Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - Ep 6: Tara Lipinski

Episode Date: May 18, 2018

Olympic figure skating gold medalist Tara Lipinski joins me on the podcast this week. Tara is the youngest figure skater to ever win an Olympic gold medal - in 1998, she did it at fifteen years old. We get inside what it was like to grow up in the spotlight as a young superstar, how she actually got into the sport, and when she realized the Olympics were actually a possibility for her. Then hear the story about her infamous 1998 Olympic run...going head-to-head against Michelle Kwan, the mind games she’d play with her competitors, and what her career has been like after she stopped competing. I even ask her to play Marry, F***, Kill with Michelle Kwan, Nancy Kerrigan, and Tonya Harding...get inside the still adorable and inspiring Tara Lipinski. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Light the path to a brighter future with stellar lenses for myopia control. Learn more at SLOR.com. And ask your family eye care professional for SLR Stellist lenses at your child's next visit. You're listening to Inside of you with Mike Rosenbaum. I just wanted to say Mike to see if you were listening. Who says Mike? It's Michael. Mike sounds so collegiate, doesn't it?

This week's guest, Rob, I'm really excited. I've known her for a while. She is a gold medalist. She won the gold medal in figure skating in 1998, youngest ever to win it. Tara Lipinski. Look, I don't get it. I mean, she won it 15 years old. I was locking myself in a room with,

Sears catalogs exploring my body, Rob, when I was that old. Sarah and I are old friends. We became friends when she moved out to Los Angeles. She was 21. She was like my little sister. I was very protective over this pure little angel. And we talk a lot about stuff. You know what?

It's crazy because when we're talking about her growing up and her life and skating, I couldn't imagine. And you know what? After listening to it, I didn't want it. She had supportive parents. But it's a very tough story to hear. I mean, it's rewarding and great. but at the same time, you're like, man, I couldn't imagine being a little girl like that

and just being thrown into this competitive world. Her rivalry with Michelle Kwan, how hard it was to get into broadcasting after her figure skating career ended and we play Mary Fuck Kill with Tanya Harding, Michelle Kwan, and Nancy Kerrigan. Let's get inside of Tara Lipinski, please. It's my point of view. You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum was not recorded in front of a live studio audience.

Tara Lipinski. Tara Kristen Lipinski. Thank you for allowing me to be inside of you today. You got it. It's really a treat. You've been here before. I have. We know each other.

I mean, yeah, we have history. Years and years of history. Let's talk about the history. Do you know where we met, Tara? I do. Do you remember? Well, I asked you first. Okay, Mexico.

Oh, we didn't. Was it Puerto Rico? No, no, no. It was Puerto Vallada. Oh, I knew it was a Puerto. Yeah. And I... So, Michael and I met, we would go on these...

What were they? They were like these charity... This was, was the Christopher Reeve Foundation? It was like, it was, you know, so there was a connection for me for Smallville and Christopher Reeve, who played Superman, obviously. basically, who was an amazing man. And they would send us on these, they send actors or celebrities or musicians to places.

It was sort of a mix of celebrities. To help raise money. And we would go. It was amazing, though, because they would literally send you out there with a plus one. I brought my friend Chris McDonnell, who then became one of your very, very close friends. Right. And we'd go out with a plus one to these beautiful resorts. And we'd stay there for four days.

And you would have activities and a dinner at the end. but you would meet all these new friends and new people. And you'd raise money, which was a great thing. You would raise money. But we would party. I mean, you'd have the activities to go to, but then there was a lot of downtime. Who did we party with? I mean, Chris has an amazing story of Matt Damon.

No, not Matt Damon. Wait, no, no, no. You see? Why am I saying Matt Damon? No. You know who I'm thinking. Matt Dylan. Matt Dylan.

Yes. Yeah, he was just kind of weird. He was nice to us, but he was so nice. He was kind of like his character and something. about Mary. Yes. But nice. Just kind of alone or kind of like, hey, man, what's going on?

I'm like, I don't know, man. And then was it, Gary Busey was there? And Gary Busey. And Gary Bucy were in this place and we're listening to music. And I'm just standing and I go, yeah, yeah. Because it's a loud place. And he just turns it to me and goes, listen, buddy, I got a steel plate in my head and I'll fucking kill you if you yell in my ear again.

I'm like, dude, nobody's going to kill anybody. Let's just calm down. Oh my goodness. That was crazy. Who was there, Buzz Aldrin? Uh, yes. Yes. Didn't Kelsey Grammer go? Kelsey Grammer was there.

It was just a, it was a star-studded thing and it was Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys played for like 50. Oh my goodness. We were very lucky. Yeah, and that's how we met. That's how we met. And we'd be just, we hit it off and we came back here and you started just hanging out with my friends. I had literally moved. And it was platonic.

It wasn't like we were sleeping together. That never happened. No, we met when I moved here. So I moved here and then I went on that trip a month later. And I came back and I was like, well, I have a whole new group of friends. That's what happened. We went on a hike and I remember, I blame myself for it. Oh, this is years later, though.

This is your, well, is it years later? Michael, do you know I met you when I was 21? Oh, my God. How many years ago was that? I'm 35. 14 years ago. So I was 31, 21. That's a good age gap.

I like it. But I'm very immature. So you were probably more mature. Yes, it were perfect. We went on this hike. And I remember, I just, I text you, where were we? texting back then? Was there texting? I think there was. Or whatever it was. I emailed you and I said, Hey, Tara, we're going to these hot springs. And for whatever reason, I guess you thought maybe I wasn't

detailed enough, but I guess you thought we were. Michael, you were so not detailed. First off, you do know me at this point. I wasn't. I'm not an adventurous person. We know this. Right, right, right. Okay. And when we would do stuff, you know, we'd either come here and hang or we'd go out and do things. So I came dressed. To go to a, to go to a spa. You thought we were going to a baseball. But when you said a hot springs, I thought maybe we'd, you know, be in Joshua Tree and we'd walk, you know, somewhere sandy. And then we would, you know, go to a hot springs, put on our bathing suit and then come out and, you know, I don't know, get a massage. Tara, it was, and I remember we picked you up and you just weren't prepared.

I was not prepared. And you had like slippers or high heels? I had wedges on, like, you know, just like a little platform thing. Okay. And I had that because I didn't know, maybe we were. going to go out to eat after. I didn't know. And I brought a pair of flip flops. And remember we got to Joshua Tree? It was Victorville. It was a hiking place where we hiked a mile up a mountain and then down. Wait for the story, guys. So we get to the place. And there was this really, remember that old

cabin with like the pots and pans hanging and the grizzly old man? Like Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs. You come up to this thing after driving through like it feels like you're on the moon, driving through these little roads that don't even seem like they're going anywhere. And when you bump into this this dude's shack to get into these like where you start your hike right and he's like how many people you got in a van I'm like oh we got seven yeah we're out to charge five dollars a piece here's a map you guys get lost I don't get a give a shit I ain't sending out choppers tonight yeah and then he looked at me and he's like and you can't go in those flip flops and so I wore one of I wore his slippers his old gross I had to there was nothing else they could do and they were probably like a

size men's 12. Do you remember this? I had these slippers on. Do you still have them? I don't. No, I have no idea where they went. Hopefully I threw them away immediately. And you gave me, you were so nice, you gave me like your, because I also didn't bring a

sweater. So I am like dressed like a homeless person as we go on this hike. And if you remember correctly, okay, Michael and, and the group of friends we hung out with. This story actually goes somewhere. It's fun. No, no, no. Here's what I'm saying. I love this story.

and the ending, it gets worse. It gets so bad guys. Like we almost die. We're getting to, yes, yes, go. That's pretty much what happened. Right. So we go and as we're going, Michael, you get very caught up in the moment. You're not thinking.

And I don't know if you remember this. I was sort of yelling at you saying, we, remember the grisly old man that told us that we, they're not sending helicopters out. Right. And we need to like know where we're going because when we come back, it's going to be dark. Yep. Well, you put a rock like here and there. And I'm like, we're never.

gonna see that rock. Lack of boy scouting as a child. I go, here's this rock. It's an awkward shape. It's octagonal. We'll remember this rock. Yes, exactly. And I was nervous Nelly worrying about it. And then I was like, find her, just go with the flow. So we hike up this hour and a half hike and we go down to these hot springs. It was great in the beginning. It was adventurous. It was fun. And then it started to get cold. And we realized it's getting dark. And we don't have flashlights. Yeah. Also, we went to the hot springs, which to get through, remember, you have to go through that ice cold water. Oh, yeah. I'm already in survival mode at the moment. Everyone's not thinking about it. I asked some guy, random guy, I'm like, can you carry me over that? Because I'm

going to have to walk home ice cold with like wet air. Then we got lost. A hundred percent. It was scary, though. We come back. We decided to leave. We had never done this hike before. It was all new. My friend Tom Lally, he would get, he'd find these hikes and say, oh, it's, you know, it's not bad. But let me tell you something. It's already dark we can't see and we're climbing up a mountain and we don't know where we are I have no fast forward for like a half hour we are lost we are absolutely lost and some of the girls started crying I think you might have cried I was I was a hundred percent breaking down okay I don't want to say it yes you are I was crying you're hysterical what the fuck is going on I'm like dad and let me tell you I do you remember me snapping like in a very positive sort of leader way leadership kind

of yeah I said listen to me right now we're fine nothing's going to happen to us just hang in there i've got this and i remember turning around going i don't have this i mean none of us thought you had it at that point i had you on my back at one point climbing up a mountain yep because your feet those shoes weren't doing it for you and i finally but then i see a flicker of light oh we were so lucky and i just and i waved to this guy i think somebody had one camera or their phone and we waved to him and he somehow he somehow found us he could have just kept walking. He led us to the right way because we would have had to spend the night in the middle of nowhere and there's coyotes and mountain lions. I'm telling you guys we're in the

middle of the mountains. It was. And that's how we met. Well, that's not how we met, but yeah. But yeah, one of the scariest moments for me up on that mountain with you. It really was. It was terrifying. I thought we could die. Everyone was crying. I was almost crying. But it was an experience, wasn't it? It was. We've had a lot of good times, Michael. A lot of good times. Lots of Halloween parties. Yeah, Halloween's coming up. You're going to come to my party? I am working. I'll be in New York. See, that's the thing you're always working.

I know. Let's talk about a time when you weren't working, Tara Lipinski. Let's talk about when you were called Tara Kristen Lipinski. Were you ever called that? Did your mom ever call you Kristen? Yes. My mom, when I'm in trouble, it still is, especially by my father, Tara Kristen. Tara Kristen, you watch your effin' mouth.

You were a good girl, though, aren't you? I was. I was one of those kids that was scared of it. I think it's like my personality. A little anxious, little type A, little OCD. So you get a parent. says don't do that. I'm like, of course. Of course I wouldn't do that. Now, on the podcast, I've had a lot of guests who didn't have great relationships with their parents, you know,

either alcoholics or this or that. That's not the case for you. You were always close with your parents. Really close. Always. There was never really any issues. They were always together. Yeah. I've had it pretty lucky when it comes to that. Like growing up, I was an only child and I have a set of very dedicated parents. And for some reason, you know, to this day, I feel like they're my best friends. My mom is my best friend. I feel like I got lucky. Like my mom had a horrible relationship with her mother.

And so for her to become a mom and sort of be that person in someone's life, I think she took it so, so seriously. And that was her full-time job. She didn't work. She didn't do anything. So I think she put everything she had into really making an amazing childhood for me. And your dad, he's a lawyer. I mean, you guys were well off. When we first started, we weren't.

But I was so young by the time I sort of was aware. You know, my dad already sort of got a good job. And so my parents came from North Jersey. And they struggled a bit. And then my dad came. My parents moved to South Jersey where I was born. And my dad was going to law school at night. He was pumping gas and he was bartending.

Jack? Yeah, he had like four jobs. See, I didn't know that about Jack. I thought Jack kind of hit it off pretty quickly. He had some big success early. Oh, no. No, they grew up in Bayonne and he struggled. And my parents got married really young, so they were 23.

So by the time they had me, they were 31. So they already started to sort of figure out life and they moved away from where they, they grew up. And my dad got a good job. And then I grew up in South Jersey. South Jersey. You have no Jersey, like, traces. I don't look at you and think any jersey in you. Well, I guess that, is that good?

I mean, I love Jersey. I don't know if it's good or bad. I think Jersey, there's a lot of character with Jersey people. I love Jersey. I know a lot of people, you know, Tommy, my buddy Tommy, like Dish, Tommy Caprio. But, you know, what the hell? I'm so drawn to anyone from Jersey. And I know it's that I come from there.

But the accent, just the way people are. It's so, I don't know. It feels so homie and good. and I don't know. Did your folks ever fight? Did you ever hear them fight or argue? Really? Who was the one who brought, you know?

My dad never. I mean, it was always my mom. Jack seems like a really relaxed guy. Every time I've talked to me, he just wants to have a drink. He wants to hang out. And so mom would kind of chirp on him. Mom is like me, you know, like right away, something goes wrong and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And Jack's like it's fine.

It's okay. Trisha. Yeah, that's what he says. Trisha, right. And so growing up, for the most part, normalcy. I mean, not normal. What was that normal? My life was not normal. Well, it was with my parents, like having a good relationship with my parents. Right. That was normal. That's true because it became pretty

abnormal. Yeah, early on. Very quickly. Were you always athletic? Were you always competitive? I was always competitive. With what? Everything. So, you know, if I played soccer in school, you know, I was like elbowing some kid to get to the book. Were you a crier? Were you someone who would play and if you lost, you'd cry? No. So that was like my parents, my parents were, were strict in some ways. A lot of times I'm like, they really weren't strict. I mean, I was sort of on the road by the time I was 15 alone. But in other, you know, in other ways, especially with, you know, monitoring my behavior when I was younger, I could never be a story loser.

Right. You couldn't swear. You couldn't say you suck to someone else. Oh, no. That would be it. I would never play soccer again. So what was it like, I remember you were rollerblading, roller skating first? So I started rolling.

How many sports did you try before you found for you're skating? A lot. I did, like, dance. I did gymnastics. And I was very opinionated, even when I was younger, sort of like, I did gymnastics and I was really good. And then, like, they're like, you have to flip upside down. And I was like, well, I don't do upside down flips. Like, that's not my thing.

Yeah, I can do everything else. I'll do twist. I can just see you on a roller coaster. No, we don't do upside down. We're not going to do that today. No, not today. So that was me. I did back in the day, baton.

Oh. I did. I mean, I played every little kid sports. soccer and nothing really stuck till I went roller skating. And I went roller skating when I was really young, when I was three years old, because my mom and her best friend who had a daughter my age, it was like raining and they were like, what do we do with these overactive kids? And it was like in the newspaper that you could get a free care bear if you went and took like a skating lesson. So me and my little girlfriend went and then in fine print, it's like,

you know, 12 lessons later. So that's how I- You loved it that much that you said, I want to. a roller skate. Yeah, loved it. How long before you were doing like those, you know, those fancy backwards 1970s like, it's couples time, yeah. Probably like in two years. So you're five years old, six years old. Wait, you're already competing. Yeah. How did you, I mean, did your mom, who saw it in you or did you want to compete? Did you even know what competition was? No. So it always happens. It's sort of the snowball effect where you go. And so I went for the care bear. We still have it. My mom has it framed care bear from hell. So it's like in their home.

Six-year-old... It's an old, old care bear. Crusty. So you go there and you do all these fun things. Roller skating was like super... I mean, you know, in the 80s. It was a bigger thing than it is now. I was a DJ at a roller rink.

Right. It was the place to be. So we would go for public skates and I love the social thing. I had so many little friends. Square pizza. Square pizza? The square thick, gross pizza. High school pizzas, yeah.

So it started like that. And then all of a sudden it's like, oh, do a show. Do a club show. And then you do a club show. And then one of the coaches is like, Oh, you should enroll into this little itty-bitty competition. And then you do one and then you're hooked. And that one did you win?

I did. Come on. You're five? No. I did. I like won a lot in roller skating when I was a little girl. It's weird. And that's why you keep going, though. If you're losing, then you're kind of like, well, I'm not going to do it.

So if you didn't like roller skating, if you hadn't started roller skating, you might not be. Oh, 100%. You would be in South Carolina, maybe figuring it out or doing. Yeah, I would never have gotten into figure, like ice skating. I went ice skating one day just because my parents were like, oh, maybe she'll like ice skating. And then I did both for a while. And then my mom just one day never took me back to the roller rink. She's like, I can't do both.

This is crazy. All right. So you're roller skating. You're competing. You're dominating. You're doing all these things. You have the competitive edge now. Your dad's into it or is Jack kind of still like, oh, whatever?

Dad's like support. Like, I'm into it. You know, pay the bills and I'll drive you and do. whatever. But, but yeah, I think they didn't think it was going to go where it actually went. And then once I started ice skating, I immediately was able to sort of transfer everything I learned from roller skating to ice skating very quickly. And then we started competing. And then it became by the time I was like eight a thing of, oh boy, we're in it. When were you starting to do jumps and things? Like, well, in roller skating, I was five. And then in ice skating, I was six.

Immediately I started. I've never done a jump. I ice skate. I'll take you. I would never do a jump. It just doesn't seem like you should jump on those things. You should. And you start doing all these things. You're competing at seven, eight. You're in ice skating now. Yes. You're in love with it. I love it. This is an expensive sport, isn't it? I skate it. So, I mean, refinance the house a couple times. Are you serious? My parents hated skating, actually. Like, to be honest, when it got further along, it was a constant battle of me begging them to keep me in the sport. They never came from, you know, a sports background. They like valued, you know, education, and that should be my, my sort of path.

Because what's the end game? What's the end game? She's going to be a, oh, she's going to win the 98 Olympics. Right. This is a waste of money, Trish. This is an argument. We're having an argument. I'm starting this one. This is a waste of our money. I don't have the money. Why is she doing this? What are the odds? She's going to come out of this. It was a little flip-flop that my mom was definitely that voice. And my dad was always like, oh, like, she's so good like she loves it so much like let her tell us that she doesn't want to do it and my mom really like I mean she was there on a day to day basis so she hated it so so she was with you every day every lesson every and all your competition every day every lesson so when was it that

somebody said you should really compete I'm talking real competition I'm talking when what how old were you then um I was probably like eight or nine you're already in like the the lower levels like When you see someone go to the Olympics, they're this, you know, Team USA, A team senior competition. But then when you're in the lower levels, you just do the same thing just on a lower scale. Are you watching this on TV? Are you watching? I mean, in Olympics, I mean, I watched as a kid. I loved every Olympic Games, whether it was summer or winter.

And obviously, all the skaters were my idols. Who's your idol? I mean, Christy Amiguchi and Nancy Kerrigan, Scott Hamilton, Brian Boytano, like all of those, those names I grew up with. And then I knew, like, I want to win the Olympics. Like, I have to do this. It just amazes me how, like, you know where to go. Like, you just have to, you go like, okay, in order to get here, I've got to go where. I've got to compete in what competition, because I don't know anything about this.

Right. Well, it's like, it is hard. It's just, you sort of figure it out as you go along and you, you know, whatever rink you're skating at, you go, you know, you find what coach is best for you. And then they kind of know. And then you realize, oh, if I've outgrown this, I need to go here. and it is this big process. And it's, you know, it's an, I mean, I had a completely abnormal childhood. I mean, just like relationships you have with coaches and people at the rink.

So you were going to school or you're home school. I was. I was, I stopped going to school when I got very competitive, competitive. So I, I was, I was still, obviously, I was so young. That was, I stopped in sixth grade. So then what was interesting is a lot of skaters. do homeschooling. And back in the day, like, if you went to your rink, they had a teacher that sometimes taught you or you did online stuff.

And because my parents weren't that, you know, being into skating and, like, school was it, I stayed enrolled into my school, had to take my, all my work, had to go back and forth almost every day. I had to have three different tutors. You didn't have a lot of friends, did you? I had my friends at the rink. But then, I mean, there was no life after skating. So at nine years old, when I was.

I was in Texas, they didn't have a training center. So I skated at the Galleria, which is this big mall. And the only time they had was very early in the morning. I was still going to school. So I'd wake up at three. I'd shower. And then by 330, 3.45, I was on the ice, skating until 9 a.m. I'd come into school a little late, go to school, and then go back to the rink for another hour or two. Come home, do homework. But you moved. You moved from, was it before? Or was it, was it, no, from South Carolina. So, no. So I started, I mean, South Jersey, I trained in University of Delaware. Then we moved to Texas because my dad got a transfer. So then we lived in Texas. Then I moved back to University of Delaware. Because your mom was going to now take you and let you fulfill your

dreams. Right. And you left your dad, Jack, alone in Texas. So what happened was I was starting get injured at this 3.30 a.m. practice. I was like hitting my head and just sort of tired skating so early. Hitting her hit on the ice. Yeah. This is not good. No, it wasn't. So my mom like, absolutely. No. I was lucky enough not to. But my mom sort of saw it and was like, this is not what we're doing. So they made the decision to take me back to the training center in Delaware. And obviously my dad couldn't come. So he had to continue to work. And then we went out there and we had a small apartment out there. And that's where I trained for a long time. And then we left there and went to Detroit. And I finished sort of my competitive training career in Detroit before I

went to the Olympics. I mean, you just jumped to the Olympics. To me, and I think people are listening, you think how do you, the biggest stage on earth is the Olympics and everyone in the world's watching. So to get there, to be this little girl who's growing up, to getting the right coaches, to getting, I mean, did your parents always like the coaches that you had? Were they ever too disciplined? Were they ever too intense? Yeah. I mean, we left my training rank on the East Coast because, you know, I had a very, I had a close relationship with my coach since he was, he was so, technically talented. Who's his name?

His name was Jeff D. Jeff D. How old are you in Jeff D? I was six years old when I started with him. And he taught me everything I needed to learn. Do they forget sometimes you forget that you're talking to a six year old? Of course. I mean, like skating's like no other.

It's sort of like any other sport that you think of these coaches being so hard on you and like these Russian coaches sort of demanding everything and, you know, this fine line between abusive and training. You know, like, it's a... He was Russian? No, he wasn't. I mean, there's a lot of Russian coaches, but I didn't have one. But, you know, there were a few times that things crossed the line where then my mom's

like, okay, like, that's too much discipline. Like, we need to move out. Like, what kind of things were said to you as a six-year-old that you can actually remember? Well... Get up. Get up. Do it again. I mean, yeah.

I mean, Lepinski, like, I just, like, I still have Drew Lepensky, you know, and like gloves being thrown at me. Were you nervous? Oh, I was, yeah. I was, I was, I'm, that's just like my person. How can you get better when you're nervous? I think you can, though. I think that's the point.

Like, if you are so obsessive, I think to, to sort of succeed in anything, you have to have a little bit of that obsessive, you know, um, drive to do it everything. Because why else would anyone put themselves through this? Do you think if you weren't yelled at? Do you think if you weren't, if you didn't have the exact discipline that you had, if you didn't think that you were, you know, you were always nervous, you were always on edge. It was almost like that helped you with your nerves. I think it did. I mean, I was in it, and it's funny because a lot of skaters need that push from

their coaches. I don't, I think naturally I was just so driven that I was the one, sometimes the coaches were like, okay, you have to get off the ice. Like, I would stay for another session, or I'd be so upset that, you know, I was injured or whatever it was, and I pushed myself hard. So I think I needed a little bit more of a balance. and sometimes I didn't get that. When did you know? When did you know I'm good at this? And I, the Olympics aren't, they're in my sight.

You know, I could see this happening. Yeah, I think, you know, for me, probably when I was like 11, did I really think, like, this could be a possibility? And was there an experience? What made you think that? Just because you start winning things, you're getting closer to that high, you know, that high level. And then, you know, it's sort of a thought where it's not just like a funny comment. Like, oh, I want to go to the 11th.

Olympics. It's sort of like, oh, this could possibly happen. And then, you know, the next year when I was 12, I got very lucky and I went to the senior event. And I was only like a novice skater, which is like three levels below. But I went because I was like ninth alternate because I don't know how I got lucky. But I mean, it's horrible to say, but people were hurt. People just pulled out. And then all of a sudden it's like, well, we got to go. We've got to go down the line. And here's Tara. Like, we'll send her. And I went and I won that entire event at 12. You know, and that. That was the first time. It was an Olympic festival, and that was sort of the first time that the buzz started, and then it sort of snowballed. So it was like you were in the right place, the right time, and you were prepared. Right. Luck is a commodity of preparation and opportunity, right? Exactly. And that's what happened.

Yeah. So it was one of those meant to be moments to get me to that event. And then that sort of. Were you getting press at this point? At that point is when I got press. Do you remember your first interview? I do. So at that event, I won Mary Lou Retton at the time.

It was an Olympic festival. was all sports, she had this award she would give to an athlete. So it would be a girl and a boy. And she picked me after that event. So I went to like my first interview and I and I remember meeting her, which was huge at the time. But yeah, you know, the process we talk about like coaches and it's, it is interesting because, you know, I say my life's abnormal and people I think, oh, training, you just go to the rank and you train hard. I mean, it's so much. more. Let's jump. Let's get to the Olympics. Let's get to all that stuff leading up the way because you had some competition. You were always losing to the same people. Yeah. When I was skating,

I had like one big rival. Michelle. Michelle Kwan. Like it was back and forth. Just admit it right now. You hated her. You know, don't try to be nice. You never told me. I'm asking you. Yeah. I'm telling you, I respect her probably more than I respect anyone just because she was so good. So when you say you hate someone. You know, did we sit there and talk and, like, chat it up and we were best friends or were we friends at all? No. You know, this was a person that was over there and I was over here. We did our jobs and it wasn't like we mingled. But I have to say at the same time, I respected her. And I was so glad that I had her pushing me. You know, as much as it would be easy to be like, if she just wasn't here. But I loved that. You know what I think it was, is Rocky Balboa

versus Ivan Drago, Rocky 4, because there's this feeling of like, you know, I hate this guy, this Russian guy, he's, you know, he killed a bow, you know, and then you got this Russian guy who just wants to kill him. Right. And they have this hatred. And there's a scene at the end when Rocky wins, and there's sort of that respect. Oh, yeah. Where it was a competition, it was a fight, but he looks at him, he's like, like, you're good.

Yeah. And it's like you, you're almost proud of them in a way. proud that you get to share the ice with this person, you're proud that you get to compete against them. But then when you step on the ice, then you want to win. And that means no one else is coming near you. But did you feel like, did you want her? Was there part of you that I want Michelle to like me? I want any of these girls to like me. Did you need that? I mean, I think everyone has. I mean, you meet someone. You always want someone. I mean, I think that's human nature. You want someone to like you. But I didn't spend too much time on that just because I had, you know.

Right. Were you nice to her? Yeah, we were cordial. Like, you know, we just got through a time in skating where, you know, Nancy Kerrigan and Tanya Harding, you know, just had this horrible, horrible incident. And then you would think that this rivalry would have these, like, trash talking type of thing. Like, it really wasn't. It was typical skating, you know, very cordial, very nice. So you wouldn't, you couldn't play the game fuck Mary Kill right now. You couldn't.

If I gave you three names, you couldn't do it. What do you mean? No. You know, you know that game. Yeah. If I gave you, you know, Kerrigan, what's her name, Tanya Harding and Michelle Kwong? If I said marry one of them, kill one of them, F one of them. If you just had to, this is a game.

Unfortunately, we had to. I mean, we have to kill Tanya Harding. Okay. Who would you marry? I mean, I would marry Michelle, I think. You'd marry Michelle? Well, I mean, she's a great person. You would just F. Carrigan?

No, I mean, I don't know Kerrigan as well. So, I mean. But you didn't compete. beat with Kerrigan. I can't see myself marrying. Wouldn't you want to give the, you know, they call it the, I'm never mind, we don't have to get into it. Well, it just feels like with all the competition, with all the, oh, God, Michelle Claw and she wins

again, because she beat you. She beat you in nationals or whatever. She beat you win. Right before the Olympics. Right before the Olympics. And you're like, what the hell. And she was beating you in the Olympics. Yes.

In the short program. So that was sort of our thing. She would win the short program. And then my shot was in the long program, which was worth one. more to win. When did you come up with the triple loop? So I... Is it like the triple indie?

You know the triple indie? So it's triple loop, triple loop. Triple loop. And I was a combination. And I knew I had to do that to beat these other competitors. How hard is the triple loop? It's hard. Is it the hardest thing to do in figure scale?

No, no, no. I mean, nowadays, these guys, men are doing like five quads. I'm talking about for women. It's still a difficult triple, triple. It's all about how. strong you are in a lot of ways, isn't it? Yeah, I mean, it's interesting. It's like the takeoff. So, like, in skating, you have all these different types of jumps, whether you tow in or you go off an edge. And going off an edge is always tricky because you can't slip. You have to

keep, you have to like a good grip and timing and blah, blah, blah, a technical term. When's the first time you did a triple loop? Triple loop. I have to say it twice. It's triple loop, triple loop, triple loop. I was 13. Yeah, it's two because it's two in a row. So I do one. And then I don't put my foot down and do it another one. How high do you get? Not on marijuana, on skates. I don't know. I don't know if that was measured. When you first did it, how old did you say you were?

13. And were you scared shitless to do the first attempt? Yes, yes. How many times did you wipe out? I mean, a million. I mean, you take these crazy falls. What's funny is, like, you think about going on the ice. You look at gymnast and they do all these crazy flips, but you see them like doing them

into these, like, foam pits when they're learning them and mats. Like, skaters are really nuts. Like, you just are like, oh. You're falling on ice. I'm going to go try this jump that I've never tried before. Cool. Like, let's just, like, skate 20 miles an hour into it and see what happens. You had to have gotten hurt.

Did you ever walk off the ice growing up and go, I'm fucking done? I'm not doing it, mom. I'm done. I'm done. Or did she ever say, Tara? That's it. I can't watch you do this. You're going to die.

I can't watch my daughter die. I cannot watch you do this anymore. How many times did you say this? I mean, that was like, it's a funny thing in the family now. She would constantly be like, we're going back to Texas. We're going back to your dad. Like, we're not doing this. And I'd be like, Mom, please, give me one more chance, please.

Did you ever get any concussions, ever to the point where? I was lucky with the concussions that I hurt my hip where I had surgery at 19. At 19, but this is past the Olympics. So who cares? Right. It doesn't matter. You've already won the Olympics. Hip pain.

No one cares about your hip pain now. No, but like I went through horrible, like, times with my back training for the games and my hip. Did you think maybe I'm not going to be able to compete in the Olympics? I did. Like the year before. I had, I was getting these crazy spasms in my back because I was having like disc issues. I mean, you have back. And what it affects you, you're literally listening to the music and you're skating and

you're feeling sort of. Yeah. And it takes your mind off and you can't focus because you're in pain. I know that feeling. It's crazy. And what you can actually like do when you're in pain. I mean, I think that's like another thing about athletics. That's so amazing.

You see these athletes in horrible pain and with these crazy injuries and they're still able to to perform and get through it. But, yeah, that's not fun. So let's get to Nagano. When you, Nagano, Japan, right? This is where the Olympics are. When you found out the day that you have qualified, you found out because you qualify, right? Well, so. When does that happen? When did you know? Okay. So, like, the year before is when I kind of knew that I was in contention to win an Olympic gold medal because I won the Nationals and then I won the World Championships. Then the next year, those are like the two big events. Then you go to Nationals, like a few weeks before the Olympics.

and those are the qualifiers. So if you place in the top three, then you go. And I had a disastrous, disastrous short program. Was that embarrassing? It was at the moment. Yeah, because I lost my title that I, you know, I won the year before. I was in Philadelphia, my where I was born, my hometown. It was the, you know, the Olympic trials.

And I was sitting in fourth place after the short program, not even knowing if I would make the Olympic team. Right. And every, the next day, I mean, skating was big back then. So it was, you know, in the newspapers, every. newspaper was just me on my butt with my feet over my head. Other skaters, other commentators who you respect or whatever, giving you a hard time and saying, she's not going to do it.

She's not going to do it. So that, yeah, then immediately once my bum hit the ice, that was it. And it was like, oh, nope, she's never going to win. She's out. Who said these things? Everyone. I mean, all the media, all the sports writers. So the day of the long program.

So I was in second place after the short, I was happy because it was the very next competition where I had to do the same jump I messed up at the nationals that I fell on. So when I got through that, I was so happy. I was in second place. I always liked being sort of that underdog. Does that smile come on, like right when you hit something, you notice how all figure skaters go, yeah, exactly. I did it.

I nailed it. And I like was always a little even more over the top. Like my smile would be like coming off my face. But. And you're 14. Right. So go figure. Right.

You're smiling. I'm smiling. I'm smiling. Yeah. So that day, though, I, like, like had a meltdown the day of my Olympic games. Like I was staying in the village, so I went the entire time to sort of experience the Olympics. What's the Olympic Village like?

It's amazing. I wish, you know, I loved being so young and going, but I wish that there were other Olympics I could have gone to at an older age. So you haven't been to the Olympic Village since you were young? No, I mean, you stayed. I mean, yeah, I've been there, but I mean. Because I hear the stories of everybody effing everybody. Right. I didn't have that issue.

Yeah, you were young. That was 15. I didn't say that. I wasn't going there. Don't make me look like a pearl. I'm just saying at an older age when you're commenting, you're working for a day. This was Rob's question, Rob? But I'm not in the village.

So like the athletes that are staying there are there. But yeah, that does happen. But what's funny is I loved it. I had the best time. I think everyone kind of knew I was young. They all took me under their wing. They all would sit with me in the cafeteria at McDonald's. I mean, the night I won, Wayne Gretzky, walked in.

And I was, like, going to find some ice cream. And he, like, there was, like, there was, like, two, like, there was, like, two other hockey teams there. So there was a ton of people. And he, like, was like, no, we're having an ice cream party. Like, we, he was, like, celebrating with me. It was, like, the best, the best, yeah, the best memory. One of the best memories of that, that games. But, yeah, I wanted to experience it all.

And there I was staying by myself, obviously couldn't be with my parents or coaches. So I'm just sort of, like, floating around the Olympic Village. But that day, I went to see my parents before. And we had always do this, like, pregame meal. Was this before the short program? This is after. This is after the short program didn't go well. No, it did go well.

I landed everything. I was in second. Second. Behind Michelle. Right. Behind Michelle. And the long program is where there's more jumps and you can really excel technically. Right.

So I went to my parents and we used to do this pregame and we had spaghetti and then I would like do this funny trash talking thing of how I'm going to win and whatever. And it would be like this cute little like. Talk to me like you're, um, your parents and your trash talking. I mean, I don't know. Tara, Tara, I'm so excited about your trash talking. Yeah, Tara, let's hear it. I'm going to have another scotch. Tara, trash talk us.

Trash talk that Michelle Quam. Let's hear it. Let me hear you with you. You're a child. Michelle's not going to get mad. No, no, not Michelle. I mean, it was more like, I don't know. I feel like, I'm trying to remember what it would be, but I feel like it would be like

whatever. Like, I would just sort of like arrogantly talk about how I'm going to like just whip the competition and win this event and how I felt good. And like, that was it. And I'd just piece out of the room and walk out, you know? I could just see myself doing that. I'm just thinking if I was you, I'd go, yeah, Kwan, gone. Trip a loop, triple loop, triple loop.

Kwan, gone. Tripp a loop, triple loop, drop Mike. You know what I mean? I mean, maybe I needed you there to really like, write my. No, you didn't. You would have lost the gold. That's why you won the gold because I wasn't there. I would have been the one person that Fs you up.

So anyway, so that day, though, I started crying mid-spaghetti. And I was just like, can't do it. You've got to call them. Tell the Federation, I'm just not going out there. Like, it is not. Petrified? Yeah. I was so scared, Michael.

Like, I couldn't. I was like, this is just, I cannot do it. I'm sorry. Did this come out of nowhere? Was it almost like an anxiety attack? It was. Have you had an anxiety tech before? Oh, yeah.

At that age, you were 14 or younger, you were having anxiety. Yeah. You talk about therapy. I was in therapy. Then I had like a psychiatrist I worked with. How do you work? How did you work with your anxiety? With him.

I was, you know, we, we would have all these techniques of what to like sort of like what I would be thinking of on the ice and when these thoughts came in how to help them and breathing when I would get anxious and show me some of the breathing techniques right now I mean the best way is to you hold your tummy and you you have to breathe properly not just like when people say breathe you have to like really fill up your stomach so you can feel it push out and then you bring it all out yeah that's it's really good it's great for anxiety really helps I mean it's supposed to help you calm down And we'd have to do all these tapes, whatever.

This is like Bryce Harper last night in the World Series. He struck out to end the, they would have gone to the World Series, but the Cubs did. If all of a sudden he said, hey, I can't go up there in front of all these people and the whole world's looking at me and I can't go up to bat. I can't do it. I'm done. I can't. But you can't have that thought in your head as a professional. You just can't.

But you do. Like, I doubted myself constantly. I was not the most confident athlete. And I finally realized later in life when I started commentating because I sat in the booth at the Olympics, this past go-around. And I remember thinking to myself, like, we're going on live television. I'm like, why do I do this to myself? Like, why do I pick? And what I've realized and like I think back to all those sessions with my sports psychologist where, you know, I realized and I wish I knew it then because it gave me so much anxiety.

But I do better under more pressure. So the higher the stake is at that moment, the better I'll do. Do you ever throw up before you skate? I didn't. I mean, I wasn't that bad. There were times, though, you remember Emmetrol? No. It was like they give it to kids for like nausea.

Right. I would take that. Really? Yeah. So I would get very nervous and I would doubt myself. And then I always like would realize now looking back on my career, any, the biggest events, I'd do the best. So I love the pressure. Like I obviously thrive on that.

You don't get nervous anymore? No, I do. You still do during everything. Yeah, everything. And I love that, but I think I love that. feeling like it's a sickness it's like that high of feeling so nervous i don't love it i don't love it i envy people who say yeah i don't get nervous oh yeah i mean i i wish i didn't get nervous at anything i wish i had such confidence that i could do it i could fly i don't care about

anything or anything nothing comes but i think it's good to be nervous i think it's yeah because you know it makes you work harder makes you think about things more makes you like not just know you're going to do it and then like there's little mistakes that happen because you're kind of too cocky. Do you think Michelle Kwan ever was hard on herself? Oh, yeah. You think like, yeah, I think to get to that point, you have to, I mean, like I said, like the life that I live that most skaters live is not a easy one nor always a happy one. Right. So I'm sure she had different struggles, but I'm assuming we all kind of went through the same thing. How close are you in terms of proximity when you're during this whole event? Is she kind of in her corner and you're in your corner? No, you're really in it. Like,

Sometimes, like, you're right there. Do you ever slip in a fuck off, Michelle? No, but you know what the skating thing is to do? So when you land a jump, you, you, like, hold your arms out. Kind of be one of these little fuck you. You don't, you don't fuck them off. No, but you do this, like, you land a jump. But what you could, a lot of skaters would do is they'd hold it so long that if they'd see, like, someone coming by is getting to set up their jump.

They're, like, still holding. They're like, peacocking. No, we all did it. I mean, I definitely did it. You all peacocked. And then the best is, like, the little games we'd play. so we'd go to a press conference and it would be the start of the event and I would on practice be able to do more difficult combinations and things that I didn't actually do in the program

because they weren't ready but I'd be like you know what and it's like we're all sitting there like the top five skaters I'd be like I think I'm putting this in even though full while I knew I wasn't you know like you do these crazy things that is like the best part of competition it's fun really have you ever cried during a match while you're like literally skating around and messing up and people are watching you're like oh my god Oh my God. Oh, my God, I'm crying right now. No, my coach would, I mean, I would be done. You learned a lot of discipline.

You had a lot of discipline. Yeah, there was no cry. It's weird because I think. Afterwards, I'd, like, lock myself in a broom closet and, like, cry, but. Wow. It's amazing how a lot of times success, you could have a coach that's so supportive, right? Mm-hmm. Or not even a coach, anybody in life who, you know, an acting coach or you're just

your, whatever, they're so supportive. And being supportive helps, right, in life, just your friends. But when there's a certain honesty to some people, when they say, don't do that, stop doing it. It's amazing how people can really thrive and have a successful career through having a supportive system, a great support system. But they could also thrive with the opposite system, which is just, Lepensky, do this now. I couldn't imagine being screened at. Yeah. That take sucked.

You're the worst fucking actor ever. Horrible. And I'm like, oh, my God. No, I think back and I'm like, it is crazy to think that's how I lived, like, a day-to-day thing of just someone, like, coming back and then being like, that was horrible. And that's probably- Do it again? Do you think a support system would have done it if it was the opposite? I mean, it could have. It really could have.

I think I had a good balance because I had my mom there to sort of watch and make sure it wasn't too much. But, I mean, I mean, even think of like for women and young girls in sports, like, skating is tough. I mean, my coach, I remember telling me, like, green velvet, you look fat in green. I was 13. Oh, my God. So I never wore green velvet again for years. Like. Probably never now.

By the way, why would anyone wear a green velvet now? No, I know. Green velvet's fine. I'm colorblind, so I don't really know. I mean, velvet's in this season. But that's terrible. Um, yeah. I mean, it's just like a lot of little things like that that, that, you know, I think sometimes

the discipline is good, but then obviously it's, you know. Like he could have said, you know what, I'm not, I don't love the outfit. You're very pretty. but I don't love it. Yeah, don't love it. But then you might have gone, I don't know. I kind of like it. Lepenstey, you're a fat pig.

Don't ever wear this again. And you're like, okay. Okay, no green velvet. There's got to be somewhere in the middle. There has to be. And I mean, also, you have to realize I was 13. There was, like, not an ounce of fat, like where he saw fat. Yeah, you're a tiny little thing.

So it's crazy. But, I mean, those are those sports gymnastics, you know, ballet dancers, figure skaters. They have to deal a lot with body image and. I mean, it's hard because, like, the fact of the matter is, and I think all coaches feel that way is like when you're fit and lean and you're lighter, you're coming down on that like quarter inch of a blade three times your body weight. So if you weigh 100 pounds, you're landing a 300 pound body on a one foot. Nobody's going to ever have 300 pounds on them. Right. But when you're 100 pounds, you really are 300 from gravity and pulling.

Really? So that's why you. Oh, that's, oh, okay. So that's why, you know, they try to keep. your weight in check as much as you can, just because it's a lot easier. You're saying when you throw yourself up there and then you're coming down and the force of coming down, you're coming down like three times your weight.

Okay. See, I didn't know that. And you're only doing it on one leg on a skinny blade. So that's a lot of torque. That's a lot of pressure. You ever break your ankles? No. I didn't.

It seems like everybody would break. Yeah. I mean, it's sort of like you learn how to like land softly on the ice. and you point your toe, and there's sort of a technique to it. Long form. Let's go long form now. Long program. It's the short and the long.

Right. So the short, your second place, Kwan's first place, you told the story. I said, I can't get through it. You can't get through it. They got a call. My parents were like, oh, shit. So they, like, knew me well enough to be like, okay, we're so proud of you. You did so well, like, we'll call them.

And then I'm like, well, I'm like eating my apostles. I'm like, well, I don't know if I want you to do that. You know, so I kind of turned it around. And then, like, I did three takes of, like, walking out of the room. of like, I'm going to do it. Like, I'm going to win. And, like, the first one was like, I'm going to do it. I'm going to win.

And then, like, my mom and dad are like, oh, boy, this is not going to go well. But then I went there and I was shaking. Like, I literally was so scared. And Michelle skated before me. I knew she was my biggest competition. And there was another practice ring in the back. So my coaches took me back there and they're like, don't listen to the marks because we could hear. But by the way, you've got to be.

Let's set the stage. tell me if I'm wrong, you've got to be perfect. Perfect. There's no mistake. You make a tiny, if you go trippaloo, trippaloo. Or if I just even tripped, even if I just tripped going into a spin, whatever it was, if I didn't count enough. And she can't be perfect. If she skated well, what she did.

Right. And I made the smallest mistake done. So I knew that. And I'm in the back rank and I have my ears closed why her marks are going. What are you listening to anything? You had headphones with the... Literally, I had nothing. I don't know why.

Just plug in your ears. I was plugging my ears. And she, I took them off and I heard her marks at the very last minute. I, like, took my hands up my... Nine point two? No, well, back then it was the 6.0 system. Now it's changed. But 6.0 is perfect.

What were the marks? It was like, 5-9, 5-9. And I was like, oh, my God, she must have just blew it out of the park. Plus, like, her marks are so... They're not going to give me a perfect score. Like, that's not going to happen. I would have been the first figure. skater with a big dump in my pants.

Oh, they came out there. Michael Rosamumum has shit his pants. It's unbelievable. I've never seen a dump in a figure skater's pants in the history of the Olympics. Rob, what can you make of this? Exactly. Terrifying. Terrifying.

So what now you're even more scared? I had like the old school like Zach Morris phone. Like this is 1998 or the whatever. Yeah, it's like huge. And I remember going into like the bathroom stall and calling my mom again and being like, again, mom, I cannot do this. Whatever. So my mom's like, no, no.

No, no, no, she made a mistake. You only heard the art. Like, she made a mistake. You can do it. But she didn't, right? She didn't. So, yeah. Yeah. So I was like, oh, okay, I still have a chance. She shit her pants, Tara. Like, the thing is, is you're going there to do your best. But if you're trying. Tara, Tara, don't worry about the numbers. That took a moment. Yeah, yeah. Well, it always takes a moment. So anyway, I needed to know that I had a shot at this. And so I go out and I take center ice and my legs for the first. time in my entire career are literally physically shaking. And I was like, I am screwed. This is not going to go well. Like everything's going very slow-mo. With you, I've seen it a few times. I just had to, yeah, go ahead. So going slow-mo, freaking out. And I remember coming around for my first jump

and like there was a whole media section. And I don't know what it was, that competitive problem I have. I like saw them. And it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I literally got so angry. And I was like seeing them writing in their little things. thing. Like, I was like, I'm going to show you that I'm going to win. So I was like, I am going to win. And, um, and I was just like, I am going to skate clean because like the thing is is you want to win. But at the same time, you're so focused on just doing what you know how to do well. Because if you don't do that, then it doesn't matter about this. Precision. Right. Was it, was it the first jump that you go, I got this? No. No. No. So I did,

but I went kind of into that zone that people talk about. Like after I like got pissed off. And I was like, I'm going to do this. I'm going to skate clean and whatever. And then I went in and I was just sort of in the zone. And then like my second jump was really good. And then my third jump, which is always like, was one of the more difficult was really good. So I'm like building. But I still knew I had the loop loop.

Oh, yeah. The old loop loop. And so once I hit that, I like went bananas because I kind of. How much time is left after the loop loop? Like still like a minute and a half. So I still have like three or four other jumping passes. And at 14 years old, youngest. 15.

15. You say, in your head, you're probably thinking still focused stage. Yeah. Like, I got so excited. Like, I almost, like, for a minute, you could see me like kind of break out of it. I was like, this is happening. And then I started to get a little bit more nervous as like the program went because it's like, oh my God, only two more jumps to go. I'm almost there because you're just realizing like, oh my God, 50 seconds left, 40 seconds left, like just get through it. And then I had a combination at the last second of my program that was really difficult. And when I landed that, I just went bonkers. And you stopped and you back. And you back. And you. And you. bowed. You don't bow. We bow at the end. I don't remember you bow. Yeah. That was it. And how many people are in Nagano at this event? I mean, the entire arena, this huge arena was 50,000 people more. Yeah. The whole world's watching. Yeah. It was crazy. How that, like, how, you know, because even I look back on like how I did that under that type of pressure is, you know, you train for it, but it's still like a crazy thing to think of. Did you, you knew you had it? So what's funny is I don't, I think I was so relieved that I actually did what I was practicing for. This is all I could do.

I literally did the best. There's no, there was nothing I didn't do. Like I left everything on the ice. And so like that's all I really felt. And I also knew that like the judging, I mean, skiing is, the judging is very political. Like I knew that it could have been close still with Michelle. I didn't know how she skated. And, um, but in that, when I'm that happy, it's like relief.

It's sort of just like this was too much pressure to put on a human being. And to be able to do it and get through it, there was just like this feeling of immense relief. You know what's amazing is I don't think people, they watch. No, they don't. They watch during the Olympics. That's right. And a lot of sports, they just tune in during the Olympics. And it becomes the most watched sport.

Right. And everybody, isn't it amazing that the only time people would really watch is when it gets to the point where it's the best. Okay. We're getting to the best. This is the real competition. The gymnastics. that whenever it comes to the Olympics, all eyes on. Yeah, it's the premiere event.

Did that kind of bother you? You know, I was lucky nowadays. It does bother me. I love my sport. I wish more people watch during the year. I was very lucky back then because in 94 is when the Nancy Tanya thing. And skating was rivaling like Sunday football numbers. Like it was number two.

Really? Yeah, it was crazy. So for like those next four or five years, skating was all over the place. There was so much opportunity. The touring, the competition. the professional competitions, all the shows, all the specials, it was everyone was watching during the entire year, sort of from all that hype with the horrible Tanya Harding thing. And it kind of took skating to this new place where it was like, you know, people were

interested. So I was lucky because I felt that people were invested throughout the year. But now it's really hard, you know, to see that it is. It is sort of just the Olympics that bring that focus. It's such an amazing sport. And it's like you want, and maybe that's why you do a lot of commentating. That's why you got it involved in it because more people want to see you and Johnny now. Which is fun.

Like even if they're coming for us, at least they're watching. Right. Right. Yeah, they can, a lot of them are. And you do the whole style thing. Yeah. Right. So I want to talk about a little sponsorship just for a second.

What was the first big sponsor? Was it Wheaties? So I didn't get Wheaties. I was, they actually, they called, but the next day, the women's hockey team won. Oh, I thought maybe fruit loops called. No, I did not get Wheaties. Any cereal brand called you? I had my own...

I did Wheaties. I did Campbell Soup. I did McDonald's. I did Minut Made. Yeah, you did a lot of them. Yeah, that's why I was saying. In that time, skating was so big. I had so many cool opportunities to sort of to be able to experience.

What the experience you have and the money you made doing these things. Second place is a huge difference. Is it a difference between... For me, it would have. Is there a difference between millions and millions of dollars and not millions of dollars? I mean, Michelle was such a, you know, a big name. I, you know. But she still had a lot of sponsors.

She had a lot of sponsors. I mean, just though when you're looking at it now, like from first to second to third, it's just, you know, like we say, like people are tuning in for only the Olympics. So really, it's like, you want the gold. Who got third? Lou Chen from China, a Chinese skater. Do you ever talk to Michelle or any of these people? You know, I do.

here and there. Michelle, we were on the same flight just a few weeks ago and she came running over to me after. I'm like, oh, like I didn't even know. But yeah. So you had the Ivan Drago Rocky moment. You did. Did you have it before? Was it kind of like, was there that moment when you got the gold or was it still like, fuck you? Well, no, I think like at that time, I mean, I'm sure she was going through a lot of emotions and whatnot. But I think, I would like to think that she had the same sort of respect even when we were competing. Because I think we did. You know, like that's why it never got to these weird levels of like how people think

competitive ice skaters are or whatever. You know, I think we did have that respect. And I think now looking back, it's weird. I share something with her that I share with nobody else on this planet. Like we experience something together and the older I get, the more I appreciate that. Like, we went through something that, whether you're a Michelle fan or a terrified. fan or whatever you were like we were in it together and it's like I think we have that like we have this understanding of that I don't know if she does but I definitely feel that she would

marry you fuck Kerrigan I don't know if she would marry me Hill Harding I mean I'm I'm hoping that she would kill Harding I mean out of that group you just have to by the way I can apologize to Trish and Jack for swearing I said F bombs a lot I have I mean we're from I've had 10 F bombs in the show that's fine I don't know why I mean I don't know why. Maybe because I know you so well, I feel like I could F-bomb you. F-bom you. But I'm going to say F-bom for the rest of the year. You are? Maybe I'll throw out. You haven't said an F-bomb once. You're a pretty classy lady. I can't say I've ever been really classy. I just said one. When? Just know. Oh, yeah. Did you miss it? Can you say it again?

Oh, fuck. Trish, did you hear that? Oh, my gosh. They're arguing right now. Okay, so the world of figure skating. You went touring. You did probably Muppets take the ice or whatever the hell they do. No. What? I do that. I don't know. I'm asking you. Did you do anything? One of the crazy. No, the thing on ice, the escapades. No, see, this is crazy. That always bothers. It's like one thing that skaters.

Educate me because I'm like the rest of the people out there who don't know these things. So the one thing that skaters hate, you know, you see these Disney on ice or like, you know, there's frozen. There's like, like you said, there's probably said. But like that's not where a lot of like skaters that make it at the Olympics. That's really go. You know what it is? It's like me as an act of people are like, when are you going to do dancing with the stars? I'm like.

And my career's gone. Right. Not in a bad way. No, but I don't need to do dancing with the stars. Now, it's great with all those others. And they get millions of, and it's different with musicians and it's different with certain people and it doesn't affect you. But for me, it's like, there's certain things that I shouldn't do. Right.

Rob, what do you think about this? I think you should definitely go on dancing with the stars. Oh, he just wants more views and hits on the podcast. I think you'd be great on it. No, first of all, I'd hurt my back again. Secondly, I get beat by like Screech Screech Allrich from Saved by the Bell I just put together Screech from Saved by the Bell

and Skeet Allrich from Scream Screech Allrich folks Screech all rich I'm not knocking down Dancerters I have a friend Riker Lynch who's a good friend who's an amazing musician who has a great band and he went on Dancing Stars and it was a different thing He's a dancer

It's not for everyone but he's young he's this To me it means that Well that's the same thing like these Disney I mean like skaters that's like their livelihood. They'd love it. They work hard at it. And that's, you know, what they do.

So it's not saying that Disney on ice isn't great. But it's just rare to ever see a competitive ice skater that went to the Olympics sort of then take their career to. I mean, like, you know, I could have either been else. I could have been a tree, you know? Like, you know, I don't think I meant that. I meant like people throw so much money at you to do these things. They're like, oh, Tara, come and do, you know, a park on ice. There was, like a lot of fun.

opportunities. I toured for six years with stars. Is touring big money? Yes. In that time, it was Like, give me an example. What's touring on the average for like a skater? You have to say you. Yeah. I mean, I would just say, like, I would think if you're one of the top skaters, you're making over a million dollars. For how long of a tour? For a year. For a year. Over a million. This is at the height. Yeah. Right. Over a million? Like over three million? No, no, no. But a million dollars. In a million range. That's, that's a lot of. of money for touring. At the height of skating and you were one of the top skaters, like that's what you would. And that's just one thing. And that's just one thing. Then you do professional competitions where

you go and you make, you know, a lot of money doing those. So, and other shows, there was just a lot of opportunity because skating was so big at the time, which I'm so lucky that I kind of rode that wave and was part of that. I met you when you were 21. I was 30 or whatever. And that was how many years passed when you were competing. This was 15. Oh, I mean, I went when I was 15. I just stopped touring. So I stopped touring and then moved here. So you met me just when my... And you were the youngest to ever win the Olympic, right?

The gold medal in the Olympics. Yeah. How old? 15. 15. And were you 15, four months, something like that? God, what was I? So I, I, June 10th.

So I was... Whatever. I mean, it was... Yeah. Like 15 and five months, maybe. Yeah. Okay. So you move out here.

You're thinking of acting and things like that. Yeah. So I came out here because I was still getting these. So I worked with CB. Yes, I had, like, a deal with them where I did specials and skating specials, and I still had this deal with them. So when I came out here, they had put me on Young and the Restless, and they put me on, like, some CBS shows, like cameo shows. So it was where I decided to sort of make a home base because I didn't know where to go. I was touring.

I was sort of this nomad for so long. You did Ice Angel in 2000. Right. I did Ice Angel. So I was still touring at a lot of these times. But then when I stopped, I came out here and I kept doing them. But I, you know, my mom was like, you've got to. to take a break. Like you've got to figure out your life. You've got to stop skating. You have to

decide, do I want to skate forever and have that be my life and be like I'm going to be 40 and I'm still going to be on the road? Or do you want to sort of transition into something else completely different? So it was like this big time of. It was tough. Yeah. You were lost a little I was like I don't really know, but I did know that I wanted to do something else because I felt like I achieved so much in my competitive career. And then on tour and, you know, I just didn't want to get stuck on the, like, be a person that didn't experience life in a different, you know, form than skating. And so I was like, screw it.

I'm just going to do it. I'm just going to, like, take the jump. I'm going to go out to L.A. I have a few things that, like, come around or lined up. And I've worked for 21 years. I've never taken more than four days off. Before I moved out, I never took more than four days off. I didn't know what normal life was.

I didn't know people just, like, went to Starbucks. Got lost in the mount? I got lost in a mountain or went to Halloween parties or, you know, like, drank or went on date. Like, that just was not my life. You're not going to blame me for your drinking. I mean, I probably started drinking in this very home. I wasn't a bit, never a big drinker, though. No, but I'm sure.

I mean, some of your friends were. Yeah. A couple of my friends. Sure. Once I was keeping you away from. Exactly. So I feel like I needed to experience life. But it was scary because I was like, I don't really know what I want to do.

You sort of grew up here in L.A. 100% and that's kind of effed yeah like i said aft it's kind of effed to think that that this is the worst place to grow up this is the place where people lose their souls right this is the place where as great as it can be it's nightmarish yeah and you grew up and you really stuck to who you were and your upbringing and your self-respect what was i like back when i was 21 you know what it was you were just um i think we were all young and kind of i think i feel like i was super You needed about I think you were just so I felt like you were a little lost in finding your way yeah I think you were just have it trying to have fun and going okay these people are nice

I'm hanging out with these people and okay and now I think you were just trying to find yourself this is what people do I'm going to try it yeah but you also had there was it was good you were unlucky and lucky luckily you had money you made a lot of money you were huge success you were the top in the world at what you did right but the unlucky part was now you're 21, now what am I going to do? And that's psychological. People go say, who cares? You're rich.

Just do it. Everyone wants to find that next passion. And it took you years of being on 7th Heaven and Generation Jets, the voice on television. And what's new, Scooby-Doo? And Malcolm in the middle. And you worked and you did these shows. You just did Superstore playing yourself. So you started doing all these things.

So the thing was, is like, from skating being so big at the time, it was always on television where I was always doing interviews. It's sort of like entertainment was part of what we did, especially when we toured. It was very, we'd be in like the art reviews. And it was like, I became an entertainer. And I loved that. So when I had these deals with, you know, these certain networks that would put me on these shows and it was like an easy transition, I thought, you know, maybe I like acting and I wanted to be good at it. But I realized then I didn't feel that connection. Like it was different than what I felt was skating. And that was hard because I needed to find something I thought that gave me that same feeling.

Yeah. And it was hard to find that. Then I did a lot of voiceover work, which I really loved. And then I kind of got into that. And then hosting sort of was, and then I find, like, I feel like I went through all of this to really find what it was that I was meant to do. And I remember I saw Michelle Kwan on TV doing commentary for her first time for... And you said, I got to beat that day.

And I would, no. No, but I... I remember thinking, like, oh, my God, I didn't even think about this. Like, I didn't even realize that, like, the sport I love, that there's other roles in it, you know? And then I was like, oh, great. Now I'm getting into something that's just as political and difficult as skating was. I mean, if you look at commentary in its entire lifetime, you had Dick Button, Peggy Fleming, Scott Hamilton, and his partner at the time was Sandra Bezick. Right.

And I'm like, oh, but I. They did it for a decade of a long time. I mean, each run is like over 20 years. So it's like, oh, my dad was like, why, Tara? But you had something going for you. You won the gold medal. Right. And that's an attraction.

And it's your sport that you know about, that you lived your entire life. It makes more sense than, look, you do 21 years or 20 years of figure skating. You're going to be a great figure skater. Then you come to Hollywood, you're like, you can't just be a great actor right away. You're not going to book big movies. It's very seldom that happens. So there's a connection here between like, hey, I could do this and I have an inn and let's see where this goes. Right.

And then I realized I was going down this like long road. You know, when I started, I called and like I knew, I know people in my world. I remember you. They didn't, they didn't answer. Like I just want to get a call back. Like I'd be like I'd, I'd love to meet with you. You know, I'd love to like. People who you thought you were friends.

Right. I was like. Yeah. I want. Nope. Just nothing. Nothing. No call back. No nothing. Finally, I was like, I am not giving up. And I remember calling back to one person and saying, like, you have to meet me because I won't stop calling. Like, I am going to call. What year is this? This is in like, 2009. And I was like, I won't stop calling. And then I went into that meeting. I was like, hey, I am going to be a commentator. Like, I feel that I can do this. I love my sports.

give me a shot. And so they did on Universal Sports. And then I started, I worked my way on Universal Sports and then NBC Sports. And you were on your own at this point. On my own at this point. And then, you know, moved up to NBC Sports and then realized, oh, man, to even get into that primetime gig is going to be impossible. Like, I'm probably just going to stay at this level for the rest of my life. Like, you know, like where else do I go now? And then the, in 2014, Johnny Weir retired from amateur skating and they were trying him out and by the way if you haven't seen Johnny wear if you haven't you know nothing about him just go watch some videos yeah he's amazing just entertaining I just remember all of a sudden this guy comes out on the ice and I just my eyes could not be I just staring I could not take my eyes off him he there's something just explosive dynamic fun yeah vivacious just this yeah this attitude and the outfits and And that's what I remember. And I didn't know much about skating, but I remembered him. I go, who's that guy? I want him to win. It was just a personality. Yeah. He just has like the best. He's just, he really is. He's not, he doesn't make excuses. He is who he is who he is who he is. He just is. So I teamed up with Jay. We actually were in the studio together and we're going into the Olympics for NBC sports. And we were going to do. I was Terry Gannon as who we both worked with, but separately. So it was going to be me with Terry for the ladies. And, and.

Johnny with Terry for the men. And we were sitting outside one day just waiting. And we're like, what was if we did it together? We didn't even really know each other. I mean, I knew him from skating. And he's like, let's try it. We went. They're like, uh, we'll get back to you on that.

And we're like, no, seriously, like give us a shot. Finally, they're like, okay, come in. We'll do like a test. We did a test. They're like, all right, why not? I mean, I'm sure they're like not really worried about this B team, you know, whatever we're doing. And the next thing you know, you guys are taking over. And then we went to Sochi and we were so lucky we had, we did live.

So we had tons of time and- Did it piss off the other old school guys? I hope not. But I mean- Have you talked to them about it, Hamilton? No, I mean, what do you say? Hey, how about this? How about, hey, I'm having a career too.

Hey, they like us. What do you want me to do? I mean, it is that awkward thing because you're like, what do? Because why we were there, it was happening. People were like talking about that and it was coming out. in articles and we were just like oh god we just were hoping we weren't going to get fired like we was like this is our first time doing a huge live event we barely worked together like let's just walk away without getting fired but you know what you were doing yeah you know what you're doing

it's like you're watching the olympics and nine times out of ten we're here at the sochi center for the blah blah blah and i'll tell you this girl has the greatest green uh outfit i've ever seen you know and it's just not they're not that they're not full of life they don't have that Right. You know, they have professionalism and they're articulate and they're this. And, you know, all those things are important, right? Yeah. But when you watch you guys, I think. The style of it. And yet you guys bring a certain fun to it, which makes it more appealing to more viewers. And they were smart. And that's why you got it. Yeah. I think we feel. Johnny and I are on the same page when it comes to how we approach our commentary. And I think it's, you know, or a broadcast. I think we think of it as a performance. You know, we come dressed to make it a performance. you know, we're able, we love our sport and respect our sport so much, but we're able to laugh at the funny things that happen and the odd and peculiar things that are part of this sport. Okay. So you and Johnny, you're all over the place. Where are you? Where can find you? We do figure skating every Sunday on NBC. We do some other events that are more prime time. And you have a podcast.

And then we have a podcast. And then we do the Olympics. And yeah, we do a podcast now, which is you have to come on. Invite me. Oh, my God, 100%. I love Johnny. It's going to be so much fun. I'll hit on him. Good. Will you like that?

No, he probably won't. I'm not young enough. I mean, I don't know. I mean, if he's your type, he'll, like, he'll love it. Is he gay? Johnny? I'm kidding. Of course.

I know that. Could you imagine? I didn't know that? Look what you've done since you're 21 years old. The biggest day of your life wasn't too long ago. I should have been there and I was working. I couldn't fucking do it. Yeah.

But I sent you some stuff. Oh, my God. Amazing. Did you go? Oh, my God. already. Oh, good. Yeah, but I came to your engagement party and I hung out with Trish.

And you really tried. I wanted you there. I was like, I don't want to put pressure on him, but I was like, you are such a huge part. I mean, like you said, I grew up in L.A. But like, Michael, all of your friends, like Chris did a reading at the wedding. So a lot of your friends became huge, like a huge part of my life. And, you know, it really is.

I'm still glad. I don't know how much you talk about on this, but like Michael has this incredible group of friends and it's like so diverse and it's I look back and I'm so lucky because I could have come to L.A. and like met a real weird group and been doing a Hollywood thing. Like you had this down-to-earth group of people that did all different things. And I talk to like to my husband about now. I'm just like I was so lucky to be part of this group that. Hi, Todd. That was so cool and like opened up my eyes to different things that were going on in L.A. other than just like what you would think. And we did normal things. We hung out here. We'd, you know, you know, it was. I think

it was, it's pretty innocent. I mean, we'll have drinks, we'll do, but we do fun things. And I needed these people that I surround myself with. I, I want good people around me. You seem like a great person. I was right. And, you know, I feel like the one talent I have I've talked about is I'm a good judge of character. And I just, I like to put people around each other that are just fun that are easy to go, you know, and a lot of Midwesterners or people who work, except for you. Jersey. All right. A lot of Jersey.

Tommy. But yeah, just, you know, you can have a lot of fun here without going, you know, you can have karaoke nights downstairs in my basement. You can go on hikes and get lost and almost killed. You could do many fun things. Oh, my goodness. Remember karaoke nights? Oh, my gosh.

Yeah, didn't you judge one? I did. You and Debbie Gibson, I think judged one of my karaoke nights here at the house. Oh, my God. We got to do another one of those. Would you, would you and Johnny judge? Yes. We're going to have a karaoke night in my house.

Oh, my God. I love that. This has been a real joy You know, it's funny I always do this And Rob knows I talk about this I have all these papers I was going to talk about

But I really was like I don't only know I'm about figures kidding But I know these things And I'm super proud of you Not that you need that But I'm proud of you Because of the amazing woman

You've become And I remember that wonderful Young woman Who just was sort of Trying to figure it out And I was like It's so difficult And you just had a lot of great friends

around you And a great family And you're a tremendous success but, you know, it's great to see. We don't see each other very often. I know. And it's hard. It's hard.

Now that, like, my biggest problem is I work in New York. I live here, but every weekend I'm flying to New York. And then, you know, getting a husband, you know, that your time is filled up a lot. But we need to, like, hang out more. I would love to talk about. I talk about you to Todd so much that we all have to talk about. I do want to come visit. Why don't you next time we'll have Chris and I will come out.

Just like old times. Oh, my God. Or even when you're here, whatever, we'll have lunch, we'll karaoke, we'll go on that hike. Well, you know, I keep talking. Maybe we don't go on the hike. Maybe we don't go on the hike. But I know how to do it now. We've done it three times since.

I don't know. We use flashlights. We leave before dark. You know, things that, you know. Maybe not. This has been an incredible treat. And I do want to come on your show. I'd love to come on the show.

And I'm coming to the Olympics. I'm going to bug you about that. Oh, my God. How hard is it? We'll talk about that. I mean, it's a bit hard, but. Obviously, yeah, I want to come. I think it'd be the most extraordinary thing.

It's really fun. Wow. Is there anything you want to ask me? Huh. Exactly. I'm kind of boring. Tara, I really, I really. I really.

I'm sure there's a million things. Thank you deeply and dearly for allowing me to be inside of you today. Oh, you are welcome, Michael. This has been a real treat. Love you, Matt McChall. Love you, Mom of them. See him. Football season is here.

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