E922 - The Valley w/ Alex Baskin, Mormon Wives Preview, Golden Bach Reveal, Paradise & Making Reality TV

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Speaker 2 What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Vile Files Reality Recap Edition. I am your host, Nick, and boy, do we have an incredible, exciting episode for you today?

Speaker 2 We went yesterday to Hulu's big, like, showcase.

Speaker 4 Like, I don't know if it had like an official show.

Speaker 6 It was like Get Real.

Speaker 2 It was like, get real, you know, play on, like...

Speaker 5 Was it all reality television shows?

Speaker 2 Yeah, it was like Hulu announcing like the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives trailer just dropped yesterday. Chloe Kardashian has a new show that they are producing.

Speaker 5 Robert Irwin is like the first contestant of the new Dancing with the Stars.

Speaker 5 There's a lot of like announcements in the Hulu.

Speaker 4 The Golden Bachelor.

Speaker 2 The new Golden Bachelor was announced. He's a newbie.
He's a normie.

Speaker 5 Did they give you any info, any background on this man?

Speaker 2 Yes, he is a former Los Angeles Rams football player.

Speaker 4 Still resides in L.A.

Speaker 5 So

Speaker 5 any women who might live in like, you know, Fort Lauderdale, you know, or something might want to bounce on over to LA. It's a fun place to go.

Speaker 6 Okay, drag Fort Lauderdale.

Speaker 2 The inside T for the Golden Bachelor is like, yeah, there is an extra effort. And I think part of the consideration of picking this new Golden Bachelor.
What's his name?

Speaker 4 Mel. Mel?

Speaker 2 What's his last name?

Speaker 4 Owens. Robbins?

Speaker 4 Mel Owens.

Speaker 2 Mel, Mel Owens.

Speaker 2 Is that him residing in like a major city was a plus for them. It's just like, they're always hoping that they can introduce someone to someone and and love happens.

Speaker 2 And like it's just maybe more likely that someone might relocate to a city like Los Angeles than like the middle of Indiana. No offense to Indiana.

Speaker 5 Beautiful state. Beautiful state.

Speaker 2 Like

Speaker 2 I'm from Wisconsin. You know, like maybe they don't want to move to Fond du Lac for love.
You know, you don't even know where that is.

Speaker 5 But it's like Joan Shockoff got like their apartment in New York City, you know.

Speaker 5 So it's like, yeah, I think having a Golden Bachelor who resides in LA like will definitely be a lot easier to have a have a connection that lasts.

Speaker 2 We showed up a little late to the event. We brought River.

Speaker 4 You brought River? We did. We did.
How was River's first event? What wasn't her first event?

Speaker 2 I did.

Speaker 2 We kind of like, did you feel like, are we, are we bad parents? I felt like the Coachella mom.

Speaker 4 I kind of felt like I was like, was River the only one under the baby? Absolutely the only baby.

Speaker 5 She was definitely the only baby. But to me, it was like, we're showing everyone that you can like have a life and like bring your children.
Like children don't stop you from living your life.

Speaker 5 Like they join your life. And that's what she did.
They were passing out french fries and she was holding her little french fries, eating her her french fries.

Speaker 5 She was walking around, like kind of going up to people. She was living her best life.
She was, we were not bad.

Speaker 2 We had to walk through some loud rooms, but other than that, like, she was just like the only baby there. I was like, I was worried that people were judging us.
And then Jimmy Kimmel showed up.

Speaker 2 Oh, hello, Jimmy. He is the host of Late Night with Jimmy Kimmel on ABC, which is like part of the Hulu Disney family.

Speaker 2 Said hi to Jimmy.

Speaker 4 He did, he did, right.

Speaker 2 He recognized me, which was, yeah, I felt, you know.

Speaker 4 You're like, hey, old bud. Hey, old bud.

Speaker 2 Got to meet Natalie. He met River.

Speaker 4 River stuck her finger in his nose.

Speaker 4 Oh, and

Speaker 4 she picked up Jimmy Kimmel.

Speaker 6 This is for all those kids you stole that candy from. He's great.

Speaker 4 Oh my god.

Speaker 2 You know, Jimmy, I think I've said this before, but like Jimmy Kimmel, when I was a bachelor, you know, you get obviously very cool opportunities. You get to do all these interviews.

Speaker 2 Ellen, Watch What Happens Live, Jimmy Kimmel, things like that. I got to do some other daytime shows.
And everyone's very nice, even Ellen to me. But Jimmy Kimmel, I got to meet a few times.

Speaker 2 And like when I got got to meet him, he, he was the only like host that really took the time to try to give me advice. So like we had to do like these promos.

Speaker 2 I came in and like me and Jimmy are filming these promos they would do with various bachelors. And when we got done, he, he's like, all right, Nick, come here.
And he took my mic off.

Speaker 2 He took his mic off. He brought me into this like closet, you know, this little tiny room.

Speaker 4 I was going to say this. This is starting off.

Speaker 2 And he like looked at me and he was just like, hey, man, I just want to tell you that whatever is going on in your world, and I don't know who's telling you what, but like you don't have to get married, you know?

Speaker 4 And thank God for that.

Speaker 2 And it was just coming from a very sincere place of like, hey, I just want to make sure that you're not caught up in this whole Hollywood thing or producers are like insisting you need to follow through with this.

Speaker 2 At that point, I.

Speaker 2 At that point, I kind of knew where our relationship wasn't going and was going, but it just felt like he was giving me real human advice and he cared about me as a person.

Speaker 2 And like, he's the only person

Speaker 2 at his level who has ever done that and i will i hope i get a chance to have him on the show and tell him that story it really like it meant a lot he's he gave me his email once when i came on the show he also like a few times i emailed him he always responded he also loves uh or loved because it's no longer my rations the place my sister and her uh fiancé um the restaurant he like he like went there all the time and loved it but he was always just a very personable human like on a human level um and just very generous with his time and and uh i always appreciate that about jimmy kimmels i love hearing hearing stories like that.

Speaker 5 Well, I box dyed my hair.

Speaker 4 Did you? I loved it. She did.
I boxed dyed.

Speaker 2 I walked into the bathroom and her, Victoria Fuller, and Natalie are in there and like dying her hair. And I was like, are you what?

Speaker 4 Huh? And it's not purple. It looks great.

Speaker 4 I'm jealous.

Speaker 5 Actually, I'm like, I haven't boxed dyed my hair since I was maybe way too young to be getting a hold of a box dye. Right.

Speaker 4 And I like, kind of obsessed. Oh, box dying raw.

Speaker 5 Like, I haven't had the time to go to the salon. We've been so busy.
And my hair gets this like reddish tint to it.

Speaker 5 So I was like, I'm just going to go find, like, I don't know what I'm doing, but we'll see. I love it.
And honestly,

Speaker 4 I literally knew it.

Speaker 5 I'm frugal. Loves this story.
I'm frugal.

Speaker 2 No, it's such a turn on.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 5 And

Speaker 4 I've been homeside.

Speaker 2 It's like,

Speaker 2 you turned your hair green for me.

Speaker 4 Literally.

Speaker 2 It's not green, by the way. It looks fantastic.

Speaker 4 It looks really, really great.

Speaker 2 But honestly, I didn't even care.

Speaker 4 I was like, honestly, however it looks. I love you.

Speaker 6 Are we talking a CVS box dye or a Sally's Beauty box dye?

Speaker 5 Oh, I did like the, I ordered off Amazon. I did like the Garnier something.
I don't know.

Speaker 4 But period, it worked.

Speaker 5 And it, like, honestly, I feel like my hair is shinier and like controler. And I'm like, okay, box dye.

Speaker 2 It looks way better than George Clooney's.

Speaker 4 Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Have you guys seen George Clooney's new hair dye? Now, in his defense, he's doing it for a movie.

Speaker 5 I feel like it just ruins George. Like, that's not George.

Speaker 4 It's not George. He could have worn a wing.

Speaker 2 He really made Gray look.

Speaker 6 Well, the thing is, I think it's like for a movie. You can do it.

Speaker 4 It is for a movie. Yeah.

Speaker 6 I think it's for

Speaker 5 a Broadway show.

Speaker 6 So it's like he's doing it every night. And I think that's why he died it.
Okay.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 2 He's doing this for Broadway. Yeah.
He must really love acting.

Speaker 1 I mean, he's George Clooney.

Speaker 4 Yeah, I guess.

Speaker 2 No, good for him, man. You know,

Speaker 6 he's not fighting with his wife, so he needs something to get people talking.

Speaker 5 Like, not even one little just like, oh, you're annoying me. You know, like, not one.

Speaker 4 Do they even love each other? I feel like you can't.

Speaker 5 Their whole thing is they're so in love.

Speaker 4 They're clearly lying.

Speaker 5 They still have never had one argument.

Speaker 6 It just depends on

Speaker 5 how many years?

Speaker 2 Your face annoys me today just because you've been here the whole day. You know, like sometimes married, you know, it's like.

Speaker 5 I'm not even married and I've gotten mad for less.

Speaker 4 Like, you're breathing in my space.

Speaker 8 No, literally. Almost 11 years.

Speaker 4 What's the dumbest thing?

Speaker 2 What is the dumbest thing you've gotten mad at me for?

Speaker 4 I love this. The dumbest thing that I've gotten mad you for

Speaker 5 i'm i feel like they're none of them are dumb so it's like hard for me to like think about like what's dumb because i felt like validated in all of them okay yeah for sure what have you what's the dumbest thing you've gotten mad at me for well let me see

Speaker 2 like you i i definitely feel justified and valid for my frustrations okay yeah but natalie thinks cooking is turning everything on high oh

Speaker 4 efficient like

Speaker 4 Danny does this.

Speaker 4 Get done much quicker.

Speaker 2 And then, and then, and then, and then deciding what ingredients she needs.

Speaker 4 Oh.

Speaker 2 You know?

Speaker 4 So the burner, so you go burner on first, and then you're like, okay, let me gather. Maybe.
You're preheating the pan.

Speaker 2 She's just kind of weird demure.

Speaker 2 She's very much winging it.

Speaker 2 You know what the secret to cooking is?

Speaker 4 What? Winging. Knowing what, getting your ingredients out first.

Speaker 2 Time, temperature, and preparation. Like, how much are you cooking something for? At what temperature does it need to be on?

Speaker 2 And, like, do you have your ingredients ready before you start cooking this shit?

Speaker 5 Is this a known thing? The TTP?

Speaker 4 Premier is true, though.

Speaker 2 I imagine it is.

Speaker 4 And brand it.

Speaker 9 Did you just coin a new term?

Speaker 2 I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I haven't.
I mean, I don't watch a lot of cooking shows, and I'm not like deep into the cooking community, but I imagine I'm not making this up.

Speaker 8 Natalie loves a little hibachi style. That's all.

Speaker 4 Turn the girl up and throw it on after. I do.

Speaker 2 No, she loves hibachi. She likes take-home.
Honestly, that's it.

Speaker 4 Take hit hibachi.

Speaker 2 It irritates me some of the things that she enjoys in terms of food.

Speaker 5 Honestly, going out to eat with either of you is absolutely difficult. Yeah.

Speaker 4 Usually you could be like, Mexican, do you want sushi? Do you want to Italian? I'm supposed to go to dinner with Natalie.

