Speaker 1: This is the most dramatic podcast ever and iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 1: Chris Harrison and Lauren Zema comming to you from the
Speaker 1: home office in Austin, Texas, where we wanted to dive
Speaker 1: into a very interesting topic today. There was an article
Speaker 1: written about this woman that had dated a celebrity and
Speaker 1: she kind of went into the pros and cons, the
Speaker 1: pluses and minuses about dating this celebrity. And also coming
Speaker 1: off the Jony Hill's story where his ex kind of
Speaker 1: came out on Instagram and really went after Jony Hill,
Speaker 1: Laura and I just started talking about what's it like
Speaker 1: dating a celebrity and can we chase anybody down who's
Speaker 1: dated a celebrity? So we have a couple guests coming
Speaker 1: up we're going to talk to about this subject. But
Speaker 1: it's also something that well, Elzina and I know a
Speaker 1: little something about.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 3: I was going to say, that's what's so funny that
Speaker 3: you're like, when did to chase the people down? I'm like,
Speaker 3: I'm right in front of you, man, when I dated you,
Speaker 3: you were a little famous. You know it might still
Speaker 3: be so yeah, I went through that myself, But who
Speaker 3: did you chase down? The book for today.
Speaker 1: Coming up our good friend Evanna Firestone, who obviously fell
Speaker 1: in love with dated, then married and had children with
Speaker 1: Andrew Firestone.
Speaker 3: One of the best bachelor's ever, one of the.
Speaker 1: Best bachelors ever. Great man obviously comes from a very
Speaker 1: famous family and was a popular figure when they But
Speaker 1: the thing about Evanna, it's not just about Andrew. There
Speaker 1: are other famous people life.
Speaker 3: Because she was a model and an actress herself.
Speaker 1: Exactly, So there was a life before Andrew. So she
Speaker 1: is going to give a great perspective. And then someone
Speaker 1: that I just want to embarrass and really out on
Speaker 1: this program is Ben Higgins. So his wife Jessica Clark
Speaker 1: is coming on.
Speaker 3: So what was the story of the article? Does she
Speaker 3: reveal who the celebrity was?
Speaker 1: First of all, no, And that was part of reading
Speaker 1: the article was like, Okay, who is this? Who is this?
Speaker 1: So she never reveals who the celebrity is. Seems like
Speaker 1: a very big celebrity. But he happened to be in
Speaker 1: her town working. She slid into the DMS, he reached
Speaker 1: back out quickly. She was very proactive about trying to
Speaker 1: move it out of DMS and meet for coffee. The
Speaker 1: coffee led to a date they spent an amazing evening together.
Speaker 1: It sounds like it didn't get very romantic or sexual,
Speaker 1: if you're wondering if it did. She didn't divulge that fact.
Speaker 1: But she had this amazing connection in this chemistry. But
Speaker 1: what was interesting about the takeaway was she knew that
Speaker 1: was probably it, and that's what was best. They didn't
Speaker 1: pursue a relationship. She knew there would probably be nothing
Speaker 1: beyond that. And there's that old thing about never meet
Speaker 1: your heroes. Never, I guess date your heroes in this perspective,
Speaker 1: But interesting how she thought this as good as it's
Speaker 1: going to get, I'm gonna move on.
Speaker 3: Well, okay, I'm gonna come in with a little bit
Speaker 3: of skepticism. I think it's pretty easy to have a
Speaker 3: good first date. Here's why. I think, if you're a
Speaker 3: person who can carry on a conversation, a first date
Speaker 3: is just like you know, it's the best an interview, right,
Speaker 3: the best of us. Yeah, it's an interview for a job.
Speaker 3: You're putting your best foot forward, you're hopefully socializing. I mean,
Speaker 3: I know some pretty bad first dates gonna happen, but
Speaker 3: I think it's very possible to have a good first
Speaker 3: date I would deal with Sometimes when I was dating,
Speaker 3: they like a guy would follow up with me and say,
Speaker 3: I had a great time. I'd like to take you
Speaker 3: out again. And then I'd have to say, look, I
Speaker 3: had a nice time, but I just don't feel it,
Speaker 3: and they're confused, and then you have to explain it,
Speaker 3: and the truth is, well, I'm able to carry on
Speaker 3: a conversation. We did carry on a conversation, but I
Speaker 3: actually don't think there's more here. So I kind of
Speaker 3: wonder was the first date that amazing or was it
Speaker 3: just you know, they had a good talk. Probably the
Speaker 3: celebrity is a charismatic person. Probably she feels like she
Speaker 3: knows this celebrity because she's a fan, and but really
Speaker 3: there there wasn't anything more there.
Speaker 1: You don't get his perspective clearly true. And what I
Speaker 1: find interesting is, you're right, this guy is alone on
Speaker 1: the road. He's lonely. Clearly.
Speaker 3: I think it's semed like he was a stand up comedian.
Speaker 3: Because she went I think, to his to a show.
Speaker 1: You're right and what I you know, And of course
Speaker 1: she saw the adulation and she sat there on the
Speaker 1: front row of this performance and then they went out,
Speaker 1: so obviously a charismatic, funny comedian and spent time with him.
Speaker 1: Would there have been more? Would this person have wanted more?
Speaker 1: He was just on the road. He's moving to the
Speaker 1: laugh factory where the chuckle.
Speaker 3: Hut's really going to have to put in the effort.
Speaker 1: Yes, is he going to come back to Wisconsin or
Speaker 1: wherever you are to date again? Or we all just
Speaker 1: took it as this one great night and is that
Speaker 1: really dating a celebrity?
Speaker 3: Well, there's another two things in my takeaway here. One,
Speaker 3: I like that she DMed and I do think if
Speaker 3: you're a celebrity, look, even if you might come across
Speaker 3: someone on Instagram who you're interested in, you can't be
Speaker 3: dming everybody you come across weird, you come across creepy.
