Andrew Coleman in Bravo's Flipping Out.

Every show needs a comic sidekick, and for Bravo’s long-running reality series, Flipping Out, that person is Andrew Coleman.

Coleman joined Jeff Lewis’s company during last year’s sixth season and while he wasn’t initially a good fit for the chaos of the busy design firm, he eventually settled into his roleand is now a vital part of the team.

However, that doesn’t mean that he’s still not making a few missteps (like telling a client that he’s out looking for little people for a promotional function), or that he’s not the target for some office pranks (like a fake snake buried behind a couch pillow for him to find). But Coleman brings fun to the workplace and, of course, to the show.

Since the seventh season kicks off tonight, we checked in with Andrew about what we can expect to see on the show, as well as what the out design assistant hears from fans when he’s out and about in Los Angeles.

TheBacklot: Are the different challenges we’ll see in this crop of episodes significantly different from last season? That was a rough season! I didn’t think you were going to make it!

Andrew Coleman: I did make it by the skin of my teeth. But I think this season, there is someone new, Megan, so it really made me step up my game just thinking, “Oh, God, here’s someone new. If I don’t perform, and if I don’t get some of my shit together then I’m probably really out the door.” You know? So that kind of changed things this season, not as far as how crazy I am or some of the nonsense I pull, but it made me definitely step up my game.

TBL: Having somebody new in the office, was it nice that you weren’t the newbie anymore?

AC: It was nice and, also, she’s a little bit of a mess herself…I think Megan’s the type who has kind of the wine box that sits on her bedside table, so when she’d come in hung over or something I was like, “Phew, attention’s not going to be on me today. She’s going to wear sunglasses all day because she can’t handle the light.”

In Season 7, will Andrew keep his job or will Jeff Lewis show him the door? (Bravo)

TBL: Do you two become buddies, or is it more of a rivalry?

AC: You know what? We have a love/hate relationship. I love to hate her. We did end up in the long run… we do like each other, and I think we get each other’s sense of humor. Overall, I think she fits really good in with the rest of us.

TBL: I want to know what you have learned from Jeff and even Gage for that matter?

AC: I’m learning from Jeff to definitely be more detail oriented. Jeff is very detailed on everything and he’s a fanatic about writing notes, and having everything in order and that’s a big challenge for me. It’s like picking up a piece of paper and a pen to write everything down when I’m telling myself, “Oh I’ll remember that,” and he’s constantly, “Where’s your pen and paper? Where’s your pen and paper?” So I’ve learned, you know, to write things down a lot more, so that I don’t forget, because I end up forgetting. And he’s like, “Even with me doing it all these years, there are things I forget.” So it’s important to write it down. I’ve learned that.

And then from Gage, I think I’ve learned to tame myself a little bit more, at least around him. And I think that maybe he’s learned to loosen up a little bit and to laugh once in a while. He’s so into his work and he’s definitely very goal oriented [and] knows what he wants but I think sometimes he needs to laugh.

TBL: It does seem like an intense office at times, but you bring some fun into that, which I would think everyone needs sometimes, right?

AC: It’s very tense. I mean, we have such a small group of people that work here and such a large clientele. Everything we’re handling, from the paint line to Jeff’s trying to launch a candle line, and then just our everyday clients. And there’s so few of us that handle everything and have to be really on top of it so it’s fun to, once in a while, have some jokes going on in the office and playing around and just to lighten it, because otherwise I think we’d all be just completely stressed out.

TBL: Now, with Jenni having her baby, who’s probably a good person to have around the baby and who’s maybe not the best person in that office?

AC: Honestly, in our office, I think the only…I don’t even know. Jenni’s good to be around him. I’m not sure if any of us are qualified to be around the baby, honestly. Gage…this baby would be a neurotic mess if it was around Gage all the time. I think if it started to cry or anything, Gage would lock it in a closet and just be like, “Shh, I can’t deal with it. I need silence.”

TBL: Oh my God.

AC: If it was around Jeff and I, it would probably grow up very inappropriate. I don’t know if Vanina’s ready, although she has the tits to have a kid now. I don’t think she’s really ready to be a mom and show love. She’s kind of just bitchy. I don’t know. I don’t know about a baby in this office at all.

TBL: I love that you all went roller-skating and I have to say, you really rocked your outfit. I thought ‘Andrew has some good legs!’

AC: Oh, I was a mess, but I actually loved it. I’ve never been told I’ve got good legs. I do know that they’re pretty bowlegged from being a cowboy, if you know what I mean. I think that’s why they’re so bowlegged. I’ve ridden too much. [laughs] And I don’t know if you know, Jeff’s got all these stairs up to the office of the house. Every day it’s up and down those stairs, multiple times.

TBL: When was the last time you were actually surprised at a task that was given to you?

AC: I’ve done everything from pick up dog poop to…but finding a little person was a little bit difficult because I had a fear of little people kind of, just a phobia. Not that they’re different but they’re different and I just, I don’t know, it was a challenge. Where do you even begin, you know? So I just went out to Hollywood Boulevard and  I figured if there was anybody talented and smaller, you know, they have all kinds of people on Hollywood Boulevard, so that’s where I started my search.

TBL: Just since you’ve been a part of the show, has it changed your personal life at all, whether it’s being recognized or maybe or getting more date requests?

AC: No, I’ve been with my partner, but I do get picked up and yelled at a lot. I’ve had somebody spit at me and say that Jeff should fire me.

TBL: No!

AC: I’ve had actually somebody at a gas station lay on my hood and said to me, ‘I love you. I love you.’ There’s quite a gay following. It’s different. It’s really odd when I’m out with my partner and somebody comes up, “Oh my god, I love you.” And he is such a recluse that it’s very odd for him as well.

TBL: Do you like watching yourself on TV, Andrew?

AC: No. I stay away from it. I really don’t watch it that often. When I do catch glimpses of myself, I look like an Oompa Loompa, I feel. I feel kind of fat and I hate hearing myself and no, I don’t really like it.

TBL: Any other highlights you can tease from the new season?

AC: The final episode’s a big surprise and it made me…I got a nice surprise and I was pleasantly…I was very happy, I was very happy and we’ll just keep it at that.

Flipping Out airs Wednesdays at 9pm on Bravo.