This is the most dramatic podcast ever and iHeartRadio podcast. Chris Harrison here in the home office in Austin, Texas, and I have a great show for you today because it's a show that you have asked for, that many of you have asked for, and that is sitting down and talking to Jason Mesnik and his wife Molly. Jason and Molly, who were on the show, met on the show in easily one of the most infamous and yes,
dramatic moments ever. When people would ask me, you know, as I often got asked in interviews or what have you, even on the street, when people would say, okay, dramatic guy, what really is the most dramatic moment ever in the history of the show. I would always say it was Jason, Molly and Melissa. If you don't know Jason Mesnick was on, I believe it was the fourth season of The Bachelorette Deanna pappas he got to the finals of that season,
the final two. I think it was him and a guy named Jesse Sinsak who ended up with Dianna for a short amount of time. But if you remember, and if not, I know you have to go back in the in the black and white footage, but Jason was preparing to get down on one knee and proposed to Deanna when she stopped him, and she sent him home, and he later became our fourteenth bachelor. This is back in like two thousand and eight, two thousand and nine, so this is a while ago. You know, It's funny.
In my mind, I remember Jason is the infancy of the show in very early days. But in preparing for this podcast with Jason Andmaly today, it struck me that it was two thousand and eight, two thousand and nine. The show began in two thousand and two, so we were seven years into it. I felt so young. And when I mean I felt young, I just mean my innocence and maybe the show's innocence and my involvement in the show was young, and it hadn't been fully baked yet,
I guess. And so when this moment happened, when we got to the end of the season, Jason became the bachelor, and it was a great season. It was kind of a you know, we always have a theme, right, it was the Sleepless in Seattle. He's from Seattle. We even rented the house. It's not a houseboat, but it's you know the houses that are on the water there in Seattle. We rented one of those like that like you see in the movie with Tom Hanks and Meg Brian and his son. Tie was kind of a part of the show.
And at the time I will talk about this, but Tie, I think was four or five years old, and so you know, we had a single dad, which was a first for us as well. It was very emotional and Jason was really you know, he wore his heart on his sleeve. What you see is what you get with him, which is why I enjoy talking to him. But his season came down to Melissa and Mollie, and at the end of the day in New Zealand, where his finale was,
he chose Melissa, and quickly things unraveled. It didn't go well, and that's when Jason said, I would like another shot with Mollie. In my heart, I want to be with Molly. So you have to kind of put in perspective when I say this was the most dramatic moment of all time. This had never happened before. This was new in reality TV. It was new for the Bachelor and Bacheorette. I had never experienced anything like this. The producers, the creators, the executives,
nobody had dealt with anything like this before. And when you're dealing with a first it's crazy because you're just trying to You're trying to make good TV, of course, but you're trying to do what's right. You're trying to make everybody happy. You're trying to actually make this work because it behooves us to actually make it work, but you're trying to do it also in dramatic fashion for television.
And so I'll never forget that day when we went to shoot the show and we kept everybody sequestered, so no one really had a chance to see each other or talk except for when they came on stage and we taped the show no audience, which I did love. But what I found interesting is, you know, when I say I felt like I wasn't fully baked as a host, as a producer, I really was taking my cues from those above me. I wasn't maybe I wasn't strong enough independent enough at that time to dictate how the show
would go. Whereas later in further seasons, as we went further and further, even like with Ari and his big switch. I was able to control that situation and help Ari. I actually talked to him off the air. I would counsel him and make sure this is what you want
to do, because this is what's about to happen. And we would have those lengthy conversations off air, dealing with the humanity of it all, because at the end of the day, these are human beings actually going through something, whereas with Jason, it was more plug and play, like, okay, host, enter, host this show, do this interview, and you know, personally, I guess I should apologize to Jason as we talked today and Molly, I wasn't. They didn't get my a
game because I wasn't there yet. I hadn't been through so many battles on the show to where I could demand things. I could see things coming a mile away. I knew the pitfalls, I knew the hurdles they were going to be falling over. I didn't know that then because the famous line, you don't know what you don't know, right, how can you? And so we all went through it together, which made it incredibly dramatic and it shook me. It was a very difficult show to host. It was uncomfortable,
and at the end of the day, it worked. And that's the crazy part and maybe that makes it even more dramatic, is that Jason and Molly got happily married, have children and have this beautiful life together. And when we asked who you guys most wanted to hear from, it was pretty overwhelming that it was Jason and Molly. And joining me now is the infamous Jason and Molly from I believe they're in Kirkland, you guys up in Washington.
Yeah, we are the.
Home of Kirkland signature toilet paper.
You guys, you make so much more. I mean, you're making golf balls now, golf clubs. Do you know where the rotisserie chickens come from? Is that up there?
Yeah? I actually just saw an article about their rotes three chickens yesterday. Yeah, must be from up here.
How many mini chickens are killing every day? Yeah?
Exactly.
No, But you know what, and we totally digress here, but I read this article that how bad that those damn chickens are for you? Those are tissary chickens. Yeah, there's like fifty different ingredients in a rotisserie chicken. I'm like, oh, great. Thanks for ruining. Is there anything that's not getting ruined these days all?
And why are they so little?