Speaker 3: Then people start telling that story, Oh he dms all
Speaker 3: these people or she does, so she reached out. I
Speaker 3: think that was a solid safe thing to do. And
Speaker 3: then two, though she did tell the story. Now she
Speaker 3: didn't name who it was, right, but.
Speaker 1: Gosh, but it wouldn't take a lot for a journalist
Speaker 1: to track this down, probably knowing you could find out
Speaker 1: where she lives, because this woman works in kind of
Speaker 1: inn entertainment in a way. She was a publicist, Yeah, publicist,
Speaker 1: so it wouldn't be hard to figure this out.
Speaker 3: Probably, So this is a big risk for celebrities in
Speaker 3: the social media era. I think about not too long ago,
Speaker 3: a few months ago, Matthew Perry, somebody was messaging with
Speaker 3: him on the dating app Riah, which is supposed to
Speaker 3: be this elite dating app private for people.
Speaker 1: The velvet rope is up and.
Speaker 3: You're not supposed to do this. It's part of the
Speaker 3: rules of the app. But what real power does the
Speaker 3: app have to tell people not to. The woman like
Speaker 3: screenshot and screen recorded a FaceTime session they had and
Speaker 3: posted it on the internet and said, oh, I had
Speaker 3: this really weird FaceTime date with Matthew Perry Chandler from friends,
Speaker 3: and I felt so bad for him and luckily publicly.
Speaker 3: People in the comments said, this is not cool that
Speaker 3: you did this. I think she was trying to get clout,
Speaker 3: get famous from it. But that's the problem. You're living
Speaker 3: in an era where everybody can go post a quick
Speaker 3: TikTok telling the story about you.
Speaker 1: I felt the same thing after Jonah Hill, the guy
Speaker 1: just had a baby with somebody else and an ex
Speaker 1: girlfriend then goes public with all his insecurities and stuff
Speaker 1: from Instagram and his messages. No, like, it's just I
Speaker 1: hate that.
Speaker 3: So there's so many sides to get into on all
Speaker 3: of it. But let's turn the tables on you. Because
Speaker 3: I'm in my head, I'm thinking about a lot from
Speaker 3: our relationship actually, Like for example, I did DM you,
Speaker 3: like we had kind of had a flirty conversation, but
Speaker 3: I actually made sure to DM you because I thought,
Speaker 3: you know, I don't know if a I'm a big
Speaker 3: open the door and if somebody walks through, then that's great,
Speaker 3: and if not, just keep going down the hallway. You
Speaker 3: didn't do anything to hurt yourself. You're fine. It's not
Speaker 3: a real rejection. So I'm a big advocate of making
Speaker 3: a move. But also I do remember thinking, well, I
Speaker 3: don't know if he like, maybe it'll make him feel
Speaker 3: better if I reach out, because I don't know if
Speaker 3: he feels weird, Like did you feel weird when you
Speaker 3: started dating? Of how am I going to pursue people?
Speaker 3: Will they tell stories about me? Did you feel that
Speaker 3: nervousness or vulnerability?
Speaker 1: For sure? Yeah, insecurity and especially I think the added
Speaker 1: pressure of you're hosting the biggest dating show in the world.
Speaker 3: What was that added pressure people would judge your data.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm just like, Okay, this guy is now looking
Speaker 1: for love. The jokes kind of right themselves. It's kind
Speaker 1: of like when I got divorced. The late night shows
Speaker 1: had you know, a heyday for a couple of days
Speaker 1: of the jokes of oh, the guy who is all
Speaker 1: about love and creating love and finding love is divorced,
Speaker 1: so sucks it love. Yeah, there is this added pressure
Speaker 1: of when you go on a date and you have
Speaker 1: a little bit of fame and you have a little
Speaker 1: bit of money and you definitely are doing a show
Speaker 1: about love. There's that little added pressure.
Speaker 3: Did you ever have people sign NDA's you never have?
Speaker 1: No, No, God, No, some people do. I know some
Speaker 1: people do. And by the way I understand it, it's
Speaker 1: it sounds so weird and if that stuff gets out,
Speaker 1: you're like, what a weirdo? But or people I know
Speaker 1: other big celebrity and I'm talking big celebrities on different
Speaker 1: levels that make sure everybody signs in das. They confiscate
Speaker 1: phones before you come into the room they're in, so
Speaker 1: you can just have you have to be present and
Speaker 1: it doesn't mean you can't go tell the story at
Speaker 1: the bar later, but you're not going to have video
Speaker 1: and audio.
Speaker 3: Proof right And by the way, an NDA is a
Speaker 3: non disclosure agreement. If anyone doesn't know means you'd sign
Speaker 3: it and you'd promise that you're not going to go
Speaker 3: tell stories about people and all that.
Speaker 1: How unromantic to have to do that, and it sucks
Speaker 1: that people have to think like that, But I get it.
Speaker 1: I get how you have to think like that because
Speaker 1: you worry about stories, even on a much lesser scale,
Speaker 1: the story. You know, there's websites that are who's who's
Speaker 1: a good tipper, who's not a good tipper at a restaurant?
Speaker 1: So people do love a good story.
Speaker 3: And I well, okay, so I'm going back to you
Speaker 3: dating now. So you start dating? Did how did you
Speaker 3: meet people in the beginning? And were you worried that
Speaker 3: people would obviously want to date you just because just
Speaker 3: to have that.
Speaker 1: Story, I felt like I had to be very careful.
Speaker 1: And I'm also very pretty conservative in my life. Like
Speaker 1: obviously what I do is out loud and it's in
Speaker 1: front of millions of people publicly, but my private life,
Speaker 1: I really enjoyed, Like when I was married, nobody cares
Speaker 1: because it's not sexy at all when you're married and
Speaker 1: have kids. When you're single, people are going to take pictures,
Speaker 1: follow and all that stuff. So I all of a
Speaker 1: sudden was living this different life and I realized there
Speaker 1: was a microscope on me. If I went to a
Speaker 1: certain place, someone was going to snap a photo. So
Speaker 1: and I hated thinking like that, like who's staring at us?
Speaker 1: Who's taking a picture? It was a little bit harder
Speaker 1: to relax.
