Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald - Dying For Sex, White Lotus with Nikki Boyer

Episode Date: April 7, 2025

Dying For Sex is a new series on Hulu starring Michelle Williams. My return guest, Nikki Boyer created the hit podcast by the same name. It is the true story of Nikki and her best friend, Molly who we...nt on a sexual journey once she was diagnosed as terminal. Jenny Slate plays Nikki. We get into her story and the story behind it becoming a TV show and her role as executive producer on it. But first I cover The White Lotus finale and the latest on Blake Lively. Enjoy! • Find exactly what you’re booking for on https://Booking.com, Booking.yeah! • Reverse hair loss with @iRestorelaser and get $625 off with the code JUICYSCOOP at  https://www.irestorelaser.com/JUICYSCOOP ! #irestorepod • Listen to the original Dying for Sex—plus new bonus episodes—on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. • Upgrade your sleep during Boll & Branch’s Annual Spring Event! For a limited time get 20% off at https://BollAndBranch.com/juicyscoop  • For a limited time go to https://SpotandTango.com/juicyscoop and use code juicyscoop to get fifty percent off your first order.  Stand Up Tickets and info: https://heathermcdonald.net/ Subscribe to Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald and get extra juice on Patreon: https://bit.ly/JuicyScoopPod  https://www.patreon.com/juicyscoop  Shop Juicy Scoop Merch: https://juicyscoopshop.com  Follow Me on Social Media: Instagram: https://www/instagram.com/heathermcdonald  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@heathermcdonald  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 This episode of Juicy Scoop is brought to you by Booking.com, Booking.Yeah. Guys, summer's around the corner and I know we're thinking family vacations, let's take the kids somewhere, maybe you've got a couple weddings you want to hit. All of that involves booking the perfect place. That's why I love Booking.com, Booking.Yeah. No matter who you are, Booking.com helps you find the stay that's ridiculously right for you. Find exactly what you're booking for on Booking.com, Booking.com helps you find this day that's ridiculously right for you. Find exactly what you're booking for on Booking.com, Booking.Yeah. This podcast is brought to you by Aura.
Starting point is 00:00:33 Imagine waking up to find your bank account drained, bills for loans you never took out, a warrant for your arrest, all because someone committed a crime in your name. It sounds like a nightmare, but for millions of people each year, it's reality. And here's the scariest part. By the time companies tell you your data was stolen, it's already been nearly a year, 277 days. That's how long on average hackers have
Starting point is 00:01:01 to use your social security number, open accounts, take out loans and destroy your credit before you even know you've been exposed. By the time you get that breach notification email, the damage is done. Your identity stolen, your financial future at risk and the company that lost your data, they'll just apologize and move on. Hackers aren't waiting.
Starting point is 00:01:25 Why are you? This can all sound really scary, which is why I'm so glad we're partnering with Aura. Hackers don't wait, so why should you? Aura monitors the dark web 24 seven for your phone number, email and social security number, because the moment they show up for sale, criminals are ready to use them.
Starting point is 00:01:44 If Aura detects your info, you'll get an instant alert so you can act before the damage is done. What if your identity is already stolen? Criminals can take out loans, max out credit cards, and vanish. That's why Aura provides up to $5 million in identity theft insurance and a US-based fraud resolution team that works around the clock to shut down fraud fast and get your life back on track. Your personal data is a gold mine for hackers
Starting point is 00:02:11 and Aura helps lock it down. With a VPN for private browsing, data broker opt out to stop companies from selling your info and a password manager to help secure your accounts, Aura gives you the tools to fight back. For a limited time, Aura is offering our listeners a 14-day trial, plus a check of your data to see if your personal information has been leaked online. All for free when you visit aura.com slash defense.
Starting point is 00:02:39 That's aura.com slash defense to sign up for a 14-day free trial and start protecting you and your loved ones. That's A-U-R-A dot com slash defense. Certain terms apply, so be sure to check the site for details. Anyone who owns a home knows how much work it takes. Luckily, Angie's been connecting homeowners with skilled pros for 30 years, and they've made it easier than ever to tackle home projects. Angie's nationwide network has experts in over 50 categories from plumbing and landscaping to roofing and remodels. You can easily read reviews, see photos of past work, and request and compare quotes to find your best price. Join the millions of homeowners who use Angie to get the job done well.
