WEBVTT - INTERVIEW: Steve Wilkos On Relationship With Jerry Springer, Wendy Williams Documentary, Dr. Phil +More 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:04.840 Wake that answer up in the morning, The Breakfast Club Morning. 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:06.680 Everybody is the j n V. 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:09.760 Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne the guy. We are the Breakfast Club. 0:00:09.760 --> 0:00:12.399 You got a special guest in the building. Indeed, the 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:15.840 seventeenth season on Air, Ladies and Gentlemen, Steve Wilcals, Welcome 0:00:15.840 --> 0:00:17.240 back again. 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:20.640 How are you? I'm great? What're you coming from Connecticut? 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:22.200 Okay, so it wasn't that long. 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:24.840 No, I mean, you know it's not great, but as 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:26.680 long as the car is moving, I'm yeah. 0:00:26.760 --> 0:00:27.160 Yeah. 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:30.560 You're celebrating your thirtieth year in television. Like on television. 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:34.760 I know you started as Jerry Springer's bodyguard and actually 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:36.680 the producer on The Jerry Springer Show. 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:39.159 Right, what did you produce. 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:40.800 The no No No. 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:42.839 Name and the credits on a couple of episodes? 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.519 Well, on my show, I'm an executive producer. 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:45.960 Absolutely, I know. 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:50.400 But that's I don't produce. That's just uh, you know, 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:53.000 they give you the title because if my show ever 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:55.480 won an Emmy, if I was an executive pducer, I 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:57.240 want to get an Emmy. That's why they do it. 0:00:57.280 --> 0:00:59.760 So I have nothing to do with the producing of 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:02.640 the show. But I started on the Spring show. I 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:05.800 was a Chicago cop. Yeah. They just hired some cops 0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:08.039 to do security and I happened to be one of them, 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:11.080 and thirty years later, I'm still here. Yeah. 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:11.360 Yeah. 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:13.640 Did you ever expect your career to end up like No, 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:14.039 I was. 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:16.160 Going to be policeman. Like my dad was a Chicago 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:19.160 policeman for thirty years and he retired, and that's what 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:20.760 I was going to do, you know, just pay a cop, 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:24.480 get my pension, and retire. But I kind of like 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:25.240 the way it worked out. 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:26.400 So you to retire on a job. 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:28.840 You know, I had twelve years and I could have 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:31.760 got a pension, but I pulled it, and you know, 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:34.280 just twelve years was long enough. 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:37.480 Actually, did you have to really contemplate like do I 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:40.800 leave this where I could go or do I wait 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:43.120 twelve years I get my pension. It was good for 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:44.000 the rest of my life. 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:47.520 It was difficult because you know, when I left, I 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:49.280 had no idea. I left in two thousand and one 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:50.920 and I got my show in two thousand and seven, 0:01:51.000 --> 0:01:53.120 so I never knew I was going to get my 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:55.760 own TV show. I mean, that was crazy even to think. 0:01:56.240 --> 0:02:00.800 But my wife, who's my executive producer became the execut 0:02:00.800 --> 0:02:03.760 producer Jerry Springer. I actually came home one night and 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:05.880 I was covered in blood in my police uniform. And 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:08.840 she goes, this is crazy, man. You need to you 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:12.960 know she and she said, listen, when the Springer shows over, 0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:16.399 we're not staying work living on your policeman cellar. She goes, 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:18.840 I'm a TV producer. We're going to go to LA 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:21.400 or New York and I'm going to be a TV producer. 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:24.480 You'll find something to do. And I said yeah. And 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:26.799 at that point, I was kind of burnt out being 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:28.680 a policeman, you know. I was tired of fighting and 0:02:28.680 --> 0:02:31.200 everything and getting hurt. So I was like, okay, I'm 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:33.440 okay with that. When did you really start making money? 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:35.839 Ay thirty the TV? At what point did you realize? Yeah? 