Speaker 3: Did you go on any dates where someone obviously had
Speaker 3: just gone on the date with you because you were
Speaker 3: the host of The Bachelor?
Speaker 1: No, but I got well, I don't know, because that's
Speaker 1: the other thing. The other thing is you don't know
Speaker 1: I went on you know. So how I ended up
Speaker 1: meeting people was through friends, and I was I started
Speaker 1: being better about just getting out, like I'll go on
Speaker 1: a trip with friends and I'm just to go out
Speaker 1: and talk to people. Because the great thing about the
Speaker 1: show is it's that icebreaker. People will it's a conversation starter,
Speaker 1: so you can at least get there. But then there's
Speaker 1: that line of oh, they are just an uber fan
Speaker 1: of the show. Don't take advantage of this as opposed
Speaker 1: to I just have a great connection with this person.
Speaker 1: What is the difference between you love the show and
Speaker 1: you actually may be interested in me? And so I
Speaker 1: was a little self conscious of that, but I thought
Speaker 1: the flip side was weird is when clearly somebody probably
Speaker 1: knew what you did for a living, but they ignored it.
Speaker 1: I went on a date. I was set up on
Speaker 1: this blind date. We were in Hollywood Brentwood, where we
Speaker 1: went to dinner, and we sat there at dinner and
Speaker 1: not once. First of all, she didn't ask me a question.
Speaker 1: That's a red flag.
Speaker 3: Oh that's a red flag. Well but okay, hold on,
Speaker 3: let me ask you. That is my red flag. Always
Speaker 3: in any relationship, whether it's friendship, work, romantic, if somebody
Speaker 3: doesn't ask me one question back, I'm like, well, this
Speaker 3: isn't a two way street. I'm exhausted, I'm drained, man,
Speaker 3: I can't keep hopping you up and you're not giving
Speaker 3: me anything in return.
Speaker 1: And it wasn't even the depth.
Speaker 3: But do you think that's them? Is there something where
Speaker 3: people don't ask you any questions back because they don't
Speaker 3: want you to.
Speaker 4: They're worried you're.
Speaker 3: Going to think, okay, listen, idiot, you don't know what
Speaker 3: I do for a living. But also do you want
Speaker 3: it to be normal? And someone say, hey, so what
Speaker 3: do you do?
Speaker 1: Here's what I So. What this person did was they
Speaker 1: took the tact of I'm not going to ask any
Speaker 1: questions about what you do. And that's weird to me.
Speaker 1: If I'm on a date and I'm going to just
Speaker 1: sit sit in the woman's side of the chair, aren't
Speaker 1: you interested in what this guy does? What do you
Speaker 1: do for a living? What do you do every day?
Speaker 1: Your hot? Whatever? Like? She never asked one question about
Speaker 1: my life, So I thought, okay, that's odd. Wouldn't you
Speaker 1: want to know that on a date. Then after we ate,
Speaker 1: before dessert comes, I love dessert. The couple next to
Speaker 1: us that were sitting very close leaned over said hey,
Speaker 1: we didn't want to bother you while you were eating.
Speaker 1: We just want to say we love all the shows
Speaker 1: you do, big fans, thanks for everything, And I said, oh, man,
Speaker 1: appreciate it. I turned back to the woman I was
Speaker 1: on a date with. I said, I apologize, I'm sorry
Speaker 1: she is that's fine, and never mentioned or asked anything
Speaker 1: after that. So it was just it was the elephant
Speaker 1: in the room. And I get that you didn't want
Speaker 1: to talk about it because, oh, you probably get asked
Speaker 1: about this all the time. What I appreciated was you
Speaker 1: don't have to ask about the show, ask about what
Speaker 1: I do like. Do you like what you do? Do
Speaker 1: you like hosting? What do you like about it? What
Speaker 1: is it about the travel or you know, there's ways
Speaker 1: to talk about it without being a quote unquote fan.
Speaker 3: Without it being well, tell me, okay, so tell me
Speaker 3: the truth about last season and that kind of.
Speaker 1: Thing, right exactly to get to know the person, which
Speaker 1: is what I would want to do on a date. Anyway.
Speaker 3: Do you remember much about the conversation on our first date?
Speaker 3: Did I ask? I don't remember this stuff? I asked you?
Speaker 1: You just hammered me. It was like a job interview.
Speaker 1: You went full Barbara Walters. And we sat there at
Speaker 1: the SOHO House in Malibu and I just answered questions
Speaker 1: for like an hour and a half, and then you
Speaker 1: had the goal to later say you talk too much
Speaker 1: about yourself on that first day fly.
Speaker 3: You didn't ask me back about myself? No, but do
Speaker 3: you remember what I what kind of stuff I asked
Speaker 3: you about.
Speaker 1: It was pretty basic because you and I, although you
Speaker 1: would talk to me. The funny thing about us, so
Speaker 1: the interesting thing was we didn't talk much about the
Speaker 1: business because you and I had already maybe the thing
Speaker 1: our professional relationship had covered business stuff. You knew about
Speaker 1: The Bachelor and the people on it, so I knew
Speaker 1: you knew all that, so we could just talk about family,
Speaker 1: growing up, college, like that kind of stuff. So I
Speaker 1: think our our stuff got deeper quicker because we could
Speaker 1: negate that first step.
Speaker 3: Which probably speaks to what a private life you lived.
Speaker 3: Because I didn't feel like I, as much as i'd
Speaker 3: been interviewing you for three years, I didn't feel like
Speaker 3: I knew very much about your personal life.
Speaker 1: I was careful about trying to control that even when
Speaker 1: you and I dated. We dated for six months before
Speaker 1: we went public, because we knew that would be a thing. Again,
Speaker 1: that's just one little step, but it's not a huge thing.
Speaker 1: But it's just one little thing that you and I
Speaker 1: wanted to think about before we went public because I
Speaker 1: knew it would affect you and your business.
Speaker 3: Well, it's interesting as much as we're saying somebody could
Speaker 3: photography or whatever, I was worried when we started dating.
