Christy-Anne Lopez on her transition from journalist to reality TV star in 'Chef Dynasty: House of Fang'

LOS ANGELES — Christy-Anne Lopez has always wanted to be in the entertainment industry.

A former investigative broadcast journalist who used to profile abductors in "America's Most Wanted," Lopez then in her early '20s, found that it weighed on her a lot, especially for a young person.

The charming and eloquent journalist soon found herself cast in the docuseries turned reality show, "Chef Dynasty: House of Fang" where she is the only Filipino member of an entire API cast.

Lopez is one of the newest members of the team, the life of the party, the cheerleader of the group. She tries to prove herself in a unique and fast-paced restaurant environment working for Chef Kathy Fang and family, the owners of the House of Nanking and Fang in San Francisco.

We were able to interview Lopez virtually and below are excerpts of our conversation.

Congratulations on your being cast in "Chef Dynasty: House of Fang. How did you get the gig and what made you accept this project?

I got the job through mutual friends. They were looking for recommendations for servers, or people who worked in the hospitality and restaurant industry. And being of Asian descent I am very grateful to a friend who gave my resume to Chef Kathy Fang. That's what happened. I really wasn't sure what I was getting into. But this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And being with an all-Asian American cast, it is huge on representation and I am so lucky that I am the only Filipino in the crew.

Photo courtesy of Christy-Anne Lopez

This is your first time working in the restaurant industry. What has the experience taught you? And what is the most challenging thing you have to do?

Yes, it is my first time. I have worked on private events, production but this is my first time as a server working in a restaurant, in front of customers. The funny story is I have always wanted to work in a restaurant. I kept interviewing for restaurant positions. But it never happened. When I got out of college, I just kept on jumping into full-time opportunities in media and production.

When I joined the restaurant business, in a strange way it was just very natural for me to show people how to have a good time. Who doesn't want a good meal? I fell in love with all of the dishes in the House of Fang and our dishes are traditional with a little bit of a twist so we are a little different.

How was it working with Chef Kathy and her father?

Chef Kathy is the type of leader whose standard is excellence. Her famous quote is "Bring your A game, every single shift." Asians are overachievers. Everything has to be perfect. She is very caring and very generous. She always checks in with us and asks how life is going. She wants to know all our goals. Because she understands that when you are in the restaurant business, not all of us have the end goal of being a chef or restaurant owners. That's what I love about her. She makes us feel like family.

As for Kathy's chef dad, he is an awesome father. He is serious at one point but again he is loving and he compliments us every day that we are doing a great job. It really feels like a family.

Talk about your Filipino roots. Your parents and where they came from in the Philippines, etc.

My mom is from Baguio and my dad is from Pangasinan. We are Ilocano. I was born in the Torrance-Carson area. Very Filipino upbringing—very quintessential Filipino. We went to the park, to church events and the like. My dad was in the military, and he was transferred from Long Beach to Barstow, California. We were a minority when we moved there.

It was tough to leave my family but I will be in the Torrance-Carson area next week.

Do you have siblings or family members who are also in the entertainment industry? What do they say about you being on TV?

I am the only one who went into that direction. My brother is a teacher. My older sister is into environmental science and my younger sister is a cosmetologist. My house was like a barbershop.

I think when I was five years old, I loved serving my family food and beer. (laughs) What was very interesting was my parents supported my path and I am very lucky to have an older cousin who is a strong mentor and long-time mentor. She used to work in news and broadcasting. She was with Fox and she was a reporter and then later an anchor. I love watching her. She was in the community always, sharing other people's stories. I wanted to do that too. I am thankful to my cousin for leading the path. My parents said that "If her manang can do it, she can, too."

Photo courtesy of Christy-Anne Lopez

From an investigative broadcast journalist to a reality TV star, what do you miss about your broadcast journalism career?

In some ways, I feel like I am still tied to my investigative journalism career,  because I am a content creator and a spokesperson for missing children. So being an investigative broadcast journalist will always be a part of me.

I always advocate for something. It is important for me to advocate for something. For me, it is child safety. It is my passion. Sometimes reality TV does not have the greatest reputation. But I am very grateful that I can say my name on TV. Some actors spend their entire life on TV and have not done that. I can be myself and I represent who I am, my culture, and my heritage.

It is a different world. But at the end of the day, to be on the show is to be able to provide a platform and an opportunity, to speak more, to share more not only my advocacies but what I can do for others and help people find what they can do to help others.

What was the most challenging assignment you had as an investigative broadcast journalist and how long were you a broadcast journalist?

I was a broadcast journalist since 2010. I have been a journalist at an earlier age. I was in my early 20s and I was an investigative broadcast journalist. I was assigned to "America's Most Wanted" missing division, making a lot of calls to families with missing children. It weighed on me a lot, especially for a young person. I wanted to be in the entertainment world, and do lighter things. While I was there, I had to develop a thick skin and be empathetic with the families. I profiled their cases. It was the hardest time.

