Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald - Drea de Matteo on Sopranos, The Mafia, and Hollywood
Episode Date: October 17, 2024Bravo fans are furious at Real Housewive's Tamra for her latest desperate attempt to save herself. RFK’s alleged sexting affair is not going unaware. P. Diddy’s latest lawsuits are the most heinou...s so far. Then Drea de Matteo best known as Adriana on The Sopranos is here. She shares about her own family’s mafia ties. We get into how she got the part of Adriana and how she found out her character’s fate. Then we get into how her career took a turn away from Hollywood and into OnlyFans. I then explain how RHONJ's Dina Manzo got 7 years in prison to Drea and her reaction is everything. Enjoy! • Go to https://TheOuai.com and use promo code JUICY for 15% off any product. • Reverse hair loss with @iRestorelaser and get $625 off with the code JUICYSCOOP at https://bit.ly/4e5bFaK #irestorepod • To learn more about therapy with NOCD, go to https://nocd.com and schedule a free 15-minute call with their team. • Go to https://Ro.Co/JUICYSCOOP. Memberships start at just $99 for your first month. Medication costs are separate. Go to https://Ro.Co/safety for black box warning and full safety information. Compounded medication is not required to and does not receive FDA review or approval. Rx only. Stand Up Tickets and info: https://heathermcdonald.net/ Shop Juicy Scoop Merch https://juicyscoopshop.com Get EXTRA Juicy on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/juicyscoop Follow Me on Social Media: Instagram: https://www/instagram.com/heathermcdonald TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@heathermcdonald Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeatherMcDonald Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Hey moms, looking for some lighthearted guidance
on this crazy journey we call parenting?
Join me, Sabrina Kohlberg.
And me, Andi Mitchell, for Pop Culture Moms.
Where each week we talk about what we're watching.
And examine our favorite pop culture moms up close
to try to pick up some parenting hacks along the way.
Come laugh, learn, and grow with us as we look for the best tips.
And maybe a few what not to do's from our favorite fictional moms.
From Good Morning America and ABC Audio, Pop Culture Moms, find it wherever you get your
podcasts.
Heather McDonald has got the juiciest scoop.
When you're on the road, when you're on the go, when you're on the road, when you're
on the road, when you're on the road, when you're on the road, when you're on the road,
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When you're on the road, when you're on the go, Juicy Scoop is the show to know.
She talks Hollywood tales, her real life Mr. Sang with cereal data and cereal system.
You'll be addicted and addicted fast to the number one tabloid real life podcast.
Listen in, listen up.
Woo woo.
Heather McDonald.
Juicy Scoop.
Hello and welcome to Juicy Scoop.
As always, I have a great show, lots of juicy topics, and a fabulous interview.
First, of course, I'm getting ready to pack because I'm going to Minneapolis.
I will be there this Friday night at the Fillmore Theater with the hilarious blue-eyed beauty
Chris Frangiola.
Always so funny.
There are some tickets still left.
Bring the husband, the friend.
It doesn't matter if they don't know who we are.
They will laugh their asses off.
It's a safe place to laugh and for some edgy fun comedy that's non-political.
Also, Chicago.
I will be there then.
I'm so excited to be in Chicago.
You guys know I love this city.
It's one of my favorite places to perform.
And I'll be at the Vic Theater with again, Chris,
on this Saturday, October 19th.
And then a couple of weeks off.
And then I am back in Irvine Improv, which I love.
Two shows of standup on Friday and Saturday, November 8th and 9th and then a totally different
live Juicy Scoop on Sunday the 10th.
Everything is at HeatherRinkDawn.net and of course that's where you also sign up for my
Patreon and enjoy it and never leave and it changes your life.
Okay, sometimes there's gifts that I don't ask for
that just come into my lap.
Yesterday, it was Tuesday morning
and I didn't know what I was gonna do with the day.
I actually had a little time off.
I was gonna cut some clips from the Spencer Pratt Show,
figure out which great golden moments
there were so many to choose from, do a little Pilates, you know, get some stuff done. And
then I wake up to the fact that on Real Housewives of OC, which if you're not watching it, that
is okay, because you're going to enjoy the story like you always do. Tamara Barney Judge,
okay, Barney was her first married
name. She goes by Tamara Judge. She's been on the show for like 17 years. She's having
a tough season because she has just come out guns blazing, very cruel to Shannon Bedore.
So right now people don't like Tamara that watch the shows. As you know, we watch Housewives
like someone would watch sports.
So there's times where they really are excited
about their team and they don't like
what the quarterback is doing,
or they don't like that they changed managers
or owners or coaches or whatever.
That's the way people get.
So they're watching this show,
which is very entertaining this season,
and they are not liking how cruel and awful Tamara is being.
And now the audience is
quite sophisticated and they understand that people have to come up with things and act crazy or
whatnot to keep their job, to have something interesting, so that the people keep bringing
them back, meaning the people Annie Cohen Bravo. Tamara is now saying that she has autism
and that is why she can't be empathetic to other people
because we've seen her be so cruel and insensitive
and awful, especially this season,
to what Shanna's going through,
seeing her ex-boyfriend be in love with another cast member
and dealing with getting a DUI and all of that
and being sued on top of it.
So people didn't think she was a very good friend to her.
So anyway, she has a show with Teddy
who used to be on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
isn't anymore.
And it was so poorly acted.
It's a good thing that Teddy didn't pursue acting,
but clearly they know they're going to talk about this
thing and Tamara says, so I had my first therapy appointment and then Teddy goes, you did?
Yeah.
And I found out some things about myself that are pretty incredible.
What Tam? What did you find out? Well, it's pretty clear I'm on the
autism spectrum. Something to that effect. And then Teddy goes, Tam, she goes, don't make me cry.
Okay, so people that watch the show are like,
okay, enough.
But the people that really got upset
were the ones who have a loved one in their life,
either their own child or someone close to them
that does in fact have autism.
And one of the things that really came clear is
you don't know that you are on the spectrum at all
unless you do many evaluations.
It can take up to a year of really figuring it out.
And what she said is, yeah, and it's based on my past trauma. It's also not based on
past trauma. So, hey, maybe she, just like a lot of these housewives, go to a doctor
and they get free Botox. Maybe she went to a therapist that in exchange for this diagnosis that could be true, maybe not.
Maybe she gets that for free too.
I don't know.
It was a big mistake.
The, the Bravo fandom did not like this.
They called BS.
I called for prayers for Tamara and for Teddy's bad acting.
I felt they both needed our prayers because this was just so ridiculous.
So anyway, the audience knows the pattern
of what she and other women sometimes in her position
have to do to create a storyline.
And so I thought, my gosh, if she continues with this story
that she in fact is now realizing at 58 years old
or whatever she is that she has this,
which doesn't go along with, you know,
being able to be on a reality show,
have bright lights on you.
A lot of people brought that up that like, you know,
that this isn't really the traits of it, whatever.
The point is, no one believed it, no one accepted it,
no one really felt sorry for her,
no one was praying for her like I asked them to.
Anyway, she came forward and was like,
I shouldn't have spoken so soon.
I'll take it privately now.
But I still believe there might,
she might have thought this was gonna take me
to the next season.
I'm gonna have a journey.
I'm gonna do some charity stuff.
I'm gonna make some sack lunches.
I'm going to, whatever.
It didn't pan out the way
she thought. So there you go. But it was a lot of chatter about that yesterday. And I thought it was
pretty interesting. So I did, you know, I did a tweet and I did a little video. Okay. Also, Vicki
brought up, Vicki, her co-star said, this is disgusting and shame on her. She's looking for attention and sympathy.
It's no different than Brooks.
That was one of the famous storylines
of Vicki had a boyfriend named Brooks
who lied about having cancer.
To this day, she says, I didn't know I was tricked too,
but we don't know.
But all she wanted was for people to feel sorry
for she and Brooks and bring her a casserole.
That was Vicki. Well, now Vicki doesn't like Tamra anymore so she's writing
this. It's no different than Brooks saying he had cancer for sympathy and lying to me.
She needs psychological help and needs to stop making a mockery of being on the spectrum
or having autism. So Gretchen, a former castmate, has spoken, everyone spoke.
Like I said, she made a statement, she'll probably be quiet, there'll be a new story
next week.
But here's the thing, you know, I think there might be a place where it's unfortunate that
I think, okay, hear me out, all right?
For the sake of everyone's mental health and life of being a real housewife, if we're
going to go forward with these women, I think there should be like a maximum amount of years
like they do, like you can only be two terms as a president.
I think there should be a maximum amount for a housewife.
Then they know, I'm in year six, I only have two years left,
no matter what. I need to get my things in line. If I'm going to get divorced, I want
to do it around year four or five so I can find somebody else and on a second wedding.
