E1215 - Going Deeper With Erika Hammond

(upbeat music) - Erica, welcome to the show. - Yay, thank you guys for having me here. - We're so excited about you. - My first time, I feel like I kind of put on like almost cowboy boots-ish. - No, but you had to. - It's a theme, it's a nice. - I love it, you look great. - You're like those are not. (laughs) - I'm not the person to ask, are you? - I cowboy-ish, yeah, they're boots. - They're boots, they're sheep. - I'm hardly, cowboy. - We gotta get you some boots. - Oh, I have, I've got them some boots. - She, for our wedding, she's from, we got married on a farm. - Oh, wait, I love that. - We crushed the wedding, we really did. I'm curious about yours, 'cause your son is pretty epic. - I feel like I touched it too. (laughs) - Her family has this beautiful family farm, and then we did this like, vogue on the farm, black tie. - Oh wait, I saw photos from here, wedding. - I've never seen it. - That's amazing. - It was a couple years ago. - A couple years ago. I was convinced like the week before that I was about to throw the Fire Festival 2.0. - I know. (laughs) - Is this gonna come together? - I'm like, okay, we spend on this money, oh my God. And it was like so chaotic, and I was like, this is gonna be a fucking mess. But it turned out, and I was so glad. - This is the kind of so chaotic and all these moving pieces, and I don't know how it was for you. - Is that a relatable feeling though? Did you feel like before your wedding, you didn't know if it was gonna be what it, you thought it was in your head? - Yeah, yeah. For sure, for sure. I trusted the process, but I was pretty chill and then month before I was like, oh my God, what is happening, nothing's coming together. And then no one knows anything that goes wrong. - What made you decide Egypt? - Well, first my husband wanted to get married in space. So there was that. - In space. - Literally. - In space. - In space. - In the dream bag. - I was feeling about that. - I was like, I don't wanna die on my wedding days. - I don't wanna die on it. - I was like, how will the dress work with no gravity? - I was like, I don't wanna be there. He's like, yeah, we can like land and then have a party when we land. I was like, no, that's just not an option. So then we settled with Egypt. - A close second. (laughing) (laughing) - No, but my husband was his family traveled to Egypt whenever he was younger, and they met like the head archaeologist there. He's kind of like the real life Indiana Jones. His name is Dahi Huas. - Hello. - And whenever him and I got engaged, we went and took a trip to Egypt. And we were going on a private tour of the Sphinx and Dahi was taking us and he was like, I want to marry you in front of the Sphinx. And I was like, we looked at each other like, yeah. - Sounds cool. - Okay, that'll do. (laughing) - And did any of your family or friends be like to Egypt? Like, we got to travel that whole way or they all hyped about it. - I think everyone was hyped. - Yeah. - Well, our thought process was we wanted to make this like a really cool experience for our friends and family. It wasn't just about us. So we had three days there and every day, we had like an experience for them. We had private tours of the pyramids, at the Sphinx. We shut down like the gym museum there and had a really big party. So we wanted to make sure that if this was their first time or last and only time going to Egypt, they got to experience in the way that the culture is just so beautiful there. So that was important. - So you're all gonna renew your vows and maybe do like something much better. - I will figure it out. - No, I just wanna, I love parties. I'm like, I love hosting. I wanna go down the Nile. I haven't done that yet. So I wanna do like a, you know, a trip down the Nile, not a death on the Nile situation. - Were any of your guests like Daisy and expected you to pay for their flights? - No. - I guess not. That was crazy. - None of those were invited. None of those were-- - She was actually, Martha was invited and she was going to come as Martha's plus one. - The hilarious. - But she didn't, no, she didn't. Do you know why she didn't? - Well, Martha and I'm not being welcome. It's like the universe was just like, I don't think this person should be at your wedding. - Who on your end had the relationship with Martha? - My husband. - Okay. - Yeah. - That was crazy that Daisy thought that. - No, it's absurd. It's like a wild thing to request of someone. I just, I, I've maybe flown private like 10 or 15 times and I did say like we usually do now travel when we go to mosquito private. But I'm like, why would I ever pay for, for you, for anyone else? I've never had any of our friends ever demand that I'd fly them private or pay for their flight or anything. I'm also like, just so you know, I didn't book your flight. We all know how this works and it wasn't me that booked your flight, so don't come out of me. That's not my problem. - Yeah, no, it's like, it's weird 'cause when you're lucky enough I guess to have some money where you can do nice things. It's always weird when like people have like an expectation in a way. - Yeah, and they feel entitled to like what you have. - Yeah, and where it's just like, well, then that one's not even nice, now you just want it. And it's not. - No, I'm definitely never going to do it. - Yeah. - Maybe I thought about it, but I never going to do it now. - Yeah. - Now that you ask. - Yeah. (laughs) - Okay, so wait, I want to get to know you before Ross Wives of New York. So where are you from originally? - Waco, Texas. - Okay, thank you for the sign. So when you say that those people do that or because of the whole Waco-- - It depends. - Texas. - Now I know what, 'cause I'll either get, oh my God, were you in the cold? - What? - Or. - Or, I was like, I was too. - Oh, yeah. - Or people are obsessed with fixer upper, Chippin Joanna, like Magnolia. - Oh, okay. - They came in like revived Waco. - They really made it like a tourist attraction. They did. - I've stayed whenever on quarantine go to Waco, we've stayed like the fixer upper houses. We rented them. And there's tour buses like, come and I'm like, I'm gay. This is not what I wanted for my own. - Me and you. - And what was your childhood life? - I mean, it was amazing. I have the most supportive family and parents. My dad was a doctor. So I grew up like upper middle class, I guess you could say. My mom was a stay-at-home mom. And I have three siblings. They're all older than me. My oldest brother is 11 years older. So we have like some big age gaps, but I had a great childhood, you know? - That's great, but pretty humble like, you get it, yeah. - Like what I have now, definitely like, this kind of wealthy is different than Waco, wealthy, you know? - And how do people back home like, treat you, so to speak, when you come back? Because that's normal. - I'm like, at my core, I'm just a normal human being. I think like, you know, people from back home are like, we just know this like loving goofy girl that burps people's names. They were all thrilled to see that on the map. So my husband was like, I literally got the X so you can do that. She told me the other day and the X. I was like, you know that I burp, and he was like, I just didn't think you'd do it on national television. Now it's living there forever. - It happened something that when people meet you and they learn about you today, like, treat you a certain way because they expect you to, you know, not be the girl from Waco, so to speak. - Yeah, I think that, yes, if you're like, reading about me, if you don't take the time to get to know me, you're gonna have those probably thoughts. But if you actually take the time to get to know me or anyone that's in my circle, and never think anything about it, like, I'm, you know, the money any of that doesn't like define who I am. - And how does someone like yourself end up WWE Superstar? - I don't know if I would call myself a Superstar, but I'll take it, but it was nowhere near a Superstar. - Like, were you a fan? - No, I didn't watch it growing up. I obviously knew like who the rock was and John Cena and stuff, but I was in LA in my commercial agent at the time, sent me on an audition for WWE diva, and I was like, my man, I don't think that's for me. Like, yeah, it was like, just go, and I ended up going, and it was a two week long audition, and I loved it. Like, I started learning the basics of wrestling, and I was like, oh my God, this is perfect. I think I love this. And so, I moved to Orlando, which is where our training facility was, and I was like, the worst thing that happens is I end up painting it, and I just quit and move back. - Yeah. - I feel like I'm a very yes person to a lot of opportunities. And I was like, you know, why not? And what did your family think about it? - Are they supporting me? - Am I a parent? - Oh, I didn't have my own merch. I wasn't that big of a Superstar yet before I quit, but my parents made their own Veronica Lane t-shirts, and would come to the matches and wear them. - Did you pick your own name? - Kind of, you give them certain names, and then the legal comes back, and here's what we think you can do. - Okay. - That's crazy. - So how'd you end up in New York? - After WWE moved back to LA, I started working from the ground up in personal training and boxing, and I was making $15 an hour after, I just was in the WWE, which you don't get paid that much in the WWE, but more than that. - And pay more than that. - Yeah, yeah. And I was like, I think I want to open my own boxing gym, but I have no idea how to train people, so I need to learn. And so I started-- - This is like an idea, you know, just random