Dumb Blonde - Dita Von Teese: A Lifetime of Iconic

Episode Date: June 12, 2024

Bunnie welcomes the gorgeous and classy burlesque legend Dita Von Teese to the show this week. Dita talks about her journey from burlesque performer in the 1990s to her record-breaking Vegas residency show at the historic Jubilee Theatre, where she's using iconic costumes from the venue's heyday. She opens up about her childhood fascination with vintage style, the Playboy story that led to her iconic stage name, and how her approach to relationships has evolved over the years in the spotlight.Dita: Website | IG Watch Full Episodes & More:www.dumbblondeunrated.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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lawyers and shit and i was like i want to be hot, make a lot of fucking money and be a rock star's wife. That was my goal as a child. And here we are. What's up, you sexy motherfuckers? Welcome to another episode of Dumb Blonde. Today we have the burlesque queen. Our burlesque mother is in the house, baby. Dita Von Teese. How are you? I'm good. Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to have you here. Like I just growing up in Vegas, the whole, you know, showgirls, burlesque, all that. I've always admired you because you have always been in your own lane. And yeah, nobody can fuck with you, man. Like, it's crazy. You have just you've literally made a lifetime of just iconicness. Thank you. You're welcome.

It's just really good to have you here. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, for sure. So what are you doing in Vegas? Well, I have a show here on The Strip. Very exciting. It's kind of like a dream manifestation.

I was on tour with my Glamonatrix show about a year ago, like the, you know, from 2020. I was on tour, one of the people they had to reschedule tours, like crazy. And I, you know, I'd gotten lots of offers about doing shows in Vegas, but the offers would come and it would be like, yeah, we have this lounge. And I'm like, but that's not what I do. Have you seen my show? Like, I don't it's not what I do is not a typical burlesque show. I play really big stages like my last tour. When finally Caesars and Live Nation came out to see my show, I had sold out the Chicago Theater, which is like 3800 people. And they're like, oh, this is different than we thought it was. I said, yeah, I decided to take burlesque to another level. So I finally got the offer I wanted about doing Vegas. And they came to me and said, we think we have the perfect stage for you. It's called the Jubilee

Theater. And I was like, OK, Jubilee was my favorite and the only thing I did when I'd come to Vegas. At Bally's. Yes. Yes. And it was my favorite show yeah and it was always like Liberace Museum and Jubilee show. Yeah. So I flew out to look at the theater and it's a big big theater like the stage is half the size of a football field. And I kind of had a moment where I was like, oh, it's really big. I don't even know if I can like fill this stage. And so I said, hey, what happened to all the Jubilee costumes, all that Bob Mackie stuff? And they're like, oh, it's just locked up downstairs. We don't know what we're going to do with it.

And I said, I have an idea of what we're going to do with it. And I said, I have an idea of what we're going to do with it. And I basically said, if I can use all the costumes from Jubilee, I'll do the show here. If I can't, I won't. That is amazing. And it works. And so we're using all of that. And it is interesting because when I came in there, they had already started like destroying the sets and everything because they have to. They're huge.

And like every show, you know, I love reusing things and preservation I collect vintage clothes vintage car vintage things from flea markets and I love that but like you know every theater has to at one point you know get rid of stuff so they had started chopping the staircase up and all of this. And I said, stop, stop doing that. And I repurposed a lot of the sets and use them in the show now. So we're using all that beautiful Bob Mackie and all the showgirl costumes in a new way with just as many guys in the show as girls and obviously using like, you know, putting my spin on things. And it's, you know, the best of all of my shows, all my burlesque shows brought into like emerging with the spirit of the show girl. I love that.

I love that not only are you just this beautiful, glamorous woman, you are literally just a boss. Like you are a great businesswoman. You have somehow managed to keep yourself relevant for like over a decade now, right? 20 years. Yeah. Like 20 years now, like it's been wild, um, to watch and just see it all unfold and to be able to get a residency here in Vegas is not easy to sell 3,800, you know, even 4,000 tickets just alone anywhere by yourself is not an easy feat and I don't think people realize that so that's just a testament to the fan base that you have yeah I think I think you know I've I started in the early 90s um I just always like I grew up watching old

movies and I loved glamour from another time and I didn't feel like I had role models of beauty growing up in the 80s that I could be like so I looked to the past and um in the early 90s I had the first ever pin-up website um and so I there was a lot of things you know I was like kind of the modern Betty Page from like 1992 I was obsessed with Betty Page. Yeah, me too. And so, yeah, I just kind of kept on my path. And, you know, I've never had really any interest in anything else except for what I do. Do you feel like you were born in the wrong, like, era? No, because, you know, we say vintage style, not vintage values. There's a lot of really great things about now that I think there's a lot of, you know, all you have to do is turn on a 1940s movie

and you'll see all kinds of problematic things that you're like, I'm glad that's not around anymore. You know, so you do have to like, I'm always like recommending movies that I love because people ask me and I say, but when you watch this, you just have to remember there's going to be some things in it that gratefully are put to bed now that I love because people ask me and I say, but when you watch this, you just have to remember, there's going to be some things in it that gratefully are put to bed now and don't happen anymore, but you're still going to have to watch it or fast forward it. So yeah, there's, I think

it's a great time to live in now. And also I've always liked doing something that's different and being a burlesque star in the nineties, and now watching it become like some people say the golden age of burlesque was in the 1940s, but I would argue that it's now because it's become a place for inclusion and diversity and celebrating all types of bodies. I just think it's much more meaningful for people to see a burlesque show or to engage in performing a burlesque act, whether it's on stage or at home.

