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Eugene Levy is going from comedy to reality TV. On his new show, The Reluctant Traveler, Levy visits exotic locations. It’s a new venture for Levy, one he said no to at first. 

Eugene Levy smiles in his travels for "The Reluctant Traveler"
Eugene Levy | Apple TV+

Showbiz Cheat Sheet attended a press conference for The Reluctant Traveler in January. The Schitt’s Creek star explained why he resisted the travel show and how Apple TV+ changed his mind. The Reluctant Traveler premieres Feb. 24 on Apple TV+ and we’ll have more with Levy here at Cheat Sheet. 

Why Eugene Levy said no to ‘The Reluctant Traveler’

Perhaps Levy lived up to the title too much. He was so reluctant he didn’t even want to host The Reluctant Traveler, although it wasn’t called that at first. They adapted it to fit his personality but more on that later. 

“I was approached to host a show they called about,” Levy said. “It was a show about hotels. It was I think called Room with a View, that’s what they said. They wanted me to host it, hotels around the world. I knew myself. I was thinking why me #1 because I don’t hate traveling, I just don’t love traveling. And I’m not a curious person. I have no great sense of adventure. I think these are attributes you actually need to host a travel show so I said no.”

Eugene Levy met with Apple TV+ anyway 

Levy may have turned Apple TV+ down but he was still gracious. He had a meeting with them and inadvertently won them over.  

“Then they wanted to have a conversation with me so I said I don’t see why,” Levy said. “I already said no but all right I’ll talk to them and I’ll explain myself. So we had a call and I went through all the reasons why I didn’t think I was the right person and I’m trying to keep the conversation light. So it’s not a heavy thing and I’m getting laughs on the other end of the phone and I’m thinking great. I’m getting my point across and everything is kept on a light kind of thing. That was fine.”

How Apple TV+ convinced Eugene Levy to do ‘The Reluctant Traveler’

After that meeting, Apple TV+ revised the pitch. Once they explained how The Reluctant Traveler would capture Levy’s natural aversion to travel, he agreed. 

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“What I didn’t know was they got on the phone after that conversation and said, ‘That’s the show. That’s the personality of the show. It’s a show about hotels and culture and people around the world but it’s with somebody who’s not keen on traveling,’” Levy said. “So they called back and pitched that saying that’s what we think the show should be. And I said, ‘Oh, okay, well, that I get for me so I don’t have to pretend to be somebody hosting a travel show that is apparently a world traveler or loves everything they’re doing. I can actually be myself.’ So I said yes.”

Most reluctant travelers probably won’t go to Africa or Antarctica. They probably don’t have the budget of Apple either. But, Levy takes it to the extreme. After that, a trip to Europe probably won’t seem so intimidating. 

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