Why they are so little? That is a debate for another day and another show on the most Costco episode ever. But you guys are up there living your life. And we were delayed just a minute because Mollie, you were running Riley to school.
Yep, her first day of fifth grade today.
Oh my gosh, today's the first day of school, first day.
Of school for us. We're late. We're always after Labor Day.
That's by the way, it's not late, it's that's on time.
Yeah, I guess it is on time.
Shame on the rest of the world for going to school in August, Like what an a whole thing to do?
Seriously, like Rooney summer.
It's miserably hot. It's stupid. When I moved my kids into TCU, it's one hundred and forty nine degrees in humid, right, and humid, and you're just so gross and sweaty and disgusting. And even the football game and look, the football game sucked on its own this week where they lost to Colorado. Thanks Ryan Sutter, by the way, for just constantly texting me during that game and rubbing it in. But it's miserable at the football games like University. This is no joke.
University of Texas this weekend they played Rice. The female sideline reporter said she had one of those infrared scanners. Said it was one hundred and sixty five degrees.
On the field.
But how did they even practice? Yeah, that's like neat.
So my point is, you're right, it should A school should start after September first, after Labor Day.
Let it.
We can go later in the year. It's pretty in May, it's fine. That really move in sucks when it's one hundred and ninety degrees. So first day of fifth grade, yep, that is are we what twelve ten?
She'll be eleven this year, but she's like big man on campus now because next year it's middle school.
So she's she's still in the twenty fifth percentile. So she's very.
Yes, tiny, but she doesn't know it. No, but mighty, she has her fire. What is fifth grade?
Like?
What is that? What was going to school?
Like?
What was is her attitude this morning?
Well, she's got a little click.
Yeah, she's got a group of six girls. Jason is going through an interesting transition and phase in his life right now where we took Tie to college. So now he's outnumbered by the girls in his household. Interesting, and he's dying. She's dying.
It's been like fourteen days, but it's been feel like it's fourteen years.
Yeah, there's a lot of drama, a lot of hormones.
I you know, it's funny I remember that because you know, my son is a senior. So four years ago when I took him, there were you know, two more years with my daughter, and it was just the two and I was separated, already divorced well into it at that time, so all of a sudden, it was just the two of us, and it was a very interesting dynamic. We've i will say, it forced us to be closer together, which is wonderful. And I'm sure that'll happen to you too.
But yeah, it's it's a different dynamic when you had the escape of oh my boys, here, we're gonna go to lacrosse game, We're gonna go to whatever that's gone.
Yeah, I mean, yeah, Jason Stein, like Sunday is normally football Sunday, and now it's like dance.
Mom Sunday and Petties for you the worst show of all time.
Mollie will like let her watch that, but won't let her watch like Harry Potter, And I'm like.
Harry Potter, but I'm like, you know, Dance Moms is it is really bad?
The people ever, Yeah.
You know, it's funny. So I in introing you guys what struck me when I was reading back? I didn't remember it being so late into the show, like this is two thousand and eight, two thousand and nine, so the show had been on for seven years. It was only the fourth bachelorette that you were on, but you were the thirteenth, fourteenth bachelor.
Yeah, thirteen.
How many is it now? Do we know?
One hundred?
No, you know, it's funny. Even when I was on the show and I cared, I never I never remembered, like when they're like, oh, how many bachelors, I'm like, I don't know, like someone's keeping track. I remembered years. I knew, you know, I did it for go. I was going on the twentieth year, and I actually wanted to make it to twenty years. And then I was honestly quite fine no matter what happened. But I went nineteen and a half or whatever. That's how I remembered it,
because you know, for a while. And that's why when I said, you were what thirteen or fourteen? Oh, apparently I'm being told by my my intrepid producer Kendall that we've done twenty eight or they're about to twenty eight, so they've done twenty seven.
Yeah, But do you remember, like if you don't remember names, can you remember like I remember somebody or somebody like, do you remember like the order, not a specific order, but can you go like, hey, Ari was after Jason or Diana, I was before so and so.
For sure, you know what you know. What I have trouble with what I forget is I vividly remember you being the Bachelor. I do not remember you being on Deanna season. If you put a gun to my head and said, you know Jason, I was like, oh, yeah, no, Jason, Molly, Melissa, the whole thing. I get it. Jillian, I remember, I even remember the women from the show. And I remember we were in New Zealand. I remember traveling. It was
a great season of travel. I don't remember where you came from the Genesis story.
Well, you know, it's funny because I think there were so many times back then where they would I remember several times where I wanted to say something on camera and then somebody would come to me and they'd be like, no, no, don't say anything, like we need you to be quiet and good.
When you were on the Bachelor and I was on the Bachelorette.
Oh well they wanted they were I thought, muting me or whatever.
It's all the same, No, I I remember very early on. And again something I also admitted to was, you know, y'all didn't get the best of me. And I felt terrible about that because when we all went through everything, I wasn't fully baked as a producer and as a host and as a friend. When I went through basically the same thing with Ari, I was so much better equipped to be a friend. And like I talked to
him so much off the air. He would call me and I'm like, okay, man, this is what I know for sure you're going to go through because my other friend Jason went through this and it was it was a lot, and so I was able to have those conversations with you guys. It wasn't at a spite or malice. I just it was all new to me, and I also just admitted that it was the most dramatic thing. When I say, you know, the most dramatic, I would
always throw that out. This was actually it for me to this day, for me too, yeah, I'm sure, but I mean to this day that shook me the most because I was just I in a whole different way, was going through it as well as something new, and so I just I wasn't equipped to handle you guys as well as I should have.
