Bachelor Happy Hour - Mel & Peg: Happily Ever After — Part 1! | Happy Hour

Episode Date: November 13, 2025

Today on “Happy Hour,” we’re here with the very happy couple, Peg and Mel! “Meg” are here to celebrate their relationship finally being public, and there is so much they want to talk about! We kick things off with the big moments we didn’t get to see; when did Peg and Mel know they were going the distance? Then, we dive into the moment in Antigua that Mel told Peg Cindy left; what was Peg thinking receiving that news? We also get into the behind-the-scenes of meeting the families, a special standout green flag from Peg, and their thoughts on the L word. Tune in now and be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode, including part two dropping tomorrow!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Go ahead. Hit me, Bernie. We talk about the billionaire class, the cost of living, and of course, the government shut down. Listen to next question with me, Katie Couric, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the podcast health stuff, we are tackling all the health questions that keep you up at night.

I'm Dr. Priyanko Wally, a double board certified physician. And I'm Hurricane de Bolo, a comedian and someone who once Googled, do I have scurvy at 3 a.m. And on our show, we're talking about health in a different way, like our episode where we look at diabetes. In the United States, I mean, 50% of Americans are pre-diabetic. How preventable is type 2? Extremely. Listen to health stuff on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Bachelor Happy Hour. I'm Joe. And I'm Serena. And we are here today with the lovely happy couple. Meg. Mel.

Mell. Couple name. We're hidden in them with a couple name. Your names are very similar. Mel and Peg, welcome to the podcast. Yay, we're so happy to have you guys. Meg and Mel and Peg, Meg, or what is it the other way around? Pal, not as good.

Not as good. Not as good. Okay, so before you hopped on, we were talking a little bit about... I said Mom back there. Hi, Mom. Hi, Gina. She's back there. She's sneaking around.

Before you guys got on, we were talking a little bit about who, we picked and Peggy you you were part I picked you at the beginning from the beginning you have Joe has a really good read I feel like on the show like when you're watching I feel like and this is the first season in a really long time we didn't hear like any rumblings of spoilers so we were really kind of on our own every week trying to figure out how this this all ended but you no Joe you picked it right out of the limo though because I've been listening to guys. And you had picked it right out of the limo. So did I. So did I. So did you, Mal. Not hard. My. Yeah. We actually, I actually really want, we got to get into the limo. But before we do,

how are we feeling? You guys are finally out in the open. How does it feel? Feels great. Oh yeah. It feels, you know, timely. Yeah. Has it been a long journey to get here? I mean, we've been where you have been like the waiting to tell people and the secret keeping. You must be so already. Well, I haven't told a soul. Really? My friends are upset with me. Do your sons know? Well, my sons know because they were on the show at the end. Yes. But they, but, you know, they were a little loose with their lips at the beginning just by talking, but then I straighten them out. And, uh, but I haven't told a soul. Wow. That's so exciting. Um, Peg, did you tell anyone? Okay. No. No, you're not, they're not going to see you. You're lying. You're

You're not going to get you. You can blame it on Mel's Sons. It's okay. Good. That's right. Let's keep that question. Oh, and we got the commitment ring, which is absolutely beautiful. It is gorgeous.

Did you have a hard time picking it out, Mel? No, they're all beautiful, but, you know, that one I think matched Pegg's personality. I love it. It's gorgeous. So tell me about the commitment ring because you are wearing it and it obviously looks like an engagement ring. So are you going to, if you eventually get engaged, Mel, will you repropose? Is this? Like, where are we at? Well, that's to be seen. So we're not going to share anything right now, a moment. But, you know, to be determined and to be seen. So a commitment, a commitment ring is essentially we are committing to getting engaged. And then an engagement ring is committing to getting married.

We're committed to each other right now. That's what it means. Okay. So it would almost be equivalent to like a promise ring. Like you're showing your commitment to peg through this ring and you're saying like, we are locked in on each other and we're going to see how this goes. Correct. If you do get engaged, you expect a new ring?

No, I love this ring. Are you kidding me? This is absolutely. It's beautiful. Great. I do love it. I think Mel's got to get you a new ring. I think I think you should get it.