I don't know. Plan it out knowing that there's an end to it. The audience knows there's
an end to it. They say goodbye. They have like a little farewell party. And we know no matter how juicy your life is, it's got to end on year eight. And then they can
go with their other business, make up with their children who hated them because they
were doing embarrassing things on camera. And there's time to save their situation for
the future. But they get addicted to the fame
and they don't wanna leave.
And because there isn't like this set thing
in the constitution of Bravo, it can go on forever.
And then we have desperate people saying
that they have a diagnosis that puts them
on the spectrum of being, you know, it's just not true.
The only spectrum she's on is the asshole spectrum,
which can be a serious thing.
So, like I said, pray for her.
Okay, this about the RFK
junior situation with the cheating.
I thought this was so interesting.
So I had mentioned before that I was pretty confident
that it was the journalist's ex-fiance
who blew the whistle.
That appears to be true.
There's these court papers that New York Post and other people are reporting.
I don't know what the court papers are.
I don't know who this guy is suing.
That was confusing.
But what was interesting is her ex-fiance is 51.
She's only 31, kind of a big age gap.
Then Keith Oberman said he dated her when he was 51 and she was 21.
And it was pretty serious and they even had got a dog together.
I'm like, what is with this chick and older guys?
Because then she goes from like dating a guy who's 30 years older, then she
gets engaged to a guy who's 20 years older than her. Then she starts this sexting thing
with 70-year-old Robert F. Kennedy when she's 31 and he's whatever 70. But according to
her ex-fiance, who's pissed, he said she begged for him to take her back. And she said he's
the one that like found out because he went through my stuff.
He's saying, no, I didn't find out about the affair by going through your stuff. She
told me because I broke up with her and then she begged for me to take her back. And she
said she was, you know, so distraught by this weird sexting relationship with him because
he said that he wanted to impregnate her and wanted to possess her and all this stuff.
And so she was begging for him to come back.
It all got revealed to the paper that she worked for.
And here we are.
And so Keith Oberman from MSNBC said, oh, Ben there done that, like answered to a tweet.
And then they realized, oh, he dated her too.
Very interesting. So I wonder where this girl's gonna land.
She gonna land like on Dancing with the Stars
or the villain or what?
But, or she gonna, you know, get her own podcast.
I'm sure that'll happen.
Who knows?
But it doesn't really seem to matter.
He's, you know, we're not really hearing about him right now.
So I guess he may still stay married to his wife.
Some people feel differently about sexting, cheating, and it's just embarrassing all around.
Okay, some awful updates on Diddy, and I'm sorry, but I mean, I'm covering it, so I've
got to cover the updates. Bow Wow did an interview, and he made the unfortunate mistake of saying, you know, there's
been no good parties since Diddy's arrest.
Like nobody's going out, no one's partying.
But the way it sounded, TMZ of course caught it and was like, come on.
But he was saying, yeah, we used to go to all these, like no one wants to have fun anymore. Now there's all these new lawsuits and six of them are from men. And the stories
are just crazy. The stories behind the lawsuits that are being represented by lawyers. And
I'm assuming they have some serious evidence in order to take on these cases. But the more you read about these
lawsuits and these allegations, it is like he really was this sexual assaulting mafioso who who ordered people around him to participate.
And it's just awful.
So this one, this person, this guy said,
he was working at a Macy's in the Echo clothing department.
And P Diddy was so angry that Echo clothing
was near the Sean John display at Macy's,
that he took this guy into the stockroom
and sexually assaulted him.
And like, the guy threatened his life,
threatened it, and then went out to the rest of the Macy's
and was like to the people,
oh, let me give you some free Sean John clothes
after assaulting him.
And then when that worker tried to tell Macy's whatever, they had just closed a big deal
with Sean John, allegedly, and fired him.
He had an apartment that he was living in that Macy's was paying for, which sounds
kind of weird, but I don't know how high up he was in the company.
He had to leave that place. And like many of the people was just too frightened and felt like no one was hearing him
when this happened and therefore has waited till now to speak. So that is very bizarre.
The other case is so awful. This girl, I listened to the whole complaint read on a different news source, but I don't
really want to get into it.
But this girl met this friend of Diddy's, they FaceTimed Diddy's, and she said, like,
I think you had something to do with Tupac's murder.
He said, you're going to pay for that.
Well, a month later, that same guy that she met,
who I guess maybe she was interested in or thought he was a friend, he's like, hey, come to my house.
Let's watch a movie. She comes over there. And as they're about to watch a movie, Diddy shows up
with like three other people. And one of them, I think being a woman that's named in some of these cases. And they assault her,
they assault her with the baby oil, which obviously had something that made her body like lifeless,
where she couldn't kind of control herself, assaulted her every which way and with objects,
numerous people. It's absolutely horrible, her account.
And she says, I'm gonna call the police.
They say, he says to her, don't call the police.
I'll just pay you.
Just, you know, first of all, just say you're a sex worker
and I'll pay you, just let me pay you.
According to this, they even, he even called his mother
and gave the phone to her and the mother was like, you're not going to ruin my son's life.
Why don't you just take the money?
She did tell the police they didn't do anything.
The case is insane.
Anyway, it's just absolutely incredible.
The amount of lawsuits that are coming forward every day, there's something new.
So just get ready.
Everyone's like, we want to know who the other A-listers are. We still don't know.
Even in these lawsuits, no other A-listers or anybody
of a recognizable name is being named.
So we don't know.
Will we ever know?
I don't know.
All right, you guys, now for my interview.
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This is the time of year when the air gets colder, the shadows grow longer,
and the cases get even darker. I'm Savannah Breimer, and this is Killer Instinct, your
weekly deep dive into true crime's most chilling mysteries. All month long, we're going to
be embracing this season with some of the most unsettling cases and unsolved mysteries
that keep you up at night. If you think you can handle the fear,
join me every week for an October you won't forget.
Not only are you going to be getting weekly episodes,
but you will also get back to back episodes
the four days leading up to Halloween
as a part of our Halloween series.
So grab your headphones, turn down the lights,
and get ready for the darkest stories
you'll hear this season on Killer Instinct.
Hello and welcome to Juicy Scoop.
I'm very excited to talk to first time meeting you,
guest, actress, star.
Most, for me, you're best known.
This is Dreya Mateo, but she's to me best known
for The Sopranos,
the character of Adriana, but also you were in Sons of Anarchy. You've been in tons of
other shows. Joey. Oh, God. Joey. So many different things. And welcome to Juicy Scoop.
I'm excited to get your Juicy Life story. I'm happy to be here. Thanks for having me.
The Pinsky's wanted me to meet you really bad.
Oh, that's so...
The Pinskes.
Well, yeah, Dr. Drew Pinsky and Susan, I love them.
And okay, because I didn't know how this came about.
I just didn't know if like you were just...
No, they were trying to get me to go on a boat with you.
Oh, he invited you on the boat that we just went recently.
We went on the boat with them recently, yes.
They're like, you're going to love Heather.
I want you to meet her.
I want you to come and hang out with us.
I was like, but I have to go on a boat again this week,
somewhere else.
I don't like going on boats.
You know what we- Was it fun?
It was really fun.
And you know, we, my husband became a captain over COVID
and we like had a boat for like
a year where we were kind of like running it.
We always were like, oh, we had like, it was like a lease for a year.
So we'd have these days and then we invited people and like soon I realized, okay, out
of my group of like, there's just these few people that are always down.
And then there's other people that you, I realized I shouldn't be offended. Some people
just don't want to be on a boat. They don't want to be trapped. They don't care how nice it is.
It's just not their vibe. And then other people like me, I will always say yes.
So it's just like kind of an interesting thing. Are you a boat person or not?
I'm a puker.
You're what?
I'm a puker. I'll puke. I'll puke on the boat. I don't want to. And then I feel like I'm ruining
everybody's good time. I love it though. I love being in the water. I mean I'll be in a kayak all day or a rowboat.
Then I have to work. Right. Okay. So I wanted to get a little bit about your background because
I know from doing a little research on you, you are in the process of writing
research on you, you are in the process of writing like a memoir about your life. And your background is very interesting. Like your grandma, was it your grandmother? And
you do have a mafia background?
Yeah.
Mafia?
I didn't know that much about it while I was doing The Sopranos. But yeah, see that how
my voice just starts to crack. The gods are saying, shut up, don't talk about it.
But yes, I always knew about my grandfather, Joe Babes.
And what's his story?
Well, I thought his name was because he was a womanizer, but if you Google it, it says
he shot a baby by accident.
I'm like, what the?
Because he was in the mob and he had to do that hit?
