Rappin’ Iceman gets down with the Amish
Vanilla Ice immersed in culture
TORONTO — What could a flashy, Florida-based pop icon share in common with members of a tight-knit religious sect in rural Ohio? Well, a passion for craftsmanship for starters — but not of the musical variety.
Rob Van Winkle — better known as Vanilla Ice — catapulted to fame with his ’90s smash hit, Ice Ice Baby, the first rap single to top the Billboard Hot 100.
More recently, he’s been charting success in the renovation realm by purchasing, remodelling and selling homes, not to mention documenting renos on The Vanilla Ice Project.
In Vanilla Ice Goes Amish, which premières Sunday at 10 p.m. on DIY Network, Van Winkle heads to Holmes County, Ohio — the largest Amish settlement in the U.S. — to learn from master craftsmen and to fully immerse himself in the Amish way of life.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect because I know that they build furniture and stuff like that, but I didn’t know much beyond that,” admitted the affable Van Winkle. “And so, when I get there, I see that they really ... pride themselves on craftsmanship and their abilities and their skills. They’ll build anything you want.”
Once the idea for Vanilla Ice Goes Amish was cemented with the network, making initial arrangements to film required extraordinary measures.
“You can’t send a fax. You can’t send an email. You can’t send a tweet, a text, a Vine (video), a nothing,” Van Winkle said, noting that a representative flew to Ohio and drove two-and-a-half hours to meet with community members.
“He didn’t even know if they knew who Vanilla Ice was. And they did, they knew. They’d heard of Vanilla Ice. It was pretty cool. They’re not that sheltered. They’re American. They know what’s going on.”
In the series debut, Van Winkle works with a construction crew to transform a dated kitchen into a state-of-theart space. But he quickly learns about the challenges of carrying out routine tasks, like requiring permission from the church bishop to use electricity or power tools.
“When we’re doing (work for) the Amish folks, you have to consider that there’s no electricity. So your backsplash, you don’t have to worry about putting a bunch of outlets (in). There won’t be any lights, there won’t be any fixtures, undercounter lights or anything.”
When he wasn’t involved in construction work, Van Winkle was walking the walk when it came to Amish life, taking residence phones, the Internet and even mirrors.
“Once they saw I knew what I was doing there, they warmed up to me,” said Van Winkle, quick to draw a distinction between his own show and the often-controversial portrayals of the Amish seen in other programs.
“But the truth is, this is a real show. It’s not staged,” he added. “This is me with real Amish families and building with a real Amish team and doing a fantastic job and showcasing their heritage.”