I think it's just like there's a different kind of importance because people forget that like the burlesque show of the 30s and 40s was kind of like going to a strip club you know it was your normal working class guys entertainment the stars of the show were strippers no they were in theaters okay but you know it was like comedy with a lot of like jokes about sex and innuendo and dancing girls and even singers but um the stars became striptease stars so it was you know but you were retired by the time you were you know 30 right right doesn't ageism plays in burlesque a lot now or do you i don't's a little bit better? I think that it was definitely worse before and I've watched it unfold in a way that um that I feel like it's coming around I mean it's you know ageism is going to be everywhere and everything and then there's going to be places

where you know listen I'm still the most known burlesque star that fills the most seats and I'm 51. And you're flawless. I just go like, okay. I mean, what I love is, you know, of course, someone can feel free to come take away my crown whenever they want. Keep working, keep trying. But I love having a platform and a show where I can hire dancers of all ages and genders and skin colors. And,

you know, people, people that I think can change people's minds about what a stereotypical burlesque performer is, which I guess is, I'm probably pretty stereotypical at this point, you know, because it's like,

you've set the bar. I'm just me, you know, but I can't be, yeah. So I, I like to have a platform where I can present a show that makes people more accepting

of lots of different types of people and seeing sensuality and beauty in all forms. Not in all stages of life. I love that, because I'm 44. So, and I'm always fighting against age, ageism online, you know, people think that you have to hang it up as soon as you turn 40. And I'm like, I am just getting started, baby. Yeah. And if I could look like Dita Von Teese at 51, I'll be even happier. It's also like the ultimate insult for people. It's like the last like thing

they try to insult you with. So I think that's what people have to remember of course there's there's ageism in the workforce like in all like not just entertainment i think but i do think people use age because it's like the final like a great like an insult right yeah i know exactly what you mean yeah it's like an easy a cheap shot exactly so let's take it back because um you know i'm sure some people know your story but i'm also sure that some people don't and i want to know like you know your childhood where you came from you grew up in michigan and how you got into burlesque and just take me on that journey okay oh boy uh yeah i i was born in it's so weird to like talk about like as well i was born i was born in ro, Michigan, but then I grew up in a town called West Branch, which I like to say it now because sometimes people go, oh, wow, I know where that is. It really is a small town.

Like I recently visited it again for a documentary. And I was like, wow, there really is one stoplight and like a few thousand people. That's wild. It's really small. So I had this like picturesque childhood, and my mother's best friend had an antique shop, which is kind of where my love of like old things comes from, and my mother loved to watch old movies, so that really had an imprint on me. old movies so um that really had an imprint on me uh i moved from well i should say because sometimes i read in the press like she comes from the ballet world and i'm like girl i took a ballet

class in a rinky-dink ballet studio in a farming town in michigan and i cleaned toilets in exchange for for ballet classes you know like I remember like my parents wouldn't pay for it so I remember going to the you know must have been like 10 years old saying can I clean in exchange for ballet and they kindly let me that's a strong work ethic even at 10 years old though yeah I've always been very like independent and I think because my parents were very young parents they fought a lot they were like you know like typical yeah what do you do when you're 22 years old and you already have three children it's pretty complicated right um and my dad was out of work a lot so I always had

this kind of like fear of you know or conscientiousness about money especially so I was always like trying to find jobs and like my parents fought about money all the time and that's literally driven me my entire life to never have to ever have those arguments right yeah yeah I remember like my mom being very like buying something and hiding the purchases from my dad and I was like that's never happening to me. Right. I'm going to earn my own money and buy whatever I want. Yeah, they give you examples of what you don't want to be.

Yes, absolutely. So then when I was like 12, my parents moved us all out. I'm one of three girls. We moved out to Orange County, California, to a place called Irvine. Some people know that. But people think of the OC. I know there's like some connotations. But for me, growing up in Orange County was like growing up, you know,

in the heart of the rockabilly swing dance scene. Like after, you know, in the early 90s, it was really like happening there. I went to school with a bunch of rockabillies in Vegas. It was very like happening there in the early 90s it was really like happening yeah I went to school with a bunch of rockabillies and yes so it was very like happening there in the in the early 90s um so yeah I you know grew went to high school in Orange County and and you know lived there until about 2000 but then moved to LA when did your love for burlesque start because I know you said you love vintage things but you know how did the vintage love transfer over for burlesque start? Because I know you said you love vintage things, but how did the vintage love transfer over to burlesque? When was the last time you needed to go to a doctor,

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very intrigued with lingerie from a young age. Like, not like, oh, that's sexy. But like, what is this thing my mom has in her drawers that my no you know you have to be a certain age what is this frilly thing I was really like strangely fascinated when I was little and so I you know I obviously couldn't wait till I was old enough to wear a bra and all that stuff but I I started working in this lingerie store first, like, you know, cleaning and like doing putting tags on things and stuff. And then I worked as a sales girl. And that kind of like set the tone for a lot of what I did, because I loved lingerie. I started learning about vintage lingerie, bullet bras, corsets, and like what how women wore different types of lingerie over the years

and so um when I graduated from high school I kind of I went to my first rave party in 1990 and I met all these drag queens and club kids and it was like this whole other world for me um let's rewind it back. I'm going to stop you right there before we get into that story. Your dad did not take a liking to you liking lingerie though. Can we talk about that? And would you like a pillow behind you or another pillow? Are you good?

Are you comfortable? I'm okay, I think. Okay, we can put a pillow behind you too if you need to. I'm okay. Okay. Yes, okay. So I'm working. My parents are, I'm like 16 years old.

My parents are getting a divorce. I'm going back and forth, like staying with my mom, then staying with my dad. And at the time I was staying with my dad and his new girlfriend, right? And I'm working my little job in the lingerie store, like just minding my own business, but washing my little things in the sink, hanging them up to dry as you should instead of putting them in the dryer. And my dad got really disturbed by that. And he kicked me out of the house. And, you know, I'm 16. And I'm just like, first of all, I've had a job, you know, I have my own credit cards. I have my own car. I'm like, whatever. You've always just been so responsible,

really responsible, like, and just fiercely independent. Where do you think that stems from? Just growing up? Yeah, I really think it's kind of like my, the feeling of never having like enough or being worried about what what I ask my parents for I don't know but that's what I think it probably is yeah um so yeah my dad kicks me out the house and it was really interesting I just revisited this a few years ago I was uh I have a lingerie collection now that I've had for like 14 years. And a few years ago, this company called Destination Maternity asked me to make pretty maternity bras, like to adapt my designs. And I was like, okay, well, I don't know anything about maternity bras, but let's adapt the designs.

It sounds great. And there was a such a, it was a huge like conversation around it. Like some women that were like, why are you telling me to be sexy after I have a baby? And I went, oh, interesting. So you think that lingerie is about being sexy for your man. And then there's other people that think they like it for them they enjoy having something pretty like i've always had that relationship with it and um and then there was like a lot of

people that came to my defense of course like new mothers that were like little listen you know you wear the nursing bra and then at one point you want to wear something beautiful like you know months in or whatever so anyway I thought about this so much like about my dad and like his what his thoughts about lingerie being symbolic of like sex or sluttiness you know like all of these things and I thought wow it's so weird how like that but but I remember going that you know that's his problem right and I still feel that way like to be able to decipher that at such a young age is awesome though too.