Speaker 3: I didn't want yeah you're I didn't want dating you
Speaker 3: to affect my career, and it was kind of this
Speaker 3: difficult thing of I knew it would, and so I
Speaker 3: really knew that I wanted it to be serious before
Speaker 3: we became public with it. But I was always pretty
Speaker 3: on edge that someone would take a picture of us
Speaker 3: or something. And so it's just interesting because celebrities might
Speaker 3: say like, oh, you can't, I can't go anywhere, I
Speaker 3: can't do anything. I think to a certain extent, it's
Speaker 3: kind of about where you are. Like you lived in
Speaker 3: sort of the suburbs in La and I don't know
Speaker 3: people just didn't. You kind of knew people locally, they
Speaker 3: were your friends. They weren't really in the business, and
Speaker 3: you didn't really have tourists around, so people weren't really
Speaker 3: We could go to dinner and I was snapping a
Speaker 3: picture of us. Now, it did get to the point
Speaker 3: I started to get nervous. I think the turning point
Speaker 3: for me, and I don't think i've told this story before,
Speaker 3: was we were in Cabo in Mexico, and we were
Speaker 3: at kind of a quiet party with a lot of
Speaker 3: our friends who aren't in the business, and all our
Speaker 3: friends knew we were dating, but we hadn't gone public yet.
Speaker 3: And then I looked up and coming in through the
Speaker 3: door were like three women from the most recent season
Speaker 3: of The Bachelor. I don't maybe I don't remember who
Speaker 3: it was, but I remember. I think Christina Shulman was
Speaker 3: one of us.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I remember, that's the only one. I remember too.
Speaker 3: And they all obviously know me because I'd been interviewing
Speaker 3: them and I know them. And I looked up and
Speaker 3: I saw her, and so quickly my brain went, there's
Speaker 3: no way to explain why I'm here, and so I
Speaker 3: ran out of the room into a closet and for
Speaker 3: the for like the next hour of the party, I
Speaker 3: was in the closet and our friend Alyssa brought me
Speaker 3: some snacks. She's like, what are you doing here? But
Speaker 3: I didn't want I wasn't ready. I wanted our relationship
Speaker 3: to come out on our term, yeah, And I just
Speaker 3: was like, I want to know how to explain this,
Speaker 3: and this is how it would get out. And that
Speaker 3: was really funny. I don't think I've even ever told
Speaker 3: Christina Shulman that, no, no, she's a sweet.
Speaker 1: And by the way. She didn't do anything. They just
Speaker 1: showed up at a party where I remember, and I
Speaker 1: had to find you in the closet. I'm like, oh god,
Speaker 1: this is still pretty early days. And I'm like, is
Speaker 1: she mad at me? What did I do? And You're like, no,
Speaker 1: I just didn't want this to come out because obviously
Speaker 1: with that information just slipping out, Yeah, that's not how
Speaker 1: we wanted to be broadcasted to the world. So there
Speaker 1: are some interesting layers to this, and it's kind of
Speaker 1: fascinating in this article that came out from this woman
Speaker 1: who went on a date and then the Jonah Hill
Speaker 1: disaster and everything that has happened subsequently. I thought, what
Speaker 1: a great topic today, And I just happened to have
Speaker 1: two good friends who will be so good at leaning
Speaker 1: into this. So when we come back, I'm going to
Speaker 1: talk to Youvanna Firestone, and then Ben Higgins's wife Jessica
Speaker 1: Clark on the other side joining me. Now my good
Speaker 1: friend Evonna Firestone, wife to former bachelor Andrew Firestone. Three
Speaker 1: beautiful kids fifteen years eighteen with Andrew total. There should
Speaker 1: be some sort of award Mother Teresa Award for being
Speaker 1: with Andrew Firestone for eighteen years.
Speaker 4: I totally agree.
Speaker 1: Full disclosure, Lauren LZ and I are dear friends with
Speaker 1: the Firestones. Love you guys, and so I appreciate you
Speaker 1: doing this, and it's kind of a weird topic, but
Speaker 1: I felt like, if I'm going to talk about dating
Speaker 1: a celebrity and really have someone speak the truth, I
Speaker 1: need someone I know really well and somebody whose history
Speaker 1: I know a little bit too. And so that's why
Speaker 1: I came to you. The reason I wanted to talk
Speaker 1: to you was a obviously, there's the Andrew Firestone of
Speaker 1: it all and entering into not only just the Bachelor world,
Speaker 1: Firestone world and all that, but you and hopefully I'm
Speaker 1: not talking out of school. You have dated other celebrities.
Speaker 1: You were a model and actress in your own right,
Speaker 1: very successful before Andrew, and so you had a dating
Speaker 1: life before Andrew. As much as he would like to
Speaker 1: forget about that, you did. And you dated a few celebrities,
Speaker 1: one of them one of the biggest celebrities in the world.
Speaker 1: We won't out anybody, but you have very specific knowledge
Speaker 1: of this topic we're talking about today.
Speaker 4: I in fact do, But that being said, it was
Speaker 4: an industry that I was in It wasn't something that
Speaker 4: I was seeking out, you know, to date, it's just
Speaker 4: so happened. You know, you're kind of dating people that
Speaker 4: are in your industry, are around, So it wasn't you know,
Speaker 4: that big of a deal back in the day. And
Speaker 4: a couple of these people, they weren't such a big
Speaker 4: deal back then. Right now, it's a different story.
Speaker 1: Oh, good point. I guess I didn't think about that.
Speaker 1: I guess really neither one of them was a huge deal.
Speaker 1: They both wanted to be, but they weren't. Y'all were
Speaker 1: all kind of aspiring at the same time.
Speaker 4: Exactly.
Speaker 1: That's a good point and probably an important thing of
Speaker 1: when you come up together and you are on equal footing,
Speaker 1: it probably makes it a little easier.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, And I wouldn't say that it was equal footing
Speaker 4: back in that day. I was definitely trying and you know,
Speaker 4: working and trying my hardest to succeed.