Speaker 2 How many times have you been out to dinner with us?

Speaker 5 Look, even New York.

Speaker 4 New York, I was sitting there and I was like, we went to a French restaurant and y'all got burgers and club sandwiches.

Speaker 2 What do you mean we went to a French restaurant?

Speaker 4 We went to the

Speaker 4 restaurant that we went to.

Speaker 4 This was a French restaurant.

Speaker 2 It's in a no, hardly.

Speaker 5 Hardly. There's es cargo on the menu.

Speaker 2 Oh, I'm sorry. I need to get es cargo.

Speaker 4 No, but there's like

Speaker 4 there's like, I got, I got muscles, fries, but it was just like,

Speaker 4 okay.

Speaker 2 It's it's a very American style menu.

Speaker 4 100.

Speaker 5 Well, that's what I'm saying. I'm like, if I go somewhere with you, I'm like, they have a chicken sandwich.

Speaker 4 They have burgers. They have like.

Speaker 6 They have French fries at a French restaurant.

Speaker 2 Yeah, there you go. Steak fritz.

Speaker 4 I have a question.

Speaker 9 Natalie, does it bother you when Nick like gets sick?

Speaker 5 He doesn't really get sick. And honestly, Nick does not complain when he's sick, which is really frustrating because I complain a lot.

Speaker 5 And I would love for him to like also complain so I could be like, well, you are complaining. But he does not.
The man has never complained once in his life, which is really shocking.

Speaker 2 They don't complain.

Speaker 5 When he's sick, he's just like, oh, I'm just like feeling a little achy. And I'm like, oh, I'm sorry.
Can I get you anything?

Speaker 4 He's like, no. I'm like, okay.

Speaker 5 And then it'll get me sick. And I'm like, ah,

Speaker 4 I'm dead.

Speaker 4 I'm like, are you okay? No.

Speaker 4 I think I'm dying.

Speaker 2 In fact, I don't think I've ever asked Natalie if she's okay.

Speaker 4 And her go, yeah, I'm okay.

Speaker 4 Don't ask.

Speaker 4 Her immediate response is always, no, I need something.

Speaker 4 It is.

Speaker 4 Like, are you okay?

Speaker 5 I'm like, no, I'm so thirsty. Are you okay?

Speaker 4 No, my back is killing me.

Speaker 4 Truly, I don't like, I never heard her go, yeah, I'm pretty good right now. You're not like, why lie?

Speaker 4 He's asking me. Literally.

Speaker 5 Do you want the truth or not?

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 7 Sorry if you can't handle that.

Speaker 5 Sorry if you can't handle the truth.

Speaker 2 I know the story's been out for a minute, but Dylan Efron recently saved two women from drowning in Miami, which is so like Dylan Efron. Right.

Speaker 5 He was probably going the cliff jumping and people were just like swimming and drowning. And he was like, you know what?

Speaker 4 I am a lifeguard.

Speaker 1 But what

Speaker 2 what people aren't talking about is he was with his friends, Brennan. Who's Brennan?

Speaker 4 Just like Cometown Friday. Just Brennan? Yeah.

Speaker 6 Just Brennan. Normie.

Speaker 2 And Sam Asgari. And I'm just curious as to like, what were they doing?

Speaker 5 I think they one helped. There were several people.
There was like a group of girls like in the ocean, like not being able to swim. And Dylan went and got one, came back, went and got another.

Speaker 4 Brennan went with.

Speaker 5 It was just Sam Ascari who was not a part of the. Oh, Sam did not help anyone.
No, it said, so I just looked around. There's no lifeguards around.

Speaker 5 Me and Brennan just look at each other, and we just sprinted out there. So I swam in, swam back for another girl.

Speaker 2 Like Sam was doing push-ups.

Speaker 5 Maybe he was helping on the shore. He was recording.
Yeah.

Speaker 5 He's like, this is definitely going to be good for Instagram later.

Speaker 2 Well, this, the, the new trailer for season two of the secret lives of Mormon wives is out.

Speaker 5 It looks very juicy.

Speaker 2 Oh, it is juicy. I can confirm.
Yes.

Speaker 4 It's juicy. I can't wait.
I'm sorry. These women give me life.

Speaker 4 I've seen the whole thing. Have you?

Speaker 8 I have. Did you guys see any Mormon wives last night?

Speaker 2 We saw.

Speaker 4 Well, we didn't see Jen.

Speaker 5 I did not see Jen. I did not see Demi, but I saw the rest.

Speaker 4 I saw Demi. You're looking great.
Looking great.

Speaker 2 Guys, this season.

Speaker 6 The poster.

Speaker 4 That's an absolute banger.

Speaker 4 I want to. Well, first of all, let's just play the trailer.
Can we play the trailer?

Speaker 5 I think Mom Talk's been a positive impact for the Mormon community.

Speaker 4 Okay.

Speaker 5 Life has been a blur.

Speaker 10 Mom talk has become a nationwide trend.

Speaker 5 I never imagined everything to blow up like this, but it's a double-edged sword. You're opening up yourself and your family to all kinds of drama.

Speaker 2 Can I have a hug?

Speaker 11 You can have a handshake.

Speaker 5 Where is everyone at? Whitney wants back in mom talk. Everything feels kind of fake about it.
I'm trying to protect mom talk. I don't feel like inviting the devil back in.

Speaker 5 I think everybody just needs to get the freaking stick out of their ass.

Speaker 5 Anyone that comes in at this point is clout chasing.

Speaker 4 What the hell? Is that Miranda? Oh my god.

Speaker 5 Miranda is Taylor's ex-best friend. I'm going to set the record straight on the swinging scandal.

Speaker 5 Oopsies. It's going to get messy for sure.

Speaker 5 How is everything going with Dakota? Things are just getting worse. I do worry about Dakota's sobriety.
All I've wanted is a family.

Speaker 5 Things for Zach and I have been pretty rocky.

Speaker 10 This is our marriage. This isn't a game.

Speaker 5 I think this is going to be a little intense.

Speaker 2 You announced we were swingers to the whole universe.

Speaker 1 What to do?

Speaker 6 No one had sex ever, period.

Speaker 4 What the f?

Speaker 1 Who's lying to us? Hey, don't touch my wife.

Speaker 5 Oh, this is crazy. He's a psychopath.

Speaker 4 The police are here.

Speaker 5 Mom talk is turning on each other left and right.

Speaker 5 Things went down in Italy at Vanderpump Villa.

Speaker 10 She hasn't ceased and desist to keep her from talking about it.

Speaker 5 If she comes,

Speaker 5 I will absolutely dawn. Me too.
You're manipulative, and you know it.

Speaker 10 I really think she needs to get over herself.

Speaker 5 Let's go.

Speaker 5 It's going to destroy the group as a whole.

Speaker 10 Will you please cut the camera?

Speaker 4 I can't do this thing.

Speaker 5 The show must go on.

Speaker 4 I have chilies.

Speaker 2 May 15th, everybody.

Speaker 4 Literally. Wow.
Thanks.

Speaker 5 Can we just talk about this theme song remix? Yeah.

Speaker 4 It's great.

Speaker 5 I need this blasting in my car.

Speaker 4 I'm into it.

Speaker 2 Will mom talk survive? Is real the question. I know that was like kind of a running joke last season, but like, I think it's a legitimate question going into the season.

Speaker 5 I mean, it's heightened.

Speaker 2 The ending of season two.

Speaker 5 Yeah.

Speaker 5 No words. No words.

Speaker 2 Literally, no words.

Speaker 9 Sometimes I wonder how people get over these kinds of fights. Like in reality TV across the board in general, like how people get through it.
And it's like, yeah, we're good now.

Speaker 1 It's like, how?

Speaker 2 That's what I, that's what makes these women so special and great TV. And I said as much, I saw Macy yesterday.
We saw most of them.

Speaker 2 And I was like, you're a lady's ability to just be completely honest about your feelings and spare, you know, no punches and then like be able to like come back the next day and just be like, hey, do you want to go get a soda?

Speaker 2 Is amazing.

Speaker 2 But I was talking, I think, to one of, one of the producers of the show, but like what they kind of speculated is just like, I think it comes from a place of like, these women obviously are very...

Speaker 2 most of them religious and devout.

Speaker 2 And there's a lot of, you know, you got to be honest, you know, and like we are the beneficiaries of their honesty because like, you know, lying is not good right you know which we all know that but like it's so toxic there's an extra layer of like you know

Speaker 5 pressure from their community just to keep it real I guess I don't know but it's it's now it's it's a wild season the women are already seem to be fighting I was gonna say I saw some discourse happening on all of my even my bravo blogs crazy apparently Jesse's like blocked Demi I saw Demi post that she said that her and Taylor aren't in a good place I mean it's which is crazy because I feel like Jesse and Demi were like the bestest of friends.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 5 Like genuine friends. And now

Speaker 5 they're blocked. I mean, it's.

Speaker 2 And we have Miranda, who was an OG mom of mom talk, wasn't on season one, was a part of the swinging scandal with Taylor, is joining the cast. So

Speaker 6 I feel like with with Miranda, we're, we're getting the promise of the premise. Because I feel like like season one was great, but I feel like I was expecting more swinging drama within.

Speaker 4 And like, and it was fine.

Speaker 6 You really got to develop like all the girls and stuff, but they weren't a part of it. And now we're like, oh, there's some like backstory here.
I don't know what happened, but something happened.

Speaker 6 Yeah. And we get to see it.

Speaker 5 Who's y'all's favorite?

Speaker 2 I appreciate them.

Speaker 4 Yeah. Yeah.
I appreciate them all.

Speaker 2 They're all necessary.

Speaker 4 They're all necessary. They're all necessary.

Speaker 7 How do you pick a favorite saint?

Speaker 2 Truly. How do you pick a favorite saint?

Speaker 4 Exactly.

Speaker 5 I do tend to side with the sinners. Who do you think is the most underrated?

Speaker 4 Michaela. Michaela.

Speaker 5 Michael loves it, too. I mean, she's so funny.
Her soundbites. Yeah.

Speaker 4 She's fast.

Speaker 5 She's fast, and she's funny, and she's witty.

Speaker 2 And like, well, she's so like demure and so like.

Speaker 4 She's very demure, but like she's ready. Like she's with the best.
She's demure, but like she'll also like stab a bitch. Yeah.
Yeah.

Speaker 8 She's been through a lot. She's willing to say something.

Speaker 5 Season one, we didn't really get to see it all. And then like post season one on TikTok, we're like, oh, okay, you're spicy, you're fiery.

Speaker 5 And I feel like this season, we're going to see like Michaela.

Speaker 7 Yeah.

Speaker 6 She's the Angie Katsanevas of Morvin wives and that it takes a second and she's yeah i'll never forget when she came and sat at the desk here and she someone said like what do you think of whitney or something and she was like a bitch like real fast like didn't hesitate no yeah i'm gonna say whitney i think whitney might be my favorite as well can i ask i might be the most obsessed with whitney yeah you know in a weird like justin just plays that video of her dancing justin watches justin watches it all the time she's kind of obsessed with it you know she's shameless and i appreciate it she's so shameless she's just able to keep keep coming back.

Speaker 5 She does not care.

Speaker 9 I'm not sure that I would not be able to handle like a whole group of women being mad at me.

Speaker 6 She's a consummate professional.