idea. - Yeah, I've been, I've just been boxing since I was 14, and I loved it after WWE. I was like, I love training. I think that this is what I meant to do. So, started from the ground up at a gym, called Proveil in LA, that's still there, like in a garage. But then Eugene Rem, who is one of the founders of Catch, hospitality reached out to me. He was like, hey, I'm thinking of opening this boxing gym in New York, what a chat. And I just was like, New York, I love in LA. I just like, no sold 'em. And he's like, hey, I'm, you know, the founder of Catch, we're opening in LA, do you know who I am? I'm being serious, and so I went with him, and I moved to New York two weeks later. - Oh, wow. - Yeah, sold my car, sold everything, I moved to New York. I told you, I'm a very big guest, still a matured, he's person. It worked out for the best. - It really did, yeah. Bye now. - I love New York. I can't imagine living anywhere else. I'm so obsessed with New York. I've been there for 10 years now. - And that's how Rumble started. - Yeah. - I took my first Rumble class in LA or New York. - New York. - Oh my god, was it with me? - I don't know, I had a male trainer. - Oh, okay. That's not me. (laughing) - I don't know, I don't remember, it wasn't me. - I was super into it. It was funny enough that we have a lake house up in Wisconsin, and we built a little gym, but like the same kind of like-- - Oh, you had the water bag. - Yeah, I had that installed because of-- - It's so great. - Because of you. - It's such a great workout. It's so fun. - I really-- - It's really-- - It's nice on your joint, the water bag. - And it's been like a huge success. - It has, we sold in 2021, and I left then, and we sold to exponential, and now they're all around the world. I went to Tokyo, and encore and I were there, maybe like two years ago now, and we were driving by, and there was a Rumble Tokyo opening, and there was a huge photo of me, 'cause they own the right soy photos, and I was like, that's kind of sick. - That's totally, it's amazing. - And you have no idea who's gonna be there. - No, that's wild. - That's wild, yeah. - And what do you think that you attribute that type of success to? Because that type of stuff usually doesn't happen for everyone, and it's not just, you know, luck. It's not just luck. You have to put yourself in right situation, then you obviously have a pattern of winning a success. Like what do you attribute that to? - I think it's, I mean, a lot of it is saying yes to opportunities, and just being open, I think I've never been like a closed-minded person, and I'm always open to learning. So I wanna be in the room from the very beginning at Rumble, we were in the room with like the architects. I didn't need to be in the room with the architects going through things, but I just wanted to learn every piece of the business, and I think that just being and surrounding yourself around people they're smarter than you is really smart to do. - Yeah. - And so then how did you meet your husband? I met him at Rumble. - You did? - Yeah, he was a client of mine. So he, - He was just coming in trying to get abs. - Sure, I don't know if I gave him abs. - Sure. - No, he, we knew each other for a few years before he started dating. He would come, I was dating someone else at the time, he was as well, but I like knew who he was. He was on my VIP list, and I called him by the wrong name. I thought his name was anchor, it's encore. But he never correct me. Like two years later, Eugene, our mutual friend was like, you know, awkward over there. I was like, his name was awkward. I've been calling him anchor for like literally two years. His man has never corrected me. - Oh, then you know, he loves you. - Yeah. - Yeah. - I guess it was love and foresight for him. - He was just after that. - Go ahead or you want, yeah. - So he asked you out on the date. - Yeah. - After that, I was like, oh my God, I didn't know your name was anchor, blah blah blah. And I feel like I started the conversation and meet him and feel, you know, welcome enough to ask me on a date. - Ooh. - Yeah. - Well, you know, Bill is a sponsor of the show. - Oh, really? - Yeah. - I mean, I love that. - Go Bill. - Go Bill. - He looks filled. - Get paid for shopping. (laughing) Obviously, he had his status and his money and like we're used to that type of like, you know, energy or was that kind of different or like how did that work for you guys early on and on and dating? - I will say like the first, well the first date I didn't actually know I was a date, I was giving you the short story of it. I didn't actually know I was a date, so that I felt totally comfortable with. - Why didn't you know I was a date? - Well, because we were like work, I was working out. I wasn't teaching the class. I was working out and after he was like, do you wanna grab drinks? I was like, huh, like I'm like in sweats. Like what? And I kinda, I didn't know if he was still dating anyone. So I kind of thought I was just like, oh, we were one of the same circles. I don't know why I thought he would want to have drinks with me and not as a date, but that's what I thought. And I went home and one of my girlfriends, I was living with at the time, I was like, were you on a date? And I was like, no idea. I was like, he got close to me at one point, but unsure. And we were at the time, we're doing like, oh, this is still on my Instagram. So I think I need to take this down. But it's, if we were doing IGTV, it was before COVID. And we were posting things and we called it drunk on the couch and every Sunday we would do this drunk on the couch episode. And we were talking about dating 'cause we were both single in the city. And I knew that he watched it. And I was like, I'm just gonna put in the title, like Erica doesn't know if she went on to date or not. So then a few days later, he messaged me. It was like, by the way, it was a date. - Wow. - That's the long story of how we actually went on to date. But to answer your question, I don't think I ever felt intimidated or any type of, I don't know. At the time, he hadn't started Bill also. It was an ideation, I guess at that point. I remember before the name Bill came about, he also was like, ask me about names for different things. And one of them was, oh my God, Theo. And I was like, that sounds like a baby's name. You want that to be your credit card name? (laughs) So everyone's welcome that it's called Bill. - Thank you. - Thank you, Theo. - Theo's not your sponsor. - That's amazing. - That's love. - And then from there, just you guys, how long did you date for before you proposed? - Two years. So we went on our first date before COVID. How do a few dates then COVID happened? And we started talking every single day, like FaceTiming. We were both, he was in the, he was in mosquito. And I was at my parents' house in the Bahamas. And after FaceTiming for like three months, I was like, I think I love this guy. And he went back to New York and was like, you should come back. And Jim's weren't open. Jim's in an open for like another year after that. I was like, I am not even the Bahamas. And I was like, if I come back to hang out just with you, just so you know we're dating. And so we started dating July 16, 2020. And then it was two years until we got engaged. And then two years. - You got through a COVID couple. - Yeah, COVID couple. - Do you celebrate that first anniversary? Are you one of those people who's like every anniversary? - No. - And there's so many. You have like that one, the engagement one. You have all that. I was like, our anniversary now is just our, when we got married. And it's not our, I guess it's not your like civil marriage either. Some people do that one too. When you go to the courthouse. I'm like, I couldn't tell you what that date is. Our wedding was technically before we went to the courthouse. - You had a wedding before the courthouse. - Yeah. Oh, so you got married in Egypt and then you came back and went to the courthouse and did other people. - Did you get married in your country? - Oh yeah, 'cause otherwise you sign it on the day. - Yeah. - There's no right person on the day. When you guys were dating, I'm sure like people or people or men in his position can get a little like-- - Weirdy. - Weirdy about like who's giving him attention and like, are you here for the right reason? And things like that. How do you feel like you made him comfortable? - I don't know. I feel like I'm just like, I don't give off gold digger vibes. (laughs) - You know, like I'm independently successful. - Well, like I know, I just like, I had my own apartment. Like I was paying for my own life. I think, I don't know. But I do, I do experience that now. Us is a couple other people like, you know, I can see where that comes from now. And it is interesting like the people that reach out to you. Once you have success or once they, you know, an article comes out of the Forbes or whatever it is. I'm like, that's a little weird. Like we should get together. - I haven't seen you in so long. - And like I haven't talked to you in two years. Like, huh? - Yeah. - You feel it. - You feel it. - It's more like it's like when-- - It's just not genuine. - When I did reality TV. - Yeah. - It was like, they aunts and uncles and cousins that you would be like, huh? - You never cared about me before. - Yeah, why are you all so calling me? - Yeah, it's a weird feeling sometimes. - What made you want to be a housewife? - And why did it happen sooner? - Why didn't it happen sooner? I don't know. I mean, I think you just feel like the perfect. - Well, I'm still young. So maybe I was too young to be a housewife, you know? - That's true. - I don't think I'm that