Speaker 1: This is the most dramatic podcast ever and iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 1: Chris Harrison coming to you from the home office in Austin, Texas.
Speaker 1: On the show today is Mark Wahlberg. So I know
Speaker 1: what you're thinking, and I'm just going to say right now,
Speaker 1: and I know this might cost me listeners, It's not
Speaker 1: that Mark Wahlberg. And when I say Mark Wahlberg, immediately
Speaker 1: think obviously of them make a movie star. But you
Speaker 1: also may think, wait, is that the guy that does
Speaker 1: Temptation Island Antique road Show? And the funny thing is,
Speaker 1: first of all, yes, that is the Mark Wahlberg I'm
Speaker 1: talking about. He does Temptation Island, his game shows, and
Speaker 1: he did Antique road Show. The reason I wanted to
Speaker 1: bring Mark on is he and I have had this
Speaker 1: crazy past that is, Chris crossed each other. We both
Speaker 1: kind of hit the scene hosting about the same time
Speaker 1: in the late nineties early two thousands in Hollywood, and
Speaker 1: he was there a little bit before me, working with
Speaker 1: Dick Clark Productions. But I came in and started doing
Speaker 1: stuff for Game Show Network. He was doing stuff for
Speaker 1: Game Show Network. There was this group of us that
Speaker 1: we're all grinding, and we get called into auditions at
Speaker 1: the same time. So we all knew each other, we
Speaker 1: were all friendly, and we all kind of respected each
Speaker 1: other lifted each other up because it was such a
Speaker 1: grind and a tumultuous time of trying to get our
Speaker 1: footing and get a hold in this business, and we
Speaker 1: all did. Mark has gone on to do incredible things.
Speaker 1: But it's funny to this day, I will get asked
Speaker 1: about doing Antique Roadshow and if I love that show
Speaker 1: or did I enjoy Temptation Island. I have to say people, no, no,
Speaker 1: I'm not Mark Wahlberg. That's I hosted The Bachelor, and
Speaker 1: I know that he has gotten the same thing for
Speaker 1: so many years about hosting The Bachelor or all you know,
Speaker 1: my Home and Garden show. So I wanted to have
Speaker 1: Mark Wahlberg on, first of all, to say we are
Speaker 1: two different people, but also to catch up because he
Speaker 1: is an amazing guy. He has a beautiful family, and
Speaker 1: he has such great perspective on this business where we
Speaker 1: came from, but also where this business is going. So
Speaker 1: today a conversation with Mark Wahlberg, No, not that one.
Speaker 1: And he joins me now on the most dramatic podcast
Speaker 1: ever market's so good to see my friend. It has
Speaker 1: been a long time.
Speaker 2: It has been a long time. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2: I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Are you in La?
Speaker 2: I am his Iam in beautiful Sonny Sherman Oaks.
Speaker 1: I'm in a beautiful, rainy Austin, Texas.
Speaker 2: That's a good place to be.
Speaker 1: It's a great place to be.
Speaker 2: Are you.
Speaker 1: Are you an LA guy?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 2: I mean I've I've lived here longer than most people
Speaker 2: have been alive. But I'm from South Carolina.
Speaker 1: Okay, you're born and raised South Carolina.
Speaker 2: Born in Georgia, but raised in South Carolina. And when
Speaker 2: did you cop around a little bit through the South?
Speaker 2: I live in Alabama little bit and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: But when did you come to La?
Speaker 2: I came to La. I left home between my freshman
Speaker 2: sophomore year colleg and I went on the road a
Speaker 2: little bit. I was in northern Michigan and on the
Speaker 2: road that ended up coming out to Los Angeles. I said,
Speaker 2: I take a gap year and I'm still waiting to
Speaker 2: go back to college.
Speaker 1: How's that working out for you?
Speaker 2: It's pretty good. I just got to get a tuition together.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Hey, And by the way, the longer you wait,
Speaker 1: the more expensive it gets, as we both know, with
Speaker 1: two kids, and.
Speaker 2: I'm not eligible for any scholarship, either academic or sports.
Speaker 1: Oh no, no, man. Some of these punters now are
Speaker 1: like thirty five years old, the punters and kickers, these
Speaker 1: Australian kids are coming over. I'm like they may have
Speaker 1: it all figured out, like the midlife crisis is now
Speaker 1: going to be going back to school. Yeah, where were
Speaker 1: you in college?
Speaker 2: I went to Francis Marion College which is now Francis
Speaker 2: Marion University. It was outside of my hometown. I was
Speaker 2: really all at the time I could afford to do.
Speaker 1: And wow, you went to a smaller school than I did.
Speaker 1: I went to Oklahoma City University again, same thing. I
Speaker 1: had a soccer scholarship. It's what my family could afford.
Speaker 1: And yeah, it's so clearly Mark and I prove how
Speaker 1: important it is that you go to a really big
Speaker 1: name school to make it in this world.
Speaker 2: That's right. I always tell people, I went to several
Speaker 2: weeks of college, pretty much checked all the boxes and
Speaker 2: figured I'd take it from there.
Speaker 1: As I said in the intro, one of the many
Speaker 1: reasons I wanted to have you on is if there
Speaker 1: is somebody that I get mistaken for and have been
Speaker 1: mistaken for throughout my career. It's Mark Wahlberg.