Maybe, you know what, Mel, maybe you got to get her like a nice neck. or something. You got to get, yeah, you got to get a little. Again, we're traveling down this road together and we'll, we'll see what happens. Okay. Okay. Peg, when did you realize that it was potentially going to be you at the end? What part of the season? I honestly knew as soon as I got out of the mud bath. Okay. Okay. I knew. I felt it. I felt it. I felt it at a very deep level and intuitive level. I really did. I just right out of, and I even told one of the girls in the house, I said, oh my God, it's going to be me. And I was kind of actually taken back by it because I wasn't expecting it, you guys. I didn't not come here expecting it. I came here with an open heart and an open

mind. And, you know, I just had to just be myself, 100% be myself. You love me, you hate me. But I wasn't expecting it. But as soon as I got out of that mud bath, I went back to the mansion. and just my spirit just really talked to me and actually I wrote it in my journal I just said it's going to be me and I was just I was taken back by that I really was I was taken back because I didn't expect it at all

I did not expect this at all you guys what did you what did you actually expect because like when I went on the show I went home right away and I kind of expected that but what did you really expect you know honestly I expected to have a really good experience

and I expected to get to know him because that's to me that's how that's how my love evolves a lot of people they jump in with both feet my love does not evolve that way I have to get to know somebody I have to spend time with them I have to like them before I love them and so that's what I expected honestly just to see if he was datable and see if he was you know if he was a person that would fit into my life so cool guy I mean you guys look you guys you guys really do look really great together like looking looking at you both. You know, you both have this. It's not a light blue, but it's kind of the same color blue. And yeah, it works. It does work. Yeah, it does. It does. When you had that feeling of like I feel in my gut that it's going to be me, after that point, did doubt ever creep in or worry that, you know, he has these other strong connections, you know, I might feel this way for him, but what if it doesn't end up being reciprocated? There was one. One time in Antigua, and it was when he knocked on my door, and I was really sick for about 36 hours. I got sick in Antigua, and I went to sleep for about 36 hours.

And he came knocking on the door, and he said, I need to talk to you. And at that moment, just for a split second, I was like, uh-oh, here it is. Because I know him now, and he has enough respect and enough respect for me and enough honesty and enough integrity that he wouldn't have put me through that rose ceremony, and I know that about him now. So I thought that knock on the door was him coming to tell me, hey, look, I have a better connection with this other person, which I was willing to accept, because when we're all accept this journey, we all accept that. It's like it might work and it might not work. You know, is that connection there or is that connection not there? So just for that split second, I was like,

well, he's got a better connection with Cindy than he does me. And that's okay. We're grown-ass adults. And it's not that somebody's better or worse or any of that. than the other person. It's just truly about that connection, who has that best connection with each other. That's all it is. Yeah. Well, honestly, watching it when Mel was delivering you the news in your room that Cindy was no longer part of the journey, when he started for a second, I was like, is he breaking up with pay too? Like that was the plan? Was that the plan? You were kind of trying to pull one over on her a little bit? Yeah, I wanted to make it seem like, like, hey, I made a decision already. I got to let you, you know, let you in on it. So I wanted to make sure that it came

across that way. Okay, so you were messing with her. I was messing with her. Yeah, for sure. It worked. It worked. Because it does, like if we, if as a viewer, if we don't know. Being, um, background into it. Everything I go, you know, I'm going to make this act like, you know, it's over between us, right? Of course, I go, she left. Right. And then she got, the whole face changed. But you guys saw my face when he was talking to me, right? I just, I was very stoic and I was like, uh-huh, uh-huh. Yeah, it just felt like you were digesting, trying to be like, okay, where is this going?

Let me brace myself. Like, what's he about to say? And Mel, you're dragging it out. You're taking as long as possible. You know, you know, how much I like you, you know, how much, you mean to me and how much fun we've had. And, you know, I just want to be transparent with you. And I had the overnight last night in this, like, you know, you know, you know, building up to like but I was shocked shocked yeah that's good we see we see sometimes on this show

the final the final two a person will send themselves home and it it always leaves the final person somewhat questioning am I just am I am I the second choice which I don't think is the case in this scenario but do you wish peg do you wish cindy didn't send herself home no because my truth is i think she knew that there was a better connection between male and myself i think she intuitively knew that and she did not want to put herself through that because i i do i saw that i saw that face and i felt it in her heart and i knew our connection was so strong and not a lot of people saw it in the house the women in the house did not see it because it developed. It grew. I didn't come into the mansion going, oh, I want to get married.

