Latest / Drama, Darling: A Real Housewives Comedy Podcast / Therapist Melissa Reich Talks RHOC & BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

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Therapist Melissa Reich Talks RHOC & BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! · Drama, Darling: A Real Housewives Comedy Podcast

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Drama Darling, Drama Darling, Drama Darling. Hello, darlings, what's up.
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It's Thursday, an exciting day in the Bravo world if you will.
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Lots of drama Darling going on today. I have Melissa Reich, therapist joining
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me to talk about Orange County and a big announcement tomorrow is Project Runway and
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the bonus episode this week, which will come out tomorrow, will be about
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the Just Be with Bethany podcast and Rachel's interview. But I am waiting until
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the third episode so that I can cover it all, and so that will
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come out tomorrow at some point. Now, if you're listening to this wherever
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you listen to podcasts, please jump on over to my Patreon and subscribe to
1:03
patreon dot com Backslash Drama Darling and enjoy the fruits of my labors of sifting
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through all things on Bravo, from vanderbumb Rules to Below Deck and beyond all
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the Housewives you name it. So now again I mentioned that therapists Melissa Reich
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friend and lovely Gal is here joining me. Welcome back, Melissa, your
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bish therapist. Hi Amy, thank you, I'm so happy to be here.
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Well, Melissa is on the show today. It's not a coincidence.
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It's very intentional because the announcement is that Melissa is launching her very own podcast
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today called Your Bish Therapist. Congratulations Melissa. Wow. I'm overwhelmed, and
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obviously I just you know, first and foremost, I want to thank you
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Amy. I know I've told you this a million times, but you're like
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my fairy godmother. I wouldn't have any of this without you, and I
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just appreciate you so much. I'm your bish wife and you're my bish there
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are I mean not in real life. She's not my bisch therapist. I
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have another bisch therapist. But Melissa, I'm so thrilled for you because every
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time you've been on the podcast, you know, we just get a bevy
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of feedback of people who absolutely love your takes, your therapeutic analysis, psychoanalysis
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on all of these shows that we watch. They are sensitive, they're supportive,
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they are celebratory, they're concerning, they're protective. And your voice is
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so strong, your soul is so filled with compassion and insight, and you
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are your cup runneth over with material and knowledge, insight, vulnerability for the
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things that we watch and the characters that we are constantly bombarded with on a
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daily basis that we choose to spend our time using as an escape route for
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entertainment, and the angle for your podcast, I think is a unique and
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one a different one than we've seen in this whole bravosphere. You know,
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so you because you're launching your own podcast today, I want to make it
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clear that this is Melissa's podcast, this is her baby. It is.
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In fact, I am honored that it is going to be hosted under my
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network on a cast and you can listen to it anywhere you get your podcasts.
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It will be free every week and she will drop right now a weekly
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episode every Tuesday. And I would love, Melissa, for you to give
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a little description on what is to come for your podcast and what the first
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episode is, because as of right now, it is up Baby podcast.
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Episode one is up for your bish Therapist. It's up. It's live.
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That was that was a real weird moment when I searched Apple podcasts and I
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popped up. I was like, whose life is this? And what is
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happening? So I first want to say that and yeah, I'm so grateful
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to be on a cast, and again I wouldn't be here without you,
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so thank you. I also want to just thank really quickly the Drama Darlings
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because they after I was on your show the first time, they just flooded
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me with the most amazing love and support, just the most amazing human beings.
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And you know, to be honest, when you and I had talked
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to about this, and I was so reticent because I thought, oh my
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gosh, this is you know, I'm a regular person. This just seems
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so strange for me. But they really also you and the Drummond Darlings encouraged
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me to spread my wings. So this really is a testament to you and
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to them, and you know, I just I'm really excited and grateful.
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So my show what it is going to be about, which, however you
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introduced me, I wish I could have like a like hear that over and
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over in my head because like, that's the best hype man introduction I've ever
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received. I've got I've got way more for you, babe. Also,
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this is on This is recorded, so feel free to take it and listen
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to it every time before you start your podcast. So you're right, I
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will do that. Okay, So what I plan to do is you know,
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the Bravo verse right now is a little uh, it seems like it
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might be imploding. I'm not too sure. The signs are yes, right.
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So for me, my podcast, fortunately is going to be about all
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of it, not just Bravo. It's going to be about pop culture.
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It's going to be I'm a true crime junkie, you know. Of course
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I'm very fascinated by serial murderers and you know, things like the Murder Family
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and you know, so I definitely plan to do some episodes about that at
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some point. So exciting. Okay, Yes, One thing I want to
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note which Amy and I talked about, and this is hilarious. So my
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first episode I talk about the Reality Reckoning with Bethany and I include Rachel in
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that, but it was recorded before the interview with Bethany and Rachel literally like
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a few days before or she had this. We've had this episode in the
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can for well not quite a week but almost almost. And boom, I
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was like, wait a second, let me just speak clear. This episode
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isn't on the Reality Reckoning podcast that she just put up yesterday. And you're
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like, I total coincidence and total coincidence that she had Rachel on, so
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this is again it's not you know, in her podcast. She's not gonna
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say this was recorded before that was a drop because it was already in the
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can. So just know that which going in, which is wild? And
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I know that you will for your next podcast most likely cover Yes, okay,
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yes, So for my next podcast, I am going to listen to
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part two and three of the interview with Bethany and Rachel, and that is
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going to be the complete subject of my next episode to drop next week.
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Great, and I have a lot to say about it, and I'm actually
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you know that the timing of this podcast to me is amazing because I was
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furiously typing up notes based on part one of the interview and it was just
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too much, you know, because I have too many thoughts, I have
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too much to say, and so this podcast dropping at this time. Thank
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you Bethany for helping me out because this is you know, this is some
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amazing content for me, but to everyone listening, you know, yes,
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I'm going to do that, So please tune in, you know, next
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week for a all encompassing episode of the part three you know, three part
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interview. Okay, great, great, great, great, and In your
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first episode, you talk a lot about you know, again a little bit
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about what you just said, but about the coincidence that we just spoke about,
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about it being about you know, Bethany and Carol, but also what
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you plan to do in the future, and a lot about yourself and who
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you are and how you got to this point. So and one of the
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things is, I know that you listen to my reality check show on Radio
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Andy SiriusXM, and that's how we got connected because you, you know,
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would pop into my DMS and you kind of introduced I call myself your bitch
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wife, and so you popped in and said, it's your bitch therapist.