Speaker 1: What were the pitfalls that you ran into in dating
Speaker 1: celebrities and not even getting into the andrew of it
Speaker 1: all yet, but just what were some of the things
Speaker 1: you thought, oh, this is kind of a pain in
Speaker 1: the butt.
Speaker 4: Well, I think that if you're dating someone that is
Speaker 4: so driven, and I put you in this category. I mean,
Speaker 4: you've worked hard your entire career. If somebody is that driven,
Speaker 4: they're only going to have a certain amount of time
Speaker 4: to dedicate to you. And that doesn't necessarily mean that
Speaker 4: they don't like you or you're not you know, good
Speaker 4: enough or whatever. Their number one is their career interesting.
Speaker 1: That's very ith and that goes for not just celebrities
Speaker 1: like little, just everybody in general. If you are dating
Speaker 1: a very high functioning individual man or woman, you're not
Speaker 1: always going to be top of the list.
Speaker 4: No, absolutely not. And I if you can understand that
Speaker 4: it's not you because I know, I know for a fact,
Speaker 4: like I'm very comfortable in my own skin, but this
Speaker 4: person is crazy driven. So you just have to realize
Speaker 4: what you want out of a relationship. The time sped
Speaker 4: together was so crazy fun, yeah, but then gone.
Speaker 1: You know, well, I guess it's interesting too, especially when
Speaker 1: you're at that level, when you're in the grind mode.
Speaker 1: Maybe if you got them to that a list level
Speaker 1: and you were dating them, then it may have been
Speaker 1: there may have been other pitfalls, but at least you
Speaker 1: have control of your schedule and your calendar. When you
Speaker 1: were in that grind mode and you were trying to
Speaker 1: really make that next big step to that elite level.
Speaker 1: Yet there is no there is no room, and when
Speaker 1: people call you go, and if there's an opportunity, you go.
Speaker 1: And it doesn't mean I don't love you or don't
Speaker 1: care about you, but I mean LZ and I ran
Speaker 1: into that same thing. And when we started dating, I
Speaker 1: forced a situation for us to kind of go on
Speaker 1: a trip together because I told her, I'm about to
Speaker 1: leave for the next eight to ten weeks. We're not
Speaker 1: going to be together when we get back. You're going
Speaker 1: to go off and date twenty other people. And I
Speaker 1: know you're a very sought after woman, So I had
Speaker 1: to force the situation a little earlier than I normally would. Exactly, Yeah,
Speaker 1: what were the what were the good parts of it?
Speaker 4: So, I mean, you get to go to cool events.
Speaker 4: Dates are very very curated. You know, they'll they have
Speaker 4: someone that can plan that for you, right like you know,
Speaker 4: it's fun and exciting, and you're always in the fun
Speaker 4: part that you know, whatever's happening, you're invited to the
Speaker 4: type of thing.
Speaker 1: The velvet rope is always coming down, you always get
Speaker 1: the parking spot. You always get in the club, you
Speaker 1: always get the table service, you get in the good restaurant,
Speaker 1: you get the reservation, you get the show tickets. Yeah,
Speaker 1: a lot of those hurdles come down quickly, and that's
Speaker 1: a nice that's a nice ride, and it makes that person. Well,
Speaker 1: I'll ask you, does it make the person you're dating
Speaker 1: a little bit more attractive?
Speaker 4: Absolutely? I mean for me, that's interesting, Like I want
Speaker 4: to be with someone that is desired, you know, that's
Speaker 4: just what it is, right, Like, that's exciting, so of course,
Speaker 4: but then you have the other stuff and you just
Speaker 4: need to see what works for you.
Speaker 1: When you and Andrew came to be, and it was
Speaker 1: after he did The Bachelor, did you know anything about him?
Speaker 1: Did you know he was former Bachelor and all that?
Speaker 4: Quite honestly, No, I did know his face. I think
Speaker 4: i'd seen him on like a tabloid magazine or something
Speaker 4: like that in the grocery store. I hadn't invested much
Speaker 4: time in knowing who he was exactly. At that time.
Speaker 4: I was doing a series and I was gone while
Speaker 4: his show was airing. I was gone, So but I
Speaker 4: did recognize his face because I follow pop culture and
Speaker 4: stuff like that. I remember seeing him at a party
Speaker 4: once but never talking to him.
Speaker 1: Oh before, Oh yeah, because he told me the story
Speaker 1: and I'm not talking out of school that Andrew chased
Speaker 1: you and became absolutely obsessed with you. The night we
Speaker 1: shot it was either the tell all. Yeah, it was
Speaker 1: the tell all for Jen Chef's season. He had a
Speaker 1: couple hours to kill before he went to the airport,
Speaker 1: went to a bar or a party or something, and
Speaker 1: met you, fell head over heels in love with you
Speaker 1: that moment, as Andrew tends to do, and then annoyingly,
Speaker 1: this is back in the day when you had to
Speaker 1: use probably numbers to text people. Texted you five thousand
Speaker 1: times in his plane ride from LA to New York,
Speaker 1: and so he very much pursued you when you started
Speaker 1: dating him, and you realize everybody's coming up to him saying, hey,
Speaker 1: you're the bachelor. You're the bachelor. I feel like I
Speaker 1: know you. What was that like for you?
Speaker 4: So it wasn't that out of the ordinary, right, just
Speaker 4: being in LA and doing all that. What Andrew did
Speaker 4: well was always make me feel no matter what, that
Speaker 4: I was important and all those things that need to
Speaker 4: happen to make a person feel secure. Right, So it
Speaker 4: doesn't matter who's coming up and the attention that he's
Speaker 4: giving back because he's a good person and all those things.
Speaker 4: But once you know that this person's got you, you're fine.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: And now how it's kind of attractive too, right, Like
Speaker 4: you know, other girls think he's cute. Oh great, but
Speaker 4: I'm the one, right, I know.