Speaker 2: So you know, I was thinking about this this morning,
Speaker 2: that the only time we've actually kind of worked together.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you remember this. He was the
Speaker 2: red carpet for E for the Golden Globes and I
Speaker 2: was up in the balcony doing something. You were on
Speaker 2: the red carpet. I had to throw to you or
Speaker 2: you through to me. I can't remember if I set
Speaker 2: or you said it, but something the effect of and
Speaker 2: to prove that we're not the same person on our
Speaker 2: throw to Chris Harrison.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I did it. I told the producers I said, hey,
Speaker 1: I want a two box of Mark and I because
Speaker 1: for once and for all, we need to show that
Speaker 1: we are two different human beings. It was really funny that,
Speaker 1: you know, when I first came to LA there was
Speaker 1: like a group of like four or five of us.
Speaker 1: It was you, There was a guy named Brian Blakeley,
Speaker 1: and if you remember him, Todd Newton was was bopping around,
Speaker 1: and so there was like a group of us that
Speaker 1: these casting directors would always call because we would always
Speaker 1: give great auditions and we all ended up getting work.
Speaker 1: It was a really talented group of people, and I
Speaker 1: enjoyed watching you get gigs at Game Show Network. I
Speaker 1: got one at Game Show Network. We did our Home
Speaker 1: and Garden show. You were doing antique road show, and
Speaker 1: so it was funny to watch all of us kind
Speaker 1: of find our niche and do that. We all kind
Speaker 1: of came out. It was late nineties, early two thousands
Speaker 1: when we all kind of broke in.
Speaker 2: About that time. That was a but that was when,
Speaker 2: you know, being a TV host as a as a
Speaker 2: profession was a thing and now as much a thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it definitely has evolved and changed. It was a
Speaker 1: group of us that, you know, it's like, this is
Speaker 1: what we wanted to do. You know. My background was
Speaker 1: local news and I was like, I am a host.
Speaker 1: That's all I want to do is host TV. And
Speaker 1: you were kind of the same.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean that's not entirely true. Mine was I
Speaker 2: don't know how to do anything else. I was working
Speaker 2: in production. Yeah, my whole career was by default. I
Speaker 2: got engaged and then married to my wife, who was
Speaker 2: at the time an actress, and then I thought maybe
Speaker 2: that's what I wanted to do. And then walking down
Speaker 2: the aisle, I said, one of us has to get
Speaker 2: a job. So I got a job at Dick Clark
Speaker 2: Productions as a PA. And my whole thing was to
Speaker 2: get out and figure out a way to make a living. Cause,
Speaker 2: like I said, I didn't have a degree or anything.
Speaker 2: It was just by happenstance. I ended up posting stuff
Speaker 2: and then I'm like, well, this is a lot easier
Speaker 2: than lifting or you know, thinking, so I'll do this.
Speaker 1: What was what bridge that gap?
Speaker 2: A warm up guy didn't show up one day and
Speaker 2: Dick Clark said, get the funny kid from upstairs, and
Speaker 2: that was me.
Speaker 1: That's how it started. You started to tell that was.
Speaker 2: The left turn. And then you know, people started saying,
Speaker 2: you know, can you call and stay for work and
Speaker 2: come do warm up for me? And then I think
Speaker 2: I got a job. Somebody wanted me to do warm
Speaker 2: up and when I showed up, they said, we don't
Speaker 2: have a budget for warm up and we need an announcer,
Speaker 2: and I'm like, well, I know how to read.
Speaker 1: It was there's three weeks of college that prepared me
Speaker 1: for this.
Speaker 2: That's exactly right.
Speaker 1: And then you went on what was kind of the
Speaker 1: first big gig was it was a GSN good game show.
Speaker 2: Yes, N was after I had already i think, lost
Speaker 2: my career and gotten it back already.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think the first show I hosted was like eighty seven,
Speaker 2: No ninety I'm looking at my wife. It was ninety
Speaker 2: two because my wife was pregnant with our first So
Speaker 2: that's the first time I was on camera. And then
Speaker 2: I did Shop Do You Drop as a sidekick sort
Speaker 2: of announcer on camera for that, and then a bunch
Speaker 2: of At the time, and I tell people this, at
Speaker 2: the time, you could do like four different cable networks
Speaker 2: and still not make a living. So I was like
Speaker 2: on camera with like four different shows on different networks,
Speaker 2: but still having to do warm up to make a living.
Speaker 1: When I came out here in ninety nine, I did
Speaker 1: a game I had TVG the Horse Racing Network. I
Speaker 1: had a Designers Challenge on HGTV, and then I had
Speaker 1: done seasons one and two of The Bachelor. I was
Speaker 1: doing all three at the same time, and people were like,
Speaker 1: what are you doing. You're hosting the biggest show on
Speaker 1: network TV. You got to be worth millions and millions
Speaker 1: of dollars. I said, I'm worth so much that I
Speaker 1: have three jobs right now. I said.
Speaker 2: That was when I did Temptation Island. Originally I'm Fox
Speaker 2: and everybody and I was, and I always tell a
Speaker 2: story that was like it aired on a Wednesday night,
Speaker 2: I think, and Thursday morning I was famous. Like people
Speaker 2: were coming up to me. And what they didn't realize
Speaker 2: is we did six episodes, and I think I made
Speaker 2: seventy five hundred dollars an episode.
Speaker 1: And that was the season I crushed you. My first
Speaker 1: season of The Bachelor twelve five, that's what I was making.
Speaker 1: And again we did the same thing. It was six
Speaker 1: one hour episodes. And so I'm like, and you know,
Speaker 1: when you have thirty million viewers, people think, oh my god,
Speaker 1: because that many people are watching, you must be worth
Speaker 1: hundreds of millions of dollars now. And I'm like, I'm
Speaker 1: worth thousands of dollars still, and I have two other gigs.
