Bachelor Happy Hour - Exclusive: Happily Ever After: Joan & Chock — Part 1

Episode Date: November 14, 2024

Today on “Happy Hour,” we’re here with the happy couple: Joan and Chock! Our very first “Golden Bachelorette” lovebirds are here to tell us everything about their relationship, engagement, and more! We kick off today’s episode by getting into those first moments together off-screen. Then, we get into the ring, Hometowns, and more of those amazing moments between the two throughout their journey. Plus, we get a sneak peek at what’s to come for them! Tune in now to hear it all, and be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode, especially part two, dropping tomorrow!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious. Wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, luckily, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend's been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone.

Hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That seems inappropriate. Maybe find out how it ends by listening to the OK Storytime podcast and the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jamel Hill, host of the Sports and Politics and on the latest episode of Spolitics, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries joins me for a candid conversation about the state of the Democratic Party. What do Republicans say to you privately that they won't say publicly? Many of them are in fear of their political lives. We continue to say to them, you were elected to defend your constituents. and there's life after Congress. Make sure to listen to this episode of Politics

on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Why are TSA rules so confusing? You got a hood of you. I'll take it all! I'm Manny. I'm Noah. This is Devin. And we're best friends and journalists with a new podcast called No Such Thing,

where we get to the bottom of questions like that. Why are you screaming? I can't expect what to do. Now, if the rule was the same, go off on me. I deserve it. You know, lock him up. Listen to No Such Thing on the I Heart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

No such thing. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Bachelor Happy Hour. I'm Joe. And I'm Serena. And we are here finally with the lovely couple from the Golden Bachelorette. Joan and Chalk are both with us today. Welcome, guys.

Oh, how are you? Hi. Very good to be on this podcast. nice to have you how's everybody how you guys feeling how are we feeling today feeling good oh so good finally like we're real people out in the world yeah very happy just it's been a long time coming but we we are here i know it probably feels like forever i feel like this is always the most exciting time when it's all said and done and you can be out in the world together and proudly show each other off how hard was it to keep this secret the past few months

so it's been very hard you know our families know so that's been fun so they've kind of gotten to know each other but you know most of our friends other than you like a you know the few that you trust um oh yeah here's my ring i just got it yeah there we go yeah it's gorgeous yeah it's been hard but you know what there is a little element that i i was as i was getting in my car to come back to la um yesterday morning like there was a part of me they thought you know i actually love living in this kind of bubble right now because it just is so pure it's just the two of us there's no outside noise and you know you know how people can be you know they could be critical of our relationship and i just love like feeling that i don't have to worry about that and we just get to be

us and happy joan how do you feel we'll start with you how do you feel now that your journey is complete i mean we've seen a ton of emotions from you we know you know it can't be easy especially at the end there's multiple guys there you have strong feelings for multiple people how does it feel that it's all finally finished your journey has come to a close i thought i was the only guy multiple people from now you are so i think that um you like you said there was multiple emotions i came into this like really enthusiastic and thought i was ready and this is just going to be you know an easy fun journey and then about midway it became really really hard and so difficult, and I wasn't as, you know, enthusiastic and wasn't feeling as positive.

And then as we got to the end, it became pure joy because I knew I had my person here. And that's where I am now. It's just pure joy. Chalk, at the end, when you guys get engaged and, you know, after all said and done and the producers kind of step away and you guys have, like, that first moment to yourselves, not, you know, not miced up and away from the cameras. How was that moment? What was that like?

There's a good story with that. We go back to the cruise ship, which was just incredible. Then we go into Jones' room, and we sit down next to each other, and I look at it, and I go, all right, tell me about yourself. It was just surreal because we did have a lot of time. The cameras don't show all the time that we had together, but you're living in a bubble, and it's fast-tracked. But, I mean, we had from a compatibility and from just a really attraction and love for each other, it just started instantly. And we have, we've been very fortunate since the day we left the cruise ship, left Tahiti. We have talked at least three times a day.

Every day we've not missed a day. And it's just been fantastic to have that attraction to make the commitment, but then also to get to know someone. Like we have spent time together and we're incredibly compatible. I've just been so surprised about this. It's been, it's like we've been married for five or ten years. That's amazing. Yeah. It's been really easy.

