Brooke and Jeffrey: Second Date Update - Awkward Tuesday Classic: Invisible Girlfriend

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

In your Awkward Tuesday Phone Call, one of our listeners is convinced her brother is hiding a big secret from the family, and she wants to reveal it with our help!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm investigative journalist Melissa Jeltson. My new podcast, What Happened in Nashville, tells the story of an IVF clinic's catastrophic collapse and the patients who banded together in the chaos that followed. It doesn't matter how much I fight. It doesn't matter how much I cry over all of this. It doesn't matter how much justice we get. None of it's going to get me pregnant.

Listen to what happened in Nashville on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Stefan Curry, and this is Gentleman's Cut. I think what makes Gentleman's Cut different is me being a part of developing the profile of this beautiful finished product. With every sip, you get a little something different. Visit gentlemen's cut bourbon.com or your nearest total wines or Bevmo. This message is intended for audiences 21 and older. Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, Boone County, Kentucky.

For more on Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, please visit gentlemen's cut bourbon.com. Please enjoy responsibly. From tips for healthy living to the latest medical breakthroughs, WebMD's Health Discovered podcast keeps you up to date on today's most important health issues. Through in-depth conversations with experts from across the health care community, WebMD reveals how today's health news will impact your life tomorrow. It's not that people don't know that exercise is healthy, it's just that people don't know why it's healthy,

and we're struggling to try to help people help themselves and each other. Listen to WebMD Health Discovered on the IHeart Radio app, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Danny Shapiro. We were in the car, like a Rolling Stone came on, and he said, there's a line in there about your mother. And I said, what? What I would do if I didn't feel like I was being accepted

is choose an identity that other people can't have. I knew something had happened to me in the middle of the night, but I couldn't hold on to what had happened. These are just a few of the moving and important stories on my 13th season of Family Secrets. Listen to Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know the shade is always Shadiest right here. Season 6 of the podcast Reasonably Shady with Jazelle Bryan and Robin Dixon is here dropping every Monday.

As two of the founding members of the Real Housewives Potomac were giving you all the laughs, drama, and reality news you can handle. And you know we don't hold back. So come be reasonable or shady with us each and every. Monday. Listen to Reasonably Shady from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. We've all lied to our parents before. Sometimes you have to. Yeah. No, Mom, the chicken wasn't too dry. Yeah, I love the electric nose hair trimmer for my birthday. I'm so glad you gave me that instead of a car. I never even wanted to be cool anyway.

Thanks, Mom. But look at this, no. Some lies are bigger than others, and one of our listeners today needs our help for that exact reason, because she's worried that her brother has been hiding something from her entire family for over

two years. It's a big secret, and I can promise you this, it might lead to a huge family blowout if we don't step in right now. Oh, I love family secrets. Let's step in. We're going to do it in your awkward Tuesday phone call next

it's awkward it's Tuesday it's awkward Tuesday phone call I've told you guys countless times about how awkward it is to hang out with my family yeah but we love hearing about it's one thing

living it is a different experience because just this past weekend my father angrily did dishes for a half hour why because nobody else was doing them at the time so he was getting his hands wet cursing while violently shoving plates into the dishwasher,

screaming about how he doesn't want to get food poisoning again. All right. This all checks out. So there you go. Just a normal family gathering for the DeBos. And one of our listeners, Lauren, is having her own issues with an upcoming family get together, apparently regarding her brother. Lauren, do you think maybe your brother wants to hang out and do dishes with my dad?

Because it might actually solve both of our problems. Family swap. Yeah. I would love that. Oh, okay. I mean, Jeff says that, but you know he was in the other room being like, I know he's mad, but I really don't want to do him. Yeah.

He's like, Dad, keep it down on watching a musical in here. Don't judge me. Enough about my dad and his dishes anger. What about your brother? What's going on with him? Oh, okay. So it's rather bizarre because my brother's been in a relationship with a girl for about two years now. Oh, okay.

So they've been together for a while. Yeah, they have. They have two years, especially for my brother. Two years is a while because he's always been a super career-oriented, focused guy, you know. I thought for sure that was not going to be followed by a compliment, and it was. You thought he was going to use a big loser? Yeah, exactly. You know, because he's my brother and who'd want to be with him?

Yuck. Okay. Some people are like that, though. They don't get into a lot of relationships. Yeah. Yeah, like me. Right. Yeah.