Speaker 1: And I got to go to Home and Garden Network
Speaker 1: because that's what's actually paying my rent. And you know,
Speaker 1: you don't get big until later when the show you
Speaker 1: know you can renegotiate and get your gig. It's like
Speaker 1: you're one in the NFL. You're making minimum.
Speaker 2: By the way I've read about that concept of that
Speaker 2: you renegotiate and get more money must be cool.
Speaker 1: It's pretty good. So I guess the biggest question is
Speaker 1: what's the worst lot in life for you? Being named
Speaker 1: Mark Wahlberg or being mistaken from time to time for
Speaker 1: Chris Harrison.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've now put that into almost every Like if
Speaker 2: I give a keynote or something, I mean I'm talking
Speaker 2: about you know, know your worth and know your truth,
Speaker 2: I'm like, I look like Chris Harrison and everybody thinks
Speaker 2: it's the other Mark Wahlberg. So I have an identity crisis.
Speaker 2: As soon as I walk on State. I think the
Speaker 2: older I get, the less like you I look. So
Speaker 2: that helps.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but people the but it was, I mean it
Speaker 1: was so funny. It was really uncanny. No early on
Speaker 1: people would be like, you know, we get stopped by
Speaker 1: the paparazzi or whoever, and they're like, so, like, do
Speaker 1: you enjoy Antique Road Show? And I'm like, yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: I watch it from time to time. They're like, well,
Speaker 1: what about Temptation Island? I said, yeah, no, I've watched
Speaker 1: that too. I don't host either of those.
Speaker 2: Man. People ask me who's going to get a rose
Speaker 2: next week? And I'm like, you know, I'm not sure,
Speaker 2: but I think if I had my brothers, I think
Speaker 2: the Mark Wahlberg Mark Wahlberg thing is is probably more
Speaker 2: of a daily part of my life. And I talking
Speaker 2: about that when people come up to you and say,
Speaker 2: you know, Temptation Island. I was doing Antiques Road Show
Speaker 2: and this was years ago, like before social media was
Speaker 2: what it is. But I got off the plane and
Speaker 2: I'm coming down to the luggage and there are these
Speaker 2: two guys just so psyched to see me, and they
Speaker 2: recognize me. They so they know it's me and they
Speaker 2: know it's Antique road show, right, So they're like, oh,
Speaker 2: mister Walber and mister Walberg over here. And I'm like, hey, guys,
Speaker 2: what's up? You know, could you you know, you know,
Speaker 2: do you mind do this? And we love you on
Speaker 2: the show, and like clearly know that's me having a conversation, right,
Speaker 2: And then they say do you mind signing a picture?
Speaker 2: I'm like, not a problem, and they ad me a
Speaker 2: picture of Mark Walberg. Act Oh my god, I'm like,
Speaker 2: do you know, yeah, are we not in the same
Speaker 2: room right now?
Speaker 1: They're like, man, you've really let your abs go. Like
Speaker 1: this guy used to do the Calvin Klein commercials man.
Speaker 1: But so how many times have you have you gone
Speaker 1: into a restaurant and you just see the hostess just oh.
Speaker 2: Glaze over. Well, my fear of that is so great
Speaker 2: that any family member, immediate and extended knows that if
Speaker 2: they make any reservation, they make it very clear which
Speaker 2: Mark Welber they're getting. I said, please don't make me
Speaker 2: walk in and have they go, oh, because we have.
Speaker 1: A different table.
Speaker 2: Like charity events that I've been invited to, and I
Speaker 2: show up to the event, They're like yeah, oh, okay,
Speaker 2: and then it's like awkward.
Speaker 1: One of my producers brought this up, and I don't
Speaker 1: even know if this is true, but it's not the
Speaker 1: worst idea in the world. When I left The Bachelor
Speaker 1: bachs Arette, someone said, the thought was call you call
Speaker 1: Mark Wahlberg because he looks the most like Chris Harrison.
Speaker 1: It'll be the least jarring. Was that a thing? Did
Speaker 1: someone did? Was that a rumor? Or did anyone reach
Speaker 1: out to you?
Speaker 2: You know, if you go into the Reddit world and
Speaker 2: all that stuff, you know, first of all, there's a
Speaker 2: very blurry line between you and me and any other
Speaker 2: host on TV from a viewers. I realize now how
Speaker 2: how much in soft focused the viewers often view yes,
Speaker 2: So I think that made perfect sense to some people.
Speaker 2: I got a lot of you know, who's going to
Speaker 2: take Chris's place, you'd be great, blah blah blah blah
Speaker 2: bl and my answer was, you know, I got my gig,
Speaker 2: he's got his gig, and all is going to be fine.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I got some of that, you know, some
Speaker 2: of that you know traffic, but it wasn't significant enough
Speaker 2: that it was really made it on the meter.
Speaker 1: Are you still doing prices right live?
Speaker 2: I'm not doing prices right live. Todd Newton's out on
Speaker 2: the road.
Speaker 1: That's like his gig, Todd Newton. Tod Newton's still doing that.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, Yeah, he's still doing it. As a
Speaker 2: matter of fact, he's married to who was our prize
Speaker 2: model for all those years, and so they got married.
Speaker 2: So it's really kind of a love story. It's kind
Speaker 2: of cool.
Speaker 1: That is amazing talk about Yeah, things that happened on
Speaker 1: the road.
