Speaker 1: This is the most traumatic podcast ever and iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 1: Chris Harrison and Lauren Zema coming to you from the
Speaker 1: home office in Austin, Texas. But last week it was
Speaker 1: coming from the office our new office up at Merritt
Speaker 1: Street Media that made some news and was newsworthy, and
Speaker 1: so we dropped the news that Laura and I are
Speaker 1: getting back to work. We're going back to TV. Our
Speaker 1: new network with Doctor Phil launches April second. We talked
Speaker 1: about the fact that I'll be doing some stuff with
Speaker 1: Doctor Phil Primetime, which launches April second. Laurd and I
Speaker 1: are going to be producing and hosting other shows as
Speaker 1: well on this network, including a morning show, a relationship show,
Speaker 1: reality show, and we got a lot of questions.
Speaker 2: Well, first of all, I want to say a big thanks.
Speaker 2: The support from you all has just been so so wonderful.
Speaker 2: I said this on Instagram, But you know, you guys
Speaker 2: are the most important thing to us in our career.
Speaker 2: I've said this, I guess in my own head many
Speaker 2: times as I asked myself, like what do I love
Speaker 2: about my job? And what I love about my job
Speaker 2: is if I can make people happy and make people
Speaker 2: feel good and make people joyful and laugh and to
Speaker 2: see the positivity and the support from you all with
Speaker 2: this announcement was just made.
Speaker 3: It'll be a dale remember my whole life.
Speaker 2: So thank you for all of your kind words, all
Speaker 2: of your support, and for congratulating and sharing us on
Speaker 2: with this new announcement.
Speaker 1: I think one of the things I enjoy most about
Speaker 1: this business and I do love it, and this new
Speaker 1: endeavor has reminded me how much I love it. I
Speaker 1: think I was talking to an NFL coach this week.
Speaker 1: You and I were in LA and I was talking
Speaker 1: to this coach and he said, after he had been
Speaker 1: kind of kicked in the gut and knocked down, it
Speaker 1: reminded him when he came back how much that fire
Speaker 1: was burning and how excited he was and how much
Speaker 1: he really enjoyed what he was doing. And I said,
Speaker 1: you know, I guess you're right. I have obviously been
Speaker 1: knocked down and kicked in the gut, but it made
Speaker 1: me realize how much I love this business and what
Speaker 1: I love about it. It's always been about relationships, and
Speaker 1: that's not a play on the Bachelor and all that. Yes,
Speaker 1: that show is about relationships and love, but my job
Speaker 1: in general has always been about creating a relationship with
Speaker 1: you and fostering that relationship, and that's what made it
Speaker 1: fun and entertaining and exciting for me, as I always
Speaker 1: got to interact with you and it felt so genuine.
Speaker 1: And I love the fact that we're going to merit
Speaker 1: Street Media where it's going to only be about this
Speaker 1: relationship with you guys, and as Lauren just said, thank you,
Speaker 1: and your excitement, your love and your passion for what
Speaker 1: we're doing and coming back really just stokes those flames
Speaker 1: even higher. So I'm excited because our relationship just going
Speaker 1: to grow that much stronger.
Speaker 2: Sometimes this business is like a little easy to you know.
Speaker 2: When I was at entertainment tonight, it was like my
Speaker 2: dream job, right the job I wanted as a kid
Speaker 2: to be in entertainment news, and I loved it for
Speaker 2: years and then I started to like not love it,
Speaker 2: and they're you know, kind of the dream became a reality,
Speaker 2: and I learned things and saw things about the job
Speaker 2: that I, I don't know, I maybe got a little
Speaker 2: jaded about. I realized there were parts of it I
Speaker 2: weren't what I thought it was going to be. And
Speaker 2: I never wanted to be ungrateful, but at the same
Speaker 2: time you have to look in the mirror at some
Speaker 2: point and say, wait, is the reality actually the dream?
Speaker 2: Like do I actually love what I'm doing? And I
Speaker 2: realized it was time for me to move on from there.
Speaker 2: But one thing I have never taken for granted and
Speaker 2: I have always cherished and I have always been so
Speaker 2: grateful for again is.
Speaker 3: You guys, So thank you.
Speaker 2: And on that note, with the Merit Street media announcement,
Speaker 2: we kind of wanted to answer your questions because I
Speaker 2: noticed I was like, some of the comments on Instagram
Speaker 2: were like, but what does this mean? Let's get into
Speaker 2: the questions. We have our producer, Emma on who has
Speaker 2: got them. Thank you Emma, and Emma, let's dive right in.
Speaker 4: Okay, first one is from Macy and it's for Chris. Yes, Chris.
Speaker 4: Has anyone from the Bachelor franchise that you didn't expect
Speaker 4: to reach out to say congrats about the news dropping?
Speaker 1: Nobody that I guess I didn't expect. I was pleasantly
Speaker 1: surprised at a lot of messages as far as I know,
Speaker 1: the names, the cast members and stuff that everybody's thinking of.
Speaker 1: It was you know, those probably that you saw at
Speaker 1: our wedding, and I did. I got a lot of
Speaker 1: very personal messages, text messages that I really adored, and
Speaker 1: people were very excited and happy for us, for Lauren
Speaker 1: and I because you know, Lauren, Lauren knew a lot
Speaker 1: of these people even better than I did in sometimes
Speaker 1: some cases before me, and so they reached out to
Speaker 1: both of us, which is great. The other thing that
Speaker 1: struck me was I heard from some producers, a lot
Speaker 1: of producers I worked with over the years that reached
Speaker 1: out personally, some I had not spoken to since I
Speaker 1: left the show. Really meant a lot to me because
Speaker 1: I felt like, you know, we did touch each other's lives.