You remember when we were sitting on set and I can't remember this is like when Molly came out and Molly and I wanted to be like, hey, we're going to try to go out and get to know each other afterwards, and you were like okay, okay, okay, and then your little buzz in your air here was like they want you to kiss Jason, to give you a rose Molly, and We're like, not gonna happen them. But then they were like the stage and You're like.
Well, I don't know how to tell you guys, I'm not getting a paycheck until this happens. And that's what I'm talking about. There were those moments when much later and actually it was a point of contention and part of the mess that dissolved me from the show. I got to the point where I could dictate, I could hear things. They would tell me to do things, tell me to say things, which isn't a bad thing. I'm not putting this on the producers because that's just normal.
I am the filter, and I learned to be the filter, and I learned to be a good filter of No, these are human beings. I know this person. I'm not going to do that. And then I would, you know, subsequently subsequently get in a knocked out, drag out fight with certain people about disobeying or whatever. But I was fine with that. I'm like, I didn't mind picking those
hills with you guys. If they said, hey, no matter how how stupid and dumb the idea is of like, hey, give her a rose and make out with her, I would say that, and I probably and I did say that to you guys, And that's that was really a bad idea because the moment didn't need that. And that's my producer mind as well is my human being behind of we didn't need that. We already had so much that day.
You, Chris is your I love this version of Chris like, we it's so funny as we've left the show and we you know, you're friends with producers while you're on it, and then they leave the show and they reach out to you and they're like, we really fed that up.
I'm sorry.
Like everyone realizes once they're out of it how bad it is when they were in it.
Oh well, except for like I'm not going to name any names, but remember we were having lunch with a producer, yes, and this is after everything, and I was like, dude, is a mail And I was like, how do you live with yourself with all the stuff that you need to ask us to do? And he said, verbatim, yeah, I will never forget this. If they don't know what they're getting into by now, it's their own fault. And I was like, oh well, I said, like I kind of knew what I was getting into, but I didn't
know how the producers interact with us. Yeah. I was like that dude hasn't gotten over it yet.
Not yet.
Well, and that was the issue I had, And again it it got to the point where you know, I was not a yes man anymore, and yours was kind of that tipping point for me. Of like, I need to be more involved and I can't just be a patsy for this, and I can't just repeat what's said to me or carry out these orders because I spent so much time with you and I knew you were human beings and I'm trying to facilitate this. Yeah, I'm trying to make TV, and yeah, we can make it
dramatic and good. But at the same time, I disagree with that statement that they said, I don't think you fully know what you're getting into. Sure, you're signing up for something you think the action adventure. You know there might be some tears and heartbreak or whatever, but you don't fully know until you get in there.
Yeah, I said the same thing. I'm like, dude, I like, I knew that it was gonna be weird and I was gonna learn how they make a TV show, But I didn't think.
You really know how bad it is.
Yes, I mean bad.
We're I mean we're we will never like bite the hand that feeds us, you.
Know, like we're shoe on that hand, croud that.
To be a part of the show or whatever, but we're happy to now be very removed.
Well, and as am I by the way, and I've said this a million times, I'll say it again. The show changed my life and it was a wonderful for the most part. Obviously, there's always things in every job that aren't great, and there's people that aren't great. But for the most part, it was an amazing experience. I mean, the reason I'm talking to you two and y'all are friends of mine is because of the show, and so
I have so many things to be grateful for. It changed my kids' lives, so there's a lot of love there. There's just things, like in any anything you do for twenty years that you care about, it's going to evolve and change.
The biggest change he's heard was he said, y'all, I've y'all.
There's a lot of Austin Texas in me. Now it's come back. For sure, it's come back. There's always you know, there's always been a y'all in my vocabulary. It's now two syllables. There's a y'all. It's like there's a subtle, too syllable change there. That's when it starts to draw out. But I and I remember, and I guess this is what hit me too, Like I knew you guys were very intimate leading up to that final day in New Zealand.
To me, that struck me. I'm like, these are two people that are truly making love and trying to find love and all you get read yeah, and we're shooting this and so I don't want to make this weird.
And trust me, I never watched, but there's there's thing, There's there are reasons I know, but it was just to me there it was just this point in the show that just hit me when all of this happened, and it was kind of this come to Jesus moment for me of like, Okay, you need to be different because this is real and these people really are going through this.
Well.
The funniest thing for me, like we never spent a ton of time together on the show because you like fly in, fly out, right, But I remember after Jason had sent me home and I was still in New Zealand, and I drank an entire bottle of vodka that night to get over it.
And the next time, yeah.
And then they were putting me on a plane the next morning and at the little teeny teeny tiny New Zealand airport. I think it was maybe even a private plane to get you to another airport.
I had to go to Auckland.
There you were there and I see you and you just look at me and you're like, are you okay?