Speaker 1: I'm going home with him. That is a huge You
Speaker 1: just said something so well there. That is important in
Speaker 1: every relationship. And guys, I can't tell you this enough,
Speaker 1: and ladies as well, but prioritize your person, make them
Speaker 1: feel special in every instance, whether you're at a party,
Speaker 1: whether you are walking into a movie whatever, when you're
Speaker 1: in that crowd of people, for that person to know
Speaker 1: just that reassuring hand on the show, whatever it is,
Speaker 1: that is a huge thing. It really is, and it's
Speaker 1: something I will be honest. I was terrible at my
Speaker 1: first marriage. I was not good at that when I
Speaker 1: was coming up and grinding and I didn't do a
Speaker 1: very good job of that. And I am so much
Speaker 1: better about it now. It's such an important thing in
Speaker 1: a relationship.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I think when it's right, it's right. And
Speaker 4: when you want to give someone that sort of attention,
Speaker 4: you know, just to make and he could talk to
Speaker 4: anyone in the room. I don't care, right, but as
Speaker 4: long as I know we're have fun.
Speaker 1: Elsie and I have this great thing where I always
Speaker 1: say I could just look at her across the room
Speaker 1: and you just you give him that look and she'll
Speaker 1: give you that smile and you just know. And that's
Speaker 1: just that's all you need. That's all you need to
Speaker 1: have that connection with Andrew. You know, he had this
Speaker 1: thing about him. He was the first bachelor that paid
Speaker 1: for his own ring. He paid, he didn't take any money.
Speaker 1: Probably dumb of him to do that. If he go back,
Speaker 1: I would have told him at least take some money.
Speaker 1: But is he was he that guy when you were dating?
Speaker 4: Absolutely?
Speaker 1: The other was like a week ago and I was
Speaker 1: in Santa Barbara with you guys and we were at
Speaker 1: this place and Andrews sent your kids to go get
Speaker 1: me a hat from this place we were at, and
Speaker 1: he just because he's that kind of guy, He's like, oh,
Speaker 1: we had a good day today, Hey go get mister
Speaker 1: Harrison a hat. And your kids sprinted off and like
Speaker 1: got me a hat. And I'm like, it's such an
Speaker 1: Andrew thing to do. But he is the consummate gentleman.
Speaker 4: He absolutely is. But yeah, he you know, hard work,
Speaker 4: he wants to earn things, and yeah, he won't take
Speaker 4: a freebee.
Speaker 1: One of the things I think is always important about
Speaker 1: bachelor couples, and I know you guys weren't a bachelor couple,
Speaker 1: but I think this goes for every couple. Once you
Speaker 1: realize you're established, you're dating, you're married because getting away
Speaker 1: and living your life. You guys moved off to Santa Barbara.
Speaker 1: You have a very quiet, pretty private life. I know
Speaker 1: you know Andrew's hosting events, you are charing events. So
Speaker 1: y'all are unbelievably active in the community. You are very
Speaker 1: face forward, but I would argue your private life is
Speaker 1: unbelievably private, and you guys protect that, and I think that's.
Speaker 4: Huge, absolutely, But I think with the whole Firestone name,
Speaker 4: people have ideas of what our life might be, and
Speaker 4: I mean, you know it's Instagram life versus reality, right always, yeah,
Speaker 4: and how you pitch things, and we're just not those people.
Speaker 4: My husband's a very hard working man that's going to
Speaker 4: go you know, earnest keep and that whole thing. So
Speaker 4: it's funny. Yes we are private, but we're not at
Speaker 4: all what people think we are flashy or you know.
Speaker 1: You bring up an interesting question and something I've actually
Speaker 1: never really talked to you guys about. What would you
Speaker 1: say carries more weight? And when I say weight, I
Speaker 1: mean something you probably feel like you have to live
Speaker 1: up to or deal with more? Is it Bachelor Nation
Speaker 1: World or having a Firestone name?
Speaker 4: Hands down, the Firestone name. Yeah, I think that is
Speaker 4: a hard thing to live up to. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: I mean it's something we definitely leaned into on the show.
Speaker 1: I mean his family goes back to American Royalty and
Speaker 1: Harvey Firestone and so it's something that I know he's
Speaker 1: dealt with his whole life. And then when you come
Speaker 1: in you have to be a part of It's, you
Speaker 1: know a little bit like marrying into the royal family.
Speaker 1: A royal name here in America was something that now
Speaker 1: you have to carry on.
Speaker 4: There's a lot of pressure on all those kids to
Speaker 4: be successful, to be good humans, all the things.
Speaker 1: You're right, His dad, Brooks Firestone set that standard, that
Speaker 1: entrepreneurial spirit of you will go out and grind, you
Speaker 1: will find your way, and like his brother with the brewery,
Speaker 1: and Andrew has done amazingly well with his business and
Speaker 1: real estate, and so I am so proud to see
Speaker 1: those guys. And they could have easily rested on their laurels.
Speaker 1: None of them did. Somehow his mom and dad were
Speaker 1: able to put that fire in his belly and with
Speaker 1: all the kids, that is a huge attribute. I'm sure
Speaker 1: a turn on for you.
Speaker 4: Absolutely absolutely, That's what I fell in love.
Speaker 1: With, right, It's what we all fell in love with,
Speaker 1: and it's why we fell in love with you, Yvonna.
Speaker 1: Thank you for.
Speaker 4: Joining me, Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1: When I thought about doing this show, this episode on
Speaker 1: this topic dating celebrities, there was one person I had
Speaker 1: to reach out to, and that is jess Clark. That
Speaker 1: is Ben Higgins's wife. And everybody knows I'm good friends
Speaker 1: with Ben. Everybody knows I love and adore him, but
Speaker 1: he's also a mess, and so anytime I get a
Speaker 1: chance to also take shots at Ben, I'm all in.
Speaker 1: And so I brought in my secret weapon, Jessica Clark,
Speaker 1: to talk about this. But I also, honestly, first of all,
Speaker 1: thank you for being here, Jessica. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Of course, anytime, like I said anything for you, but I.
