Dylan Efron Has A 'DWTS' Reality Check for Maura Higgins

On our Friday afternoon Zoom, Dylan Efron is giving Totally Normal, Chill Dude with his dark gray plaid button-down and signature warm smile. But this easygoing chap is the same man who, not too long ago, strategized his way to the Traitors finale and performed a steamy Paso Doble on Dancing with the Stars. Plus, he happens to share DNA with the man who sexually awakened me when I was six. No big deal.

As I tried not to get lost in those Efron baby blues (a near-impossible challenge), the adventurous king caught me up on his latest interests and endeavors. He shared his pop culture hyperfixation, opened up about his sick Pepsi collab, and even teased a new reality show with Boston Rob… I’m seated. The theater employees are scared and asking me to leave because “the show’s not made yet and won’t even premiere in theaters,” but I’m simply too seated.

Betches: What have you been obsessed with this year so far in terms of pop culture?

Dylan: The Summer House drama was crazy. Summer House was kind of the last big drama thing that happened. So, it’s been fun in pop culture recently. Stuff I've been obsessed with… I want to start sewing because I’ve been obsessed with vintage shopping. I’m kind of addicted to eBay right now, like Levi's and old t-shirts. It’s just amazing what you can buy for so cheap, and I think that’s why I want to start sewing, because a lot of the stuff I buy does not fit.

Betches: I mean, what a great skill to have.

Dylan: My dad always sewed. He would sew our Halloween costumes for Zac and me. I always thought it was so cool that he could sew because I never thought of like, a masculine guy sewing.

Betches: Yeah, that’s amazing.

Dylan: What else have I been obsessed with? Oh, I’m starting to get back into running, which has been fun. I used to be so into running, and then I became a very casual runner, but I was competing in Ironmans and doing triathlons, and now I’m getting that urge to sign up for a marathon and actually try.

Betches: I feel like you’re always doing a million things… What do you like to do on a chill day off… if you have those?

Dylan: Wow, a day off. Right now my life’s so funny. I’m either traveling for a week and running on no sleep, or I'm home taking it easy, walking my dogs, sleeping in. I try to be outside as much as possible because when I’m working, I’m on my phone and computer so much that I wanna balance that out and just be off of it.

But yeah, I think it’s a balance. Same with food, like I have a generally healthy diet, but that's not fun to just be healthy all the time. Fried fish tacos and Pepsi, that’s what I crave, so when I'm home, I’m kind of healthy.

Betches: Yes, let’s talk about your really cool new Pepsi collab, Pepsi Eats Fest, which helps local eateries around the country grow their businesses. Could you tell me more about it and why it’s important to you to spotlight neighborhood restaurants?

Dylan: Yeah, one of the most fun parts about travel is that discovery of trying new foods, and I think Chicago is such a fun place to have this first Pepsi Eats Fest because they’re proud of their food here. I love the culture here around food.

Betches: And you’ve created your own taco for the occasion?

Dylan: Yes, that’s the California in me. A fish taco is my soul food. The taco that we created is so good, it’s so much fish, an awesome corn tortilla, which Big Star always does, and it’s just refreshing and pairs well with the Pepsi.

Getty Images for Pepsi

Betches: That sounds amazing. If you’re heading to a new city for a food crawl, which of these people would you bring along and why: Boston Rob, Rob Rausch, Robert Irwin, or Jake Shane?

Dylan: Wow, okay, so the easy answer is Boston Rob. When we shoot our YouTube show, we're always going to new restaurants, and he’s been bugging me to do a food eating competition forever, and I always say no. He's really fun, but also Jake Shane is so funny to be around that I would never know what to expect. He might sit down and take a bite and say, “This sucks. Let’s go somewhere else.” Or he’s gonna order more food for the whole table.

Betches: You’d have to eat octopus, I think, with Jake. Speaking of friends, do you have any advice for Maura Higgins, your fellow Traitors star, as she gets ready for Dancing with the Stars?

Dylan: Yeah, my advice to her is that I’m on Instagram seeing her traveling the world and doing modeling shoots. Go start dancing! Don’t do what I did and have to learn on the spot. Go dance as much as possible because, yeah, otherwise she’s gonna regret it.

Betches: Hopefully she reads this. So you’ve conquered Dancing with the Stars, The Traitors, your travel documentary, music videos… What’s next?

Dylan: I just did another competition show for Netflix that was based on Squid Game, which was really fun for me because I loved Squid Game when it came out. It kind of felt like Squid Game meets Traitors. So that will come out at the beginning of next year,

And yeah, I need to put my money where my mouth is, but I do think acting would be fun. I think it’s one of those where I always said I never wanted to do it, and I have so much respect for the craft and seeing my brother, how much time and effort he puts into it, but I think it’s really fun to start acting and do more auditions and stuff like that.

Betches: We need another High School Musical reboot where you can make an appearance.

Dylan: I don't know about the singing.

Betches: You don’t sing at all?

Dylan: Only in the shower.

Betches: Fair. If you could create your own reality show, what would it be?

Dylan: Well, Boston Rob and I have ideas. I can’t say too much more, but we’ve been talking a lot about it. We know what we like, so we thought, why don’t we try to make one? It’s been a fun process.

Betches: Can't wait.