I guess he was doing a hit and I mean, maybe he wasn't a good shot.
I don't know if I don't know the story.
So what year was this that your grandfather was actively doing mob work?
In the 50s. Yeah.
And so was he with your grandmother at the time?
Yeah. And this is on your mom's side or your dad's side?
On my mom's side. My dad's dad was also a main guy.
And this is all happening in New York?
Yep. Bronx and Harlem.
And you're like, yeah.
Because you know, I really didn't know much about the mafia or what.
Me neither.
Until like the Sopranos.
Me neither.
And I just was fascinated.
I remember, oh, here's a juicy story that happened to my mother.
She was a realtor and she, her client, I guess I could say this now because she's dead,
but it was, oh my God, my dad and her
did real estate together. My dad was so mad at her, but she was selling the house to this
guy who was dating Victoria Gotti. And my mom was like, this is so juicy, you know,
because the Gotti. And I guess she like just said it at an open house or something like to one of
her real estate friends like, oh, you know, he's seeing his Victoria Gotti. And the guy called and
he's like, I got back to him. And he's like, I can't believe that you would say that. And they
lost the listing. And I just remember being like, oh, my God, now here I am. This is my career, just gossiping, doing juicy scoop.
But yeah, so I was like, what does that even mean?
I'm like, I don't, I remember I was like,
what is the mafia?
Like I did not get what it was.
And so it's like, okay, so you, when did you find that out?
I mean, I knew about my, I knew about my,
of my grandfather's, I did.
I didn't know about some of my dad's the rest of my dad's family.
But and I knew that my mom's family was very connected in Queens when we were growing up.
But we had like we had car service, not car car services. Jesus. We had.
Am I allowed to curse? Yes. Yes. God, I can relax now.
OK, I'm trying to be all proper.
We always had Cadillacs parked in the driveway, tons of them.
My dad, he had no money, even though my dad's father
was in the mafia, he was not a big money-making guy.
He was more like a consulieri.
People would come to him for advice.
He had a pizza parlor, but they were poor.
They were really, really poor.
So when my dad started making money, he just kept buying Cadillacs for everybody.
Poor dad.
Yeah.
So he had a fleet of Cadillacs.
Okay.
So wait, so your mom, whose dad was in the mafia, she then finds her husband, who's your
dad.
Yes.
And was he already in the mafia or did he get-
His father was like this. They called him the Dunny.
So were they part of the same mafia family?
No, my dad's from the Bronx.
So was that a problem that they were part that she came from this mafia family and married
into a different mafia deal?
No, but I think they thought my dad would become a maid guy because he was all I didn't
know this when my dad was alive.
What does a maid guy mean?
A maid guy is, you get your button.
It means you're part of one of the five families and all of the-
And why are there only five?
Was it a six family ever trying to break in?
I feel like this is like frats.
I don't know anything about it.
I can only compare it to fraternity life.
I'm not an expert.
I mean-
Like different fraternities and like they don't, and do the families ever get along?
No, they're at war with each other.
They're always at war, all five of them.
They all offered my dad a button except the Gambino's because they said my dad was too
wild.
Whatever the fuck that means because I didn't know this while he was alive.
I only found this out years after he was dead.
I didn't know.
And like, what is it really?
Like, I know they dress up and they go to church
and they have baptisms and they can be charming
and they go to funerals and they can be charming.
But if you're gonna join, you know that A, you might be murdered or you might be asked
to murder someone.
Is that everybody in it or can you be like, I just want to be the paperwork person or
I just want to be the person that sets up the dinner reservations at the Italian place
and maybe finds a couple new people to shake down, but I don't want to be the killer.
You have to agree that you'll do whatever, right?
Yeah. I mean, the blood oath, they take a blood oath. The omerta means you're never
going to speak. Again, I'm not an expert, but-
Well, it sounds like you kind of are. I mean, you played one on TV.
I mean, you played one and you came from one. I think you're pretty out there.
I didn't know anything about it when I was in my family.
So when you're growing up at like eight,
what did you think your family did for a living?
Well, no, my dad was a furniture manufacturer
and my mom was a playwright.
And that's the truth.
So your dad had another income and another job.
My dad was not in the mafia.
Oh, your dad was a playwright.
They offered him to be in the mafia.
Oh, they offered and he said no. My mother said, you do this and I'm fucking out of here.
I already grew up with a father like this.
I will not marry because her dad was a cheater.
He was a wife beater.
He was all of these things.
So she was like, I'm not, she wouldn't even be a mom, my mother.
And when we were born, she was like, I am going to be a playwright and I am going to
school and I am not cooking and I am going to school
and I am not cooking and I am not cleaning
and I'm not raising my children.
I'm gonna hire somebody when there's enough money
and that's how that went down.
So.
What do you mean she's not gonna raise her children?
She just couldn't deal with being my grandmother.
She didn't wanna be my grandmother
because my grandmother was so,
I mean, the story is long and involved, which is why we're
writing the book.
Yeah, you definitely should.
But it's, um.
It could be like a movie too.
And it's great.
It's a great story.
And it's all about all these really strong women that made mistakes.
My mom made mistakes.
She was great, but she definitely made mistakes.
I was raised by my nanny.
And she made mistakes too.
We all made mistakes.
And so your mom's mom, is that the one that,
is it your mom's mom, your grandmother
that also was part of the helping girls get abortions?
No, that was my great grandmother.
Your great grandmother.
1950s Harlem.
Well, when she was young and hurt,
when she was about 15, she cut her hair into a
flapper's hairdo. And her parents were like, you're fucking crazy. You're going to Bellevue.
You need a lobotomy. You're a whore. You're a putah. You got to go. That's it. Because you
didn't know you weren't supposed to do that. Cut your hair short. Yeah, like that was so
rebellious. Yeah, like the times we're living in now. So, oh my God. But they said either you go to Bellevue and get mental help
or you get married.
And they married her off at 15 years old.
She had my grandmother by the time she was 16 or,
she was 15, I think, actually, when she had my grandmother.
And she was at the museum one day.
She comes home from being out all day with my grandmother,
baby grandmother and the baby, she's a mother and she's a baby with my baby grandmother.
And the husband punches her out or slaps her for being out and not having her dinner ready.
This other 15-year-old husband, you know what I mean? And she stabs him.
And she's like, I mean, she didn't kill him.
She stabbed him.
And she said, you will give me a divorce, otherwise I'll go outside and tell everybody
in this neighborhood, all the Italian men, that your wife stabbed you.
So everyone's going to know you're a pussy.
So he divorced her and then she took her baby and she went to her mother's house and her
mother was fucking the neighbor.
She was like, so she just starts blackmailing everyone.
The mother was still married to her dad.
Yes.
She's fucking the neighbor.
She goes, okay, you are going to watch this child that you guys made me have and I am going to Bellevue, but I'm not going to
Get a lobotomy. I'm going to become a midwife and
That was that so my grandmother was raised by her mother
my great-grandmother went off and became a midwife and
Then she came back and started delivering babies and that was her life. And then eventually
she started giving abortions because there were a lot of young girls that were taking
care of it themselves. They didn't know. Nobody really knew what it was. So it was, you know,
that's how that started. And then my grandfather, the mafia guy, he was coming up and they brought
heroin here to America.
From where? Where did heroin come from originally?
I guess he was back in those days. It must have been Esk- was it Escobar or who were the big
dealers? I can't remember. I'm probably going to get this wrong. So I'll just stop on that.
Yeah.
But he started supplying the morphine for my grandmother's
abortions for the clinic in the brownstone on Pleasant Avenue in New York City. And that's
how he met my grandmother. The whole story is crazy. So then my grandmother has my mother.
And so I have my grandmother's name is here. My nanny's name is here. I was raised
by my grandmother, my nanny and my mother. And I would always say to my mom, I never
understood why my mom was so distant doing her own thing. But once I started to understand
who all these people were in my house, I was like, wow, this is a really dynamic situation. Like everybody's fucked up.
Do you have any siblings? I have two older brothers. Are you guys close? And they're a lot older.
We were. We are not now. Now that everyone's gone. My mom just passed this summer and my dad passed
like 13 years ago. Yeah.
I'm an orphan now.
I'm an orphan and I have no family except for my children.
I love my children.
I can kind of relate to some of that for sure.
Okay, so then when did you realize like I'm a performer,
I wanna act and what was your path?
I mean, both my parents wanted to act,
and my dad's family said, you're too ugly to act,
he was gorgeous.
I don't know why they said that.
And then my mom, they said, only putanas act,
only the whores act.
So, again with the whores, and now look who the whore is,
right here, I'm the fucking whore all around.
