You may know PIERRE DOWNING as the cute do-gooder from BET’s newest reality series Harlem Heights. But we recently chatted with the 27 year old Trenton, New Jersey native and found out, there’s a lot about him that makes him fly.

What Makes You Fly?

I don’t know if I’m fly. My personality I guess. I’m very outgoing, I speak to everyone. That’s what makes me fly. I get it from my mom, cause my mom – she says hi to everybody, she hugs everybody – her main goal is to make everybody happy. So I think that’s where I get it from.

Pierre was recently reunited with his father, whom he lost years ago to his drug addiction. But now that his Dad is clean and sober, he’s learning a lot about himself through this new phase of his life.

It’s crazy to see someone yawn the same way you yawn, to see them do the same things you do. I get to see where a lot of my traits come from. We walk the same. We smile the same. And to have him absent basically from when I was five until I was twenty-two, I didn’t really see that. And I didn’t really have that male influence in my life. But now, it’s a whole learning process, I’m not used to having a dad. It’s a whole learning process. I had a moment a couple years ago, we spent our first father’s day together and I was bugging about what I would get him. Ultimately I wrote him a letter basically thanking him and looking forward to the times we are going to share with one another. And I had to finally look at it like I can hold a grudge and never know you, never know why I am the way I am, or I can forgive you and we move on and you’ll be my father and I’ll be your son.

What would surprise us to know about Pierre?

My music selection. I’m a huge fan of Kings Of Leon. I’m a fan of hip hop, don’t get it twisted I like Jim Jones, I love Jay-Z, I love Nas, I still listen to Biggie – but at the same time, I am a huge fan of rock’n'roll.  People on the show will tell you, when I pull out my iPod, they’re like ‘oh God, Pierre’s got his music on’.

How’d you feel getting dissed by Brooke on national television?

I’m gonna be honest with you, at first I was like DAMN, was I that bad? (laughs) But at the end of the day, Brooke and I are mad cool, so it’s all good. It just wasn’t there, you could feel it. But getting played, I think it helped more than it hurt, cause now I got women hitting me up like ‘don’t worry, we’ll go for a walk anytime.’ So I’ll be ok.  But I’m not that corny though. I’m not

How are you in the kitchen?

Yeah I cook. I make a mean salmon with spinach with a nice port wine reduction. Or some truffle mashed potatoes, those are my favorite two dishes. That’s always a nice surprise when I have somebody over.

What kind of ladies catch your eye?

I love an independent, strong, intelligent woman that knows what she wants in life. More than anything, if you really got a drive, then I can mess with you.

Biggest turn-offs?

Whoof. If I can’t have a conversation with you, then we really aren’t going anywhere. If I can’t carry a conversation with you about the Knicks game last night and then transition into talking about Obama then we probably can’t have any other conversation. And also women that are stuck on themselves because they are pretty and have a sense of entitlement. If you can be pretty, intelligent, and have a drive, while being humble about it and approachable, then you good.  

You can check out Pierre and the rest of his Harlem Heights cast mates every Monday night on BET