Just was very like a weird thing. And especially because I did have this, I do have this relationship with lingerie where it's not for me about putting it on for someone. It's something that I do because I enjoy it. Yeah. It's crazy how there's such a sexual stigma to lingerie because when you think about it,

you think about like Playboy or like, you know, just nudity in general. But really, it's just like if you wake up in the morning and you want to feel good and you want to be pretty and you know you have it on, nobody has to see what you have on. Yeah, it's like a secret or it's like you can have any personality you want under your clothes. And I love opening a drawer and having all these colors and matching my things it's just like fun like why not have a little moment of pleasure and beauty that doesn't take extra time that's the way i think of it and

that doesn't have a sexual connotation right reply to it certainly i know the power of it right grown woman um but yeah so moving on from dad kicking you out where does this put you do you move back in with mom i believe i moved back in with mom um it's this hazy timeline because i was like you know yeah i think i moved back in with my mom and uh and then as soon as i was like 18 i was out of there tell me about captain creams yes okay i love that you that you studied i did so cap do you know anything about captain creams i don't i heard what you have said about it though and it sounds pretty iconic it was like this it had the terrible name that that's not even the full name the full name is captain cream's tussling tootsies by the way that was the full name now when i went to work there underage i with my fake id you know i think i was i think

we all had fake ids back then yeah totally they like rampant. If you didn't have one, you weren't one of the cool kids. I didn't even have a fake one. I had a real one. Right. Me too. Mine was like Maria and I was like 31, but I was really like 17. No, I can, I'll tell you what. I went to the DMV with my sister's like social security card and I got my picture on her

ID. So I had a real ID that i had more than once handed over to a police officer that was like sorry to bother you miss and i was like that's amazing you know i was like 19 just like oh god i think 18 um so this club was in uh lake forest which is in orange county and it was legendary um it was legendary for having all the Playboy Playmates and Penthouse girls working there. It was really hard to get a job there. And it was kind of like a hole-in-the-wall place.

But when I tell you, it was really like a legendary strip club. And there was tons of money flowing. It was so much fun. That was kind of how Crazy horse used to be out here it was like a hole in the wall but like everybody that was iconic ever worked there and this place you you you were hired like as an employee so you got a paycheck like a minimum wage paycheck which didn't mean much to me anyway because i had my other job working in the lingerie store and then in a department store working selling cosmetics so I had all these I always had lots of jobs a lot of energy a lot of jobs um so it was really like this great this wonderful time I think in um strip clubs like

before when they used to pay you to work there instead of taking your money. Instead of you having to pay a house fee. Yes. I lived through that shift and I was not into it. So, yeah, I had a lot of fun working there. And at that same time was when I started like, well, so I should rewind a little bit. So I'm working. I'm in this L.A. rave scene, right? And my boyfriend is one of the big rave promoters.

And I'm go-go dancing, of course. So he takes me to this strip club. He takes me to Captain Cream's. And I'm like- It's always a man who introduces us to strip clubs. Yeah. And I was like, wow. And it was a bikini club.

It was not even topless or anything. You had to wear like full or anything you had to wear like full underwear and you had to wear a full bra so I was very like these girls are wearing like more clothes than what I wear when I'm go-go dancing so I thought I'd try working there as an experiment and that's kind of when I started like you know I already dressed in vintage style so I was like well I'm gonna strip in vintage style and I remember they were like I mean there was nobody like me there at that time yeah at all the black you already had your look in vintage style. So I was like, well, I'm gonna strip in vintage style. And I remember they were like, I mean, there was nobody like me there at that time.

Yeah, with the black. You already had your look back then. So you're a natural blonde for everybody who's wondering. I did see some pictures and so you color your hair black. So when did you start doing that? When was the first time you looked in the mirror and you were like, okay, I don't wanna be a blonde anymore? Well, first it was red. Like I red hair beautiful i mean you're beautiful now but

red would be gorgeous i went from blonde to red it was like the you know the natural thing to do and then i kept like a lot of people that play with red hair color for the first time you start adding more and more red and you're like it's not red enough it's not red enough and then it was suddenly like burgundy um and then one day I was like, you know what? I'm going to dye it black. And I wore it like in a black, like Louise Brooks, twenties hairstyle for a little while. So it kind of started there. That's awesome. How old are you? Um, I must've been like 22. Okay. Gotcha. Did you ever just set out to like change your look to look like somebody or did you know you just wanted to kind of like have a signature style no I just always liked feeling

different like I had like little obsessions like I liked you know there I'd go through different periods like I'd see a vintage film and I'd be like oh I love that hair I'm gonna do that hair for a while or I'd always wear the cat eye because it was like a 50s thing and there was like a famous photo um on the cover of a a vogue with a cat eye and just the red lips and nothing else and that image like was the thing that made me do the cat eye yeah so I kind of mixed all these things together, like 1940s style hair with the 50s cat eye. So it kind of just became like a thing where it was a mixture. But I went through periods over the years where everything was 30s. Then everything was 40s.

Then it was 50s. I liked studying the eras and dressing exactly like those eras. Which era is your favorite? The 40s. The 40s. What is it about the 40s? Just the... The bouffant hairdos.

Yeah, the bouffant hairdos. The clothes are really chic from that time. It was a great time for hats, whimsical hats with a sense of humor. And I love the films of that era. I got a sense of humor. And yeah, and I love the films of that era. I got a lot of inspiration. Like if you look closely at my show, you'll see like the inspirations were from 1940s films. And I was like, what if that was like a striptease?