Speaker 1: We spent so much time together. And then some crew
Speaker 1: members and that really meant a lot to me, from
Speaker 1: lighting to sound audio, and from our camera department, from
Speaker 1: some of our photogs that reached out to me and
Speaker 1: sent me very personal messages, and again some people that
Speaker 1: I haven't heard of since I left the show. So yeah,
Speaker 1: it didn't surprise me, but it felt really good. And
Speaker 1: I like it when there are things in people's lives
Speaker 1: like a birth or a wedding, or maybe a new
Speaker 1: endeavor like this that creates contact with people, because again,
Speaker 1: I'm a big relationship guy, and so it's nice those
Speaker 1: relationships still exist.
Speaker 2: You got a lot of former producers saying, hey, let's
Speaker 2: work on something together. I noticed that there were a
Speaker 2: lot of people who really for similar reasons I've left
Speaker 2: the show or you know, had said some issues there
Speaker 2: being like, hey man, I love you and and there
Speaker 2: are some people I think we'd be happy to work
Speaker 2: with you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's some people I've talked to over the last
Speaker 1: few years since we left that have been very open
Speaker 1: about wanting to work together again. And it just didn't
Speaker 1: I didn't have the fire and the project to get
Speaker 1: going in that. But now that I do, we've reconnected
Speaker 1: and I can tell you there will be some very
Speaker 1: familiar names, at least for my life that will join
Speaker 1: me and join us and do some of our stuff together.
Speaker 1: So I'm excited about that because I've worked with so
Speaker 1: many talented men and women, and I want to get
Speaker 1: the band back together in a lot of ways, and
Speaker 1: so I'm looking forward to reconnecting with some of those people.
Speaker 1: What else you got, Emma?
Speaker 4: Okay from Joe, what will you two cover on your
Speaker 4: morning news show?
Speaker 2: Great question, I think that we want the show to
Speaker 2: be like a lot of fun. I want it to
Speaker 2: be a place where you all, like I would even
Speaker 2: say for me anyway, I want to lean into even
Speaker 2: a little more comedy like I used to do with
Speaker 2: Roses and Rose. So it won't be as news focused
Speaker 2: on Merit Street Media. There will be an hour or
Speaker 2: actually I think two hours of morning news leading into
Speaker 2: our morning show, which is going to be excellent coverage.
Speaker 2: They've hired an incredible team and pair of amazing female
Speaker 2: anchors there for the morning news show. There will also
Speaker 2: be hours of evening news on Merritt Street Media.
Speaker 3: So you will get that. You will get Doctor Phil.
Speaker 2: Primetime, his new primetime show, which Chris will be on.
Speaker 2: Nancy Grace is going to be on the network. Bear
Speaker 2: Grills is going to be doing some stuff on the network.
Speaker 2: And there's more names to be announced and a lot
Speaker 2: more programming to be announced. But I feel really amazing
Speaker 2: about the team, the Merit Street Media team that's going
Speaker 2: to be together. It's a lot of people with a
Speaker 2: ton of experience. But yeah, I think the morning show
Speaker 2: will be for me leaning comedy. We will definitely get
Speaker 2: into some relationships stuff will continue that from this podcast
Speaker 2: and anything you want to add to.
Speaker 1: That, Babe, No, I think that you know, the idea
Speaker 1: of the new work, and I think I mentioned this
Speaker 1: in the initial podcast, is that there is this great
Speaker 1: synergy that's going to work throughout the day, and so
Speaker 1: you will, you know, we'll be talking about what's on
Speaker 1: Merritt Street, what's coming up, because there's some fascinating stuff
Speaker 1: going on. If there's a great subject on Doctor Phil primetime,
Speaker 1: we'll kind of dip our toe into that, and if
Speaker 1: there is something, as you said, you know, we're not
Speaker 1: going to go deep into the news, but if there's
Speaker 1: something interesting in the news, you know, maybe we will
Speaker 1: bring in one of the anchors or whatever and kind
Speaker 1: of explain it better and maybe in layman's terms, and
Speaker 1: if we have kind of more general questions about what's
Speaker 1: going on in the world. But just that synergy that
Speaker 1: I think we're going to have throughout the network. But
Speaker 1: I agree, it's going to be fun. If you're going
Speaker 1: to start your day with us, which we hope you will,
Speaker 1: we want it to be entertaining, we want it to
Speaker 1: be fun. We want you to feel connected to us.
Speaker 1: You know, Lauren and I are excitedly building our team
Speaker 1: right now. We are putting together the people that we
Speaker 1: want to work with that'll have that vibe and that
Speaker 1: energy and that creativity to put together the type of
Speaker 1: MOE show that you're going to love to be a
Speaker 1: part of each and every day. And it won't be
Speaker 1: the same every day. Yes, it'll be kind of formulaic
Speaker 1: and that we want you to kind of understand what
Speaker 1: you're getting every day. But I think who knows what
Speaker 1: you know? We'll we'll throw at you every day.
Speaker 4: Amy asks, well, you have to move to Dallas or
Speaker 4: get a place there.
Speaker 1: Good question, because we live in Austin, Texas, which is
Speaker 1: where we're doing this one today, we're doing another podcast.
