- Our income was cut in half when mama died
and we hunted and we fished.
Because we didn't have the money,
for as many groceries as we need.
And it felt like we were just doing
something cool every day.
He never let us know that we were
struggling and didn't have enough food.
- Welcome to Gettin' Grilled.
I'm Jordan Stratton.
And today we're serving up Coffey Anderson.
He's a country music star from bangs Texas,
who is married to Criscilla Anderson, a hip hop dancer
from Las Vegas, and with their diverse backgrounds,
undeniable chemistry, and rowdy trio of kids,
they do what anyone would do, partner with Netflix
to create their own reality show.
It's called Country Ever After,
and while it's a lot of wholesome fun on its own
it also doesn't shy away from the harder sides
of life, as they feature Criscilla battling her way
through chemotherapy and back to health
after being diagnosed with colon cancer.
The show streaming on Netflix right now
and Coffey could not be more excited to talk about it.
So, let's get grilling.
(upbeat music)
I appreciate the time you've been here.
- Very welcome, Jordan you kidding me.
- So yeah, I mean, I've watched the first,
I think four episodes, I think it's great.
I, I watched, I was 10 minutes through the first episode.
I'm like,
I already know it has all of the ingredients to be this,
the next, like big thing that people are
like,
(Coffey cheering)
I just, I just love that couple.
They're just the best couple.
Like I'm just waiting
for like all of the, it's going to happen, man.
I'm telling you
- Bro, Criscilla and I met in LA .
So we go Ventura Boulevard in Hollywood.
I said, I'm on French toast, cheese eggs
extra bacon, a side of fruit, and a large orange juice
with a water.
I said, "Criscilla, what are you getting?"
She said, "I want the same thing."
And I was like...
- Your heart just leaps out of your chest.
- [Coffey] Bro!
- She gets it.
- So people were like...
- [Jordan] She gets it
- "How did you know she was the one?",
over the French toast and bacon.
That's how someone knew.
- You guys were facing so much at that time.
A lot of adversity, you were walking
through this, this cancer treatment.
You're battling it out week after week.
- The biggest challenge we are facing right now
is my health.
- Let's go knock this last one out.
- So far I've had seven rounds of chemo.
- [Coffey] Even though maybe a tough season,
feel like God has been good to us.
- What went through your mind
when you're just like,
yeah, we could throw a reality show in there.
That's fine. Yeah.
- We felt so comfortable knowing
that it would be shot in the right way.
They weren't going to take advantage of our situation.
They weren't going to show her in a bad light,
because, there are rough days with the cancer treatment.
- Well, it's hard.
I think people don't,
especially in times like 2020, like people
aren't going to want to flip on a show about cancer
you know, but this show doesn't feel
like that, it's not just the...
- [Coffey] No.
- It's not a walkthrough (stammering) through
cancer treatment. You know.
- You know what it is?
It's only one part of our life.
- [Jordan] Yeah. Yeah
- Cause she's a mom, she's an accomplished dancer.
She's a wife.
We have amazing children. We have awesome friends.
- Man. So speaking of your kids,
how were they walking through this?
Like how do you parent through that?
- You know, I I think, I think
after about two days
when they stopped hugging the camera man's leg,
and they get used to it after a while.
- Right.
- And then, you forget the cameras are there.
You just, you just are who you are.
And hopefully you can see yourself,
hopefully you can see your family,
hopefully you can take some
of the things that we do that works
and apply them to your own life.
You're not going anywhere.
I'm not going anywhere.
I'm going to drive you crazy,
I'm going to take off my boots and leave my dirty socks
in the living room for the next 40 years.
- Tell me a little about,
about your dad and your relationship.
- Okay. So my, my, again, my mother passed away
when I was young,
So my dad is a tough love guy, that's Stan
the man..
- Yeah. Military man
- An apostle and Cajun.
So there was nothing allowed in our house,
but Jesus and shrimp, growing up.
- Put that on a bumper sticker man, come on
- You can't, again, you can't make this up
- Yeah
You can't take the fact that I'm a black country singer
married to a white hip hop dancer.
And I got a Cajun air force Christian daddy that staunch
on morals, values, chivalry. He don't play.
Let me tell you how cool Stan was, our income was cut
in half when mom died.
He bought a deep freezer, was 4 by 6 feet.
He bought Ziploc bags and he bought bullets,
and we hunted and we fished, it's because we
didn't have the money for as many groceries as we need.
And it felt like we were just doing something cool
every day.
He never let us know
that we were struggling and didn't have enough food.
And, was he hard on us? Yes, absolutely.
But, look what came out of it?
Man, we are better examples than Stan the man.
- So what is this looking like going forward?
Are you guys, are you guys already filming again
or are they just waiting to
see what the, what the reaction is?
- We're not filming right now
we have to see what, what Netflix says
if they're interested in another season
- Fair
- and so I tell people all the time, hit the thumbs up.
- Oh man. It's true.
- When you hit the like,
when you hit the heart button,
when you hit that remind me bell on Netflix
for Country Ever After,
you are going to keep seeing shows that way.
There's no other show, out,
that you can watch top to bottom,
beginning to end,
front to back and its family friendly, but us.
- Alright, I'm going to, I'm going to pivot
just a little bit.
Cause we're wrapping and don't have time here.
Let's talk about grilling a little bit.
I don't know if you're necessarily a grilling
man. Are you?
- Yeah. Yeah
- Okay.Okay, I'm just..
- I'm I'm barbecue serial, who are you talking to?
- Then you're in the right show.
- So... - Come on
- Let's talk about grilling a little bit.
I want to know what's your favorite thing to eat
off that grill.
- I need, I need a smoked or grilled burger,
so I'll do a ribeye medium.
Take that steak, grind it, make a meat patty out of it
take smoked sausage or a hot link.
Depending on what part of Louisiana you woke up to
So you got the burger, cheese, hotlink,
smoked shrimp on a Hawaiian bread bun with spinach.
So you put this spinach instead of lettuce
meat, cheese, sausage, shrimp smoke
on a Hawaiian bread bun.
- I just feel like I had a, like a spiritual experience
with you.
- [Coffey] You welcome.
- Just walking through man.
Man, I just had a moment, Roma Downey.
Just like
there's a light going down in my head.
It's great. It's beautiful.
Thank you so much for this time.
That, that is I I'm starving now.
Thank you.
[Coffey Laughing]
This is a great interview.
I love the show.
- [Coffey] Thank you
- There's a point in the show where
you say you have beer goggles of optimism.
I think that is, I mean
this interview just shows that perfectly.
(ethereal music)