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:38.640 So in ninety four when I started, I was like 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:42.480 an hourly guy. Then the next year they wanted me there, 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:45.000 so I was a week I got weekly pay, and 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:47.480 then I think it was ninety seven they gave me 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:51.360 a contract for seventy five thousand dollars. So that's a 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:53.160 part time job, you know, And I was making I 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:57.160 think forty five thousand as a policeman. And then the 0:02:57.240 --> 0:02:59.200 next year they like, not even the next year, it 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:02.240 was like six months later they toret a contract contract 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:03.720 up and they gave me one hundred and fifty thousand 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:07.920 because the show was just rocking, And uh so, I 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:09.720 honestly thought I was like the richest guy in the 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:12.360 world making one hundred and fifty thousand dollars part time job. 0:03:12.560 --> 0:03:15.959 And uh so, I guess that was when it really started. 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:18.120 And then after that then I kept climbing, and then 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:20.440 obviously when I got my own show, I started making 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:21.359 really good money. 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:25.320 I had the second longest running syndicated daytime talk show 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:28.440 in current production Jesus, and. 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:30.680 I wish all those people that laughed in my face 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:32.880 in LA when I did the media tour, like they 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:36.560 were just dogging me man, like Jerry Springer's guy, he's 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:38.600 not gonna last thirteen weeks because back then it was 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:41.400 thirteen week pickups and they're like, you're not gonna last 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:43.960 thirteen weeks, and I'm like, okay, we'll see. You know, 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:47.840 thirty years in TV straight, we're never missing a paycheck 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:49.440 is unheard of. 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:53.320 So what's the key to the success, though, Well, A 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:55.080 tooth question is a two four question, what's the key 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:57.600 to success and what did you learn learn from Jerry 0:03:57.600 --> 0:03:59.000 because he had a long career. 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:02.960 Well, you know, and I'm not trying to sound like, 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:05.600 you know, like I didn't learn anything from Joy, but 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:08.320 there was nothing to learn from Jerry's show because we 0:04:08.440 --> 0:04:12.280 do a completely different show. Right. There's a lot of 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:14.960 things I learned from Jerry, like being professional, showing up 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:18.400 on time, being always ready. And he said, hey, man, 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:21.159 when you got don't try to be like me or 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:23.279 the show. Just do your own thing and you'll be fine. 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:28.040 The really secret of my success is my wife. And 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:30.200 I say that, and you know, I'm not just a 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:32.960 husband saying about his wife. You know, if it wasn't 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:35.800 for my wife, I wouldn't be sitting here right now. 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:38.960 And that's the truth, because you know, I had my 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:41.120 problems about six years ago out of d Y and 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:43.720 you know all that, Like she stuck with me through 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:46.000 that pulled me out of it. You know, I was 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:49.160 going through things. And but even like she knows how 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:52.320 to produce me on my show, she knows how to 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:54.799 do a lot of things. She kept the Springer Show 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:56.440 on the air for a lot of hears, so I 0:04:56.480 --> 0:05:01.240 got the best executive producer on TV, so truthfully and 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:03.719 she and she knows me, she lets me be me. 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:06.880 The first two years of my show were terrible. I 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:09.159 was produced in a way that was just I hated 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:11.800 doing the show. I literally hate it coming to work. 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:15.800 And they that person left and my wife took over, 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:19.039 and thank god, because I wouldn't. I definitely would not 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:23.600 be on there than nepotism. No, they did not want 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:26.520 to give my wife the show because she was the 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:29.760 EP of Springer. You know when this when Richard Donnoic 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:33.160 left the Springer Show, they promoted my wife VP. They 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:35.039 did not want to make her the EP of my 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:38.960 show too, so they said, we're not giving you your 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:41.000 wife as DP. I s, okay. So they brought in 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:43.920 a guy. I think he was on like Blind Date 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:46.479 or Cheaters or something I can't remember. And I said, 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:48.240 we'd like you to interview this guy, and if you 0:05:48.400 --> 0:05:50.280 like him, you know, we're going to give this guy 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:53.640 a sewan. I said, okay. So this was a process 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:56.760 of like a month, like bringing