Speaker 1: Austin's going to be our home. That's going to be
Speaker 1: where we're gonna, you know, drop anchor. We love it
Speaker 1: down here. This place has welcomed us with open arms.
Speaker 3: Now we don't want to leave. We love Austin.
Speaker 2: And if you don't know, Austin is about two hours
Speaker 2: and forty five minutes from Dallas.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and really so where this studio is is right
Speaker 1: between Dallas and Fort Worth almost If you see where
Speaker 1: DFW Airport is, that's kind of where the studio is
Speaker 1: that Doctor Phil has built. It's this, guys, It's this
Speaker 1: five acre, beautiful, state of the art facility that has
Speaker 1: sound stages, his talk show stage, has the news set.
Speaker 1: It is beautiful and so it's amazing when you all
Speaker 1: it's hard to not be energized when you walk in
Speaker 1: there because I've just never seen anything like it. So
Speaker 1: it's a very special place to work. So it's kind
Speaker 1: of between Dallas and Fort Worth and look to get
Speaker 1: in the weeds. Maybe eventually we have to, you know,
Speaker 1: get a place up in Fort Worth or Dallas, but
Speaker 1: our kids are in Fort Worth. So honestly, this has
Speaker 1: been such a blessing.
Speaker 2: I don't know if we could have picked a better place,
Speaker 2: especially since it is closer to Fort Worth, which is
Speaker 2: where TCU, where both our kids go to school.
Speaker 3: Is like every time, you know.
Speaker 2: Chris has filmed a couple of things with Doctor Phil
Speaker 2: before the announcement was made. He's been doing some shows
Speaker 2: that you will see on air. And when we've driven
Speaker 2: up for him to film this stuff, it's like we
Speaker 2: get to grab dinner with you know, your daughter Taylor.
Speaker 2: We get to go see josh as lacrosse games. So
Speaker 2: it's a two and a half hour drive. We don't
Speaker 2: mind doing it. We get to get up there, get
Speaker 2: some work done, see the kids for a couple of days.
Speaker 2: And we also have a lot of great friends in Dallas,
Speaker 2: so we will not be moving there. We are happy
Speaker 2: to spend time there.
Speaker 4: Okay from Kathy, does this mean that you won't record
Speaker 4: for the podcast as much?
Speaker 1: We may have to dial it back a little bit. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, but for now, the podcast continues. Obviously you're
Speaker 1: listening to it right now, but maybe it also changes
Speaker 1: a little bit depending on what we're doing and what
Speaker 1: we're covering. Which is fine because this I think this
Speaker 1: podcast and a good podcast like our Lives, will ebb
Speaker 1: and flow and change with what we're talking about and
Speaker 1: what's going on in our lives. But we are relationship people,
Speaker 1: and so you know, we'll continue to have the great
Speaker 1: guests and talk about relationships and love. But we're also
Speaker 1: maybe going to delve into some of the things we're
Speaker 1: doing there at Merritt Street Media and will there be
Speaker 1: less Maybe maybe we have to. There's only so many
Speaker 1: hours in the day where we can pull this off.
Speaker 1: But for now, the most dramatic podcast Lives on.
Speaker 4: From Julie, when is your morning show starting?
Speaker 2: Great question right now we are, I will say, we
Speaker 2: are excitedly hoping to lock in an executive producer pretty soon.
Speaker 3: We're looking at some names.
Speaker 1: Someone who will be we need a third musketeer. Lauren
Speaker 1: and I are obviously creators executive producers, but we kind
Speaker 1: of need that third person who will be off air
Speaker 1: that can kind of help run the ship.
Speaker 2: Yes, we were, so you know, this is launching a network,
Speaker 2: by the way, so it's a big undertaking. And if
Speaker 2: you all missed, like kind of any of the details
Speaker 2: of this or if it's confusing, Merit Street Media will
Speaker 2: be a channel. You will be able to get it
Speaker 2: as a channel. Think of it like when Doctor phils
Speaker 2: mentor Oprah launched own. So Merit Street Media will be
Speaker 2: a new channel. As we get literally the info on
Speaker 2: like what number it is, we will send it out
Speaker 2: to you guys, because if you have direct TV, you
Speaker 2: know it'll be a channel number and we'll make sure
Speaker 2: to share that. So in launching Merritt Street Media, there's
Speaker 2: a lot of work that goes into launching a network,
Speaker 2: and they are having to you know, completely higher staff
Speaker 2: and for every hour of television.
Speaker 3: And so it's a lot going on.
Speaker 2: Honestly, I think Chris and I we were happy to
Speaker 2: take a bit of a back seat, like to get
Speaker 2: the network off the air.
Speaker 1: Well. Number one, it's Doctor Phil's network. So the main
Speaker 1: two main things that we wanted to launch this network
Speaker 1: with and we I say all of us because you know,
Speaker 1: the great thing about Doctor Phil is very collaborative. I
Speaker 1: mean we're doing everything in the room together. And when
Speaker 1: you're sitting there with four or five people and Lauren
Speaker 1: and I are sitting there together, we talk all this
Speaker 1: out and Doctor Phil's very open about this. We got
Speaker 1: the news network going the new so when you watch
Speaker 1: April second and we will be on Dish, we will
Speaker 1: be on Direct Tv, we will be on Charter, We're
Speaker 1: going to be on all the cable networks. We'll get
Speaker 1: you all the lineups and where you can find us
Speaker 1: soon and will post it on social. But you're gonna
Speaker 1: be able to watch this. There will also be a
Speaker 1: digital component, so if you're up in Canada people have
Speaker 1: asked or whatever, digitally, we're going to have a place
Speaker 1: for you to go watch it as well. But the
Speaker 1: launch is primarily Doctor Phil Primetime he built a new studio, studio, audience, producers, direct,
Speaker 1: everybody has moved or been hired in Dallas, and so
Speaker 1: they're there the new as Lauren said, the the news
Speaker 1: department is up and running. They've been going through run throughs.