No, I didn't do that because for me, that love, it grows. It's about, like I said, you guys, it's the fireplace, not the fireworks. Because a fireplace, you can continually refuel it. And actually, Mel feels the same way about it. It's like the reality is it takes time to fall in love, you guys, and it takes time to get to know somebody. And, you know, we both have that same belief system, basically. That might have been the connection as well, where, you know, it wasn't like, oh, by the way, I'm in love with you after, you know, two weeks because on the last week's episode, I say, oh, here is Cindy.

She's in love with me. Oh, and here's Peg. She's not. Right. The start difference, you know, is a bright line. And, you know, because Cindy was saying, oh, I love you, I love you. and Pegg was saying, you know, we're working on this. And that was my mindset all along, too.

I'm not going to fall in love with somebody. Even if I thought I was, I got to check myself and say, you know, am I really? I so got to give a time to feed, see if my, if my brain and my heart can catch up with my hormones, right? So you might be in love. Like, you know, wait a little bit here and check it out. Well, yeah, you also don't know if it's just situational. Like you are, we are in this, you know, it's somewhat of an experiment. and you want to make sure that like it's for for sure and it's just not like yeah the situation but you

know you guys love is like it's different for everybody everybody has their own idea of love everybody has their own preconceived idea of what that is and what that looks like you know and everybody has a right to that it just so happens that him and i are on the exact same page when it comes to building a relationship i mean we're realist we we don't live in fantasy land and we both realize it takes time it really does. But we do have that real connection. And I knew it. I knew it early on. It was so weird. I can't even explain it. But I just, I felt it. And it scared me because I wasn't expecting it. I was like, holy shit. What is this? This is crazy. Especially when we went to the OC Fair and at the Casey and the Sunshine Band, I just realized I'm like, oh, I'm in trouble because I was not expecting it.

I did not go into this thing with I'm going to be married and I want to ring and I'm going to live happily ever after and I'm this is it no I just came here it's like you know let me check this out let me see what kind of a person he is and I had a suspend judgment because we all know that podcast you know wasn't the greatest podcast out there but if you understand it it was okay but you know but here's the thing I suspended judgment because I knew that I had to get to know who he was not who what the podcast says not what social media says not what any of it I needed to get to know who he was as a human being. We often think we know our type in dating.

Tall, funny, a certain job, but the research shows we're usually not the best predictors of who will actually make us the happiest. As we often say on the Happiness Lab, our minds lie to us about all kinds of stuff. And that definitely includes the kinds of things we need to be happy in a relationship. That's why it helps to stay curious.

On Bumble, features like shared interests and prompts make it easy to notice right on someone's profile initial sparks of compatibility, like a shared love of cooking or the same nostalgic TV shows. Shared interests and prompts let you showcase your personality right on your profile and connect with people who get your vibe. And with photo and ID verification, you can feel confident the person you're talking to is real, so you can date with a bit more confidence. When you treat dating as exploration, instead of sticking to a rigid type, you open yourself up to happier, more meaningful connections. So maybe your type isn't tall, dark, and mysterious. Maybe it's loves podcast as much as you do. Stay open, stay curious, and let yourself be surprised.

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On the latest episode of Next Question with me, Katie Couric, I sat down with Bernie Sanders, who is 84 years old, has spent 34 years ago, Congress, and he can still pack a rally with people a quarter of his age. Denver, 34,000 people come out. Salt Lake City, 20,000 people are huge turnouts. People are really dissatisfied about the status quo.

His fighting oligarchy tour with AOC and other young progressives has become a movement, but is his message too far to the left? Well, he certainly doesn't think so. Is that sound like a radical idea, Katie. Is that too far left for you? Okay, okay. Wait. I get your point, Bernie. We talk about the billionaire class, the cost of living, and of course, the government shutdown, not to mention the current state of the Democratic Party. To me, the failure of the Democratic Party has been an unwillingness to recognize the relationship.