them in, going to 0:05:56.800 --> 0:05:59.040 dinner with them. I said, fine, I like him, he's 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:02.279 you know, he's okay. You know, it wasn't bad wasn't 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:04.440 good but kind of vanulla, but I said, okay, I 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:07.599 can work with them. Well, during the meantime, my wife's 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:10.440 doing my show. The ratings are going like this second season, 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:13.640 you know, and so I'm like, damn, man, you know, 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:17.240 I don't want her, but uh, you know, they were 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:19.880 saying no, no, no. So this guy ended up turning 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:22.880 the offer down. The guy that he's like, no, I'm 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:26.480 not taking it. So I tell the president. I go, hey, man, 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:29.360 so what's the story here, Like this guy doesn't want 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:32.719 the job, my wife's doing it, and the rings he goes, yeah, okay, 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:36.200 we're going to give your wife, and that was it. Yeah. 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:38.520 So she's the key to the success. Clear she is 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:40.520 a huge, huge part of it. 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:44.840 Did you guys ever have any fallouts about you not 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:45.400 want you know? 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:46.000 Of course? 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:49.600 Yeah, uh you know. There was like she would do 0:06:49.880 --> 0:06:53.120 shows especially there was shows like with kids and stuff, 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:55.320 you know, and I hate it doing those. I just 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:57.240 I don't know what it is. I don't like it. 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:00.280 I feel like I can't relate the kids. You know, 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:02.760 I'm not gonna lie, and but my wife, I just 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:05.800 do it, you know, And they would work and she 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:07.880 was right, so like at this stage my career, I 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:09.840 just even if I don't like it, I just keep 0:07:09.840 --> 0:07:12.880 my mouth shut. I just do it, yeah, because I'm like, 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:15.440 it'll be over in twenty minutes and white complain. 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:19.280 Yeah, the last week you reported the Steve Wolkals was 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:20.400 in the Just with the Mess right. 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:21.720 Yeah. 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:24.800 Yeah, you had taken to social media because you watched 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:25.840 the Wendy Williams. 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:28.040 Oh yeah, yeah yeah, and you were actually. 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:30.920 The first celebrity that spoke up besides myself, spoke up, 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:33.960 you know, in favor of her about you know, her 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:37.000 treatment and how they made her look on the documentary. 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:40.080 Like and I just you know, wanted to know in person, 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:40.760 you know, high. 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:44.040 School, you know me and when like when I was launched, 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:46.480 I was, I did one of these radio shows. She 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:48.600 was so nice to me. Yeah and uh, and then 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:50.760 she launched right after me, I think the year after me, 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:52.880 and so I would always appear on a show and 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:55.960 I had a personal relationship with I mean I went 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:58.240 to her fiftieth birthday party and things like that, and 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:00.600 you know, I saw her, and I really I really 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:03.880 liked Wendy. I you know Johenna I and I don't 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:06.520 watch daytime talk show, but I would watch her show. 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:08.520 I thought it was really good. I was interested in it, 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:12.720 and I'd like the topic segment and all that. So 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:16.920 I really cared about Wendy, you know, so then to 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:20.360 show her in that in this you know, and we 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:24.040 were where was I I was. I was in Florida 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:25.600 and we were flipping thro him and my wife from 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:27.880 the hotel, and I start watching, I'm like, oh my god, 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:29.040 this is terrible. 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:30.160 You know. 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:33.440 I think like when when I was going through my 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:36.800 struggles and you know, at my lowest, if there was 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:40.120 a camera in my house filming me, like no, but 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:42.440 my wife would never allow that to happen to me. 