Speaker 1: We watched that the other day. So I think the
Speaker 1: great thing about this is baby steps. Doctor Phil does
Speaker 1: not want to be drinking from a fire hydrant. The
Speaker 1: idea is, let's build things well, do it right, and
Speaker 1: then let's move on to the next. And so the
Speaker 1: long answer to this is our show probably late summer,
Speaker 1: maybe even early fall before we get going on air.
Speaker 1: But more thing's definitive.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I think, I mean the morning show is
Speaker 2: probably closer to it is summer, and then you know,
Speaker 2: we have a reality relationship dating show in the works.
Speaker 2: But when I say we were just happy to take
Speaker 2: a back seat, like we just wanted to support this
Speaker 2: network getting off the ground, We're really happy to have
Speaker 2: found this home that feels so right for us with
Speaker 2: Like the basic combination is doctor Phil has the right
Speaker 2: mentality that we wanted. He pivots like it's a startup,
Speaker 2: but he's got the experience and the backing of a
Speaker 2: very seasoned network. And then he's creative, he's innovative, he
Speaker 2: wants to think outside the box. And then that third component,
Speaker 2: it was right here in Texas. So for all these reasons,
Speaker 2: we're like, this is the place for us. So we
Speaker 2: wanted to support getting Merritt Street off the ground, and
Speaker 2: then we'll bug them about our morning show getting on
Speaker 2: the air.
Speaker 1: And when you asked me, and I don't think I
Speaker 1: was eloquent enough in the last podcast why Merritt Street,
Speaker 1: and someone asked, why do this? It's because it checked
Speaker 1: every box, and even boxes I didn't understand that we had,
Speaker 1: you know, when people were pitching as shows, or when
Speaker 1: you and I were talking about different shows and when,
Speaker 1: when and how we would come back, nothing felt right,
Speaker 1: nothing really lit that fire. And what I realized was
Speaker 1: nothing was big enough, nothing was broad enough that it
Speaker 1: really excited us to do something that meant a lot,
Speaker 1: and that we are not just going to host a show.
Speaker 1: We're helping build a network. We are helping kind of
Speaker 1: create a vision with Doctor Phil and in turn fulfilling
Speaker 1: our own vision and our own excitement to produce, to host,
Speaker 1: to do a lot of different things and wear a
Speaker 1: lot of different hats. This is really a beautiful thing
Speaker 1: that I don't even know that we knew we were
Speaker 1: waiting for, and then when that opportunity presented itself. Patience
Speaker 1: is a virtue, man, did it pay off? Because this
Speaker 1: is the grand scale. I can't imagine anything bigger.
Speaker 2: No, you know, I feel really grateful and I I
Speaker 2: honestly feel like this is only really sunk in for me.
Speaker 2: Since the announcement was made, I've been like so happy
Speaker 2: the last couple of days.
Speaker 1: You very mum, you have.
Speaker 2: I think I was carrying a lot of like tension,
Speaker 2: you know, nervousness about announcing it and just wanting it
Speaker 2: to go well, and and now I've kind of allowed
Speaker 2: myself to be like, wait, I'm just really like and again,
Speaker 2: thank you guys for embracing it so much. But I'm
Speaker 2: really excited and really feeling that like creative fire lit
Speaker 2: in me again for the first time in a while.
Speaker 2: So that, really, as you're saying, is probably why it
Speaker 2: was the best fit and and to be able to
Speaker 2: do it right and the way that we want to
Speaker 2: do it, whether it works out or not, I guess
Speaker 2: is really wonderful.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Emma.
Speaker 4: From Suzanne, what is the format of your new dating show,
Speaker 4: a reality matchmaking show or a relationship.
Speaker 1: Advice format, wouldn't you like to know? No, dramatic.
Speaker 2: It is not a relationship advice show. We are we
Speaker 2: we can confirm we have in the works a reality dating.
Speaker 1: Show, a dramatic reality dating show. Now it really it is.
Speaker 1: It is a new concept. It is something different and
Speaker 1: it's something that we have. We're excited with that that
Speaker 1: I think is actually more formulated and that cake is
Speaker 1: baked probably more than our morning show.
Speaker 2: Definitely More's I suppose I'm saying the morning show is
Speaker 2: going to happen sooner because like a morning show is
Speaker 2: just a technically a little bit of an easier lift.
Speaker 2: It might not sound like it, but like, once we
Speaker 2: have the staff in place on a morning show, that's
Speaker 2: you know, you have one set and you have just
Speaker 2: it's just the two of us. Yeah, we're the only
Speaker 2: cast members to worry about. So it's a smaller workshop
Speaker 2: and it can you you can get that on the
Speaker 2: air quicker. The reality dating show is a more ironed
Speaker 2: out concept. We know what we're going to do with
Speaker 2: that more. I think for you that's just home more
Speaker 2: really for both of us, probably we're both more familiar
Speaker 2: with that format. But that's a bigger lift. You got
Speaker 2: to have more staff and casting and where are you
Speaker 2: going to film it? And that's just a bigger lift
Speaker 2: to get off the ground.