But the issue is that it's been two years. and we've never met her. What? Whoa. Oh, that's sketch. That's a long time. What do you mean you've never met her? Well, he's super secretive about her, and, like, he won't tell us much or show us photos.

Like, he's showing me a couple of Polaroids. Polaroid, I know, he's vintage. Oh, I mean. They're back. Yeah, you can print them from your phone now. Yeah. Oh, that's cool. That's right.

Wait, do they live in another country or something? Is that why? Like, I just, they can't be close to you then. right? We don't live super close, no. But whenever the opportunity for us to meet her comes up, all of a sudden she's either busy or sick or something's come up. And, you know, it's just getting super weird.

What do you think is happening in this situation? Do you think he's just ashamed of you and your family? Oh, I thought it was going to be ashamed of the girlfriend. That's where I went. That's why I didn't introduce anybody. He's ashamed of either. Yeah. I think there's always just pressure from my parents.

When are you going to settle down, you know? What are you going to get married? and have a family, and part of the things he may have made her up just to get them off his back. You don't think she's real. Oh, there's the real team. Oh, I had one of those girlfriends for a few years, and that was kind of nice, yeah. I'm being serious. Is you really?

Just someone that you make up just to get your parents off your back? Mom, I've been dating the same girl for 15 years since I was in third grade, I told you. Sarah's just very shy. Okay, okay, that would be one thing to make it up for your parents because they're putting pressure on you. but he would lie to you as well, you think? His own sister about a girlfriend? Yeah, that's where you should be cool. He might be embarrassed, you know,

and I just want to let him know that if that's the case, he doesn't have to make someone up, like, he can be honest. So we're just going to publicly call him out. I like it. Yeah. I am confused. What is it that you want to do with your call here? You want to call your brother and say what?

I don't know what to say. That's why I'm calling you. But the big issue is that I have to do it this way because my parents said that they are going to confront him about it. So, yes, I want to get to him and get the answers before they, you know. Pre-confrontation. It's like a whole family discussion behind his back that everyone thinks his girlfriend's fake. And I would see that now.

After two years, you're like, okay, every single time, every year. It doesn't make sense. It does kind of get sketch. Are you sure you don't want that to happen just for, like, the good video that you could post? No? I'm trying to save him before things get really ugly because there could be a huge fallout. I didn't think about that. Maybe she is really ugly.

You could be right about that. Is that what she said? No. I thought I heard her say she could be really ugly. No, things could get really ugly and there could be a fallout. Oh, okay. But it still is a decent theory, right? No.

That could be it. We'll find out. We're going to play a song. We'll come back and we'll give you. It's the shortest awkward Tuesday ever. Oh, she's ugly. She's an ugly one. Sorry.

Yeah. No, we're going to play a song. We'll come back and we'll give you some advice and let you make your awkward Tuesday phone call to your brother to find out if his girlfriend is real or made up. Or just shy? We're going to do it right after this, all right? Thank you. All right. Hold on.

It's awkward. It's Tuesday. It's awkward Tuesday phone call. Today, we're on a mission, a mission to track down the invisible girlfriend. Is she real? We don't know. This is what we have. We have no social media posts of the two of them together, no family meetups, and two

blurry Polaroid photos that have been seen at a brother-sister get together, along with a million excuses for why she can't ever meet the fan. Oh, my God. Maybe she's Bigfoot. Blurry photos It could be She's a mystery But here's my question

If she's invisible Okay How do we know she's not on the phone With us right now Dana are you here Blink twice if you're here I'm not hearing the blinks I prefer that

No But no this is a real situation We're not joking around It's been two years And one of our listeners Lauren says She has still not met her brother's girlfriend And it's becoming a little bit of an issue in their family. So she's looking to get ahead of this before her parents get involved.

Brooke, what's your advice for Lauren before we call her brother? Listen, the quickest way to bond with your sibling is to have a common enemy. And we all know that enemy is always your parents. Am I right? I'm right. Okay. So listen, you need to go to him and be like, oh, my God, you are not going to believe what mom and dad are saying behind your back. And I don't even know how to respond.

Throw him under the bus. Yeah, no, yes. Throw your parents under the bus and then hopefully he'll come clean and be honest with you. Lauren, you liking that? I do like that strategy. I do divide and conquer. Divide the parents. Okay.