Starting point is 00:03:21 Download the free Angie app today or visit angi.com. That's Ai.com. Her real life mystery, sacred serial data, and serial system. You'll be addicted and addicted fast to the number one tabloid real life podcast. Listen in, listen up. Woo woo. Hannah McDonald. Juicy Scoop. Hello and welcome to Juicy Scoop. We've got White Lotus, we've got Hot Topics, and we are dying for sex.
Starting point is 00:04:04 That's right. I have a great interview with Nikki Boyer who came on before. She is the executive producer of the hit show Dying for Sex starring Michelle Williams. Her character is Jenny Slates playing it. Amazing. We had such a juicy interview. It's so interesting how the TV was made, the truth behind their real life experience, and the podcast that inspired the TV show. So we have that interview, but first I have to talk about White Lotus. So I'm going to talk about White Lotus, but I know some of you are not interested and didn't watch it or are saving it, so you can skip about 12 minutes.
Starting point is 00:04:42 And then I do a couple hot topics, and then we've got a really juicy interview with Nikki Boyer about dying for sex. Okay, now let's get into the White Lotus finale. You know, this is the third season I've watched the first two. Still, my favorite was probably the first one, which was Hawaii. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. There's so few things that I'm like excited to watch on a weekly basis. So with that being said, let's get into it. I did have a hard time sleeping thinking about it constantly. So then it was good. If it kept you thinking, it was good. I know there's a lot of criticism out there, but I thought it was good for a lot of reasons. For one, my favorite thing in the whole series at the end was the massage therapist and her son, who was so cute, named Zion, was his character's name. He comes and I love that—I love their relationship. I love that
Starting point is 00:05:43 he was a business student. I love that he had his mom's back. I love that he encouraged her to be more ruthless in business and go to Tanya's husband and say a hundred's not enough. I thought they were going to go for a million and he went for five million and then she got up and then she was in on it. I just loved that they had such a special relationship. Being that my son's graduating from business school a little bit and he has a great business mind, I just liked that relationship more than anything.
Starting point is 00:06:17 The part that I think is really interesting that a lot of people might not be aware of is there was a storyline cut out of it. And that was of the three women that were in their late 40s, you know, high school childhood friends. The one woman who gives an incredible monologue at the final dinner with blonde hair, she was the woman who was an attorney and lived in New York and, you know, didn't seem to be not totally fitting in as well with her two best friends who was the actress and the girl who was religious and, you know, and talked about her pastor.
Starting point is 00:06:57 So the dynamic was all really interesting, especially to someone like me. But in that monologue, at the end, she says, and I'm just really happy to be here, and I'm happy that you have a beautiful face, to the actress, and I'm happy that you have a beautiful life. And I was like, okay, that's kind of a dig. Like why, if you really wanted to be nice to your friends where you kind of had a weird two weeks and there were some issues with them, but you are there, I'm like, I think she's saying this because she has had some weirdness in her life and with them. But at this point in her life, she does not want to lose them as friends, even though they kind of had a weird week and she doesn't know if she really even likes either one of
Starting point is 00:07:42 them. She doesn't, I think she knows, if we met, if I met them today, they wouldn't be my people, I wouldn't be friends with them. But we do have a history like sisters and I don't want to not be friends with them anymore. So I want to stay friends, I want to be invited to the next free trip by the actress. But at the same time, the fact that neither of them thought it was a dig, that she said to an actress that obviously is on a hit show that everybody loves, she's like, I'm glad that you have a pretty face or whatever she said.
Starting point is 00:08:12 Why wouldn't she have said, and I'm so glad that you are on this hit show that brings so many joy to so many people, it's really wonderful, and I'm so glad that you are just so happy in your community and where you live and the life that you like. She could have said it with that the compliment had more substance. Now, what I found out is she, what I thought was interesting in that model is she goes,
Starting point is 00:08:39 I thought it was gonna be, I thought my religion was gonna be my work. It wasn't that. I thought it was gonna be love. It wasn't that. I thought it was going to be – I thought my religion was going to be my work. It wasn't that. I thought it was going to be love. It wasn't that. I thought it was going to be motherhood. It certainly wasn't – that's not fulfilling me either, but it's time. And that was like – it was a really great monologue.