Speaker 4: From Liz, did marriage inspire you too to partner up
Speaker 4: in business?
Speaker 1: No? That the great part, great question.
Speaker 3: What a great question have we ever asked ourselves that question?
Speaker 1: From Liz's that's a phenomenal question and a very deep question.
Speaker 1: Lauren and I partnered in life but also in business before.
Speaker 1: One of the first things we did when we moved
Speaker 1: to Austin, and this was I'm going to say more
Speaker 1: on me because it's something I really wanted. I don't
Speaker 1: know if you thought about this getting into our relationship,
Speaker 1: but one of my dreams was to not only fall
Speaker 1: in love with Lauren, but to work with her. I
Speaker 1: think she's brilliant. She inspires me. I am in awe
Speaker 1: of her her creativity and what she does good and
Speaker 1: what she is so powerful at is not exactly what
Speaker 1: I'm great at. I think we have different strengths and
Speaker 1: different powers, and I admire that and I really relish that.
Speaker 1: And so we created our production company, Next Chapter Productions,
Speaker 1: when we moved to Austin. It's based out of Austin
Speaker 1: at set in Texas, so it was another way to
Speaker 1: kind of set roots here. And that's what this podcast
Speaker 1: is actually produced out of is Next Chapter Productions. That
Speaker 1: was our first production that we created with iHeartRadio, and
Speaker 1: we've done other endeavors as well and have done other things.
Speaker 1: This is by far our biggest, most vocal, and most visual,
Speaker 1: and so this has been a long time coming for us.
Speaker 1: Why I say long time, you know, we've been here
Speaker 1: for a few years. But for me it was always
Speaker 1: a dream and I don't know if it was always
Speaker 1: the case for you, but this is a dream realized.
Speaker 1: And so when I go into Merritt Street and I
Speaker 1: sit with Lauren and she's at the table and she's
Speaker 1: commanding the audience and she's kicking ass, man, I love it.
Speaker 1: And I like she's been She said, she's been so
Speaker 1: happy since the announcement because we've been sitting on this
Speaker 1: for a minute. It has been this. I have relief
Speaker 1: and it's just been fun to watch her in this light.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's so nice. I feel like crying. That's so nice.
Speaker 2: I have a hard time hearing compl I have a
Speaker 2: hard time even talking about myself sometimes that is truly
Speaker 2: or really all the time. That's a little bit why,
Speaker 2: Like I don't know, being interviewed is really hard for me.
Speaker 1: Like I'm gonna say, guys, this has been a fascinating
Speaker 1: side of Lauren. I didn't know because she's interviewed me
Speaker 1: so many times, and I've watched her when Emmy after Emmy,
Speaker 1: including the one that's behind my head, our fourth one
Speaker 1: that we just put up on the wall thanks to
Speaker 1: Lauren's ema. She's not used to being interviewed.
Speaker 2: I'm not I'm okay to like share my opinion on things,
Speaker 2: but I'm not used to being asked questions Like.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I guess I'm just used to doing it the other way.
Speaker 2: And and I definitely I'm always in awe of you,
Speaker 2: like when we did press for the Merit Street announcement.
Speaker 2: You're just so good at being interviewed. I mean, your
Speaker 2: your bites are concise, and you're you're so good at
Speaker 2: being interned, which is why I always used to love
Speaker 2: interviewing you. I don't think I had as much that
Speaker 2: You're right, I didn't have as much of a conscious
Speaker 2: let's work together, but I tend to like go with
Speaker 2: the flow. I think a little more than you. You're
Speaker 2: a bit more of a planner than I am, sure,
Speaker 2: and I think it just happens so naturally in our relationship,
Speaker 2: and it never it never raised red flags or caused
Speaker 2: alarm for me, like we because we'd even been quote
Speaker 2: unquote working together by me interviewing you before we were
Speaker 2: ever even dating. It just always felt like a part
Speaker 2: of things, Like it's really probably one of the reasons
Speaker 2: I fell in love with you is because I always
Speaker 2: loved getting your opinion on things, like I would love
Speaker 2: you watching Roses and Rose and telling me what you
Speaker 2: thought of it. I really respect your opinion on like
Speaker 2: my work or our work, because you know, I just
Speaker 2: think you're so seasoned at this and you so know
Speaker 2: what you're doing.
Speaker 3: Down to our wedding, like I was like, babe, what
Speaker 3: do you think?
Speaker 2: Like I loved watching him work on what the lighting
Speaker 2: would be at the ceremony because you're so good at
Speaker 2: that stuff, and I trust you implicitly, So it's just
Speaker 2: always felt natural and good to me, and I never
Speaker 2: questioned it, and I never paused and said should we
Speaker 2: do this?
Speaker 1: Great question by the way, Liz, thank you.
Speaker 4: Sarah's wondering where she can watch Merritt Street.
Speaker 1: So again, this is worth kind of repeating. This is
Speaker 1: a network. It is a television network. It's not a streamer.
Speaker 1: This is not Paramount, this is not Peacock whatever. It
Speaker 1: will have a digital component to it as well. Where
Speaker 1: that is or what it's called Meritstreet, dot com or whatever.
Speaker 1: We'll figure we're gonna well, we will announce that, but
Speaker 1: this is going to be a television network. You will
Speaker 1: go to your TV and watch this and you can
Speaker 1: watch it all day. Morning news, you know, a morning news,
Speaker 1: a morning show that Laurena and I are going to
Speaker 1: be hosting. There will be other talk shows, Doctor Phil Primetime.