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I just want to say this about this episode. And I was like,
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oh my gosh, that is so funny. I was dying laughing. So
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we had a great report to start, and I loved hearing some of your
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opinions, and so we continue to engage in that way over you know,
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Instagram. Then when I ended up leaving Serious XM and launching my own podcast,
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and then I was like, come on my podcast, I'd love to
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hear your takes and this Gal, I mean just I was like, who
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is this? Does she already have her own show. I mean, she
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just is like complete natural because not only does she have the insight, but
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as you can tell, she's just so lovely and charming, funny, great
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sense of humor, but so compassionate. And the thing I love about you,
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and I mentioned this earlier, is that you really have the backs of
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a lot of these reality stars in the sense that you want what's best for
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them, and you're taking a lot of what we see and we're garnering lessons
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from that and how we can help ourselves. And I don't want to take
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away from what you talk about in episode one, so please listen to that
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wherever you get your podcasts, because she will walk you through it. But
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I'm just absolutely so thrilled your bish Therapist Every Tuesday. First episode is actually
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up today, which is a Thursday, But that's okay because we're breaking the
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rules and we want to give you a taste today and then you don't have
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to wait very long for the second one to come out. That's right.
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So and then today you're gonna be on my podcast talking about Orange County.
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And before we get into that, we do have a little disclaimer that we
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like to say and Melissa, you know, because we have to cover our
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bases. Melissa needs to We need to make sure that people know, you
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know where we're at. So why don't you, why don't you hit me
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with a disclaimer? Yeah, and it's a little fun alarm one, but
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please please hang in there, because truly, you know, this has to
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be done. Because while I do come from a place of love and empathy
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and support and psycho education, you know, there's a lot of people out
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there who are litigious and you know, may want to take me down.
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No idea. So the disclaimer is posts are not intended to diagnose, treat
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or provide medical advice. Your bish Therapist is for entertainment and informational purposes only.
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The podcast, my opinions, and posts are my own and not associated
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with past or present employers, any organizations, BravoTV, great Heart Productions,
11:50
or any other television network. The information in YBT podcast and on its social
11:56
media is provided for general informational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose our
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treat We're almost there. Please do not act a refrain from acting. Take
12:07
a zip a copy. Please do not act a refrain from acting based on
12:13
anything you read see or hear on YBT podcast or associated social media. Lastly,
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communicating with your BISH therapist via email and or social media does not form
12:24
a therapeutic alliance. Melissa, operator of YBT, is unable to provide any
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therapeutic advice, treatment, or feedback. Well said, you know what we
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should do is we should do we have you record it and then like speed
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it up, you know, like the commercial is like why did he cannot
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be looking this? I mean I think we should. I think we should.
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I think there's a way to add better, Like all, we'll add
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that in, but nobody wants to listen to me say that, you know
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every week. I know, I know it would be funny to have that
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or and we can just put it like at the end. I don't know,
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we'll figure it out. Yeah. Well, today we're talking about Orange
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County and basically, you know, not necessarily the exact episode, any exact
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episode, but in general in general speaking about these ladies and Melissa's take.
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So I would love to just jump right in and get this party started,
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because Orange County, so far, I think it has been the season has
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been really good. I'm really enjoying it. And you know, on the
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heels of just coming from the Trace Amigas show this past weekend, which was
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a phenomena. I had so much fun. I was probably the one laughing
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the most at my table. But that's a hard that's a tough crowd at
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my table. My table had a tough crowd. A lot like industry people,
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you know what I mean. Yeah, it was like, oh okay,
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a lot of people who are in the business, so they tend to
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just have a real you know, stone face, where I was just like,
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this is really funny. I mean, there were moments that I'm just
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like, this is so kooky, so stupid, and look at them go.
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I was really I didn't talk too much about the show itself yet because
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I really haven't had much of a chance, but I will say that it's
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worth going to see. It's a pretty tight niche showy. They do musical
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numbers, they do they do goofball antics and you see the chemistry. I
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mean, their songs need to be rehearsed a million more times for them to
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be tight. But that's not what you want out of the show, you
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know, that's not what you're looking for. You're just looking for the chemistry.
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They have a fun talk back. Q and A. Jamison did a
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great job hosting it. I got to go up on sta I know,
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he's amazing. I got to go up on stage and do a couple impressions
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of them all and then pop back down and it's really just they had videos
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in there which I thought were really cute and funny. And you know,
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it's great because they had the meet and greet I think before and after,
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so if you you know, you get a chance to like talk to them,
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and they're very They're just lovely. Taylor was there. She did a
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little bit part in it, which was which was something else. So anyway,
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so on the heels of Trace Amga's show, My gosh, Melissa,
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where do you want to start with the OC ladies? Oh holy moly,
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I have so many notes about all of them, but for you know,
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first thing I want to say is the main reason that I hate living on
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the East Coast is because I get I would love to go to all these
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amazing things that are in La Yeas and all you know, your cook it
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spilt throws all of this stuff. So being on the East Coast is a
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real buzzkill sometimes. But I guess where I will start is I am confused
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about why people aren't liking the season? Oh yeah, are they not?
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I usually have my finger on the pulse, but maybe you're right. Well
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on my Instagram, like with you know, on my page, there's just
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been a lot of people who aren't feeling Tamra coming back and stuff like that.