Starting point is 00:08:53 And however, I was like, oh, I didn't even know that her character had kids. None of them talked about their kids. So I was like, oh, I would have assumed maybe she didn't have kids and that was like one of her regrets of looking back. Well, one of her storylines that Mike White decided to cut out is that she had a child, a daughter who was non-binary, possibly trans. And Mike White decided to cut that out of the story after Trump won because he felt that out of the story after Trump won because he felt that it didn't have enough of a place in the series and therefore he didn't feel like he was giving it enough of a spotlight that it deserved. So therefore he just decided to remove it altogether.
Starting point is 00:09:40 I think that was a big mistake because I think that's really interesting and I think it would have added to what she was going through, what she was struggling with, you know, her position in New York, her life, how different her life looks than the Leslie Biz character who's at church in Texas. So that's pretty juicy. Wasn't aware of that until I started to like look up stuff last night. Of course, with the Southern family, the Parker Posey family, I thought it was really great. Coco Moco, who has been on my show, she, a video came
Starting point is 00:10:20 across that she put together that's all the moments that the dad said the exact same lines that Thomas Ravenel from Southern Charm on Bravo has said over the years and put them side by side. And I definitely think that those characters that he was inspired by, Southern Charm, I really do believe that, he said in his interview, Mike White, after the show ended, that he had seen or read something about a man who was facing financial ruin and rather than face his family and tell them that their lifestyle was changed, he annihilated the entire family. So I was just popped up and like nerves shaking when he was making these poisonous shakes
Starting point is 00:11:09 and decided that the one younger son could survive with less money, so therefore he wasn't going to let him drink it. Not thinking about how fucked up his life would be if he woke up the next day and his whole family was dead. And so when he has that second thought and knocks the drink out of the other son's hand, I really loved that storyline and I love that it ended that part because it was like, huh, you know, ending your life voluntarily and all that is such a horrible thing and maybe this will be a memorable scene to somebody if they ever are in dire straits. I do think it's a common story that happens with men whose whole identity is wrapped up
Starting point is 00:11:55 with their money and they're the main breadwinner. We saw it happen with that influencer recently in the Hamptons where her husband had ended his life for the exact same reasons rather than face it or tell her that, hey, we can't have a Hampton's House anymore. Hey, you can't shop here or whatever, get your extensions out. He'd rather, you know, he's in such a place where he goes there. It's like a very, it's not even like depression. It's like a real reason of why I can't go on because of this. So I thought that was great.
Starting point is 00:12:25 And then of course with the sun, I couldn't believe that the sun wouldn't rinse out the blender. But I was so happy that they let him live. That's who I cared about living. I never really cared that much about the English young girl with her bunny teeth, though I found her very appealing. I didn't really care about her relationship with that. I didn't care about that guy searching for his dad. That whole story, I was like, really? Somebody killed your dad and you're going to find him now at this point in your life and he was
Starting point is 00:13:00 killed when you were not? The whole thing, I don't know, it wasn't explained well enough. I kept waiting for there to be some other stronger connection to him and some of the other characters and there wasn't. But I was fascinated in the episode where she saw him again and she loved him so much. And she's like, if something bad happens to you, it happens to me. And she's like, if something bad happens to you, it happens to me. And it was like, I'm like, why are you, this young girl, so attached to this much older guy? Is it just because he took you two weeks to this very nice vacation? I mean, he isn't a billionaire. Why are you so in love with him?
Starting point is 00:13:39 But the fact that he loses it and kills the dad to only find out he is your father like that Star Wars moment, which I'm not a Star Wars person so I didn't like it. I was just told by my editor that one of the stories online was that the wife was going to turn out that she was trans and she was actually his father. I would have much preferred that as I think that would be a juicier twist. But anyway, then when his girlfriend ends up getting killed as well because he's so out for revenge and that whole storyline of like then the thing you love the most, very like Romeo and Juliet kind of a thing. But I'm like, dude, you never
Starting point is 00:14:22 cared about it. You didn't care when she was bit by the snake. You didn't care when she was like robbed at gunpoint or whatever happened at the store. You never really cared that much. You acted like she was like a mosquito around you the whole time. And now you're like, no, I really do love her. And so I think that's a good lesson for girls to see, to not throw away your life for a guy. Don't think that you can change them, especially when they're as old as he. No, they can do better.