Speaker 5 And then she just makes a TikTok like dancing.

Speaker 4 Uh-huh.

Speaker 4 No, these are special women.

Speaker 2 These are special women. Yeah.

Speaker 9 Before we move on from Hulu Land, can we talk about how Hannah Brown is joining Bachelor in Paradise?

Speaker 4 Yes.

Speaker 5 I don't understand.

Speaker 2 I say happy for...

Speaker 4 I'm very. No, this is great for Hannah.
Great for Hannah. For sure.

Speaker 2 She's like kind of like been quiet for a while.

Speaker 4 Well, she left.

Speaker 5 She got engaged. She left LA and then she bought a home with her fiancé.
And then like he moved out because they like shouldn't live together until they're married. Oh, he did.
She's written a book.

Speaker 5 Then she's now written like a fictional book. And

Speaker 5 I mean, she, yeah. And so like for her to come back to paradise and kind of, it seems like she's hosting like a...
a champagne room. Like she's the bartender of like a champagne room.

Speaker 2 Like if you're Wells is a friend, you're very close with Wells and Sarah.

Speaker 4 Is this kind of a bit of of a demotion? I don't think so.

Speaker 5 I'm sure it's like share the wealth, but I just kind of feel like maybe like Wells is going to be the like daytime everyday bartender.

Speaker 5 And then I feel like for maybe Rose ceremonies or like maybe like one on the like date situations, like maybe she'll be hosting like her own segment.

Speaker 2 But do we need three hosts?

Speaker 5 That's the question.

Speaker 2 You know, like there's only so much airtime.

Speaker 5 I mean, I personally wanted Wells to to to have Jesse's job. So that's where I'm like, I don't know bringing in a third,

Speaker 5 how we're balancing the time.

Speaker 4 Well, I guess it takes a lot of communication. There is

Speaker 4 a lot of people.

Speaker 5 We're also like bringing in the Goldens. So maybe they're like, we need some extra hands on deck for all these people.

Speaker 4 I forgot about that dynamic. Yeah.

Speaker 11 Yeah. Maybe they're two cigars.

Speaker 5 Which it's kind of interesting that they brought back Hannah Brown. I love her, but not like.
someone from Golden to kind of give

Speaker 5 like have an older person to help the older people and then like a Wells to help the younger.

Speaker 2 What's their big advice? Like to not marry someone from the franchise?

Speaker 4 Oh, they both. Yeah.
Three. All three of them.
Jesse.

Speaker 2 Well, Jesse's never been a contestant on the show.

Speaker 4 What do you mean?

Speaker 2 I'm sorry. He was the bachelor.

Speaker 4 That was like a whole different

Speaker 4 era of the bachelor.

Speaker 2 You know, he was like the third. Yeah, you're right.

Speaker 4 Still.

Speaker 5 None of their hosts have success on the show.

Speaker 2 Guys, this is fucking crazy. Don't end up any of these people.

Speaker 4 That is kind of interesting.

Speaker 2 They love a success story, except.

Speaker 5 Like, and I feel like they could have gone to Ashley and Jared, you know, and like had, like, they found love on Paradise.

Speaker 4 Jaden Tanner?

Speaker 5 Like, someone who...

Speaker 2 Dean and Dean and Kaylin.

Speaker 5 Well, I'm excited to see Hannah on the beach regardless. And they're in Costa Rica.
So, like, a new era, new location, new beach.

Speaker 4 Costa Rica.

Speaker 2 I've heard good things. It's a very beautiful location.
I'm a little sad they're not going to that. That place was perfect for that show.

Speaker 4 Right. They're all

Speaker 5 Mexico.

Speaker 4 All right. Well, up next,

Speaker 2 Alex Baskin, executive producer of The Valley and many other Bravo shows, is with us next to Break Down the Valley. It was a wild episode last night.

Speaker 4 Dark even.

Speaker 2 Who are your, before we bring Alex on, who are the people you care most about?

Speaker 8 Kristen. Yeah,

Speaker 5 Michelle.

Speaker 2 Michelle and Jesse for me. I'm, give me more of them.

Speaker 5 I don't, honestly, I know everybody feels like that.

Speaker 2 It's so dark and toxic. Dark, yeah.

Speaker 5 I was like, but I'm even Jackson and Brittany.

Speaker 4 Hate it to say it.

Speaker 8 You're protective over Jesse and Michelle?

Speaker 5 No, we want to see it.

Speaker 2 No, I just like, I want to, I was like, I have misunderstood. No, no, I want to see, like, when, when, when a scene comes on and they're in it, I'm hooked.
And when it ends, I'm like, go back to them.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 That's too toxic for me.

Speaker 8 The Jesse Michelle.

Speaker 4 I really enjoy Zach.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 4 Zach.

Speaker 2 You know, I want to like. I'm going to scratch my itch, but

Speaker 6 I heard about the Canadian, the Canadian boyfriend that's moving in and them joking about you hauling. And I was like, gotta see how this goes.

Speaker 4 He's great with one-liner. Yes.
Ask Alec.

Speaker 2 I kind of feel like

Speaker 2 Jax and Brittany, it feels a bit performative.

Speaker 4 You think? I don't think so.

Speaker 5 No, I feel like they're both professionals. I feel like Jax and Brittany do know how to curate a scene.
I don't think they're making up these scenes.

Speaker 5 I do think these like are actual things that are happening in their lives. But I do think they're good at like Jack's being like, oh no, fuck this.
I'm done. I'm done filming.
Take the cameras away.

Speaker 5 You know, it's like that's performative.

Speaker 4 But I did wonder.

Speaker 8 That's embarrassing when you walk out and you come back in.

Speaker 5 But yeah, I did wonder too if it for like the reality of it all is that he wasn't expecting Britney to say certain things out loud while they were filming that scene.

Speaker 5 So that's where I'm like for him to react that way or be like, fuck this, I'm not filming. Like, you know,

Speaker 5 that's why I was like, I feel like this is pretty raw for me.

Speaker 5 Cause I'm like, it reminded me of like Shay and all that stuff, where it's just like getting your dirty laundry exposed and knowing that like 95% they are going to use this.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 5 But also like the phone call with the like person at the at the mental facility. Like, who was that?

Speaker 4 Okay.

Speaker 6 He's like, hey, brother, how are you?

Speaker 5 It's like, is this your friend? Like, who's calling you?

Speaker 4 That was a weird thing.

Speaker 5 This is not like a receptionist or a doctor at a mental facility.

Speaker 2 He's like, yeah, so that'd be like $30,000 for 30 days. Just do the 30 days, dude.

Speaker 2 I think that's better than 215 days. It was like, are you you selling him a happy meal?

Speaker 4 A used card? So weird. It was odd.
Kind of bizarre.

Speaker 8 When he kicked out Jason and Danny to have the phone call.

Speaker 4 Yeah. He's like, oh, phone call.
All right, you got to go. Got to go.
Get it out.

Speaker 4 I got to see you later. Thanks for watching.

Speaker 2 That'll be $30,000 for your mental health.

Speaker 4 That's weird.

Speaker 5 That's weird. And then, yeah, the Jesse called to Sheena about his like girlfriend, and in his phone, it says Sheena Shay.
And he's like, Hey, Sheena, this is Jesse, Lolly, and Michelle.

Speaker 5 We're sitting here together.

Speaker 4 It's like, are y'all friends or not? Like, why do you have to do that?

Speaker 2 Having them call Sheena made it feel a little staged.

Speaker 5 Right. And Sheena's like for verbatim, yes, that is exactly what she said.
She even told me who, the guy from Baywatch.

Speaker 4 It was like, oh my God.

Speaker 4 Well, no, she didn't do it.

Speaker 4 No.

Speaker 9 She's like, well, it was the guy from Baywatch.

Speaker 5 She's like, you know, I know. So that's, here's everything.

Speaker 2 But what does it say about Jesse, who immediately, I don't, this is his girlfriend?

Speaker 4 Allegedly. Yeah.

Speaker 4 Before we even

Speaker 2 meet this girl on TV, he's immediately throwing her under the bus by like calling Sheena his friend and having Sheena just platform a rumor about a person we've never met.

Speaker 4 Who is

Speaker 4 Sue Happy?

Speaker 5 What? Who is Sue Happy? But also he wants to move his daughter out to be with this person and she's got all of this stuff that you're just now finding out about her.

Speaker 5 This is the same woman who texted Michelle being like, I will sue you if you talk about me on this show.

Speaker 4 Oh, you said Sue Hampy.

Speaker 2 I was like, is that her name?

Speaker 4 Sue happy. Who's Sue Happy? Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the city.

Speaker 4 Sue happy.

Speaker 2 Well, let's bring in Alex and we can get some of our burning questions answered. Very excited to talk with him, and he is up next.

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Speaker 2 Alex, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me.
Very excited to have you. I feel like this has been a long time coming.

Speaker 4 It has been.

Speaker 1 Yeah. It has been.
I'm excited.

Speaker 1 I'm, you know, ready for the torture chamber, all of it.

Speaker 4 Torture chamber. No, no, no.
I know that you're the secret keeper of Bravo.

Speaker 1 I mean, until today.

Speaker 4 Yes, of course, exactly. Thank you.

Speaker 2 Well, I just want to start by saying thank you for all the great TV you've made over the years.

Speaker 1 Oh, I appreciate it. Yeah, no, thank you for your support of the shows.

Speaker 2 Well, you know, it's mutually, hopefully beneficial. But

Speaker 2 we've really enjoyed watching you make great TV.

Speaker 2 Can you just let our audience know, for those who don't know you, like what is your role and what has been in your involvement with some of the shows that Bravo has put out over the years?

Speaker 1 Sure.

Speaker 1 So currently, I run a production production company and we make a bunch of shows, including The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, The Real Housewives of Orange County, Vanderpunk Rules, The Valley, Kristen Cavalieri's news series, Denise Richards' series,

Speaker 1 and then a few others that I can discuss soon.

Speaker 5 You are booked and busy.

Speaker 4 Trying. Some of our favorites.
Chilling on Bravo.

Speaker 2 Obviously, we want to get into The Valley with you. You know, we just watched the new episode last night.
Beverly Hills just ended. There's obviously been a lot of fallout with Garcelle's exit.

Speaker 2 And then there's, you know, what like recently Garcelle unfollowed Sutton's brands.

Speaker 2 After what, what happened? Sutton put out like a.

Speaker 8 She's put out a statement essentially saying, and this is paraphrase, but like, you know, giving her her space, but like she still follows my brands.

Speaker 4 And then Garcelle immediately unfollowed her brands.

Speaker 2 She's like, okay, well, thank you.

Speaker 4 She's like, oh, thank you for reminding me.

Speaker 4 For the sake of clarity. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 Do you know anything?

Speaker 2 I mean, I don't know even what you can share, even if you do know things, but like, one, were you surprised as we were that Garcelle did what she did at the reunion and then decided to leave the show?

Speaker 2 Or did you kind of see it coming?

Speaker 1 I wasn't surprised that she left the show after the reunion because I think it was clear that she felt a particular way. And we respect that.
And I thought she did it with class and grace.

Speaker 1 And I thought she had a great five-year run on the show. And clearly to her, as she thought about what coming back would entail, she just didn't want to do it.

Speaker 4 Sure. Okay.