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You know, to me, Tamra is just doing her job. You
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know, she came to work, honey, and she is working. You
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know. I mean, imagine what things would be like without her, you
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know, the season I missed her on my TV screen. I'm also a
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huge too teas in a pod fan. I listen to that religiously. I
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think it's actually an amazing podcast and I covered a lot of great stuff,
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So I have to say I'm loving it, and I think it's all these
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ladies are just there's like a secret sauce going on that I'm just like,
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I'm just loving it. First and foremant I do too. And and you
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mentioned Tamra about you know, she is doing her job, and she brought
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this housewife in and promptly threw her under the bus many a times. But
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and you know, God love her for that, because that's well, that's
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what we're here for. And I just you know, do you feel like,
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I mean, do you want to start with Jen? Because and that's
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really where a lot of the drama is with Jen and Ryan and this situation.
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What are your thoughts on Jen and Ryan and her really joining Do you
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have thoughts on her joining a reality show in the middle of an extremely tumultuous,
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what seems like divorce and this this Ryan guy who's really considered in everyone's
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eyes, a douchebag. And that's that is a therapeutic term. I just
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like to throw it out there because I know what I'm talking about. It's
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one of my favorites, it really is. Yeah, I think that's a
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good place to start. And let me just start by saying that Ryan Ryan
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walked, so Ryan can run, I mean, real good yours is all
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right? Yes, he sure did, He sure did, moly, And
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I can confirm that while Ryan seems, you know, to be a nice
18:23
enough person, he does appear to have a lot of douchebaggery, uh just
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around him, you know, encompassing him. Yeah. I think here's my
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you know, I have this cool thing about me where and I've never discussed
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this before, but I can actually kind of sense. It's like a Spidey
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senses, so I can sense people's kind of like energy, their intentions,
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their I just I just get a sense of these things from people, whether
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I'm in person or I see them on TV. So it's kind of a
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gift. And I get the feeling that Jen is just a beautiful soul.
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I think that she is someone who's looking to be loved, and you know,
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unfortunately, sometimes we get into marriages or relationships and for a lot of
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reasons, things fall apart. And if you're not happy. I encourage people
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to do what makes them happy and to do the best thing for them.
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I think a lot of people have been very critical about her divorce and you
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know, being with Ryan and all these things, and I understand it,
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but I think that everyone deserves to be happy, and Jen just I think
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she is a good heart and a good soul. And I'm concerned that Ryan
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is taking advantage. Yeah, to be honest, and in my opinion,
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and you don't have agree with this, but she seems very naive. Oh
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yes, And that's what's the most concerning, because you know, though I
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agree, you shouldn't be unhappy in a relationship and there. I actually there
20:15
are a lot of question marks that I have though, like what is the
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timeline you know, on this situation. That's always confusing to me. But
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and then first and foremost for me is that you know, not only do
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I feel like she's naive, but I get concerned for the kids and then
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her moving, and I just think that that that's the type of what I
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consider reckless decision making when you're in the middle of a divorce and you you
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are putting yourself first. Now, that to me comes from a place of
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she hasn't been putting herself first for many, many, many many years,
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and she's making up for lost time. So and look, I can't blame
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her for that, because we all deserve happiness, like you said, and
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certainly she she needs that. But where I wrestle with it is the at
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the expense of the kids. I'm not crying, I just have coffee stuck
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in my throat. So, but so that's concerning to me because they are
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young, and and that that worries me from a therapist's point of view,
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when it when you know they may be doing a great as Gwyneth would say,
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conscious uncoupling, and if that's the case and they are living in two
21:30
different places. Can that be as traumatic for kids or traumatic for kids,
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or would you say if the parents handle it well that it should be okay.
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Well, it truly truly depends on the situation. In the first job
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out of grad school I had in my career was working with families who were
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going through time, you know, divorce and tumultuous times and custody battles.
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In fact, it was so horrible that it led me to take a completely
22:00
different career direction because it was just soul sucking for me, you know,
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because to be an empathetic witness to the pain of these children because adults just
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either can't or won't get it together, you know. For me, that
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was that was really challenging. And God bless all the people who can,
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you know, deal with that, and they've made you know that they're they're
22:25
part of practice. But I definitely think that your concerns are very valid about
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the kids because whether or not parents do it right, and there are people
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who do it right right, who do it really well. They do whether
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you know the conscious uncoupling there they are bad mouthing the parent or you know,
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because a lot of times the parental alienation. What happens is you'll hear
22:53
each party talk about the other, and that contributes to a whole issue.
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So, point blank, yes, I have concerns for the kids, especially
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when you have adopted children and children who are you know, there's cultural issues
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as well. Some of the children you know are culturally different from Jen and
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her biological children. So for me, there are many layers of potential points
23:30
of contention, essentially for the kids, you know. So I think bringing
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Ryan in which you know whether he's a good step parent or not, isn't
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really the point. I think when your parents suddenly divorce and separate and one
23:45
is gone and now you have this man in your house, I think that's
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just hard for any child to process. I think Jen is doing the best
23:56
she can in my opinion from what I've seen, And it is a hard
24:02
balance right when you're a parent to manage your needs and the needs of your
24:06
child, because sometimes those needs are in direct competition, you know, they
24:11
those two needs sometimes don't add up. The biggest thing I feel like I
24:18
have concern about with the kids, and I don't know a lot about this,
24:22
is you know, there was stuff Jen was talking about how her husband
24:26
works for her family right now, the family doesn't want him working for them,
24:33
and so for me, that's really messy because it's like, well,
24:37
if he's responsible for financially, you know, taking care of the kids,
24:41
things like that, and then you're cutting him off at the knees because your
24:45
personal relationship no longer works. That gets really messy because then the grandparents are
24:52
involved, right Jen's family is involved, and I just think it adds a
24:56
layer of concern for me. Yeah, and I somebody messaged me because we
25:00
were unclear whether or not he still worked for their company, and there was
25:06
some sort of announcement that he was made like a CEO or something like that
25:11
for her parents' company and he may still be working there. So we have
25:17
yet to get confirmation on that. If anybody knows, I would love to
25:22
see something on that. But that is strange, especially if if they do
25:26
want to co parent well, and more to your point, that it would
25:32
be more like it would behoove them to keep him in the situation that he
25:36
is in order to provide but also the grandparents are going to be involved.