And I just.
Broke down and started sobbing, and I'm like.
No, that's the only time she's ever cried in her life.
I tend to make people cry. I remember that we were down. We were up at the Bay of Islands is where we finished. I believe we finished your show. We went to Queenstown, then we went up to Bay of Islands, and then we had to fly that small plane back to Auckland before we get on that twelve hour flight home. And so yeah, I would fly. I flew with you, and I'm like, there was and I'll be honest, there was that moment of like, oh crap, like because I never knew who's on my plane or not.
And I'm like, oh, like what am I going to say? Like you know, I just you're wonderful.
You gave me a hug.
I care, Like that's the thing people are like, oh, how do you do this? Like it's because I care. The worst thing in the world is at the end of the show, I knew, like even for Jason when I knew he was going to go in and propose to Deanna, and I'm like, oh, crap, like this is you know, she's picking the snowboarder.
Dude, you know what happened? Like I'm like, I've told this story before. So like as I'm pulling away after proposing to her snowboarders, Jesse's pulling in and our cars had to stop. No, like, hey, uh, can you give Jesse either the ring box because like we don't have another ring box. And at the time there was like an emotional connection, but I was.
Like, dude, shut up, damn freaking.
Show, Like are they doing this on purpose? Are they really that dumb?
Oh my god, I could I watched Jason propose to Melissa. I could see it from my hotel room.
Oh that's I mean, that's stuff we do to people in Guantanamo Bay. That's like, that's like special Forces torture stuff. Did we waterboard you? Like what was next? And that's that is the humanity that sometimes gets lost where and again I have to give a little leniency to some of these producers because all they're thinking is, oh, crap, we have to get this neo layne box shot. We only have one box and oh god, Jason has it.
So some PA yells to some intern PA who's like, you know, sheepishly goes, hey, man, they don't, they don't, they don't know there's they're so young and they don't they don't have any idea. They're just trying to do a job, and they forget that these are human beings that just got broken up with and back in the day, and you guys were in the in this era. I call back in the day, Well, we are old. I am just know, I'm always going to be older than you.
It's okay. But you know, look we were only seven years into it and it was still pretty i will say, innocent, naive, you know, like social media hadn't exploded. But there was also this toxicity behind the scenes where there were no rules like there is. The level of professionalism was maybe at a.
One, I mean a thousand, Like remember when place asked you just like yeah, like really inappropriate stuff with producers and the girls and like the producers saying things they shouldn't like remember one thousand. It was bad.
Oh my god, yeah it was. He made Jason look like a good guy. It was Yeah, no, the level of professionalism, and that's it. That's something else that changed, you know, as we moved into the modern era of the show. Thank god, it's the only way that we could have survived. And I was and again, it was just I was so out of that circle for so long that I didn't know that stuff like that was going on. You know, you saw some stuff, but I'm like, I'm out of my depth here. It's my first network gig.
I'm like, I'm excited to have the job. And so I regret, you know, I couldn't have been that person because I wasn't prepared for that in my life at that moment. But I wish I was. I probably would have been off the show sooner because it just would have blown up sooner than it did. Because eventually, enough is enough and you got to draw that line in the sand. Yeah, something that Lauren and I were talking about and we were laughing. You guys made the first
infamous switch, and it's worked. It has been unbelievably successful. So did Ari and Lauren laughingly said the couples that chose the wrong person and ended up getting married have been more successful than the rest of the entire franchise.
Yeah, how crazy is that?
There's Sean Lowe and then the two of you.
Yeah, well, Ari and I talked about this long indeed, because we're really good at what we do. We're real estate agents and experts in love at the same time.
Yeah, I don't know, you guys should definitely, I know.
Exactly what it is. It allows switching like that, not having the pressure of an engagement right away. It gives you the time to create your own path in a relationship. You know, Like I will stand by this woolheartedly. If Jason would have proposed to me that final day, we probably never.
Would have worked.
What do you talk I mean, honestly, like it just the pressure of that is insanity. And yeah, we were able to date off camera and start our relationship completely over before ending up getting married. So I think that's I.
Mean, that's that's what saved us. I've never really thought about that, but that's actually a really interesting point because it's like I've always thought of going through it almost kind of twice where it's like the end of the show, even though the audience wants to see this ring and all this stuff, what it feels like more than anything is like, hey, can we start can we really start dating now?
Yeah?
But you know everybody you is like, no, you're engaged when you're like, I've spent forty hours with this person. I got to get to know him atself.
And you start not believing the hype. But you see the hype and you're on the cover of People magazine, You're on the cover of every magazine. Back then, it was I mean the amount of pressure you got. I mean now the show and I again, I'm not saying this to be a jerk, it's just the relevance is
minute compared to when you were on the show. I mean, the ratings were fifty times what it is now, and so was the attention, and so was the news cycle, and so you guys were not beloved, especially Jason Molly. Did that have something to do with it too? Of this that kind of bunker mentality of't you didn't have the pressure of being the chosen ones. You kind of had the pressure of we don't love this.
Yeah.