Speaker 1 Which I prefer to sort of some of the exits that linger over a couple of years where a cast member will come back to the show,

Speaker 1 but not sort of be into it spiritually. So I like the,

Speaker 1 you know, the clarity of it. I liked how definitive she was about it.

Speaker 2 Oh, that makes sense. Yeah.

Speaker 2 When the production company, and I'm sure there's a collaboration between you guys and Bravo, but when you

Speaker 2 end a season, what is the process that you guys go through of like deciding, you know, who do we want back? Is it who's a friend of versus a housewife?

Speaker 2 And then how do you guys scout for additional talent? We love Bose, by the way. Great, excellent find.
Just really fantastic.

Speaker 2 But yeah, how do you guys go through that process?

Speaker 1 Well, it really isn't scientific. So we have a series of conversations, and obviously we sort of have them through the season as well.

Speaker 1 But I would say that between kind of doing an assessment of the current group and then seeing what our casting yields, then we come to something of a consensus.

Speaker 1 Casting is sort of a process that starts with asking the current group who's close to them, who they know. And by the way, they may actually share that with us.
They may withhold that from us.

Speaker 1 So it depends. You know, they have various sort of reasons for that.
So we take a look around and then have a bunch of conversations.

Speaker 1 And it isn't casting for one thing or another. So it's sort of always say, people think that we have archetypes in mind and we're looking for an X-type.
We're really not.

Speaker 1 And people come in the form, you know, that they are. So, you know, meaning that it might be nice to add someone who is married to the cast, especially, you know, this current group, right?

Speaker 1 But if you find someone who is single or is going through a divorce and they're a compelling person and they have real relationships with the group, then that's the direction you take.

Speaker 4 Interesting.

Speaker 5 Do the ladies of the cast that's already cast, do they get a say in who comes in? Or like, can they push back if they're like, I don't get along with that person?

Speaker 1 Or is that something that would get that new person on quicker yeah i think they uh end up realizing over time that ultimatums are a very bad idea so they pretty much never work out well i think that we take into account what the obviously what the complexion of the group will be and so we don't want to bring someone in merely for the sake of revisiting an old feud or something like that but uh they definitely do not get a say because i don't even think that you could assemble a show if everybody got a say got a vote i don't know what you'd be left with that's so true.

Speaker 2 You mentioned Beverly Hills, the cast was wildly single. And

Speaker 2 going into the season, I was really, just as a fan, really was hoping that we could see some of these women date. And that really didn't seem to pan out this season.
As a producer,

Speaker 2 do you have those kind of same wish lists and things like that, but ultimately you can't make these women date if they don't want to date?

Speaker 2 And are those conversations you tried to have with any of these women?

Speaker 2 And is it still possible that if most of the cast is this core group of women, like Darit and Kyle and Sutton, you know, who remain single, like, are we going to see them get out there and try to live their lives?

Speaker 2 Because, yeah, like, I think sometimes when it's just the group of friends kind of talking and just living their lives without trying to like grow their lives, it gets

Speaker 5 you're. Well, we did see Sutton date last season.
Briefly kind of had some blinds.

Speaker 4 Which was great. I mean, it was nicely.

Speaker 4 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 12 Yeah, no, I agree.

Speaker 1 I mean, I think you want to see a progression of story in their lives.

Speaker 1 And I definitely think that you want to, you hope that they, in real life, move on from, you know, sort of the sadness of the separation onto what's next. They weren't all there this past season.

Speaker 1 So they were, you know, in various stages of limbo. And the one thing we would never want to do is fake as though they're dating.
So we just don't do that.

Speaker 1 We don't, you know, look for suitors for them. It's a, you know, not what we're there to do.
But I agree. I mean, I think you want to open up their lives as much as possible.

Speaker 1 You don't want the show to become insularly about what's going on in the show itself. So it can't just be all about, you know, memes between Kyle and PK.
Right. Right.
So

Speaker 1 definitely the hope is that you see, you know, sort of everything that's going on in their lives.

Speaker 1 And I do think, you know, the next frontier for them might be, all right, what do we do after the marriage is over?

Speaker 5 Do you have a favorite cast? Like over the years? Has there been one that's been like, that was just hard to beat?

Speaker 1 Definitely.

Speaker 1 I mean, I think that when it's a really cohesive group and when they put it all out there and when they hold each other accountable and when they know even more than we do as production and they call each other out, but they do it because they're all in it together.

Speaker 1 Yeah. That is my favorite.
Yeah. You know, I mean, I'm often asked, too, if I have a favorite cast member and I would say, you know, that varies daily, right?

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 4 It depends on who is doing their job.

Speaker 2 Is there a Bravo show that you're not a part of

Speaker 2 that you maybe it's another housewife franchise that you are a fan of or sometimes wish you got some of the energy that some of the other groups have?

Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean, I think there's two kinds of shows that I'm a fan of. I think some are shows where you just marvel at how well-made they are.

Speaker 1 And there's so many of those shows. And so I've always thought, you know, Top Chef is really well made and I can appreciate that as a viewer.

Speaker 1 I look at other shows that are in the docuseries genre, and you'll see when like Summerhouse has a great season and they're fully dialed in, then there are times where you'll watch a show like that.

Speaker 1 You're like,

Speaker 1 why can't our cast just do that right now?

Speaker 1 And so it's definitely the case.

Speaker 2 That's great. And Denise and the wild things, fun, lots of fun.
Great comedy. Do you anticipate a season two?

Speaker 1 We hope so. We're kind of figuring that out.

Speaker 1 Really enjoyed making it. It's fun to make a half-hour comedy.
And the thing that I liked about it is it wasn't overly broad.

Speaker 1 So it wasn't one of those set up family shows, which can be fun, but are stagey. I like the fact that, you know, they're very distinct people and they've obviously had a unique life.

Speaker 1 I think, you know, seeing them sort of grow up over the years and not really knowing them, but seeing them sort of in the shadows, it's fun to see them now as young adults. And Denise is great.

Speaker 1 Denise is just, you know, who she is. It was fun for me.
I went to the meal with Charlie Sheen.

Speaker 1 So it helped kind of, you know, arrange for that to happen. And I went to that.

Speaker 1 And it's just, it's fascinating for me to watch as a viewer, which means, you know, I think the audience will feel that way too.

Speaker 5 Sammy brought that back to my attention, that that video, that audio, that interview of him where he's like, if there are drugs, I will find them.

Speaker 4 It's Charlie Sheen.

Speaker 5 And I'm like, that is crazy that that is that same man

Speaker 4 sitting at this table.

Speaker 5 She's like, if you want to know why I am the way that I am, like, this is my father.

Speaker 2 Oh, I had to explain to Natalie just like, you know, she's the lore.

Speaker 4 Yeah, the lore, you know, just like the winning, you know, that whole thing.

Speaker 1 Yeah, no, it's, um, he's lived many lives.

Speaker 4 Truly. And now he has a great neck.
He does have a great neck.

Speaker 1 Well, it's really funny. And Denise looking to camera then was really funny.

Speaker 4 See, I'm also, it's funny.

Speaker 1 Um, on, on sort of looking to camera and breaking the fourth wall, I have mixed feelings about it. So I like it when it makes the show more real or there.
That's her expressing herself.

Speaker 1 I do not like it on the shows. I think when the cast is very self-conscious and when they're playing to the audience, but I thought that moment was really fun.

Speaker 5 And though, when they're, her and Sammy are taking the Pilates class. Yes.
And they're, and they both kind of look at the camera and be like, well, we are filming or whatever they said.

Speaker 5 It was, yeah, that was endearing too. Obviously, Vanderpump is iconic and everything that it was.
Are you a part of the revamp? How are you feeling about it?

Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean, I'm excited about it.

Speaker 1 Um, I, you know, the big thing that I keep emphasizing is we are not trying to do the thing that we did before, we're not trying to make the show that we did before.

Speaker 1 You can't do that, it's very big, you know, shoes to fill.

Speaker 1 And so, we recognize when we announced it in the first place that we would be met with some skepticism because the audience hasn't yet had a chance to fall in love with the new group and the new show.

Speaker 1 Um, but I think we're going to win people over. So, I think it's you know, getting back to core principles.

Speaker 1 It's a very tight-knit group, works together, lives lives together, does everything together.

Speaker 1 And I think it's really fun. I think that, you know, it'll be all of the things that the audience loved about that show in the first place.
It'll be, you know, messy and just a fun ride.

Speaker 2 Question I have for you, it's kind of like a meta question as we kind of segue into the valley and kind of talk, you know, because like this episode was a little darker, heavy for sure.

Speaker 2 We recently interviewed Allie Luber to talk about her experience with James. I'd love to know if you just have any general thoughts on that whole situation.

Speaker 2 But separately, it's interesting because like, you know, we watch these shows, we cover it, break it down, dissect it, talk about these people with the acknowledgement, like a lot of these people we haven't met yet.

Speaker 2 You know, it is a TV show. There are edits.
It's heightened stakes and things like that. But sometimes you are covering very heavy topics.
With the valley, kids are involved and things like that.

Speaker 2 You know, we were recently talking talking about the secret lives of Mormon wives.

Speaker 2 And the more we cover it, you know, it's like, I have to recognize while we still are critical and critical of these people, but like as fans, it's a bit hypocritical for us to judge all these people while enjoying the very shows that we, it's like, we want the drama, but then we have the nerve almost to like judge people for really opening up and sharing their lives with us.

Speaker 2 And I guess my question to you is like, as a producer of these shows, how do you, like, when you're watching a scene, for example, like Jesse and Michelle, you know, like, is, do you have like opinions as like a father or a human being?

Speaker 2 And how do you separate that between like, well, hey, it's my job to let these things play out versus like, you know, because a lot of fans will make comments like, this seems wrong or how do you let that happen?

Speaker 2 And well, we'll blame production for certain things. Does that make sense?

Speaker 2 Like, how do you kind of work through that as a human being, as your job, as a father, and then at the same time, letting this play out and letting these people be who they want to be on camera?

Speaker 1 Yeah, it's hard.

Speaker 1 And I think that it's changed a little bit through the years because I just think as a society, I think that years ago, I think the idea was, well, we're just documenting what's happening.

Speaker 1 And the idea was sort of to be more hands-off. I think we look at it differently now.
It can't be incumbent on us at all times just to run in if we, you know, suspect that someone might be better off.

Speaker 1 But I think there is a responsibility in certain situations, certainly not to heighten what is happening if there is a dangerous situation. And so we definitely intervene, you know, there.

Speaker 1 And obviously we do have personal feelings because I never want to be that anesthetized to this that I'm watching a show that I'm making and feeling nothing or looking at it as though this is a scripted series.

Speaker 1 It's people's real lives.

Speaker 1 So I think that on the one hand, that's a, it's a lot to reconcile, but I also think it isn't that hard to balance in the sense that whenever we think someone is in jeopardy or sort of needs our help, then we really are much more responsible than people might want to believe.

Speaker 1 It is tough with the fandom. I would say the fans do want it both ways.
And so if a show is light and fluffy, then, you know, the idea is, oh, well, there's more going on. It isn't really covered.

Speaker 1 And they want blood.

Speaker 1 And then when they see something that is very hard hitting, then on the other hand, either either they'll think it's too heavy or then it's somehow incumbent on us to make everything right in the world, which we just can't do.

