Is Ryan Lochte really dumb? Recap of “What Would Ryan Lochte Do?”

Is Ryan Lochte really dumb? Last night’s premiere episode of What Would Ryan Lochte Do? certainly hammed up his idiocy, but this time Lochte has to be in on the joke. Right?

The quirky, celebrated Olympic swimmer knows he’s an all-American good looking guy with a great body that sometimes (OK, who are we kidding — most times) comes across as a hair-brained idiot in interviews, but he doesn’t care. He knows — and smartly so this time — that he’s got an opportunity to cash in on his current fame and turn that into fortune. He’s modeling his road to celebrity A-lister after the Kardashians and he’s got the success of E! backing him with his new series.

Thankfully, Lochte doesn’t take himself too seriously because he’s going to be ripped apart by the meanest of TV critics. He addresses negative press about his intelligence with questions like: “What is Is Ryan Lochte really dumb? Season premiere of What Would Ryan Lochte Do?the definition of a douchebag? I really don’t know what it means.” And he seems perfectly comfortably having cameras capture his d’oh moments and complete flake outs: “I don’t even remember what I got at the Olympics,” when asked how many medals he won.

In the premiere episode of What Would Ryan Lochte Do? (Sundays at 10pm ET), viewers were introduced to Lochte’s family and his extended group of friends. A trip to the bowling alley shows just how tight-knit the Lochte clan actually is. Ryan lives with his little brother Devon, 22, where they share a love/hate relationship, and has two older sisters — Kristin and Megan. “Family to me is most important,” Lochte says. “They help me with everything.” In fact, he gets a little teary-eyed talking about what it was like to see his family in the stands after winning his first gold medal.

Home base for Lochte is Gainesville, Florida, where he trains daily. Cameras follow him to the pool after a night of partying, capturing his impressive workout (over 40 minutes just for abs). As for the ladies in his life, that’s a work in progress, as he admits to wanting to find someone and settle down (upcoming The Bachelor, anyone?). Although going out and looking for a woman isn’t something Lochte does; instead, women come looking for him. “I don’t know where my love life is going, there are millions and millions of women out there. I don’t want millions,” he shares. “Why can’t I just find one?”

Looking for the right lady at local college clubs might not be the right way to approach it, his sister Kristin eloquently shares with him, and then confesses: “Ryan is a little naive when it comes to women — maybe not a little, a lot.”

Here’s a few other things we learned about Lochte:

• “I always pee in the pool. You have to,” he shares.

• If you are asked out by Lochte, he’s most likely going to take you for sushi at Dragonfly

• He’s really into fashion, he even designed a pink Speedo for himself

• He claims that the quickest way to get to his heart is through laughter

• One of his favorite movies is (prepare yourself) … What Women Want

• He’s an honest guy and will always pay back his debts, even if it means scrubbing his brother’s car rims with a toothbrush

• He’s got a history with an on-again, off-again ex-girlfriend named Jamee who now lives in London

• … But he’s not interested in maintaining a long-distance relationship

Next Week: Ryan goes to D.C. with his mom where politics makes his head spin.