Yeah, It very quickly forced us to go back to our regular lives too, Like I know, you know this, Chris, like the Hollywood lifestyle. After the Bachelor ruins, People ruins up, you know, and like they feel like that's like they're just rolling in the money and the events and the shine and the glitz or whatever. But that's not real life. That's going to go away. There's another couple the next
season that will be around, you know. And so we just went back to normal life and dated and got to know about that.
And I wish people knew this about you, because I remember several conversations with you, and other people would talk to you, and I could almost envision being at an airport and you giving advice not to me, to somebody else and saying like, listen, don't do that, Like go back to your normal life. And if you're a real esta agent or a salesman or whatever it is, you're going to kill it in that business. Yeah, don't go do this other thing and try to host the red carpet.
Ben Higgins had a tough time with that, and Ben and I really sat down and had that conversation. I'm like, let it enhance your life, life, don't let it change
your life. And it's tough because and again you go back to that producer saying to you, Oh, they know what they're getting into you don't How do you know what it's like to living Washington as a single dad and then be on Jimmy Kimmel and then beyond Jay Leno, which was a thing back then, to be on the cover of Very magazine, to be to lead entertainment Tonight and Access and everything every night. You don't know, and
and I'll never forget. Trista was was the first one I kind of heard in this area when she went on the View and she came back and I said, oh, you did a great job, you know what. She's like, Yeah, you know, I may, I may actually like work there. I'm like, what what do you mean? She goes, well, they said I was so great, I could come back anytime and edit editor. I said, oh no, I'm like,
like they say that to everybody, but you do. You get you get caught up and you're flying first class, you're talking red carpets, you're you know, presenting at award shows, and you don't realize that this is going to be gone as soon as there is another one, and it's difficult, and so yeah, if you can go back and be amazing real estate moguls, which you guys have done awesome, people know you. People feel like they know you, so use that capitalize on it for sure.
Yeah, yeah, I mean that's how we handle it. It definitely enhances our business, but it is not the anchor of our business.
So typically, like you don't even want to say it unless somebody's like someone, well, they're like, how do I know your face? I'm like, you really want to talk about do.
You want to find your dream home? Or do you want to go down my dark dark path?
Yeah? No, it's I mean, it's present in our life when it needs to be, but it's not every day, which is we prefer it.
Honestly, that is a great way to live. It's very healthy. And you know, because we also televised your wedding I believe it is in twenty ten.
That was a really good It was being awesome.
It was bonkers.
I would go back and do that one hundred times over. It was so fun.
That's when I knew you may be the coolest chick in the world, because any other bride would have lost her mind. Because when I tell you folks that it was storming outside and this was an outside wedding, I can't begin to tell you the tropical like tropical storm that hit during their wedding.
There was a tsunami warning that day.
It was we were at the Terran Air Resort in southern California, just south of LA.
But I also know it helped knowing that you had like a world class makeup artist some time.
I didn't care, Like I was like, as soon as this is on TV, they don't I mean for me to.
They don't want me to. We wish the best for you.
Yeah, but I.
Knew I had hair and makeup waiting for me. When I was done, Like, I wasn't even I was just having fun. It was so fun.
It was it. It was crazy. So yeah, so are people that don't remember when we televised this. In twenty ten, the mother of all storms hit southern California. You know, they say it's goodluck if it rains on your wedding day. Bull crap. This was blowing thirty miles an hour sideways. It was I mean, plant everything, you know, the art I felt so bad for the art department because everything they did blewe to Kingdom come, plants falling over, flying down the aisle. We had to try to cover everything.
We're trying to give everybody umbrellas, but that doesn't work because it's just also blowing so hard. And so you guys get married in the rain in just this epic storm, and it actually turned out to be one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
It was it was like the pictures looking back and like this is it's just awesome.
And then afterwards we were cool, but it was clear, and Sonny too, c and then we all like took a couple hours. We left and like dried out, changed our clothes, got hair and makeup, and then we showed up at what turned out to be an awesome party the rest of the night.
Yeah, you know what that behind the scenes issue with us taking forever to get ready and dried off and all of that. Some of my like high school friends and sorority sisters, like they got so drunk before the reception even started because we took like two hours to get ready. Again, like one girl.
Like one of your sorority sisters puked on the table.
Even remember the reception.
Well, the day got delayed because of the rain, and then it got delayed because of the rain afterwards as well, and so yeah, we hadn't fed anybody. There was no food and everybody was just drinking and drinking and drinking and it just went sideways.
That's awesome.
Oh thank god for that in and out truck that pulled in later. Yeah, I know, no kidding, that was I've never been happier with an in and out burger in my life. Was like around midnight when that thing rolled in and just crushed it. But you know, one of those things I loved. I loved about Tristan Ryan's wedding, y'all. Wedding was like this is when we would take over a resort and it was just us. It was just
your friends. And when people when we're doing a wedding, the cool thing is, yeah, there's there's the television people around, producers, but it's your people. Like you said, it's your sorority sisters, it's your best friends, it's your family. So there was I don't know if you guys remember that little bar that had the fire pit there off the cliffs there. We would go down and it was just mixing and mingling with your friends and everybody's telling their Jason and
Molly stories. It really is like an actual wedding where we're just sharing this stuff and we're sharing this love and so it I love the feeling of that, and I I try to encapsulate that every time we would do a wedding.