Speaker 1 And it's not our job.

Speaker 1 So

Speaker 1 it can be tough.

Speaker 2 It seems obvious that not just Bravo, but I think reality TV in general has recognized that they might need to be more involved in certain situations and make sure, obviously, everyone's safe.

Speaker 2 But to me, it's more like, again, back to like the Jesse and Michelle scene last night. I mean, everyone's safe.
It's just two people who seem to hate each other.

Speaker 2 And they're talking about their child in a way that makes you go, you want to judge what they're doing.

Speaker 2 And it's like, then it's become like, I'm supporting this as a fan because I'm like, oh my God, give me more of this. Like when you guys cut away from Jesse and Michelle, I'm like pissed.

Speaker 2 I'm like, no, go back, you know, but I'm also like, just feeling like disgusted at the same time in a weird like way. Then it's.
It's just kind of fascinating.

Speaker 1 Well, sometimes like I will take flack if I say something like, I think that the cast is brave for putting it all out there. And people say, well, what do you mean brave? They're being paid for it.

Speaker 1 They're on a television show or whatever. I'm like, no, but I mean, like, that is a, that's a lot to open up and a lot to share.
And you're opening yourselves up to, you know, a lot of criticism.

Speaker 1 So I do think that it can make for good entertainment to a point. I also think that it's a balancing act for us.

Speaker 1 And I think if an entire show is that heavy, I think then you would want to walk, you know, look away at a certain point.

Speaker 5 Because there are like ever like moments where you feel like you want to like interfere, but you can't. For example, I know that you did the Britney and Jax spin-off.

Speaker 5 So it's like you watched Britney go through so much with Jax and then to fast forward 10 years or five, eight years, and it's, we're on the valley doing the same thing.

Speaker 5 Like, were there ever like moments where you like want to go in and be like, Britney, what are you doing? But then you're like, also, this is my job.

Speaker 1 Sometimes you do, but I also have learned that,

Speaker 1 you know, you really can't change the trajectory of someone's life.

Speaker 1 And so sometimes as we see in these shows, right, like if you'll sense in certain instances that a marriage maybe isn't so strong, people in it might be fighting for it and they might think that they're better off.

Speaker 1 And down the line, they will learn, they will see. And that's kind of just you know, sort of what we're observing, right?

Speaker 5 You know, also, I mean, like in the case of Brittany, I mean, she's been warned, you know, like definitely, but I feel like it just would be hard, like being like years in, being like, still seeing, can I help you?

Speaker 5 Yeah, like be a lifeline or something, you know, but then it's also you can't really interfere with the story.

Speaker 2 Well, not only that, but like again, with Brittany, it's like, I'm going to be the 15th person who's said, are you sure you want to be with Jax?

Speaker 2 Where it's just like, she's made, she's made her decision over, you know, her life, I kind of feel like.

Speaker 1 Yeah. I mean, I don't, I don't disagree.
So I don't think, you know, sort of any of this is all that surprising.

Speaker 1 I mean, you know, it was funny, some of the responses when Jax did my podcast and people were like, oh, well, he's revealing this now.

Speaker 1 And I'm like, well, but everyone might have thought that they knew. that he had, you know, issues with drugs, but he wasn't at a point to talk about it.
And so there you go. Right.

Speaker 1 And so so that's what I would say is that it all sort of happens in time. And I agree to your point.
Um, oftentimes a lot of people will have approached the person.

Speaker 1 Brittany had heard about that from a lot of people and she had to just go through this.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 5 She feels it herself. That's so true.

Speaker 2 Back to the James Ellie Luber. Do you have any just general thoughts on like that? That story came out after you're done with

Speaker 2 seemingly done with this cast. You obviously know these people intimately.
There are relationships. What was that story like for you? And do you, you know, did you connect with any of them?

Speaker 2 You know, obviously, Lisa Vanderpump was involved, who you work closely with. Like, what was your take on that situation?

Speaker 1 Look, I thought it was horrible on the whole for everybody involved. And so I'm glad at this point that Allie seems like she's in a really good place.

Speaker 1 And, you know, hopefully James is taking care of himself. I don't, you know, I don't know.

Speaker 1 I was glad, on the other hand, that we weren't doing the series at that point, because that would would have been a really tough one to cover.

Speaker 1 So I think contrary to what people might think, you know, wasn't sort of thinking, oh, well, we should have cameras up.

Speaker 1 You know, I thought it was a very dark, tough situation and mostly just wanted to make sure that everyone, and obviously Allie in particular, was safe.

Speaker 5 When Scandoval all happened and we picked back up cameras, when you got the call of like, this is what's happening, what was your reaction?

Speaker 4 I couldn't believe it.

Speaker 1 So I was, I definitely was staggered by it.

Speaker 1 And I was,

Speaker 1 you know, one of the few who didn't believe. I thought, you know, in spite of all the evidence that we had to the contrary, I didn't actually think that there was something going on between those two,

Speaker 1 between Tom and Rachel. And so I was, you know, floored by the fact that it happened and the way that it transpired.

Speaker 1 And also the other thing is at that point, Ariana had such a great resolve to tell the story. And I think we all were really worried about her because we thought her world could come crumbling down.

Speaker 1 And it was just the opposite. So right away, you could see that she was drawing strength from this.
And so remarkable to be in the middle of it.

Speaker 1 And our instinct right away was, we need to cover this in real time. There was a little bit of pushback to that because the idea was we were shooting the reunion again in three weeks.

Speaker 1 So, you know, why would you do that? There was, but, but what ultimately prevailed is we had a series of conversations. We realized we can do this right now.

Speaker 1 You know, yeah, that was a wild ride. Those few weeks after that were extraordinary.

Speaker 5 Crazy. So did whenever that happened, we hadn't seen the season yet,

Speaker 5 but obviously we all knew how everything ended. Did you change kind of how the show was edited to kind of show us more of Tom and Rachel's interactions?

Speaker 5 Because it definitely like made people pay more attention to that knowing how it all ended up.

Speaker 1 Well, we didn't. So much of the show was locked.
So I want to say the first, I don't even remember at this point, but it was like seven episodes, I want to say, were already locked.

Speaker 1 And so, we definitely, you know, look, we couldn't ignore what we knew was coming with future episodes, but it wasn't as radical as people might think.

Speaker 1 And, and we also, the other thing is we had already key in on this as story. We just didn't know what the outcome was.

Speaker 1 It wasn't like we went back and radically changed what we were, what we were doing.

Speaker 1 But clearly, if you're picking interview bites going forward, right, and someone says, and you know where you're going to end, then you're more likely to use a bite from someone saying, you know, I am very suspicious of this, right?

Speaker 1 As opposed to someone saying, there's no way there's something happening.

Speaker 4 I mean, right, right.

Speaker 5 That makes sense.

Speaker 2 Well, let's just get into the valley. Obviously, last night's episode was very much heavily centered around Jax and Brittany and him going to get this treatment.

Speaker 2 My big question, and I've kind of teased in the past with Bravo in general. I call it like TV therapy.
How do you like, how does that work? How do you guys balance and make TV around topics like this?

Speaker 2 And you bring in like treatment centers and these phone calls and things like that. Like, how are you guys able to do that in an authentic way?

Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean, so this unfolded the first week of production. I mean, we were just getting started.
It was like, you know, God, couldn't we just ease into this?

Speaker 1 You know,

Speaker 1 but the world doesn't comply.

Speaker 1 And really, the first order of business was Jax was going to go and do this. And so we were planning on covering it, you know, however we needed to.
It was all sort of happening in real time.

Speaker 1 And so it was honestly on him and on the people around him much more than us because they were arranging for him to do this. They figured out, you know, sort of which facility he would go into.

Speaker 1 And then we were kind of picking it up from there.

Speaker 2 I've been very critical of Jax over the years of watching the show because it's just like, as someone who mostly knows him through TV, he seems like a, like a low character person.

Speaker 2 I mean, he just does. You know him way more intimately.
You know, just the way he's able to talk to Brittany.

Speaker 5 His line of when Kristen was like, you've called her fat.

Speaker 4 And he was like, I've never called her fat.

Speaker 5 I like women that look like her. It was like, what the fuck?

Speaker 2 It's like, it's just,

Speaker 2 it's, yeah, it's, there's just like this, I mean, decades of, of, of content centered around this guy being terrible to his women partners, gaslighting his friends.

Speaker 2 Like, how, again, what is your relationship with him? And is it just more like, yeah, I mean, like, he is who he is.

Speaker 2 And you try not to have judgment for someone who, whatever I think of him as a person, he's still very much a star. of the show.
What is that relationship you have with Jax Taylor?

Speaker 1 Well, I think in that case, look, he's so integrated into the group. And so also you're telling Brittany's story and Brittany's, it's part of Britney's story.
So it isn't like

Speaker 1 the show is sort of, you know, forcing this to happen. We're just picking up what's really going on.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean, definitely, you know, to your question, do we as producers have certain judgments or have certain thoughts? I think we do and we should. I think it's up to us to be fair.

Speaker 1 So even if we feel a certain way about something, we want to equally weight, you know, both sides. And then the audience can sort of watch and pick it up.

Speaker 1 It doesn't mean we're, you know, giving equal validity to it, but I think that Jax expresses himself in this. I think people are free to, you know, sort of make whatever judgment they want.

Speaker 1 And so I, you know, with the Valley, not only is Jax Britney's husband, but also, as you can see, the rest of the group is very much involved in what goes on between them.

Speaker 1 And so we're just, we're really covering it. It's a hard, heavy thing to cover, but we'd be remiss if we weren't telling, you know, really the central story, not just to his life, but to hers.

Speaker 2 Outside of Jackson Brittany's storyline, is there a particular storyline that you are excited for the audience to learn more about as this season kind of unpacks?

Speaker 1 Yeah, I think there's a few of them. I think that what works out really well with The Valley is that it's a big cast.
And I think the story is constantly developing.

Speaker 1 And so I don't think you end up on the hamster wheel wheel too much. There is heavy story.
It's all right there in front of us.

Speaker 1 And the other thing I would say is that in that show, the story develops on camera. So it's not, we're not picking things up after the fact.
So you see Jax go to rehab. We don't hear about it.

Speaker 1 It's not a conversation after. So I think that's compelling.
But really to me, it's that there's a lot of story that is constantly developing.

Speaker 1 And I sort of think in that show, everyone pulls their weight.

Speaker 2 Do you ever notice people self-producing in ways that you find irritating?

Speaker 4 All the time.

Speaker 4 What's the most irritating?

Speaker 1 Oh, it's so annoying. Well, I think the

Speaker 1 I think sometimes people fight the idea that we cast them on the show to be themselves. And I think I always say you get in someone's first season on a show, you want them to be who they really are.

Speaker 1 And the second season and beyond, you want them to be who they used to be.

Speaker 1 Because the feedback necessarily, you know, changes who they are. So that can be really annoying.

Speaker 1 And sometimes, you know, I think that you're making a show with a bunch of Reddit threads that are clashing into each other, and that's really annoying. So

Speaker 1 yeah, it's very annoying. But I understand it's also human nature.
When you get really strong feedback in different directions, you know, how can you just tune that out?

Speaker 4 It's hard. Have you ever been like, cut? Uh-uh.

Speaker 4 No.

