Role Model Debates Maine Fame on Final Chicken Shop Date Premiere

Role Model opened the final season of Chicken Shop Date with a debate about whether he is the most famous person from Maine.

The singer, whose birth name is Tucker Pillsbury, was the guest on the Oct. 2 premiere episode hosted by Amelia Dimoldenberg, according to coverage by Billboard. The episode centres on his home-state claim. He did not win easily.

Dimoldenberg pushed back with two names. Actor Anna Kendrick was raised as one alternative from Maine. Famed horror author Stephen King was raised as the other.

Maine is nicknamed the Pine Tree State. That put Role Model in ambitious company from the start.

The show itself has a low-key origin. Chicken Shop Date grew out of a youth club project, the BBC reported. It began with interviews Dimoldenberg conducted as a teenager with grime artists in south London.

The format has stayed simple since. Dimoldenberg meets musicians and actors over fried chicken and keeps the questions awkward on purpose. The final season premiere keeps that structure intact.

Role Model arrived with recent chart momentum behind him. His album Chuck Timely & The Hourglass became his first top 10 on the Billboard 200, the US albums chart. It sold 24,000 copies in the United States in its first week, according to Luminate, the company that tracks US music sales and streams.

The album also includes an unexpected guest. Actor Dakota Johnson contributes a spoken-word section to his song "Love I You."

For viewers, the draw is that clash. A charting pop act makes a big home-state claim, then has to defend it bite by bite.