Reality TV cameras don’t lie — that’s the lesson the wealthy Vietnamese American family, known as the Hos, learned as they began shooting HBO Max’s new docusoap, “House of Ho”.
“When my family sees an opportunity, we get together and take advantage of it. We’re a lot more resilient than I ever gave us credit for,” Washington Ho told ET Canada as he reflected upon embarking on this reality TV journey.
His sister, Judy, disagreed: “I wasn’t that surprised because we know each other so well, but I’m so grateful that we had this experience together. Even though there was a lot of conflict and tears on screen, we learned about each other and we love each other even more now, if that was even possible.”
The series follows patriarch Binh and matriarch Hue, immigrants who achieved the American dream by building a multimillion-dollar empire in banking and real estate development, as they attempt to control the lives of their children, who find themselves under pressure to live up to their parents’ expectations. With Washington’s wife Lesley, their kooky Aunt Tina and party girl cousin Sammy, there’s never a dull moment at the Hos, many of which showcase their family’s cultural traditions.
“Our culture is very rooted into our family in the way we live,” Washington said. “We’re in very close proximity to each other, and you’ll notice in my mom’s old neighbourhood, you’ll see my Uncles and Aunts, they all lived in a block of each other, which allowed them to be closer and talk to each other more. We do the same thing in America, and we’re very proud of it.”
Speaking of being proud, Washington admits that it took a little convincing to get his father to agree to share their lives with the cameras, but he ultimately agreed, because he saw an opportunity to make a difference.
“At the end of the day, he felt like there was a lot of people who could learn from him, and he wanted to help his son with his projects, and keep people inspired to not give up,” he said. “It’s easier for him to share his story through this platform at one time, and hopefully there’s a season two so viewers can see more of the business, financial advice some look for.”
As the eldest child in the Ho family, Washington said he often “embraced the pressure” to represent his family in the most respected light.
“I think being a leader always has it’s own pressures,” Washington said. “You have to boss yourself, and be the best you can in representing your family on camera, but that definitely added pressure. I embraced the pressure, because I liked the pressure.”
But it seems as though the patriarch of the Ho family set his children up for those pressures by naming each of them after a previous United States president, a tradition Washington and Lesley continued in their own family.
“I thought he was kidding when he said his name was Washington, until I met Reagan and his nieces and nephews,” Lesley said. “But honestly, I love the fact that his dad loved America so much that he’d name his kids after US presidents. I thought that was so inspiring for the American dream that he had for his family here, so we continued that tradition. Although I would have opted more for a Madison or a Harrison because they’re a little more low key, but like Washington said, my name is Washington, and my kids have to be presidential so we went with Roosevelt and Lincoln.”
You can binge “House of Ho” on HBO Max now.
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