Yeah. it was funny though that first day I walk in the room he has a bottle of wine at like 12 noon in the middle of the day and he and he's like so you should probably get to know each other because you know as you guys know you've done it before you have the like big major conversations all the time you know it's always about like you know where do you expect your life to be and talk about your family and talk about your loss and you know all the things that have kind of made you the pressure you are up until this point in your life and you don't have any of those little conversations like where do you like to go out to dinner or do you like to cook or like what your dogs

name and all that kind of stuff. So we literally sat there for like five hours and drank wine and just had all those little conversations because, you know, we had already figured out the big stuff we matched on. We matched on our values and, you know, the things that we want out of the like, but we just didn't know each other that well, honestly. I did know. I didn't know our dog's name. You did it? And all my kids' names. And I have, my mother was a physician and she had one of the most incredible memories. And I got a good part of that from her. But I was read. I I'd never watched The Bachelor episode, not one of them prior to going on the show, and I disclosed that too.

And they go, that's fine. I wanted it to be fresh, and I wanted everything to be new to me while I was reading up on Joan, and it just took me one article, and I was able to memorize all the kids' names, her mother's name, or mother-in-law's name, the dog's name. And while some people might say that's a little cringy, I just loved it. It was just natural for me, because when we're talking, something that came up as her oldest son works in the insurance business, and I'm in the insurance business too. she said, Nick, and she was saying about his job, and I go, yeah, he's in the insurance business.

She's like that. And I go, I just read one article and I was able to remember that. Wow, you did your homework. I know when Joe and I first had that moment that you guys were talking about where, like, the cameras are gone, you go to the room. I remember Joe, like, opened two beers. And our conversation was very much like, okay, it's done. Like, oh, my gosh, what did we just go through?

Like, the sense of, like, we've just been through this. It's the, go ahead. No, I was just going to say, we've been through this unreal, life-changing process. Was there any of that of like, let's just talk about everything that just happened? Well, what was really cool about the fantasy suites is we just had an opportunity to talk. And that was the first time, you know, we had talked before a little bit off camera. They don't let you do that for good reasons. But we were able to talk about a lot of different things.

And we stayed up until it was in the middle of the morning. Yeah, yeah, it was 3 or 4 a.m. And then, because we didn't have a bedroom, I had to do the walk of shame back to my room. It was funny. But just, you know, the communication, and we're just so much alike. It's just we're very blessed to have that. And I couldn't be happier. The other thing that I do want to mention is when you know you've got the right person,

the day that we were leaving, Joan was down in her room and I was in my room, I didn't want to leave her. Yeah. I mean, it was just this weird feeling of she's packing and I'm packing and you're going, I mean, we're going back to our world, our lives, and I didn't want to do it. I mean, it was a tough goodbye for me. That's when you know you've got the right person. Yeah.

Yeah. That's a good sign. Chalk, you mentioned never watching the show. Joan, you've kind of been in this world now for a minute. Chalk, when you did leave Joan and you got home and you kind of, you knew that you had it happy ending, but the show hasn't aired yet, and there's so much you can. can't even really talk about. Was there anyone within Bachelor Nation, maybe like a Jesse Palmer or just guys from your season

that you were able to reach out to and talk to? Well, we put a group text together with all the guys. And I say all the guys. It was probably the 14, 15 of us. You know, the guys that left the first night, that was difficult. They weren't, you know, they didn't have the opportunity to go to those next levels. And we have communicated on that so much and we keep in contact and the great friendships. I've talked to guy every week.

Michael, Dan, had some communication with Jack. In the relationships that we've been able to form are just incredible. And I've got to tell you, Keith is, he is so special. Keith is the glue to the guy staying together. And he cares about everybody. And he's just such a fun, good man. Yeah, we've had him on the podcast a few times. And he's got such great energy.

He's so positive. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly. and now I'm seriously suspicious. Oh, wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes,

my boyfriend has been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now, he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Now, hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That sounds totally inappropriate. Well, according to this person,

this is her boyfriend's former professor, and they're the same age. And it's even more likely that they're cheating. insists there's nothing between them. I mean, do you believe him? Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he now wants them both to meet. So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend really cheated with his professor or not? To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jamil Hill, host of the Sports and Politics Podcast Politics. And on the latest episode of

Politics, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries joins me for a candid conversation about the state of the Democratic Party. do Republicans say to you privately, that they won't say publicly? Many of them are in fear of their political lives, and that's been part of the challenge. But we continue to say to them, you were elected to defend your constituents, to stand up for your constituents. And there's life after Congress. And you should be willing to actually want to be able to look back on your time in the House of Representatives, knowing that you can keep your head held high because you did the right thing. Donald Trump is gone in three and a half.

years. But their legacy or their failure to stand up to the extremism and the unprecedented assault on America as we know it will be with them forever. Make sure to listen to Spolitics on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, my name is Enya Umanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, We're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble.

Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. You said that you didn't know much about the show before you went on it. Did you know that it ended in engagement? and when you found out about the engagement, was that something that you saw yourself

being able to do in such a short amount of time? Okay, very good question. And I will tell you, once I got to the Bachelor Mansion, I didn't need to know anything because Keith is a walking and cycle. He has lost. He is.

But his daughters. So he was just filling me in. And there's a funny joke. I didn't even know what the Golden Rose was. I mean, I'd walk by it on these rose ceremonies. I had no idea. It was kind of a standing joke going, this guy didn't know anything about the show and so that was you know but i wanted it fresh and

i wanted it to be new to me and just to to take it and for what it was and to not be you know calculated or thinking through it too much the whole process and so you know there's some there's some times you saw me and it was it was me and other times you know i don't know if they were they were able to show the whole you know interlude with these other gentlemen but you know very happy how it turned out And what was the second part of your question? I'm sorry. Oh, the engagement. It's avoiding that, I feel like.

I do a thing. It's called self-check. And I've done this my whole life. And it's when I look in the mirror and I ask myself and through the dealings that I've had, from relationships to business deals, and I look in the mirror and I go, are you okay with this? And the night before, I looked in the mirror and I said, are you okay with this? And I didn't even, I didn't even think about it.

I go, absolutely. I've got the woman, a chance of a lifetime to spend with the most incredible woman I've met, and it was just instantly. The casting director, when we were going through the pre-show, she asked me the last conversation before she told me that I was going to be on the show, she goes, you know that there's a strong chance, a strong probability, this is going to end in an engagement. So that was kind of another self-check, and I said, absolutely, I'm ready for it. So very happy to do it, thought through it as best as anyone can. You are taking a leap of faith, but very happy I did it, and absolutely zero regrets.

No regrets whatsoever. Good, good. And you have to say that because Joan's sitting next to you and you're on camera. So even if she wasn't. Well, it wasn't because I'm, you know, I'm a very transparent person. And I got to tell you, I was just blessed to have the whole thing happen. And I just, you know, I've had relationships. And there was some couple of social media posts going, well, because I said, you know,

this was probably the most incredible thing. And somebody goes, well, what about your other relationships? those stand on their own and they were two great people. It's just in my life right now, this has just been incredible. Yeah. Joan, how was it meeting Chuck's family for the first time? Oh, gosh. So that was a really big hometown.

Like generally, bachelor hometowns are like maybe a little bit more intimate, but because they were doing the, you know, the ceremony for his mom who had just passed away, you know, there was a lot of friends. I'm sorry to hear about that, Chuck. Yeah, we're so sorry about that. I appreciate this. So I met a lot of people. So I obviously met his, you know, daughter and son. And it is such easy conversation with them. Probably maybe the easiest I had of all the hometowns. It was just, it was easy flow. Kind of like every interaction I ever had with chalk, even like from our first time together, it was easy.

It was the same thing with his kids. But I got to meet his, you know, his dad and his stepmom. And I got to meet Kathy, who is his late fiance's father was there. So Tom was there. And I got to meet him. It was, there was a, there was a lot of family. There are brothers there. There were a lot of interactions and it was kind of easy. You know, he's from Kansas. He's from the Midwest. People are just friendly. They're just innately friendly people.

Were you at all worried going into hometowns that, like, what if, what if the family doesn't like me or what if I just don't get along with the family? Was that, did you have any worries? Sure. You know, absolutely. I've been saying kind of all along that, you know, the way this ends up for people our age or the way that I picture it ending up is that you're not necessarily going to move to one place or the other or find a place where you both want to be, kind of like you young guys get to do,

you know, because you're not, you know, bound to a place. You don't have kids yet. You don't have a lot of responsibilities. So you can, you're really mobile. That's the opposite with us. We have lots of responsibilities. He has a business. We have kids.

I have grandchildren. I have a mom and mother-in-law who are still alive. So I have a lot of responsibilities. So I had to picture myself being at his place and he has to picture himself kind of living at mine because we're going to be doing a combination of both. So, you know, hometowns are really important because you have to actually picture yourself living there. So those interactions and even just do like the place, you know, do I, can I picture myself being in Kansas? And he pictured himself being in Maryland. These are important things because it's going to be a reality at least for a little while.