What about what about when Gavin de grat tried to make out with all your.
With my sorority system, he was is he married?
No?
Okay, well that's you're saying, like everyone was trapped at this resort, right they went in. No one knew where they were going.
So Gavin de Grau hooked up with one of your sorority sisters.
One or multiple. I think he's like, who's the biggest star here? It's me and Chris Harrison.
Wow, Gavin de Grau well played, sir, well played. I don't know if that's that was part of the writer of agreement. Yeah, I know, Sparkling Water, two bridesmaids and I stayed dinner. What a party man?
That was.
It was again, it was just weird times because it was so young and innocent, even though we'd been doing it for almost a decade. It was just crazy. And then now you guys build this life, you go back to Washington, and I just love how quickly you guys were able to not drop off the map by any means, because you would still come and do things for us all the time, but just started enjoying your life and had a child and you know, raising Tie as well. And I loved to see you guys. It was the
Ryan and Trista method. I loved it. Get away and live your life.
Well we have. I mean, part of it is we had to, like, no matter what people think, you're still on a reality show, so we have to go back to work. And Molly like was getting recruited to do jobs here right away, right you got recruited by the shoe company and I went and I had to go back to work right away. So there was no and you know, Ty isn't going to be like, well did you guys have fun on TV? Go ahead and enjoy your vacation for the next.
Five years life.
Like you like, you know, when you have a kid, you're totally grounded and like, thinking back to it, like Ty has no recollection of any of that.
Really, can we can we talk about the tie of it all?
Yes?
I mean he was four or five years old. Yeah, I remember that. I remember meeting this little kid, such a Seahawks fan, and you know, he was around the show from time to time and we'd hang out just this little kid, and I again didn't pay attention until I saw on your social media graduating high school off to Boise State. Looks like a grown ass man. Yeah, so so much better looking than you, So much better looking.
Than you, and so much nicer. Yeah, well behaved.
He's like literally the best. He's the best human he is.
He just Isn't that what you want? You want your kids to not only have a better option a life and choices and but to be better human beings.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean it was weird dropping him off because that first day, it is just a couple of weeks ago, we had the boys to drop him off, and that like the first day he's like, hey, my roommate wants to go to a concert, right, And we're like, oh, man, like we're here with you, but like that's what you want to see too. Yeah, what did we do?
We went out with We went out with his ex wife, her husband, and.
We ended up at a club that night.
It's funny you say that it is a there are a few times when you come back together and it's for children, and so we did the same. We had a big dinner. My ex was there, Lauren of course is there, her husband is there, and we all, you know, crack a bottle because it's still it's it's also no matter what kind of divorce you went through or whatever, it's still an accomplishment that the two of you and
all of you now as a unit have done. Like Molly, you put your time and energy into Tie and I know you know Lauren did the same for my kids, and it's it is a beautiful moment, if only a moment at least you come back together for a second to celebrate and watching, you know, knowing that you drop Tie off, was it a were you emotional? Did you cry because you're a ball bag?
Yeah, I'm a ball bag.
Well I've never seen him cry other than that scene on TV.
That's it. Well I'm also, yeah, an actor obviously. Yeah, So you know what's like, I think the one time where it really hit me was you're in like at Boise, they have this like freshman orientation where everybody goes into the basketball arenac and somebody's president of the university's upfront, Like when they started talking about their future and everything. That's when it really got to me. Yeah, like where
they've been, where they're going like the drop off. Weirdly enough, he came home the first two weekends for various things.
How close is Boise State to you guys? A short drive?
No, it's a long drive, so you have to go through the mountains. But the flight is like an hour.
Oh okay, gotcha.
It's super easy. He has to come back to go to the Drake concert, very important.
Speaking to having fantasy football draft.
Yeah, so.
It easy because Ty was so ready. He was so excited. He made friends right out of the gate. Like the first two nights of us dropping them off at college, he was like, I don't even want to hang out with you guys. I want to go with my friends. So it's like he was ready to fly. Yeah, and it made it easier to let him go.
You know, I want to just think like the last couple of years, you know, once you got through COVID and you get your license and all of a sudden, it's sports and he's driving everywhere on his own and he's got his own life. So like that last two years of pushing away from us, and it's funny, like he even said when he was in town over the weekend, He's like, you know, it's weird, like it feels like high school in some ways, just.
Bigger, bigger, Yeah, and doing things for you.
Yeah, when when you've done your job right, they want to be independent and they they leave you. And it's but it is a great thing. I had just had my kids, uh here for the Labor Day weekend, and I had six kids in my house, you know, roommates, sorority sisters, what have you. And it's you just look at it and you're like, this is beautiful, Like this is all I've wanted for them.
And you know what was really interesting this past year is Tie and all of his friends decided to come to our house every night and watch our season of The Bachelor. In no way, yes, And it was the most ten nights of my life.
Oh no, I was just laughing at you. Oh god. It was like she was so embarrassed, and I'm like, listen, they were bound, they were bound to find out about it. No, I know.
So all these kids, all.
Of them, like like when you say, everybody was me over to your house, like.
They sat down and watched start to finish the whole thing.
Finish the thing. It was humiliating.