25:40
He's going to be involved. There's going to be a lot of you know,
25:41
if he's there in the same state as the parents, the grandparents of
25:48
the kids, then there's going to be a lot of like you know,
25:51
coming together. So it is wild. Now, boy oh boy, I
25:56
just I have a lot of I want to hear your thoughts on like Tamra
26:02
and Jen as well. What are your thoughts on Tamra and Jen? Okay,
26:06
So this is a case for me where reality TV and true friendships are.
26:15
You can't have them both. You can't because what frustrates me about the
26:22
gen tarmera of it all is that there were clearly things that went on off
26:27
camera before the season started with that Heather a mean or I'm not sure how
26:33
to say her name, and so it irritates me as a viewer to have
26:40
all of this other information that's like being alluded to, but it's not really
26:44
being discussed. So my broad strokes of what I gather from this mess is
26:49
that Tamra and the other Heather were really good friends with Jen. They were
26:56
kind of like the Three Musketeers. And everyone knows Ryan is kind of a
27:02
douche and everybody wants to protect him because she is to use She is naive,
27:07
She is very naive and I think that there is some truth to Tamra
27:12
and Heather and some of the ladies are just concerned about her. However,
27:18
I don't know about you, Amy, but if I'm concerned for a friend,
27:21
I don't throw things at their face. It's not how I roll.
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I didn't like the napkin throw. I thought that that seemed more out of
27:30
character for Tamra than I've seen before. Well, she skirts the boundary,
27:37
you know, like that's what makes her good housewife. But as a human
27:41
and as a therapist, just we never have the right to put our hands
27:45
on or to throw something, whether it's water, wine, napkins. I
27:52
don't play the semantics game of well it didn't hurt you, you know.
27:56
Absolutely. Yeah. So while I think that her and Jen really were friends,
28:02
I certainly don't think they are anymore because I think Jen was so naive
28:07
going into the season, and she saw how Tammer acted and she I think
28:11
she feels betrayed, Like I can just tell in some of her reactions that
28:15
this is a person who thought this was her friend and would be her biggest
28:21
ally and now all of a sudden is like trying to like tear her down
28:23
on National TV, you know. But on the other side of it,
28:27
you know, Jen signed up for this, right, so there's that amount
28:33
of personal responsibility, like anyone who goes on TV who's dealing with a precarious
28:38
situation behind the scenes, I'm sorry, you get what you signed up for.
28:42
I can't imagine in any world that Jen wouldn't be familiar with the Housewives
28:48
and what Tamra does and what's going on. And so that's where I have
28:52
a lack of empathy there the surprise factor that she thought tamer would take such
28:56
a hard left turn at Albuquerque on her. Maybe I do a little bit,
29:02
because Tamra's really throwing all the napkins at the wall at this point,
29:04
you know, to make the TV. And but I also think that beyond
29:11
that, there were probably conversations off camera before the season even started that where
29:17
Tamra probably even gave Jena heads up, like I'm gonna tell the show that
29:21
you just had to tell the chick about everything, Like she probably said all
29:23
those things and was like heads up. And I don't think Jen right between
29:29
the lines, you know what I mean, I don't think she got it.
29:33
So I think Tarama's like, look, all is fair in love and
29:36
war. I tried to give you a heads up, this is how we
29:38
play and if you're not willing to be honest or do this, and I'm
29:41
and also Tarma's trying to underneath it. I mean the fact that Tama didn't
29:48
bring up to her that Ryan bucked into the gym and said I'm gonna fuck
29:52
her, like she didn't bring that up to her before the show started,
29:56
like you know, and as well she shouldn't from a content perspective, but
30:00
what a bamboozle. And and so that being said, Tamra, I think
30:07
is also throwing Jen a little bit of a bone here, saying you want
30:12
to be a housewife, this is what we do. You want to make
30:17
a living, you want to be a single mom, you want to support
30:19
yourself, you don't want to be, you know, dependent upon your husband
30:26
or a strange husband. This is how we get you there. Follow my
30:30
lead. And that's that's what I think is what I don't know if Jen
30:34
will ever be able to accept that, But in a way, it's a
30:38
it's a poisonous apple gift to give to another housewife because typically that's how you're
30:45
going to stay on the show. What would they have had if if Tama
30:48
would have brought Gen on and nothing would have happened Boresville, USA. You
30:53
know, So that being said, it makes for good television. Tamra shows,
31:00
you know, for better or for worse, her her stripes as a
31:03
veteran housewife on her return. But she's definitely pushing it, you know,
31:07
way farther than she probably needs to. Okay, any any other thoughts on
31:14
Tamar and Jen before we before you move on to something else. Yeah,
31:18
I just want to say that, you know, the one thing I don't
31:22
love about this Modern Housewives is like now, the social media that's involved,
31:26
It's just so messy and it's hard to keep up with. So it's like
31:29
what we're watching on the show, but what we're seeing in real life is
31:33
also in contrast. So it seems like Tamra unfollowed Jen, and you know,
31:38
because how could you. I think Jen feels kind of hurt and thrown
31:44
under the bus, and so how it'll be interesting for me to see how
31:48
that relationship unfolds. You know, I'm a very curious person by nature,
31:52
so I think, well, will Jen come back TBD? You know,
31:56
is this is going to be a one and done for her. So for
31:59
me, the most interesting pieces lie in what's coming. But I'm excited to
32:06
I'm excited to see I think Heather, I mean, is trying to,
32:09
you know, saddle up there and kind of be the dark horse that comes
32:14
up and takes it, you know, because I think maybe the plan was
32:16
to have Heather on as well and and cause some friction there, and she
32:22
had her moment last week. But now, you know, I don't know
32:25
if there's anywhere else to go with that now that the drama has sort of
32:30
been left on the table, and now Jen is so zen that she's just
32:34
like I just really want to move on, Like she's like I am admired,
32:38
and it's like, okay, so let's talk about, Well, what
32:44
do you want to talk about next. Let's let's bat it over to your
32:46
side of things, and where would you like to go? I really would
32:50
like to talk about Shannon. Let's talk about Shannon and John. I did
32:57
a post on this that got a lot of feedback, and I have a
33:04
lot of thoughts on this, but I'm thinking about how to say them judiciously.