So throw the parents under the bus. That's option one. Jose, what do you think? I really like what you said towards the end of our last phone call, which was you are trying to save him. So emphasize that. So he knows like, hey, I'm not just being a bossy older sister here. I'm truly trying to help. And I think that he'll naturally.

Come clean. You don't care if he doesn't have a girlfriend, right? Yeah, you have him regardless, right? You're the hero here. In fact, call yourself a hero when you talk to him. You're going to save his relationship with mom and dad. Are you ready to do this? That's all I want for Christmas.

Okay. All right. I love it. That's sweet. Here we go. It's a family war. A little family division. All right, I'm going to dial your brother's phone number.

We're going to back away and let you talk to him, but we'll jump in when we feel like you need a little help, okay? Okay, sounds good. All right, so here we go. Hello? Hello, Jake. Lauren? Yes. How are you?

I'm good. I didn't know if you calling, your name didn't pop up. Oh, I'm sorry about that. You know, sometimes that'll make it a surprise. right, I switch things up. Yeah, what do you mean? Well, I don't know. Listen, listen, so the holidays are right around the corner, right? Yeah.

You know, I'm looking forward to. Yeah, mom and dad are really excited to get together, as always, and they keep asking me if we're going to get to meet Dana. Well, I don't know I mean, she's got a lot on her plate right now So I'm not sure if she'll have time I mean, maybe You're joking, right?

What do you mean? He's not going to have time? Yeah, I mean It's been over two years now, Jake We haven't met her Well, yeah, I mean, I'm sorry But timing's been off It just hasn't been the right time

I mean, Jake, timing's always been off. It just, is there something else going on? I don't know what to tell you. I mean, she's just not ready. Is it dad cream cheese and ranch ham? Because trust me, I get it. No, there's nothing to do with that. Okay, well, I'm your big sister, and mom and dad have been talking about this to me.

And I hate that. It's not good. So what? I mean, it's not their business. I mean, they can talk about it as long as it's not to me. They think you're hiding something, Jake. And to be honest, at this point, I kind of do too. Oh, come on. Jake, just be honest, okay?

Does she exist? Is she real? Is Dana a real person? Because it's okay if she's not. Like, I get the pressure. I was there, too, before I met Cooper. Listen, she's real. I've already told you that.

And honestly, that's crazy that you think I'm lying about it. It's kind of, what am I supposed to think? What am I supposed to think? There's no social media post. I come over to your house and there's a few blurry Polaroids, you know? It's just, it's weird. Look, I mean, I get it, but I can't do anything about it. She's not ready.

We're not ready. It's just not the time. What do you mean? We're not ready for what? It's been two years. Fine. We're not ready because Dana is, her real name.

What are you talking about? The real name is Claire and you know her. What are you talking about right now? I don't understand. It's our step-sister, okay? Oh, my God. What's that?

What? Oh, my God. What's the noise? Hey. What? What? Hey, man. Oh my God.

What is this? I think we need a second over here. My name is Jeff. I am freaking out. What? Oh my God. Jake, you're on a radio show right now. What?

Don't worry. Not a lot of people listen to us. Just a few million. Just a few million. Yeah, we're good. But it is interesting to hear this. We know a lot about some of your story from your sister. Jake.

Are you serious? It's Claire? Claire? Okay. Please tell me it's like an adult step sister. Like you didn't grow up together. Did you grow up together? Yeah. We were like 13.

Oh, okay. You were basically adults. See, they're not kids. They were teenagers. Yeah. Well, in the Jewish tradition, 13 is adulthood. And I don't know what your religion is, but since you celebrate Christmas, it's probably not. Were you dating your step sister?

Lauren. Lauren, I knew you'd react like this. This is why I don't tell you guys. I mean, everyone is to be judgmental. This really does make a lot of sense. That's not normal, Jake. That's not normal. Why not?

It's not like we're blood-related. It's fine. How did that even happen? Did this happen at like another family holiday event? Like, do you know what I'm saying? That's true. Brooke wants to take notes so she can make it happen for herself. How did you organize this?

It happened way after our teenage years. I never thought this would happen. I just, I don't know. We ended up hanging out. as adults and started falling for each other. I like her. I don't know. I don't care.