That's really interesting too because this is probably why Dr. Drew was like we should meet
there are a lot of similarities you know. Oh yeah? Yeah definitely not. We should hold hands.
Yes definitely not. I did a whole thing about you know being being estranged from adult siblings
like as and how people give that a lot of
pressure, oh, but this is your sibling and you should be.
And I kind of did this thing of like giving people permission, you don't have to, you
know, do what's right for you and break the cycle.
So like I understand that even though people are like, blood is thicker than water.
It's like...
I love them.
Yeah.
I do.
It just doesn't work.
Sometimes it just doesn't work. I also feel like they don't have a real interest either.
I do have interest in being close to everybody. But I feel like they really don't and I'm not
gonna work hard for something. And they've also just been sort of, you know.
And then the fact that both of your parents kind of wanted to be performers too. Like,
my dad, when he said when he was coming back, he was in World War II, but when he was coming back on the boat from Japan to San Diego, he said they only had like one movie that they kept playing
over and over on the boat to get back. And so he'd memorized all the lines and they would just act it
out. But then, you know, went and got,
used the GI Bill, got into football,
what became a businessman after, you know,
played football in college, got a business, whatever.
But always had like a really great,
could do impressions and be funny.
And then my mom got a scholarship
to Catholic University to act.
And her dad was like, you're not gonna be an actress
if you're gonna go to college, do journalism,
because you can write too.
And it's just kind of funny when sometimes when people are like,
oh, I'm living the life that maybe my mom or dad would
have wanted.
I think there's a lot of us out there
kind of like that when you look back at it.
Because obviously, there's Neppo babies,
but then there's people that just like if someone has an engineering brain, their kid might have an engineering brain.
If your parents were creative and storytellers and actors, even if they didn't pursue it,
sometimes you know, then you come out that way too, you know.
I think my parents were, forget about even the fact that I became an actor.
I don't think my dad wanted me to act because he thought it was too heartbreaking.
And he would say to me every day, please, baby, pick something else that you can do.
Like this should only be this should be the last resort of if you can't do anything
else, then this can be the thing that you do.
Try to do something else.
Because he saw my mom being in the industry for years just being a playwright.
But my mom never really pursued it in the way that she should have.
I mean, she was with William Morris for years,
but she never even published a play,
which I thought was weird,
because her plays were,
she was kind of a big deal underground in the theater world,
but she never really took it all the way.
So now I'm gonna publish all of her plays for her,
and tell her story with this book.
But, because it's her story, it's more her story.
I mean, it's my story, but it's her.
She starts it off with that crazy before.
But I think what they were more obsessed with
was the Sopranos.
I think they couldn't believe that I would.
I never really pursued acting, by the way.
I was in film school.
I wanted to, I was the anti-theater.
I hated growing up in the theater because of my mom.
I hated watching people play house.
I was like, motherfuckers, I'm supposed to play house.
I am the little kid.
Why are you people acting like I am the mom
and I am the dad?
And I wanted to play house.
So I hated sitting there watching these adults
rehearse all day, even though it was Uta Hagen
and Herbert Berghoff and all these people.
I was like, I don't care who they are.
I'm a baby.
So I went to film school.
I went to NYU film school to get away
from the whole theater thing.
And it was like the fuck you.
And you go right out of high school there.
Yeah, I went straight into NYU.
And I fucked up because I was a fuck up.
How'd you fuck up?
Well, first of all, I worked through school,
which I probably shouldn't have done
because I didn't need to. We had money and my parents were taking care of me. But I just,
I think, loved the life of bartending until five o'clock in the morning and coming home
with $2,000 in cash, you know, and like half baked. And it just was, that was my dorm room
experience. It wasn't like other kids.
I was a working, I felt like a working man.
Okay.
And I fucked up.
I just took that more seriously than my actual education
and I wasn't making my movies on time.
And then I fell into the wrong stuff
being in the clubs every night.
Okay. Yeah.
So you didn't finish. I got kicked night. Okay. Yeah.
So you didn't finish.
I got kicked out.
Okay.
I got let go of the school.
Then they let me, I came and I begged back in
and they let me stay in as long as I kept a 4.0.
Uh-huh.
So I managed to do that for a minute.
Really? Wow.
For a minute.
Uh-huh.
And that's when I started taking the acting classes.
I was like, how am I gonna maintain this 4.0?
I'm gonna do something really fucking easy. And I started taking the acting classes. I was like, how am I gonna maintain this for, oh, I'm gonna do something really fucking easy.
And I started taking acting for directors.
And I secretly was like, I think I might wanna do this.
And all my friends are like,
why are you in the film department?
You should just be acting.
And I was like, no,
because I felt like it was so indulgent to act
and even to say I want to act.
People would ask me even what I did for a living.
It's like conceited to say I wanna act.
Yeah. I was always super shy.
Yes.
Like I'm only not shy in the last three years of my life.
Okay, cool. I swear to God.
I was so crazy shy.
So I was like, I felt very conceited.
Like, oh, you think you're an actress?
No, I'm a bartender.
I'm a bartender.
You know.
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I'm Louis, AKA the baddest perra.
And I'm Yoatsi.
And we're siblings.
We might not be the most intelligent.
Or the smartest.
Or inteligentes.
You just said that.
Oh yeah.
But at least we're pretty.
You may have seen our viral challenge videos, Mexican food mukbangs, and family vlogs.
But did you know we're also the hosts of the podcast Pretty Not Smart?
On our show, we expose all the cheesemeat in our lives, from our wildest dating stories
to childhood feuds to our scary ghost stories.
But don't worry, it's not all drama all the time.
We discuss financial hardship, the importance of taking care of your mental health, and
our experiences dealing with complicated family relationships.
Because we're siblings, we know each other better than anyone,
which means we also know how to beef with each other like it's nobody's business.
Who doesn't love listening in on a little sibling conflict?
We've also had some amazing guests join the show, like YouTubers Adam Ray and Laura Mellado,
and so many more.
At the end of the day, I'm happy to be the pretty one and
Yoati the smart one.
No, it's definitely the other way around.
And who told you that lie?
Ask the audience.
So if you want to hear the juicy perspectives of two
pretty siblings, tune into Pretty Not Smart.
Available wherever you get your podcasts.
Smart. Available wherever you get your podcasts. So, okay, so you got through the school by taking the acting classes. And then how did
you start booking stuff, like real booking stuff and getting money?
No, I had a friend who's a writer in the business and she just introduced me to managers here and there.
She would always put me in her little films that she'd be making and stuff with her husband.
But she introduced me to a manager. The manager had me on for a minute sending me out to things.
I wasn't really an actor, but she told me that I had a terrible voice so that I would never be able to act because
my voice was so fucked up.
Because I used to be a heavy smoker.
And she asked me to go take voice classes.
So I said, okay, that's normal because people take voice classes and acting.
It's like a normal thing to do.
And she's like, no, no, no, no, no, not voice, Jerry, like, like opera
classes, like singing opera classes, you got to be fucking kidding me. She goes, yes, I
think that you should take opera singing classes so that you can really break through your
voice and all of this raspiness. And I thought you're fucking crazy. I was like, so if I
don't do this, are we still good?
And she was like, no, we're not.
So she let me go.
And I was so fucking crazy.
But then like two weeks later, I booked The Sopranos.
So how did you get the audition for The Sopranos?
Your manager just put you up for the role?
No, an agent.
I had like a small agent.
Actually it's the same agency I ended up going back
to now, even though I'm not acting anymore. But I was like, fine, you guys want to represent
me? Take it. Take it. Take all this, all this nothing of acting that I all of this, all
of the me saying, absolutely not. But yeah, they got me some small audition for one line
in a TV show.
Had I been auditioning for that show as a series regular, I never would have gotten
it.
It would have gone to someone of the moment.
Was it already out?
Because I can't remember when did you come on?
Were you in the first season?
Yeah.
Oh, so it was not even out yet.
So you had no idea of what this would become.
No, but I will say this.
The minute I got my hands on that script and I read it, I called my mother immediately
and I go, holy shit.
I know that I have no interest in television shows, but you have to read this, mom.
It is the most beautifully written show I've ever seen in my life.
And she read it and she was like, yeah, wow, this is beyond.
I was like, it's so great.
It'll never get made.
And I had one line.
It was the hostess in the restaurant.
And then they ended up making Adriana a hostess
when they brought me in for the series.
But they would have, that part would have gone to like
Marissa Tomei or Mira Sorvino,
all the girls that were used to playing that type of role.
If they knew that it was a series regular.
Someone at that level wouldn't have done the one line hostess.
They wouldn't have done a TV show.
That's where the line comes.
There are no small parts, only small actors.
Yes, it's true.
But I loved it so much.