Speaker 1: Really wanted to talk to you because we have been
Speaker 1: in public together as a group and there are two people,
Speaker 1: two bachelors, and so I had have on a firestone
Speaker 1: on right before you. And Andrew is like, is this
Speaker 1: type of person? And Ben so much so that I
Speaker 1: actually wanted to introduce Ben and Andrew together, and we did.
Speaker 1: We got together and played golf. They are very similar people.
Speaker 1: They're very similar bachelors and that they are ridiculously beloved
Speaker 1: and that's a wonderful thing. But as this person's wife,
Speaker 1: I could see how that could be problematic at times.
Speaker 2: I you know, I think the only problem I've ever
Speaker 2: found with it is when we first started dating, because
Speaker 2: I was so unfamiliar with Bachelor Nation that I didn't
Speaker 2: realize what I was getting myself into.
Speaker 1: Because he slid into your DMS.
Speaker 4: He did.
Speaker 1: He probably saw some hot track picture just by the
Speaker 1: way an insane athlete ran track in college. He slid
Speaker 1: into your DMS. What were your thoughts when you got
Speaker 1: this guy with a blue check mark just slid into
Speaker 1: my DMS.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, first I have to say he slid into
Speaker 2: my DMS after seeing a photo of me and my dad.
Speaker 2: So my biggest joke is did he want to marry
Speaker 2: me or did he want my dad as a father
Speaker 2: in law? That very still out because they love each other.
Speaker 2: But when he slid in, I saw the blue Chick
Speaker 2: check mark, and obviously he has like a million plus followers,
Speaker 2: and I was like, what in the world who is
Speaker 2: this person? Because a little background on me. I was
Speaker 2: selling light fixtures to new construction in Nashville, so was
Speaker 2: far from this world, and my mom was familiar with
Speaker 2: who Bin was. So I kind of took polls from
Speaker 2: my family to see if anyone knew this person, and
Speaker 2: it was like, well, the only solution is to figure
Speaker 2: out how he found you, because we have no idea.
Speaker 2: So that was where it all started.
Speaker 1: So he stumbled across this picture he DMS you, and
Speaker 1: where does it go from there? And how quickly?
Speaker 2: So we DM back and forth and there's this immediate connection,
Speaker 2: which I can't really explain because it's over kind of
Speaker 2: text message and it's like, how can you connect with someone?
Speaker 4: But it was just easy banter.
Speaker 2: Then he pulled the old like never check my dms,
Speaker 2: give me your number, So I did.
Speaker 1: Smart boy. I like that get it off DMS as
Speaker 1: fast as.
Speaker 4: You can, exactly exactly. So we're texting back and forth
Speaker 4: and this is the most been thing ever.
Speaker 2: But he had listened to a talk on generosity and
Speaker 2: he wants to know my thoughts on if it was
Speaker 2: more generous to give with time or money.
Speaker 4: And at that point, I was making.
Speaker 2: Less than minimum wage and I was completely broke, and
Speaker 2: I didn't want to come off as selfish, so I
Speaker 2: sent him a voice memo and kind of explained myself
Speaker 2: of why it was really hard for me to give
Speaker 2: with money at the time, and he immediately called me.
Speaker 2: We talked for like thirty minutes, and then when he
Speaker 2: hung up, he was like, well, well, if anything, I
Speaker 2: got a great friend out of this. And I was like, well,
Speaker 2: I'm never hearing it from this guy again, Like I
Speaker 2: blew it. Yeah, But then we FaceTime that night, and
Speaker 2: three weeks later I flew out to Denver.
Speaker 1: That's amazing, And the rest is yea now history, as
Speaker 1: y'all bet married and living this wonderful life together. So
Speaker 1: one of the things is I said about Andrew Firestone
Speaker 1: and Ben Higgins. I had a woman the other day
Speaker 1: come up to me and she stops me. We're at
Speaker 1: the gym, and she's like, oh my god, Chris, I
Speaker 1: have to tell you. And first of all, I don't
Speaker 1: know this woman either, but all of a sudden, she
Speaker 1: just acted like we knew each other. I have to
Speaker 1: tell you how embarrassing this was. I ran into Ben
Speaker 1: and Jess at some coffee shop or something like that,
Speaker 1: and I was with my husband and I just went
Speaker 1: up and started talking to Ben and we talked for
Speaker 1: like twenty minutes. Because I mean, it's been and because
Speaker 1: so people feel like they know him, people adore him,
Speaker 1: and it's it's obviously what you see is what you get.
Speaker 1: I will admit he's a wonderful man. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, you have to share that part. And so
Speaker 1: you entered into what you now know as Bachelor Nation
Speaker 1: and you have this beloved figure. How did you navigate
Speaker 1: those waters and was it difficult?
Speaker 2: I think the strangers or the you know, the people
Speaker 2: that watch the show and come up and talk to Ben,
Speaker 2: that's never bothered me as much as when I've seen
Speaker 2: scenes of the show that bothers me more interesting, just
Speaker 2: because like, you know that the people you've dated in
Speaker 2: the past have exes and stuff like that. They can
Speaker 2: tell you all about it, but you don't have to
Speaker 2: see the way that they've looked at them, because like
Speaker 2: the way they've looked at them is the way they look.
Speaker 4: At you, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So, like the scenes of the show have bothered
Speaker 2: me more than people coming up and thinking they know Ben,
Speaker 2: because like you said, with Ben, it's what you see
Speaker 2: is what you get, and so it's more like almost
Speaker 2: a reassurance that I'm just dating the most pure and
Speaker 2: kind and just true person or I'm married to now.
Speaker 2: But yeah, it's I think it's more of like that
Speaker 2: that's such a respect thing for him, and it means
Speaker 2: so much to him because he was the Bachelor so
Speaker 2: long ago, so that's never really been an issue. And
Speaker 2: I think it also was like he really eased me
Speaker 2: into that as we were dating. We went seven months
Speaker 2: without a photo of us or really any kind of
Speaker 2: public appearance outside of like our little homes.