Yeah, no, absolutely. it's uh it's probably like the biggest one of the biggest things yeah of where you're going to live it's reality but we're not concerned about that at all no yeah we're going to spend time in new york city um i'm in a great place where i can take time and we're looking forward to it yeah it'll be an exciting like adventure if you're both on the same page and open to you know making that kind of shift of where you're going to be not 100% in one place all the time it can be really exciting well it's also all about communication as well like you you've said since you guys have been together you talk three times a day like that that is really important even because there are

going to be moments and potentially months in your life where you're not together but there's face time there's text messages there's phone calls and like that just makes it so much easier yeah we don't we don't go to sleep without talking to each other yeah yeah that's good conversation I mean, sometimes it's short, I'm tired, I'm going to bed. Other times, we'll talk for 30 to 45 minutes. He asks me every single time he calls me at night, what are you wearing? One thing I'm going to say like an old t-shirt. Is that a problem?

My secrets out. Again. So other than what Joan wears to bed, what have you guys learned about each other since leaving the show? Any big surprises? I will tell you, I didn't know how smart Joan was. And I knew she was smart, but she's a whole different level. And I use this today.

I go, she is going to be the matriarch, and I like it. And she's been very helpful with me. And there's certain things that, and this is why I think it feels like we've been married for three to five years. There's certain things like, Joan, just take, you know, you take care of it. You tell me where I need to be, what I need to do, booking reservations next weekend in New York City for dinner. It just works so well. And we've already learned that, you know, 5% of kind of the non-negotiable or this is what I want to do. that we're both good with that.

But we've had these great lives where we've done a lot of stuff. And now it's just having fun of no drama. I mean, we are so big on the no drama. Yeah, we do not want drama. And the thing that I learned about him was that he's a fixer. So if I get, you know, if I'm having something going on during the day and I go, oh, this is like really frustrating me, he's like trying to figure. He's like, so I know this person, I can call him or, you know, let me see how I can

figure, you know, fix this for you. He's a fixer. He doesn't want to see me unhappy. worried. If I'm unhappy or worried, he's unhappy and worried. Chalk gets things done. Yeah, he does. I like that. Just like this relationship. Here we are. I got to say.

My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly and now I'm seriously suspicious. Wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast. So we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend has been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now, he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone.

Now, hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That sounds totally inappropriate. Well, according to this person, this is her boyfriend's former professor, and they're the same age. And it's even more likely that they're cheating. He insists there's nothing between them. I mean, do you believe him?

Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he now wants them both to meet. So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend really cheated with his professor or not? To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jemel Hill, host to the Sports and Politics Podcasts Politics. And on the latest episode of Politics, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries joins me for a candid conversation about the state of the Democratic Party. What do Republicans say to you privately that they won't say publicly?

Many of them are in fear of their political lives. And that's been part of the challenge. But we continue to say to them, you were elected to do. defend your constituents to stand up for your constituents. And there's life after Congress. And you should be willing to actually want to be able to look back on your time in the House of Representatives knowing that you can keep your head held high because you did the right thing. Donald Trump is gone in three and a half years. But their legacy or their failure to stand up to the extremism and the unprecedented assault on America as we know it will be with them forever.

Make sure to listen to Spolitics on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, my name is Enya Umanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble.

Yes. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. Before we pivot to the finale, Chuck, during your hometown, you got a little slack with people saying that may have been too intimate of a setting. Do you have a response to that? And when you give me more specifics on it.

Yeah. So on your hometown day. you spent time with your family and with Joan honoring your mother. You guys, you know, said some beautiful words. You did some, almost like a ceremony for her. And some people were surprised to see that because it was a really intimate space to bring Joan into. Can you kind of just walk us through that decision and maybe give some people some insight into why you wanted Joan to be a part of that? The memorial for my mother, and what I will tell you this, is I loved her. I talked to my mother almost every day. and we were incredibly close.

I was happy that I was able to memorialize her in that way. And she was a non-traditionalist. And to plant a tree where somebody passes away where something else is going to live, I thought that was one of the best ideas. And it might have been a little different. So we planted the tree and made the decision that a few of us were going to put dirt around the tree. So I was going to go last, had my brother do it, had the other family members. And then I looked at Joan and I go, would you do this?