So when they called and they said, look, David thinks that you're not really Italian-like,
but you are Italian, so he likes you.
Would you be willing to just play the snobby hostess
at the Connecticut, like a Connecticut vibe,
the restaurant kind of thing.
And I was like, I'll do anything
just to be a part of that script.
I loved it.
And I did it, and I couldn't even get my line out
because I was with Lorraine Bracco.
No one knew who Jim was yet.
I was with Lorraine, and she's Cameron. Some good was yet. I was with Lorraine and she's Karen.
I'm good fellas, Karen.
All I could think about when I saw her face
was her putting the gun in her panties.
I was like, oh my God, all I see is your gun
in your panties right there, you're so sexy.
So yeah, I couldn't say my line.
I was like, I can't believe they'll even audition me later
for another role.
Because you felt like you fucked up that.
I don't think they remembered that I was the same person.
Okay, so you come back and do you realize then
the arc of your part yet?
Or you don't know where this is going?
Still a day player.
So they call me back to be in, to audition for the series.
I was in Queens at my grandmother's house
and she's cooking us chicken parmesan.
I remember getting a phone call that they wanted me to come in and I was like, yeah,
no, this is too last minute.
I can't come in right now.
Are you people crazy?
I was like, and aside from which I'm in Queens.
They were like, well, that's funny.
So are we.
I was like, fuck.
My mother looks at me, she goes, what's it for? And I go, it's that show that I did the pilot for,
The Sopranos.
She goes, we're going.
She goes, ma, make her a chicken cutlet Parmesan hero,
wrap it up, make one for Al.
She goes in the safe, she gets my nameplate and diamonds
from my confirmation, which is Andrea.
So Adriana.
And I put it on and she goes, what are your
lines? And I said, it's just ow. She goes, you are going to say ow in like 15 syllables,
just like Sylvana, the neighbor, my best friend next door. And that was it. I said ow.
What were you saying ow to?
I don't even fucking know. Maybe Christopher was grabbing my arm. I'm like ow. What were you saying, ow too? I don't even fucking know. Maybe Christopher was grabbing my arm.
I'm like, ow!
Or some shit.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay, so then you become his girlfriend,
Christopher's girlfriend.
Just the day player.
$500 checks, sitting on a toilet in the honey wagon
on sets.
The honey wagon is all bathrooms.
It's like 15 bathrooms in a row
and every toilet has a cushion on it.
So you have somewhere to sit.
Oh.
That's a dressing room.
Oh, got it.
Before they give you like a double banger
or a star trailer.
Got it.
Yeah.
Double banger.
And okay, so then when you then realize, okay, now,
cause how many seasons were you the girlfriend
where we knew you to be his girlfriend?
The whole time.
So the whole show.
So you, because you were sorry for those of you that haven't watched it, cover your ears.
So many new fans, by the way.
The character, okay, the spoiler.
So your character does die. And I said, I said, spoiler, but your character dies
and gets killed. And I just remember that scene and I loved Sunday Nights, HBO Sunday Nights and
watching it. And it was so good. So it went on for seven seasons, right? I think it did. It was, yeah, it was like the fake seven because they didn't want to pay a full seven. So they
said six and a half. Yeah, there was a weird thing back then
where like deals were made with cable where it was seven seasons guarantee. And if you're going to
go past that, they make it whatever. It was a big thing. But so just I want to talk about this for a minute.
As an actress, I want to ask you this.
So when did you find out that this was your character's fate?
How do you how do you find out?
Did he sit you down or they just give you the script and you read it like everybody
else?
They actually for all the men on the show,, because it's only been men that have had those
big moments. They bring him into David Chase's office and he tells them and then they all
go out for a big dinner.
Before they're going to be, before their character gets knocked off. Oh my God, that's so funny.
It was different. How did they do it? I approached him episode five. I think it was episode five. I have the neck brace in that scene
after the accident. Maybe we were faking a hospital in a house somewhere for a set. I
can't quite remember. But anyhow, David was on set and I thought, oh, he's here. Let me just ask him.
I said, things don't seem so great
for my character right now.
Like all I'm doing is talking to the FBI.
I'm shitting my pants nonstop because I have IBS.
I'm like, and I wanna direct to this film in the hiatus
because I wanted to get back directing.
It was one of my mother's students' movies that she wrote.
And I could tell he didn't like that.
Everyone always said, don't ever ask David for,
don't ever mention that you wanna do anything else.
Aside from what we're doing.
And I was like, yeah, but it's not acting.
I don't wanna act.
I wanted to go direct and do what he does.
And it's just a short time.
Sometimes they don't like that either though.
You know, I found out, but I think that he had plans anyway.
So he sat me down and on a curb.
We sat on the street on a curb and I had my neck brace on
and I know that the scene I had to do.
So your neck brace was for the character.
Yes, because I had just been in the accident
with Jim, with Tony Soprano.
And I don't really remember a lot of scenes,
but he sat me down and he said, so we're going
to do it like this.
We're shooting it two ways.
You're going to die and you're going to live.
And no one's going to know what happens until it airs because of the confidentiality breach
on set and because of all the gossip and because of how,
I mean, it was the first show where if something got leaked,
it was monumental.
Like, it was a really big deal.
And the audience didn't want the leaks.
Even though some people were like,
I wanna know what's gonna happen.
People really didn't want to know, especially that,
cause people loved her so much and she was innocent. So it was even more, it was worse
because she was innocent.
It wasn't just like one of these guys
that you know murdered so many people, you know.
So that was all I knew.
And then I started getting offers to do other shows
and lots of things.
And I'm like, how does anyone know? Like no
one is supposed to know anything here. And I took a job once I knew. And then that got
out into the world. And then I had to go through damage control because he was furious with
me because he thought by you taking a job got people talking, oh, she must be dying
soon because she's talking to the feds on the show. It didn't, I wish I could find,
I had to go on talk show to mitigate it.
And I don't know whose show I picked to do to just say,
no, I'm not dying on the show.
But that happened, but that's how I found out.
So I never had a dinner, but that would have been awkward
because I'm not one of the guys on the show. I was a young girl. So I never had a dinner. That would have been awkward because I'm not one of the guys on the show. You know, I was a young girl. So I never had the dinner. But the last, I remember they
brought balloons and champagne and it felt like every day was my last day though because every
time, because then they were reshoot. So there was like, they were having a goodbye this day and then
a goodbye the next day. And I was like, I'm fucking outta here already, guys.
And people always ask me about the death scene
and I'm like, I was already gone by then in my head.
You know, I know what it is.
I think what's so compelling when you watch it,
like I can see it in my head.
And what I thought about was, so again, spoiler, okay.
So you were with one of the other guys. He says he's taking you to
the hospital or something to see somebody. Yeah. Christopher, he's saying that Christopher
tried to commit suicide, but this is a another, this little piece of trivia for you, for people
that are diehard soprano fans. There was a scene written in the episode where Tony, where Christopher goes to Tony
Soprano and tells him that I was a rat. They go in the basement of Tony Soprano's house
in the laundry room where there's no wires or microphones, whatever. And he confesses
to him. So then Tony Soprano calls Adriana and says, yo, he just committed suit because
Tony's like, I'll take care of it. So you know, you know when Christopher tells Tony and Tony says, I'll take care of it and
Tony calls Adriana, that means she's dead.
So the drive to the forest is meaningless at that point.
But I didn't like that that scene was in there because I thought that it should be a buildup.
So I begged some of the writers and I think even
a few of the actors stood with me on it to have that scene eliminated from the show.
And they did. They aired it without Christopher confessing. The next scene was...
Yeah, because it was like a surprise when you're watching it as a viewer because he pulls over and there's a moment then when your character
like knows. And I just think what's crazy about that is I don't think in any movie that I've ever
seen where you think what that must be like, there's a dark, for somebody that knows whether they've been kidnapped and this is
the moment they're going to be killed or, you know, it's somebody they know or they're
in the mafia or it's their husband and they just know like this is the moment. Like this
is, oh my God, this is probably going to happen to me. And so as an actress, like, how do you,
do you get to that place or did you almost,
I mean, where is it that you,
or did you not really get to that place?
You just did it.
I was, I have a tendency to take care of everybody
all the time, even on set,
even if I need focus on myself.
Stevie was really upset that he-
The person who had to kill you.
Yeah, Stevie Vansant.
He had to pull me out of the car by my hair, I think,
or my jacket.
He had called me a cunt.
He didn't want to do any of these things.
And I'm like, motherfucker, I got a dinner to be at.
Like we got things to do.
You're fine.
You can do it.
Have fun with it.
Call me a cunt.
Pull me out of that fucking car by my hair.
Let's do this thing.