Speaker 1: There's going to be a lot of entertaining things that
Speaker 1: will be created for this network, including our relationship show
Speaker 1: reality show. But this will be, for example, on DirecTV.
Speaker 1: I believe we're going to be and I will confirm
Speaker 1: this on channel two fifty right between Comedy Central and
Speaker 1: Oxygen Network. I'll confirm that because those are the big negotiations.
Speaker 1: We know that this will be and I know this
Speaker 1: is coming out in my bachelor voice. This will be
Speaker 1: the biggest network launch ever, and I'm not overstating that
Speaker 1: this will have seventy five to eighty million subscribers day one,
Speaker 1: that's before they go deeper. That is never been done before.
Speaker 1: Kudos to doctor Phil, Kudos to everybody who behind the
Speaker 1: scenes has been negotiating these deals. So this is no
Speaker 1: small startup, This is no joke. When they launch April second,
Speaker 1: day one, seventy five to eighty million subscribers. To put
Speaker 1: this in perspective, usually you're lucky if you can launch
Speaker 1: with fifteen to twenty. So this is a massive, massive
Speaker 1: launch and is already a great success. And they're not
Speaker 1: even on the area yet. So we will check our
Speaker 1: Instagram and our social media, all that stuff on Merit
Speaker 1: Street Media and just watch Lauren and I. We will
Speaker 1: and come back to the most traumatic podcast ever. We
Speaker 1: will methodically tell you where to find Merit Street Media
Speaker 1: and of course anything we are doing with it.
Speaker 4: Kathy asks will this be available in other countries?
Speaker 1: I hope That's the only thing. I don't know, you know,
Speaker 1: I know things are wonky when you're you know, trying
Speaker 1: to watch The Bachelor and people in England are like,
Speaker 1: we can't watch it, you know, And I don't know.
Speaker 1: If you've ever traveled abroad and you're like, oh good,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna sit down and watch Netflix, and you're like,
Speaker 1: oh crap, I can't watch Netflix or Peacock because I'm
Speaker 1: out of the country. There are so many different limitations
Speaker 1: and rules and where that applies to streamers and all
Speaker 1: that stuff. So long answer here, I don't know. I
Speaker 1: guess the short answer here is I don't know because
Speaker 1: that is over our pay grade and it has to
Speaker 1: do with the legality of the FCC and all those
Speaker 1: liabilities and legalities and all that good stuff. So unfortunately,
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 3: I love it, like liabilities and legalities and all that
Speaker 3: kind of stuff.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 2: Like we all have these phrases. We kind of go
Speaker 2: to one of Chris's is all that good stuff? And
Speaker 2: sometimes I'm like, I don't know, they have legalities and liabilities.
Speaker 3: That's not good.
Speaker 1: I know. Look, I would love to tell you because
Speaker 1: because the folks up in Canada, I've had so many
Speaker 1: people reach out because Canada has always been so good
Speaker 1: to me. The Bachelor was huge. It was the number
Speaker 1: one show up in Canada for such a long time,
Speaker 1: and God bless you and thank you guys so much,
Speaker 1: our neighbors to the north. And I went and did
Speaker 1: press up there and spent some time up there with you,
Speaker 1: and I loved it, and y'all have been so supportive.
Speaker 1: So you know, my dream is that, yes, I can
Speaker 1: tell you we're up in Canada, but I don't know
Speaker 1: yet and I don't know where that will be if
Speaker 1: that is the case, Like do you have to do
Speaker 1: it digitally? We'll merit street just be up there, but
Speaker 1: imise I will find.
Speaker 4: Out from Laney. Well I have to pay for a
Speaker 4: subscription in order to watch.
Speaker 1: My hope is no, And my thinking is no short
Speaker 1: answer on that. I think our You know, when I
Speaker 1: say digital platform, it's not going to be like in Netflix,
Speaker 1: where we're charging you ten dollars you know, a month
Speaker 1: or whatever. This is a free television network. First of all,
Speaker 1: you're just well free, you know, if you pay for
Speaker 1: your cable subscription, Direct TV, Dish, it is a part
Speaker 1: of that package. It is a must carry is what
Speaker 1: they call this network on everything. So you will get
Speaker 1: it a party as a part of your subscription and
Speaker 1: it'll be on your channel lineup and then as far
Speaker 1: as digitally, we will tell you where you can find
Speaker 1: that online from Jeff.
Speaker 4: Are you afraid of being in the spotlight and getting
Speaker 4: canceled again?
Speaker 1: A good question, It's a really good question. The answer
Speaker 1: is no, I'm not. You know, and I don't know
Speaker 1: if it's you know, like when you're pregnant you can't
Speaker 1: get pregnant, or but I have been down that road
Speaker 1: and learn the lessons, felt the pain, and it was painful.
Speaker 1: I'll admit it was not easy. I don't wish that
Speaker 1: on anybody. It was a very difficult time for both
Speaker 1: of us, for Lauren and I. But with that said,
Speaker 1: I know who I am. I know the person I am.
Speaker 1: I know the man that I am, and I believe
Speaker 1: in that person and I know that I am a
Speaker 1: good human being, and so I'm ready to spread that love.
Speaker 1: And what I have felt from you the viewer, is
Speaker 1: that you are ready to reconnect and to have us
Speaker 1: back on TV. And so no, I guess the short
Speaker 1: answer is no, I'm really really excited.