Speaker 2: And when I did Prices right Live, I was always
Speaker 2: filling in for Todd, so I'd go for like ten days,
Speaker 2: two weeks. Yeah, and I get my fixed and get out.
Speaker 2: Now I'm going to lead next Tuesday and do Wheel
Speaker 2: of Fortune live.
Speaker 1: Awesome.
Speaker 2: It's kind of stage version of Wheel of Fortune. And
Speaker 2: for me it's like summer camp. You know, I go
Speaker 2: for maybe ten days. This time, I'm going a little
Speaker 2: longer than that. But it's bussing truck, so I'm sleeping
Speaker 2: on the bus. I always say it's good rock and
Speaker 2: roll fantasy. But the groupies are, you know, a little older.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like Hasselhoff now you know he's not getting
Speaker 1: the But so just to fill people in on what
Speaker 1: this is, so many many years ago, these casinos started
Speaker 1: Prices right live and it was like a ninety minute show.
Speaker 1: We did it in Vegas, we did it at all
Speaker 1: the casinos around And the funny thing is, and I'm
Speaker 1: sure you were in on this, and I know Todd
Speaker 1: Newton was as well. Was this was kind of as
Speaker 1: Bob Barker was leading Prices right.
Speaker 2: I was on stage that night he retired.
Speaker 1: So people, we all of us were kind of in
Speaker 1: the mix. They had talked to us all. I'm sure
Speaker 1: they talked to you about that job.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a whole story behind that. But yeah, they
Speaker 2: kind of did.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know they then they they talked to
Speaker 1: me about it as well, and I know they talked
Speaker 1: to Todd Newton, and Todd was really excited about the possibility.
Speaker 1: And so here's what this is the beauty of Hollywood.
Speaker 1: It's not that they lied to us, because I think
Speaker 1: we were all good legit hosts and we all had
Speaker 1: a shot. But they also needed something. They needed really
Speaker 1: good hosts to go out and host these prices right
Speaker 1: live shows. So what you would do is you would
Speaker 1: go to a casino like Todd's doing or Mark's doing.
Speaker 1: Now you host this ninety minute show. It was I
Speaker 1: did it at Bally's in Las Vegas. You would go
Speaker 1: in and do ninety minutes. These casino people will come
Speaker 1: in and they barely pay attention. Then they go back
Speaker 1: on the casino floor and we would stay there for
Speaker 1: weeks at a time. And I did it. And what's
Speaker 1: the other the biggest the smallest, biggest city in the
Speaker 1: world in the Valveice And yeah, and so I did
Speaker 1: it there, and I did it in this Chumash casino
Speaker 1: somewhere in San Diego.
Speaker 2: That's changed since back then I mean that was the
Speaker 2: birth of it. It's now a buzz and truck playing theater,
Speaker 2: so it's a lot more fun.
Speaker 1: Oh, that's got to be a blast then, because if
Speaker 1: people want to be there.
Speaker 2: Plongs of people around the block. It's like a rock concert.
Speaker 2: And so it's much better than when it was at
Speaker 2: Bally's and we were kind of grinding it out at
Speaker 2: four in the afternoon. I just really went to do
Speaker 2: it so I could play poker. That was the only
Speaker 2: reason I did it back in those days. Now I
Speaker 2: go because it's it's like improv, it's like an event,
Speaker 2: and it's fun. But you know what's interesting is back
Speaker 2: in the day when they were trying to get us
Speaker 2: all host prices right off the bat, they would say
Speaker 2: it's kind of an audition for when Bob retires exactly.
Speaker 2: And I were saying to Todd, that's not it at all, right,
Speaker 2: It's never going down like that. If you are investing
Speaker 2: in the possibility of being the host of the price
Speaker 2: is right by doing this You're so.
Speaker 1: So that's that's not how this works.
Speaker 2: Do it for your own reasons, but that is not
Speaker 2: how this is going down.
Speaker 1: Because I wanted I forgot the name of the executive producer,
Speaker 1: Andy Felcher. Yes, so Andy came. I hosted for two
Speaker 1: weeks and he came for the last two days, and
Speaker 1: then you know, we did the whole dinner thing. And
Speaker 1: then he actually had me to the Prices Right show
Speaker 1: where I met Bob Barker and was talking about this
Speaker 1: is so weird, Like you said, this is how this works.
Speaker 1: Where I show up and I'm talking to like Bob
Speaker 1: had to be thinking, who is this punk ass kid
Speaker 1: who wants my job? Who's at my job right now?
Speaker 1: It was so weird the way it was forced. And
Speaker 1: of course as soon as Bob retired and the talks
Speaker 1: really started, it was okay, let's find a big name.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: It was every big name and the entire well, actually
Speaker 2: that's not entirely true either. Do you know what the
Speaker 2: real story there? No, And I don't want to like
Speaker 2: spill too much tea, but it is the most dramatic
Speaker 2: podcast everly. This will be good for three game show nerds,
Speaker 2: so I'll give them this, and two of them are
Speaker 2: right here. It was originally going to be Dave Price,
Speaker 2: the weatherman from CBS This Morning. Really, that was a
Speaker 2: done deal and so the behind the scenes goes that
Speaker 2: the show was going on in Vegas, the live show.