33:10
So here's initially my post about Shannon was I am personally as a viewer
33:19
really over people going on a show and then saying, well, we can't
33:25
talk about this part of my life. You know, we're not going to
33:30
discuss this, And it's like you voluntarily signed a contract to be on TV,
33:37
so please don't give me this bs of you know we can't talk about
33:42
it, Well, then don't be on the show. If you want that
33:45
private, fair enough, right. Everyone has the right to privacy. But
33:49
if you want that, being on a reality show is antithetical to that goal.
33:54
So what irritates me is sometimes I feel like Shannon and some of these
33:59
housewives, they they want to have their cake and eat it too, and
34:04
to me as a viewer, that's just not how it goes. But also
34:07
as a human, I'm aware that, you know, my actions have consequences
34:13
and I need to be accountable for those, but you know, some of
34:15
these housewives kind of struggle with that. So what I want to say with
34:19
Shannon is that a lot of people commented about, you know, her relationship
34:23
with John Jansen, and Shannon had kind of made the statement about, you
34:27
know, we have normal fights that paralyze me, and it's like, Okay,
34:31
the therapist part of me wants to have a giant PSA right now,
34:37
and to say, if you are paralyzed by arguments with your significant other,
34:44
that is not normal and that is not healthy at all PSA. Okay,
34:51
further, a lot of things have been said about John, So I'm just
34:58
gonna share. You know, someone and I forgot Amy. You might know
35:01
who. Someone had said that John they got in an argument at a restaurant
35:08
and he left Shannon there at a restaurant because he was upset with her.
35:15
I think Emily said that, and maybe Heather, you know, do you
35:20
know what I'm saying. There were a couple confessionals that people shared some kind
35:23
of darker things about the relationship. Yeah. Yeah. And I just want
35:30
to say as a therapist that we are allowed to be angry at people we
35:37
love, but being angry doesn't excuse inappropriate behavior. So if your partner is
35:49
upset with you and they are leaving you literally physically or emotionally abandoning you at
35:53
a restaurant, that is unhealthy and inappropriate. I'll say that, period,
36:00
point blank. I think that clearly Shannon has her picker is off. I'll
36:14
say that, Okay, you know, with her relationship with David, you
36:19
know, what I watched is this woman try to salvage something with someone who
36:27
clearly wasn't a healthy partner for her in my opinion, as a work.
36:34
And you know, I understand that Shannon continued that relationship for the kids,
36:38
but I'm here to say that if you're in an unhappy relationship with a partner,
36:43
the best thing for your kids is for you to be happy. So
36:46
whatever that means, truly, that is what's best for your children. So
36:53
it tells me this whole thing with Shannon and John, it tells me that
36:57
Shannon's got a lot of stuff going on that I think that she needs to
37:00
address. Okay, I won't be incredibly specific about what I mean by that,
37:07
but the scene where Emily is talking to Shannon about reminding Shannon, which
37:16
said when they're at the door, yes, and the long pause and she's
37:22
like, you did tell me we were at Javier's and you did tell me
37:25
some stuff you told me and she said, I don't remember that. I
37:32
don't know what you're talking about. So and I think we're going to see,
37:36
obviously more of this where Emily calls her jklane Hyde and she she clearly
37:43
if she has been drinking. She isn't like remembering some of the talking shit
37:47
she does about her relationship, which which is obviously a real wake up call
37:53
to her in that moment, which was wild, I am, because it's
38:00
deemed like that was the first time that she's actually ever been confronted of that
38:06
happening. Now, I have a couple thoughts about this, and I'm gonna
38:10
ping pong it right back to you, but I will say I did take
38:15
some issue with the ladies exploiting her relationship with John and the things that that
38:22
Shannon did tell them in confidence, and they just sung like birds and they're
38:25
confessionals. You know, he doesn't sleep over, she pays for everything,
38:30
and yes, this is the stuff that like, we want to hear as
38:34
viewers, we want to hear the talking shit and all this stuff. But
38:37
it did leave me feeling very gross because I thought, well, if they
38:42
are in a bad, you know place, and she is telling you these
38:45
things in confidence, and perhaps in a place coming from a place of overly
38:51
being overly served, if you will, that might not be the opportunity you
38:55
want to take that you want to take to share this information, especially you
39:01
know, in light of if it is like, Shannon seems so protective about
39:06
this relationship, and I think for good reason. She has been through the
39:12
ringer with the whole David situation. I think she is desperate to want to
39:16
make something work and not be unhappy, and so she's now being extremely protective
39:23
over this relationship on reality television because all odds are against her. Which this
39:30
is so tricky because it's almost like I want to say to Shannon, I
39:32
don't ever want her off my TV, but I want to say, if
39:36
you want to have a relationship work, you're gonna have to get off of
39:37
a reality television and that's the end of that. Like, no, your
39:43
relationship will not last with John Jansen if you remain on this show. And
39:47
at the Trace, a Mega show, someone in the audience asked, are
39:51
you and John still together? Are you back together because he was in the
39:54
audience, and she said, no, we're not, We're just friends,
40:00
and they were like, okay, okay, Well, the the question air,
40:05
the question, the person who asks the question kind of grown in the
40:07
same way, and some audience members too. And she just continued to say,
40:13
you know, this season was really rough on us, and you know,
40:15
it's just one step at a time. So I think that she whether
40:21
or not, you know, let's just say that's probably not true. I
40:23
mean, but whatever, whatever their relationship is, she's going to protect it
40:30
with everything she's got right now because you know, the talents are out and
40:34
coming for her and she doesn't want to lose John Jansen, you know,
40:37
for better or worse, whether it's good or bad for her. And my
40:40
whole thing is that, you know, I want Shannon to be happy.