Because Joan had obviously never met my mother, but it was a way to just connect with her that was important to me. And people could go, you know, and it wasn't a funeral. It was a memorial service. And it was really a celebration of life. And for those of us that have lost loved ones, that's the best way you can say a celebration of life. And I'm glad she got to participate in that. And it was me asking her to do it. And she did it for me and my mother, which I appreciate greatly.

Yeah. Joan, what did that mean to you to be there for that? I was really sad. I knew his mother was really sick when he came on the show. It was one of the conversations we had early on. And I had so hoped that she was going to make it so that, like, the first place we could go, like, right when we got to leave the show was, you know, to see her. Because I, you know, he has, she was a really incredible woman, extremely smart, kind of became a doctor later in life. She was kind of a missionary.

She went to other countries to help them. and an incredible woman, so I felt really sad that I didn't get to meet her. So to have this, like, itty-bitty part of, you know, the last part of her life or of her memory, I just felt really honored that I got to do that. I, it didn't feel awkward to me at all. And the hometown wasn't built on that. It wasn't. That was a bonus.

Yeah. And the hometown was Fort of Joan to come back to where I live, meet my family, meet my friends, and see a little bit about Kansas. And I really like the aspect of we have suburbs. We had, you know, that's one thing you can kind of do that. But to go out in the country and Rogers Place, it's absolutely gorgeous. I don't know how. It's beautiful.

Yeah. But it's for Kansas. It's very unique. And so I thought the whole thing went great. And that's another one of those times that I looked at Joan. And when we were inside, and my love language is a touch. I walked up behind her and just me touching her from behind while she was talking to my friends and being very interactive, just met the world to me. And that's going, you know, this is destined for us.

Yeah, and I feel like moments like that help you realize how special the person that you're with is. And it probably moves your feelings along so much quicker. And in something like The Bachelor, where things move so quickly, it only really, it helps progress. And if I can, what you're on this topic, I was very, very happy and impressed with production on how they handled the whole thing. When I left the Bachelor Mansion, when I came back, I couldn't have asked. for more. They were so family-oriented, so thinking and considerate of my situation. The executive producer comes up because we'll do whatever you want. If you don't want to come back, whatever you want. You take as much time. I couldn't have asked for more. That's great.

How did it feel going back into the mansion? You know, you've just gone through a really hard time losing your mom. You're leaving your family to go back on the show. What were those emotions like? it was all about Joan if I hadn't connected with Joan I wouldn't have come back yeah it just it's that plain and simple and I was you know I came back to to see where this journey was going to go and I'm glad I did I had time and the thing was is I tried to get my mother to move back to wichita she was raised there she lived in Oregon out in the country just loved it and that's where she wanted to pass this was staged poor terminal cancer we all knew it was going to happen but her wish was to pass away in her home. So doing that and then sitting there with George to make sure that he's

okay. And I've actually just was out to see him a week or two ago. My brother and I went out there helped him move some stuff. You know, he's doing great. He's mobile. But coming back, I sat there and I go, my mother told me before I went on the show, she goes, go do this. And we actually have it on film. And she goes, go do it, go live your life. And so that's what I was thinking is she wanted me to do this. And then I've got this incredible person that if I don't get back on that plane and go to LA it's probably it won't ever happen yeah joan did you know how strong chock's feelings were for you before he left so i knew that we had like this really good connection because our date or just a land date was like pretty incredible we just flowed so easily right from the start and

um i knew that we were good i didn't know how good and so you know i left the golden bachelor like in similar circumstances my family needed me and i had planned on coming back and never was able to so when he left and said and he like kept saying to me i promised you i'm coming back i promise you i'm coming back and you know kind of that point was the first time that we really had like like that intimate hug that lasts for like 30 seconds you know that one is that like you're neither one of you wants to let go so when he left i i felt like he was like he was planning on coming back this was the truth but i didn't know what he was going to find on the other end and that he could end up in Oregon and things could not be as good as he thought they would be and they were going to need

him and I knew the type of person he was and if they needed him he wouldn't have come back. So I got really nervous and that's when I figured out how strong my feelings were for him because I kept thinking if he doesn't come back, I'm not going to be able to finish this. Like there's going to be a huge question mark that, you know, going unanswered won't let me move forward with somebody else. So, yeah, this was, that was a pivotal moment in our relationship actually. Yeah. Yeah.