Starting point is 00:14:51 You know how many women are in prison right now because of the man they were with? Either they were helping them out to do a drug deal or something, or they were complacent in some other crimes they were doing or put them above their children. Like, don't. No man is worth it, especially when they're running through danger. And then here they're taking the photo, gunshots are going, the three women are running and then we see them on the boat laughing, still having a great time, going back to the states. Maybe they were a little shaken up, but I think you'd be way more shaken up if you were dodging bullets and witnessed several people get killed right in front of you. So I didn't think that was very realistic. But I loved the final scene with Parker Posey and the three kids and the dad knowing that
Starting point is 00:15:49 once they get their phones back, the news is going to come that he's in trouble and their lives are going to change and he realizes we are a strong family. Of course, let's get to the incest. How great was it that just the little brother was a people pleaser? He wasn't necessarily in love with his brother or gay or whatever. He just said, I felt like you were left out and I know that how much you like to jerk off and so I just thought I would lean over and help you. I'm like, okay, I don't even think my sons will wash each other's plate if I ask them to. So thank God for that. But kind of like that there wasn't a little more to
Starting point is 00:16:33 it, that there wasn't some weird shit that happened. Oh, that we also never knew why Leslie Bibbs, the blonde cute girl from Texas, went up and said that to Parker Posey, oh, we spent a weekend together. We were at our friend's baby shower, our mutual friend. And she was so weird. Everybody thought that that would come back at the end of this series, that either she knew her or there was an affair or something.
Starting point is 00:17:01 No, she was just a dismissive bitch, really? It makes me wonder, just like the storyline that was cut about the non-binary daughter and they were supposed to say they them and then she would get confused by it or correct her friends, that whole story being cut out because Mike White felt it was not necessary. I'm like, was there something else cut out? But then you decided to keep that scene because you just loved the way Parker Posey was like, no, I don't know you. Hyper plays.
Starting point is 00:17:34 And I did love the scene when she came back from doing the Buddhist night and was just like, I don't think I can live like this. Like it is small and I mean that would be awful that you raise your daughter, what a religion and then she's going to just go be like a monk after you paid for all this college and everything and you don't know where she would end up after a year. It's weird. So I love that she was like, thank God. So all in all, like I love,
Starting point is 00:18:07 oh, the other thing I was gonna say is I was a little confused, I guess just the fact that the massage woman had some relationship with Tonya, Jennifer Coolidge in the first season and knew that he now is in Thailand was her husband at one time, I was like, well, she didn't really have anything on him. And if he's in Thailand and he bought this house and he could Google that he inherited
Starting point is 00:18:37 all this money from his wife, what does she really have on him? What does she know have on him? She hasn't, what does she know about the murder? Like that's what I didn't get, why he felt he had to give her so much money to silence her. And of course she shouldn't open a business with a guy that she knew for two weeks. And by the way, they didn't massage anybody. So like what is this special spa? Like really? Burke Williams is supposed to be shaking in their boots over this?