What were there? It was what were their comments like, well, they had.
Actually really good comments. But what would be bad is like I would go sequester myself in my room because I'd be so embarrassed and I just hear all of my at the same time be like, Oh, I'm like, oh my god, what did they just see?
Oh my god, that's amazing. What did they think of your skills? Jason?
Oh?
They well they all look up to me, so obviously. It's like they love my skills, you know.
I bet I bet they would just realize now because they have they are so much more evolved than we were and are, and they're so much better at talking and communicating that I bet they just feel like, man, y'all were out of touch. Y'all were so out of touch.
God. I just keep on thinking, Thank God Instagram.
It wasn't I know, I know, it's I'm so glad I got to go to school, like without all of that, you know. Is that something you guys have trouble with with Riley?
H No, not yet. Well she doesn't have a phone, yete phone yet She's pretty good.
Because I saw her at the Taylor Swift concert. Yeah, are y'all swifties?
I mean you have to be if you're not.
Jason, don't shake this off, like, don't don't like shake your head like it's not cool to be a swiftye that she's not amazing in every way possible, because she is.
I just here's here's my confusion with her. Okay, okay. The super Bowl is once a year, right, yes, and it's self doubt and tickets are very expensive. Taylor Swift is on tour for two years straight and every show is like the super Bowl.
Yeah, tickets are.
The super Bowl is once a year. Taylor Swift has one hundred and seventy nine thousand concerts.
Instead of being confusing, what that should tell you? And I love the Dallas Cowboys, you love the Seahawks. Let's say that the Seahawks and Cowboys are playing every day. I don't care. There's a point, there's a point where I just won't care about this aim anymore. Taylor Swift, her tour will not ever have that. But it's also different because billions can watch every game, and you like, if we all tuned in every night to watch the same Taylor Swift show, we would probably grow old as well.
So the concert's going on, that's great. You know what you do, make a movie about it, Yeah, and put it in the theaters. Everybody by the ticket.
I'm hey, I'm but I feel the same about you too, Like I'm going to go see them in Vegas. I love rattle and Hum. I'm all, I get it. And my daughter is the biggest swift in the world. And so she went by her again without us. She's in college, so she went with her friend to the one at Texas Stadium and she's like, it changed my life. She's like I would go. She's like, I want to just keep traveling and go see her over and over.
And I love how much how passionate people are, because I feel like she is a good person, But how does it change your life?
Her daughter, so she's.
Also ten, so like her life has got a shorter space.
There is that show, the You two show. Lauren was amazing enough to get me this particular advertisement. I was sixteen years old. I was playing soccer over in Europe with this traveling team and we're in Wales and we ran into You two in Cardiff, Wales, and I wasn't even that huge of a U two fan, but it was just there are moments in time when you are so impressionable, and there's a moment like it is for Riley, like it is for my daughter right now with Taylor Swift.
But what I find, and Lauren brought this up, what's incredible is that Taylor Swift isn't a kid. Her group of people that grew up with her are still fans, but now Riley's a fan. Like she has captured the next generation as well. It is a phenomenon like we have not seen in many, many decades. Even throwing out the Beatles or the Stones, I mean, the biggest names in music. She's there now, I mean and Riley.
So they went to the concert, right and then the next day, Hi and his girlfriend took Riley and sat outside the concert because you could hear it, Yeah, she's like again.
Are you kidding? Ty took his little sister to sit outside so she could listen.
Oh my gosh, she's so good with her. He is so good with her. They've gotten so close.
I don't know what you did to deserve that, but that is like, think about that. Think about what you're just saying, Like, I promise you, Ty didn't want to go sit in the parking lot and listen to you with swift.
He did did. Yeah, it was so sweet that.
Like so when Taylor is my Taylor went to her concert, she ubered in it's always easy to get into a concert, it's impossible to get out. So she called her brother who was forty five minutes away in Fort Worth, and said, come pick me up. It's eleven thirty at night. And he got out of bed went when picked up his little sister. And that's those are the things when you're like, I don't know what I did, but thank god, these are good human beings.
Yes, well I don't know. So my only memory memory of your kids, because it wasn't that, it was the opposite of that, is they come in and I think were the itelliens. Well, we had a foosball table down because the year I was on the Bachelorette we stayed in the house down below and you could bring your kids from the kids would come from time to time, and dude, when they went head to head in foosball, I don't know if a foosball table, but they went, they went at it.
They there. They would get contentious from time to time. Yeah, they they they I mean, look, they had their moments and I think what Riley and Tie are much further apart in age minor a year and a half apart. They are two years apart. So yeah, they there was definitely that that phase they went through. But at the end of the day, they are very close now and I'm like, I'm so thankful for that because they're at the same college, which is crazy unbelievable how that worked out.
Where else was where else was Thie looking to.
Go University of Washington, So he looked at all the Washington schools, Oregon School STSU or University of Oregon, San Diego, Arizona. But I think he just wanted something a little bit smaller. Yeah, we actually have some Like I was telling you, we're gonna be down in Austin because some of my closest
friends and clients are moving down there. Although she is the mother is worried because coming from this climate down to the air, She's like, it's one hundred and ten, sorry, maybe one hundred and forty nine.
