Vanessa Bayer QVC Interview: her Showtime series, favorite QVC products and more

Written by Madison Durham, senior staff writer for partner content, resident streaming expert, and avid reader.

Updated June 17, 2022

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It's often said that life imitates art, but sometimes art stems from highly specific facets of real life: home shopping segments on QVC. I Love That For You is a comedy series starring Vanessa Bayer (SNL, Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar), which features Bayer as Joanna Gold, an aspiring home shopping channel host for the SVN network, a fictional video commerce outlet similar to QVC or HSN.

I Love That For You was co-created by Bayer and Jeremy Beiler for Showtime. The series stems from Bayer's own experiences with watching QVC as a child and her childhood leukemia diagnosis, both of which influenced Joanna's character creation. Before filming the series, Bayer met up with with real-life QVC hosts Jane Treacy and Mary Beth Roe—two of the longest-running QVC hosts, who Bayer actually watched when she was young. She also hosted a QVC segment alongside Jane Treacy as part of QVC's Host School with Jane Treacy, spending time interacting with callers and living out her character's dream herself. You can find the segment on QVC's streaming service.

We talked with the star about her experience filming the series, and figured out which products from QVC she loves, and why she loved (and continues to love) shopping with QVC. You can catch I Love That For You on Showtime.

R: You said during your "Late Night with Seth Meyers" appearance that you used to tape QVC as a kid, could you speak to that a bit here?

VB: Honestly, the jewelry shows were my favorite thing to tape. The Sterling Silver Hour, Black Hills Gold, you name it. I loved the way the jewelry was displayed on a velvet backing and how the hosts would bring out a wooden ruler to measure how many centimeters in diameter a necklace was and then they'd go, "That's 3.5 cm so you're getting a lot of gold and that's really going to sparkle and shine!" Ten-year-old me was like, obviously I can't miss this.

R: What was it like meeting Jane Treacy and Mary Beth Roe?

VB: It was incredible! I loved watching them as a kid, they were so fabulous and mesmerizing! To get to meet them in person and learn they are as lovely in real life as they are on TV was amazing. Also, no surprise, they are great at talking. We talked for like an hour and it felt like barely ten minutes had passed!

R: What was it like to host an actual segment for QVC, after filming I Love That for You?

VB: It's one thing to play a home shopping host on TV and another thing to actually be one. I couldn't believe they trusted me to do it... I was like, I hope I don't lose them a bunch of money? But honestly it was a dream come true. To be showing off my manicure and a variety of products right alongside Jane Treacy?! I was in heaven.

R: Do you have any tips on the best ways to shop from QVC?

VB: Well there's an app and a website that are very easy to shop from, but for the true experience I think you must tune into the network. How else can you connect with the incredible hosts and have the time of your life while buying fabulous products? It's a rhetorical question!

R: What are your top five favorite products from QVC?

VB: This is an impossible question to answer given how many favorites I've had over the years. But here is a list of some current favorites:

1. Italian Gold Tri-Color Braided Herringbone Bracelet

thin gold bracelet — Credit: Italian/QVC/Reviewed

VB: This braided herringbone bracelet is a similar style to the one I got to sell with Jane Treacy on QVC. It reminds me of the herringbone jewelry I loved watching her sell in the nineties. Plus, it has a lobster claw clasp!

Italian Gold Tri-Color Braided Herringbone Bracelet for $228

2. San Diego Hat Co. Sun Hat with UPF 50

Brown sunhat — Credit: San Diego Co./QVC/Reviewed

VB: This hat I also got to sell with Jane, because it is UPF 50 and I'm a maniac about sun protection. Plus at this price you need to get it in two colors.

San Diego Hat Co. Sun Hat for $26