Speaker 2: I was on stage, he retired. I get this message
Speaker 2: from Fremantle, send me your tape. You know this is
Speaker 2: in play whatever, and then it got and then it
Speaker 2: realized that Les Moonvest had picked Dave Price to be
Speaker 2: the guy. No audition, that's what's up. Wow. They get
Speaker 2: a call like a week later saying our host is
Speaker 2: sick in Vegas. Can you get here? So they fly
Speaker 2: me out like Monday night to do the show only
Speaker 2: Tuesday and Wednesday, and I do it. But the truth
Speaker 2: was nobody was sick. Dave Price had been flown in
Speaker 2: to do the show but was having trouble doing the
Speaker 2: live show as a rehearsal, so they can tell me.
Speaker 2: But I'm doing the show and he's in the booth
Speaker 2: watching me to get notes. And then what happened was
Speaker 2: the way I heard is that he ends up doing
Speaker 2: a couple shows on set with the actual tests screen
Speaker 2: tests at CBS, and when that didn't go well, that's
Speaker 2: when Less acquiesced to the other powers that be. I
Speaker 2: always say, it's like the mob. It was like five
Speaker 2: heads a five fan making this decision and that's when
Speaker 2: the floodgates open, and everybody was Anybody got an audition
Speaker 2: except for us, exactly until the very very end when
Speaker 2: I got an audition, and then I get this call saying,
Speaker 2: you got the gig. It's you got it. You killed it.
Speaker 2: Everybody agrees, that's.
Speaker 1: The, by the way, the worst call you can get
Speaker 1: in this business. I know people think that's a good call,
Speaker 1: it's horrible. As soon as someone says you're a shoe in,
Speaker 1: you're never getting the job.
Speaker 2: All the people have decided you're gonna test next week,
Speaker 2: and you got the gig as yours to lose. I'm like, awesome.
Speaker 2: But then what they didn't realize is that less Moon
Speaker 2: Best was in the office with Drew Carrey, the only
Speaker 2: guy who did an audition for the new deal, just
Speaker 2: making the deal.
Speaker 1: That is exactly you know this. It is such a
Speaker 1: bizarre business we're in. And I was in the mix
Speaker 1: of that too, and The Bachelor had just started, so
Speaker 1: I'm like, Okay, maybe I almost have enough leverage to
Speaker 1: actually be in the mix, but clearly did not. And
Speaker 1: like you said, you hear rumors of Oh Wahlberg's going
Speaker 1: in or Todd Newton thinks he's in and everybody's hearing
Speaker 1: something from their agent, and like you said, it all
Speaker 1: comes down to Les Moonvez wakes up and decides this,
Speaker 1: and that's how it goes. And all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: Drew Carey comes out. We're like, wait, what Drew Carrey.
Speaker 1: That was the last name mentioned. And I went through
Speaker 1: something very similar for Howie Mandel's gig on.
Speaker 2: Deal or no deal.
Speaker 1: It was when it went syndication, So how he was
Speaker 1: doing it killing it, and the syndication deal was going
Speaker 1: he didn't want to do the syndication or maybe they
Speaker 1: were just in negotiations or whatever. So I got used
Speaker 1: and I got brought in to audition publicly. They had
Speaker 1: all the suitcase girls. Maybe Megan Markle was there. I
Speaker 1: don't even know, but they did it very publicly on stage.
Speaker 1: I did the audition and all that, the producers are
Speaker 1: there and I'm like, this is weird. And the whole
Speaker 1: thing was they wanted to make a very public bring
Speaker 1: Chris Harrison in from The Bachelor so he can audition
Speaker 1: only so the message would get back to how we.
Speaker 1: Then how we literally later that day or that week,
Speaker 1: signed the deal. I'm doing this syndication. No one's taken
Speaker 1: my gig.
Speaker 2: You know, I don't know if people outside of our business.
Speaker 2: I guess this occurs in other businesses, but I don't
Speaker 2: know people outside our business realize how nasty it can be.
Speaker 2: I mean, I've had that's a similar story where I
Speaker 2: had a producer called me at home on a Sunday going,
Speaker 2: we're doing this pilot and we didn't make a deal
Speaker 2: for our host and we want you would you do it?
Speaker 2: And I say sure, it said great, we'll call your agent,
Speaker 2: only to learn that that was just to get the
Speaker 2: other guy to sign.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's just let guy the.
Speaker 2: Pie, you know, And so the bait and switch.
Speaker 1: And it happens a lot. I mean, and you had
Speaker 1: you know, I don't know if you remember that guy
Speaker 1: Brian Blakely, who was a friend of ours who was
Speaker 1: around auditioning at the time. He did this dating show
Speaker 1: very early on. It was a daytime show on a
Speaker 1: cruise ship, and we all started getting calls. He shot it,
Speaker 1: they had already produced it. He was in the edit
Speaker 1: bay and we all started getting calls agents and hosts
Speaker 1: to come audition for his job. And so I called him.
Speaker 1: I said, dude, I'm just telling you, I don't know
Speaker 1: what's going on with that job you think you have
Speaker 1: and when. So when I got The Bachelor and we
Speaker 1: shot our six episodes, I didn't tell I went home
Speaker 1: for Christmas. I didn't tell anybody I got the gig,
Speaker 1: I had this great network job and all this. I
Speaker 1: didn't say a word because I assumed until I see
Speaker 1: myself on TV on Monday night, I assume that I
Speaker 1: don't have this job. It can go away.
Speaker 2: And you know, I'll tell you something. Man, the business
Speaker 2: and I've been married thirty six years. So sadly my
Speaker 2: wife hitched her her wagon to this roller coaster. Fortunate
Speaker 2: for me, but rugher for her. But she's from show business,
Speaker 2: so she gets it and that I wouldn't have survived.