It can be it can be warm, it can be very so. But I mean, I can't wait for you guys to get down here. I can't wait to show you around. You're gonna absolutely you'll love it. And look, I think what we do is we summer up in Washington and.
Then we winter down here Albertas.
And you guys need some vitamin D. When you need some sunshine, you come down here before you go. Though, I do want to talk about what you guys are doing with your life, because y'all have absolutely crushed it and it's I love that you're doing it together. You guys, when when did that kind of combinations start?
Jason's been doing real estate for over ten years. Yeah, built a really really solid business, and he was like, I need your help.
Well, she's so organized and creative, and you know, she was doing like she left the the she was in the radio business for a little while. But as soon as she left, I'm like, okay, can we do this together? And we did have a negotiation.
We did. He was like, if you come help me with work, you can build the house that you want to build.
That's why we almost the trade. So hopefully just a few weeks away from moving into our house. But like we had a fair trade.
That was a fair trade.
Yeah, that is that's quite the carrot you dangled there.
That's quite the deal. I know, I know, but it's been good though. I mean we do have everyone's like how do you work together? And we do have moments where like moments, Yeah, I'm like, you go to the office today, all work from home, just so we're like separated.
But well, I mean we're in the office today and this is the first day you've been in the office for a while. Yeah, several weeks.
Yeah.
Interesting. You guys bring so much to the table. Obviously you're smart and talented, but you're also a couple and you've been through something so public. Buying a house is so emotional. Do you have advice for people? Do you find that you also help people kind of emotionally with such a big job.
You're you're a therapist for sure, because they're going through one of the most stressful moments of their life, packing a house, moving, picking out the biggest purchase of their life. Yeah, it's I mean, we talked through a lot of emotions with people.
Yeah, and I think probably in some ways it does help because a lot of our clients do know who we are, recognize us, and so because of that familiarity with like, oh, we we already feel like we trust them and hope hopefully they really do that those conversations probably come a little easier. Plus, I took a few credits in psychology.
And so you're basically a psychologists.
Basically a psychologist from that university.
Well, I always said, it's like, I'm like, I'm not a doctor, but I definitely have put enough hours in to be. Yeah, at this point, I feel like, as they say, I've seen a few things, Yes, yes you have, and you guys were definitely one of those things. That was such a lightning bolt moment that for the franchise, for me, for you, and it's this thing that no matter what happens in my life, I will always remember it and I will always have this bond with the
two of you. And at the time, I don't think I would have had this perspective, but I consider it special now and I don't know if that's right, but I feel like I think about it with fondness.
Yeah, I think we do too.
Like I think there was some like initially because I knew what it was going to look like and how that was going to play out. I was there was some animosity back then, but I think now when I look back at it, it was just a really interesting experience.
Yeah, It's so funny though, like we're so far moved. It's like weird to even think like we were on a TV show at one point, you know, like it's been fifteen years since we filmed our season, you know. And I even like when you had promoted like do you have questions for Jason and Molly, I was like, I three years ago. I looked at Jason, I was like, I'm not doing interviews about the show anymore. I'm just like,
I'm done with it. I don't I don't remember. It was so long ago, you know, and like so it's not really a part of our day to day life, but it is a very fond memory. To go down this lane with you and talk.
About it, well, I appreciate it. I've never had, as you said, an open, honest, really candid conversation with you too. I've had the other type of conversations where we all smile and shake our head and answer the right questions. But I was happy to have a real conversation with you guys and get to the truth. And I love you guys, and Yell are in such a good season with your lives, your business, with Riley starting fifth grade, I can't wait to hear how the first day of
school went, and Tye it did. By the way, is he in a fraternity.
He's not doing a fraternity. Fraternities aren't real big and poise like.
It depends on the school.
Yeah, I mean I was a big sorority girl. Jason was a big fraternity guy. He's taking a different path, but he's.
Super hid different school.
Is in a sorority, you know, see how that goes.
That's I mean, he's so level headed, but he's learning a lot in the first couple of weeks of school. Yeah.
Well, you know, when we would reach out to people on uh, you know, the most dramatic pod ever on our Instagram unanimously, you guys were the ones people were asking about. People were clamoring to get you. Yeah, I know, I'll be honest, and I don't mean to be mean. I was like, really I didn't. Okay, great, we'll die back.
You're irrelevant. We are such old news.
But that's the great thing is you're not and uh and people still bond over this and love you guys, and it just you know, you never it never ceases to amaze me how many people we touched with the show and for how long we did it, and that's and that's and you guys were a huge part of that. So I thank you. I thank you guys for your friendship, your support, your love, and for coming on the show and for being honest today. It has been such a pleasure talking to you.
Awesome, Chris. Let's take it to the course.
Bring it you guys, get to Austin. Let me know when you're coming to town. I got it all.
Yeah, sweet man, I'll be both of you.
Well.
By the way, I've seen your swing. You look really good. Yeah, it looks real good. I don't know how many houses you're selling, but your candy cap has come down. Yeah, all right, guys, take care.
Okay, thanks Chris, thanks for listening.
Follow us on Instagram at the most dramatic pod ever, and make sure to write us a review and leave us five stars. I'll talk to you next time.