It was a very quick scene to shoot
because they don't show my face.
That was a request of David's,
did not want to see me get killed.
I don't know if he ever,
people thought it was an intentional cliffhanger.
I don't think it was.
I think he really just didn't want to see her get killed.
But that scene for me was not, that was not the worst.
It was hard to sort of calibrate how to show that I am
because I knew that they took,
I didn't know that they were taking that scene out.
So because I didn't know that scene was coming out,
I was already upset in the car.
Had I known that scene wasn't gonna be in there,
I might've looked a little less upset in the beginning
because I don't know where I'm going.
Yeah, I don't know how I prepared for that,
but the scene where he chokes me,
where I confess to him, that was the scene for me.
That scene crushed me.
Every scene crushed me.
That whole fucking season crushed me,
because at that time...
Oh, that's when Christopher chokes you, your fiance.
I took it all so, like, you know, I was a young actor
and it was my first big job,
so there were no shortcuts for me.
Everything had to be real.
There was no faking of anything happening.
And then when did you know,
when was your first life-changing kind of moment
where you're like, oh, I'm famous.
I'm walking and people are calling out your name
and you realize what a big hit this is.
The show was big.
Yeah.
It was big.
I remember when we'd go to the airport, they would have to escort us with,
you know, with the caddies through the airport mixed because if we were in a group together,
it was a little too chaotic and crazy. People were like, holy shit. Yeah, it's all of them. ear. But I think for me, the real moment was when my name was in the crossword puzzle and
look, the New York Times crossword puzzle for my parents, because it was a big deal,
because they did the puzzle every day. But at the same time, they'd be excited. And I feel like,
guys, can I tell you something though and just remind you, the reason why I'm in it is because it's not an easy answer.
Okay?
It's not because, oh my God, she's famous.
It's because the people might not know who it is.
Try it again.
So did your parents, did they stay married
throughout your life?
Yeah.
Oh, that's so nice.
Yeah, they were together.
They fucking almost killed each other when I was young,
but that passed.
My dad still thought he was maybe gonna be in the mafia
when we were young.
So he was still acting like one of those guys
from time to time.
So she was like, what the fuck?
You can't be like my father.
And they adored each other.
So absolutely.
And they were the funniest motherfuckers on the planet.
So that's why they love the Sopranos
because David Chase's writing is just like my mom's writing. My that's why they love the Sopranos because David Chase's writing is
just like my mom's writing. My mom's an incredible writer. I'm not just saying it because she's
my mom. Obviously I know good writing because I knew the Sopranos was fantastic early on.
But watching her teach writing actually is how I learned how to act. Didn't really take
any heavy, heavy acting classes, but hearing her
break a script down for her students and hearing her talk about how everything has to stay
active, how you have to have an objective, like all of the way she did that made it very
easy to understand how to become an actor.
And one of the things when I was like researching stuff, there was questions, like as I asked
one question, then another one came up and was, it was, did Adriana and Tony Soprano ever have sex?
Oh, you mean like, like did they?
Yeah.
Cause they never show it, but there's like,
I guess there's elements that kind of made the audience
wonder if there was ever a moment.
Yeah, I don't think so.
Yeah.
I think Adriana, I think everything, she led with her heart nonstop.
And I think that, I mean, she probably maybe could have, I mean, I mean, I was down with,
I was down with the whole scenario if that's what Adriana wanted to do.
Yeah. He was so sexy.
He was so sexy. Oh my God. He was so sexy.
I remember that other scene where he had, he was having the affair with the girl at
the Mercedes dealership or whatever.
And then she like called the house to tell Carmela.
Oh, Annabella.
Yeah.
Annabella, she was.
And the way when then he came in there and threw her on the bed and was like, don't you
ever call my fucking wife. I just remember remember where I was when I saw that scene.
It was just so good.
So sexy.
Well, okay, so you do all that,
and then you go on Sons of Anarchy,
and now you keep saying, I'm done with acting,
I'm hearing you in these other interviews,
I'm done with acting,
and I get why you think it's over for you and you're happy for it to be over.
And I kind of think people don't realize when someone does move on from it and do other
things they're like, how can that be?
Because it seems like everybody that has a desire is like, how could you ever turn down
something?
So, if the right thing came along, are you really going to be done, done?
Or is it just you don't want to be in the trailer, you don't want to have to answer
to anybody.
Why do you say that you think you're really done with acting?
I mean, I think I was done after Sopranos, to be honest with you.
I really, I felt like I got there, I did it.
I did what resonated for me without even knowing
that it did.
I thought if anything, I didn't wanna play in Italian.
I didn't wanna be stereotyped.
I didn't wanna be on television.
I wanted to be a film star.
When you're a kid, if you're gonna do this,
you wanna not be, they wanted to change my name.
They didn't want me to be Italian
because I'd be stereotyped.
It was a whole big thing back in those days.
Look at what happened now in this whole mess of Hollywood.
But back then it was a real big thing for Italians.
So, and the accent and that people just assumed
you were stupid if you were Italian kind of in a way,
which is so crazy because there's so many
Italian actors out there.
But so I never really felt like it was
what I wanted to do anymore.
I wanted to be with my with my ex at the time.
I was happy to just follow him.
I realized I was more like Adriana than I knew.
I would lead with love all the time and my heart and where my heart wanted to be.
And it wasn't in a fucking makeup trailer.
And yeah, sure, it was great to get a top spot reservation in a restaurant.
Like these were cool things that came with with the celebrity part of it.
But the rest of it, I never really cared about it.
And I took care of my nanny for many years, the lady that raised me.
And there was just a lot like she would get sick a lot.
And I couldn't show up to Sundance sometimes or I couldn't promote a film or
I didn't want to go to a festival,
whatever it was, it was just, people were abhorrent.
I didn't like the way people functioned in the industry
and how callous they were,
and how it just didn't matter.
Like humanity didn't matter even back then.
And look at it now.
I mean, really look at the way,
I mean, for me, I had to stop over the mandates.
I mean, and that was, and it wasn't like people say,
oh, you were canceled.
I'm like, no, I wasn't really canceled.
I pulled myself out because I knew I'm a crazy fucking hippie
and I just wasn't ready to do anything.
And then when they were like, you must do this
or you'll never work again.
And I was like,
wait a minute, now I really need to understand what all of this means. And once I started, listen, they should have just given me a script and said, show up and act instead of giving me this other
script, which was go research this instead. Because once I started researching what was happening
during that time, where I realized, fuck, I can't go back to this industry right now.
And you didn't think, you know, did anybody say,
okay, we get your position, get a fake card?
They did.
Okay.
They did and my daughter, I got everybody fake cards
and I felt really bad using it.
I couldn't, I felt bad sitting in a restaurant.
I got it to take them to see Hamilton when it came to LA.
And I remember being there in the audience
and thinking, and I was crying.
I actually, I was tearing up.
I was like, this is me, this is Adriana, here I am.
Haven't changed. I remember feeling like,
what if I'm hurting somebody? Like, what if? Like, what if I don't have the answers? And what if I
am, I shouldn't be here with all of these people? And I thought, I was just so like consumed with
confusion at that time of, anyhow, I was starting to lose money. Like I only
go job to job. I never was a career actor, no interest in it. Like I said, I wanted to
be with my family. Then I became a single mom. So, God, try to work me for my kids.
And how are you with the father of your kids?
Good. Good. It took a long time. It took a long time.
And how old are your kids now?
Lead with your heart. Lead with your heart. Not with this thing, you know. 16 and 13.
But my daughter was like, please don't use the card for work. She goes, you have a big
mouth. You'll end up saying the wrong thing. But I, more than anything, you taught us to
be a certain way and you taught us and I have no liar tattoos on my body and all kinds of things.
So she's like, I don't want you to lie. And I was like, I won't then. And I won't. And
I was like, but you might have to come out of school because of the mandates of the schools.
That was happening at the same time. And she's like, it's fine. We'll figure it all out.
So we were leaving LA. We were moving out of LA over the public schools and all that
stuff with the mandates. So that was how that happened. But then I got, listen, my house almost went into foreclosure and
when I tried to sell it, it flooded and it was, and the old lady was dying and I'm holding
her hand.
You mean the nanny, the nanny that raised you.
Yeah. I was literally holding her hand here and auditioning for something here.
I'm not used to auditioning either, like it was new for me.
Auditioning on tape?
Auditioning at all.
Oh, okay.
I just take jobs that, you know,
I took the jobs that would pay me to stay
raising my kids for years without having to work in between.
I would run out of money though.
I wasn't trying to save money, I was just trying to live.
You know? Right.
