, and since I’m very passionate about food quality, I wanted to find the best farm-to-table restaurants that really care about the integrity of their food. So, I started highlighting these restaurants by doing full on brunch reviews and blogging about it. I would order everything on their brunch menu and photograph it so people knew what everything on the menu looked like. I’m always looking at pictures of food when I’m researching restaurants because what something looks like is a big factor when I’m deciding what to order. The full brunch reviews became a lot of work and a lot of money spent on all these dishes so I decided to just make an Instagram still only highlighting the best farm-to-table restaurants, but limiting it to the most photogenic dishes. I love food and am passionate about it, so Brady’s Brunch (kind of a play on The Brady Bunch) is an outlet for that.”
What are your Top 5 favorite restaurants?
BE:
1) Belcampo- LA
2) Avec- Chicago
3) Cookshop- New York
4) Westville- New York
5) Huckleberry- LA
Would you rather be on Bachelor in Paradise or Bachelor Winter Games?
BE: “That’s a tough one. BIP because of the tropical climate, girls in swimsuits, and just a better selection of females, but Winter Games for the competition and challenges aspect. I’d love to compete for prizes and play a bunch of cool games, but I’d rather date girls in the BIP setting.
If you could be anyone else for a day, who would you be and why?
BE: “Tom Brady during a celebrity golf event. I’d get to play golf all day as a very liked man, everyone would be super nice to me, and I’d get to go home to a beautiful wife at the end of the night.”