Conan O’Brien isn’t interested in interviewing reality TV stars.
The 51-year-old talk show icon has seen celebrity culture evolve since he first took the airwaves on ‘Late Night with Conan O’Brien’ in 1993 but he’s more interested in talking to people who are known for a talent than stars of reality TV like ‘Jersey Shore’.
His comments come after Chelsea Handler – who quit her show ‘Chelsea Lately’ – revealed she was "sick" of talking about the likes of the Kardashians.
Quizzed about Chelsea’s controversial remarks, Conan exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "We don’t do as many reality stars just because most of them aren’t that interesting to talk to. I like people that have really achieved something, and have crafted a career, and are fascinating to talk to.
"I don’t think I’ve ever talked to the Bachelor or the Bachelorette, just because I don’t know what we’d talk about – ‘Oh, so you were on a show and pretended to fall in love with somebody and then you got a free vacation. So what else is going on?’ I don’t know that the conversation would go anywhere.
"If someone was 18 years old and climbed the Matterhorn, I want to talk to them and say, ‘How the hell did you that?’ If someone’s a great film icon, if someone wrote something amazing, if somebody pulled off some great feat at the Olympics – I want to talk to them because it’s inherently interesting. There’s only so far you can get talking to the ninth person on ‘Jersey Shore’. It’s like, ‘OK… you got a tan, and went to the gym, and then got another tan.’ "
Conan has interviewed Hollywood royalty such as Tom Hanks and Madonna over the years but he he has still yet to secure a chat with iconic actor-and-director Clint Eastwood.
He said: "I’ve talked to just about everybody but I haven’t talked to Clint Eastwood, who I cite because he’s one of the old guard [of Hollywood]. I’ve never even met him – it’d be cool to meet Clint Eastwood.
"And Cher, just to see what she looks like now! She’s changing constantly. I just want to get a good look at Cher up close, that’s all. I’ll have a jeweller’s loop in my eye. I wanna see what she’s all about."
Catch ‘Conan’ on new free to air channel truTV (11pm Monday-Thursday from 4th August) – channel number 68, the home of larger-than-life characters in real situations.
Conan O’Brien not interested in reality stars