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:45.000 You know, she'd be like, no, they were never doing 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:48.959 anything like that. And so it's just because you know, 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:51.520 especially as a woman, right what woman wants to see 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:54.160 her wigged him, like taking off and showing in that 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:56.960 light or there showing her feet. She's got that some 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:59.719 kind of calm with her feet, and you know, come on, man, 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:01.480 if she was in her right state mind, she would 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:05.280 never let anybody see it. And she's obviously suffering from alcohol, 0:09:05.880 --> 0:09:10.400 you know, being alcoholic or drinking problem, and you know, 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:12.600 when you're going through something like that, I don't think 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:14.720 you should be on camera and that managers like, oh uh, 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:17.960 we're gonna do a podcast with money, and she's she's ready. 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:21.199 She's not ready to do anything, man, come on, you know, 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:24.840 and she should be in a treatment facility somewhere, getting 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:28.200 medical attention from doctors and everything else. And it's just 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:33.800 to me, it was really exploitative. Yeah, you know, people 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:35.840 are blashing back at me like, well, you know when 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:37.839 you talk crap about her TV show and go, she's 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:40.960 not showing anybody in their deepest and filming them, Like 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:43.240 what are you talking about? You know, it's a TV show. 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:46.120 You know. It's so crazy to me how people can 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:49.280 cheer the downfall of another human being, you. 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:51.720 Know, especially in these times. 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:55.240 You know, people have been so desensitized, like they've become 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:59.280 so desensitized from like actual problems, and they're not able 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:03.520 to separate human being from you know, Wendy Williams the 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:06.920 media personality, you know, and because she she would ask 0:10:06.960 --> 0:10:09.319 the questions that people wouldn't ask, she would get in 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:09.800 the business. 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:12.560 But that was her job, that was you know exactly. 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:13.800 Well, and then the other thing was people are like, well, 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:16.600 she's the execut producer of that lifetime thing, and I go, 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:19.800 if you're not in your right mind, you can't consent, 0:10:20.320 --> 0:10:22.480 you know, like people don't understand that, Like, you know, 0:10:22.480 --> 0:10:25.600 if you're suffering a mental breakdown, you can't really you're 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:27.880 not going to go into a legal binding contract for anything. 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:29.280 Was the last time you spoke. 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:33.120 Well, I think I was on her show. Well, I 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:37.680 hosted her show with Jerry when she was on the break, 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:41.360 and I spoke to her just before that, and you know, 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:44.720 she was struggling at that time, and I told her, 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:46.680 I said, hey, listen, anytime you want to talk to me, 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:48.640 because I've been through it, and she knew it, and 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:51.719 we talked about it off stage the last time I 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:54.640 appeared on the show with her. So you know, it's 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:55.079 just tough. 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:57.200 And how did you get through because you said you 0:10:57.200 --> 0:10:58.720 had a DUI, how did you get through your troubles 0:10:58.800 --> 0:10:59.400 during that time? 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:02.959 I you know, listen, I was drinking too much and 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:06.679 it was a stress was it stress? Depression? Anxiety? I 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:10.760 was using alcohol to help with depression, and which is 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:12.480 probably the last thing in the world you should do. 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:15.800 You can afford a driver with stef I could It's listen, 0:11:15.840 --> 0:11:18.719 I make no excuse I can't tell you why I 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:20.760 drove that day or what made me get in my 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:24.640 car and get in it. I'm absolutely wrong, and I knew, 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:27.040 like my life could have changed a lot worse that 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:28.720 day other than I just gonna do you. I could 0:11:28.720 --> 0:11:31.360 have killed somebody or I could have killed myself. And 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:35.640 h I just said I'm not drinking anymore. Now, a 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:37.480 lot of people can't do that, just say I'm not 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:41.520 going to drink anymore. But I knew it was becoming 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:43.160 a problem in my life and I was going to 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:45.800 ruin everything in my life, my family, my career, and 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:49.240 I just said, Okay, I know, you know, I'm not 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:51.520 twenty years old anymore. I got to take this serious 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:52.960 and stop. And I did. 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:56.240 What it happen was that, Yes, so you haven't drink since. 