Speaker 1 Sometimes we do that. I mean, sometimes we will say, you know, it's fine.

Speaker 2 Even if we don't like what someone's saying, that's okay as long as it's authentically what they, you you know who they are and what they want to say but there are times when like you can't really believe what you're saying right now this is total bullshit let's be honest i am you know i'm curious to ask your question as a producer and you and i have had this conversation long ago offline bravo obviously housewives the franchise has been around for 15 i don't know how many 20 years 20 years i feel like at this point when bravo really started it the zeitgeist of pop culture tv is different how we consume things are different podcasts didn't even exist when this show started you know the way fans cover these shows, 10, 15 years ago, Bravo really was able to kind of control.

Speaker 2 It's like, all right, we're going to film these group of people for a period of time. We'll edit it.
We'll put it on ice for a while. Then it will, you know, we'll play.
They will have a reunion.

Speaker 2 Then we'll start pick up cameras again.

Speaker 2 And now very much like part of reality TV, you know, are shows like The Vile Files and other shows that, you know, and bloggers and people online talking about it.

Speaker 2 You have cast members having their own shows and podcasts talking about what's going on, their opinion.

Speaker 2 And, you know, I know like networks, for example, want to like, you know, they want to control it. They want to keep it in-house.
It's like harder to do.

Speaker 2 And I'm just more for, like, I'm always trying to encourage the networks and production companies to embrace the conversations that are out there and just let this show live outside of itself and just continue.

Speaker 2 to adapt because in my experience, the best producers are the ones who are able to adapt. They really, you know, just let this, let this world play out, however it plays out.

Speaker 2 If it wants to play out online, great.

Speaker 2 But like, it's, it's just more content rather than trying to pretend like the world outside of filming doesn't exist, which I feel like was easier for you guys to do 10 years ago.

Speaker 2 How do you kind of see that as a producer of these shows?

Speaker 4 Yeah, I completely agree.

Speaker 1 I think that we have to embrace the ecosystem. I think that we can't control the world and we shouldn't try to do it.
I think we definitely benefit from the constant conversation about the shows.

Speaker 1 So I think it's super important to the show's popularity. And look, a show is in trouble if no one is talking about it.

Speaker 1 Right. And so I think we have to know that.
On the other hand, I think the thing can be frustrating, that can be frustrating is I think when the outside world overtakes.

Speaker 1 what the show might be about, I think that's an issue.

Speaker 1 And there's nothing more annoying in a housewives, for example, when you have this convoluted storyline that is just about dueling appearances on podcasts or just things that people don't really care about.

Speaker 1 And you're explaining these teeny, tiny things that aren't really about their relationship to each other. I think that can be, you know, kind of annoying.

Speaker 1 And I think you don't want, you know, the people that you're following on the shows just to turn into creatures who just hop between podcasts and say shady things about each other.

Speaker 1 So that's really annoying. Sure.
I think you want to filter that out. But I completely agree.
We have had to adapt and evolve. And And I'm grateful.

Speaker 1 I think, you know, part of the reason that I have shows that have been on for a long time is we've managed to evolve the shows on their own, right?

Speaker 1 So, even the definition of what a housewife is, I don't even, you know, know exactly what it is in the best possible sense, right?

Speaker 1 And then, on the other hand, we benefit from the fact that there is a super passionate community that is constantly talking about the shows. It's really important to us.

Speaker 2 Sheena made a quick cameo last night via a phone call. I think there's been speculation that Lala and Schwartz might show up.
How did those conversations happen? And

Speaker 2 how do you balance leveraging the celebrity that these characters have built through the years of the success of Vanderpump, but at the same time asking, do we need them?

Speaker 2 Do they help add to the story? Or is it more like Sheena needs a paycheck? So

Speaker 2 we're going to bring her on and things like that.

Speaker 1 Well, we definitely felt heading into the second season that we wanted to bring back the entire group from the first season. We were overstuffed anyway.

Speaker 1 And so there were a lot of rumors that we were bringing on some of the Vanderpump casts to be full-time. And I shut those down.
It was not happening.

Speaker 1 But at the same time, they are a part of that friend group.

Speaker 1 So it makes sense to see them.

Speaker 1 And frankly, it would be, you know, sort of inauthentic if you didn't see them because you would be leaving them out solely because that would be a creative decision that you were making.

Speaker 4 Going forward,

Speaker 1 who knows? I think, you know, a lot of things are possible. You know, again, I still think it's a really strong cast and it has a, it's voluminous, you know, already.

Speaker 1 But we'll see. I think, you know, it's possible that we open it up a little bit.
But I like the fact that between the first and second season, we just ran it back with the same group.

Speaker 2 Is there a character in the valley that we might over the course of the season form a different opinion of them prior to the one we had of them season one?

Speaker 1 I think, I actually think it's possible for a few of them. So I think it's very early yet because we're in the second episode out of 15 and then we have to shoot the reunion.
So God help us all.

Speaker 4 It'll be a very long day.

Speaker 1 But yeah, I think so. I think that, you know, just like nobody had on their bingo card that Jesse and Kristen would become friends.

Speaker 1 I think, you know, the audience may find that they feel differently about a few of the cast members through the season.

Speaker 1 And again, I think that's the thing that's fun about it is I think that, you know, it's constantly evolving.

Speaker 2 Who are you most fascinated with in this particular cast?

Speaker 1 I think it's a a very strong group on the whole. I'm really interested in growth.

Speaker 1 And so I think Brittany has a strong season because I think she asserts herself in a way that she never has.

Speaker 1 So I find that super compelling as someone who has known her personally for all these years and sort of made, you know, the shows with her.

Speaker 1 I think same thing with Kristen, you know, and I think she's in a very different place.

Speaker 1 So it sort of changes for me based on what's happening, but I love seeing someone turn into a different version of themselves and in an unstudied way. Yeah.

Speaker 5 Jumping to Housewives of Orange County. Are y'all still filming or have you wrapped filming?

Speaker 1 We're still filming. Wow.

Speaker 5 Damn.

Speaker 4 I feel like that's a long

Speaker 4 time, no?

Speaker 5 Or do I just not have my timeline right now?

Speaker 1 It's it is it's normal. It just feels it feels very long.

Speaker 4 Okay, okay.

Speaker 2 Anything you can tease or, you know,

Speaker 5 we had Tamra being like, I'm done, I'm quitting. And then I'm back later.

Speaker 1 Yeah, that's how long

Speaker 1 the season is.

Speaker 4 It's like, yeah, no.

Speaker 4 He was ready to be done.

Speaker 1 It's strong. It's strong.
I just looked at

Speaker 1 the first cut of the first episode of 1901.

Speaker 4 It's really good. And it's funny because I didn't even,

Speaker 1 you know, very much know what is happening, but I sort of watched it fresh because it's been such a long season. So I'm excited about it.

Speaker 1 And I think it'll be a very eventful end of the season as well. And I have no idea what's going to happen.

Speaker 5 It's exciting. Yeah.

Speaker 4 It's really exciting. County.

Speaker 5 Can you shed any light on the rumors of Debbie Metanopoulos talking about possibly joining the cast of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills?

Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean, I will say this. We have not yet made any decisions on what we're doing.

Speaker 1 So I sort of, you know, as much as anyone eagerly read those and it's you know it's like you're like oh yeah i'm like we are good to know can i go home now you know so do you ever like i mean there's always a lot of fan speculation blogs rumors ideas do you guys ever like get ideas from from fans where they go oh actually should we look into that person or or should we bring back lisa arena or you know stuff like that i mean open to it because i but but typically they're ideas that we would have thought of i mean especially if it comes to bringing someone back.

Speaker 1 Then, you know, obviously we're aware that that might be an option.

Speaker 1 But yeah, I mean, every once in a while, someone will have, you know, a great idea, just like every once in a while, you'll read a tagline and I'm like, but you nailed it.

Speaker 2 Do you ever, yeah, do you ever see something online with your cast members outside of filming where you do wish like you were filming?

Speaker 2 Like, for example, recently Kyle and Teddy were out walking the streets of Beverly Hills and seemed to get in a dispute with a dog walking lady without without any audio that

Speaker 2 we all saw it, but like we all want to know.

Speaker 5 No one had mics on what happened, what went down.

Speaker 2 And like, are you watching it like this, like us being like, oh, fuck.

Speaker 1 What was so funny? So Kyle sent me that video, right, as it, as it happened.

Speaker 1 And I wrote back to her, give that lady a diamond.

Speaker 1 But yeah, no, that happens all the time. But you kind of accept at this point that you're just not going to be able to catch everything.

Speaker 1 We used to feel that way about Vanderpump because there was so much turmoil in that group that, like, the minute that you put down cameras, you were missing story.

Speaker 4 But what are you going to do?

Speaker 5 That had to have been like frustrating for so long. And then at some point, you're like, God, I just got to give it up.

Speaker 1 Yeah, you just submit yourself to it. It's like, at that point, we're doing 20 episodes.

Speaker 2 I mean, do you guys ever have conversations? Like, for example, Love Island is a show that is essentially almost live. You know, the turnaround is insane.

Speaker 2 The way technology is going, AI, the world's just more fast-paced news is old

Speaker 2 so fast. Do you ever see a world where, you know, production companies like yours, Bravo in general, it's more like Truman Show and real-time like docuseries and getting content out there?

Speaker 2 Is that something like you wish the technology was available to you? Or are you almost like, like, oh, like, we're, too much is changing too fast?

Speaker 1 It's a great question.

Speaker 1 I, I think that a, a sort of faster intake would be great in certain circumstances. Obviously, the Kardashians did it because, you know,

Speaker 1 the previous iteration of their show felt like old news when you were watching it

Speaker 1 because you had already

Speaker 2 consumed the story and so they're just so out there in the public and they're being covered constantly. Totally.

Speaker 1 So I think it's a little bit different when the stories aren't already out there, but I do think that sometimes I think we could increase our metabolism and look for me that would mean fewer notes.

Speaker 1 So I'm

Speaker 4 okay with that.

Speaker 4 All right.

Speaker 8 You mentioned Kyle texted you.

Speaker 8 There's a narrative out there that Kyle kind of calls the shots on Beverly Hills. Would you say that's accurate or would you say that's just complete? Like, she's just been there.

Speaker 8 She knows her thing and people are just making that up.

Speaker 1 It's so funny because I always laugh at that. It's like the idea that any one person on the shows could call their shots.

Speaker 1 Like, I just was having a conversation with someone recently, a prospective cast member of Beverly Hills, and she was saying it's someone who's like, you know, someone high profile.

Speaker 4 And I was like,

Speaker 1 will I get an EP credit on the show? And I was like, that is such a laugh because nobody gets a credit. Nobody has any say whatsoever.
And so it is interesting.

Speaker 5 Also, I feel like you wouldn't want to as a housewife. Like, then it just makes you look like you're too in it.
You know, it's like if you have a producer credit, it's like.

Speaker 2 Well, Vicki Gundelson is still very upset.

Speaker 4 She really wants to.

Speaker 2 She does not have editing rights. And she very much thinks she deserves it

Speaker 4 and wants to.

Speaker 2 But only if she is a producer on the show.

Speaker 2 Executive. She credits herself for the entire success of it.

Speaker 1 Well, I think when she launches Woohoo Productions, I think she can, you you know, she can produce her own shows.

