Chet Hanks Says Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson Were ‘On Board’ With Him Joining ‘The Surreal Life’

After years of embarrassing the Hanks family name on social media, Chet Hanks is finally bringing his talents to reality TV with The Surreal Life: Villa of Secrets.

Chet Hanks is finally bringing his talents to reality TV with The Surreal Life: Villa of Secrets.

As a family, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have already endured seeing their son use a fake Jamaican accent and coin the term “White Boy Summer” as a thing. Surely, The Surreal Life couldn’t be any worse right?

According to Chet, his A-list parents were completely on board with him signing up for The Surreal Life. Are they just relieved to see their 33-year-old son finally landing a job doing something? Perhaps. Either way, Chet opened up about their support going into the new show.

Tom and Rita are on board

Chet spoke to Us Weekly about his parents’ reaction to him joining The Surreal Life. He said they were fully supportive of him dipping his toes into the reality TV world because The Surreal Life isn’t a messy show. If he got cast on Love and Hip Hop, then they’d probably be less supportive.

“The Surreal Life is a different kind of show. It’s not messy and negative,” Chet explained. “It’s more about personal growth and relationships with people and vulnerability.”

He continued, “It’s a completely different type of reality TV. I had full support in doing it.”

During his time on the show, Chet allegedly had a little bit of a showmance with Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Kim Zolciak. Whether or not his parents will approve of that is yet to be determined. Regardless, it sounds like Chet had a positive experience filming the show and tried to make the best out of every moment. He teased that we’re going to see a “softer and more tender” side to him throughout the season. Stay tuned to see what that looks like.

The Surreal Life: Villa of Secrets airs Tuesday nights at 9/8c on MTV.

TELL US – ARE YOU SURPRISED TO HEAR THAT CHET’S PARENTS SUPPORTED HIM DOING REALITY TV? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON CHET SO FAR ON THE SHOW?