Starting point is 00:19:04 Like, and then she's going to, so I didn't feel like she screwed him over at all. What is the special spa? Like really? Burke Williams must be shaking in their boots over this. And then she's going to – so I didn't feel like she screwed him over at all. They hung out for one or two weeks in this resort. They boned once. And now – no, she should not share her five million and put him on – if she wants to open her own line of spas, she should make her son the CEO or the CFO and like do her own thing her own way. And so I love that she didn't like drag him along just because she had like a little fun vacation sex. So all in all, like really stuck with me. I love the show and I can't wait for
Starting point is 00:19:41 the next season, which I hope it doesn't. I hope we don't have to wait a year and a half. I hope it's like already being filmed or at least been written. So we talked about Blake Lively did a fun little PR thing helping with the donut shop. And you know, the girl can't catch a break. So a lot of people were made complaints, the fact that she got behind the counter
Starting point is 00:20:04 and was like doing something with donuts and had her hair out like mine, which you cannot do when you're working with food. You've got to do the hairnet, at least put it back. And so then this particular bakery was flooded with bad Yelp reviews to the point where Yelp had to like stop and really see how many were inspired in the last couple days over, you know, Blake Lively's flowing hair, interesting because she has the, you know, had the hair products and whatnot, and
Starting point is 00:20:31 what was truly, you know, a real disgruntled person that, you know, had a hard bagel two weeks ago. So you know, you got to be careful when you think you're going to have this great thing happen in this PR event for your bakery and then this happens. Also there was another story by the New York Post that Blake Lively revealed that it was her idea to touch co-star Henry Golding's privates while filming A Simple Favor. So I assume that was from the first Simple Favor, which was a very sexy show. Again, this is just the people are building their case of like that it's unbelievable to think that she was really feeling like
Starting point is 00:21:21 she was being sexually harassed by Justin Bell Doni. So that's another article. Now this one was so interesting. And this comes from Drama TikTok OQ is this girl's name who did this. And so she found an article in a long time ago, Blake Lively was on the cover of Marie Claire. And she did this interview, and this really stuck out to this creator, in which Blake said, when I was three, I was really tall, and my brother was a little nervous about going to kindergarten. So, my mom just sent me to kindergarten with him. And after a few weeks, they thought I had something wrong with me because I just
Starting point is 00:22:13 wanted to take naps and I couldn't like do the work because I was only three. And this story is 100% BS. It's 100% made up in my opinion because she grew up in Tarzana, which is where I grew up, and I also put my son in kindergarten for, like he went to one-year public kindergarten because his birthday was October 29th and the Catholic school wanted him to be the age before September 1st. And I was like, okay, he'll go to kindergarten and then just probably do kindergarten again, which he did. So we put him in the public school in kindergarten, which they would take him as long as he turns
Starting point is 00:22:56 five by like whatever, January 1st. Back then they probably have already moved it back. But you have to show birth certificates, all this stuff. You can't just put your kid in because that would be like, oh, I'm just looking for free daycare. Like, no, they would have had to have immunization shots and doctors. I mean, there's a lot you do. You don't just throw. So the story is just a weird story that just doesn't make sense. And in people grabbing all these interviews, it is strange, and it's funny. It almost sounds like a stand-up story or something that wasn't true. I'll give
Starting point is 00:23:35 her this. Maybe the mom told her that. Maybe the mom joked. Maybe it was the mom's story that said, oh, you know, you were so tall, you wanted to to school with him and one day I took you there and they're like, well, when is she ready to start? And I was like, oh my God, you know, like we don't know where the story really came, but there was no way that you were enrolled in school for weeks. And so again, it just adds to how truthful, how comfortable is she retelling stories that are not totally true or completely created? So that's where we are with that. This episode of Juicy Scoop is brought to
Starting point is 00:24:11 you by Booking.com, Booking.Yeah. Guys, summer's around the corner and I know we're thinking family vacations, let's take the kids somewhere, maybe you've got a couple weddings you want to hit. All of that involves booking the perfect place. That's why I love booking.com, booking.yeah. Because every time I use booking.com to find a place to stay in the US, I know they'll have exactly what I'm looking for. They have a huge variety of options from hotels to vacation rentals, and I'm always able to find something that fits my specific needs, like I'm sure you will as well. I know this summer, Peter and Drake are doing a golf trip and Brandon and Mackenzie and I want to go meet them at the
Starting point is 00:24:52 tail end of it. So when we go meet them, I've got Brandon and Mackenzie. So we're going to need two rooms so that Mackenzie and I will share. Brandon will have his own. We want to make sure that everybody can get up when they get up, get something to eat, go for a walk in a safe, cute neighborhood. And that's why I love Booking.com. No matter who you are, Booking.com helps you find this day that's ridiculously right for you. Find exactly what you're booking for on Booking.com, Booking.yeah. You guys know I've talked about iRestore, which is absolutely amazing for the regrowth of hair. But now I wanna tell you that there's even better results
Starting point is 00:25:31 with iRestore Elite. You pair it with the Revive and Max Growth Kit and the Revive Biotin Vitamin Gummies. The Revive and Max Growth Kit is like a full-on haircare squad that works from root to tip. So it includes the Advanced Hair Growth Formula, Thickening Shampoo, Thickening Conditioner and Growth Activated Serum.