Speaker 2: But if you're gonna like turn the corner here, is
Speaker 2: that this because of the things you're talking about, the
Speaker 2: toxic way that our business goes down, has forced me
Speaker 2: to find value in things that actually matter instead of
Speaker 2: you know, do I have a job today or not
Speaker 2: because that's temporary.
Speaker 1: That it's funny you say that. You know, people have
Speaker 1: asked me about when The Bachelor went crazy for twenty
Speaker 1: years and it's like, how do you keep perspective? And
Speaker 1: you've always seem so grounded, I said, because it can
Speaker 1: all go away tomorrow. And I know that, and I've
Speaker 1: I dug in the trenches and fought all the toxic battles.
Speaker 1: You realize how false that narrative is and how fake
Speaker 1: that world is. So you you love your your wife,
Speaker 1: you love your kids. You that is what matters. And
Speaker 1: you've been married to Robbie for forty five forty five
Speaker 1: years thirty six.
Speaker 2: But a show business that's like one hundred, It totally is.
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Speaker 1: You have two kids, two d boy and a girl.
Speaker 2: Son's a Navy pilot. Daughter's a retired professional ballerina.
Speaker 1: Yeah, your daughter was a premium ballerina. And it's scary
Speaker 1: to me she's already retired.
Speaker 2: Well she did. You know, First of all, it's like
Speaker 2: being a football player, so you don't get that many years.
Speaker 2: But she danced at Kansas City Ballet for many years,
Speaker 2: and then during the pandemic, she left Kansas City, moved
Speaker 2: to Boston for personal reasons, and then was kind of
Speaker 2: being courted by Boston Ballet and then pandemic hit and
Speaker 2: then she's like, why am I, you know, busting my
Speaker 2: ass every day to do something I love, but get
Speaker 2: no money and I'm not sure I'm happy. So now
Speaker 2: she's teaching and she's a social media director and she's
Speaker 2: making a lot more money. She's a lot happier. And
Speaker 2: then my son is getting out of the navy. But
Speaker 2: he flu as a Navy pilot berg you know, ten
Speaker 2: years or so, and so he's moving to his next chapter.
Speaker 1: That is your son, Morgan, Yeah, Morgan. So yeah, he was.
Speaker 2: A frost star. I think if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 1: Who's that you have a big I do. Yeah, my
Speaker 1: son plays them. Both. My kids are at TCU. I
Speaker 1: got a senior he's about to graduate, so they're probably
Speaker 1: probably a little younger Josh my son Josh twenty two
Speaker 1: daughters nineteen. You know, they're both going through college. And
Speaker 1: I'm kind of still in it. Yeah, but I'm still
Speaker 1: kind of it's that empty nest, but not quite fully
Speaker 1: empty nest yet.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm not only empty nest, but I've gone
Speaker 2: to the level where like it shifted. So like when
Speaker 2: we're all hanging out together and I drive home, they're
Speaker 2: texting me to make sure I got homesick that chapter.
Speaker 1: Now, So what's your son? So Morgan was a Navy pilot,
Speaker 1: which is awesome, by the way, And what's he's going
Speaker 1: to take that into the private sector soon?
Speaker 2: No, No, he's and leave the navy. He's going to
Speaker 2: like he says, I'll probably still fly, but I'm a
Speaker 2: fly for fun, not for money. Yeah, I don't think
Speaker 2: he wants to do the commercial thing. He's he and
Speaker 2: his wife, he got married a year ago. They've done
Speaker 2: pretty well. They've got some real estate, they've got some plans,
Speaker 2: they got stuff they want. Wild.
Speaker 1: Isn't that wild? Like your boys? Like, it's how has
Speaker 1: that affected your life? Kids are grown, they're clearly successful.
Speaker 1: They don't need you anymore per se, How did that
Speaker 1: affect you and Robbie in your life? And like kind
Speaker 1: of having to rEFInd yourselves and your relationship.
Speaker 2: It's it's interesting to hear you say that. I think
Speaker 2: it's been amazing. I think when my son, my oldest,
Speaker 2: went to college his first year, I I didn't know
Speaker 2: what to do with myself if I'm not going to
Speaker 2: sit on the bench and watch him play baseball and
Speaker 2: then head over the ballet class to watch my daughter.
Speaker 2: Like what's my identity? Right? I have none? Even though
Speaker 2: I'm on TV and I have all that, that doesn't matter. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm really you know, if he hit a home run,
Speaker 2: then I hit a home run, right.
Speaker 1: Well, that's one of the things I always appreciated about
Speaker 1: you and why we always connected as like this guy
Speaker 1: defines himself by being a good father, a good husband,
Speaker 1: a loving guy, a good friend, and so I get that.
Speaker 1: It's like I lived and died horribly.
Speaker 2: Horribly you know, emotionally sick to be defined by your
Speaker 2: son's home run. Yes, so then and my daughter left
Speaker 2: after high school, she went straight to she had a
Speaker 2: scholarship the Watchington School Ballet. She left. So we were
Speaker 2: really empty nesters at this point in our lives. My
Speaker 2: wife's in my life. It's more wonderful than it isn't. Yeah,
Speaker 2: our relationship with the kids has shifted into such a
Speaker 2: different place. They're both really living that chapter of their lives,
Speaker 2: that first year years of adulthood. And we I always say,
Speaker 2: you know, parenting is like like you started your own
Speaker 2: business in your garage and you were making the soup,
Speaker 2: selling it, marketing and everything, and then later you became
Speaker 2: sort of a management position, and then later you were
Speaker 2: like out of the board. Now I'm my board emeritis.
