Latest / The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast / Almost Famous Adventures: What “Broke” Gary Levingston on the Golden Bachelorette??

Transcript

Almost Famous Adventures: What “Broke” Gary Levingston on the Golden Bachelorette?? · The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: This is the almost famous podcast with iHeartRadio.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: Almost famous to OG's Pebble Beach edition. I believe we
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: are calling this Golden's After Dark, Golden's Unleashed, Golden's Gone Wild,
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Golden's Go Crazy. Oh my god, this is amazing. We're
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: gonna do a spin off the Golden's Gone Wild franchise.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: I feel like we're Joe Francis reincarnated or something without
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: the perviness. But Gary Man, thank you, Gary Livingston. I
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: we've had you on the show before. It was an
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: absolute pleasure. You had my much better looking co host
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Trista there that day. Don't get me wrong, his baby blues.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: He is a sharp looking man, but yes he is Trista.
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: Think this thing's plugged in, Sorry, Trista.
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  Speaker 2: True story. Wow, it's great to have you back.
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  Speaker 4: Thanks thanks for having me.
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  Speaker 2: Now, have you been on a bunch of these like
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Golden Adventures? Or is this the first one? You know?
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  Speaker 4: I stopped counting. I just go where I'm needed, wanted
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  Speaker 4: or requested. Uh, this is not the first one, but
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  Speaker 4: I sure hope it's not the last one because the
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  Speaker 4: journey has been absolutely fantastic.
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  Speaker 2: Oh my god, it's been fun, but you were such
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  Speaker 2: a standout on the show too. Everybody loves you. You're
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  Speaker 2: affiliated with your church back home. I know that. Yes,
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  Speaker 2: trying to think of all the things I remember about
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  Speaker 2: you from my last interview. Tina Turner's godson or yes, yes, yes,
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  Speaker 2: gods godson. Yeah. So I had heard a thing about
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  Speaker 2: Tina Turner once that I thought was pretty spectacular. I
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  Speaker 2: had heard that every time you drive past an orange
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  Speaker 2: and white barrel on the highway, that Tina Turner invested
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  Speaker 2: in those barrels. Have you heard this story too, I've
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  Speaker 2: never heard of that. Oh gosh. My dad told me
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  Speaker 2: this day. He's like, you know, Tina Turner, and I'm
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  Speaker 2: like really My dad was like, not, wonder necessarily make
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  Speaker 2: things up, and he was like, yeah, apparently she took
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  Speaker 2: some money from, you know, one of one of her
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  Speaker 2: albums and invested them in making these orange barrels for
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  Speaker 2: the road. And so every time you drive.
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  Speaker 3: What are you talking about, like the construction barrels, the
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  Speaker 3: actual the big water tanks?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, the actual what do you call it that?
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  Speaker 3: Who is doing this?
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  Speaker 2: Satisfying? Okay, so.
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  Speaker 3: How much room is there on the edit room floor
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  Speaker 3: for this nonsense? You're talking about this mess.
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  Speaker 4: Look, I've heard of a lot of investments in particular
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  Speaker 4: real estate she's done, but that's the first time i've
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  Speaker 4: heard she's invested in some blocks with water.
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  Speaker 5: I want you to check it out with your family.
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  Speaker 5: Let's get back on track here. Thanks, Thanks Andrew, that's
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  Speaker 5: why he's here. Keep us guys focused. And yeah, like
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  Speaker 5: those orange and white barrels in the frameway, I'll keep
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  Speaker 5: you on the lane there. I'm going to be like,
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  Speaker 5: he needs to get paid.
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  Speaker 2: As much as the rumor was that she made billions off.
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  Speaker 4: I wouldn't doubt it. I mean they're every place, especially
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  Speaker 4: in the city where the off and on ramps are
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  Speaker 4: so to turn.
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  Speaker 3: So should we start do the intro one more time?
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  Speaker 1: Now that we've got all.
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  Speaker 2: His bully, I think this is going spectacular. Goodness gracious,
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  Speaker 2: all right, So let's let's touch base real quick. So
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: you were on, of course Joanes season. Yes you come on.