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:59.240 Since twenty eighteen? Was last time I drank? What did 0:11:59.240 --> 0:11:59.560 it happen? 0:11:59.600 --> 0:11:59.680 It? 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:02.040 Am I time there in Connectic. Know what I'm saying. 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:04.640 They didn't give you, no Steve Willco celebrity privilege, like. 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:07.480 Well, when you're involved in an accident like I was, 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:09.520 and they had taken me to the hospital, they had 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:11.920 to draw my blood, so there's no taking care of me, 0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:15.920 you know, and truthfully, listen, nobody wants to day right, 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:19.160 nobody wants and especially when you're in our position, you know, 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:22.959 it's on TMZ and you get blown up. But truthfully, 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:25.480 it was probably the best thing for me because it 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:27.480 made me. And listen, now that I don't drink anymore, 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:30.560 I'm very productive. I work out all the time. My 0:12:30.720 --> 0:12:34.040 marriage is great, my career is great, and you know, 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:37.200 al cal was really negatively impacting all those aspects of 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:40.719 my life, you know, And I was asked about it. 0:12:40.760 --> 0:12:42.319 I mean, like, you know, I wanted to fight it 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:44.720 so bad because I started drinking when I was fourteen 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:47.440 years old, and you know, to give up a lifetime 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:50.120 habit like that, it's not easy, but I knew. And 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:52.360 now when I look back, I go, why in the 0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:56.280 world did I ever drink? Like you know, but a 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:58.840 lot of people do it. I mean, it's fine, exactly, 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:03.880 it is. You got to It's fine. The best times 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:05.120 of my life were drink. 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:09.240 So what do you say to people when you think 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:12.480 about Wendy Williams and how they showed her situation on television. 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:15.320 But you know, God bless the dead Jerry's bringer, Like 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:18.320 people didn't even know he had cancer. So what do 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:20.400 you say to people who feel like celebrities have an 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:23.000 obligation to show you the bad since you've seen all 0:13:23.040 --> 0:13:23.200 of it. 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:26.680 Jerry didn't even tell me right like a month before 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:30.160 he passed away. Uh, he called me up and said hey, 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:33.319 because he had nothing going on and stand for it. 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:35.840 At the time, you know, Judge, Jerry was over everything. 0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:37.880 So he called me up and he said, hey, uh, 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:41.280 you want to I'm having dinner with all his old guys, 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:44.599 his crew security because they'll work on my show. And 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:48.280 I was taping that day and I said, Jerry, I 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:50.360 don't want to go to dinner with twenty guys. And 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:52.520 when I'm done taping, I'm exhausted at that of my 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:54.760 tape day because I'm doing like six stories a day. 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:57.720 So I said, you know I'm going to pass and 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:00.400 he goes, I really want to see it, Steve, Well, 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:02.440 Jay you know doesn't talk like that. You know, I 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:04.360 really want to say it. So I'll tell you what. 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:08.480 You go to dinner. I'm gonna go home, rest a 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:11.880 little bit, and then when you're done, you go meet 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:14.199 me for a cigar at John Starks as a place 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:17.720 in Stanford, Connecticut. Cigar Bar so I met him there, 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:23.200 and it was crazy because we were two guys that 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:25.520 never talked about the glory days, like, oh, you don't 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:28.000 remember this, Remember that we didn't do that. He has 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:31.800 a grandson and my son is about the same agent 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:34.160 or both athletes, and we would always talk about our sons. 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:37.560 But we talked about politics a lot and just what 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:40.120 was happening currently in our lives. We never talked about 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:42.640 the glory days. But that night we talked a lot 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:45.080 about the glory days, which I didn't think anything of 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:46.360 it at the time, and it was kind of fun 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:51.480 because we never do it. But he never said, hey, Steve, 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:54.880 by the way, I'm gonna I'm dying of pancreatic cancer. Wow, 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:57.040 and never mentioned it. But I knew something was wrong 0:14:57.080 --> 0:14:59.520 because I said, Jerry, like you okay, you know, because 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:02.560 he was like taking