It's time for a confession: George Clooney and I have "a thing" together. It certainly won't make the pages of a tabloid, but it does involve luxury hotel rooms.
About ten times over the last decade, I've been invited to these five-star establishments to interview the one dubbed The Sexiest Man Alive.
It's always the same routine: George is a hugger. Then he will ask me to sit on the couch. Next to him.
"Okay, this is what I need," George said the last time. "Hotdogs. From that place. Come on! Ask the guy to send them to this address. He can freeze dry them."
Here's the deal: George knows I'm from Chicago because I used to interview him all the time when he filmed "ER" in the Windy City. Now, each time we do an interview for his latest movie, we have this routine. Or, a thing.
He asks me to ship him some really-bad-for-you culinary delight he can't get on the West Coast. It's usually the world's worst, yet greatest junk food. "Deep dish pizza," he suggested last time. "They can freeze dry it."
"Wait, you're the Sexiest Male Breathing. And you eat hotdogs. And pizza?" I asked him.
To which, he delivered his devastating Clooney smile. You know. The bad boy, aw-shucks look.
"Guys just want to live a little bit," George told me.
Then in another breath, he wanted to take a trek down memory lane to when he used to film those rooftop helicopter scenes for "ER" on the top of Chicago's firefighter training academy. Once, I went to pick up George with the series publicist. It was a hot summer day and he came out of his room in tight jeans and a green suede vest. No shirt. (Honestly, I don't think my best friend Vickie will ever forgive me for having this moment.)
"I have to put on my 'ER' scrubs anyway," he says, motioning for me to follow him into the limo to go to the set. And then it happened....
"Can we stop for some dogs along the way?" he asked the driver.
One thing about The Clooney: He's consistent.
Ladies, the point here is that George lets it go once in awhile at least when it comes to his – shall we call it – grooming and fitness routine. He's certainly not what anyone would dub as obsessive, which is part of his appeal
His friend Cindy Crawford told me a great story about him. There she was at his Lake Como pad with her husband Randy Gerber and George's girlfriend. Cindy says that George loves to dress for dinner.
Okay, stop and imagine it. Dark grey designer suit. The silver fox hair.
Deep breath.
Cindy says that George is the kind of guy who prefers a joke to a pressed suit. "All of a sudden, he stands up from dinner and jumps in the lake," she marvels. "Then he excused himself to go change. I'm sure he could hear the laughter all the way into his shower to get the lake muck off him."
This brings me to male beauty routines.
Women constantly ask me what they can do to make their guys look a little bit better without the guys knowing it. They say that their guys are Clooneys. They want to live a little bit and not obsess about appearance. It's just that their guys don't look like a Clooney.
In this column, I'll periodically give you a few quick male beauty tips that women can sort of foist on their guys – without them even knowing it.
Even George would smile.
Tip #1: Want your guy to have hair like George, but he's losing his locks?
Man-swer: So what if his hair isn't as thick as it used to be when you were first dating in 1982. Don't fret. Just add two teaspoons of ground flaxseed to his daily diet. You can put it into oatmeal, yogurt, soups, orange juice, etc.) The flaxseed will slow hair loss by helping to balance out the high levels of hormones, which is why the hair is falling out.
Tip #2: It's snowing, but it's not winter. Your Significant Other has a little bit of dandruff and you don't want to hurt his feelings by singing the Vanessa Williams song, "Sometimes the snow comes down in June."
Man-swer: Offer to give him a little scalp massage, but first slather up your hands with aloe vera gel. Rub it in for about five minutes and then have him shower and shampoo it out. If your guy will allow it, ask him to add a few teaspoons of limejuice to his shampoo, which will also combat the problem.
Tip #3: Great news that he's living in the gym and dropping pounds. The bad news is when he takes his athletic shoes off – PU. He has a nasty case of athlete's foot.
Man-swer: A fast cure for athlete's foot is to take one tablespoon of baking soda and add five or six drops of water. Ask your guy to take this mixture and rub it into his feet, including between his toes. This part is crucial: Relax and don't rinse for ten minutes. Rinse. Have him powder his feet with cornstarch. Your guy will lose the yuck – asap.
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