kind of young. - 35. - Yeah. - I don't think I'm the youngest. - Oh, I'm definitely the youngest on my cast. I don't know if I'm the youngest ever, probably not, but you're probably feeling that way. - I feel that way. - Like my energy feels young. - Yeah. - Yeah. (laughing) - You got a lot of worries. - Yeah. - Then the rest of your cast are great way. But I guess my question's more coming from, it is not easy to be a housewife, you know? - No. - It is like you really, we were watching Salt Lake City and Whitney was kind of like, hey, I'm going through something and I don't want to talk about it. And I'm like, this is why you're here. - Yeah, you have to. - I get it. I don't want to talk about my personal shit, that's why you know? - But if you sign up for her. - You sign this shit and now I'm expecting you to be an open book. - To be an open book. And you know, there's a lot of people on reality TV. You're like, I get why you do it, you know? Like you probably need this. - Yeah. - But you clearly don't need it. So I'm curious about the fascination of like why someone in your position like would be like, I'm going to sign them. I'm, I choose chaos. Is it just the yes person in you? (laughing) Like was it the fascination? - I kind of a little bit like Jessel, I'm good friends with Jessel and she had asked me about it. And I was like, I don't know if that's for me. And then I was like, why not have a few conversations? And that was my little yes, maybe. And then it kept happening. And I was like, yeah. What's the worst that can happen? (laughing) There's a lot of the gap. - What's the worst? How did Ancourt handle it? - You know, we definitely had conversations obviously about it and it was a discussion of like, okay, are we going to be okay with putting our personal life out there like this? And at the end of the day, I did want to do it. And he was like, okay, I'm going to support you. I don't think he loves it like, he's going to be brought into the drama if you saw some of the teaser, like definitely doesn't love that. And I don't think he should be. It's called the Housewives and not the House Husbands. But, you know. - Well, it does seem like some of the husband's embrace it. - Some of them love it. - Yeah, like I think gave secretly, if Aaron got sick, he would be like, I could step in for an episode. - Well, he was like, I don't know how much I'm doing, I do love gay, but like he seems to really enjoy it. - Uncle would never do a confessional. Like, he's like, this is your thing, not mine. Like, you do your good. - Did you have to, like, did he know he was going to be part of the drama in a way? - No, I didn't know either. Like, I just, I mean, I want to give too much weight, but you can see. on the teaser that like obviously his name gets brought into it. And for me, it was like, you can talk about me all you want. But like once you start to talk about my husband, my family, my marriage, that's where a line is crossed. And I don't want to come back from there. Have you felt it from any of your peers trying to like poke the bear in a way that you haven't appreciated? For sure. Who in particular? I mean, we could all guess. I've been poking, poking, poking. Daisy? Yes. Yeah. Who do you feel like is the most scripted on your cast? I feel like Daven is new and she's a friend of. And I feel like she's very eager for the word I would use. Okay. Eager. Okay. I met Daven a while back. We were on the today's show together. You mean like relationship. Yeah, she does a relationship thing. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like when she kind of comes from that world, so it feels like a little bit not scripted, but a little produced. Yeah. You've been thinking about what you're going to say. Yeah. When you a fan, how much of a fan like were you a housewife? I never watch housewives. Which I think actually was in my favorite. Now I watch it and I watch the other seasons and the other cities. But I think it kind of was in my favor because I didn't know what I was getting myself into as much. Yeah. I wonder if you were like if you were a fan. No. Like like like, did you have any idea about like just like the Bravo community? And like the blogs and like. The Bravo versus like it's wild. It's amazing. How many people watch Bravo? How many people support it? It's truly the fandom is amazing. But no, I had no idea. And who's been maybe the biggest surprise from like a public figure celebrity standpoint that you found out as a fan of my franchise? Or you? I think some of these are like known. We were having dinner with John Legend the other night. And Chrissy is a big fan. Yeah. She had that one. This was like two weeks ago. She hadn't started New York yet because she likes to bench them. So I was text me and let me know what she thinks about me. Because I do care. Chrissy too can't think of something. It's good to have her on your side. Yeah. Yeah. And it's funny. She just like lets some play out and then watches all around. Yeah, which is smart. No, it's yeah. She's loved to bend something as she is. All right. You know, being the girl from Texas. Like is it cool or exciting to like, you know, have people like Chrissy Teagan be fans or you're kind of like whatever I belong? No, I think it's cool. Yeah. I still am like geeking out about it. I mean, I love Jennifer Lamorens. And I don't know if she's watched Roni yet, but I know that she's a big bravo person. So that makes me very excited. I'm very obsessed with her. You're hoping you get a DM. Yeah. Yeah. And like, oh, I feel like we could be friends. You definitely get me friends. And you know, now that you're, you know, your first season's airing, you guys wrap filming like overall, are you happy with the decision? And what has been the biggest surprise? I'm happy. It's been through, there's been a lot of drama like all hell is going to break loose in the next few episodes. You're going to see that. I mean, the teaser, but it shit hits the fan in all different ways. And filming was intense. And that was like one of the most stressful times of my life, I will say. I've never dyed my hair. And I have to dye my hair because I have so many gray hairs from this damn show. But between all that, it has been fun. And I've gained some really great friendships with some of the ladies. Was there anyone in particular you were shocked by? I think we all say this. Haley. I think none of us knew what to expect with Haley. And she's genuinely one, obviously hysterical and just so funny, but she is such a kind human. And I think she's just been through a lot in life. Yeah. And she just like wants someone to be there for her. Interesting. I would not have guessed. No, she is. She is. I'm obsessed with her. I love her. What's been the biggest surprise in that regard? Because obviously, she seems kind of messy and unpredictable in a way that's like, I can't be in the same room as you. But what made you realize that she wasn't that person? Honestly, it was kind of the first few days of hanging out with her. I was like, oh, she's just like a cool kind person. And like, yeah, you don't know what's going to come out of her mouth, but it's going to be fucking funny. And she might be high, but it's great. Oh, no, could I cost? Yeah. But just like hanging out with her for a few times. I'm like, oh, she's a genuine person. And I think you can just see genuine people, especially when you're filming. Yeah. Oh, you sure. Yes. I feel like you. Yeah, it's hard. It's when you're when you're washing it as a fan, it's hard to tell because like the edits and you also don't know the relationship and the expectation like that you women have going into a scene. Like what is, you know, what are you guys aware of? And what are you not aware of? But yes, like it's, you can tell when all of a sudden the camera goes up and someone like flips a switch and you're like, what? We were just fine. What is going on? You know, who's been the person that surprised you the most in that department where you were kind of caught off guard? Probably Aaron or Daisy. I know you're going to say she's wanting to get sued. Yeah. I feel like both of them together have this like Regina George Grutch and Wieners thing going on. Which one's Regina George? Probably Aaron. Yeah. Yeah. Do you feel like Daisy has like a, how do I say this? Like she's besties with Martha Stewart, right? Which that's iconic. That's what's Martha Stewart, but like makeup artists. But yeah, it's kind of my point, right? Or that do you feel like she has almost like imposter syndrome in a way? Or like she's, she yes, as a makeup artist and she has these cool, fancy rich friends and she's kind of kind of part of the group, but like adjacently in a way that's like in that do you think that comes out her primal projecting like the plain thing? Yeah. She's totally projects and I think, um, I mean her Martha are close. She has her makeup artist. She has close. There she does a lot of things. She was going to come as the plus one to her wedding. So she's not lying when she says all of that. But I do think that like she's gotten very used to how Martha lives. And that's Martha's life, not yours. And that's fine, but like don't be entitled and like demand things from other people or you know, complain about things when I just feel like you're not in that position to do so. Yeah. You're not that position to do so. Would you have I would never do that to someone like I just think it's rude. It's just have manners. I was watching the episode and I was like I couldn't believe that she and was so serious about like is this is she was like how do you not understand that you're wrong? No, it's create. It's it's like it's delusion a little