really bad and stuff. He goes, no, No, 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:04.920 I'm okay, I'm okay. And that's the kind of guy 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:07.080 he was. He didn't want to put that burden on me, 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:10.640 you know, like I, because I would I'd be sad 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:13.040 and the press and worried about the guy. And and 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:15.800 so we had a great time and he got up 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:17.640 hugged me, I love you, Steve, and I was like, 0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:19.680 I love you too, Jerry. Of course I love you. 0:15:19.720 --> 0:15:22.360 And that was it. And I you know, then a 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:26.720 month later passed away. So I think he you know, 0:15:26.840 --> 0:15:28.720 that's the kind of guy Jerry was. I don't think 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:31.400 he wanted to have people make a big deal about him. 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:36.800 He he didn't want the burden people with his illness, 0:15:37.280 --> 0:15:39.920 and so yeah, I respect it. But again, just like 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:43.720 with the Wendy Williams thing, when you're at your lowest, 0:15:43.960 --> 0:15:46.400 you know, and I think we've all been there, you know, 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:48.960 and uh, I don't think you want a camera on 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:50.800 you when you're going through that as simple as that. 0:15:51.760 --> 0:15:54.760 How have you dealt with it? Death? Uh? You know 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:59.000 kind of yet right, No, it's in April, it's coming up. 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:02.200 It was almost like losing my father. I mean, and 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:05.120 I always say, no man had a personal interest in 0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:08.520 me and you know, kind of watching on for me, 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:12.400 being there for me then my own father, and so 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:15.600 we were very close and Jerry was so great to 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:21.400 me and so generous and caring, and you know, so yeah, 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:22.960 I mean it was a big loss in my life. 0:16:23.240 --> 0:16:25.800 Yeah, what was your craziest show from the Jerry Springer 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:27.320 show something that was just so wild. 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:34.880 Which is my favorite drop of water in the ocean. Really, 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:37.960 it just a million of them, just a funny story. 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:41.400 Like he was coming out with his movie Ringmaster. I 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:43.320 think it was like this was nineteen eighty eight, nineteen 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:45.600 ninety nine, something like that, and he had came to 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:48.120 me and he said, hey, Steve, I have to take 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:50.920 my shirt off in the movie, so would you mind 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:52.400 working out in me a little bit. I just want 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:54.800 to lift enough so you know, I don't look terrible. 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:57.960 And I said, okay, we'll start weightlifting. Well, we had 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:00.440 this big fight on stage. It was two women fighting, 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:03.680 and I had bent down to break him up, and 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:06.919 my groin just snapped in half. Like I felt like 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:09.440 somebody shot me. I actually thought somebody pulled out a 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:14.080 gun and shot my grind. And I like I didn't 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:16.560 know what was going on, and I crawled off backstage. 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:19.520 I couldn't stand up, and I crawled and and a 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:21.240 lot of people don't even know because the fight was 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:24.440 going on, and I'm backstage and I turned over. I 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:26.640 threw up on the floor and all of a sudden, 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:29.399 Joy comes walking. He looks down him, he goes, are 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:36.680 we working out I was like, damn, I'm dying over here. 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:38.159 What happened? 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:38.439 Did you? 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:41.000 I caught my grind and I took to the hospital 0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:43.040 and like, I was all black and blue down there. 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:45.600 It's just a freak injury. It just happened. Yeah, so 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:47.960 but it's pretty painful. Did it take a litt while 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:50.040 for things to get back working? Yeah? I mean it 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:52.199 was black and blue, man, I mean like somebody hit 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:54.840 me with a baseball bat down there. It was nuts, 0:17:55.000 --> 0:18:02.719 you can get I didn't want to get hard. I 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:04.400 was afraid. Man. 0:18:04.880 --> 0:18:06.840 Is it true that you have a human hair collection 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:08.360 from the Jerry Springers show? 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:10.840 Yeah, so trying to make a wig out of it. 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:15.480 It was so stupid, man, Like some women would always 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:18.040 fight and I'd be pulling each other's hair out. So 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:20.159 one day I took the strand of hair and I 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:22.560