So wait, when we're talking about your mom and dad, is it your mom and stepdad that we're talking? Like, oh, there's like a lot of family dynamics here. Yeah. We can at least acknowledge

there's no blood relation. Yeah. Well, I lived with her in high school. I lived with her in high school, but you can't date her. Well, it's great. So that way you've already met. That was what the whole problem was.

You said that you never met her. So you know her well. That's not funny. You should be happy because you have already better, and she's great. Wait, isn't she already at your family holiday stuff? You guys just aren't acting like a couple during it? Like, what is... Exactly.

I mean, that's why I haven't made a big announcement. She's already there. Oh, my God. So what do you do? You have to wait until you guys, like, get engaged to tell them we break up? What exactly was the plan here, Jake? Like, when were you going to come forward and say what your relationship was? What was your friend?

I mean, this is the issue. I mean, I get it. Like, I know that it's maybe not the most normal thing, you know, to be attracted to your step-sister, but I just... No. I can't ignore my feelings, but neither can she. I mean, look, we are a show that's all about love. Right, Brooke? Love is love.

So you have to support this. I get it, but like the shock. And if you were going to pull the Band-Aid off, it would have helped like two years ago. Now, you have created all of this for two years. They're going to be upset that he didn't say anything before. And they're both in the same room while people are asking him about his girlfriend. Okay, be honest. Do you guys ever sneak away, though?

I don't want to know. I don't want to know. I know. All those family vacations you guys are together. Oh, wow. Oh, no, where are your sharing rooms? So now you guys get it, right? Like, why I have not.

Oh, totally. Yeah. Yeah, I can kind of understand why that would be difficult to tell mom and dad. That was a text. I would have deleted it. Yeah. I never thought I would say this, but maybe it's better not to tell mom and dad. What?

Wait another year, and I'm going to cross my fingers and hope you break up by then. Oh, no. That's not supportive, Lori. Why don't I feel like she'll tell them for you? I mean, it's not going to be horrible then. If you don't tell them, then we can maybe even do a closure call coming up or a second-date update in the future. Like with Jake and his parents? No, with Jake and his step-sister.

Oh. It's the content that keeps on given. That's what the segment is all about. Why don't we just do a phone tap on the parents and see how they react? And at the end, we can go, just kidding. Just kidding. It's a new recurring segment that we do. I like it.

I like it. Test out the waters. Brooke and Jeffrey in the morning. I'm investigative journalist Melissa Jeltson. My new podcast, What Happened in Now, Nashville tells the story of an IVF clinic's catastrophic collapse and the patients who banded together in the chaos that followed. It doesn't matter how much I fight.

It doesn't matter how much I cry over all of this. It doesn't matter how much justice we get. None of it's going to get me pregnant. Listen to what happened in Nashville on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Stefan Curry, and this is gentleman's cut. I think what makes Gentleman's Cut different is me being a part of developing the profile of this beautiful finished product. With every sip, you get a little something different. Visit Gentleman'scuturban.com or your nearest Total Wines or Bevmo.

This message is intended for audiences 21 and older. Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, Boone County, Kentucky. For more on Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, please visit gentlemen's cut bourbon.com. Please enjoy responsibly. Hi, I'm Danny Shapiro. We were in the car, like a rolling stone came on, and he said, there's a line in there about your mother. And I said, what? What I would do if I didn't feel like I was being accepted is choose an identity that other people can't have.

I knew something had happened to me in the middle of the night, but I couldn't hold on to what had happened. These are just a few of the moving and important stories on my 13th season of Family Secrets. Listen to Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. If you're looking for another heavy podcast about trauma, this ain't it. This is for the ones who had to survive and still show up as brilliant, loud, soft, and whole. The Unwanted Sorority is where black women, fims, and gender expansive survivors of sexual violence rewrite the rules on healing, support, and what happens after. And I'm your host and co-president of this organization, Dr. Leah Trettae.

Listen to the Unwanted Sorority, new episodes every Thursday on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. From tips for healthy living to the latest medical breakthroughs, WebMD's Health Discovered podcast keeps you up to date on today's most important health issues. Through in-depth conversations with experts from across the health care community, WebMD reveals how today's health news will impact your life tomorrow. It's not that people don't know that exercise is healthy, it's just that people don't know why it's healthy,

and we're struggling to try to help people help themselves and each other. Listen to WebMD Health Discovered on the IHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.