bit. Yeah. Like what do you think Daisy's issue with you is? I think that there's some jealousy. Like I just don't know what out like I don't know what else would be like truly. I mean, I feel like the popcorn ceiling comment has lived in her head. I will say that no one talks about her popcorn ceilings more than her. Yeah. Like she started the joke and you know, of course you talk about I apologize. I don't think it was shown but I apologize to her about it. I was like if you have to apologize. I was like if it really affected you in this way. I was like I'm sorry. And then it kept getting brought up. I was like, please can we no longer talk about a fucking popcorn ceiling? I just freaked the bitch off. That's what I was like I will go fix it for you. You weren't wrong. But I'm like, you know, I don't know. She's just who is she closest with on the cast? Erin. Erin and Carol I guess. Let's say what do you feel like the whole Carol then the Kennedys and the Epstein files and all that stuff was handled correctly between her and Si. I can see both sides. I can see like I obviously had a conversation with her about how she did feel interrogated by Si and she truly felt like I can't believe someone would think that I was a sex trafficker. Like that is that is like obviously we all know that she's not but or you should know that she's not but I can see from Si wanting to understand a little bit more if she's like because what you see on TikTok and like on the internet if you're just not deep diving and doing your research you do see a lot of bad things about Carol but it's people just saying here say it's like rumors that they're not like fact checking anything. And so if that's all she's reading great I can see why you have this opinion and I can understand why you want to get to the bottom line. I think it could have been handled maybe in a slightly different way where Carol didn't feel like she was being attacked. It almost kind of felt like again because obviously it's such a sensitive topic and it's also very serious but at the same time it felt like as a viewer that Si was just taking it almost taking advantage of the sensitivity of the story and the seriousness of it and and decided to make assumptions about Carol in a way where it's like I get it you have real daughters too and we're parents but like that doesn't that wouldn't mean I would make assumptions because you're just like somehow connect I just because like she knew how to pronounce her name and so it's like maybe she's just like a polite person and I don't it's like as silent I'm so confused. I also am very confused. I still I never say it out loud because I'm like good I just like whisper it yeah like yeah like you can you don't know everyone's backstory you can be casual friends with people you can be acquaintances you can be in the picture. with a wrong person, it doesn't mean that you know what they're doing. People have are married, and they have second families, and they have no idea, you know? I think that Sai, I'm not going to put words into her mouth, but I think that she didn't actually think that she was like a part of the sex-rapping year, that she knew about it. I think that she just thought maybe they were closer friends than Carol was leading on. And I think that's where Sai was going with that, that's valid. And you're not being a housewife, what does life look like for Erica? This past year has been consumed of housewives. I'm sorry. I still am leading fitness classes, so I created a program for Equinox called Knockout, and I teach once a week, so I just love it. And I just launched an active wear brand called PS Active, and it's non-toxic and minimal synthetics. We actually launched this week. I actually launched this one out, so I'm like a very great moment, and very excited to do it. I know I was going to ask what your size wasn't bringing some of that. It's actually very small. It's the tiniest size that you have. Perfect. Yeah, I'm very scared of that. I have that for you. I'm very scared. It's like taller size. Did you expect it to sell it or was that a complete shock? I was hoping it would. Obviously, yeah. I mean, was everyone just kind of like, we have a very small team, but very small team, it is me, and I just hired someone else right now. Yeah. And I mean, I have like partners. I have 3PL on manufacturing everything, so they've been like all hands on. But no, I think we were very spiced. Why did it take you so long to do this? This feels like it's right up your alley. I know. You know, it's been two years in the making, so it's been a process to bring it to life. But even before that, to be fair, I didn't. I literally, two years ago, found out how bad our act of wear is. I can go on a deep dive for this. I don't have to talk about it now, but it's completely trash and like what we're wearing is 100% synthetic, full plastics, microplastics, harmful chemicals, or dyed harmful. Any name brand that you can think of is made that way. And I was like, this is completely disgusting. One, selfishly, I don't want to be wearing this, but two, I'm like in this business where I'm supposed to be helping people be healthier. Yeah. And I know what they're wearing could be potentially be harming them. And then there's a lot of infertility risk associated with it, endocrine disruptors, cancer risk. It's crazy. The research is coming out. So I was like, screw this. I'm going to create this. And I'm going to make it a little hot and design it well. That's going to be great. Oh, here we are. Wait, that's iconic. What was the hardest part about the whole process? I don't come from like the CBG space. So I was like, it's been a learning process. Yeah. And that's why I think it took me two years because I wanted to, we were discussing this earlier. Like, I wanted to be a part of everything and learn every single piece of it. And maybe I'm not going to be the expert at something. And that's why I need to hire people at certain places. But I think I just wanted everything to be like, you know, be there and learning three to piece. And is that something on core? Is like, is he help you guys do that stuff together? He's also an entrepreneur or are you more like, I want my thing. I want to keep it separate. How do you guys as a couple kind of decide what to share and what to keep separate when it comes to your passions? I think that this like built it says he has his mind. We both gave each well. I tell him when there's a bug or something, but he gets me business advice. And I am a tourist. I'm very stubborn. He obviously knows how to build a business very well. And I should listen to him the first time he says it. But then I have to, and I come to the conclusion on my own. I'm like, oh, this is what I'm doing. He's like, I literally told you to do that a month ago. That's like, I didn't hear that. Yeah. Interesting. Those are what our arguments are about. And are we going to maybe like be selling them in rumble or is that? I think Equinox. Yes, of course. So now we're there with Equinox. So I think Equinox, I'll partner with them. Otherwise, it's sold online and so I'm just doing, you know, you come right now and working it out that way. What's the most normal thing about your life and your relationship that people would be surprised about? What's the most normal thing? I don't know. Outside of Taco Bell. Yeah, I'm going to say that's pretty normal. He loves Taco Bell too. We're talking about a couple. I don't know. Like, I love to annoy the shit out of him. Like, in my vows, one of them was like, I promise to annoy you like for every day for the rest of our lives. Like, that is one of my favorite past nights. And does he find it annoying or does he feel like she is? Oh, for sure. He finds it annoying. So annoying. But I love it. Like, when I see him getting annoyed, I'm like, oh, yes, I got him great. And how do you go about doing that? Like, in any way, shape or form, like, you know, I don't know if he's like, I'm big on barging and on you if you're in the bathroom, not giving you your space. Why do you guys obsessed with that stuff? It's just like our bathroom, you know? I like, don't you want to come? Vini, let's chitchat. Yeah, let's have a conversation. I'll be like, I'll be like, I'm going to the bathroom and she'd be like, what do you want to do? What are you going to do in there? What are you going to do? Let's talk about it. Let's talk about it. Like, I don't, like, it was like a whole therapy session of that. But you can't come in when I'm in the bathroom. No, my God. It's my time. With the door shut, the door shut. You know what I'm saying? You need to not open it. But with his door shut, I'm like, hi. Yes. Exactly. Or I just send in river to do it. I'd be like, go in there and do a daddy's doing it. Smart. Yeah. Good. Good. That's good. Yeah. Thank you. So you do this, right? It's great. We are the same. What do you think makes your relationship work as well as it does? Communication. I think from the very beginning, we both had a deep conversation about, like, we think that our relationship is going to be most successful if we communicate everything. Like, when something's annoying us, it's actually not, you know, sure. And something's bothering us whatever it is. I think we have the same values. It was important for us to, like, sit down, understand our values, how we want to raise a family. So I think we're just a very aligned on things. And then also I always say this, like, before we got married, I think a lot of people are scared of marriage because you're scared of it failing or that you're going to be stuck in something. And both of us went into it being like, obviously, we want to be married forever. But God forbid, like, we