When FOX invited reality TV star and celebrity dermatologist Dr. Will Kirby to join the “TV Doctors” edition of Celebrity Weakest Link, he didn’t need any convincing—or any preparation, for that matter. The Big Brother 2 winner walked onto the set armed with what he calls a “masterful knowledge of useless trivia,” ready to face rapid-fire questions and a lineup of doctors from both the scripted and unscripted world.
Kirby, who also serves as Chief Medical Offer of Laser Away, talked exclusively with Men’s Journal about the strategy he brought into the game, why actors and doctors play differently, the unlikely connections he had with other contestants, and the competitive edge that’s pushing him toward his next goal: Celebrity Jeopardy.
Celebrity Weakest Link airs on FOX tonight, Monday, December 8 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Scroll down to read the full interview with Will.
Men’s Journal: How did you end up joining the “TV Doctors” edition of Celebrity Weakest Link?
Dr. Will Kirby: When they call you on a Friday night and they say that you’re their first choice and it films Tuesday, you are not their first choice. You are not their first choice. But that doesn’t bother me at all, because I am always honored to be called and I’m always going to perform and I’m always going to do a great job. It’s a TV doctors episode, and some of these people are true legends in the scripted world. And so we were lucky enough that they also brought in some people from the unscripted world. I have a masterful knowledge of useless trivia that can’t be monetized. And I said, ‘You know what? Let me bring this bizarre brain to Celebrity Weakest Link and see what I can do.’
Men’s Journal: How familiar were you with the show going into it?
Dr. Will: Yeah, I needed zero prep time. I put a suit on and was at the studio and I was ready to rock and roll. In fact, my message to FOX right now is that when you guys do All-StarsCelebrity Weakest Link, I’m ready. I don’t even need to brush my teeth. I’m ready to go anytime.
Men’s Journal: Is there even a way to prepare for this show? Or do you just rely on what you already know?
Dr. Will: I’ve been waiting my whole life to do this. I’m fully prepared. I’m a Trivial Pursuit aficionado, and I have a ton of useless information in my brain that I’m ready to share with anyone at any time.
Men’s Journal: Did being one of the real doctors among TV doctors make it competitive at all?
Dr. Will: You know, it is for charity, so I think there’s that element where it takes a little bit of pressure off, because you’re not playing necessarily for personal pride or your own bank account. But by the same token, I am a very competitive person—so much in fact, that I often have to remind myself to not think of everything as a competition. In the context of this show, it’s really just the individuals versus their knowledge base and how fast they can pull up trivia retrieval. The rapidity of the questions makes it more challenging, and the lights are bright, you’re under a lot of pressure, and there are people staring at you. It’s not as easy as you think.
Men’s Journal: When the round is actually happening, are you focused on what everyone else is doing, or only your own moment when the question comes to you?
Dr. Will: You have to monitor what’s happening, because you know you’re going to have to vote and you want to bank money when you can. But I try to stay in the zone and put that to the side so I don’t have to worry about it and just focus on getting my question correct.
Men’s Journal: Were there any TV doctors you already knew going into the episode?
Dr. Will: I knew of Dr. Lee—Dr. Sandra Lee, Dr. Pimple Popper. She’s a legend in the industry. I had briefly met Dr. [Terry] Dubrow, and although I wasn’t on camera with him, I had been on a number of episodes of Real Housewives of Orange County. I love television, so I knew every other doctor there. And I’ll tell you another really bizarre Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon thing: Hill Harper and I were investors in a sports bar about 20 years ago, a Hollywood sports bar. So when I got there and saw he was there, I bonded with him and was hoping we could have some sort of alliance if it came down to it.
Men’s Journal: Speaking of alliances, did you have a strategy going in?
Dr. Will: Of course. You know me—I’m going to bring a strategy to everything we do. As soon as we got there, I asked the handler which trailers the other people were in. Dr. Lee’s was immediately next to mine, so I went in there. The key to any reality strategy is letting the other person think it was their strategy. She said, ‘Hey, I have an idea… maybe we should work together.’ And I was like, ‘What? I never would have thought of that. Sounds great.’ Then I said we needed at least one more person. Dr. Dubrow was in the next trailer over. We introduced ourselves. I said, ‘If it comes down to it, I want you guys to think of things in alphabetical order.’ They loved it. There was definitely a structured strategy in place.
Men’s Journal: You mentioned earlier that actors approach competition differently. What did you notice?
Dr. Will: In my experience, actors are unbelievably intelligent—almost to a detriment, because their IQ is tied to their EQ. They’re used to emoting and feeding off others. Doctors are trained to be more objective. So when it came to strategy, the actors ran into a buzz saw. They weren’t prepared. They might have been smart and excited to play for charity, but they weren’t ready for the acumen a skilled competitive reality player can bring.
Men’s Journal: Who did you think would be the biggest competition?
Dr. Will: Oh my God, Hill Harper. Not only is he really smart, but accomplished. You can’t be on that stage with Jane Lynch unless you’re intelligent. But you have to get into a tunnel and block everything else out. That’s hard for an actor, because they’re relying on everyone around them. Here, they would’ve been better if they ignored everything else and just answered the questions.
Men’s Journal: What charity were you playing for?
Dr. Will: I was playing for a turtle charity—the Ojai Tortoise and Turtle Conservancy.
Men’s Journal: Was it fun being on stage with Jane Lynch?
Dr. Will: I’m a huge comedy fan. When you look at comedy legends like Jane Lynch or someone like Kal Penn, these are people I revere. I fully recognized that I was the least celebrity on Celebrity Weakest Link this whole season—no problem at all. I had an amazing time and I’m always going to bring my A-game.
Men’s Journal: Because you were being billed as a doctor, less so than a reality star, did you feel like you had a bit of a different persona?
Dr. Will: It’s all contextual. Dr. Will is a character. Will or Dr. Kirby—those are different characters. The Dr. Will character can thrive on Deal or No Deal Island or Big Brother. But for this show, it’s a completely different character. As I’m in the golden years of my unscripted reality career, it used to be about KQ, kinetic quotient. Then EQ. Now it’s about IQ. And I love leaning into that.
Men’s Journal: Speaking of other shows, any you’re still open to competing on?
Dr. Will: I’ve been a Jeopardy fan for years, and I’m telling you right now—Celebrity Jeopardy—I’m 100 percent prepared to go tomorrow. Call Ken Jennings and get him involved. I will be on Celebrity Jeopardy in some way. If you’re a celebrity and I’m on stage with you, you are going to be annihilated. I’m going to absolutely crush it. You better fake an illness and get taken out in a wheelchair because I’m going to slaughter it.
Men’s Journal: Was Celebrity Weakest Link good prep for that?
Dr. Will: In many ways, yes. This is prime time. Jane Lynch is a star. I do think the show could reward players who get the most questions right—there should be some sort of immunity. But I walked away unbelievably pleased and happy with everything that occurred.