But I remember auditioning like this, holding her dying hand and then being like, so do
you guys, do you have any idea? They wanted me to do the part. Do you have any idea when
she's going to die? I was like, are you fucking people insane? Because I, they needed me to
leave and go on set to do this, this job. And I was like, okay, I'm done.
And that was the last job before the vaccine mandates.
So had I taken that job, I would have been okay.
But then I would have had to leave her while she was dying,
which I wouldn't have done.
And so I had choices to make
and my choices led me to OnlyFans.
Yes, granny porn.
My choices led me to a fan page on OnlyFans. Yes, granny porn. My choices led me to a fan page on OnlyFans
because I was getting censored on Instagram
nonstop anyway.
And now I'm 100% censored.
Like even if you look me up,
it'll say, are you sure you want to follow this page?
They are filled with misinformation and blah, blah, blah.
Oh, I see.
Okay, yeah.
So I, OnlyFans. so I went to OnlyFans
and that's how I saved my family.
And so you had to keep the house.
I kept my house.
And-
Now we're gonna try to sell it because we want to.
And now where do you wanna go from there?
So you're still in LA?
We're still here, yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I would love to go back to New York, but
it's the apocalypse. Yeah. And things, things are going to get worse right now.
So I, it was funny because, um, you know, there was a, you know,
you said in a show that sometimes your son, is he the 16 or is he 13?
He's a 13 year old. Um, sometimes like edits a video,
a photo for you on OnlyFans.
And you know, people are like, what?
Those are professional photos.
Okay.
That's not even edited, that picture.
Here's another one.
This one's really great.
Yeah, that's not really edited either too much.
Yeah.
No, he didn't, that's new.
That's a new one.
That's hot.
But yeah. That's in New York. That's a new one. That's hot. But yeah.
That's in New York.
That's in New York.
That's home.
But no, he edited a picture of me
where I look like a superhero.
Yeah.
I mean, he's the one who said it on the podcast
because it was my friend's podcast,
Jamie Lynn and Robert Eyler.
And Robert's like,
what do you think of your mom's podcast?
OnlyFans? OnlyFans.
And he's like, you know, he's such a little tough guy.
He's like, I edit some of those pictures. And it's like, you know, he's such a little tough guy. He's like, I
edit some of those pictures. And it's just, she makes like videos for, I don't know how
to do this shit. I don't know how to do any of it. And they didn't care that I did the
OnlyFans page. They were like, feet, do your feet. My OnlyFans page is like...
My son has said that too. Like, you know, and I've had people ask about whatever. My
younger son, one time we were driving past Blackac Chyna's house and he goes, Mom, will
your career ever get to a place where you have to do only fans?
You and me.
And I go, I don't think so because I have the podcast and whatever.
But also it's just another thing I don't have time to do.
But I totally get it.
And I think it was so smart because
you always were sexy. And then you do have this fan base that you can, you know, play
into the character of the mob wife and all that kind of stuff. And those guys will love
it and ask you questions. So it's more than just, you know, being sexy. And I think it
was really smart. I've been saying for years, I don't know why Britney Spears doesn't do OnlyFans.
Well, now I wonder why none of them do
because the photos they put on Instagram are so sexy.
You won't see pictures like that of me
from before my OnlyFans page.
There might be one where I didn't add for period panties,
which is hardly sexy,
but it's the only time you see me in my underwear
and maybe I put a bikini shot in the 4th of July.
But other than that, like, I don't know how to be this girl
who's like taking fucking selfies of myself
and like standing in a mirror and like,
who does that shit?
Well, apparently I do it now, but back in the day,
I never did it, but I took a shot.
I think it's so funny
because my sons helped me with this business too.
And I'm like, and we were doing a show in Vegas and I wanted to show a video, like,
you know, I stand up a little bit of this, but I do stand up.
And I want to share, my son was helping me.
He's a senior at ASU.
And the night before I went with my friends, we went to Thunder Down Under.
So of course I was pulled up on stage and everything.
And I wanted to show the video on stage the next day.
So as I'm like filming like the theater before we start,
there's my son and he's like talking to the guy,
like being like, yeah, this is the video.
And I'm like, oh my God, I made him edit the video
of this guy like shoving my face and his crotch
and my legs going like this and everything.
It was so corny.
Even though I didn't know what was happening, obviously this guy is like not getting hard
for me.
Like who cares?
But the fact that I'm like, okay, yeah.
And then he's like, okay, I think this part's boring.
But then this part where he spreads your legs, like we'll do, you know, speed it up and everything.
And I'm like, yeah, like, you know, it's whatever your business is.
But if they get that it's funny, I'm not having them edit a porno, like, you know, it's whatever your business is, but if they get that it's funny,
I'm not having them edit a porno, like, you know, whatever. So I thought that was, I totally saw
they were seeing child protective services after me. All the comments, all the kids read the
comments. I go, guys, you know, mommy doesn't read comments on anything ever. Half of my relationships ended
because all the men in my life will read comments.
I'm like, don't read the fucking comments.
Why would it end?
Because they didn't like to be mentioned in the comments
or they didn't like to be famous?
Just the insults, like just continuous fucking negative
bullshit that people spew all day.
It's like, get out from behind your computer and
live a life. Go love somebody or something.
Do you think that the boyfriends, how would it turn them off that people were saying mean
things to you? I don't see how that...
I think that they might say mean things about them from time to time.
That's what I think it is.
Yeah. They don't care about them saying mean shit about me.
When I talk about real housewives and stuff, I'm like, the reason so many Real Housewives end their marriages end is because
they think it's all great. Oh, I think camera should have been following me around my whole
life. And the husband has a few bucks and his life's come real easy to him. And then
all of a sudden they're on TV and the next day the guy's like, I'm
famous and everyone's like, you don't have a chin. And the guy's like, what? I'm worth
millions of dollars. And now, oh, you're right. I don't have a chin. And then they're like,
you were mean to her when you served her coffee. And then they start fighting and that's what
happens. And so on a lower level to be on Real Housewives.
Yeah. So I can get Robbie in trouble all day, my grumpy boyfriend.
What if someone did ask you to do Real Housewives of Beverly Hills?
I think the only way I could do it is if it's like the housewives of the Hollywood Hills,
Laurel Canyon, like the hippie housewives.
It'd have to be like the fucking filthy hippie housewives.
No, but what's fun is they like different people.
But look, I have to tell you, there was a crazy story
that happened in the real housewife world.
Who's that?
She's hot.
That's Dina Manzo.
And she was an original real housewife of New Jersey.
She's gorgeous.
She is gorgeous.
Well, let me tell you her story.
Is she a bitch?
No, she's the nicest.
You love her?
You love her?
I love her.
I met her, spit on the shelf.
Oh, wait.
Oh, he's going to prison.
No, this is what happened. So she...
Okay, this is a crazy story. Before the cameras came, she's one of ten. She also has a sister
named Caroline Manzo.
She has ten sisters that look like that?
No, there's boys and girls in their family.
There's ten of those?
She's fucking hot.
Okay, she's like, I think one of the younger ones.
Her older sister is Caroline, okay?
Caroline marries this guy named Albie or Albert Manzo.
No, Albert Manzo.
Her older sister marries Albert.
She gets married and gets divorced as a kid and then ends up falling in love with his
younger brother.
So now the sisters are both married to Manzos.
Okay.
And that marriage didn't go well for Dina and the Manzo brother.
And they end up getting divorced and she ends up dating somebody else.
And then that guy gets attacked in a parking lot, like a crowbar
or whatever, brutally attacked. And then this guy suddenly gets a free wedding at the place
that the Manzos run. And they found out that the Manzo ex-husband gave somebody in one of those families a
free wedding because that guy went and attacked her new man.
So that was his pay.
He was a contractor.
And so they were able to prove that he was the one, even though he didn't do it, that
he ordered that attack.
And now he got seven years.
Are these guys mafia? According to the older sister, Caroline, no,
they've just run the brownstone in New Jersey for years. However, Caroline also wrote a
letter, a character letter for this man. Who's this one? She's Caroline or Dina?
Dina. So Dina, her older sister, Caroline, wrote a character letter for her, in fact,
brother-in-law, but also like it's double brother-in-law, right? Because they're both
married to the brothers. And so that was like really for a guy that like, you know, attacked
my husband. Then there was a whole nother story that happened where they both were attacked
by someone in their home. She was attacked too, Dina. But that is not, I don't know if they can't figure out if you were responsible for that. That
was a whole nother thing. But this one, they were able to prove that her ex-husband Manzo was
responsible and now ex-husband Manzo is going to prison for seven years.
The sister's ex.
Yes.
This is her man. going to prison for seven years. And the sister's ex. Yes.
This is her man.
This is her man that she's smiling with.
That guy over there is her ex.