are so unhappy years down the line. I was like, if we're unhappy, obviously, we try and make it work. Like, we have a family to think we'll eventually have a family to think about, like, we want each other to be happy. When our kids be happy to be in a happy household, we can get divorced, you know? Like just understanding that, I think for both of us was like, you're committed in a relationship, you want to make this work always. But like, you're not. But did that make you do you feel like that kind of conversation made you lean in more in terms of you, you didn't, you're not saying it is just like, oh, well, figure it out. We can quit. But like, if we're not willing to put in the word, kind of, do you feel like that made you closer and want to work more in your marriage right now? Probably. I think it also just like, I think we were both scared of marriage. Like, I were like, oh, this is what an adulting is like. And like, having that conversation and being like, oh, I'm not. This isn't hat. We want it to be for the rest of it. I'm like, we love each other. But oh, my god, we're not like handcuffed to this. Well, yeah, I mean, it's one of those things where, like I said, when I'm by the time I'm not really, I was old enough to be like, nothing about this decision makes sense from a, like a, from a practicality standpoint, right? Like, if you're, if you're him, I'm, I'm guessing he's very practical being a business, a successful businessman. He's, he's like, does this make sense? Yes. If it doesn't, I'm not going to do something that doesn't make sense and marriage by any definition of like, of doing it is, is, is a crazy kind of decision. It's a real commitment. You have to really want, want it for you to do it, you know, because like back in the day, it was kind of a necessity to do it. Now it's really a society tells us we like, we do everything there. We've done, tactically, done everything that society tells us to do. You got to get married. You got to have kids. You got to do this by this age, whatever. But it's like when you kind of break that norm a little bit or be like, oh, it's okay if we don't do this. Who was it between the two of you that was more like marriage? Me. Okay. Like, to get married? Yeah, yeah. Well, I always want to get married. He was like, down to get married, right? I think it was just like, I don't know, the like commitment for the rest of your life can scare you if you're looking at it that way. Has he ever watched your wrestling? Yes. So, I was in WWE NXT. So we wrestled on Hulu, we wrestled house shows around Florida. And all the footage when I quit was like, taken down. And so he reached out to the man's and got, because my nieces and nephews had never seen me wrestle. And so for Christmas, he got the footage and played it on Christmas Day for my nieces and nephews. It was really sweet. And that was his first time to see it too. I was like, oh my god. Is it all taken? I'm like, does that hurt? I was like a pad and girl. I was like, oh, I want to die. Were you a heal? Yeah. You were. I was a heal. It was so much easier being a heal. They were like, you're not actually going to be a baby face and I was like, I don't know how to be nice and hit someone. Like, I think I have to be mean. We had the opportunity to interview a couple people from like Seth Rollins. Oh, yeah. I love his wife. Yeah. We had Seth Rollins and Becky on and it was fascinating talking with him because wrestling is almost like the original reality TV, you know, but like talking to them about being a heal, it's like they were playing a character in fans know about it. It's still in like your space, not reality TV. It's like, you're, oh, you're a villain, you're a bad part. Like, there's like, there's a, they, they're not playing along where it's like. I feel like with wrestling, it would be fun to play heel. Because everyone kind of understands what they understand. Like, they're probably not like that norm in real life. But do you want, like when you came into housewives, was there the same kind of thing? Like I did not want to be a villain. Okay, yeah, yeah. Because it's different, right? I hope that I'm never a villain. But it's such a shame and unless in reality. I almost want reality TV to get to the place that, because when I was a kid, like wrestling was kind of like, you thought it was real, probably, right? Like, it was almost like a Santa thing. And we were like, I'm pretty sure it's not real. But like, I want, but the wrestling community, they, like the McMahons, they were like, no, it's real. You know, like they didn't really, like now, - No one talked about it. - No one talked about it. Now it's like, everyone knows. But like, let's just play along. And I kind of wish the reality TV would go that direction. - I think it would be a lot more interesting. I mean, it's interesting now, but I think people would feel safe. - Yeah, 'cause right now, to be a villain, it's like, is this going to ruin my life? - Yeah. - Because we live in a social media world, too, where it's like, you know, 20 years ago, 10 years ago, whatever, it was slightly different to be super unhinged in a different space. And now it's like, to your point, like, this is-- - Like now, like being a villain on reality TV generally means you've done something to a friend or a partner that will trigger, like a, you know, 'cause-- - A visceral reaction. - Like, scandal, right? - Yeah. - Like, scandal was all about, like, you know, people have cheated. - Yeah. - That's happened. - But it's getting, like, because it was more like, oh, here's this guy, we know he's wrong. And like, he got caught right handed. - West Amanda. - So if I ever got cheated, like, everyone took it out on him, right? It was like, so if you do something wrong in reality TV, like, anyone who's ever felt wrong by a person, they seem to be like you, is like, in your DMs, telling you to-- - Yeah. - You know, and it's like that, to your point, I think people would feel safer to just kind of lean in and be like, I'm just gonna say some crazy shit. - Yeah. - You know, like-- Like, sometimes you think the thing, so you don't say it. - Yeah. - Yeah. - And you would get more if people would just all play along and not be like, I wanna attack that person online. - Yeah. - And it would just be, I wish they would do that. I don't know why they, I don't know. - The social media world is scary. - It really is scary. - What's it like owning your own island? - Okay, well, not my island. - Whose island is it? - It was a family island. We own part of the island with another family. - Oh, okay. - Okay. - Oh, did you, did you watch this episode where I had to go through this? - I actually missed that part. - Okay, okay. That's why I was like, are you, are you shading me over here? - No, no, no, I was being genuine. - I was like, this is okay now. - I think it's cool, by the way. I just wanted to know. - No, but it's amazing. Like, I, you guys will have to come and see. It's not a dumb. - Yes, of course. - We will have to come. - You will have to fly us out privately. - Yeah. - I'm not planning a mission. - No, I'm going in Thanksgiving. I am flying commercial. I'm not flying private, so there's that. And it's also not going to take 17 hours, but how much time are you all spending there? - We only go a couple times a year. So we'll go like two or three times a year. I wish we met more, but we'll go like, we'll host, we'll go for holidays, or we'll host a friend's trip, which will bring like, I don't know, 25 of our friends. Did you know that that was, you were going to have to host a trip there for this? Like, did you offer that offer? - Yeah, I like come on, yeah. - Was it more like, hey, can we come to your island? - A little bit. Like, obviously, we talked about like, you talk about the different properties that you own. And so, I talked about a skido. And then I was like, would, would, uncle ever want us to do a cash trip there? And I was like, oh no, and I asked him, he was like, yeah, sure, why not? I don't think we anticipated the girls just like, shitting on us, someone like, yeah, yeah. I feel like that was just like, you know, disrespectful. And for me, it was disrespectful, obviously, to us, but like to our staff there, it was really just disturbing to me. - Who do you think led that charge? - Who? - Yeah. - Daisy. - Yeah. - To make up artists. - Yeah. - I mean, it also, I like went air and like, cut her foot in the hot tub. - Yeah, that was unfortunate. - There was fucking glass. - It was like, god damn it. I was like, how was there a class in here? It's never in the half of the day. - How did you step on it? How did you find it? - Maybe it was planted. - I'm like, how did your foot find that one piece? - I guess that whole like them ripping on it was that that feel showy in a way? Or do you feel like that was an actual, do you feel like Daisy would have that opinion if the camera wasn't rolling? - I don't think so. But you know, there's a lot that it's so interesting to me 'cause we were friends going before we started filming. How things just started unraveling with her. I was like, whoa, I've never, I wasn't that close up friends with her, but I was close enough and I was like, I didn't see this from you. - What do you think made her switch? - I don't know. I think we just got to, I think everyone just started to see her maybe true colors and it was not. I always read stories like that where it's like she, and I don't know her, but like just, I know this space pretty well. And it's this more like she needs this to work. Like I think I never met a person in an ITV that turns that switch on and acts differently than they do outside without them, they have, whether they need is, you know, the relative, but like in her mind, she, the idea of not being asked back for a season two that my rate is would be detrimental to her mental health. Is in a way where, I don't think you give a fuck. - Hmm, can you know. - Interesting, would you let her do your makeup? - No, I don't think so. I don't need her touching my face. I don't need her in my bubble. We have like a 10-foot rule for now. Has she ever offered to do anyone's makeup on the cast? - I think in that, at the island, she maybe did Haley's. I think, I think she did her eyelashes or something. I don't know. - Well, I'm good. - I'm good. - I can do my own. I'm telling to the night. - Do you like, do you even watch housewives where you a fan of like reality TV and pop culture or are you more like? - Yeah, like pop culture. I feel like now I watch reality TV way more. I think because like it fascinates me now being on the other side of it. I'm like, oh, I see what's happening here. - Which ones are you getting into? - I do watch a lot of housewives now. Rhode Island was really good. I loved Rhode Island. I watched a lot of Broadway shows. I watched in the city. Which I'm excited. They're filming that again. - Are those is Roni and in the city, are y'all kind of in the same circles or not really? - Really, but you know, I was gonna say, you guys are good friends with Whitney, right? - Oh, yeah, Whitney from, oh, yeah. She was on my season last night. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - You're sure I'm a friend. - I was like, there's so many Whitney's and Bravo in general. - Yeah, she was. - I don't know her that well, but we had them on recently. - Yeah. - I mean, what I always remember. - She's so sweet. - The sweetest person. - Yeah, she's so sweet. - Like she's like, of course, you're from Minnesota. - Yeah. - Yeah, she's like the sweetest person. - I hung out with her a few times. She's so sweet, but other than that, I don't think we've really run in the same circles. It's kind of, it's interesting 'cause I actually feel like I'm probably more that age group. - Yeah, the right housewives age group. - Literally. - Was that ever an idea? - No. - No. - But I do think that I maybe relate more to the housewives girls. - Yeah. - I don't know. - Like I'm friends with Jessel and she's one of my best friends. - Yeah, that means. - Just because. - What is Jessel like? I'm fascinated with that. - I love Jessel. - I think she's like so great in a way, but I also look. - She's hilarious. - I also like, it's just as a fan, like Aaron, and I don't know anyone on a personal role. And I'm a fan, so when we're talking drama, it's like I don't really care. But Jessel, I just have this affinity for her. - Whether I agree with her or not, I'm always like, I kind of just like you anyway. - I mean, her shade to me is hilarious. And being it, like her and her British accent, I'm like, so much and I'm like, I could never say that and get away with it, but you can because it's just like, you have an accent. And it's like, you know, it's fine. - She's works. - Yeah. No, but she is, she's a good person. She is truly like, we are friends outside of the show and have been for a while. And she's not thirsty. She's not a cloud chaser. She's not like any of those things. I can tell you as someone who knows her very well, she's not any of that. Like I said, people project things. - You know, going back to like why you think you'd fit in, you fit in better with the housewives, then why do you think that is? Is this more like, because I think more like housewives, they do tend to be older. They're in a kind of season of life where, I guess there's less hustle maybe? I don't know, we're like in the cities all about like that vibe or it's like no one's quite, they give the vibe of like no one's quite made it in a way. As opposed to like housewives, it's more like a establish. - I don't say that, I made it and you have it. - Well, I don't mean like that. I know, I'm sure like if Lindsay Hubbard was the reason he's going to hang it for it. But I don't mean it. Like of course they're all very successful. They lead, you know, like literally celebrity type of lives. But like just the vibe of that show is kind of gives the hustle and bustle of like, figuring out New York is opposed to. - It's like, yeah, young and figuring out New York. I think it's like, we know New York. We have like our root set in here. You have your social circle. Like I couldn't imagine you being in the city. - No. I couldn't either. - It just would be like-- - And on New York work. And also like, I think the men film a ton. - They do. - And that's just you. - Not for a rock. - Would you ever leave New York or no? - No. - We love New York. We are obsessed with New York. - That's kind of, I want to go to a place in New York. - I know. - Do it, do it. - I've never lived there. We met in New York. - Wait, really? - Yeah. - In Brooklyn. - At the Williamsburg Hotel. - Oh my God, okay. I used to live in Williamsburg. - Really? - Yeah. - And I met up there for a hook up. - A hook up. - I thought you were gonna say a drink. - Okay. - I did fly out there to meet him. - Okay, let's find him. - Did you meet him together? - Yeah. - Of course. - No. (laughing) - I would never. - I'm not coming. If you want me to pay for my life. - I will not be coming. - You're best worried about my murder. each other. Yeah. Yeah. We weren't too killers. Exactly. And it worked out. Yeah. For the best. Switching gears a little bit, you have been vulnerable and opened up about your fertility struggles. I'm curious how you and encore have like supported each other through that. I mean, it's been a lot. I think, um, you know, I think we found out what now it's been three years ago, four years ago, that I wasn't going to be able to carry my own. And I started doing. I started egg retrievals, now two years ago. And I've done three so far. And I've had like really bad after like OHS and it's been a process. And then of course, it's been kind of a journey matching with a surrogate, finding the right surrogate. We have the most amazing surrogate ever. We're, we love her so much, but since matching, um, you know, we've, she's had a miscarriage. Um, we had another one that didn't take. And so we're still on this process. And it's like emotional roller coaster because you get excited. Like you get excited when you get a positive presence test. And then, oh my god, it's like the worst. Yeah. Once you, yeah. Once it happens, there's like, you don't want to be excited. Yeah. You actually are like, yeah. All right, here we go. And then it's like, you're waiting for the next positive. And it's not here. And so it's like, all these ups and downs. And I think for us, it's just like we're, we're very optimistic people. And it's like, obviously we're very sad and we're very disappointed about a lot of things. But it's, you know, if the universe isn't allowing it right now, it's not meant to be. And when it will, it's going to be great. And it's going to be amazing. And we're going to have this trial. Like, I fully know that we're going to have a child. It's just like in the right time. When we were going through our fertility struggles, I really found that no one really talked about it at all. And it's in a very like a loan feeling. And so I first want to like applaud you for talking about it and being open about it. But is there anything that you wish was out there more for people to connect to? Yeah. I, to your point, I think people are talking about it more in our open to be more vulnerable about it. I think it's just a, it's scary to talk about it. But once you do everyone's there for you. Like everyone, there is such a big support system there for you. And I, and I even think we talk about this because everyone was like, I don't know if you should be sharing. If, when, you know, it's that early on that it's a positive pregnancy or whatever it is. And I was like, why would I not? I would, I want that support. Like I, I want people to be there for me. Like if, if something doesn't work out, like, that was, I don't want to be alone. Yeah. That was honestly that, that whole thing really kind of, I didn't understand. Like the four, don't tell anyone for two years. Yeah. We ever had kids. You always heard that, right? It's like you tell, maybe your parents, your closest friends right away, but you don't tell anyone until like the second trimester and not being a parent at the time. I was like, I guess that makes sense. I guess that's the way to do it. And then Natalie had her first miscarriage. And then, you know, doing what we do, we just just Natalie decided I want to share it. And then it was honestly like a relief because like, and then she hate, obviously, she had a couple more. But then it was like kind of weight off our shoulders because it was like at that point, now I had already been like, no matter what happens, I'm just going to like, I'll share, you know? And then it was like, okay, well, we're good. If it happens again, we'll end up sharing that. So now we'll just tell everyone we were, you know, right away. And I was like, why don't most people do that? It's an aware, because like, yeah, the idea that like, because the whole premise makes no sense. Like if it happens to anyone, it is this terrible, horrible thing, especially obviously for the mothers out there. I mean, not difficult for the dads, you know? But like, I can't. But just like just seeing how Natalie experienced that. And then having society imply that you're not supposed to tell anyone about it. You're supposed to hold it in. It's supposed to be some secret. And it's just like, I get that you don't want to share bad news, but it's