Josh Morrill

Josh Morrill, 27, is definitely easy on the eyes, and he shares his love of all things beautiful at Green Door Floral. The next big gig for this Hot Prince of Flower Power: Vegas Nights at Harrah’s Metropolis! The Friday, September 18, event benefits the 53rd Telethon of Stars!

Josh Morrill, you are cute, cute, cute, no doubt about it! Your hair! How cute is your hair?
Thank you. Karson Kelley does it. I’ve been going to him for five years. He’s the only one who’s not afraid to try new and crazy things that I love.

Oh lá lá! You’ve been working out, too, haven’t you?
Well, I’m 27 and that’s when you start to lose it a little. I want to nip that in the bud. So I’m doing sit-ups and push-ups every day, and I walk at least a mile each day.

Nice! How many push-ups can you do?
I do three sets of 50. I just do it until I get tired and I can’t do it any more. Same with my sit-ups.

Well, you are definitely buff.
I’m working on it. Things are starting to harden up.

You know what they say, “a hard man is good to find.”
I thought it was “a good man is hard to find.”

Well, that’s true, too! Before we get into all that, tell us how fun it is to work for Betty Hall at Green Door Floral?
Betty Hall is the BEST! I love working at Green Door Floral. Every day is a treat for me. I think Betty likes it too!

How did you get that gig?
My aunt worked at Green Door, and she had me come in and help on a very busy day. With Betty and me, it was love at first sight. Now I spend every day at Green Door. I love everyone there to death. I couldn’t have been more lucky.

And you’ve been around!
I have! I’ve worked at Red Lobster, Chong’s, Texas Roadhouse, Cracker Barrel — I still work at Martin Fierro from time to time. And I worked at inBloom, which is how I got started doing flowers.

But I love Betty. She’s very dramatic. And she gets very, very excited.

Like how?
When we get new flowers in she’s, Oh my goodness, look at those DAISIES! Have you EVER SEEN such BEAUTIFUL DAISIES! She’s over the top with everything.

I love how she always winks and smiles when she talks.
I know! She’s the most precious lady and I’m so lucky to be working with her, I really am. It’s so funny. If I do an arrangement that Betty doesn’t like, she has no problem telling me. Her famous words are: “Um…no.” It takes her like two seconds.

And then what?
And then she’ll suggest something else and we’ll try again! She’s a perfectionist, and it definitely shows. You can see an arrangement and know it’s from the Green Door. Things are going to go nowhere but up from here.

You’ve got a fun event coming up at Harrah’s Metropolis.
Yes, it’s their Vegas Nights party, Friday, September 18, benefiting the 53rd Telethon of Stars. We’re doing all the flowers. We did their Margarita and Martinis parties, too. And we’re doing floral design classes at the shop, which are going great.

Yep! We’re going to start promoting those on iList Paducah! Betty also does interiors.
Yes, her interior design is amazing. She loves to use big furniture and make big statements. The homes she’s done are gorgeous. We’re going to start decorating homes for Christmas. I’m excited about that.

What do you do when you’re not working at Green Door?
I’m working at the new Club Ahz, where Fire and Ice used to be. I’m glad we finally have a nice clean bar to go to. Lord knows we need one.

I’ve been hearing about that place!
Yeah, I’m one of the bartenders. We opened a few weeks ago and it’s been packed — shoulder to shoulder. We’re really blessed to have such a nice, safe place to go. There’s great entertainment, no drama ¬and people are there for all the right reasons — just to go out and have fun.

Between Green Door Floral and Ahz, when do you sleep?
Never. I work for Betty during the day and some evening events, and I work at Ahz most other nights.

Good thing you’re young! Where are you from?
Crittenden County. I grew up there and when I was 17 or 18 my folks moved to Massac County. My mom works at Harrah’s Metropolis and my dad works at the Infinity plant. And they breed Bengal Leopards.

Bengal what?
Bengal leopards. They’re half tiger and half cat. I have two: Bo and Broadway.

You have tigers in your house?
Yes,but they’re totally domestic. They’re like dogs. They like to go on walks, go for car rides — they even like to play fetch.

Aren’t you scared they’ll, uh, eat you?
No, no. They look mean, they’re a little bigger than a regular cat and they have a very deep meow, but they’re really the biggest babies in the world. My parents have earned a lot of blue ribbons at various shows. They’ve got a great business. Lauren Adams wants to do a story on them.

Right on! Was it hard for you to tell your folks that you’re gay?
Yes. I was 16 and I wrote my mother a note.

No way!
I did. I wrote something like, “Mother, I’m sorry, I don’t want this to hurt you, but I think I like men as much as women.” Which totally wasn’t true. I knew I didn’t like girls. I really, really liked boys. But I was like: “Read this,” and I handed it to her and went off to school.

What did she say?
I called her about 30 minutes later and I said, “Do you hate me?” And she said no, “I don’t hate you.”

Then about a week later, I just came out with it and told both my parents that I think I’m gay.

How did they react?
They didn’t like it at first. They thought it was a phase, something I was going through. They blamed it on the pressures of high school. But now, looking back, they say they knew the whole time. They just weren’t ready to deal with it.

Did kids at school give you a hard time?
Oh yeah. They called me cruel names. I try not to think about those days very much. After I came out, I thought my entire life would be misery. I thought I would have to just sneak around all the time. But it hasn’t turned out that way at all. Life is really great.

Any advice for young kids still struggling to tell their parents and having to deal with bullies?
I think if young kids think they’re gay, they should just go ahead and tell their parents now. Get that turmoil and drama and uncomfortableness out and over with.

Your parents love you, no matter what. My parents are over it now, and they’ve loved all my boyfriends. They’ve really become very supportive. I think most parents will be, you just have to give them a chance to get used to the idea.

Right on, Josh Morrill! I think you’re lovely. You can arrange my flowers ANYTIME!

---