Before leaving "America's Most Wanted," the very first piece I did for national television was a 15-second piece where I profiled an abductor and it aired twice on the episode and resulted in an arrest. He was taken off the streets and that was when I realized what I can do in my profession can make an impact on society.

Then I was taken to "E!" and that was my dream job to work in the "E!" building. I wanted to meet Ryan Seacrest. I was assigned to "E! True Hollywood Story" and "E! Investigates" and be able to profile cases that may have not been in the entertainment news. But I was getting airtime in the same place as Taylor Swift and the Kardashians. That was really meaningful to me.

Photo courtesy of Christy-Anne Lopez

You are also a beauty queen, a pageant director and a modelling coach. What got you into pageantry?

Being raised Filipino, we are obsessed with pageantry. I have an older cousin, Angeline, who also was a beauty queen. She was in a lot of pageants and was the only Asian woman. When they needed junior escorts onstage, I was always her little partner. It was my first time onstage, in front of a crowd. And I said to myself, "I want to do this one day."

But I am one of four kids, and my parents did not have extra money to do that. So, I funded and did that myself and I joined Miss America organization to get scholarship money to go to USC. I got into the top five and it was a big growth experience which I think is what pageantry is all about. You can express yourself.

I got back into pageantry in my late 20s. I was lost and I was in a tough place. It was post-divorce and joining at 29 which is past the age limit for women that you see on TV. I kept competing. But it was an amazing experience and so I kept competing and there were more opportunities to win titles. I went from state to national to international. So, I thought the universe is telling me to go on and this is what I wanted to do.

You currently are the Ms USA Universe and you will start competing in the Ms Universe this year in August. Why did you join this contest?

I joined this contest because this focuses on the Ms division—I am older; I have aged out of the Miss division and I was a divorcee as well. Ms Universe pageant focuses on accomplished women all around the world. You fill out an extensive form and just qualifying to join is an accomplishment in itself.

Two years ago, I won the Ms America Petite and the Ms USA competition. I have always wanted to be a Miss Universe my whole life. Maybe I cannot be Miss Universe, but I can be Ms Universe. It is never too late. That is the theme of the Ms Universe—"Never too late." Because at any age you can help others and you can give back to the community. If you have the desire to do more, you have a place to do it and that is the Ms Universe.

What are your advocacies and why did you choose them?

I have multiple platforms – ending domestic violence since I am also a domestic violence survivor, and child safety. The next generation should be caring about the next generation and their livelihood. I love helping women get out of dangerous situations and transitioning out of domestic violence and trafficking. I used to host donation drives out of Long Beach to help women transition to normal lives like what R'Bonney Gabriel does with fashion.

I advocate for women and women's safety in general and those who experience a lot of factors. I do self-defense workshops. I learned the basics. I also did hospitality in Las Vegas. So I know we need to keep women safe. I am also advocating for children's safety. Helping women transition out of dangerous situations and keeping them safe, especially those in the entertainment industry. These are my platforms.

When coaching and training girls in pageants, what are the important things that you stress to them that could help make them win?

I start with the basic. First is goal setting. I teach them how to set goals. Of course, their big goal is to walk away with the sash and crown. But the real takeaway of joining pageants is self-growth and I get to be more specific with them. I ask them, "What do you want to get from this experience? Do you want to be a better model?" I help them polish their resume. I help them network. I make them write three specific goals that they have in mind and I guarantee that they will be able to accomplish that.

Whether they will be able to walk away with a crown or not, I know they will walk away a better human than when they started. I spend a lot of one-on-one time with them. I ask them to do a lot of journaling. I give them tips on the interviewing process because the interview room is always a closed-door event. So, I do a lot of interviews with them.

We do a lot of writing and I always tell them interviewing is just like talking to your older cousin, or your Tita or Mom's friend who wants to get to know you better. I ask them to do a lot of journaling because journaling enables you to verbalize your thoughts and can translate your thoughts easily to be able to relay them.

With your new career as a reality TV star, how do you see yourself five years from now?

I hope this opportunity will give me a chance to host my own TV show, to be able to produce my own series, to be able to do a reality show for the pageant world like "American Idol" or "America's Next Top Model" but going into an actual pageant.

I want to host my own travel show.

I have never been to the Philippines, so I want to go to there.

I want to be given a space to continue to appreciate the world, food, the culture, growing up in America or any place in the world, eating food, and hanging out with the locals. And I pray to God every day that something really cool will happen.

So when do you plan to go to the Philippines?

I recently reconnected with some family members because one of my aunts passed away. I want to go to the Philippines and I want to visit my mother's hometown of Baguio City. They showed me pictures and it looks amazing. I want to go there probably this year. My New Year's resolution is to save money, invest and travel. I hope to make it happen in the next few months.

—MGP, GMA Integrated News