more like suppressing. But it's, yeah, I was telling you to be like, we'll just, you know, no one wants to be bothered with your bad news. It's almost like the weird, it's not true. And the moment you release it, everyone is there for you. And so I'm sure so many people were like, wow, I'm glad you're talking about this. I went through this too. And it makes other people not feel alone. And I think there's probably, you know, people that when they share their other people, like, hey, this happened to me too. Here's something that I did, like, hold on. All these recommendations, which I think is just like, that's what I think the beauty of all of us talking about this now, infertility, surrogacy, whatever it is. I think there's a lot unknown about surrogacy and misconceptions. And so I'm hopefully able to clear some of that up when we're, this story's going to kind of come out a bit more on the show as well. What's the biggest misconception that you think people think and feel right now? I think for a lot of people, you know, you, when someone says they're having a surrogate, it's like, oh, like you just don't want to ruin your body. And it's whatever it is. And I don't think women should have to say why they are doing it. And I think that's especially anyone that doesn't want to share their health issues. Like, it just why I put that pressure on. There is a, there's a rhyme and a reason that someone is doing it. And that's their choice. So I think that that's something, but then also I don't know if you've like seen anything in the news about the surrogate. I think she was in Alaska. I could be wrong. She was in a different state, but there was like a heart problem with the baby she was carrying. And the parents had wanted to abort. And you've signed all these forms. And there's a lot of legal work that happens before. And she moved to Texas with the baby, or you cannot have abortions on purpose. And had the baby. And then was trying to get the rights, like the parental rights of the from from the actual end to parents. It's a very like that is a crazy situation. So when you read things like that and you see that in the news, it's like, oh my god, like someone can still your baby. Yeah. Yeah. That technically does it. I don't know what agency that was right. There's a lot of there's a lot of things. Yeah. I mean, you can see how it can get tricky with. Yeah. You know, because you're clearly putting a lot of trust. Yeah. What is can I, and what is that process of finding a surrogate look like? I know age there's agencies and things like that. But I'm more talking about like, like we had a nanny and that's a, in itself, a whole like, what do you mean? Yeah. Yeah. Are you going to be okay with like taking care of like, children? Yeah. What is that process like in terms of feeling comfortable with that person? There's certain like requirements that most agencies have set to be a surrogate, like BMI under certain amount, no smoking, whatever it is. I think for me, I really wanted someone that had a partner that was married, that had kids of their own, that kind of just lived a healthy lifestyle. And so there were certain things that I was looking for. And whenever you start kind of going, you go on like, it's kind of like dating. And you go, you look at a profile and you're like, yes, no, here's what they do, here's their family, here's photos of them, here's why they want to be a surrogate, here to their previous pregnancies, all these type of things. But then they're also getting your profile too. So it's like you're interviewing them, but they're also interviewing you type of things. And so you both have to say yes. So it's, it's very interesting going through that process. And you have a match call. So you meet on Zoom and you're with your like agency coordinators. And that's kind of the only time you meet them. And you both say yes, you sign. And the next time you see them, they're coming to your medical facility to like a testing done. And it's already signed. Everything's done. And like, you know, so you do have to get, I'm good at getting vibes from people. And I will say like the, we had a couple calls, but with our surrogate now being on the match call with her and her husband was on to, which I really loved. And I was first five minutes. I was like, I'm obsessed with her. I can, I know that I can trust this woman. And we've, you know, now been through a lot together. And she's incredible. So do you have any advice for anyone who is looking to go this route? Yeah. I think, you know, take your time going through the match calls. It, it is a long process. And I think for me, I was like, I just want to meet someone. I just want to sign. But to your point, like you have to trust this person and give up full control. And I think for a lot of people, that's hard to do. I'm not saying it's easy for me to give up control. But I think like you just have to know that you're making the right decision. So take your time meeting and matching with the right person. And then develop a, like, I developed a friendship. Like I think that I wanted to have a friendship. I was like, I want to, I want us to be, I want you to be able to call me. Like, I, like, if you're going through something and, you know, you're having a bad day or you're like, when the baby is in there and the baby, you're like, this baby is kicking this shit out of you. Yeah. I want it out. Yeah. Yeah. And so I think like developing a friendship is super important because you're going to have that instant connection. And then you're going to feel like you can trust more to you. How was this whole process impacted your marriage in a way where like for us, like, you know, there were scary days. And like for me, it was like, I want to, you know, say or do, but like at the end of the day, I feel like it, you know, kind of brought you closer. Yeah. Well, you, we just face, you know, you're facing like hardships together. I mean, honestly, like an type of adversity we've faced. It's just like our honeymoon. Natalie had a ripped passport. And we got it. rejected. Oh no. Like at the border. With our three-month-old baby. Yeah, it was like the day after a wedding. Even you couldn't get in. Literally. They thought I was like this like a huge criminal. They literally cheater her like James Bond. Wait, why? Yeah. Because she had a like a tearing. It was like it was Turks and K-Cos and they were like. It was kind of a scary situation. These like detectives showed up. Do you like detain you? They were like you have to immediately get on the flight back. Like you have to go back. It was bizarre and like River was three-month-old and it was like just like yeah, I can't believe it was having her honeymoon and like I'm like holding River. But like there was I will say there was a part of that I had felt this moment where it was like okay I'm like I felt like a husband. I'm gonna problem solve this. I would take care of my family right. Yeah. Like and it was like it honestly was now an amazing memory. Yeah. Where it's it's like and we end up going. Well we end up going on our honeymoon. We end up going to Puerto Rico. We end up a few weeks later and it was on it. To that point it's just like these like this adversity that couples and families deal with like if you hopefully marry the right person. Yeah. You both kind of rise the occasion and you can feel real connected. Yeah. I totally agree. I think that I love having on-course my problem solver. Yeah. I won't say that I fix all his problems but I try yeah. Having that that like connection to be able to I mean I would hope that everyone has that. I don't know if everyone does yeah. I know I think I'll I yeah I probably do your point. A lot of people probably do feel alone going through this but to continue off of this for anyone like in your circle for friends I know a lot of people kind of came to me of like how can I show up for my friend who's going through this. What did you feel like was most helpful? You know I think it's slightly different for me. I think it was interesting because when we found out the miscarriage and I told our friends I think everyone was checking on me and making sure I was okay and I was like I honestly want us all to check in on on our surrogate because like I can't imagine what she's going through like I understand like my emotional like you know sadness about this but she's like physically having to go through this and so I kind of was making like for my friends I was like don't be worried about me let's like just like kind of be worried about her and like I'm going to be okay and like we're gonna we're gonna figure this out. So mine was slightly different I guess but I think I do think that is good advice of like I think people are always afraid to bring something up or talk about something so like I don't want to like I don't know upset or make me get you upset or something but I have found like through this journey of like talking about the babies that we lost like keeping their memory alive is has been so important for my mental health and like that is what I need is like I need my friends and people to like remember them and to like talk about them and check in and so I do think that is good advice like how are you doing yeah yeah and not be afraid too. Switching to your respect to Roney. Oh no. If you are asked back would you want to continue on this journey? I feel like I'm I think giving a rose would you want to continue on this journey? I did sound really passionate. I will accept it. No I would I would do another season if I was asked back. I think like I said between all the drama and the chaos it has been a very fun journey and I'm very close with some of the girls and