Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!
Andy King Is Ready to Be Your Favorite Player on The Anonymous
After the Fyre Festival debacle, Andy King is ready to reveal his true self on The Anonymous.
Sometimes life just feels like a competition reality show. Take for instance Andy King, a long-time New York City celebrity event planner, interior designer, and cookbook author. For 30 years, Andy maintained an impeccable reputation planning sustainable, “zero-waste” events for the city's most elite. However, his 2017 decision to help entrepreneur Billy McFarland with his Fyre Festival music fest almost tanked his career when the event devolved into an international meme defined by ineptitude and fraud.
RELATED: USA Network's Social Competition Series The Anonymous Gets Premiere Date: Details
After the dust had settled, Andy appeared in the 2019 Netflix documentary Fyre to explain his participation and perspective. His candor about what happened behind the scenes at the fest made him an instant viral meme subject. People still use the .gif (yes, that one) today.
Now, Andy is back in the spotlight as a contestant on USA Network's new competition series The Anonymous.
It's a game of social strategy that puts 12 people under one roof with an anonymous aspect to the gameplay where they are free to say what they really feel behind the safety of a digital avatar.
"I had no idea that my life would change forever," Andy told USA Insider about the aftermath of Fyre. "I had no idea that I would lose my anonymity. It was crazy. So the reason of the attractiveness to doing The Anonymous is that I wanted a vehicle to help change the narrative. I don't want to be known necessarily as 'Andy King from the Fyre Festival' for the rest of my life. There's a lot more to me than the world got to know."
Why The Anonymous is tailor-made for Andy King's lived experience
Despite all things Fyre Fest, Andy has continued a career as a successful, New York City-based event producer. His elite clients often demand discretion, and that's something Andy said has become something of a specialty.
"Working with some of the most high-profile celebrities around the world, we're always talking about anonymity and the anonymous," Andy said. "I couldn't post about anything I was doing. I couldn't talk about the fact that I'm hanging with Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, or Beyoncé and Jay-Z. There were no photos."
Andy's ability to keep secrets — coupled with his own backstory growing up as one of nine children — made him well-prepared for the demands of The Anonymous.
"I have lived in a social experiment my entire life," Andy said, laughing. "Suddenly, there's a platform staying with 11 other people for a period of time in a house. I'm like, 'Well, that brings me back to when I was eight years old.' All my skills from having to be 'he anonymous' in my real adult life, to living a crazy life with a big family, to learning how to balance what to say and what not to say, how to put out fires — excuse the pun — and be the ultimate team player, what a perfect recipe that I have for the show."
King says losing his own anonymity makes him uniquely prepared The Anonymous
"It was definitely bizarre, losing my anonymity," Andy said of the unexpected aftermath of his Fyre fame. "I couldn't go anywhere. Even still, last night, I'm in a restaurant in Hudson, New York. Two tables away, and [my boyfriend] is going, 'Got a spotting.' So, I put my drink down and wave. They wave, and of course they're taking my picture and they're showing my meme."
He's had five years to acknowledge and process his newfound status in the public eye. Andy said what he's learned leading up to his inclusion in The Anonymous cast is that he's got a competitive side, too.
"I am the ultimate team player, as you know, and I will do whatever it takes to make the world happy," he reiterated. "But I've kind of learned later in life that I'll also do whatever it takes to win.
"I'm hoping I'll be a fan favorite. Let's see," he said of his goal within the show. "And then I'll decide what [I'm going to do] with the fame."
The Anonymous kicks off with a three-episode premiere on Monday, August 19 at 11 p.m. ET/PT on USA Network. Episodes will also air simultaneously across Bravo and SYFY on premiere night and repeat in primetime daily on USA throughout the week.
