What an incredible couple of years Cheyenne Parker has had.
Many of us in the community are aware of who Cheyenne is due to his appearance on LOGO TV’s Fire Island from 2017. There is so much more to him, however, than just being a reality television star.
Cheyenne, just like some of his Fire Island costars like Justin Russo, is an extremely determined individual who is looking to break down the doors in the fashion industry.
His new clothing line, Maison Parker, just launched, and his goals for the brand is to find something that everybody can like… not just one type of body.
In an exclusive with Instinct Magazine, Cheyenne talks to us about his new line, regrets about Fire Island, confronting former Teen Mom OG star Farrah Abraham on Ex on the Beach and more.
Hey Cheyenne! Congrats on your new clothing line. Can you tell us more about it?
Maison Parker, meaning “House of Parker” in French, is a brand dedicated to spreading a message of positivity and love through clothing and art. We have an eclectic mix of high-quality ready to wear goods for EVERYONE. This brand prides itself on delivering accessible pricing of high-end luxury products that normally get marked up an astronomical amount.
We prefer to have more people excited to wear our clothing and spreading our message of equality and strength, than turn a huge profit by targeting a smaller more affluent audience. This brand has been a passion project of mine since I was a young boy. As an adult with some exposure in social media and television, I now have the ability to utilize this company for greater good. We will be launching a Transgender Equality campaign next month in which proceeds will directly benefit our fellow humans who lack visibility but shine just as bright as the rest of us.
Is this something you would like to debut at any upcoming Fashion Week events?
I would love nothing more than to see creative designs from this brand make movement down the runways of Fashion Weeks all over the world. For now we are a new brand that is ‘breaking the walls down’ with loungewear, custom vintage denim, and accessories through e-commerce. We will take on more grandiose ventures once the business has grown to a more structured state, which I can guarantee you will be very soon!
What celebrity do you dream about wearing your line?
I honestly might sound crazy for saying this, but I would love to see Donald F***ing Trump wearing a transgender equality shirt with actual conviction and honesty, doing some good for the community, not trying to erase it!! But that it is a total pipe dream. I want these clothes on everybody, the brand does not recognize sex or gender, it’s made for everyone.
We will be creating one-of-a-kind denim jackets for private clients and celebrities to get the message of equality out to fans across the world. The thought process is not “let’s make America great again” but rather “lets un-f**k America together!” I will honestly be over the moon when I witness some of the transgender artists and influencers across the globe wearing our product. I want to make an impact on the community as a collective and get the world onboard for a unilateral equal stance on sex, gender, race, religion. We are all humans, its well-past the time we start treating each other as such!
I have to talk to you about Ex on the Beach. How did you get involved with the show?
I get this question a lot and the answers are always the same, I didn’t seek out reality TV, it found me!! Just like Fire Island, the phone rang, and I answered and at first said NO. The minute I started getting probed about my exes I felt a bit nauseated. I had to give it some thought when approached by casting directors for both shows, ironically the calls came in the same time just a couple years apart.
My unabashed presence on social media was what sparked their interest and I think after witnessing me hold my own on Fire Island, I was an easy pick for this show. I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting myself into, but I knew I was going to have to be on guard and overcome a lot of emotional obstacles to come out on top exposure-wise form this show. Either way, the fact that I had the opportunity to be one of the first gays in MTV history as far as dating platforms like Ex on the Beach goes, I had to take part in it. Just like Fire Island this was the first of its kind and I ultimately couldn’t turn it down.
You get into it with from TMOG star Farrah Abraham. What's your overall take on her?
I by nature have an aversion to bullshit. I think the producers were very wise putting Farrah and I in close quarters. It made for really great, but really bad TV! From days before we started filming Farrah had sunk her claws into the production for specific needs and demands that held up the entire operation before we even entered the house. I didn’t take kindly to the fact that someone else was there soaking up time and people’s energy that could be utilized constructively somewhere else.
I don’t care who you are, what “reality TV” you’ve been on in the past – if you’re disrespectful, rude, demanding, and undeserving of special treatment, I’m going to call you out. It honestly was the perfect storm. I couldn’t stand listening to her berate the producers, it got so bad that people’s jobs were being jeopardized. No one wanted to work with her, and I certainly didn’t want to live with her. I really had to pull all the strength I had in me to keep from blowing a gasket sooner than I did in the kitchen on episode one.
From that point on I think things mellowed out a bit and we kept our distance. I do, however, stand by my argument that if Farrah hadn’t been pregnant and on Teen Mom she wouldn’t have been there. By no means was I degrading her parenting skills which I was accused of. At that point I still had no clue who she was and never even watched an episode of Teen Mom, heck I had no idea who ANYONE was in the house until after we got out and I STILL haven’t seen most of the shows these people were on. It didn’t matter to me anyway, no one should receive special treatment in these situations unless they’re suffering from a disability. It’s silly reality TV – not the Met Gala.
Do you look back at your time on the LOGO show Fire Island with happiness or regret?
I try my best to live a life without regrets. Fire Island was my first foot in the door with reality TV and a unique and magical experience as filming there was also my first time on the island. I had paid for a share house of my own with friends and already had flights booked for that summer to vacation there, so when the call came in It was very good timing.
I will say, I don’t like seeing myself aggressively drunk or angry and really don’t enjoy people tearing others down for the sake of camera time. I loved working with everyone on the show except for one cast member who I have recently been in contact with to congratulate and further encourage him on his newfound sobriety. I like to look at both shows as stepping stones to a much greater more purposeful career in television in the not too distant future.
What else do you have coming up in 2019?
For 2019, priority one is getting maisonparker.com and its charitable ventures running at full speed. I am also working on getting my reel together and this year will actively seek out new television and modeling opportunities, rather than letting them find me. I want to create a show that showcases the trials and tribulations as well as fun entertainment aspects for the LGBTQ+ communities all around the world. Given our political state of indecency I think it’s extremely important to keep gays on TV whether it be reality or not!
For more on Cheyenne Parker, click here.
he’s just jealous his other
he's just jealous his other peer on the show became a successful porn star