Open your free IHeart Radio app. Search next question with Katie Couric and listen now. What up, y'all? It's your boy, Kevin. stage, I want to tell you about my new podcast called Not My Best Moment, where I talk to artists, athletes, entertainers, creators, friends, people I admire who had massive success about their massive failures. What did they mess up on? What is their heartbreak? And what did they learn from it? I got judged horribly. The judges were like, you're trash. I don't know how you got on the show. Boo. Somebody had tomatoes. If they had tomatoes, they would have thrown the tomatoes. Let's be honest. We've all had those moments we'd rather forget. We bumped our head. We made

a mistake. The deal fell through. We're embarrassed. We failed. But this podcast is about that and how we made it through. So when they sat me down, they were kind of like, we got into the small talk and they were just like, so what do you got? What? What ideas? And I was like, oh, no. What? Check out not my best moment with me, Kevin on stage on the Iheart radio app, Apple podcast, YouTube, or wherever you get your She said Johnny, the kids didn't come home last night. Along the central Texas planes, teens are dying, suicides that don't make sense, strange accidents, and brutal murders. In what seems to be, a plot ripped straight out of Breaking Bad. Drugs, alcohol, trafficking of people. There are people out there that absolutely know what happened. Listen to paper ghosts, the Texas teen murders on the eye heart. Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Was there, both of you are saying, you know, we're real this and it takes time to know if we're in love.

Was there a point post show after the show for both of you that you were like, oh, this, we made the right decision. This actually is love. Well, I knew it earlier on, right? That's why when it came down to it, I chose Peg. It wasn't a threat. I had a crush on her from the first time I saw her, right? And it wasn't, I didn't really see her in the bomb suit is when they, it was like a little diversion,

but they were trying to make the bomb go off. And that, you know, they separated her and they got her changed and I saw her. I didn't even realize it was the same person that was in a bomb suit. And from that point on, I had a crush on her. Yeah. Yeah, right then I knew. How about for you, Peg? I think the first time that I really knew is when we, right out of the limo,

when we sat down for a couple of minutes that first night at the mansion, I just felt it. When we sat down and we looked at each other's eyes, it was just that connection right then and there. And it just took me back, but I knew that I needed to get to know him. I needed like, okay, great, the connection's there. I feel it. I know he feels it because it was just like electric.

It really was. And now just to build on that foundation. getting to know who he was and for him to get to know who I am, do we fit in each other's lives? Because there's, you know, the word love is great, but, you know, it takes more to, it takes more than love to have a successful, sustainable relationship. And especially in our 60s, we both know that. We've been through divorce. We've been through, you know, the ups and downs of life. And realistically, we know that. It's great to be in love, you guys, but you've got to have that firm foundation. Everybody wants the word love attached to everything that.

I do, especially on the show, but you can have a great relationship without saying it. It's actually how you act towards each other, right? And I knew that the way she was treating me on the show, I go, I know she likes me a lot, you know, without saying like, oh, by the way, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you. It's like, because you can love somebody and not like them. You can have your crazy aunt, right? Your crazy uncle, you go, I love the guy, but I really don't like the guy. Right.

Right. I love him, but I don't want to be around him. Yeah. Well, hopefully that doesn't happen with you in Peg. Okay. I'm giving you an example of like and love, right? Yeah, no, I agree. I see in the show that I go, it's not a word I used lightly.

I don't, you know, a lot of different meanings and connotations and expectations. So it's not something that I just start saying like, oh, I've known you for two weeks. And like, you know, I love you. It's like, come on. It's unrealistic. In my world, it is anyway. Right, right. But when you, when you accepted the lead as the bachelor,

knowing the show a little bit, were you worried that you may fall into that trap? No, because I followed the show a lot earlier on, like from, I think, in 2002 or three, I followed maybe for five, six years, and then I had my kids, and then I just fell off. And then I actually didn't pick it up again at all. I just, you know, bits and pieces,

because you'd see it, but I didn't know any of the characters, any of the leads, any of the best or ratch, none of that. And I only saw the Golden Bachelor when the girls got out of the limo with Gary. It's the only part I ever saw on that one. So I didn't know about the show, really. And that's, you know, I learned about it after I was really casted for it. You know, I got more in depth.

I started looking at the clips and things of that sort to get more familiar with it. So no, I didn't know. okay how familiar were you with the show before you went on i love tristan's season i think the only season i ever watched was uh tristons and ryan and i loved that season and it's so funny because we all thought she was going to choose the other person and she chose the firefighter so shout out to tristan and ryan man you know it's the same thing uh you know here's the thing it's like we both were looking for that connection now what we do with that connection moving forward is up to us how we want to you know how we want to go about it what we want to call it but we were

both looking for that connection and then what we decide moving forward to do with it it's what we get to decide together you know it's really cool you guys meeting your 60s is really cool because you get to do what you want to do when you want to do it and you get to write your own story we get right our own love story and that's fun it's not going to be like anybody else's love story it's going to be our love story and we get to write it yeah long it can be a lot of fun that is okay so So let's take it back to the final episode. Peg, what was it like to finally meet Mel's family?