Speaker 2: I'm like, I don't have a boat. There's a picture
Speaker 2: me on the wall, but I'm really not part of
Speaker 2: the corporation anymore.
Speaker 1: Every now and that, I get to drive by the
Speaker 1: building and you go in and people are like, oh,
Speaker 1: there's an appreciate about it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a really beautiful time. I'm really you know,
Speaker 2: when I talk to people about parenting, you know the
Speaker 2: fact that I keep in touch my kids, check in
Speaker 2: probably every day with us, and that I think is
Speaker 2: the greatest measurement of parenting is not how are they doing,
Speaker 2: but how much are they communicating? And so, yeah, we're
Speaker 2: having a good time. You know, we've gotten through some stuff.
Speaker 2: My son has had some stuff, my daughter's I've had stuff.
Speaker 2: We all had stuff. Like like message happens on the
Speaker 2: other end of it. It's you know what I keep
Speaker 2: telling people young parents is you know, when you're a
Speaker 2: young parent, you're like giving this advice and teaching all
Speaker 2: the lessons you think matter. You don't really know them,
Speaker 2: but you're saying them, yes, right, but they think you
Speaker 2: know them. My point, they start living the lessons you
Speaker 2: taught them, and then you're like, oh, that's like legit. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and they didn't know you were kind of bullshitting when
Speaker 2: you were a kid.
Speaker 1: I'm making this stuff up, man.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So I think the apprentice has become the master,
Speaker 2: and I think I'm the student now and there they're
Speaker 2: advising me.
Speaker 1: But obviously there's a lot of pride in that. And
Speaker 1: you see your kids growing and I'm sure it's been
Speaker 1: interesting too because I'm going through this now. You're kind
Speaker 1: of four steps probably a little further in watching your
Speaker 1: relationship evolve because it's got to evolve into something else.
Speaker 1: Like you said, you know, I'm not driving them to
Speaker 1: practice anymore. I'm not imparting all that much wisdom anymore.
Speaker 1: I do advise them a little bit because they are
Speaker 1: taking that next step into being adults. But still it's
Speaker 1: it's evolving and I can feel it. And I'm sure
Speaker 1: you are on the other side where they're just really
Speaker 1: good friends now and you are you enjoy your time
Speaker 1: with them as humans most.
Speaker 2: Of the time. But I also make the joke when
Speaker 2: they come home, I'm like, you know, your kids coming
Speaker 2: home is like going to Vegas a week. Sounds like
Speaker 2: a good idea, but after like three days, you're broken,
Speaker 2: hung over. It's so But the truth is, when you
Speaker 2: talk about it, like your advisory role as a parent,
Speaker 2: one of the things I talk about and one of
Speaker 2: the things I try to do is realize now that
Speaker 2: my advisory role is only when asked, because they're figuring
Speaker 2: it out and they're doing better than I did at
Speaker 2: their age. So that was my wife in the background saying,
Speaker 2: not me, she's the queen of unsolicited advice.
Speaker 1: Well, that's their job too, And the bully pulpit.
Speaker 2: She'll definitely hammer you until you do what she says.
Speaker 1: Before I let you go. If you mentioned something really
Speaker 1: interesting at the beginning any of this we got in
Speaker 1: at kind of the golden age of hosting. I mean,
Speaker 1: I feel I always tell people I got on the
Speaker 1: last train out of Network TV. It was phenomenal. So
Speaker 1: did you a Temptation Island? And it was I've watched it.
Speaker 1: Not only kind of diminish as far as the hosting
Speaker 1: role that you know, Seacrest and Bergeron and you and
Speaker 1: me and Cogan and all that. We all filled these
Speaker 1: amazing roles in our own little niche at each network,
Speaker 1: but who they bring in to host things now? And
Speaker 1: that role has changed so much. What would you advise
Speaker 1: somebody who says I want to do this.
Speaker 2: I would there's a joke about my mind, as I
Speaker 2: would tell them to run away and become an accountant
Speaker 2: and you'll be thrilled. But here's my take on this, Chris,
Speaker 2: because I appear as my age who are either retiring
Speaker 2: or still trying to grind it out, who have a
Speaker 2: great resentment for the fact that our industry isn't an
Speaker 2: industry really anymore. But I don't feel that way at all.
Speaker 2: I think that Actually my advice to others is take
Speaker 2: a cue from your own generation. I think the podcast
Speaker 2: and the YouTube track is in many ways far better.
Speaker 2: And this is what I find interesting about is that, like,
Speaker 2: if you're programming your own stuff, nobody's telling you what
Speaker 2: to say and what not to say, when to put
Speaker 2: it out, how long it needs to go. You're not
Speaker 2: a slave to your lead in or lead out or
Speaker 2: a preemption or promo or cancellation or any of that.
Speaker 2: And the other thing that I find really remarkable is
Speaker 2: how fame has changed. And it used to be yours,
Speaker 2: this persona on TV that people liked, but the mystery
Speaker 2: was who are you in real life? And sometimes there
Speaker 2: are people magazines spread will say behind, you know, who's
Speaker 2: Tony Danzel? Really? You know whatever? Right? But now what
Speaker 2: has happened is what people vibrate towards. What makes you
Speaker 2: success well, famous and influencer is how much of you
Speaker 2: you share? Right?