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  Speaker 2: How do you end up on the show? My wife
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  Speaker 2: actually told me I had to ask this question of everyone.
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  Speaker 4: You know, it's an interesting question, and I fought it,
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  Speaker 4: and I fought it. One of the casting directors came
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  Speaker 4: to my church and I go, are you new and
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  Speaker 4: I'm like, I'm Gary. She says, I'm sure one of
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  Speaker 4: the assistant casting directors. I said, I will escort you
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  Speaker 4: to your seats. As i'm escuating he or she hands
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  Speaker 4: me this paper that says Golden Bachelorette application. I go,
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  Speaker 4: I'm not doing that. I had no idea, but I said,
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  Speaker 4: I'm too private. I'm I'm very personal. I'm very private person.
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  Speaker 4: I'm not going to do that. But over the course
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  Speaker 4: of the next three months or so, we befriended each
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  Speaker 4: other and so we became good friends. And I was
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  Speaker 4: supporting her on one of the casting calls and I
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  Speaker 4: saw some of the guys that were going up on stage,
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  Speaker 4: and I thought, this is not going too well this.
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  Speaker 4: I gotta go up and at least help her with
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  Speaker 4: what she's trying to accomplish here. And that's get some
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  Speaker 4: guys for the show, not intending to be one of
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  Speaker 4: the guys. And the next day they go, you're number
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  Speaker 4: one in the running. We're going to push you through.
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  Speaker 4: We really like you. We got to get you ready
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  Speaker 4: for the executive producers. The it's just like this world
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  Speaker 4: win up. Things start happening, and that's and that's that's
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  Speaker 4: how it happened.
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  Speaker 2: And the power of yes once again, right being willing
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  Speaker 2: to say yes to something that was kind of crazy.
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  Speaker 4: See what happens when you're a nice guy and you
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  Speaker 4: try to help someone out. Yeah, and SATs.
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  Speaker 3: But I think that that the people that end up
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  Speaker 3: on the show that don't intend to be on the
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  Speaker 3: show right there by by circu stance, by you know,
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  Speaker 3: a little bit of luck or fate or whatever else,
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  Speaker 3: and don't have any preconceived notions of it, I think
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  Speaker 3: end up not only being the most authentic, which is
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  Speaker 3: one thing, but having the most maybe personal experience on
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  Speaker 3: it as well, because again, it's just like it either
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  Speaker 3: you could take.
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  Speaker 2: It or leave it.
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  Speaker 3: It's not something you're sought after and desired absolutely, and
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  Speaker 3: so you go in there with no expectations and I
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  Speaker 3: think the outcome just becomes so authentic, which is what
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  Speaker 3: I think drives the audience and the experience for everybody.
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  Speaker 4: And you know, it's an interesting point you make because
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  Speaker 4: for me it was more of a spiritual journey. Joan
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  Speaker 4: was beautiful and it was, but it was more of
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  Speaker 4: a spiritual journey for me, and so I was very
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  Speaker 4: comfortable being the man that I am not the man
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  Speaker 4: that I used to be, which was protect guard, don't
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  Speaker 4: let your walls down to I don't really care anymore
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  Speaker 4: if I get emotional, to get emotional if I feel vulnerable,
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  Speaker 4: only if I feel safe. I'm going to do that
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  Speaker 4: because we're human, right, and so when we can be
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  Speaker 4: comfortable in our own skin, being who we are, it
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  Speaker 4: was it was easy. And so that's what came out.
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  Speaker 4: And I'm I'm really happy to see that the edits
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  Speaker 4: came out to be just that, which was you know,
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  Speaker 4: he's he's a nice guy and and I haven't heard anything.
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  Speaker 2: I will tell you, so you know, that's one of
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  Speaker 2: the things I was going to say to you is
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  Speaker 2: I always used to say the same thing you're saying
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  Speaker 2: right now, like, oh, I was just a you know,
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  Speaker 2: the better actor of really good editing, right, but you know,
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  Speaker 2: to be truthful, I mean, and talking to you in
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  Speaker 2: the past as I have, and you know we've even
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  Speaker 2: mentioned you know, you popped in to make sure everything
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  Speaker 2: was cool for guy to commit. You know, you're just
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  Speaker 2: a thoughtful and I think that kind of that that
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  Speaker 2: that kind of I don't know how to say it,
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  Speaker 2: but it predicates you know, you entering a room like, oh,
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  Speaker 2: I love this guy, and you walk in it's energy
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  Speaker 2: and you know, I mean, you've had such great positive feedback.