Oh, my gosh. I, like, adore his boys. They're hilarious. They're great. I adore his boys. They're handsome and they're smart and they're charismatic. And I just, it was really fun to meet them because I was really, I'm really comfortable with the guys, you know, working in the fire department, you guys for 25 years with all the guys.

It's just like, yes, you know, I'm with my people, you know. Yeah. You know, the little smart asses, and I just, I love them. They're so cool. And then Diane, of course, his best, one of his very good friends, I just loved her to death, you know? So it was great. We saw you did the word association game with his boys. Tell us how that went.

It was good because, you know what I knew, you guys? I knew by doing that little word association game with them, I was going to learn more about him because they have to think on their feet, you know? and then, right, whatever came to their mind right away was telling me a little bit more about how they view their father, you know, what's their perception of their dad? And I got a lot of good information out of them. Sneaky. Smart. I know.

He's sneaky. Yeah, it was far. I've never seen anyone do something of that sort at a family visit or a hometown. I didn't see it. So my boys told me about it, but they couldn't articulate exactly what it was. So I'm curious to see it as well. They were great. They were great. My brother and I would have been, we would have went after our dad.

It just came to me, you know, and then, you know, it's just, it was really good because I knew I needed to get some information out of them. But, you know, they're kids. They're 18 and 20 years old. So I just like, okay, how can we make this fun? And how can I get the information I need out of them without knowing that that's what I'm doing? What did you learn from the game? Oh my God, that he's a great guy because how I learned it's their relationship with their dad. And that's what I needed to see. How is your relationship with your dad? And it gave me the answers that I was looking for.

You know, they love their dad. They respect their dad. They look up to their dad. And he's been a great father to the boys. I mean, just a really good father. No, you really have. You know, I mean that. And you can see that just in that interaction, the way they were speaking about

Mel, through the game event and the words they were using to describe him. It was a really sweet moment. Mel, what was it like seeing Peg with your family? Great, because I know how Peg is, and she's cool with kids, right? And she's the only person on the show that asked me about my boys. Really? Only one. Like, hey, tell me people.

That's crazy, actually. She said that. You know, that's another reason why, just more validation of how much that, you know, I was making the right decision. But she was asking me, how are your boys? You know, what are their names? Or how old are they? What do they do? You know, I want to meet them. I, you know, I want to do stuff with them. So, and that was, it was honest because, you know what, she kept on asking me more and more questions about it. So I knew that when she met them and vice versa, they're going to have a good time. And she still asked me about even this morning, hey, how are you doing? What are they doing? You know, how's school? How's the girlfriends? You know, that kind of stuff. So that meant a lot to me, especially not so much in my decision, but it just validated my decision even more. No one can resist a rule of culture, so here's one for the dating files.

Rule of culture number 72. Chemistry isn't just vibes, it's values. Because what's the point of matching with someone if you can't talk about the shows you binge, the books you dog ear, or all the hot takes, you'll defend it brunch? I mean, you definitely have friends who have met their partners on Bumble, and it makes sense. It's not just about matching with someone. It's about finding someone who gets your references, your obsessions, your whole vibe, with shared interests and prompts, you don't just see a profile.

You get a glimpse of someone's personality, which makes it even easier to start conversations that actually lead somewhere. Plus, with photo and ID verification, you can trust that the person you're talking to is real. With that added peace of mind, it's so much easier to show up as your full self. So whether your rule of culture is, the best first date start with the shared hot take on Renaissance

or compatibility as having the same hometown bodega order, download Bumble, and turn those connections into something bigger. Download Bumble and start your love story. your squad relies on you. Don't let them down. Unlock elite gaming tech at Lenovo.com. Dominate every match with next level speed, seamless streaming, and performance that won't quit. Push your gameplay beyond performance with Intel Core Ultra processors for the next era of gaming. Upgrade to smooth high quality streaming with Intel Wi-Fi 6E and maximize game performance with enhanced overclocking. Win the tech search. Power up at Lenovo.com. The latest episode of Next Question with me, Katie Couric, I sat down with Bernie Sanders, who is 84 years old, has spent 34 years in Congress, and he can still pack a rally with people a quarter of his age. Denver 34,000 people come out. Salt Lake City, 20,000 people are, you know, huge turnouts. People are really dissatisfied about the status quo. His fighting oligarchy tour with AOC and other young progressives has become a movement, but is his message too far to the left?