Speaker 1 But yeah, I mean, no, and it would be impossible in a show like that for anyone, you know, to have that sort of power. You couldn't make it.

Speaker 1 And look, there's been plenty of things that Kyle hasn't loved in the show.

Speaker 4 True. Yeah.

Speaker 5 I'm just asking for a friend. What requirements does it take for somebody to get on a Housewives series, like for them to be considered?

Speaker 4 Ooh,

Speaker 1 I think it's sort of a bunch of different qualities. Obviously, you're looking for someone who makes sense within that group.
Right. And so the more connected they are, the better.

Speaker 1 And I think someone who captures your imagination. So someone

Speaker 1 who has a different point of view, someone who is, you know, unafraid to express that point of view. I think someone who,

Speaker 1 you know, I always say sort of both fits in and stands out, you know, that kind of thing. And so, and at this point, we're attracted to originals.

Speaker 1 So I think if you watch someone in casting and it feels like you've already seen them before

Speaker 1 in some way, you're less attracted to to them.

Speaker 5 Yeah. Just taking notes.

Speaker 5 Is Katie on the next season of Orange County? Did she get brought back? Katie's on the season. Katie is.
Okay. I felt like she honestly was a good cast.

Speaker 5 I felt like she was bringing the outside interaction she had with Heather, you know, and bringing him to the show and not afraid to

Speaker 5 bring the rumors. I felt like she was a pretty good cast.

Speaker 1 It was a good group. It was a good season.
That show's had a couple strong seasons in a row.

Speaker 2 Is Alexis back?

Speaker 1 Alexis is not on this season.

Speaker 2 And I thought that, and I'm curious, because she was such a big part of last season and such a big part of the storyline between her and Shannon.

Speaker 2 And it makes a lot of sense why she's not back, given that relationship and the importance of Shannon, at least right now to the show.

Speaker 2 But as a producer of a show that relied so heavily on one character and a storyline. Yeah, is that something you go into a season a little nervous about?

Speaker 2 And yeah, how do you, you know, make those difficult decisions?

Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean, at that point, to your point, it wouldn't really have made sense because, and I don't know that there was anywhere to go from there.

Speaker 1 And, you know, I mean, what are they going to get together and throw her a bridal shower?

Speaker 4 I mean, you know,

Speaker 1 but I think everyone has to step up and fill that void. And then we were excited to have Gretchen back.
And so, you know, that felt like we also were injecting something, you know, that's both

Speaker 1 new into the group, but then also makes sense and has a history with the group. So I don't mind that.

Speaker 1 And I don't think that the formula of a previous season is necessarily the same for the next season. Awesome.

Speaker 5 I feel like we could pick your brain all day long. Yeah, literally.

Speaker 4 I'm like, so you're saying there's a chance.

Speaker 2 Anything you want to leave us with before we let you go?

Speaker 1 I don't think so. I would say the other project that I'm excited about is the Kristen Cavalieri series for E.

Speaker 5 So is that her podcast tour? Is that

Speaker 4 okay? Okay.

Speaker 5 I saw her post about that.

Speaker 1 Yeah, it's a fun blend of the podcast itself and then also the tour.

Speaker 12 Okay.

Speaker 5 I heard her say she kind of, I don't know if she said regretted, but I think about showing her children in the first very cavalier that she did.

Speaker 5 Is her family life a little bit more involved in this show that you're doing?

Speaker 1 It is. It was a show that we shot very quickly because the tour obviously was super compressed.
So you see some of her kids and she's getting ready for the tour. Okay.

Speaker 1 And it's great to see, I mean, it's fun to see her as a mom. Yeah.

Speaker 1 And it's cool. She's, you know, obviously such a pro at this and so open that it's fun to see her both, you know, when she's sort of performing and

Speaker 1 doing the podcast itself and then also just kind of, you know, hanging out and letting loose.

Speaker 4 Love. How fast did that come together?

Speaker 1 Really fast because it's great when you need an answer on a project because you're chasing, you know, a deadline.

Speaker 1 And so that was a, we were picked up in January and the tour was in March and then it airs, you know, it airs in June.

Speaker 4 Amazing. Yeah.
It's wild.

Speaker 2 Well, Alex, this has been a ton of fun. Please come back.
Hopefully we weren't too hard hard on you.

Speaker 1 No, not at all.

Speaker 4 Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 Yeah,

Speaker 2 again, thanks again for making such great TV and giving us some insight on the shows that we love watching and excited to see these new projects and excited to see the valley continue to unfold.

Speaker 2 It seems like a really good season.

Speaker 2 I'm very locked in and just great to talk with you.

Speaker 1 I appreciate it. Thanks, guys.

Speaker 2 Thank you. Alex Baskin, everybody.

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Speaker 2 Always fun to talk to the creators of these shows.

Speaker 5 Honestly, that's so cool and exciting for me. Like, that's like my nerd kink.

Speaker 4 Like, I'm like, oh my god, tell me more.

Speaker 2 But also, it's just nice to hear from them because I think when it comes to these types of shows, there's always so much interest and speculation.

Speaker 2 And like I always say, like, you know, specifically like a batch of producers, like like, people talk about producers as if they're like these kind of mythical, like, people you never really see,

Speaker 2 you know, and they act like it's like three wizards in a tower, like manipulating,

Speaker 2 you know, like puppet masters. And it's like, these are people with jobs, they're like creative jobs, and like, you just kind of hear them talk.
It's just like, it's

Speaker 2 a very unique job. Like, for example, like watching the valley back or just watching Mormon Housewives.
Like, we do have to recognize as fans,

Speaker 2 like, we enjoy the drama, the toxicity like i you know it's like it's how much can you i mean we do judge like you know what i'm saying like when jesse and michelle are having this conversation you know like it's hard not to judge two people who seem to be like inserting their child uh into their drama jesse saying he wants to prioritize his what do you say yeah his his career like his professional life his single dad life and his private life it's like isn't your private life and your your single dad life?

Speaker 4 Is it the same?

Speaker 4 Okay.

Speaker 2 And why does he talk like he still expects Michelle to like care about his like loneliness?

Speaker 8 So toxic, though, because Michelle's like, you always cry. Like, you want to make me look cold.

Speaker 4 I know.

Speaker 5 That was crazy.

Speaker 5 Like, this is a lot of like fighting that, like, it was like she knows him so well to know that, like, oh, these cameras are up and you're crying because you know that, like, that's going to like win people over.

Speaker 5 And I'm going to look like this.

Speaker 8 And then he calls Sheena to have someone out that she was hooking up with the Bay Watch guy or kissing him.

Speaker 4 And it's like this is tit for tat.

Speaker 4 Is it working for anyone?

Speaker 2 Like Jesse never comes across like a good guy.

Speaker 5 Well, that's what even my boyfriend's back in town, so we re-watched the first episode going into the second episode. And it's just kind of like even the apology to Kristen.

Speaker 5 It's like, would that have happened if we're not going through this divorce and trying to win sides?

Speaker 2 Well, when he, you know, the schedule, he's like, this is the new schedule. And this is what you're, excuse me?

Speaker 5 And he's like, and then you're going to drop her off to the nanny and she's like what nanny and he's like it doesn't matter and it's like

Speaker 2 my child is gonna be picked up by this nothing says bad dad like i don't care who takes care of my kid when i'm not as long as she's not with you it's also just giving like a toxic divorce because i will say that's very realistic communication the way that they're doing it on camera oh yeah i mean again in which again yeah i appreciate like i'm you know it's hard it's hard to sit there and say

Speaker 5 i you know it's like it's like it's a it's a fascinating thing to your original point like it's like um i feel like i enjoy reality reality TV so much because I do feel like it's like psychology 101.

Speaker 5 There's a bunch of situations that are in people's real lives that I may never experience, hopefully will never experience, but seeing how people handle it.

Speaker 5 And it's like, you think to yourself, like, oh, I would do this so differently. Or like, I can't believe they're doing this with cameras there.

Speaker 5 But it's just like, no, this is their real lives and how they're reacting to things. And not everybody has.
a great on-camera reaction.

Speaker 2 There were two moments where I empathized with Jax and Jesse. Yeah.
And it was centered around the same topic.

Speaker 2 There was a scene where Michelle was FaceTiming her boyfriend to her daughter and she goes, I love you. Yeah.
I don't know how long they've been dating.

Speaker 2 I understand that like when you get a divorce and you date and like certainly you want people to care for your children, you know, never want to think about Nellie and I not working out.

Speaker 2 But, you know, it's just like, it's not like you want your child to be around someone who hates them.

Speaker 2 But it sure seemed, it sort of felt a little icky almost to like have this strange man who like may or may not be in Michelle's future two years from now they just started dating who knows to like be saying I love you to this if I'm Jesse I'm like what are you fucking kidding me like that would be so hurtful and despite like the you know me having almost no empathy or understanding for Jax Taylor when he was like you're sending pictures of my kid to some guy you're dating would make me uncomfortable like you know like and maybe that is a territorial thing you know like i i feel incredibly blessed and grateful like when i watch these shows it's just like, I'm so grateful of what we have.

Speaker 2 And it just makes me be like, just we, you know, more and more like determined to like make sure we protect our relationship.

Speaker 2 You know, it's just like, I'm, I'm so grateful to not be going through what they're going through.

Speaker 2 And I have so much empathy for parents who go through divorce and the children who go through it because like watching this show, it just like, it's such a sad situation.

Speaker 4 It is.

Speaker 5 It is. But I'm like, that's what I do appreciate about it where I'm like, a lot of people are like, oh, it's really sad or it's really depressing.
It's dark to watch.

Speaker 5 But I'm like, no, this is like real life. And this is like the age group in which some relationships aren't working out.

Speaker 2 I could honestly,

Speaker 2 the whole episode could have been Jesse and Michelle. And I, I would have watched.

Speaker 5 Side note, there's a show called Couples Therapy and it's very, very interesting to watch.

Speaker 2 You know, and, you know, Jasmine, my, my former act, no, you know, you really,

Speaker 2 Jasmine, who was on my season of the Bachelor, who made an exic by choking me, you really knew in that moment she was more meant for Bravo than for ABC Disney.

Speaker 4 True,

Speaker 4 you know.

Speaker 2 Like, who wouldn't? I didn't realize shit she was auditioning for the Valley way back when.

Speaker 5 I will say the Britney finding the thong with the baby wipe on it looked unhinged. It looked placed.
Oh, for sure. It looked like

Speaker 5 Jax was like, oh, Brittany's coming over.

Speaker 5 Maybe she left her thong, but like the baby, like, I'm trying to think of like my actions, and I'm not sure where those would fall. You know, I don't know how the baby wipe is on top of the panties.

Speaker 8 You have a point. You're hiding the evidence.
You're throwing the baby wipe away.

Speaker 4 Literally.

Speaker 5 Why are you leaving the baby wipe on the counter? Then again, I did see Jax pour a big gulp into a like Stanley or something and then put the empty big gulp plastic cup in the sink. In the sink.

Speaker 5 It was like, okay.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 8 I guess it's tip for tap because then Jax invited her over to stay in the house because he found the photos on Brittany's iPad or whatever it was.

Speaker 8 So it's like, it's couples literally just tit for tatting.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 6 I have kind of a hard time with the valley.