Thank God you came back. You could have ended up with like Keith or something. Oh, God. Not that. Not Keith. All the guys. Yeah, there's pretty bad choices there. I would be honored to have Keith as a brother-in-law.

You know, if I was younger, the uncle, because he would be, he is so much fun. Yeah. He really. Let's cut to, yeah, let's move over to the finale. Joan Chalk meets your kids for the first time. and everything seems to go as smooth as it could go. After he leaves, what's the conversation between you and your kids? My kids thought it was so obvious that he was the person

that they literally said they'd never seen me look happier. In so many years, like we've had so many years of, you know, John was dying for two years and he passed away. And three years of that. And, you know, it was during COVID. Our business failed. We just had had a lot of really hard times. all in like a like five-year period and I was just like just plain happy just plain and simple

like life was good again it just felt good I had my person and they could just see it on my face and then they you know got to talk to them and you know I think at the end of the day we were all good there was um you know there was no need to go any farther we were we were done yeah so yeah after the engagement by may we all went out to dinner yeah it was you know just knows like, hey, is it cool if we go with my family? I'm going, absolutely. That's a big part of who we are as our family and friends. Yeah.

Yeah. Going into that day, before they met Chalk, did they have any nerves or skepticism about the process or just, you know, seeing you in a new relationship? Or were they really open-minded to everything? So I wasn't actually able to talk to them until he and I actually saw them. So from the time I had been home until getting home, until getting, you know, that we actually walked in and saw them sitting there, you know, on the ship, ready to talk to us. I hadn't spoken to them, but, you know, going into this whole

journey, they, you know, they wanted me to be happy. And they knew that I was really serious. This was, I felt like this was a really unique opportunity to find somebody that I was never going to have this kind of chance again. And, you know, I had done dating. I had dated people and I had tried it in all the various ways you can date these days. And none of it had been really successful. So I know that they If they saw that I was happy They were going to be really open to the person that I had met Because they wanted it to turn out well for me

Yeah How were you both feeling on that final date Knowing that that was your final date? Yeah, how about you? Oh, I was ready to go The only thing was that we went over We took these little motor yachts over to this private island And it was just absolutely gorgeous

Tahiti is just it's like no other place in the world. And we get on the island, we do a little photo opportunity, and then we're walking around, and I'm working on my proposal. And the producer I'm working with, I go, well, if I don't get this right, can I do a retake? And he goes, absolutely not. And so that's the only time I'm like, don't mess it up, don't mess it up. And it's tough.

But seeing Joan walk around the corner, and she was standing on the north end of this island, she looked absolutely gorgeous. And I was just, you know, I was like, again, I'm the lucky. guy and it just went easy. It really did. And the surprise of her kids being there after the engagement, after the acceptance was just, it's one of those moments you'll remember and the kids were so happy. I shouldn't say kids, they're young adults, but they were very happy for Joan. It was just a great moment. So the interaction, our date before, like our last one where I got to go to see him for the one last time, was kind of like a full circle moment because we had both

in a weird conversation that we didn't have on camera, which is very rarely happens, he said, you know, I've always wanted to live in New York City, and I was like, me too. And so at that, you know, on our date, he gave me this, like, incredible gift, which was a key, and it was just a symbolic key. And he said, you know, I want us to get a place in New York City together. So we are actually leaving on Friday to go to New York. And we're spending a few days there. We're going to spend a day looking.

and then we're going to spend a bunch of time around the holidays there to find an apartment. Okay, so I have a lot of New York questions for you guys, but that seems to be the perfect place to wrap part one of this episode. So we are going to wrap it up right here. Joan Chalk, thank you so much. And we can't wait to get into more with you guys come part two. So everyone, make sure you stay tuned in and download and subscribe. That's your happy hour.

Thanks for listening. Bye. Bye. Oh. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious. Wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, luckily, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon.

This person writes, my boyfriend's been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That seems inappropriate. Maybe find out how it ends by listening to the OK Storytime podcast and the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Jamel Hill, host of the Sports and Politics Podcasts, Politics. On this week's episode, I'm joined by all-time great Hooper and basketball analyst Candace Parker, who gives insight into her candid new book, including why she waited two years into marriage to come out. I never envisioned being with a woman. I'll just be honest. Like, when I close my eyes at night, every night, I was like, I need to find my prince charming, like it was never a princess. Make sure you listen to this episode is politics on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast,

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