Well, he certainly doesn't think so. Is that sound like a radical idea, Katie? Is that too far left for you? Okay, okay. I get your point, Bernie. We talk about the billionaire class, the cost of living, and of course the government shutdown, not to mention the current state of the Democratic Party. To me, the failure of the Democratic Party.

party has been an unwillingness to recognize the real issue. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search next question with Katie Couric and listen now. What up y'all? It's your boy, Kevin on stage. I want to tell you about my new podcast called Not My Best Moment, where I talk to artists, athletes, entertainers, creators, friends, people I admire who had massive success about their massive failures.

What did they mess up on? What is their heartbreak? And what did they learn from it? I got judged horribly. The judges were like, you're trash. I don't know how you got on the show. Boo, somebody had tomatoes. I'm kidding.

But if they had tomatoes, they would have thrown the tomatoes. Let's be honest. We've all had those moments we'd rather forget. We bumped our head. We made a mistake. The deal fell through. We're embarrassed. We failed.

But this podcast is about that and how we made it through. So when they sat me down, they were kind of like, we got into the small talk. And they were just like, so what do you got? What ideas? And I was like, oh, no. What? Check out not my best moment with me, Kevin on stage, on the Iheart radio app, Apple podcast, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcast. The Big Take podcast from Bloomberg News dives deep into one big global business story every weekday.

A shutdown means we don't get the data, but it also means for President Trump that there's no chance of bad news on the labor market. What does a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich reveal about the economy? Our breakfast foods are consistent consumer staples, and so they sort of become outsize indicators of inflation. What's behind Elon Musk's trillion dollar payout? There's a sort of concerted effort to message that Musk is coming back. He's putting politics aside. He's left the White House. And what can the PCE tell you that the CPI can't?

CPI tries to measure out-of-pocket costs that consumers are paying for things, whereas the PCE, index that the Fed targets is a little bit broader of a measure. Listen to the big take from Bloomberg News every weekday afternoon on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Peg, this is a little off topic of the hometown date, but I'm just so interested in this because you mentioned, you know, you worked in the fire department, you worked on the bonds, So you worked in a very male dominated field for most of your life. What was it like kind of being one of the few women in your career for so long

and then going into a house with all women, kind of like the complete opposite experience? It was hard. Yeah, I bet. So hard, you guys. And I love these women. They're smart. They're intelligent. They're beautiful.

They're articulate. They're really, I really love them. But it was hard for me. It was really, really hard because just, I mean, can you guys imagine? And you guys saw in hometowns 25 guys or to 30 guys at a firehouse for 25 years working with them. And then I'm thrust it into a house of all these women. Just the opposite.

Just the opposite. And, you know, women can be catty. Women can be jealous. Women can be, you know, they can be a lot of different things. And I wasn't used to that. I'm not. And I'm very protective. And when, you know, I really love somebody or I let somebody into my life, I become

very, very protective. And I became very protective of the women in the house and they don't even know it. I was advocating for them as a whole and they didn't even know it. And that's okay. But I became very, I was like very protective over them because, you know, I love them all dearly. You know, we're all there. And so it was different. It was really, really different. And I had, I learned a lot. I really did. I learned a lot. So. Yeah, that must be wild. Like, for however many years, you're adapting to this world and then thrown into the complete opposite of what you're used to and having to adapt to that. It was crazy. For me, it was really, it was a difficult situation. It really was because I'm like, all right, I don't even know how I honestly, I don't need, I didn't even know how to navigate

through it, you know, and I got a little, you know, tips with some of the girls. And it's just because I don't have a lot of experience, you know, dealing with that. You know, Cindy at one time told me I needed to have more feathers. And I looked at her and I'm like, what does that mean? I don't even know what that means, Cindy, please help me here. Because I'm very direct and I'm very honest. And people either, you know, they'll celebrate that or they'll stay away from that. You know, and Terry, I, we connected right away and she's more like me. We have that kind of like tough exterior.