I think knowing all the girls in a like a I mean starting I didn't know some of them so now knowing everyone having a deeper connection with people I feel like it will be more fun even more fun and I understand how people operate as a housewife do you feel a pressure to get Andy to like you probably yeah maybe I don't know I've only been around a few times I've like loved every time around him but do you spend energy or time thinking about what he would want from you or things or like does it if he's enjoying watching you or do you think about that stuff or I mean yeah because he's one of the producers so for sure all those phones are falling. No for sure like I definitely think about all the producers and you know or he him everyone else at NBC like are they enjoying me I don't know like for sure but I don't think I'm going to change who I am so if they're not maybe I don't mind for this and if you are great then you like who I am I mean I think the consensus with fans is like we're all really enjoying this new season yeah different than the past couple seasons obviously you're new this season but why do you think it's working so much better with you group of women than the women they had the past couple seasons I think I mean from you know just one side what they've said it's just like the connection on this group is a little is different um I also think there's there were title obviously I didn't know some people going in but there were ties to each other where you know I knew Jussel I did did no daisy um and daisy came in knowing style and so there was connections to us that I think it made it I don't want to say realistic but like you just it more it more genuine right when you came into this did you feel that pressure about like did you because like when it comes to Roni there's a lot like people care about I didn't want to be honest season that cancelled the whole entire Roni franchise so for sure yeah I don't think I had as much pressure as you know the women who had been on it before but I was like oh my god could you imagine I was on it I was like definitely not I can't be on the ending season I don't think it's going anywhere I don't need there this is a great it's a great group it's such a good I mean y'all give it's been great to watch so I mean there's so much more comment like I like you guys don't even understand is there anything you're particularly nervous about mm-hmm okay yeah I think I'm not giving too much away because you saw a little bit in the teaser but I get pretty heated and I just do something that's like out of my character that I regret a little bit does it take a lot to get you super heated it does I like I said if you talk about me fine I don't care talk about me all day you can love me hate me I don't care but if you talk about my husband my family our marriage I guess without giving too much away what are you afraid the reaction from fans will be I actually don't know if the action will be so bad I might think that people will see that was warranted but I still don't think it's my character yeah you didn't like what they brought out in you yes yes and so I'm nervous to watch that and regret actions that I took yeah I mean I don't know but like you know everyone's in a while like are you know everyone has a limit yeah right no it's true it's like I do I think there's a big difference between being someone who's just generally reactive and always like going low or whatever always fighting always crying always versus being someone who's just like I mean if you if you get and like you know I will have a limit to your well yeah honestly I want to like when I when I first met Natalie we were out with friends and we were in line after the hookup yes for the hookup so he was in love for us and we were like out and we were late nightline at the princery pizza and it was like one in the morning and some girl like three wrote like kind of up kind of turned around she recognized me and she was like she's like yeah you have like you have a big podcast right I'm like yeah like people would like it I don't but like people would like it okay you know and I'm just like at this point you know I'm you I've been used to stuff like this I'm just a fuse in the situation and Natalie who I've known for a couple weeks like turning this like Mama Lion and like was like kind of ready to fight not in like a real way but like but maybe but I'm the same way it's just like you I am talk about me all you want I don't care but like the second you come from my family the second you come from my husband it's like all bets are off yeah but there was a level of like I'm glad she has that in her you know I'm glad yeah I'm glad that and I want to know that someone has a backbone yeah because there there's a difference between again being letting people rely ability in public versus like willing to stand up for yourself and what's right and how you feel and not be a pushover I'm excited to see it yeah I think I was tiptoeing at the very beginning of the season because I was like I don't know I don't know this world I knew the reality TV I don't know a lot of these women don't understand how they operate and then the further you get in you know so I do think second season if I'm back would be much different do you like your tagline oh my god okay this is one of the things like I I don't pay attention to the internet talk everyone was shitting on my tagline so hard and you don't correct me if I'm wrong my understanding is you don't have full control over now it's like well what is it something about tacos friendships come and go tacos are forever I read a couple different ones and I didn't know which one they were choosing and it was that one and I was so happy I was like I do love tacos like I'm like great talk about like I'm just gonna be over here eating my talk about while you guys are hating my tagline it's fine I was like I don't know if it's fitting to me I was like once you if you know me yeah that's the most you know yeah once you know you then it does make yeah more sense people are like to - This girl owned a taco shop, like I'm so confused. - Are you reading the comments? Do you read comments? - Well, that's what I was saying. I was like, I don't like pay attention to too much, but there was a lot of shit happening about my tagline. I was like, I didn't respond to you. I'm like, if you just knew you would know, I was just saying you're gonna be like, it's not that bad. - But that is like, you know, that is part of the gig where they just-- - I also don't care. If it's the worst tagline I'm trying, I could care less. They're talking to some housewives and they were saying, like when they read one, but they don't really like it. They don't want them to use. They'll say it and they'll be like, yeah. - Yeah, I don't think so. - Some of them will not say it. I was like, I don't like this one. I was like, great. You're like, this is so mean. My other ones are good too, but I was like, mm. - No fans, you know. It is interesting, 'cause I do feel like you are not in a good way. A lot of times new housewives will get like the rookie hazing treatment. - What's that mean? - They're like the target. You know, everyone's just like picking on the new guy, so to speak, because like they don't have the alliances. They don't like have people having their back. And it just feels like with other franchises whoever the new person is really gets attacked. It doesn't feel like that's happening to you. Why do you feel like that is? - I think I'm a nice person. I think, you know, I'm like, I don't know. I feel like I've been trying to be friends with everyone or get to know everyone. I think I'm probably getting attacked by one person, but other than that. - It does feel like when watching you, that you're like you're having fun doing it. - Yeah. - Like you have a smile on your face. - My friends are like, oh my God, I'm watching you here in the background. 'Cause like-- - You're kind of giggling at the other side of the line. - How are these women defying about, like my, and it's just, I call myself a lurking linda. - Yeah, like sometimes I feel like I'm getting a carrot or something. - I'm like a lurking linda watch. I'm like, oh my God, I want to die watching myself watch this back. - Since now you've been in it, have you fantasized about like a real dramatic moment that you would almost want to be a part of and think like, okay, my alter ego would really like, would crush this? - I don't know if I fantasize about my big, a big dramatic moment, but there is one that coming with me. - I'm excited to see this. Well, this has been so much fun. It's great getting to know you, and you've been such a great addition to the show and your breath of fresh air. Like, and I personally just as a fan, like as someone, again, I know how the sausage is made. And like, I like seeing authenticity. I don't like watching someone perform anyway. And you've been a great addition to that regard. And you obviously have a fascinating background and a fascinating life. And I feel like that is the essence of what a housewife should be. Like someone that you're fascinated with and they're aspirational. And like, you're actually seeing who they are, not the person they want you to believe they are. - Yeah. - And I feel like you crushed that on it. - Thank you. - I try. Do I try? I guess I don't try. - You don't, you don't see it. You don't look like you're trying. - I just am who I am. I'm not trying. - You're in a great way, so it's a great addition. - Thank you. - Well, it's been great to get to know you. - No, thank you guys so much for having me. - Thanks for coming. - So much fun. (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO]