Speaker 1: Hey guys, So this week we have something a little
Speaker 1: bit different for you. So, in solidarity with the SAG
Speaker 1: after strike, we had some episodes banked, and the truth is,
Speaker 1: we just don't feel comfortable airing them. We want to
Speaker 1: stand with our actor friends. We want to release them
Speaker 1: when hopefully everybody has a fair contract and we can celebrate.
Speaker 1: And now it's just not the time. So we're going
Speaker 1: to hang on to them. We promise you. We have
Speaker 1: some great episodes coming on up, but that means this
Speaker 1: week we're going to pivot a little bit. We have
Speaker 1: other interviews coming up later. Trust me, we have great
Speaker 1: guests in the pipeline. But for today, we thought it
Speaker 1: would be fun if you got to know me a
Speaker 1: little bit better. So I put out on social media
Speaker 1: what do you want to know? And I have to
Speaker 1: be honest with you. I didn't look at all of
Speaker 1: the questions because I wanted to be surprised. So I
Speaker 1: have my amazing producer Mike here today. He has them all. Mike,
Speaker 1: how scared should I be?
Speaker 2: I don't think you should be scared at all, Tommy,
Speaker 2: And my first question to you is are you excited
Speaker 2: to be a guest on your own podcast.
Speaker 1: That's whoa. I didn't think about it like that. It's
Speaker 1: a little weird, a little weird to be on this
Speaker 1: side of the of the table or the screen, I
Speaker 1: should say. But uh, yeah, I think we're gonna have
Speaker 1: some fun.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I one of the interviews we were doing a
Speaker 2: couple of weeks ago, you said something that you revealed
Speaker 2: something about yourself. I can't remember specifically what it was,
Speaker 2: but after we got off the interview, you were like, wow,
Speaker 2: I can't believe I just said that. Even I feel
Speaker 2: a little like you were a little like flustered and
Speaker 2: a little like not embarrassed, but you were like, wow,
Speaker 2: I just revealed that about myself, and I wasn't really
Speaker 2: expecting to. So I am curious to see how you're
Speaker 2: gonna feel when we throw some of these questions your way.
Speaker 2: I don't think a lot of them are like too personal,
Speaker 2: but I think they'll be fun. And I think, you know,
Speaker 2: this will end up being a pretty fun episode.
Speaker 1: I agree, I agree, and I say bring it on.
Speaker 1: Let's see what happens. Okay, are you ready? I am ready, Mike,
Speaker 1: I'm ready.
Speaker 2: So our first question comes to us from Todd. Shoot, Chuck,
Speaker 2: I think I'm saying that name right. He wants to
Speaker 2: know what it's like for you to have a relationship
Speaker 2: in the public eye and on social social media. Plus
Speaker 2: how much scrutiny have you and Geo faced throughout the years.
Speaker 2: It's so amazing to have a couple like you guys
Speaker 2: to look up to.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, Well, first of all, thank you, that's very kind.
Speaker 1: What is it like having a relationship in the public eye.
Speaker 1: It can be a bit strange sometimes, you know. I
Speaker 1: think Geo and I are very conscious of sharing parts
Speaker 1: of our lives with the public for one main reason,
Speaker 1: and that reason is visibility. And I think it's so important.
Speaker 1: I never had that growing up, and things have gotten
Speaker 1: progressively better over the years, but even eight years ago
Speaker 1: when we got together, I still didn't see a lot
Speaker 1: of openly gay relationships out there. And for us, we
Speaker 1: feel that if we can show you know, our love
Speaker 1: and our story as Geo and Tommy just living our
Speaker 1: everyday lives, that maybe people eventually will get to a
Speaker 1: place where they're more accepting of you know, everybody in
Speaker 1: this world, or maybe we can can change perception a
Speaker 1: little bit. So it's important for us to share those
Speaker 1: glimpses into our relationships, just like any other couple would write.
Speaker 1: We do keep things private as well. We don't put
Speaker 1: everything out there because I think in any relationship you
Speaker 1: need to have some boundaries and then you need to
Speaker 1: have things just for yourselves. But it's important for us
Speaker 1: to do that. In terms of scrutiny, I would say
Speaker 1: on a day to day basis, we're pretty lucky. We
Speaker 1: have a lot of people sharing love with us and
Speaker 1: very excited for us on our journey. But of course
Speaker 1: you do see comments here and there from people who
Speaker 1: aren't necessarily supportive of a gay relationship, and that goes
Speaker 1: for people in the community and out of the community.
Speaker 1: We have gotten scrutiny from other people who are LGBTQ plus,
Speaker 1: which always breaks my heart because I feel like, man,
Speaker 1: we should be championing one another and we should be
Speaker 1: lifting each other up. We know what the fight is
Speaker 1: like that we all face, and sadly, there are some
Speaker 1: people who do want to you down in your own community.
Speaker 1: And when we got married, we saw some of that
Speaker 1: when there was some press related to it, and in
Speaker 1: some of the meanest comments were actually from people in
Speaker 1: the community. And I bring that up because I don't
Speaker 1: think a lot of people talk about that. It's often
Speaker 1: you know, straight people versus gay people or whatever the
Speaker 1: situation may be. And trust me, it's there, and there's
Speaker 1: a fight that has to be fought. But there's also
Speaker 1: a lot of tearing down in our own community, and
Speaker 1: I hope for younger generations that is something that we
Speaker 1: don't have as much of because it's vicious and unnecessary,
Speaker 1: and like I said, our energy needs to be channeled
Speaker 1: towards equal rights and just having our basic human you know,
Speaker 1: human needs met and we shouldn't have to worry about
Speaker 1: what our brothers and sisters are saying in our own
Speaker 1: community in a negative light. So with that being said,
Speaker 1: mostly positive, some scrutiny from everyone all walks of life,
Speaker 1: and I just hope people, for not our sake, just
Speaker 1: for humanities, it can learn to not type out that
Speaker 1: mean tweet or that mean comment and just celebrate one another.
Speaker 2: That's it, absolutely all right. Let's go to Amy Irwin.
Speaker 2: Amy asks, well, she starts off by saying, Hi, Tommy,
Speaker 2: who has been your favorite interview and who would you
Speaker 2: like to interview that you haven't yet? Ooh?
Speaker 1: Amy, Amy with the hard hitting questions. Gosh, favorite interview.
Speaker 1: This is a really tough one for me because I
Speaker 1: have to say everyone I've interviewed up to this point
Speaker 1: has been nothing but lovely and gracious. There were a
Speaker 1: few standouts for me. Robertson Niro. I grew up in
Speaker 1: New Jersey. I'm an Italian boy, Italian family. I watched
Speaker 1: all his movies growing up. I mean Raging Bowl was
Speaker 1: one of the reasons why I fell in love with
Speaker 1: cinema and movie making. It took a million of those
Speaker 1: courses in college. He was pretty surreal for me talking
Speaker 1: to him. I'm a big movie fan, as you've just heard.
Speaker 1: I loved Christopher Nole, who I just interviewed. He was
Speaker 1: He was incredible. I'm a big fan of his movies. God,
Speaker 1: this list goes on and on, and I would say,
Speaker 1: if I can give you one more, who am I
Speaker 1: going to give you? I'm gonna give you. Ryan Reynolds
Speaker 1: was a really cool one, I think growing up. I
Speaker 1: loved all his movies too. I don't know if you
Speaker 1: ever saw Mike the movie what was it called, Just Friends?
Speaker 2: Of course?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it's a great movie him and Amy Smart right, yes, yes,
Speaker 1: And it's a hysterical comedy. I love that growing up,
Speaker 1: so I kept thinking about that movie when I was
Speaker 1: interviewing him, even though it was something totally different. But
Speaker 1: that was a really cool moment for me too. Who
Speaker 1: do I want to interview. I'll give you the cliche,
Speaker 1: I want to talk to Oprah. Who doesn't want to
Speaker 1: talk to Oprah? I just want to bask in her goodness.
Speaker 1: But I love creatives. Surprisingly, I think a lot of
Speaker 1: people think it's all about the movie stars and the singers,
Speaker 1: and it's great and I love chatting with them, and
Speaker 1: they are creatives, But I mean creatives in the sense
Speaker 1: of the directors and the cinematapographers and the people behind
Speaker 1: the scenes. I hope I get more of a chance
Speaker 1: to interview because they don't necessarily make television, right like
Speaker 1: the TV show I work on, Extra is not going
Speaker 1: to really put their interviews on. But I love picking
Speaker 1: their brains and figuring out what's going on inside their
Speaker 1: minds that makes them choose the decisions they make when
Speaker 1: they create their work. So I want to get more
Speaker 1: involved on that side of course. Also, Martin Scorsese is
Speaker 1: a huge, a huge one of mine. I mean, I
Speaker 1: love his movies too, so he would be epic of course.
Speaker 2: Well, I had a question a personal follow up to that,
Speaker 2: when you're interviewing people, is it more exciting to you
Speaker 2: when it's somebody that is just super famous, somebody like
Speaker 2: a Brad Pitt or something like that, who's just like,
Speaker 2: you know, their reputation is worldwide, everybody knows who they are,
Speaker 2: Tom Cruise somebody like that. Or is it more fun
Speaker 2: for you when you get somebody who is sort of
Speaker 2: like a famously good interview e Like, it seems like
Speaker 2: Ryan Reynolds, though he is super famous, is kind of
Speaker 2: like also famous for being kind of fun to talk to.
Speaker 2: It seems like which one kind of moves the needle
Speaker 2: more for you when you're interviewing people.
Speaker 1: Oh, I'm a sucker for a great conversation. I like
Speaker 1: somebody who can play, who can have fun. You know,
Speaker 1: you have to remember these actors and artists they have
Speaker 1: to do press because it's their job. They don't do
Speaker 1: it because I necessarily want to do it. They have
Speaker 1: to promote the work that they're putting out there, right,
Speaker 1: So not everybody loves to give an interview or have
Speaker 1: a conversation. There's a lot of introverted people out there.
Speaker 1: I happen to be extremely extroverted, so I try to
Speaker 1: pull as much as I can out of those introverts
Speaker 1: and make them feel comfortable and safe and like we
Speaker 1: can have a great conversation without any judgment or agenda,
Speaker 1: which is one of my tactics in interviewing. But if
Speaker 1: somebody can show up and have fun and joke, and
Speaker 1: the best compliment that I can get after an interview,
Speaker 1: after putting it out on social media or after it
Speaker 1: airs is man, it looked like two friends catching up.
Speaker 1: That's my goal.
Speaker 2: There you go, all right? Jason Gleeson now has written
Speaker 2: in and he's got a bunch of questions, So we're
Speaker 2: going to try to go through some of the best
Speaker 2: ones here. I would say the first one is media related,
Speaker 2: so let's go there. It's a two part question, what
Speaker 2: has been the most challenging, challenging aspect of working in media?
Speaker 2: And to follow that up, have you hit any walls
Speaker 2: professionally because of being gay? If you have, how did
Speaker 2: you overcome them?
Speaker 1: Wow? Wow, Hello, Jason, let's see part one of that
Speaker 1: questions Jason good questions. Man, Oh, you're gonna take my job?
Speaker 1: I think part one of that. Oh, now my head
Speaker 1: is my mind is do I want to start with
Speaker 1: part two? Let me start a part two. Have I
Speaker 1: hit any walls because I'm yay? The answer to that
Speaker 1: is I cannot prove that, but I do think over
Speaker 1: the years, I absolutely did not get picked or chosen
Speaker 1: for certain things because Sally, I'm gay. Like I said,
Speaker 1: we're in a very different time right now than we
Speaker 1: were even eight years ago, ten years ago, fifteen years ago,
Speaker 1: and sexuality was very much a concern as I was
Speaker 1: coming up in this business. I graduated college in two
Speaker 1: thousand and eight from NYU and started in this kind
Speaker 1: of media career. I was doing acting and then transition
Speaker 1: to a bunch of stuff in the business. And yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, let's listen. When I was acting, I absolutely
Speaker 1: was told you're too gay, You're not gay enough, we
Speaker 1: don't know your place. You're confusing because you quote unquote
Speaker 1: look like a man, but you're gay. So how can
Speaker 1: you be in a project where you're supposed to be
Speaker 1: with a woman. So in the acting world when I
Speaker 1: was coming up, yes, I mean one hundred percent, it
Speaker 1: was a conversation that I was always involved with with
Speaker 1: by the way a lot of gay executives themselves, so
Speaker 1: that part yes. And then you know, in traditional broadcast,
Speaker 1: again can't say for sure, but you hear things, You
Speaker 1: hear whispers, you hear comments from a producer who's in
Speaker 1: a room, or heard a comment from someone else that
Speaker 1: shouldn't have said it, So sadly there have been obstacles.
Speaker 1: But I do think that's changing. So I don't say
Speaker 1: that to discourage anybody. I say that people now want
Speaker 1: people to be their true selves, and luckily we're moving
Speaker 1: towards a more progressive world. So I think that you
Speaker 1: should always show up as yourself. And if you don't
Speaker 1: get a job because of who you are, then it's
Speaker 1: not worth it. It's not worth it. You'll find your path,
Speaker 1: you'll get to where you're going to be. And I
Speaker 1: never could have imagined I would be where I am
Speaker 1: today as a gay, closeted kid growing up in New Jersey.
Speaker 1: So that's all to say, don't be discouraged and always
Speaker 1: show up as yourself. And then part one might remind
Speaker 1: me of what was Part one.
Speaker 2: What has been the most challenging aspect of working in media.
Speaker 1: You know, media is changing the landscape of media is
Speaker 1: changing quite a bit. Social media has affected that dramatically,
Speaker 1: whether for the better or the force. You know, there's
Speaker 1: talks about TikTok having shows and being a news source
Speaker 1: and an entertainment source one day. I mean, we don't
Speaker 1: know where this industry is going, which right now I
Speaker 1: will say is a challenge because a lot of people
Speaker 1: in power are afraid to take risks and they want
Speaker 1: to keep doing what they know has been working for
Speaker 1: decades and decades and decades. But that's changing, but we
Speaker 1: don't know what that change is. So for me, I'm
Speaker 1: always someone who pitches new projects and ideas, and to
Speaker 1: get someone to say yes to that is like pulling
Speaker 1: teeth because everyone wants a safe bet. So personally, for me,
Speaker 1: I'm an ideas guy. I come to the table with
Speaker 1: a million ideas, and it's hard to get those taken
Speaker 1: seriously because these people who make those decisions end up
Speaker 1: going right back to what's been working forever, even though
Speaker 1: it's not quite working in the way it once was.
Speaker 2: It's kind of what the strike is about, right, Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 2: all right. So we had two more that I think
Speaker 2: we can get a little a little fun out of.
Speaker 2: One of them was what was your favorite what is
Speaker 2: your favorite movie?
Speaker 1: And why? Oh my god, you can't ask me that.
Speaker 1: That is so tough. Oh that is so hard. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna oh, how about this. I will give you a
Speaker 1: favorite genre that might be surprising to people, and that
Speaker 1: is old Hollywood movies. I wanted to get into this
Speaker 1: business because I loved old Hollywood black and whites, even
Speaker 1: Charlie Schapplin movies with no sound. I mean, I loved
Speaker 1: watching those growing up. I mentioned Raging Bowl earlier. I
Speaker 1: loved The Graduate, I loved Casablanca, of course, bringing up
Speaker 1: baby Marlon Brando movies. I loved old Hollywood stars Ingrid
Speaker 1: Bergman and Carry Grant, And that's what I kind of
Speaker 1: grew up on and really pursued passionately for a while
Speaker 1: in terms of what I would watch on my downtime.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna go with that old Hollywood classics. In fact,
Speaker 1: I was saying the other day I need to start
Speaker 1: getting back into them with any free time I have
Speaker 1: because I miss that genre.
Speaker 2: And then the last one. I know, it's a question,
Speaker 2: a topic that you don't love talking about, necessarily, what
Speaker 2: do you eat to stay in such great shape?
Speaker 1: Fair question? I mean, I'm super passionate about health and
Speaker 1: wellness and fitness. I follow mainly the Mediterranean diet, so
Speaker 1: in a nutshell, lots of chicken, fish, vegetables, fruits. I
Speaker 1: stay away from processed foods, sugar. I don't drink much alcohol,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't drink so obviously or any of that.
Speaker 1: So very clean, very boring. During the week I eat
Speaker 1: the same thing every day almost, but obviously on weekends
Speaker 1: I go out and have fun.
Speaker 2: There we go, all right, thank you for the cavalcade
Speaker 2: of questions, Jason. We move on to rich Diaz, who
Speaker 2: wants to know how do you want people to remember you?
Speaker 2: What do you want your legacy to be?
Speaker 1: Man, everyone's coming from my job with these questions.
Speaker 2: They're deep. Some of these are deep.
Speaker 1: Great question, great question, you know. I tend to let
Speaker 1: me think about this. I describe my career as a
Speaker 1: bit all over the place. I didn't get to where
Speaker 1: I got to today because I took one straight path, right.
Speaker 1: I was acting for a while, I was in other
Speaker 1: areas of the business. I then transitioned to hosting, and
Speaker 1: I started on television in this you know, unscripted world,
Speaker 1: doing like fashion segments and makeovers just to get my
Speaker 1: in in this space. Actually, before that, I was doing
Speaker 1: Gift Guide segments, which truth be told, I have no
Speaker 1: interest in. But I said, if you can get me
Speaker 1: on TV and I can get experience and get exposure,
Speaker 1: then yes, I will go on and talk about this
Speaker 1: toilet bowl plunger for four ninety nine that you can
Speaker 1: get on Amazon today. Absolutely, so I kind of had
Speaker 1: this very weird path to get to where I got
Speaker 1: to today, and I'm so thankful for it because it
Speaker 1: allowed me to tap into all these different areas of
Speaker 1: the entertainment business. Can go on TV and talk about fashion, fitness, travel, health, wellness, anything,
Speaker 1: or I can go interview the biggest celebrity in the world.
Speaker 1: So all that is to say that I want, no
Speaker 1: matter what, somebody is watching me talk about wherever they
Speaker 1: see me, television, their phone, wherever, I want them to
Speaker 1: feel better than they felt before they started watching my segment,
Speaker 1: my interview, my clip. And I want to just be
Speaker 1: somebody who can put out feel good content that can
Speaker 1: distract you from the everyday hardships we all face and
Speaker 1: make you feel less alone in your own personal journey.
Speaker 1: And that's what I want. I want us to feel connected.
Speaker 1: I want us to feel together. I don't think we
Speaker 1: have enough of that in this world. We are all
Speaker 1: so much more similar than we are different, and I
Speaker 1: think we forget that a lot. And if I can
Speaker 1: just bring five minutes of joy to your day and
Speaker 1: maybe turn it around by being silly on television in
Speaker 1: an interview or telling you about some new cool fitness
Speaker 1: trend or whatever, then I feel like I've done my job.
Speaker 1: So I just want to be remembered for being a real,
Speaker 1: genuine person who's bringing you some joy.
Speaker 2: Indep man, all right. Next question comes from and if
Speaker 2: I butcher this name, I'm sorry. Who birdis? Zeggers? What
Speaker 2: is yours Geo's favorite travel destination minus Paris?
Speaker 1: Oh, great question. We love Hawaii. Hawaii is very special
Speaker 1: to us. We before the pandemic, have gone every year.
Speaker 1: We're going back this year for the first time in
Speaker 1: a while. Very excited. We tend to go to an
Speaker 1: island called Kawaii, which is where they film Jurassic Park.
Speaker 1: It's very remote and we love that. You know, living
Speaker 1: in New York, we crave that. We don't go away
Speaker 1: to go to clubs and be fancy and go to
Speaker 1: five star restaurants in our finest fashion. No, no, no, I
Speaker 1: don't care about any of that. I want to be
Speaker 1: in a bathing suit of tank top flip flops and
Speaker 1: just chill out. So we love Hawaii for that reason.
Speaker 1: All the hiking and outdoor adventuring and just exploring we
Speaker 1: can do in Paris is obviously also very special. It's
Speaker 1: where we got engaged. That's a close second, but yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with Hawaii.
Speaker 2: Derek Rose would like to know what gives you energy?
Speaker 1: What gives me energy? Ooh, this could be interpreted in
Speaker 1: a few different ways. How do you think Derek has
Speaker 1: meant this?
Speaker 2: Well, it's a good question because I think Derek Rose
Speaker 2: and I think of the basketball player from that right
Speaker 2: who was benched last year and perhaps needed some energy.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think that there's you could take it literally,
Speaker 2: like we can go back to be a nutrition question.
Speaker 2: You know, what do you what do you eat? What
Speaker 2: gives you energy? Or I mean I would think it
Speaker 2: maybe means what gets you motivated to be creative, to
Speaker 2: be ambitious, et cetera. Hmmm, why don't we make it
Speaker 2: that question?
Speaker 1: Okay, I'll go with that. I like that what gives
Speaker 1: me that motivation. You know, I'm a very routined guy.
Speaker 1: I stick to my routines, and I get up and
Speaker 1: I have my breakfast, and I verbally and this is
Speaker 1: a little boo wooie, so stay with me all but
Speaker 1: I verbally kind of go through the things I'm grateful
Speaker 1: for and I say it out loud, and I just
Speaker 1: find for me, it clears my mind. It just puts
Speaker 1: me in a good frame of mind for the day.
Speaker 1: I know they say one of the worst things you
Speaker 1: can do is pick up your cell phone right when
Speaker 1: you wake up. I wish I couldn't, but I have
Speaker 1: to check my emails for work. I have to check
Speaker 1: my phone right away. So I kind of offset that
Speaker 1: by then eating my breakfast, doing my verbal gratefuls, and
Speaker 1: getting in a workout, because if I don't have that
Speaker 1: me time, just don't talk to me like I need
Speaker 1: to have an hour where I can unplug, focus on
Speaker 1: my mental health and get myself really, really really in
Speaker 1: a good frame of mind for the day. Because my
Speaker 1: days are crazy, they're shit shows, They're all over the place.
Speaker 1: So I have to do that to stay motivated. And honestly,
Speaker 1: if I don't do that, I don't feel good. I
Speaker 1: feel off, and I feel weird. So that's my number one.
Speaker 2: Are you a morning workout person?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah. I have to start my
Speaker 1: day with a morning workout. I don't like going in
Speaker 1: the afternoon. If I have to, I will, but I
Speaker 1: need to start my day, get it done, and then
Speaker 1: I feel my best take on whatever's coming.
Speaker 2: I wish I could do it. I envy you so much.
Speaker 1: Hey, it's not for everyone, all right.
Speaker 2: We have a question here from John Risco. What do
Speaker 2: you and Geo like to do on your downtime? Second question,
Speaker 2: would you ever consider being on Dancing with the Stars?
Speaker 2: I remember seeing you dance.
Speaker 1: You've got to well to answer your second question, I
Speaker 1: love to dance. I grew up, fun fact, teaching hip
Speaker 1: hop at the local YMCA in my hometown. No training
Speaker 1: is just something that was kind of boring with and
Speaker 1: I loved it. And I actually entered these festivals where
Speaker 1: I would choreograph hip hop dances and submit them with
Speaker 1: my friend Christina. So I love to dance. Would I
Speaker 1: ever do the show? Yeah? I never say never to anything,
Speaker 1: so yeah, I think that would be really fun. And
Speaker 1: the first question, what do we do on our downtime.
Speaker 1: We like to travel. We like even day trips or adventures,
Speaker 1: you know, driving out to Jersey for the shore. It
Speaker 1: doesn't always have to be getting on a plane. But
Speaker 1: we like to travel and see different things. And we
Speaker 1: like to spend time with family. I have a big
Speaker 1: Italian family. We'd like spending time with friends, going to dinners,
Speaker 1: walking where big walkers. We'll walk all over Central Park
Speaker 1: for hours if we have the time. We like adventures stuff,
Speaker 1: especially when we travel. We love music. We love arts.
Speaker 1: I'm sure if you follow me you see them at
Speaker 1: a Broadway show probably every few weeks. I think it's
Speaker 1: super important to support the arts, and I love it.
Speaker 1: That's another place I can escape, escape in a different
Speaker 1: world too, and forget about everything and for two and
Speaker 1: a half three hours and not worry about work. There's
Speaker 1: something magical about that. We love music, so anything related
Speaker 1: to arts, I would say, is our number one thing.
Speaker 1: And uh yeah, I mean there's nothing really fancy I
Speaker 1: can throw out where we're just like everyday people.
Speaker 2: Yeah, isn't that sad that it's a boring answer to
Speaker 2: just be a normal I.
Speaker 1: Know we're kind of boring, Like we're not that exciting.
Speaker 2: Yeah, read some books, watching TV? Yeah, Earl Martin Stranger
Speaker 2: would like to know. This is going to be a
Speaker 2: one word answer, but are you born and raised in
Speaker 2: New York City?
Speaker 1: No? New Jersey? Okay, there we go.
Speaker 2: We got that over with quick. Frank Robert de Luca
Speaker 2: would like to know. Do you and Geo ever fight
Speaker 2: or do you hold it in until you're calmer?
Speaker 1: Good question, that's a great question. We have been together
Speaker 1: eight years, married seven and I can honestly one hundred
Speaker 1: percent like truthfully say to you we don't fight often,
Speaker 1: and if we do have a disagreement, we talk it out.
Speaker 1: We're two individuals in a relationship. Things are gonna be different,
Speaker 1: right I'm gonna view things differently, He's gonna view things differently,
Speaker 1: and when that happens, we have a conversation. We have
Speaker 1: never gone to bed angry, and there's never been a
Speaker 1: fight where one person has slept on the couch and
Speaker 1: the other person slept on the bed, none of that.
Speaker 1: If there's an issue, we resolve it pretty quickly. We
Speaker 1: talk it through, and we don't always see eye to either.
Speaker 1: It doesn't always end with like okay, like we're on
Speaker 1: the same page. No, sometimes we have to agree to disagree,
Speaker 1: but we respect that and to be totally honest in
Speaker 1: a relationship I was in for most of my twenties,
Speaker 1: not most, but a lot of my twenties, it was
Speaker 1: the opposite. It was like horrible fights and sleeping on
Speaker 1: the couch and door slamming, and I just thought towards
Speaker 1: the end of that, why would anyone want to be
Speaker 1: in this? It's not for me. And look, whatever works
Speaker 1: for you works for you. And if you're listening, like, oh,
Speaker 1: I fight all the time with my partner. That sometimes
Speaker 1: works for people. They like it, they like to engage
Speaker 1: in it, and that's cool. But for me, I don't
Speaker 1: like it. I shut down. Like if someone starts raising
Speaker 1: their voice to me and trying to go to that
Speaker 1: place that I feel is very dark, I shut down
Speaker 1: and I don't give them anything right. And that sometimes
Speaker 1: we'll piss off someone even more not geo, but like
Speaker 1: my ex, because you would want the fight, So we don't.
Speaker 1: We really don't disagree, I should say, we really don't
Speaker 1: fight to a point of it getting escalated. That's not
Speaker 1: where we are. And I think that just comes from
Speaker 1: maybe our ages being mature and having a lot of
Speaker 1: respect for each other. So we're that's that's how we
Speaker 1: that's what works for our relationship.
Speaker 2: As a rule. Do you kind of do you like
Speaker 2: that philosophy of not going to be angry? Do you
Speaker 2: think that that's sort of like a key to keeping
Speaker 2: everybody feeling seen and heard and respected it?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I do. I mean, first of all, sleep is important.
Speaker 1: Why would you want to mess up your sleep? I mean,
Speaker 1: come on, like, because then you're up all night, you're
Speaker 1: all worried and you have anxiety. And I've been there,
Speaker 1: like I said in my twenties, I was there. But
Speaker 1: from aside from a health perspective, yes, for your relationship,
Speaker 1: I think that it's not ever a good idea to
Speaker 1: fester and you're literally both now in your bed or
Speaker 1: ones on bed, ones on the couch, just simmering on
Speaker 1: what happened, and you're getting angry or and angrier and angrier,
Speaker 1: and it's just not healthy. It's not healthy. So I
Speaker 1: really do think you should never go to bed upset
Speaker 1: or angry and just try to work it out as
Speaker 1: long as it takes before then, and guess what, sometimes
Speaker 1: you got to compromise. That's what relationships are you got
Speaker 1: to put your ego aside. You got to put your
Speaker 1: pride aside. And I have pride. I'm a Jersey Italian,
Speaker 1: so I can say I have pride. Sometimes that needs
Speaker 1: to be put aside and you just have to work
Speaker 1: it out because it's worth it, or it should be
Speaker 1: worth it. And if it's not worth it, you got
Speaker 1: to pay attention to that as well.
Speaker 2: All right, are you ready for a heavy one? Oh?
Speaker 1: Man, I thought we've gone through all the heavy ones.
Speaker 2: Oh no, we're just getting started, baby, Menish. I'm sorry,
Speaker 2: so sorry if I just butcher this name again. Menish
Speaker 2: mystery asks everyone deals with some form of inferiority. What
Speaker 2: is your relationship with deal with? What is your relationship
Speaker 2: and how do you deal with thoughts of inferiority?
Speaker 1: Hmmm, great question. I'm gonna be very honest with you.
Speaker 1: I think, and this might be a little controversial, but
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people who feel constantly inferior
Speaker 1: are the types of people that sometimes feels as though
Speaker 1: they're in a position in their careers or lives where
Speaker 1: they have reached their ultimate talent and success. And I
Speaker 1: think what I mean by that is, yes, you see
Speaker 1: me on National television. But every day I want to
Speaker 1: learn and grow and I never stop a day's of
Speaker 1: a day of work and say, all right, cool, I
Speaker 1: was fucking awesome and I'm great, and I'm never going
Speaker 1: to take a note of what I did or you know,
Speaker 1: critique myself. No, no, no, no, no no. I want to
Speaker 1: be critiquing myself and really working on myself until the
Speaker 1: day I die. And I think that's sometimes why people
Speaker 1: are in situations professionally, whether you're at a corporate job
Speaker 1: or in the arts, and you're in a room and
Speaker 1: you feel those signs of inferiorness. Is that a word inferiorness, inferiority,
Speaker 1: and you feel signs of that because you've hit your
Speaker 1: peak level. You're like, I am the best at what
Speaker 1: I do And wait a minute, why am I starting
Speaker 1: to not feel that way? Because I'm the best at
Speaker 1: what I do? Right? So I think that people who
Speaker 1: who battle that a lot, I would say is kind
Speaker 1: of take a step back and don't put yourself that
Speaker 1: high on a pedestal, right, Like, know your worth, know
Speaker 1: your talent, Know you can be awesome and deliver and
Speaker 1: do phenomenal in the work that you're doing. But don't
Speaker 1: take yourself that seriously. I in my twenties maybe was
Speaker 1: that guy that when someone would offer a critique or
Speaker 1: a criticism, I'd say, wait ooh the heck do you
Speaker 1: think you are? I am good? But thanks bro? Nice
Speaker 1: try Now I'm like, please, what can I work on?
Speaker 1: How can I be better? Tell me? Because that's how
Speaker 1: I want to be throughout the rest of my career.
Speaker 1: And I think when we stop wanting that, or stop
Speaker 1: desiring that sort of delicious sweet spot of wanting to grow,
Speaker 1: then you're in trouble. That's when you feel truly inferior.
Speaker 2: That's a pretty thoughtful insight, Tommy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's It's something I actually thought about a lot
Speaker 1: lately because I'm doing a new and new thing on
Speaker 1: the side that totally is making me vulnerable. And if
Speaker 1: I had that complex, which can also be known as
Speaker 1: a comparison syndrome or anything like that, I want to
Speaker 1: be doing the stuff I'm doing because you would go crazy.
Speaker 1: So it's just not worth it. It's not worth it
Speaker 1: to think like that, and you have to kind of
Speaker 1: deprogram yourself to not think like that.
Speaker 2: All right, Well, let's switch it up a bit rad
Speaker 2: Edwards wants to know boxers are briefing.
Speaker 1: Boxers are briefs.
Speaker 2: I'm more of like a from one extreme.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, you know what. I'm more of a trunks guy.
Speaker 1: I like like a like a you know, I don't
Speaker 1: wear those traditional boxers that are super long into your knees,
Speaker 1: and I don't wear briefs, but I do like a
Speaker 1: boxer brief like a trunk.
Speaker 2: Okay, So now let's go back to some love and relationships.
Speaker 2: You mentioned your first relationship a couple of minutes ago.
Speaker 2: Rob Garner wants you to tell us about your first
Speaker 2: relationship and what you learned were some of those mistakes
Speaker 2: that you made?
Speaker 1: Oh man, I mean I was young. It was my
Speaker 1: young twenties and in mid twenties, and I was just
Speaker 1: in a relationship with someone that was so wrong for
Speaker 1: me at the time and in retrospect, it probably started
Speaker 1: more as a friendship and it was just something I
Speaker 1: shouldn't have been in. But I think the biggest thing
Speaker 1: I learned from that is what I don't want go forward.
Speaker 1: And I convinced myself for a long time that relationships
Speaker 1: were supposed to be the way that that relationship was,
Speaker 1: and that just wasn't the case. And I think because
Speaker 1: I was insistent on trying to make it work, largely
Speaker 1: due to coming from divorced parents and a lot of
Speaker 1: divorce in my family and not wanting to feel like
Speaker 1: my relationship wasn't going to last and that I failed.
Speaker 1: That's kind of something I had to work through on
Speaker 1: my own, my own time. I stayed right because because
Speaker 1: I didn't want to feel like this was a failure,
Speaker 1: I wanted to prove everyone wrong, and I prove myself
Speaker 1: wrong that you know, I can make something work even
Speaker 1: though all the warning signs are clearly there, and I
Speaker 1: should not be in this relationship. So I really learned
Speaker 1: to get rid of that mentality, for one, because it's
Speaker 1: not healthy and no one should be with someone that's
Speaker 1: not good for you. And for two, I learned exactly
Speaker 1: what I will never ever allow myself to settle for
Speaker 1: in the future again. And I think that that is
Speaker 1: the number one thing we need to remember, is you
Speaker 1: can't beat yourself up for the past. You know, I
Speaker 1: spent some time saying, oh, I wasted time in my
Speaker 1: twenties and why the hell did I stay that long?
Speaker 1: And oh, man, like, what a waste of this one
Speaker 1: life we have and then I said no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: no no. I learned so much about who I am
Speaker 1: through that, and I don't know if I ever would
Speaker 1: have been ready to meet and marry my current husband,
Speaker 1: and you know, if that didn't happen. So everything happens
Speaker 1: for a reason. But yeah, you have to know your
Speaker 1: worth and you have to know when you're not getting
Speaker 1: what you need, it's time to go.
Speaker 2: All right, well, let's switch gears and go back to
Speaker 2: your current relationship. We've had a lot of Geo questions. Obviously,
Speaker 2: Randall Fetcho wants to know where did you meet Geo?
Speaker 2: And was it instant attraction?
Speaker 1: Geo and I met on Instagram. I slid into his DMS.
Speaker 1: I slid very hard into his DMS. Now I'm just
Speaker 1: kidding out very hard. I just said like, hey, how
Speaker 1: are you? And then we started talking and we went
Speaker 1: on a date about a week later, and yeah, it
Speaker 1: was instant attraction. Neither of us were looking for a
Speaker 1: relationship and it just kind of happened that when we
Speaker 1: started talking, it felt like things were clicking. So we said,
Speaker 1: you know what, we should meet and have a drink
Speaker 1: and then we moved in together. In three weeks after that,
Speaker 1: so I would say it was very much instant attraction. Yes,
Speaker 1: my goodness.
Speaker 2: All right, Well, to follow that up, what is the
Speaker 2: best and worst part of being married to someone in
Speaker 2: a similar industry as yourself?
Speaker 1: Ooh, the best part is we both completely understand the
Speaker 1: chaotic schedules that these jobs, you know, come with, especially
Speaker 1: for Geo. You know, he anchors now GMA Saturday and
Speaker 1: Sundays and during the week does does reporting for transportation.
Speaker 1: But there was a period where he would get calls
Speaker 1: at work when his schedule was a little less stable,
Speaker 1: where he would have to pick up and leave and
Speaker 1: we wouldn't know when he would be home. I mean
Speaker 1: it could be a week, it could be two weeks,
Speaker 1: and there were stories where he was gone for two weeks.
Speaker 1: And I always understood that comes with the job. There
Speaker 1: was never the oh my god, I'm so mad you're
Speaker 1: going again and this sucks and huge fights. No, it's
Speaker 1: part of the job, and I get that being in
Speaker 1: the industry, even though it's so different, right, entertainment of
Speaker 1: news are not similar in the slightest way. But I
Speaker 1: get his schedule and he gets my schedule, and it's
Speaker 1: nice that we don't have the pressure of making one
Speaker 1: another feel badly when work comes up, because it often does.
Speaker 1: We often have to make tentative plans with friends because
Speaker 1: half the time they get canceled because I get assigned
Speaker 1: to a shoot or he gets assigned to a shoot,
Speaker 1: and we get it. So to have that support is
Speaker 1: truly incredible, and we're really lucky to have that and
Speaker 1: be in an industry that we're both on different sides of,
Speaker 1: because I think it could get dicey if we were
Speaker 1: both doing the same thing. That just feels like a
Speaker 1: lot of stress. But we're in totally different lanes, so
Speaker 1: I think that's pretty cool. The most difficult thing, hmm,
Speaker 1: I would say, I guess if I had to pick one.
Speaker 1: And this really isn't even such a big deal, but
Speaker 1: socially sometimes you know, like we don't always get to
Speaker 1: make every birthday party or wedding or celebration that we
Speaker 1: want to go to because either him or myself or
Speaker 1: both of us are working. So I think we do
Speaker 1: have to make sacrifices doing the work that we do.
Speaker 1: But we always try our very best and we always
Speaker 1: show up and we always, you know, make sure we're
Speaker 1: communicating with our friends and family, but there are times
Speaker 1: when we can't do the things we always want to do.
Speaker 1: A lot of holidays, get worked, you know, that sort
Speaker 1: of thing. So I would say that, but the good
Speaker 1: outweighs the bad.
Speaker 2: All right, we're staying in the realm of well, I'm
Speaker 2: gonna end up cutting that all right. Next question comes
Speaker 2: from modern day fairly, When did you come out?
Speaker 1: Wow, I was not expecting that. I came out my
Speaker 1: senior year of college as I was graduating, so I
Speaker 1: guess I was what twenty two ish, which it's funny
Speaker 1: in today's day and age. Some people would hear that
Speaker 1: and say that's so late, you know, because people are
Speaker 1: coming out really young, which is amazing and I love that.
Speaker 1: But for me, it was a bit of a journey
Speaker 1: of having to accept it for myself. And it was
Speaker 1: my senior year of college when I started telling family
Speaker 1: and friends. But it was a process for me. I
Speaker 1: had to I had to learn how to love myself
Speaker 1: as a gay man, which took some time. Okay, we have.
Speaker 2: Two more here. Tommy mcconnlin at mcconnlin Underscore Drawings wants
Speaker 2: a detailed day in the life of Tommy Tadario.
Speaker 1: Oh gosh, that is a tough one. I have to
Speaker 1: be super honest with you. By nature of what I
Speaker 1: do for work, every day is so different. This might
Speaker 1: actually be fascinating for you to hear. No, two days
Speaker 1: are the same. So that's why in the mornings, like
Speaker 1: I said earlier, I keep my schedule tight, like wake up, eat, workout,
Speaker 1: and then every day is different. If I'm working a
Speaker 1: red carpet, that's a different day than if I'm working
Speaker 1: a one on one interview with somebody, and that's a
Speaker 1: different day than if I'm working a junket, which means
Speaker 1: I'm sitting down with six people at once and talking
Speaker 1: to the cast of a project, or it's different than
Speaker 1: working a shoot in the field. I was on Rachel
Speaker 1: Ray for five six years. The show's not coming back
Speaker 1: in the fall, but those shoots were always different. I
Speaker 1: was going to profile a lot of amazing, inspiring people
Speaker 1: and going to their hometowns to interview them, doing health
Speaker 1: and wellness segments, by checking out the latest craze and
Speaker 1: filming it and walking you through what that is. So
Speaker 1: every day is so totally unpredictable and so different, which
Speaker 1: is why it's so hard to sometimes make plans going
Speaker 1: back to that, but it's I have to be prepared
Speaker 1: for anything, Like right now, as I'm doing this, I
Speaker 1: could get a phone call saying, Tommy, you're assigned a
Speaker 1: carpet tonight, and I have to just make it all happen.
Speaker 1: And I think a lot of people don't realize. You
Speaker 1: don't just show up and you're on camera and that's it.
Speaker 1: You need to watch the project, You need to work
Speaker 1: with your producers on the questions. You need to research
Speaker 1: who you're talking to, and if you're doing a big event,
Speaker 1: I sometimes talk to fifty different celebrities at one time
Speaker 1: in two hours, so that's fifty different people I need
Speaker 1: to research and take notes on and be prepared to
Speaker 1: learn and pivot and talk about anything that might come
Speaker 1: up aside from the questions that I've already kind of
Speaker 1: pre planned. So the amount of preparation is not what
Speaker 1: gets talked about quite often, but I would say that's
Speaker 1: the majority of my day is preparing for the ten
Speaker 1: minute interview, the three minute interview, the two minute and
Speaker 1: forty second interview that I do later on that night.
Speaker 1: So it's a lot of prep work mixed with actual shooting.
Speaker 2: All right, One last question, what are your favorite quotes
Speaker 2: you give to other people for inspiration?
Speaker 1: Oh? I love a good quote. I'm such a quote guy.
Speaker 1: I'm going to give you. I'll give you three. These
Speaker 1: are my three, my three favorite. First one is I
Speaker 1: rather have a life of oh wells than a life
Speaker 1: of what ifs? Think about that? I love that one.
Speaker 1: A second favorite quote of mine, and I think Mark
Speaker 1: Twain said this, Although I could be wrong, there's a
Speaker 1: reason why God gave us two ears and one mouth.
Speaker 1: I love that quote. And for all those wondering what
Speaker 1: that means, it means let's listen and stop talking. As
Speaker 1: much as we do, we need to listen to each other.
Speaker 1: I think that's so important in this day and age.
Speaker 1: And a third quote I'm gonna go with, comparison is
Speaker 1: the thief to joy. It's one of my go tos.
Speaker 1: I think it's in this day and age of social media,
Speaker 1: we can all be guilty of comparing ourselves. And the
Speaker 1: minute you do that, the minute you suck the joy
Speaker 1: out of your life. So we have to try to
Speaker 1: not do that. Please don't compare yourself well.
Speaker 2: Speaking of Harrison, I lied, there is a bonus question
Speaker 2: here if you if you want to answer. Oh, obviously,
Speaker 2: when we put the CTA up for everybody, we did
Speaker 2: get a lot of questions about foot size. Do you
Speaker 2: want to reveal that or should we save that for
Speaker 2: only fans?
Speaker 1: For my I'm announcing my only fans said, I'm just
Speaker 1: kidding my foot size. Yes, I heard there were a
Speaker 1: lot of questions about that for whatever reason. And you
Speaker 1: know what, I'm gonna give it to you. It's an eleven.
Speaker 1: I am a solid eleven. That is my foot size.
Speaker 1: No one needs to wonder anymore.
Speaker 2: There, it is all right. Well the mail bag is empty, Tommy.
Speaker 1: So all right, Mike, this was fun. This was a
Speaker 1: bit weird for me that the tables were turned. But uh,
Speaker 1: how'd I do?
Speaker 2: I think you handled it? Handled it all with grace.
Speaker 2: You know, there was a there was a lot of
Speaker 2: substance here, and I think that the audience now has
Speaker 2: a much better understanding of who you are. You know, obviously,
Speaker 2: there's we stuck to a lot of the topics that
Speaker 2: people seem to like, you know, sex, work, and I
Speaker 2: think that you know, that's all very endearing stuff to
Speaker 2: everyday people.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you. This this was fun. I don't often
Speaker 1: open up a lot about myself when I'm interviewing people
Speaker 1: because I want to make sure I get as much
Speaker 1: out of the interviews as I can, and of course
Speaker 1: I add some things here and there. But to have
Speaker 1: a full half hour plus of this was a little strange.
Speaker 1: I might need a drink after this, all right, guys,
Speaker 1: I had so much fun today. If you have any
Speaker 1: questions you want to submit for another ask Tommy's segment,
Speaker 1: you can follow me on my social at Tommy Diderio.
Speaker 1: You can leave some comments in my posts. I will
Speaker 1: do another post asking for your questions. I look forward
Speaker 1: to answering some. I think I did all right today,
Speaker 1: so I'm ready for another one down the future. But
Speaker 1: in the meantime, we have great new episodes coming with
Speaker 1: some more of your favorite artists. So look out for
Speaker 1: that episode drop every Tuesday, and be sure to subscribe
Speaker 1: to the show so you never miss an episode. Super important.
Speaker 1: Hit that subscribe button and I look forward to bringing
Speaker 1: you more episodes soon. I've never said this before. Is
Speaker 1: hosted by me Tommy Didario. This podcast is produced and
Speaker 1: edited by Mike Coscarelli, and executive producers are Andrew Piglisi
Speaker 1: and Katrino Norvel at iHeartRadio. I've Never Said This Before
Speaker 1: is part of the Elvis Durant podcast Network on iHeart Podcasts.
Speaker 1: For more rate, review and subscribe to our show and
Speaker 1: if you liked this episode, tell your friends. Until next time,
Speaker 1: I'm Tommy Dederio.