CHRIS CIOMPI

"I want it to be for the gay community, but I want it to be mixed—I don’t want to exclude anybody, and I think it’s much more interesting to have a big mix of people.”

Whether he’s jogging shirtless in Runyon Canyon or getting his groove on at his new lounge, i candy, Los Angeles’ out and hot Tyler Robuck is working to make his life better and more fulfilling. Oh, and he’s doing it all while TV cameras follow him around 24/7 for a new reality show coming soon on Logo, called Open Bar. He’s thankful for his success, happy in his life and open to finding love with that one special guy—we’ll drink to that!

pan class="moreSubheader">‘Sup, Tyler?
pan class="pageSubheader">Hey. You’re not going to do like a reality show and edit me crazy, are you? No. Me? Let’s just talk about you and what you’re doing. So…Tyler Robuck, 34, originally from…? Los Angeles. Northridge.

pan class="moreSubheader">And you got your MBA at USC, right?
pan class="pageSubheader">Yes.

pan class="moreSubheader">Are you a [USC] Trojan fan?
pan class="pageSubheader">I’m a huge Trojan fan.

pan class="moreSubheader">Is everything maroon and gold?
pan class="pageSubheader">Yes, it is. I’m a huge, huge fan. During football season I love going to the games.

pan class="moreSubheader">Oh, ‘cause you were a football player in high school?
pan class="pageSubheader">Uh-huh. It’s so much fun.

pan class="moreSubheader">Did you play in college?
pan class="pageSubheader">No. I had several scholarship offers but when I went to Santa Barbara for the weekend—to visit my brother who went there before me—I was like, “This is it.” And they had dropped their football program up there.

pan class="moreSubheader">Okay, so you’re finishing your MBA, you’re 30, you’re in L.A. What do you want to do?
pan class="pageSubheader">You know, the idea for opening the bar hit me one day so quickly—if it could be pulled off, what a fun thing it would be. Since I was just coming out, I wanted to immerse myself in the West Hollywood community. It’s a big project, a big challenge, which I like doing, and I thought, “if it works out, well what a cool job!”

pan class="moreSubheader">Is that when you came out, right when you were finishing your MBA?
pan class="pageSubheader">Yeah, I pretty much came out to everyone at that time. But, to be honest, I was still living in the Valley. Technically, I’d come out, but I wasn’t like living, you know; I wasn’t really dating or going out that much. I’d go out to West Hollywood once in a while, but I’d really stick around my straight friends mostly. You know, I kind of made a decision to immerse myself much more in the city and live as a gay man.

pan class="moreSubheader">So, when did you come over the hill to live in WeHo?
pan class="pageSubheader">This past February.

pan class="moreSubheader">And, how’s it going for you over on this side?
pan class="pageSubheader">It’s going good—I mean, besides being so busy I don’t have time to tie my shoe. It’s not good for dating when you’re exposed to so many cute boys without any time to date one. It’s like forced and restricted window-shopping. Well, at least it’s nice window-shopping. I mean, there are a lot of cute boys in West Hollywood. Just don’t fall prey to that old saying that it’s a town of tens looking for elevens. I’ve never heard that saying, but it really does apply here.

pan class="moreSubheader">Okay, so, your bar—i candy—has just opened. How was the opening party?
pan class="pageSubheader">The grand opening was unbelievable. We had to hire a fire marshal, in fact. We actually hired one to do fire watch. You couldn’t move!

pan class="moreSubheader">And camera crews were following you around everywhere?
pan class="pageSubheader">They always follow me around. [Laughs.] So really, this has been a big commitment to do this show for Logo. This has been a huge commitment. It’s been about three months actually.

pan class="moreSubheader">Do you have any idea how many hours of footage they have?
pan class="pageSubheader">I think they’re going to do 100 to 1, someone said. 100 hours shot for every one hour of show. Isn’t that crazy?

pan class="moreSubheader">Well how many hours do they follow you around per day?
pan class="pageSubheader">When we were really in the middle of all the shooting, they’d follow me from morning to night. They’d follow me from nine in the morning…they’d come over to my house… And wake you up, like, “Hello!”Usually I get up and exercise in the morning, go for a run. Sometimes, I run in the canyons, and they would go with me. They had to get someone who was really in shape.

pan class="moreSubheader">Yeah, if you’re running in the canyon, you’re working. It’s not like a little walk in the park.
pan class="pageSubheader">Exactly, the cameraman got a workout. There’s good cruising there too, in the canyon. There are really cute boys walking their dog in the canyon. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been running down the hill and been like, “Ooh, I should stop…”

pan class="moreSubheader">[Laughs.] All right, so the bar’s open a week, and now…Are they done filming?
pan class="pageSubheader">This week they’ll be done.

pan class="moreSubheader">When does the show come out?
pan class="pageSubheader">Originally, it was going to be late August or September, but I guess they’ve seen the first episode and they really like it. They’re really getting behind it now. I think they want to move it up.

pan class="moreSubheader">So what is the show really about?
pan class="pageSubheader">It’s kind of about my emergence, you know—coming out and really living down here and immersing myself in the community. That with the backdrop of creating and opening this brand new restaurant/lounge for the community.

pan class="moreSubheader">Now that the show is over and the bar is open, do you think you’ll have more time to “tie your shoe”?
pan class="pageSubheader">[laughs] I think once things get more…once we get an idea of what the flow is going to be like, which nights are good and which are slower, I’ll be able to plan my life more.

pan class="moreSubheader">And time for maybe a boy?
pan class="pageSubheader">Possibly a boyfriend, I’d love that. Boyfriends are good. I’d actually really love that. And you wouldn’t have to plan your free time trying to find one. You can just do things. Right? Traveling, being together. You don’t always have to go out and shop.

pan class="moreSubheader">So, you’re boyfriend-minded?
pan class="pageSubheader">Yes. Pretty much. But you know what they say: “When you look you never find.” But, I admit, I’m really open to it.

pan class="moreSubheader">Really? Who is this boy?
pan class="pageSubheader">Um, I think he just walked by right there [indicating outside the bar] as a matter of fact. [calling] Hello! Boyfriend! [laughs] I don’t know who he is. He’s out there somewhere though.

pan class="moreSubheader">Do you have a picture of this boy in your mind?
pan class="pageSubheader">No, I really don’t. The people I’ve dated have been different from one another.

pan class="moreSubheader">No one type?
pan class="pageSubheader">You know, I’m really attracted to creativity in people. Passion. I like people who have something different going on all the time. And I like passion.

pan class="moreSubheader">Passionate about

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