Speaker 2: Really, Doctor Phil has been a really lovely comfort because
Speaker 2: we've had some of these conversations with him and his
Speaker 2: confidence in us and his confidence like his zero hesitation
Speaker 2: and his full embracing of us and being like, you
Speaker 2: guys are smart, you're awesome, you're talent, please come beyond.
Speaker 2: This network was so wonderful and also like just like
Speaker 2: we've kind of talked about some of this stuff with him,
Speaker 2: and he's like, look, you guys, I've I've had my
Speaker 2: own show for twenty years, and let me tell you
Speaker 2: some somebody's always going to say something bad about you.
Speaker 3: And that's true.
Speaker 2: Like, do I think it's gotten worse than it was
Speaker 2: twenty years ago? Yes, because of social media and and
Speaker 2: kind of the fear that can be they can prove
Speaker 2: very quickly. But I also know that like we've been
Speaker 2: through it and we've come out the other side, and
Speaker 2: so I just I think I've just accepted that. Like today,
Speaker 2: Kate Blanchett said about her last movie that she's like,
Speaker 2: you know, there's just always going to be critics of
Speaker 2: anything you do today, any art, And I feel that way,
Speaker 2: like there's always going to be some bad comments and
Speaker 2: we're just going to have to roll through it. And
Speaker 2: so I'm more than I'm ninety nine percent just excited
Speaker 2: to be doing this, feeling great about it, and feeling like,
Speaker 2: most importantly, we have to be true to who we
Speaker 2: are like. That's the biggest comfort and joy for me
Speaker 2: is I now feel that confidence, especially because we're doing
Speaker 2: this on our own terms. It's a little harder to,
Speaker 2: like people say, be yourself. It's harder to be yourself
Speaker 2: when you have bosses at a job where like you
Speaker 2: are yourself on TV, it is your name, You're kind
Speaker 2: of supposed to be being yourself, but you have to
Speaker 2: do it through their lens. It's kind of tough. Now
Speaker 2: I feel a little bit more ease in our ability
Speaker 2: to do what we want to do, do the content
Speaker 2: we want to do, and so if people like that
Speaker 2: are not at least it's like, this is what I
Speaker 2: feel good about the choices we made.
Speaker 1: I only know one way to be, and I am
Speaker 1: an eternal optimist and I've been knocked down before and
Speaker 1: I've failed before. I only know one way to be,
Speaker 1: and that's move forward. And that is move forward unabashedly
Speaker 1: with everything I got. And if I do something, I
Speaker 1: do it with everything. And I'm going to give this
Speaker 1: one hundred percent. And so I'm not afraid to fail.
Speaker 1: I've failed, you know, whether being canceled, failing or whatever.
Speaker 1: But leaving the Bachelor before then I have not gotten
Speaker 1: jobs or I've been fired from jobs, and I just
Speaker 1: always move forward, and so, you know, getting knocked down
Speaker 1: is inevitable. What I always judge people by is a
Speaker 1: do you get back up? And then what do you
Speaker 1: do after you get back up? Do you keep moving forward?
Speaker 1: And so I'm excited. I am so fired up to
Speaker 1: get back out there, and I don't have one bit
Speaker 1: of apprehension in me at all. All right, Emma, this
Speaker 1: is the final question tonight.
Speaker 4: Lisa is wondering what is your relationship like with doctor Phil?
Speaker 1: A friendship? And thank you for asking that, because if
Speaker 1: we're getting to the end of this podcast, I want
Speaker 1: to give credit where credit is due. Doctor Phil has
Speaker 1: become a very good friend of ours. I have confided
Speaker 1: in him. He has given me and Lauren given us
Speaker 1: great advice, life advice, business advice. I have learned so
Speaker 1: much from him. I was always had great admiration for
Speaker 1: him because he's a legend at what he did. He's
Speaker 1: also very humble. You know, he was the number one
Speaker 1: talk show, but he'll tell you how do you get
Speaker 1: to be number one? Well, number one had to retire
Speaker 1: and that was Oprah. He was number two for forever,
Speaker 1: and when number one stepped aside, he became number one.
Speaker 1: But he still, you know, writes Oprah Winfrey every year
Speaker 1: on their anniversary of working together, to say thank you,
Speaker 1: and so he knows where to give credit. And he
Speaker 1: is a very bright man who takes in all the
Speaker 1: information in the room, thinks and then speaks. And he's
Speaker 1: very thoughtful and very caring, incredibly loyal, just a big
Speaker 1: he'll hate to hear this, because he's very imposing, and
Speaker 1: he is intimidating. He's a big teddy bear. But he
Speaker 1: is very fair. And that's not to say he's a
Speaker 1: pushover by any means, because my god, he is not.
Speaker 1: But man, if I had to sum it up in
Speaker 1: one thing, I would call him a friend.
Speaker 2: I have such as you just said, admiration. And also
Speaker 2: I've been so truly inspired by him because I look
Speaker 2: at this man who's obviously older than me and doing
Speaker 2: the press for his new book. He did something like
Speaker 2: seventy interviews in two weeks. His energy, his passion for
Speaker 2: what he does. He's launching a network. He's launching a
Speaker 2: network because he realized he wanted to feel good about
Speaker 2: his work again, and he wanted to have this network
Speaker 2: be a place where people could look at the facts,
Speaker 2: make decisions for themselves, and not be inundated with just
Speaker 2: talking heads screaming at each other all the time. He
Speaker 2: wants to analyze issues and give people good takeaways and
Speaker 2: approach with a fact based assessment of things.