So yeah, I love that. We'll have to go see Dio's show. Yeah, it'll be amazing. So moving on, back to Krispy. Captain Creams. Sorry, I was gonna say crispy creams um what was it like the first time that you danced were you shy or were you already just so in tune with your body that you were like here i am bitches i feel like well again it was just a bikini bar and you know i was already like go-go dancing in the rave scene so um i don't know i don't remember ever having a problem and i think also growing up

like in like dancing in ballet or used to like you know wearing not much and being you know checking out your body in the mirror so i think, I don't remember ever. I remember there was one day I came into the club and they're like, we're going to be a topless club now. And I remember going like, hmm. And they said, now the rule is you're either a topless girl or not topless girl. You can't negotiate for money for your top to come off. You make the decision now

that you're going to be a topless girl or you're going to be a non-topless girl like they gave girls that were working there a long time the choice yeah and i was like i don't care i'm taking my top off yeah fun to me you know it was like a just boobs you know i feel like money back then too was different like strip clubs were so different back then like when i first started dancing too I started dancing in 2001 um it was like I don't want to say this like in a derogatory way but it was more selective and like it was more taboo and like you know not just anybody could dance and the clubs were filled with like gorgeous women and it was just like I don't know it was a different time it wasn't like how dancing is now yeah i mean imagine what it was like in the 90s yeah it was amazing oh i bet and think too

like also please remember that like all of that you know the the iconic like sunset boulevard strip clubs in the 80s flash dance yeah that. That was real. There's a great documentary, if you've never seen it, you have to watch it. It's called Stripper. And it's about this big competition where the strippers from all over, like Canada and the US,

come to Las Vegas to compete for a $25,000 prize, which by the way, $25,000 in the 80s is a lot of money. And it's a documentary and it's amazing and you really go oh the body shop on sunset was amazing like girls that were playboy models doing like back flips naked on stage like really like they put on a show yeah and seventh veil right or what was it called yeah i mean i never i don't know as much about the history of Seventhville, but the body shop was really famous and had like, you know, all the video vixen girls. So it definitely, you know, strip clubs evolved.

I just feel like it's, I didn't like when it evolved to where they were taking advantage of girls and you couldn't, like I had health insurance in the 90s working in a strip club and a paycheck. They need to bring that back. They will never bring it back. Bring it back. Strippers need insurance too. I mean, that's crazy. I never knew that. Yeah, that's awesome though.

What a little tidbit of history. So moving forward from dancing, when did it start turning into more of a burlesque show for you or was it always like that? So I'd say like around 94 i was um kind of like already known for as being a pin-up girl um and it was pretty famous like amongst like the fetish crowd like all over the world like in london and germany and i was i was the most famous fetish model in the world in the early 90s.

Yeah, for sure. Toot your own horn, baby. You deserve it. I know, it's just weird to say because it's like... No, but you've built that. And so then I posed for Playboy for this book of lingerie.

They had these newsstand specials and I became a newsstand special girl. And then I got... I was the only one that looked like me and they're wearing corsets and like styling myself like a pin-up girl and so I started headlining strip clubs all over the country so I would travel to different clubs that would pay me like to be there for the week and be on their marquee or whatever so kind of started then I think when I left the Captain Creams which

probably left there in like 94 I remember kind of like dipping out and in and just like uh not really liking the vibe anymore um and headlining strip clubs and so I had to make more of a show so it started really there yeah where did the name Dita Von Teese come from that came from Captain Cream sitting on a bar stool one night when I got the call that I was going to be in Playboy and they said, and I was already going by Dita. Like, I don't know. I don't, I think I'd seen like a movie with an actress called Dita Parla, like a 20s movie.

And remember I had this like 20s haircut. And anyway, I knew, I got the like, that I'd been accepted to shoot for Playboy and they said, well, you need a last name. And I was like, why?onna adida share like why do i have to have a last name they're like you just do and so i i had i always remember sitting there with my friend cisco on the bar oh not the cisco the red one i puked it up so many times i think it was purple oh uh like grape or something anyway it's gross yeah um just but i loved it or it could it would get you a slugger i can't do a slugger

so i pulled out the phone book for those of you don't know there's things called the phone book it was really big anyway and i'm sitting there drinking go let's i'm gonna look up bonds people with like a bond in their name are very cool. And people already like where I worked, like I would pretend I didn't speak English a lot of times. Because I had this look and the corsets and the long black gloves and boots. And I just like to pretend I couldn't talk to anybody because I didn't want to talk to anyone. So I'd just be like, dance. You're like, I just want to be beautiful.

So, yeah, I just didn't want to do the hustle. I was never good at hustling people. Work smarter, not harder. Yeah. So I looked up Vons and I found this name, Vontrese. And I was like, I'm going to be Dita Vontrese. Sounds good. So I called up Playboy and told them what I was going to be.

And they're like, yeah, fine. And then like a month later i go to the get the magazine i open it up and it says um dita von t's and i was like that's not it so i called them and like i'm not thinking at all like strip t's t's like i'm not thinking that at all it didn't even register in my brain that it was a good idea i called them again and said it was wrong and they're like we'll correct it and then they just never did and i again and said it was wrong. And they're like, we'll correct it. And then they just never did. And I was like, whatever it to me, I was never like, it was a moment in time, you know, I'm like 20 something years old. I think, you know, I'm at

the pinnacle of my career, by the way, you know, I think that that's it, you know, I'm on a truck stop in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin for the strip club I'm performing at. I'm in Playboy. And I'm on a truck stop in Fond du Lac Wisconsin for the strip club I'm performing at I'm in Playboy and I'm on the cover of Skin 2 you know and Fetish Magazine to me that was like that's it you know yeah I'm gonna get I'm gonna be I'm gonna be 30 in a few years and that's gonna be a wrap on my career so I better enjoy it but I didn't you know so there was no like planning a career it was just like that was it. I think that's how it happens too is when you don't plan something, it just organically grows.

It's almost like the universe grabs it and just rolls with it. Totally. Don't get me started on manifesting things. Because I really believe that. I really think like, you know, a lot of people will ask me like, what does it take to get where you are? And I'm like, well, first of all, stop thinking of where you want to go and start enjoying where you are. Because if you can't appreciate the now and what's happening right now, forget it.

And when people ask me like what my goal is right now, I'm like, I don't have a goal. I never had a goal. ask me like what my goal is right now. I'm like, I don't have a goal. I never had a goal. I just was like quietly delighted at all the little milestones and enjoying that moment and working with integrity and gratitude.

And like, that's the key. Like, I don't think if you're always looking for the next best thing or like the thing that's gonna make you, I don't think it works like that. That's so real. And I think a lot of people, including myself, need to hear something like that because I'm always like on to the next goal. And sometimes I forget that this is a journey, not a destination. So that was very beautifully said. I heard you say that you love

Insight Timer. I'm not sponsored by them at all, but I am a huge Insight Timer person. I love meditating, I love all that stuff. So when I heard you say that in a podcast, I was like, this is my girl. Do you have your favorite people? Like I have my Insight Timer crushes, like the people whose voices I'm like, yeah. I love the women.

