One of the central characters on VH-1’s, I Love New York, is Lee “Mr. Boston” Marks. The Beantown representative’s hometown drawl caught the affection of Ms. New York. His zany actions and sheltered home life differed from many of the other male contestants, but proved to be comedy gold when aired on television.

Marks brash and unflinching attitude made him a target within the house, but his courage under fire proved that he was willing to take anything to leave home with the prize. Even if that meant getting his wig pushed back in the ring. Last week, Mr. Boston went through a proverbial hell… just for a date! And as dumb as that may sound, it impressed the VH-1 vixen well enough to where he won. But upon a crucial elimination, where most thought that the fiery Chance would go home, Mr. Boston was ousted.

Now free to do as he pleases, Mr. Boston chews the fat with HHDX as he talks about his experiences with a Black woman, his beef with Chance, and he’ll explain a few of his “nervous tendencies”.

HHDX: First things first, how’s your nose?
LM: The nose is doing well. It was sore for a week afterwards. But it wasn’t broken.

HHDX: What made you want to be a part of the show?
LM: For most of my life, I’ve been pretty entertaining. I felt that I should take myself to the next level. Basically, they had an open casting call in Hollywood in early-July. I went in for the auditions and went through a whole round of interviews and auditions. I got in based upon my personality and it was on from that point on.

HHDX: What was your first thought when you had finally got around the other cast members?
LM: My first thought when I got on the show was that I was really happy because I knew if the casting directors thought that I was entertaining, that they were right about me. But when I got into the house… I wasn’t very surprised. I knew it was going to be a lot of ghetto people. So, I knew it was going to be a pretty stressful time. But people also knew that I would get along with a lot of the guys. On the show, I was closest to Tango and Onix on the show. They were pretty nice guys and… you know… they didn’t pick on me like the others did. So, that’s what made them my friends.

HHDX: Over the course of the show, you weren’t able to participate in some of the challenges. How was your upbringing in Boston?
LM: Yeah, umm… growing up in Boston… I wasn’t really around a lot of hands-on stuff like construction. So, basically, when the challenges came around, I knew that I wasn’t going to be very good at it. I never did anything much with my hands.

HHDX: So, your being on the show was your first time ever dating a Black woman. How was the experience?
LM: I’d rate it pretty good. I would probably say that it was about… a 7 out of 10. I know there’s the saying, “Once you go Black… you’ll never go back,” but that may not be totally true. But I will say that I am more interested in Black women now, since dating New York.

HHDX: Have you dated any since the show’s ending?
LM: No, not quite yet, but I know a lot of them are interested in me.

HHDX: New York can be such a demanding woman, so what was it that attracted you to her?
LM: I’d say the part that was attractive to me was that she seemed like an overall caring person. That’s what attracted me to her. She was really nice to me on the show, which really helped. Since we’ve wrapped, I haven’t kept in touch with her…

HHDX: Why?
LM: Mostly because I don’t have her number.

HHDX: You were the obvious one to pick on in the house. But the one who laid it on extra thick was Chance. Was it his actions that annoyed you? Or was it just a case of polar opposites not able to get along?
LM: Yeah, I felt it was pretty much that we were to polar opposites and I kind of felt that we didn’t have a chance from the start. I wasn’t the one to retaliate, I wouldn’t have done anything to him. But we didn’t get along. We had sort of a… love-hate relationship. There were lots of times that you see on the show, where we go at it, but in the end… I think we had a mutual respect for one another. So, I don’t have any animosity towards him or anything like that.

HHDX: Well, you’ve had your hair cut, you’ve been made fun of, you’ve been the butt of all the jokes, yet you’re crazy enough to do things that others haven’t. Was that more so for television? Or is that just a part of your personality?
LM: I’d say it’s mostly a part of my personality. I have been giving lap dances for about ten years now. It’s definitely a part of who I am. It was also a strategy on my part to stay in the competition. Since I was like one of the non-ghetto guys there then I’d have to do some things to stay in the competition. But it was like, you know… cool and it impressed New York. Not too many people had anything bad to say. They thought it was pretty funny. They didn’t say that it was gay or anything. So I definitely think that I got some respect from the other guys, because they were impressed.

HHDX: How did it feel when you got home from the date, expecting to get some quality time with New York, only to have Chance’s rants take away from your personal time?
LM: Yeah, that was pretty tough. We had got back from the date, you know… we were making out the whole time. It was going along great. But back at the house, Chance is flipping out. So, when we get back and that’s going on… it was definitely a letdown. I was mad at him, he was cock-blocking me… if it weren’t for him, I’d surely would have gone further than just first base.

HHDX: Well, when you finally made it to elimination, they showed you digging for gold an awful lot. Is that your nervous habit?
LM: Yeah, exactly… [Laughs] It’s a nervous habit of mines… I’m trying to stop now.

HHDX: Since your appearance on the show, what’s next for Mr. Boston?
LM: Next, I definitely think that this is not the last time that you’ve seen of me. I’m trying to get my own show. Generally, from what I’ve heard from talking to people that I’ve worked with that the best case scenario is that I’ll get my own show. The worst is that I’ll be another contestant on another dating show. But right now, I’m focusing on trying to put together my show ideas and impress the producers to get my own show.