Speaker 3: He's very like, what are the facts?
Speaker 2: Before he does any show, he researches the topic with
Speaker 2: a team, and he researches it from all sides. It's
Speaker 2: not about what I agree with or not. It's about
Speaker 2: what's the truth here. And so for all those reasons,
Speaker 2: I'm incredibly inspired by him. I feel like he's kind
Speaker 2: of getting back to what I first got.
Speaker 3: Into journalism for.
Speaker 2: And again it's just like his zest for life, his
Speaker 2: love for his family, His wife Robin has been incredibly
Speaker 2: supportive and welcoming to us and excited for us to
Speaker 2: join the team. So we've just felt nothing but love.
Speaker 2: I kind of feel like we've found two kindred spirits
Speaker 2: in them, like a kindred couple who also works together
Speaker 2: and supports each other.
Speaker 3: And it just feels like a really good fit.
Speaker 1: And by the way, just on a professional front, he's good.
Speaker 1: As I said last week, as of the taping of
Speaker 1: this podcast. I've shot several shows with him. I've been
Speaker 1: on stage. I'm not going to be on every show,
Speaker 1: by the way, I will be in to certain topics
Speaker 1: that he's covering. Tomorrow, I'm flying back up and hosting
Speaker 1: another show with him and a host to host. When
Speaker 1: they say talent recognizes talent or game recognizes game, dude's
Speaker 1: got game. He is very good. I love being on
Speaker 1: stage with him. He raises the level of my game
Speaker 1: of hosting, which is exciting for me. I've been doing
Speaker 1: this for going on thirty years now, and he fires
Speaker 1: me up when I'm on stage. I got to be
Speaker 1: on my toes because I want to be at his
Speaker 1: level and I want to impress the guy, you know.
Speaker 1: I want to show him that I'm good and I
Speaker 1: got what it takes to be on that stage with him.
Speaker 1: The guy is unbelievably impressive. As Lauren said, he'll shoot
Speaker 1: two shows and then he'll go work the rest of
Speaker 1: the day and to that point. By the way, if
Speaker 1: any of you are ever in the DFW area or
Speaker 1: make a point to get to the area, come see
Speaker 1: Doctor phill Primetime live studio audience. He has created this
Speaker 1: whole immersive experience. When you get to Merritt Street Media,
Speaker 1: you will have a show. You kind of walk through
Speaker 1: this experience. Then you come to a taping or two.
Speaker 1: He does two a day Monday through Wednesdays. So get
Speaker 1: your tickets, go go to Merritt Street, get your tickets,
Speaker 1: and come visit us, and hopefully I'll be on stage
Speaker 1: that particular day as well. It is a wonderful experience
Speaker 1: and I love that's just doctor Phil though. He's like,
Speaker 1: I'm not just going to have a studio audience like
Speaker 1: I did back in La I'm going to do it differently.
Speaker 1: I want these people to have a day, have a show.
Speaker 1: You arrive on a red carpet and you can have
Speaker 1: your phones out, you're taking pictures. There's a gift shop,
Speaker 1: there's all this great stuff, and that just go. That
Speaker 1: just shows the kind of showman and the kind of
Speaker 1: professional that Doctor Phil is. He thought bigger and broader.
Speaker 2: Definitely a fun thing to do if here in Dallas.
Speaker 2: And thank you if you are listening and you have
Speaker 2: been to a couple of the tapings where Chris has filmed,
Speaker 2: thank you for not spoiling our announcement because there were
Speaker 2: we were a little nervous because Chris has dipped a
Speaker 2: few shows now before the announcement, and some of you
Speaker 2: were in the audience and had great reactions to him
Speaker 2: being there. And there were a couple of times when
Speaker 2: truly we sort of got lost backstage and we accidentally
Speaker 2: walked through where the audience was being held. And then
Speaker 2: I and like we like pulled back a curtain and
Speaker 2: saw this a couple two hundred people in front of
Speaker 2: us and heard Chris Harrison, and I was.
Speaker 3: Like, oh, gosh, I appreciate Yeah, thank you all.
Speaker 2: If you're listening, thank you, We really deeply appreciate you
Speaker 2: not going online being like I saw Chris Harrison at
Speaker 2: Dark Like.
Speaker 3: Thank you for that. Thank you for letting us have
Speaker 3: the announcement. We appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Thank you all so much for your questions. Hopefully that
Speaker 1: that answered some of them. I know when we announced,
Speaker 1: we were talking about a lot of personal stuff, and
Speaker 1: Lauren and I were so excited. We tried to get
Speaker 1: as much information out as we could, but really we
Speaker 1: were just giddy to finally just release this to the world.
Speaker 1: And so there I know, there's more details about Channel
Speaker 1: lineup where you can see us when our shows will drop.
Speaker 1: Trust me, we will keep you posted and thank.
Speaker 2: You for your patience with that, and not just I
Speaker 2: guess patients with this, but you know, the past couple
Speaker 2: years we have I can't even count how many people
Speaker 2: or messages have come up to us have dmd us
Speaker 2: and said, like, you know, when are we going to
Speaker 2: see you on TV next? And we are so excited
Speaker 2: to now finally be making that happen. So thank you.
Speaker 2: You are always the most important thing to us. We
Speaker 2: value you and love you.
Speaker 3: So much and we are excited to have fun with
Speaker 3: you again.
Speaker 1: Love you all. Nothing I could add to that. That
Speaker 1: was perfect. We will do it again next time because
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.