And we say what we mean and we mean what we say, you know. And some people like it and some people don't. So what does that mean, though, the feathers? I don't know. You don't know? I don't know either. Softer. Softer.

Oh, okay. I see. I see. And you know what? Into her, you know, into her statement, she raised girls, right? Yes. She's, Cindy's very soft. She really is.

I'm a prickly little porn, or not porn. Like you, pork your mind. Fine, right? And I raised my daughter that way. As you guys could tell at hometowns, we're very direct. We're very honest. You know, it was my daughter and myself. I raised her by my mom.

myself after my divorce, you know, he stepped out on the marriage. You know, he found somebody else and it was just her and I. And we, I became very protective over her. So it was her and I just together, you know, navigating through life. And you guys know, life's difficult. Life is not easy, man. So I always had to have my armor up, not only to protect myself, but to protect her as well. Yeah. She's also very protective of you, that conversation that she did have with you, Mel. what was your take on it? Like, you know, I'm talking to my friend and attorney. He goes, no, you've been an attorney more longer than you've been a football player, right?

So I've done a million depositions. I've been deposed. I've asked questions. I've been, you know, I had clients. So I'm used to the adversarial role, right? The main thing you've got to do is listen and answer the question posed. Don't add anything, right? So if they're coming on to you tough, okay, I'm okay with it, but you just answer the question that's posed.

You don't add anything else. So it might have been looked difficult, but it really wasn't that difficult because I've been in those situations all the time. But, you know, she was direct and I appreciated it. She was protective of her mom and she wanted no questions and haven't answered. And so much, you know, I was just being truthful with her. I go, you know, I'm not in love with your mother, right? we're like a month into it. Yeah.

So, I mean, it might have looked tough and coming off tough, but those are the honest answers. And all I could do be is honest with everybody on the show and not mislead them or, you know, give them headfakes and misdirect them and give them false hopes. I just never did that. So I was honest with myself and honest with them. Yeah. I liked that conversation because I thought it really showcased the love and protectiveness that your daughter feels for you, Peg. And I respected that she wasn't afraid to make the most

of the time she had with Mal and ask direct questions and continue asking kind of every question she felt like she needed to get her answers. What did you learn about Pegg or Peg's daughter during that conversation, Mel? Well, Peggeroy told me that, you know, she was direct and, you know, full of life, just like her mom. Right? So I was thinking, I was talking to her mom. Like they said with the word association game, you get a lot out of the kids of the mom. So I'm looking at it. I go, this, nothing was rehearsed, right? We didn't have, we didn't have any time to go in there and go, by the way, you're going to meet him and this is what he's like, and here's the questions. He was like, take him, sit him down, take him, sit him down, talk. So it was basically all extemporaneous, all, you know, ad lib questions. So whatever you came to your mind, you asked, So my thing was to be direct and be honest. And so in the exactly way her mom was, honest and direct, that's what I got from. And I go, they're the same, like they're twins, right?

And we go ahead. No, one thing about Dakota, and I admire this about my daughter, she's fearless. And I'm proud to be that mom that raised her that way because nobody intimidates her. nobody on this planet. She just, you know, and she's fearless and she's, uh, I know one thing as a mom because as, you know, as mothers and fathers, we just want to know that our children are always going to be okay, especially when we leave this planet. And I know one thing about her, she's always going to be okay. And I like the direct questions, but I answer them honestly, so when you, when you walk away and you look at it, go, because that guy's honest, they guys honest. You know, are you in love

with your mom? No. No, I'm not there yet, right? That's an honest answer. Because I, I, wasn't you know some people goes well yeah i am yeah it's like no i wasn't i wasn't going to you know bullshit her right i was going to tell her the the truth and how i felt and um and she and she deserved that answer and i gave it to her and so i yeah it's like her mom just straightforward and direct okay so i think this is a perfect place at the end the first part uh make sure you guys tune in for part two with peg and mel we will have new and exclusive interviews every single week. We are so excited to share part two of our interview with you guys.

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I sat down with Bernie Sanders. We've talked many times over the years, and today he even throws a few questions my way. Are you ready for another question? Go ahead. Hit me, Bernie. We talk about the billionaire class, the cost of living. and, of course, the government shut down.

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