MIKE ROWE, DIRTY JOBS
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Is it true that you were almost the onscreen host of The Deadliest Catch rather than just the narrator?
MIKE ROWE: I worked on the boats and I hosted the first season. And, when we were nearly complete, the network called and said, ''Look, we're going to go ahead and do Dirty Jobs, congratulations — but you got to pick one. Because they're gonna be on the same night and we can't have you telling us stories about six dead fishermen on camera and making a fart joke with your arm in a cow's ass.''
What's been your dirtiest dirty job?
For pure disgust, it was probably removing a lift pump out of a waste water treatment plant. Normally, after the crew and I have a day out, we'll sit down somewhere and have a beer. We couldn't even talk to each other after this. I was, like, ''Guys, I'll see you around.'' We just went home and tried to forget what we'd seen.
You used to work at QVC? What was that like?
The ultimate dirty job. It's almost as if I sold out before I had any success to compromise. It's odd — today I'm the spokesman for Ford and I have this hit show in 128 countries. And it's weirder than people think. I lecture now at Fortune 500 companies. I go to universities and talk about the changing face of the proletariat in modern-day workplaces and how technology has fundamentally changed the basic sense of what work looks like. You know, people pay me to pontificate on all of this s---! I'd be lying if I said I didn't like it. I just can't believe somebody hasn't called me out for being an imposter yet. People listen, God love 'em. But then, I do have 150-plus stories to back up any harebrained point I might care to make.
How many different types of animals have you had your fingers on and/or inside over the last couple of years?
I don't want to overstate it, but... a lot. Most recently, in Montana, I castrated a yak. A yak, for God's sake! So it's getting a bit more esoteric. We've done 152 different jobs, and animals have been the star of the show, for better or worse.
So who has the most dangerous job out of Les, Sig, Phil and you?
An actuarial accountant would say Sig and Phil. A survival expert would probably say Les. But, all modesty aside, nobody is as unqualified to do the job at hand on a daily basis as me. So, I have the most dangerous job! I'm on the crab boat or the oil rig — I just don't know what the hell I'm doing! I'm a lumberjack and I'm NOT okay. So I'm going with me.
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