Speaker 1: It's true.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I always am talking to my friends, who are
Speaker 2: you know, frustrated about the business, and I'm like you, guys,
Speaker 2: the cheese moved and it's freeing and liberating. So I'm
Speaker 2: thrilled with being TV. But literally, I say to my family,
Speaker 2: I'm like, you know, I don't go look for TV
Speaker 2: jobs anymore. You know, if people want me on TV,
Speaker 2: they're gonna call me, and I'm gonna go do a
Speaker 2: TV show and I'm down to do it. Temptation Island
Speaker 2: has been awesome. I don't know what's next for me
Speaker 2: in that area, and I'll do it. But in the meantime,
Speaker 2: the conversation and the and the the closeness of social
Speaker 2: media actually in YouTube and podcasting is far more exciting
Speaker 2: than me. I don't know lucrative for me, but it
Speaker 2: certainly is from a from a content standpoint, really exciting.
Speaker 2: So when people come to me and say I'm thinking
Speaker 2: about doing this, I'm like, go do it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you can do anything. It's true.
Speaker 2: You do something you had to hire somebody with a camera,
Speaker 2: go to an edit bay later for hundreds of dollars
Speaker 2: to cut it together, and then make tapes or CDs
Speaker 2: to send to people, and there was nowhere to see it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, evolve, evolve and move on. And speaking of evolving,
Speaker 1: you're doing a podcast.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've got to figure out a name for it,
Speaker 2: but I've laid down a couple episodes. I'm gonna probably
Speaker 2: launch it the first of the year, somewhere around there.
Speaker 2: I'm not really sure, but I'm in it now and
Speaker 2: sort of furthering the conversations that we have on Temptation
Speaker 2: Island but also life. You know, it's hard to say,
Speaker 2: you know, what's the podcast about? You know, your podcast
Speaker 2: is about you and the people around you and the
Speaker 2: world things that interest you. Mine is pretty much that,
Speaker 2: although I probably will dwell into delve into a little
Speaker 2: bit of people coming to me with relationship stuff because
Speaker 2: for whatever reason they come to me and ask me
Speaker 2: and and I tell them I don't know, but I'll
Speaker 2: tell you what I think.
Speaker 1: Half the people come to you, the other half come
Speaker 1: to me. There you go, and they should they should
Speaker 1: all do better.
Speaker 2: The first thing I tell him probably higher professional, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: Just because I play one on TV doesn't mean I
Speaker 1: have all the answers for you, dude. I appreciate the time, man,
Speaker 1: I really appreciate you coming on. And I like the
Speaker 1: name of the podcast. That is I'm Mark Wahlberg. No,
Speaker 1: not that guy, and no I did not host The Bachelor.
Speaker 2: I joked that I would call it a Mark Wahlberg podcast,
Speaker 2: because there's the and then there's a but then you
Speaker 2: got to quit saying things that demean you. Come on,
Speaker 2: stand in your past.
Speaker 1: One of the things I loved about having a podcast
Speaker 1: is when my producers like, who should we have on?
Speaker 1: I said, you know who I want to talk to?
Speaker 1: Just by the way, whether someone finds this fascinating or not,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter, like this is the conversation I wanted
Speaker 1: to have. This is someone that our lives have criss
Speaker 1: crossed and been intertwined for twenty years, and we have
Speaker 1: such People.
Speaker 2: Don't realize we're rarely we're never in the same room.
Speaker 2: It's like we're so aware of what going on because
Speaker 2: I have to be briefed on what you're doing so
Speaker 2: that I can answer the questions when asked.
Speaker 1: And you know, he was in it back in the day.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's a similar thing, but I
Speaker 1: was hyper aware of what Todd Newton was hosting. You know,
Speaker 1: what you were hosting, What what jobs are out there?
Speaker 1: What's going on? You know, because it was such a
Speaker 1: it is such a cutthroat business and we were all
Speaker 1: just grinding trying to get jobs, and but it was funny.
Speaker 1: There was there was a lot of civility into it.
Speaker 1: Like you said, you'd fill in for Todd. I filled
Speaker 1: in for Todd one time. He was about to have
Speaker 1: a baby and so he couldn't do this thing in Chicago.
Speaker 1: So I went to help him out and so he
Speaker 1: me gigs.
Speaker 2: Todd's throwing me stuff. Albeit the ones who thrown me
Speaker 2: have been so low paying and a little bit janky.
Speaker 1: There was a reason he's throwing them exactly.
Speaker 2: He didn't give me the good.
Speaker 1: But this is the reason I love doing this podcast.
Speaker 1: It's it's the conversation I wanted to have. And UH
Speaker 1: wish you and Robbie the best to the kids and
Speaker 1: everything going on in your life. My friend. It's it's
Speaker 1: good to catch up.
Speaker 2: And my love to Lauren and UH and all the
Speaker 2: best of you, and thanks for having me on. And
Speaker 2: you know, when I have a podcast with a name,
Speaker 2: I'll come back on it and tell your people to
Speaker 2: come listen. So HI will and then you know, if
Speaker 2: they're watching you or me, and they can figure it out.
Speaker 1: Later exactly, they'll think it's the same thing. I should
Speaker 1: just put you on my podcast feed and we'll just
Speaker 1: keep just running no one would ever know that sounds
Speaker 1: good to me, all right, Mark, take care, Bud, all right,
Speaker 1: see ya, thanks for listening. Follow us on Instagram at
Speaker 1: the most dramatic pod ever, and make sure to write
Speaker 1: us a review and leave us five stars. I'll talk
Speaker 1: to you next time.