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  Speaker 2: Your son, Blake's gotten great positive feedback. By the way,
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  Speaker 2: I didn't. I don't know if I shared that with you, but.
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  Speaker 4: I amen, there you go. I love it.
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  Speaker 2: I love it. But I mean you've gotten so many
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  Speaker 2: wonderful things as a result of that show. More so,
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  Speaker 2: I guess because there's maybe just a little more of
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  Speaker 2: a of an eye on you, right.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, And it's interesting again the Coachella Valley
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  Speaker 4: where I live in Palm Desert in me. I I'm
• 7:26
  Speaker 4: not sure if it's the hair thing or if it's
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: but I get noticed everywhere I go now. But it's
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  Speaker 4: all good and fun, even though I'm keeping things in perspective.
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  Speaker 4: But it is a lot of fun as a result
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  Speaker 4: of the show. So yeah, it's been it's been a
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  Speaker 4: great run.
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  Speaker 3: So you talked about being like being vulnerable. Was there
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  Speaker 3: a moment that you remember in your experience, whether it
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  Speaker 3: was on the show or after the show, or maybe
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  Speaker 3: the cameras weren't even rolling, where you had that vulnerable
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  Speaker 3: moment that that broke you.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, it was it was the first night when they
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  Speaker 4: rolled the television out and they had our kids say
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  Speaker 4: we miss you, good luck and all of that, and
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  Speaker 4: my daughter came on with my grandson, and it hit
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  Speaker 4: me because up to that point we had been sequestered.
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  Speaker 4: There was no phones, there was no internet. I hadn't
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  Speaker 4: talked to anyone, and my daughter and I talk twice
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  Speaker 4: a day every day. So when I saw that, it
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  Speaker 4: hit me. And that was probably the most vulnerable for
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  Speaker 4: me that I can recall. And it was a very
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  Speaker 4: touching moment because my grandson, who's who's on the spectrum
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  Speaker 4: of autism, right and to see him say hello, pop
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  Speaker 4: pop and and by and I love you, and it
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  Speaker 4: was just a very very powerful moment.
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  Speaker 2: Man.
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  Speaker 4: It really was so that.
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  Speaker 2: And that's one of those moments too that I think people,
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  Speaker 2: you know, you they always say the power of television, right,
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  Speaker 2: like if you're if you're genuine, it shows through. And
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  Speaker 2: I think, you know, that's why people loved this cast
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  Speaker 2: so much. And we talked about age appropriate casting, which
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: was something that I thought was a big value of
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  Speaker 2: this show because I was I was, I was worried,
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  Speaker 2: especially on Gary's season when he was a bachelor. I
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: was worried they were going to have, you know, a
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  Speaker 2: slew of you know, age appropriate women and they were
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  Speaker 2: going to throw in a couple forty year olds to
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  Speaker 2: just piss people off, right, because that's just you know,
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  Speaker 2: what you come to know with the show over the year. Right.
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  Speaker 2: And then when the guys come on and it's the
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  Speaker 2: same thing. It's age appropriate casting. It's everybody's this guy
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: that you would love if they were in your hometown. Absolutely,
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  Speaker 2: you know, yeah, they've had experiences that have led them
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  Speaker 2: to be available now and they get back out there.
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  Speaker 2: How do you feel after being on the show about
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: getting back out there and about putting yourself out there?
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: From a dating perspective, it's added a level of confidence.
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  Speaker 4: It's allowed me to be a little more selective. I
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: shouldn't say a little. It's allowed me to be more selective.
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  Speaker 4: It's allowed me to say that's not what I want
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  Speaker 4: and not waste anyone's time with just trying to figure
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  Speaker 4: out if that's what I want. I have a list
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: of things that I want and I'm sticking to that
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: and I'm not afraid of running from those things. So
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: it's at a layer of confidence in my world of
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: I'm not going to settle for just having fun. I
• 10:39
  Speaker 4: really am looking for a wife and proud of that.