40:45
She seemed very happy trace to me us the show. But one of the
40:51
things she said was she gets accused of not sharing because we were just talking
40:54
about this, Like She's like, I took my shirt off when I was
40:58
overweight, I got a divorce on television. I talk about this, I
41:01
talk about that right between the lines, I share, you know, And
41:05
she has a point. Now, a lot of housewives go to this,
41:08
go to this arsenal when they're under the gun, And to me, that
41:14
says like, yeah, you have been transparent for the entirety of your time
41:20
on Housewives, like and kudos to that. Now, the question is are
41:24
they allowed to have a season where they can pull back and protect themselves a
41:29
little bit from the fodder from from putting every single thing out there. I
41:37
know your answer is probably no because they've signed on for this, but I
41:39
would say, well, if you're gonna make that decision, maybe take a
41:44
season off and regroup because it does piss fans off. But I also want
41:51
them to be protected and happy. So you know two can be true,
41:55
right, Yes, according to Jamison, they can be true. So I
42:01
do feel like, well, she has given a lot. Sometimes I feel
42:06
like a lot of housewives that continue to come back, they just get battered
42:08
about and I'm like, leave leave them out of it this season, Like,
42:14
can somebody else take the reins right now? Part of me is like,
42:16
just leave Shannon alone for a second, give her a minute to regroup,
42:21
and like we'll see where we're at. But that being said, let's
42:27
discuss your thoughts on some other cast members or storylines on oh see, right?
42:32
Can I can I say one more thing about Shannon? Because I know,
42:37
yeah, we don't be a popular opinion. But here's the thing.
42:42
I think that a lot of housewives use these distraction tactics like look over here,
42:45
look over here, look over here, salsolutely, and to me,
42:51
her saying that is one of those tactics, and I'm going to tell you
42:54
why. Okay, she featured the stuff with David because it made her look
43:00
like a victim. I'm gonna be honest, Right, in that scenario,
43:05
she was the victim. She was the hero. She was the poor wife
43:07
who got cheated on and is trying for her family. You know, I
43:12
think housewives have a funny memory when it comes to the things that they've quote
43:16
unquote shared. Right, she shared that because it was beneficial for her,
43:23
these things that she's not wanting to share, I think, to me give
43:31
And this is not a total parallel, but like Taylor Armstrong vibes, where
43:37
there's maybe some really icky stuff going on behind the scenes that I think the
43:43
women aren't looking at it as let's give her a break. The women are
43:46
like, we're concerned for you, So we're going to stage an intervention on
43:52
national TV and we're going to out you and we're gonna out John. And
43:57
you know, while I don't necessarily agree with that as a human, I
44:00
understand. I think why they're doing it, because sometimes these women they do
44:07
things like that in a weird way out of care and concern, you know,
44:12
like we don't want to see you know, bad stuff go down,
44:15
et cetera, et cetera. So that's kind of just the only last part
44:19
of that I wanted to say. I also, I also think to piggyback
44:23
on that it can be really reckless of other housewives to say to say some
44:29
of these things and allude that like we're here for you, we're here for
44:31
you, because it does paint the picture that things are really dark. And
44:37
so when Shannon's like, it's not that bad, like I, she is
44:42
kind of painted in a corner where they're kind of painting this picture for her,
44:45
which seems unfair to me for Shannon, because it's like you're just now
44:50
painting the worst case scenario and now we're left with all these questions thinking the
44:54
worst thing. So I don't I don't like that aspect of it. And
44:59
so what I'll say about that is if Shannon was going to be protective of
45:04
it, that's where I say you got to get off the show, because
45:07
you're gonna have to be able to defend yourself and give these examples so that
45:12
these women will not think the worst of the scenario, you know. So
45:16
yeah, it's it's it's tooken, it's taken a wild turn, and clearly
45:23
they broke up during this time. I mean it happened, and now who
45:27
knows, Yeah, in real time, and now who knows what you know?
45:30
I think I think you're right. They're probably she's probably protecting her relationship
45:35
by saying they're not together. Of course, listen, John has attended every
45:39
Watch What Happens Live, everything that she's had. So you know, Chudge
45:46
Judy, who I love, used to have this saying, don't pee on
45:50
my leg and tell me it's raining. Yes, yes, Shannon, don't
45:53
pee on my leg and tell me it's raining. Please stop it. You
45:57
know, I get it, but please? Uh Well, what would be
46:00
the what would be the point to say they're not together? Like, and
46:04
why not just say they're together? I don't understand the point of saying that
46:07
they're not like what does that gain them? I think what it gains them
46:14
is lack of being in the spotlight, because if they were like, oh,
46:17
yeah, we got back together. Can you imagine the fine tooth comb
46:22
people would be going through the season of oc with which guess what people are
46:25
going to do it anyway, But I think my thought is this is their
46:29
thinking that if they say it, it's going to be a big headline and
46:32
then people are gonna dig and they're gonna call out. You know, I
46:38
think they don't want to be held accountable, you know what I mean.
46:43
I don't think John wants to be held accountable for maybe some of the things
46:45
that he's done. And Shannon is codependent with John, which I can say,
46:51
like just from observing, like she's incredibly codependent. And for those people
46:55
who don't know what codependency is, it's basically where your partner or whoever your
47:00
codependant with kind of becomes your emotional thermostat. If they're hot, you're hot.
47:04
If they're cold, you're cold. I get the sense with Shannon that
47:07
she's just trying to put a pretty little bow and say, don't look over
47:13
here, everything's fine, you know. And so for me, that's probably
47:16
the why underneath it. I definitely could be wrong, but that's my theory.