That's the brother.
The ex ordered the hit or beat up, not murder.
He's wearing a pinstripe suit.
That's a mafioso thing.
Forget about it.
But the thing that made it so juicy was the sister thing. Forget about it. But the thing that made it so juicy was the sister thing. And that's why
Real Housewives of New Jersey, when it began, was such a big deal. And I think it was either
Sopranos was still on or it was right after the Sopranos. And the fact that there was real family
involved, sisters and stuff, and then that this really happened. And, and yeah, and then yeah, there's the Manzo
grandfather, okay, the dad of these two guys. He was found in someone's trunk.
Oh, come on. These guys are fucking mafia. I'm not saying it. I'm just telling you the story.
Who's the guy who owns it? Don't come after me, Manzos.
Who's the show? Who's the guy? Who's the guy who owns all the TV shows?
Murdoch?
No, the guy who owns the freaking brav, the-
Andy Cohen?
That guy.
He's gotta know.
I don't think, I mean, I think it's pretty obvious
that there's, you know, something happening here.
But, and then I'm like-
Just ask the expert.
But I'm like, but then also, why would you, this is what always
praised me because there's a lot of criminals on Real Housewives shows.
Didn't the other one go the Gwadees?
Teresa Judice.
She did Prison For A Year.
How does she pronounce her name?
I say Judice, but then they say Gudechi.
There's two ways to say it. We said Gudis, so it's like,
we're all fucking this up, left and right.
Gudici.
And so yeah, she did.
Guido, she took us to Guido.
Her husband did four years and she went.
What did he do?
And did a year.
No, she did a year, then he did four years.
I only know who they are,
because she looks like my neighbor.
He did like mortgage fraud and stuff like that.
I feel like that had they not been on TV.
Like the sanitation department.
No, it really wasn't that big of a crime. I think there was more behind it.
Italians are involved. It's just a big crime anyways.
Yeah. And so then she, you know, was part of it because she signed the thing. So she had to do
a year, then he did four years, then he got-
She was in prison for a year?
Yeah, then he got deported. She was in jail for a year? She had to do a year, then he did four years, then he got deported.
She was in jail for a year?
She had to do jail for one year.
How did that work out? Does she have a show after that?
She made all these friends. She did yoga. She wrote a book. And then when she got out,
she got married to this other guy.
No. So she actually was in jail for a year. They didn't abuse her.
It's called camp. It is?
That's what they would refer to it. Really?
When I went away, that's a mafia thing, I guess. When she went away, they don't want to say
jail, prison. They let her cut her garlic real thin.
And then they like say camp. They call it camp.
She gets a cook in her cell and she cut her garlic real thin.
I think it was kind of like a camp thing. I think they had like the bunk beds and stuff.
I don't know.
And then she just like worked out
and there's a photo of her with all the other girls.
They like loved her.
Did she have cornrows?
Yeah, she let the hair go curly
and like she did the things like that.
I think then she came out and they held the show for her.
They knew that like, and then the famous scene,
they film it, she comes home at 5 a.m.
So she was still on the show when this happened?
They just basically didn't film for a year.
They waited for her.
Really?
Yeah, and then when she comes back,
he's like, how you doing?
Like, that's why they're divorced.
But when the girls come and hug her,
like I still get chills from it,
because she's a very dedicated mother to her daughter.
I think I might've seen a clip of that.
That was a while ago.
It's famous.
I don't watch the show, but I remember that,
because I remember her face, because she was so Italian.
Yeah.
And so, yeah, like it's just, and now these other shows,
there's criminals in every single franchise now.
Well, there's criminals all over
the motherfucking planet right now.
Yeah, but I'm like, it's always shocking
that someone is so arrogant and so narcissistic
that they think they can go on TV
while they're doing a completely shady thing and think that they're
going to get away with it.
It's a huge target on your back when you're on TV.
I always imagine with Teresa Giudice and her husband, I'm like, was the DA just getting
in bed and his wife was watching something and he was like, let me go check out these
people. Like where did it, like, she still doesn't know
how they were targeted, but we'll never know.
She used to blame her cast members.
She used to blame this one or the other girl.
She used to blame other people saying,
you know, you put the target on our back.
And it made it all so juicy, but-
Juicy.
That's where we're at.
Okay, getting back to you and then I'll let you go.
Okay, so now you have your OnlyFans,
you also have your clothing company,
which is pretty edgy fun stuff.
Mm-hmm, yeah.
And you have the jewelry line.
So tell us about those. Yes, also edgy.
Yeah, are you wearing some of it?
I am.
I have a big gun hanging around my neck right now.
Don't get scared.
Don't clutch your pearls.
Just clutch your guns.
We're living in dangerous times.
I think that's very cool looking and I think a lot of people will love it.
Yeah.
Back in the day.
What does that retail for?
These are gold plated.
They're heavy, you know,
it's a big thing.
I've been wearing it all summer before we launched it
to make sure it didn't do weird shit.
Okay.
Because a lot of jewelry does weird shit.
Okay.
And this is perfect, like not one,
it's still as gold as gold can be.
It's really, really well done.
This is like 120 maybe, and then we have nameplates because Adriana and her nameplates were very important.
That's the Tombstone collection, Know Who You Are kind of thing.
And then, I mean, you have a little one on.
What makes ours a little different is you can put a charm in here.
Okay.
Around the necklace?
Yeah, you can put it and it's sort of, you know, it connects to it. It's not hanging, it's in there.
That's unique.
Yeah, it's cute.
You can see them on the website,
but in that part of the protection collection,
these are the protection collection.
We have them hanging, we have them that go across
and you can put your name on it or you can,
it can say Ultra Free, like the name of our company,
because you wanna be Ultra Free,
because who doesn't wanna to be ultra free?
Yeah. For some reason, ultra free is a the word that gets me banned
every day on Instagram these days, because you can't talk about wanting to be that.
That's a four letter word. OK. But but yeah, the you know, some people
get a little freaked out by the guns.
But when I was on the Sopranos, everyone wanted my jewelry.
And I wore a revolver, because my ex's name is Shooter.
I wore bullets hanging from my ears,
which we're going to be doing also,
because I always hang my Italian horn from my hoop.
So we're doing that later.
But right now, we have the guns and the nameplates.
We'll do the pinky rings, too.
I see you looking at my pinky ring. You know, because you've got to have the guns and the nameplates. We'll do the pinky rings too. I see you looking at my pinky ring.
You know, because you got to have the initial pinky ring.
And what did you think about when the whole, when all of a sudden the mob wife aesthetic
became a trend like this past year?
It was right as we were going out to launch Ultra Free, which was really funny because
I was like, geez, I got to go and talk about this mob wife aesthetic thing.
What timing? This was my talk about this mob wife aesthetic thing. What timing.
This was my opinion on the mob wife aesthetic.
Why would anybody be hyped up on looking like a woman who gets cheat on, beat up,
and walks around with two black eyes and you need makeup now?
Like the mob wife aesthetic, everyone's doing makeup tutorials.
I'm like, make sure you have your black eye on before you start doing your tutorial. I was like, let's change
the name of this to Gangster Goddess. Come on, guys.
Yeah. I think there's what I always loved about it is that, you know, even though they're
murderers and awful people, there was always like a passion and the gifts like The same reason why people are pretty woman. It's like
Like but but he took her shopping like I don't know there's something about that
That's like we know it's wrong. We know these women aren't being treated right
But then there's this other part of women that love to be catered to taken care of given a box at dinner
Yeah of jewelry,
and that's a fantasy too.
So it's a fantasy.
Of course, I go both ways when it comes to that.
Hold the door open, I like being a chick.
Like I don't need, but I also am like a half a dude
in my own way.
But the mob wife aesthetic,
I think that the only show that ever showed strong women
in that world was The Sopranos.
All the other chicks in that world
were never really strong in the other films.
Sopranos, those women were ruling.
I mean, look at the mom.
I mean, she was in control of the whole fucking operation
there for a while, because she ran his emotions.
Yeah, that was so juicy.
It's so great.
Well, tell everybody where they can find your stuff.
At ultrafree.co.
And if you dare to look me up on Instagram, you have to put my whole entire name into
your feed.
Dreya D. Mateo, 2Ts.
And then also there's the link there for the clothing and the products and stuff, which
I think you'll really like.
Yeah, ultrafree with two A's.
I can talk to you forever, so we'll have to have you come back.
Okay.
And I liked explaining Housewives to you and getting your opinion.
I want to watch it with you right here.
We could do like a watching party.
We should do a watch thing.
I would love it.
Oh my God, the original episodes.
I don't know it.
The old stuff is the best.
That's the best.
I only want to watch Italian stuff.
Thank you.