Speaker 1: So it's slow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, so I was really eased into that. But no,
Speaker 2: it's it's more the scenes from the show that.
Speaker 1: Did you watch, Like did you go back and watch
Speaker 1: the season? And you know he did Bachelor, He was
Speaker 1: on Bachelor Winter Games, and so did you go back
Speaker 1: and watch these and if so, like, did you stop.
Speaker 2: I've never intentionally watched it. It's more been like if
Speaker 2: we've been watching the show and there's been a preview
Speaker 2: or flashback, or one time we were doing a podcast
Speaker 2: together and we were watching like an upcoming Bachelor thing
Speaker 2: and there was a flashback of him and like his finale. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and it was him in his final two and.
Speaker 4: That like crushed me.
Speaker 2: Wow. Yeah, And that was early on in dating too,
Speaker 2: But so I've tried to stay away from many of it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, especially early on, there's more insecurities. You still
Speaker 1: wonder things, and until you really know the person, I
Speaker 1: can imagine that would be difficult. That is very interesting,
Speaker 1: especially his season was so big and it still gets
Speaker 1: you know, even though it was a long time ago,
Speaker 1: you still see those I guess you'd call them highlights.
Speaker 1: But you're right. I would not want to go back
Speaker 1: and watch LZ on a date and saying I love
Speaker 1: you or whatever kissing someone else. That would be a
Speaker 1: little bit awkward, to say the least.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it is really disconcerting because you don't think
Speaker 2: about it till you're in the situation. But I mean,
Speaker 2: I've dated other people too, and I can tell Ben
Speaker 2: all about it, but he's never seen me interact with them,
Speaker 2: or kiss them or look at them deeply in the eye.
Speaker 1: You can make of that what we want in our
Speaker 1: own minds exactly. That was Jessica didn't enjoy it. She
Speaker 1: wasn't into it, no.
Speaker 2: Eye contact.
Speaker 4: She hated it.
Speaker 1: She was always pining after me and always thinking about that.
Speaker 1: That's funny as you move on with your life and
Speaker 1: you guys got married. And I said this to Ivanna,
Speaker 1: and it's one consistent thing that I've seen with most
Speaker 1: successful couples from the show, and that is you went
Speaker 1: off and lived your life. You guys met outside of Hollywood.
Speaker 1: You live outside of Hollywood very much. You guys are
Speaker 1: in Denver, you're in Indiana. So you lived this very
Speaker 1: private life, even with a very public figure. And I
Speaker 1: think that's important.
Speaker 2: Yep, he actually decided not to move to la and
Speaker 2: to do with that whole thing because of something that
Speaker 2: you said to him. I don't even know if you
Speaker 2: remember saying this. He talks about it all the time.
Speaker 2: But when he was the bachelor, you pulled him aside
Speaker 2: and you were like, make sure that this experience enhance
Speaker 2: it your life and doesn't change your life. And I
Speaker 2: think he's done a really good job of that and
Speaker 2: pursued these things outside of the Bachelor and then has
Speaker 2: really used the platform to enhance his life. And you know,
Speaker 2: he's still involved obviously is almost famous, and he is
Speaker 2: such a beloved figure. But I mean, all thanks to
Speaker 2: you that we're able to live the lack that we
Speaker 2: have and it's so wonderful and beautiful and it is
Speaker 2: so I mean, I keep using this word, but it
Speaker 2: is so pure because we don't have all these outside
Speaker 2: influences and we're not playing the keeping up with the
Speaker 2: Joneses game and we're able to really just have like
Speaker 2: our little bubble, which is so nice.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I saw this very kind of vulnerable guy in
Speaker 1: Ben as he came off the show. And these people
Speaker 1: that watch the show of viewers and I understand, you're like, oh,
Speaker 1: he signed up for this. It's like they know what
Speaker 1: they're getting into. They don't. There's no way you understand.
Speaker 1: You're being shot out of a cannon without a net
Speaker 1: and you're going one thousand miles an hour and it
Speaker 1: is so new. The love, adoration, that you get, especially
Speaker 1: when you're someone like Ben, and so I just saw
Speaker 1: this world eating him alive. And if he came to Hollywood,
Speaker 1: he's not that guy. And so I was hoping he
Speaker 1: would take that advice and go elsewhere and live his life.
Speaker 1: And he did superbly, as you would expect him to do.
Speaker 1: And I just I'm so happy for you, guys, and
Speaker 1: I appreciate you coming on and giving a little insight
Speaker 1: not only into Ben, but your life and what it's
Speaker 1: been like. And I love you guys to death and
Speaker 1: really appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Well, we love you. We're really grateful for you, and
Speaker 2: we wouldn't be where we are without you. So thank
Speaker 2: you for inviting me.
Speaker 1: Jessica, I thank you so much. I'll talk to you
Speaker 1: guys soon.
Speaker 2: Okay, talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: It is impossible not to love and adore Jessica and Ben,
Speaker 1: and my thanks to her for coming on. Jessica Clark
Speaker 1: an amazing woman, and Evana Firestone, Andrew's wife as well.
Speaker 1: I appreciate their honesty and insight, and just both of
Speaker 1: them very good friends of ours as well, and I
Speaker 1: always appreciate their love and friendship and support and yours
Speaker 1: as well. Truly love doing this show, talking to you
Speaker 1: guys each and every week, several fun episodes and by
Speaker 1: the way, I want to tell you so, Lauren and
Speaker 1: I have started something new on Fridays. Every Friday, we're
Speaker 1: going to open up what we call the playbook, just
Speaker 1: a special little episode, little something extra. It might be
Speaker 1: a rant, it might be a love it might just
Speaker 1: be a crazy thought or something we saw that we
Speaker 1: want to talk to you about. So look for that
Speaker 1: bonus episode every Friday as well. But thank you for
Speaker 1: being with us today. I will talk to you next time.
Speaker 1: We have a lot more to talk about. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: Follow us on Instagram at the most Dramatic pod ever,
Speaker 1: and make sure to write us a review and leave
Speaker 1: us five stars. I'll talk to you next time.