47:22
Yeah. Well, I'm very curious to see where it will go because
47:25
I know you feel the same way. I mean, we want our housewives
47:29
to be happy, and you know, and the other thing is when we
47:34
do see Shannon and she does seem happy, like she really does seem She's
47:38
happier now than she's ever been before, that's for sure. So that being
47:45
said, let's uh, you know, I hope, I hope the best
47:49
for her. So okay, what else do we have? What do That's
47:52
we're really cruising through here, I know, I know. Well, I
47:57
definitely want to talk about Gina because g has been getting a lot of hate
48:01
online. Yeah, oh my god, right, I am. So it's
48:05
terrible. It is wild to me. How so, I've not seen volatility
48:13
like this towards a housewife since Teddy Mellencamp, Like, oh my god,
48:16
that's such a good point. It's just people get why do people get so
48:22
savage when they're bored? So you're bored with her? Okay, they go
48:28
bonkers, They literally go bonkers. What are your thoughts? Well, here's
48:31
my thoughts. I think people are triggered by Gina, and I'm gonna explain
48:36
why. I made a post about this and a lot of people were like,
48:38
oh wow, this makes so much sense. I didn't think about it
48:42
like this. So as a therapist, when I was watching this season,
48:46
what it what became apparent to me is that the Gina went through a truly
48:54
horrific situation with her ex Matt. Okay, we cannot forget that her and
48:59
me, they are regular folks from Long Island or wherever they're from. I
49:04
think it's Long Island. They're regular people. They got married young, they
49:07
moved out to California for the American dream, they had kids, and then
49:12
Gina gets on the show and her life falls apart. Literally, her life
49:19
falls apart, her hair falls apart, everything falls apart. And I think
49:23
that she is someone to me who doesn't allow herself to feel her feelings,
49:30
Like I can just tell that, And so I think she swept all of
49:35
it under the rug. And what we're seeing is a post traumatic stress response
49:42
to unresolved feelings. And so how I know this to be true is that
49:49
when Gina is projecting her stuff onto Jen, but to Gina's credit, she
49:55
acknowledges and she's kind of Jen at this time. She's like, this isn't
50:00
a you problem. This is a me problem. And personally, as a
50:04
therapist, I respect the hell out of anybody you kind have enough awareness to
50:09
say, yes, this is an issue for me, but it's not your
50:13
issue. Yeah. That was amazing, Yeah, amazing. And Jen's response
50:16
too, Yeah, and that's why both of them. I'm like, these
50:21
are two women who are hurting and going through it, but ultimately they're wonderful
50:24
people. I can just tell that. I can tell that. You know,
50:29
Gina for sure has unresolved feelings about her relationship, and what irritates me
50:36
is how people are savagely coming for her about how she should get over it.
50:40
And my response to that is, if you have never experienced post traumatic
50:45
stress disorder, great for you. But for those of us who have,
50:51
I have complex post traumatic stress disorder, and I share that openly because I
50:58
practice what I preach and and what it looks like is being triggered by things
51:04
that don't really have anything to do with you, but it brings up feelings
51:07
about things that you haven't processed. And I can absolutely tell that's what's going
51:12
on with Gina. Wow, I can't believe that people are saying get over
51:16
it. I have not seen that online. That is as nine for one
51:24
and incredibly insensitive. You know, it is wild because you know, as
51:31
you're saying this, it is so clear as we're watching like that she hasn't
51:36
dealt with fully dealt with her situation because it seemed to me, like she
51:42
jumped into this relationship with Travis so quickly that it the only thing that concerns
51:46
me about that relationship, the only thing. But like, one of the
51:52
things that concerns me is that it's like it was a rebound, you know,
51:57
your classic rebound situation, and a very comfortable landing spot for her because
52:04
he seems like an incredibly an incredible partner, supportive, kind like a normal
52:12
person, uh, you know, like there for her, maybe taking on
52:15
too much of that burden at times, which is what Heather's point was.
52:20
But I think that I get concerned in the sense that, you know,
52:24
the blending of the family so quickly after such a traumatic event, and when
52:31
that happens, you know, perhaps their relationship has could eventually get some big
52:38
holes in it. If she doesn't deal with that, and if she realizes,
52:42
oh, this was just a rebound and I don't really love this person,
52:46
then we're in the thick of it. Do you think that you have
52:50
concerns about that? No, in fact, I have the opposite, And
52:54
I'll tell you a funny story. Yeah, so I did. I did
52:58
a Travis appreciation post because there was a scene with him and Gina talking like
53:06
Gina was explaining to him that Heather was like, don't talk to Travis about
53:08
this, and he was like, what, which is an appropriate response?
53:14
Right, Like, if you can't talk to your partner about how you feel
53:17
about, you know, past trauma, it doesn't matter if it relates to
53:22
her ex Like, Travis is a big enough person and a healthy enough person
53:28
to say I want you to talk to me about this stuff always. I
53:32
actually think they have an incredibly strong relationship. I think the blip that they're
53:37
experiencing now is because you're right, Gina got into this real quickly, which
53:45
people often do. Like, that's also a signed to me when people are
53:47
skipping over some emotional processing. If you leave a relationship and immediately get back
53:53
into one, there's no shame in it, but you're you're missing some stuff
53:58
processing wise. So this is a situation for me where two things can be
54:02
true. I think she definitely got in really quickly, But I think her
54:06
and Travis have a real love. He's a real good person. He responded
54:10
to me on Instagram. By the way, he thanked me for my post.
54:15
He was just a sweet person. Gina. I post a lot about,
54:19
you know, supporting her She's responded to my post Emily same thing.
54:23
So I just think that these are really amazing people who are in the toxic
54:29
world of reality TV. As much as we love it, it is toxic.
54:32
And I think that they're going to be together for the long haul as
54:37
long as Gina starts to work on her stuff, which it's apparent to me
54:40
as a therapist by what she said, that she is aware that she needs
54:45
to work on it. Yeah, it's wild to see this part of her
54:49
journey because we are seeing it kind of crack a little bit after this sort
54:53
of fairy tale situation with her moving on and getting with a partner and blending
54:59
their families. And I don't think that Gina gets enough credit from this Bravo
55:06
audience that she deserves. Her story is unbelievable, and she talk about being
55:13
vulnerable and showing us you know what's up. Has been a pretty tremendous journey
55:19
to watch. And Yeah, I, for one, I love this cast
55:23
of people. I love Emily also, I think she's phenomenal. Can I
55:30
just say really quick, see Emily is an emotionally healthy queen. I post
55:34
every week about her like she has been to me what Emily's doing right now
55:40
is the guide for what all housewives should be doing, which is, you
55:45
are so endearing when you really authentically share your life, the stuff that you're
55:52
going through, owning stuff, you know, warts and all. And just
55:57
like I just love everything that Emily doing from sharing her process with Shane and
56:04
you know, their marriage and with her kids. And the greatest thing Emily
56:08
has put on TV that I've seen in a while is talking about generational trauma
56:14
breaking because for me, that's a huge thing that I love to talk about
56:19
and it's so so important, and I just feel so proud of her,
56:23
Like I don't even you know, know her, she doesn't know me,
56:27
but I feel proud of She's just such a whole model for for here's you
56:32
know, how you deal with stuff with grace and dignity and authenticity. I
56:42
just I adore her. I adore her this season. She's she's my MVP.