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  Speaker 3: So I think one of the things that Bob and
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: I can both relate to is that even though the
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: outcome for both of us wasn't happily ever after, it
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: was such an introspective learning experience because you're in that
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: moment and you're like, yeah, yeah, when you're talking about it,
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: you're answering those questions and you were you know, you're
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: being vulnerable and you are putting yourself out. You're also
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  Speaker 3: asking yourself a lot of questions about what it is
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  Speaker 3: that you want that makes you happy. And I felt
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: like I came out of it and I was I
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  Speaker 3: wasn't a different person, but I had like I'd answered
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  Speaker 3: a bunch of questions that probably were hanging otherwise, Yes,
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  Speaker 3: and it narrowed my focus of what I wanted for
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  Speaker 3: myself and a partner and family and life and all
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  Speaker 3: those sorts of things. Did you learn things about yourself
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  Speaker 3: through it?
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  Speaker 4: Totally? You know, the younger Gary probably wouldn't be able
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  Speaker 4: to answer that with a straight face, yep. But the
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: man that I am today, it did allow me to
• 11:41
  Speaker 4: to really go deep and to say I know what
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: I want now and I'm not afraid of that, and
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  Speaker 4: it is what it is. But I'm comfortable being again
• 11:54
  Speaker 4: in my skin. Whether you like me or not, but
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: you know, I'm comfortable in my own skin, and I'm
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: happy with the questions that I have for my next person, whoever,
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: whoever that might be.
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  Speaker 3: And you've almost been kind of like kind of metaphorically
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: stripped down where you're like, listen, this is I'm so vulnerable.
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  Speaker 3: Now you've seen all of it, and now like you know,
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: I'm it's almost like going a breaks down that like
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: being embarrassed or anxious, and you're like, you've already seen
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: it all. You've seen the worst, the best, everything, and
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: and this is you know, this is kind of my passage.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, here's the here's the new package. Yeah new, but
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: the improved.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, totally, totally, totally. Again, A big piece of it
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: is when we reach a certain point in our lives
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  Speaker 4: and I've got a lot of rubber on the road
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: that that has met the road, right. I've had some
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: great experiences. I've traveled globally and had a chance to
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: do it at a very high level of of of loyalty,
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: you know, with my godmother another uncle who was in
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: the music business. My other uncle was with the La
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: Dodgers for seventeen years. So I grew up in Dodger Stadium,
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: right and I'm sitting next to these Hall of famers.
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: But as a little guy, they're just like you and
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: I talking right now, not realizing until you get older
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: and you're like, that was Don Drysdale, Oh my gosh,
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: that was Sandy Kofax, or that was you know, Willie
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: Davis or whoever. So now with that behind me, I
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: think it's helped me to also remain grounded and being
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: the man that I am. And I'm so happy to
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: have been on this journey and to still be on
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: it and now sharing it with with with everyone.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I love it.
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: I love it.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: Thank you, Matt.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: It's a it's a pleasure. Thank you for joining us
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: on the show. Are you Are you playing golf tomorrow?
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: I am playing golf.
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: Golf.
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: She's one.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: He came in.
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: This is like the intimidation tour.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: He came in.
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: He's got he's got his Jesus. Peace outright, cross out.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: He's gonna kill.
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: He's got tiger woods on his feet and the Lord
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: and Save for Jesus Christ around.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: His I'm winning. I can't love even before you keep.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: I can't lose. Come on, guys, you're waiting before wait
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: wait wi, it's us. We are winning.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: I hope you're in our fort I do too. That
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: would be a lot of fun.
• 14:31
  Speaker 4: I'm looking forward to it.
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: It's been great having you man. Thank you for joining
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: us on the almost famous podcast. We appreciate it.
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: It's going to be a long couple of days, just
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: so you know.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: Okay, bunckle down, I'm ready to get ready. I'm ready.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: It's a big show.
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: Let's make it happen, all right, buddy, guys, take care