I'm trying to get into the men, but I love the women that have accents, like the Australian accents or like, you know, just something like fluid and just like so pretty and whimsical right you know i love that it just helps me to meditate what are your favorites um my my two favorites i guess i have a few one is this guy named david gandleman i totally have a crush on him and he's like tells stupid jokes do you know who i'm talking about over there you know i totally love him i got got her turned on. He has a thing called the Grounded Sleep Podcast.

And I swear that puts me to sleep. Not because he's boring, but just because it's like having my friend on there, you know? And then there's this gal named Sarah Blondin who I can just listen to all day. Like she's kind of more of like a poetess, you know? So I really like her. And then there's a couple other people like there's this guy with a scottish accent that sounds like he's got this really deep like scottish do you know what's that guy's name do you know who i'm talking about oh he just literally gets me

she said he gets yeah yeah like he'll be like okay i can't imitate but he's like there's nowhere else to be right now like that like deep low and but he's like there's nowhere else to be right now like that like deep low and i was like yeah there's nowhere else to be this is it do their voices match their faces when you see them sometimes i always go and like try to look at their profile picture because i'm like their voice is like so you know like you try to visualize what they look like and then they don't look like the person that you would visualize you know i think they do it's also a really funny journey when you're looking for somebody new and you put it on and you're like, okay, okay.

And then you listen to it and you're like, their voice comes on or this poor sound quality and you're like, oh no. Oh, in a jersey. Yeah. No, I do that too. Like, it's so like. I'm pickier about looking for like meditations than I am for looking for porn. Like literally. Like i don't even know

where to look for porn i'm just like what kind of porn are you into i mean i don't know i mean i i like i like to see what's going on in the world i like to i'm i don't i don't have anything particular or anything oh i mean you know i was a huge andrew blake fan of course and if you're if you're around in the 90s like the highest glossiest porn ever made yes um but that's not what i really go looking for i was just like a fan that somebody was doing this like beautiful shot on film porn yeah you know yeah just something that's pretty like pretty porn yeah but i like to see like great feats of sexual excellence like how is she doing that you know like she's an acrobat what's really going on yeah you guys there is no better time than to manifest a new business than the new year start this year off being your own boss

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how did you meet Marilyn Manson uh gosh when I think about it it was in 2000 so I know like some people like they always go you were only married for a year and I'm like I know but this is a seven year long relationship so like and even longer if you consider the fallout of like what it's like to be married and divorced to someone and how long you're connected to them after the fact. Especially in the public eye. Yeah. So, you know, it was a very different person, I think, than what he was when I left. Yeah, it was like a very interesting evolution of a person

to see. What can I say? Yeah, it was like he went to rehab once when we were together with the like I want to be a better man for you and that was just like a little bit of like cocaine and booze right

and then he came out of rehab way worse with all these pills like everyone was doing everyone in Hollywood was doing all this oxycontin and stuff like snorting it and i was just he came out worse and that was kind of like the turn was like first like three years were great and then four years were just like oh god so when you met him was he he wasn't sober when you met him no but definitely like um was it more of like very like more reeled in like i remember him being like you know not you know like sleeping every night you know like sleeping every night right that's the only

way to put it to like not sleeping right gotcha at all um you had said something about your guys's wedding day that i found interesting he was sober on your wedding day? Or he wasn't? I mean, who knows? I think so. He slept most of the wedding day. So how did that work for you? Did that hurt your feelings that he slept most of the day? Or were you just kind of happy that he was? Listen, I shouldn't have been getting married. And I think I knew it. But there was so much pressure at that time. Like, we'd been together for all of that time um you know vogue was covering the wedding like us vogue is there with a journalist i felt like an immense amount of pressure um and i just felt like okay like i'm not calling this off right you know yeah

it just was and you guys had already been through we've been together for a long time so it just like made sense and to happen yeah yeah but it was like yeah it was even more pressure than ever you know like more being married was hard I had read this are I'm not sure if I read or I heard you say that you are kind of privy to the idea of open relationships. Can you elaborate on that a little bit? I think like I've never been an open relationships type person, but I also feel like there's a point. And I know some people don't like want to hear this, but I feel like when you become like an adult and enough experience with relationships, you need to kind of like grow up and think about what is a relationship about like it's not a fairy tale and i love that you

said fairy tales don't exist in this life yeah that really struck me like because i believe the same thing and i am i believe in freedom in a relationship of you know everybody has their own terms of monogamy and i just think that sometimes monogamy can be a jail and i just think that some people deserve freedom not saying that go fuck everybody but you know open communication with your partner i think it's one of the like when i look at um like i i love all these like young cool like therapists and like people like communicating in a different way than when I was growing up you know and um I think it's interesting people that have like open relationships or they have ways of you know understanding that like people

are people and they make mistakes and it's like it's it's more complicated than just like oh that person like cheated or whatever it's like you have if you get to the reasons like why if you didn't want it if you are not trying to be in an open relationship I don't know I just think it's people are complicated and if you're in like a long-term relationship like each situation is different yeah totally like i i feel like i've i i my all of my relationships from when i was i had like the perfect long-term boyfriend in high school like this great romance but like after that it got real like every long-term boyfriend i had or every boyfriend i had cheated on me and i was kind of like going well i don't understand what's happening. You know, like, what can I do?

And what am I not doing? And, yeah, it's just kind of like, but, you know, I don't know. I don't think like cheating is everything. But you grow up thinking that you're supposed to be faithful and you fall in love. And that's what like falling love is, is being faithful to each other. And there's so much more complicated than that. It's so much more than that. Yeah. I, when I heard you say that, I was like, yes, like I got what you were, you were saying. And I just really wanted to talk about that with you because it,

not too many people, especially of your statureature really bring that to the forefront and I talk about it all the time and people think I'm crazy they're like you know the marriage is a sacred union and you're like yeah it can still be sacred it just seems like a lot of pressure to put on yourself like the communication is what's most important and a lot of people like fall in love and they never really you fall in love and they never really, you fall in love and you never really talk about what the rules of your relationship are. And I think even people that are non-monogamous talk about what the rules are. And the problem though is like people like to break the rules no matter what. So like I know people who are like polyamorous and they're still like, you'll still break the rule. If somebody says your rule is like, you're not going to have sex with somebody else in our bed,

guess what the first thing they're going to do is? It's just like people's nature to like... If you tell them not to do something, they'll do it. Totally. So I don't know. I think it's just more complicated than like loyalty and faithful. There's different kinds of loyalty. I don't know.

We just went to the church of Dita. No, I'm just like rambling. I'm not a relationship expert by any means but it's real many many times and continue to fail in relationships like you know i um well you're not failing now though you're aren't you in like a long-term relationship i am but you know i'm not great all the time you know like i know what my downfalls are i'm always like we love a humble i'm not easy i know i'm not easy woman to be with i know that you know what my downfalls are. I'm always like, I'm not easy. I know I'm not an easy woman to be with. I know that.

What does it take to make Dita Von Teese happy in a relationship? Well, I'm a bit of a size queen. Yeah. I love that. Admittedly. I feel like I can say that here. Yeah, of course. No, I mean, joking aside.

I guess I just, I love doing what I do. I love working. I love, you know, I always have so many projects. I think what I, I love being independent. I don't like being like, I'm somebody's woman. I keep my relationships like now after, like, experiencing that, like, you know, I'm still talking about my ex-husband that i met in 2000 that's 24 years ago yeah i'm still talking about that so i think like after that i was very like i don't want to date any more famous men yeah it's rough because i don't i get very uncomfortable talking about my relationships you know like it's just, so I don't know, I just love my work. I love my animals, I love my friends, I love my like relationships, but I just, to me it's all like spread across the board. Like when I was younger, it was like,

I put so much importance on romance. And I just am like, okay. Yeah, as you get older, you're just like, no, it was like i put so much importance on romance right and i just i'm like okay yeah as you get older you're just like no it's like yeah i always tell my husband i'm like we've been together almost a decade i'm like if if this does not work out which it will i i could never just get into another relationship again especially with a public person and also just having to get to know somebody on that those that level again of intimacy and just being you know joined at the hip with somebody is just it's a lot it's a lot yeah to have to try to work through again yeah do you ever have a down day like where you wear

sweats and a t-shirt yeah i mean i'll go to my pilates and live in my athleisure for the day how do we never have a picture of you in like our like like active wear okay well there are there are yeah if you like google images dina bonti's pilates i'm definitely coming out of pilates studios but i have my little tricks i do it's like sunglasses red lipstick it's not. It takes like a few seconds to put on red lipstick. I don't know. I just have my like codes, you know. I put on my, what are they called? Lululemon pants.

I put on my, you know, and I'll put a jacket over it or a 50s skirt over it. I kind of just, I don't really like, I'm pretty aware. But I like, it's not even to do with somebody taking a picture of me. I think, oh, I don't want to run into that person and seeing me not looking put together. But I also just feel like I like what, I think about confidence a lot

and what are the things I can do to control my confidence levels. And one of those things is like feeling like I took a few minutes to put myself together. Yeah, I love that. I used to always be dolled up. I would you wouldn't catch me in sandals ever. I used to always have heels on. I hated being flat footed. And I think when I moved to Nashville is when I finally just kind of like took it all off and was just like, I just need a break from all this. And now I can't come back from it i get dressed up for like concerts and like appearances and stuff like that but like yeah i just i love there's nothing no better feeling at night than ripping these eyelashes off and putting on sweats so you're 51 your skin is flawless what is your skincare routine? Sunscreen. Sunscreen. Just tons of sunscreen.

Sleeping on your back. Okay, if I wish, I know no one wants to hear this, but I'm sorry, I wish somebody would have told me when I was young, like how good it is for you to sleep on your back. And I, the last like four years, I taught myself to sleep on my back and it has worked miracles.

Like if you think about it, when you look on, if you're a side sleeper, I know where my like one wrinkle came from. Cause if I go like this, where the pillow is like, Oh, there's that line. That's where that came from. It's from sleeping with your face on the pillow. So I taught myself insight timer. Help me with that. But on that meditation,

I lay there like a zombie and like, just like close my eyes, sleep with my palms up. So it puts my shoulders back and like, okay, everything's fine. So yeah. How do you not move throughout the night though? Sometimes I do, but I catch myself. Yeah. I'm a, I'm like a light sleeper. I can totally catch myself when I'm in a like, don't do that. And I've actually gotten good. If I feel like I have to sleep on my side, I've gotten good at like putting the pillow kind of up here so my face is still not being squished by the pillow. Like listen, you know, it's all fun and games

until you're like, you start realizing the collagen's really going and you're like, oh, those marks on my face from my sunglasses, which I know are on my face now, they'll stay all day. They'll stay all day. Have you had any work done at all? I've only had Botox.

In fact, all of my Botox is currently worn off. It looks great. Because I like to let it wear off. Because the last time I got Botox, they were like, what do you think? Because I went to somebody new, and he was like, what do you think we put some on your chin?

Because your chin's wrinkling up a little bit. And my first thought was like, I got went to somebody new and he was like, what do you think we put some in your chin? Because, you know, your chin's wrinkling up a little bit. And my first thought was like, I got to worry about my chin now. But I let him do it. And then one day I was like sitting there and my boyfriend's like, your smile is different. I'm like, what are you talking about? He's like, your smile is different. And I was like, are you serious? And I started noticing.

I was like, it really is. So then I was like, I'm letting all of the Botox go away before I need to hit the reset button. Because I'm all for it. It's like, you know, like, but you do have to be careful with the Botox. Did it freeze like your bottom lip? Yeah, kind of. And I felt like it, like, I don't know, it made my smile different. You just felt that it was off? Yeah. And I was like, that's not okay.

Oh, my goodness. mile different. You just felt that it was off. Yeah. And I was like, that's not okay. Oh my goodness. Yeah. Do you do you waist train still or no? No, I never did. The thing is, I always like the aesthetics of corsets. And I've always used them in my show. Even when I was working in the strip clubs, I was the girl with the corset on and I people used to pull their money together to see what I look like underneath it. Yeah. Which I love was my favorite game. I was the girl with the corset on and I people used to pool their money together to see what I looked like underneath it yeah which I love was my favorite game I was like no not enough yet I'd come back around and be like all right and I'd take it off because I thought it was there was rumors I had like a birthmark or something or something I was hiding and I'm like no I just love the look of it um so I never like deliberately waist. I would say the closest I ever came to that was like a few times when I walked for Jean-Paul Gaultier under the Mr. Pearl making the corsetry.

I remember he would write me a note and be like, on this at this hour, you can eat half of an apple. In this hour, you can eat the other half like very like he was very strict and that's the only time i've ever been like okay i'm gonna like pay attention to what he's saying just because we have this like runway moment and yeah you're like you can't like haul off and eat a cheeseburger before you're about to like wear the ultimate corset you know um but he's, he's a very strict person. Jean-Paul Gaultier didn't care what I ate or what I, he was, you know, but Mr. Pearl is a very like

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Like how it's like an industry now. And like even in this town, like burlesque is like, and I see the things that are exactly like derived from like what the things that I did a long time ago. And it's kind of cool because I just think like, oh, it's so great that there's this space, which is, you know, oftentimes celebratory of bodies. And like I was saying before, it is a place of like inclusion and diversity and beauty and I think it's important like I think it's important for people to come to my show and see um me or people of different ages and different sizes and skin colors like being beautiful and not just like the the showgirl mystique of like you had to be five foot ten

and not just like the showgirl mystique of like you had to be five foot 10 to be a showgirl and weigh like, you know, a certain amount. I think I'm proud that this has become a thing and I can even see even in Vegas because it's becoming the thing and I'm going, oh, people are now taking a look at how they're casting and that's meaningful. I love that.

Do you feel like you don't get your flowers as much as you should like people give like their nod to you i don't know i mean i kind of think about some of the people around me that um like my friend katherine delish who she and i created all these things together like our our you know she did things for me in costuming that had never been done in burlesque before that is now taken for like the you know people don't even know that it it was invented by her like the first made for her you know by her for me and so I mostly mostly think of her like in her genius and her getting her recognition um you know, I can roll my eyes all the time at things and I'm like, oh, you know.

It's like, you know, people, burlesque dancers in the 1930s and 40s didn't wear corsets to strip out of. Like that comes from me working for a corset company in the 90s and being like, I'm going to wear a corset and do a striptease. But you're not going to find like a famous burlesque star from the 30s anywhere like doing a striptease on stage so like there's things like that that I'm like I did that I made it like a thing a thing that it is um so but you know but mostly I'm just like I'm glad I get to do this still and that um you know that people want to come see me still. Because if burlesque weren't so popular and so big, I wouldn't be doing this big Vegas show.

Yeah. Which, how long is this Vegas show running for? We have dates until June 15th. Okay. It's a big show. It's definitely the biggest project I've ever done. It's definitely the biggest burlesque show that's ever been made in the history of ever.

Yes. Okay. The only that would i could say is bigger was like as far as burlesque shows well there wouldn't be there wouldn't be anything it would be like if you said um zig filled follies was but that would be kind of like a showgirl review but as far as striptease and burlesque it's it's definitely the biggest one what can people expect when they come see your show like what is your show all about are you allowed to talk about it yeah yeah um well it's in the historic jubilee theater which again we it's this incredible room that like the rat pack played in it's amazing it's um like a time capsule and these incredible costumes combined with my shows like my all of my things like i don't just have my one martini

glass on stage i've got five of them you know there's things that come up out of the ceilings out of the floor it's extravagance it's opulence and um striptease and there's again like um you know just as many hot guys in the show as there are women so um it's like an hour and 20 minutes long. What else can I say about it? The costumes, yeah, the costumes, okay. So Jubilee's costumes were incredible. The costume budget in the late 70s when they made these things with Bob Mackie

and Pete Menefee, the costume budget was like $4 million. So if you think about how much that would be now, nobody would ever spend $4 million on, that's like $4 million. So if you think about how much that would be now, nobody would ever spend $4 million on, that's like $12 million today. That's crazy. Can you imagine? There's 3,200 tons of feathers that were brought over from Paris for this show.

So it's really like, you can only see things like this in museums now. This is the very last Showgirl review. The only other Showgirl review in the whole world would be moulin rouge in paris but there's no other showgirl review in in in vegas and even the shows that are kind of like showgirl ish none of them is using the authentic costumes and that's what we have in this show. And the only other place you could see these costumes is like on display at the UNLV Museum, I believe. And I would venture to say this is going to be the last time you'll see them on stage. And they're really something. It's really have to get out to see the show. Yeah, it's it's it's really special. I'm very

proud of the show. And how-on were you with the show, like as far as like set designing, of course the costumes, and then like just even like the entire show? Yeah, I'm a bit of a micromanager because I've always been a do-it-yourselfer. But yeah, I mean, I curated all the costumes and decided what was going to go in the show

and with each dancer picked what their look was. Um, we, I, we chose props that we refurbished for the show. Like you'll see some original Jubilee props that have gotten a makeover because they were going to the trash. So I saved them. Um, but yeah, I worked with a team. so I saved them. But yeah, I worked with a team. I worked with a great choreography team and director and they basically looked at my life's work and we put it as much as we could into one show. Yeah. I keep hearing you refer to a documentary. What is this about?

We started filming a documentary in 2019. So it's like really like long game, which is great because we, you know, got like my big tours before the pandemic, then we got to film the pandemic. And then when things finally opened after the pandemic, which was very exciting, I was one of the first shows to like go up in big theaters. And it was very exciting. And then, you know, Vegas is the cherry on the cake I have

another show that I'm working on though in London that opens up in October as well amazing so you'll finish here and then you'll go to London and do a run out there I think so I'm I might I'm not sure what you know how I'm still like working on if I'm gonna add any dates or you know I'm not sure yet I'm still trying to make all those decisions, trying to figure out how I can be everywhere all at once. When do you think the documentary will drop? I still have more that I want to film. I didn't get to film here in Vegas yet.

And so that's like my last hurdle. I'm in like a very, like the most, like, like the oldest,. I'm in like a very like the most like, like the oldest, hardest union room in the city. So it's really hard to like film things like that. So I'm trying to wrestle up that last money to like film it here.

But we have a great director from New York and I'll get there. Slow and steady wins the race. I love that. And then what can we expect from you for the rest of 2024? Like, do you have other projects besides Vegas and London that you're going to be doing that we can look forward to? Well, besides Vegas, I have my London show

that I'm working on with a gal named Tosca. It's a really cool concept show for the West End in London, so I'm excited about that. I have a lingerie line. I'm still working on that. Gosh. I always later go, oh, yeah, you have this project. I always forget.

Those are like the most important things. Show business is always the top of my list. I kind of want to do my annual New Year's Eve gala that I do in Los Angeles. I kind of want to do that annual New Year's Eve gala that I do in Los Angeles. You know, I kind of want to do that again because I skipped last year. So what do you do for fun besides work? Because you sound like me. Like everybody asks me all the time. They're like, what do you do for fun?

And I'm like, I work. Yeah, that's what I do. Well, I've been, you know, I go home between the shows like for two days and I cook. I hang out with my animals. I organize my stuff. I wear no makeup. Are you a good cook?

Yeah. Yay. What's your favorite dish to make? I make this vegetarian pot pie everyone talks about. I love that. Are you vegan? Vegetarian? No no i'm kind of like flexitarian especially being in vegas it's kind of hard yeah for sure it's definitely hard

they have such good food out here why have you never came to nashville oh hold on i have to take you're good my throat ready for this one. So I've done several world tours and several U.S. tours. And every time I, every time I plan a tour, which I'm already like plotting, planning for this conversation, I try to go toville and memphis but actually like just tennessee in general like i know i have a big fan base there yeah and they i get told no because of the blue laws there i think they're called blue laws when there's alcohol there's a lot of policing over women's bodies, which I understand, but like I have performed in China. Okay. Right. I've performed in places where it's like really, you know, very conservative. So I, you know, I know how to like, you know, I can wear tights, I can wear like a 50s brief and,

you know, a full bra and not take it off off like I've been performing at like private events for brands all over the world and like yeah Kazakhstan okay like crazy places where it's like very conservative so um anyway I get on the phone this is not my last tour but the even the tour before that and we're like talking about bringing the show to nashville um and i get on the phone with like the the only big theater that's suitable and we get on the phone to have like this conference call about about how we can do it and i say okay just tell me what the rules are like what do we have to work because there is a burlesque scene there you know and they said well okay you know obviously you have to cover up you can only have like an inch of cleavage. I'm like, okay, you can't show any side boob. I'm like, okay, so got it, got it. Okay, you can't show your butt at all. And I was like, okay, can you wear like tights, like a couple

pairs of tights and like a 50s, like a full brief, like a bathing suit. And they're like, like a full brief like a bathing suit and they're like no you can't show like where your butt cheek and your thigh meets like that line you cannot show that ever so they said well you have to wear kind of like a bike shorts to cover up that line where your you know butt meets your right thighs right and i'm like okay and then so i'm going through all of this taking notes and then i say okay we have just as many guys in the show as girls so what about the guys oh there's no rules for them there's nothing on the books they can't show their penis you know but like everything else is okay i was like you mean they can even wear a g-string they're like yeah this is real life. What?

I wish I'd been recording the conversation. Nashville, we have to get it together because we need the queen to grace our city. This is crazy. Fast forward to then, my last tour, I was like, let's ask again. And they actually told me to stand down and don't ask again. And meanwhile, don't forget that like, now they have their own like set of problems and they started looking to them too but at that time um i had lent my martini glass to violet chachki to do like you know tribute to me right and like that was okay because it's like it's not

a woman's body but how do they have a strip club that serves alcohol yeah the rules are all about the alcohol you can be totally naked and you can be 18 year old and you can spread your legs wide for your audience with no alcohol but as soon as there's alcohol that's where everything gets so don't we have strip clubs that have oh it's byob what this fucking? And then the thing is, you know, none of these big theaters that can actually house my show want to house the show because if they can't serve booze, because I said, well, what if we do a dry show? And they're like, they won't make money,

so they don't want to do it. That is insane to me. We have got to figure out a loophole to get you into Nashville because I feel like it would be a moneymaker for them. I know, I really want to do it. I wanted to wear the bike shorts because I thought for my documentary, wouldn't it be great? Me like making the rhinestone bike shorts and like I got my bike shorts on so no one

gets hurt. That's hilarious. Yeah. It's just funny. But yeah. And since then, I remember at the time being really upset because I thought like, why can Drag Race, Work the World go to that theater and I can't but then now they have been forbidden as well I think since yeah hopefully this podcast dropping

will kind of bring some attention to that I don't think so man that's crazy I don't think so Nashville we gotta get together baby the people are you know the the fans will come it's just um the rules I mean maybe i should just make the bike shorts outfit and be like this is what i'm prepared to wear yeah don't give up if they told you to stand down keep going the first time i said no i'm not wearing rhinestone bike shorts and then after that i was like oh actually i want to try this because it's funny you know now it's like a challenge. You're like challenge accepted. Yeah.

Dita, thank you so much for coming on the pod, baby. It's been such a great hour sitting here with you and asking me about my what I think is a boring life. Thanks for taking an interest. I think your life is amazing. And I think it's great. You bring class back, you know, and it just everything about you, the way you present yourself, you're so eloquent. And I feel like that's what the world is missing. And that's what we need more of. And I'm glad that women have somebody like you that they can

look up to and, you know, to be doing what you're doing at your age still is amazing. And that gives me hope and like, I don't want to quit, you know, you don't want to quit. So let's just keep being trailblazers. We don't have to. No, thanks for a great interview. I'll say the same for you. It's great that you're... I've been interviewed by a lot of journalists that didn't study up or didn't ask interesting questions like you did.

I appreciate you so much. Do you want to shout out where people can find you, where they can see your show, your socials? My socials are the best place. It's just at Dita Von Teese. But remember, the Teese is spelled T-E-E-S-E. Thank you, Playboy, for the misspelling. The iconic moniker.

Thank you. Yeah, but I'm at the Horseshoe, which is on the Strip. It used to be Bally's. And it's a big beautiful theater and we have dates on and off i have shows through the weekend but this is probably not playing on right now um yeah the shows are kind of just like it's a residency so there's we pick and choose our weeks absolutely i can't wait we're gonna go we're gonna pick a date to come and see you before june for sure thank you so much thank you i appreciate you and thank you guys for tuning in to another episode of dumb blonde i will see you before June for sure. Thank you so much. Thank you. I appreciate you.

And thank you guys for tuning in to another episode of Dumb Blonde. I will see you guys next week. Bye.