56:45
Like her and Gena both MVP for sure. Yeah, And it's it's
56:50
interesting because that's enough for a season. You know, you don't have to
56:55
get down and dirty. You have these two other people that have very compellings
57:00
stories and yet it's interesting how we all are you know, focusing on the
57:04
Jen and Ryan thing and then the Shannon and John thing, and often we
57:07
don't take enough time to celebrate and discuss the ins and outs of the successes,
57:15
the you know, the goals, the you know, I don't know
57:21
the words I'm looking for because I'm out of them. But anyway, how
57:25
they triumph through some of their struggles, and I think it's it's great to
57:30
see that. Oh my gosh, we're almost out of time. Is there
57:34
any okay? Tell me, is there anything else that you want to talk
57:37
about to shed some light on OC and the ladies and the relationships or anything
57:44
about this season? Melissa Relish Therapy. I want to dovetail off of what
57:50
you just said, which is, can we remember that entertainment it can just
57:54
be interesting about people's lives. It doesn't have to be yelling and screaming and
58:00
throwing things in all this wild stuff. You know, they can be interesting
58:05
without all of that. So I just kind of I missed those days of
58:09
housewives. I'll say that. You know, it's gotten very intense for me.
58:14
But on my page, what I do focus on is those little bits
58:17
of gold that other accounts don't comment on because it's not salacious. You know,
58:24
so Real Housewives of Atlanta, you know, they've had a really tough
58:29
season, but I've found some really great psychologically speaking nuggets of gold that I've
58:34
posted about, So you know, I'm just going to say I'm here for
58:37
that. The one of the last things that I want to say, which
58:40
I think you'll find this funny, is as I was going through my notes
58:44
last night about OC, I was writing down how a lot of the men
58:52
on OC have just historically been terrible, and I was writing the list and
58:57
I was like, I just kept writing, So I just I just I
59:01
just want to say that from Slade to Brooks, Steve Ladge, Matt Keo,
59:08
Jim Edmonds, Frank Curtin, Ryan Ryan, you know, I find
59:15
I wish our ladies of the OC. I wish these beautiful, amazing,
59:20
talented women would work on whatever it is that's creating this picking of these people,
59:31
because they deserve better. We need to leave the OC. For one.
59:37
The OC is gonna I don't think it's going to garner uh many good
59:43
picks in that area, unfortunately. I mean apparently other men are there,
59:52
no other men? Like what is happening? Is I mean it really part
59:55
part of it, honestly is a product of their environment and who they're around
1:00:00
and where they're around, you know, and that is a big issue.
1:00:05
I think, like, for example, Vicky should go and live a very
1:00:09
long chunk of time in Chicago, where she's from, and get hooked up
1:00:14
in Chicago with somebody, like that's where she should find someone. I agree.
1:00:19
I'm from Chicago, born and raised and Midwestern men hit different and I
1:00:24
can promise you that's that's where you're going to find your mate, a Midwestern,
1:00:30
a Midwestern guy or what, you know, whatever your orientation is.
1:00:34
But the Midwestern people are beautiful. You know, you're from you know,
1:00:37
Michigan, from Michigan. Yeah, you know. It's just it's just a
1:00:42
different world there. So I agree with you. I think personally, Shannon,
1:00:46
Tamera or Shannon and VICKI need to take a little sabbatical, figure out
1:00:54
what's important to them, what they want, get themselves straight, and then
1:00:59
come back to us or don't whatever. I'm just team be happy, Like,
1:01:05
don't don't destroy yourself for our entertainment, because personally, I don't find
1:01:08
that entertaining. But just like, please, ladies, let's Let's take care
1:01:14
of ourselves. That's my final message. Let's just take care of ourselves.
1:01:16
Yeah, and take care of each other. You have real friendships here.
1:01:20
So we didn't talk about Tamra on Eddie and we didn't talk about Terry and
1:01:23
Heather. But that's okay because I'm sure at some point you can even discuss
1:01:29
that on your bish therapist. The new podcast that has dropped today, you
1:01:34
can find it wherever you listen to podcasts. I have just spoken with Melissa
1:01:39
Reich therapist too. Well. I was gonna say to the stars, but
1:01:45
I will not say that you are a a therapist about talking about reality stars.
1:01:52
Her podcast will be available weekly every Tuesday, and so check her out.
1:01:58
You can find her on Instagram at your bish therapists. You can find
1:02:01
her on TikTok at your bish Therapist. She is on YouTube. You can
1:02:08
find her podcast up there. She has a video there and gosh, what
1:02:13
else? Any other plugs that we can plug? No, I think that's
1:02:16
it. I think that's it. But what I'll say about the YouTube is
1:02:21
that I make a lot of really funny facial expressions and I talk with my
1:02:27
hands. So if you're a visual person and you're interested in seeing the craziness
1:02:30
that is this face when I talk about things, you know it's entertaining.
1:02:35
So if you're a visual person, please head over to YouTube as well.
1:02:38
Okay, great, Melissa, thank you so much. Congratulations again on launching
1:02:45
your own podcast. I'm so proud to be a part of your journey and
1:02:49
follow me over Patreon dot com Backslash Drama Darling. Tomorrow will be Project Runway
1:02:54
and a bonus episode of the Bethany Rachel situation. Have a great Thursday,
1:03:01
Everybody Drama, Darling Drama, Darling Drama, Darling