Speaker 6 And I think it's like, maybe it's my own like emotional immaturity of just, it's a completely different point in my life where like it's like to watch Vanderpump, like Vanderpump hits me way harder because I'm like, these are my people.

Speaker 6 Southern hospitality. Southern hospitality, like that works for me.
But like, the southern, like, southern charm still works for me because they are in, they are Peter Pan's.

Speaker 6 But I think the Valley, it's like, I'm just, it's just kind of mind-world.

Speaker 2 You're probably watching in, and I don't know, maybe this is like a

Speaker 4 fear.

Speaker 2 I don't know, but like, when I was your age, when you see things like Jesse and Michelle fighting over divorce, you think that will never happen to me.

Speaker 2 You know, there's so many like adult things that when you're younger, you just assume. That shit's not going to happen to me.
I'm not going to cheat. I'm not going to get cheated on.

Speaker 2 I would never do that with my partner. And if we got divorced.
And like, yeah, you're, and I'm watching it like thinking, we're, I'm so lucky to not have to be in this position.

Speaker 5 And thank God, like, and, and, and then it like warns you of like how delicate these things can be, you know, like, because no one plans for a divorce, you know, like no one's going into a marriage being like, well, this is definitely going to end.

Speaker 5 But like, but especially when it's like not something that's prevalent in your life, though, you just can't relate.

Speaker 5 Cause that reminds me when I was younger, I would watch the OC and then I would fast forward through the adults like scenes because I was like, what? They don't give a shit.

Speaker 5 And now when I watch it, it's like I relate to them so hard. I'm like, oh my God, no, no, she just cares.
She just, I was like, annoying mom, let's get to the teens.

Speaker 2 You know, that made me think about your comment. I was last night, and I don't know if this was like a

Speaker 2 high thought.

Speaker 4 It probably was. Can we have more of these?

Speaker 4 Sorry.

Speaker 2 But I was in the line at Chipotle.

Speaker 4 Great start.

Speaker 4 Checks out. Yeah.
Literally.

Speaker 2 And it really, I had like a moment. I had like, and maybe, I don't know, but like.
Chipotle,

Speaker 2 it's a what I love about the line, not Chipotle, the line of Chipotle.

Speaker 2 you had a thought about the line the line organization I have a lot of feelings about line organization No, I was grateful I was grateful for the line of Chipotle It is incredibly diverse line and I don't like diverse in so many ways but age diverse

Speaker 2 You know and I got there and I'm in line and I saw different people at different stages in their life all getting the same and it reminded me of like when I was in college going to Chipotle you know and I saw like two girls who were like figured you know were like in a study group and then I saw some other you know, it's like,

Speaker 2 like, this guy, he's here because this is all he can afford.

Speaker 2 And like this person, you know, and I was like looking at everyone in line trying to figure out the stage of their life of Chipotle because it really is inclusive.

Speaker 5 Meanwhile, I'm at home bathing our daughter.

Speaker 4 The way like we are the fuck is he?

Speaker 5 The way we are the world is playing in the background of my mind as he's telling this story.

Speaker 4 Yeah, I was just like, wow, it was beautiful.

Speaker 2 It really just like it made me like reflect on like, I honestly, like the various, I mean, I've reinvented myself in so many ways and just it really reminded me of just the different stages of my life when I was in line at Chipotle and I'm still going in line at Chipotle at a different stage of my life being like I remember that stage of life and I remember that stage of life and it was like

Speaker 2 thank you Chipotle for this like reflection that's actually really beautiful

Speaker 2 thank you marijuana

Speaker 8 you have to go the next step now and perceive yourself standing in the chipotle while someone else is thinking of you as a stage of life yeah

Speaker 4 there you go wow

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 6 But anyway, yeah, that's why the valley isn't hitting for me.

Speaker 4 Okay. Well, it is for me.
Can we talk about Meredith real fast?

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 8 What is going on? Mary's been tracking this. There's a lot of like where the Meredith quit.
She was fired. She's paused.
She's back.

Speaker 6 Reports as the Meredith source who's been following the story very closely. Basically on Twitter, like last, was it last week?

Speaker 6 So rumors start circulating on Twitter.

Speaker 6 It's unclear where the source is coming from that Meredith has been suspended from Real Hospitals of Salt Lake City after getting into a huge fight with Brittany. And this is all very confusing.

Speaker 6 I, as a reporter, am trying to track down the source of this information. And this, it's very unclear.
It's coming from like Twitter blogs and stuff like that.

Speaker 6 So it's unclear whether this is trustworthy or not. And then a source, which is a very, yes, allegedly, a source which has a very specific cadence to it.

Speaker 4 Tone.

Speaker 6 Reports the U.S. Sun that says, Meredith has not been suspended from the show.
She is not pleased about the rumors and nastiness, pun intended.

Speaker 6 She wouldn't be surprised if the call was coming from inside the house, and Brittany was leaking all of this herself to stay relevant.

Speaker 6 Meredith and Brittany get into some pretty nasty altercations and have some blowout fights, but nothing that warrants a suspension.

Speaker 6 Then, while all of this is happening, Meredith's Instagram account continuing as normal. She's posting quotes from Albert Camus.

Speaker 6 She is hanging out with Luanne de Lesseps in an elevator, drunk and singing.

Speaker 4 She is photoshopping the fucking out of her face.

Speaker 6 She's photoshopping the fuck out of her face

Speaker 4 as she should. As she wants.
No.

Speaker 6 And posting

Speaker 6 what she does, her tagline, basically to dispel the rumors that, what is it? Like jealousy is a disease. Something.
Or something like that.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 6 And then the last update I have from Meredith is that she sprained her toe and she's upset about it because she can't get a pedicure. So that's what's coming from the Meredith camp.

Speaker 2 We need to ban Photoshop for housewives. It's gotten to the point of ridiculous.

Speaker 8 There are specific Photoshops that I'm not that I think are funny. It's when they take the confessional that we've all seen and then Photoshop on top of it as if we've never seen the original photo.

Speaker 6 Which don't they already put like a glam filter on the confessional?

Speaker 2 When it's an entirely different person. Like Meredith's Photoshop looks a younger version of her daughter.

Speaker 5 It's face app and this filter needs to be eliminated from housewives' phones.

Speaker 4 It doesn't even look like them. They're all using the same ones.
Hollywood 2 or whatever.

Speaker 5 Yeah, but you have these photos next to each other. They all have the same face.

Speaker 6 You have Ramona looking like a newborn child.

Speaker 4 But why?

Speaker 2 They're not.

Speaker 2 It's not even like, oh, fresh face. You know, it's just like, oh, someone's been moisturizing.
It's no, someone changed their face. It's like, you know what I'm saying? You're not fooling anyone.

Speaker 5 My favorite is the Ramona, though, like posting the story and then the post.

Speaker 4 That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 8 Like, hide the evidence. Don't do the photos you've all seen, you know? Yeah.

Speaker 5 The

Speaker 5 source from the U.S. Sun, it sounds like Meredith was like, Hey, I'm going to tell you this, but like, change it up.
You know, don't make it seem like it's me.

Speaker 4 And then they did it.

Speaker 5 It's like when you like copy someone's homework, they're like, Yeah, sure, you can copy, but like, change it a little bit.

Speaker 6 Especially when you're Meredith and you have such a specific way of speaking.

Speaker 5 So, you know, it came out, and Meredith was like, Fuckers. Like, I told him to change a couple words.

Speaker 6 I would never, no, my meredith, you guys, my Meredith's kind of gone.

Speaker 4 Oh, no. Is uh a quick callback to the valley.

Speaker 2 Uh,

Speaker 2 Zach, Zach,

Speaker 4 um,

Speaker 2 He made it seem like dick pics are an early exchange in the dating process in the gay community.

Speaker 8 I mean, he also, this is my own interpretation, met him on Grindr, which is an app that's for more than just dating, because he goes and quotes, a dating app, which I'm like, okay.

Speaker 8 So, I mean, it makes sense what he's saying, specifically for that context.

Speaker 2 But it's not as if, like, hi, what's your name? Brett, here's my dick. Because that's what Zach was basically saying.

Speaker 8 On that app it is.

Speaker 2 On that app. Okay.

Speaker 8 Maybe not even hi, just picture.

Speaker 5 I think instead of like profile photos, it's anatomy.

Speaker 4 Okay. Yeah.
Yeah.

Speaker 8 There was also, speaking of Salt Lake City, did you see this, Nick? A video of Michael Jordan getting off of a yacht.

Speaker 8 And like, there's a girl in front of him like it's off first that looks almost identical to Whitney Rose. And like everybody's tagging her, being like, is this you? Is this you?

Speaker 8 Why are you on a yacht with Michael Jordan? And she hasn't confirmed whether it's her or not, but she did say, why is everybody tagging me in this? So I'm assuming that means it's not her.

Speaker 4 It's definitely her. It looks like her, right?

Speaker 2 I didn't look that deep at it because I just assume it was not.

Speaker 8 It's definitely not her, but it's she's wearing like a Whitney Rose fit, too. I mean, with the ginger hair.
So it's like it's...

Speaker 5 That's 100% her.

Speaker 4 That's Whitney Rose.

Speaker 5 That's what I'm saying. I'm like, the appearance is identical.
It's a very unfortunate. Yes, it is.

Speaker 2 Send me that photo. That is her.

Speaker 8 What are the odds that a girl died to her ginger the same time that she had ginger hair?

Speaker 5 Okay, well, listen, I think she's friends with Michael Jordan's like wife or daughter or someone.

Speaker 2 Should I just text Whitney and ask her?

Speaker 4 Yeah. Hey, you should.

Speaker 5 This you?

Speaker 2 It definitely looks like her, but like, it definitely could not be her.

Speaker 6 But also, if it was her, why would she not flex that she was hanging out with Michael Jordan?

Speaker 4 She reposted the video, so she's making fun of it.

Speaker 6 So it's not her.

Speaker 4 Who knows?

Speaker 6 Because if I'm on a yacht hanging out with Michael Jordan, I'm going to be posting about it.

Speaker 4 Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 All right. I don't have a number saved.
I will, I'll text her later.

Speaker 4 Nick, you got to save numbers.

Speaker 5 Nick, you got to get to the bottom of this. He's got to start saving numbers.
I do.

Speaker 9 You've got to save numbers.

Speaker 2 Let the speculation continue. Uh, thank you to our guest, Alice Baskin, for giving us all the insight and all things Bravo, specifically the Valley.

Speaker 2 Be sure to check out Vile Files Plus for all your weekly updates on all your pop culture topics we didn't get to talk about this week, plus your update specials of all the ASNIC update callers, our Vanderpump recaps, all available on Plus.

Speaker 2 It's free to sign up. Try it for seven days, whether you listen to

Speaker 2 the show on Apple. You can sign up directly from Vio Files Plus there, or you go to Viofiles.com.
You do not have to sign up at both places, it's one or the other. But check it out.

Speaker 2 You will not regret it. I promise you that.

Speaker 5 Also, if you're interested in getting our newsletter, link is in the bio, but also go to biofiles.com and click the tab newsletter where you can enter your email and sign up for the newsletter.

Speaker 4 It's a fun time. Big rocks.

Speaker 2 It's a fun time. All right.
Well, that will do it for this week. We'll see you on Monday.
Bye-bye.