C.J.: He came for the treatment, stayed for the ladies

Andrew Zimmern, Travel Channel's "Bizarre Foods" host who'll eat anything -- the more disgusting the better -- is red hot. Locally he's grossing out viewers and kids in a HealthPartners ad campaign that also captures the chef and writer getting cozy with a pineapple on billboards. Nationally, he's in a commercial that shows off Toyota Camry mobile technology that allows a driver to find sports, entertainment, food and music. In the ad, Zimmern's walking in with Chris Berman of ESPN, James Lipton of "Inside the Actors Studio" and Kelly Clarkson, singer, before they get into the Camry and rock out singing Clarkson's song, "What Doesn't Kill You."

I talked to the globe-trotter recently in St. Paul at Heartland Restaurant, where Delta Air Lines was introducing some of the dining concepts for MSP's Concourse G in 2012. Zimmern had a scoop for me: "January 24 is the new season of 'Bizarre Foods,' and it's a special season and we have named it 'Bizarre Foods America.' I'm not going overseas. Our very first episode is our Twin Cities episode. Nobody knows that. There you go." This Q&A also includes a scoop for Joel McHale, host of E! TV's "The Soup," about a nut Zimmern won't eat.

Q How many dried tarantulas did you have to eat while shooting that HealthPartners commercial with the kids?

A Five. Yes, they were real. Yes the kids ended up eating one. And I'm glad they finally put the second commercial up, because the kids were eating mealworms. It was fantastic. You make a lot of TV and never know when you wrap up if everything is good, and that was fantastic. The kids were great, and I thought the ad turned out fantastic. And the billboards are funny! I like the billboards.

Q What won't you eat?

A Walnuts. That's it. They taste soapy.

Q What can't you get your kid to eat?

Q What is your LDL and HDL?

A Very, very low. My good cholesterol is high, my bad cholesterol is low, and my doctor wishes I had bad cholesterol because then it would be easier for him to persuade me to lose more weight. I have a very healthy heart, low blood pressure.

Q Do you have a favorite sport?

A A whole bunch of them. I love tennis, baseball, skiing and snowboarding. I'm learning to skateboard with my son, even as we speak.

Q Did you get in trouble with your mother-in-law for making fun of her pot roast on TMZ?

Q People ask me all the time if you are as nice as you seem. I know you only to be equanimous, but is there ever a time you're being a jerk and your wife asks, "What's wrong with you?" and you reply, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

A You know me. We've known each other for a long time. I'm a pretty nice guy, but just like everyone else, I can be a boned-headed jerk, husband or son-in-law, sometimes. Guys, we are just pre-programmed to put our feet in our mouths. It's staggering. My wife, my mother-in-law, my friends' wives do not put their feet in their mouths the way the husbands and sons do. It's in our DNA -- in that Y chromosome.

Q What would be your last meal if you could plan it in advance?

A My wife's lemon-roasted chicken. Clams on the half shell to start, really nice, big, giant littleneck clams. Ice cream for dessert.

Q What is inaccurate on your Wikipedia page?

Q How much of your trust fund did you blow with booze and drugs before your dad said "No more!" A million, $2 million?

A Everything. I don't know what the dollar figure was. I came from a well-to-do but not wealthy New York City family. My father, when I graduated college, staked me in an apartment, and I had some family money. And I'd been working and I destroyed it all. Most importantly, although I didn't have a lot that was my own, I was able to go back to the well. And the more that I burned my family and my friends, the less I was allowed to go back to the well, until ultimately they told me there was no access to the well. I really had nothing. Then in 1991 I went homeless for a year before I went to treatment in Minnesota, at Hazelden.

Q You came for the treatment and stayed for the lifestyle?

A I came for the treatment and stayed for the ladies, one of whom I married. Everyone in my family is born and bred here: our dog, our cat, my wife, my son, my in-laws, just not me. But I've been here 20 years. When do I get to call myself Minnesotan?

Q There were a lot of ladies before you settled down?

Q Could you defeat NBC's Jeff Rossen in a rapid-talking contest?

A Absolutely. I can talk fast, I can talk a lot, and I can talk forever.

C.J.'s interviews are edited for space and clarity. C.J. is at 612.332.TIPS or cj@startribune.com.