Starting point is 00:25:53 Everything you need for healthier, fuller hair. Trust me, your hair will thank you. And if you subscribe and save, you can save 25% or more plus free shipping on the ultimate hair care upgrade. I absolutely love their Thickening Shampoo and Conditioner. It is making my hair feel fuller every day and it's just a great feeling when you're in the shower, lathering up, knowing that your hair is going to have awesome results. Give yourself the gift of hair confidence. This spring, for a limited time only, our Juicy Scoopers will get $625 off their iRestore Elite when
Starting point is 00:26:29 you use the code JUICYSCOOP at iRestore.com. That's $625 off iRestore Elite at iRestore.com with the promo code JUICYSCOOP. Please support our show and tell them we sent you. Hair loss is frustrating. You don't have to fight it alone, thanks to iRestore. Some people get a haircut or book a spontaneous trip when life throws them a curve ball. But Molly, she went a little further.
Starting point is 00:26:54 After a life-changing diagnosis, she dove headfirst into a world of no strings attached sex, secret rendezvous, forbidden affairs, sex capades, and unforgettable adventures. It wasn't just about pleasure, it was about feeling alive, embracing desire, and rewriting your own story. And every wild outrageous and heartfelt detail unfolds in Dying for Sex, Wondry's award-winning podcast that's now a TV series starring Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate.
Starting point is 00:27:22 But there's even more to the story. In brand new bonus episodes, host Nikki Boyer sits down with the cast to spill all the spicy details from behind the scenes moments to what it was really like bringing Molly's unforgettable journey to life. Desire, friendship, self-discovery, and the ultimate bucket list of pleasure. This is a story that had everyone talking. Listen to the original Dying for Sex plus new bonus episodes on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:27:48 Binge the original series before anyone else. Completely ad free on Wondery Plus. Hello and welcome to Juicy Scoop. I have returned guest, who has an incredible Hollywood success story, I think, as you're sitting here. Nikki Boyer, you guys may remember from my old Juicy Scoopers,
Starting point is 00:28:09 and you are probably familiar that she is the creator of the show that's now on FX, Dying for Sex, but the story behind it you would come on Juicy Scoop to talk about, because it is the story of you and your friend. And then it became a podcast, which why, that's why you were on Juicy Scoop in 2020, to promote this podcast that was on Wondry.
Starting point is 00:28:36 And now, and I remember we talked and I'm like, this could be a TV show. And you were like, so I wanna know, now that it's here, I wanna know like the whole process, because I didn't realize, I was like, oh, that was a pretty quick turnaround. I mean, it wasn't, it was four or five years ago. But it's so amazing.
Starting point is 00:28:56 So this is on FX, Michelle Williams plays your best friend. Yeah, she plays my wife. Where you guys came up with this whole thing based on her life. And then Jenny Slate plays you, which I think is really good casting. Right, agreed. Yes.
Starting point is 00:29:12 So, let's just go a little bit back. First of all, our history with each other is very much E-oriented. You were always like a panel girl, a red carpet girl. You're best, one of Ross Matthews' best friends. He has a lot of best friends, myself included, Drew and I included. But no, you guys really are close
Starting point is 00:29:34 and you've done a lot of podcasts and projects together. So we've known each other through that. We've been backstage together quite a bit. And at people's weddings together. We had so much fun at Ross's wedding. How fun was that? It was like the funnest. I'm like, can anybody else please get married again and have everyone I know go to it?
Starting point is 00:29:51 Yes, and go to Puerto Vallarta and be on a vacation together. OK. And free cocktails. That was the best time ever. Yeah. It was really fun. I think that was one of the most fun weddings I've had. Oh, I love that.
Starting point is 00:30:01 It was really good. I just love that man. He's just been a constant support to me. And it just, I mean, we've been friends Yeah, it was really good. I just love that man. He's just been a constant support to me. And I mean, we've been friends for over two decades almost. Yes. So yeah, and I married him and he married me. He married me and my husband and I married him in Wellington.
Starting point is 00:30:15 Isn't that cute? How did the two of you meet? On a red carpet. Oh, really? Yes. Yes, we met on a red carpet. I was actually working it. I was working it and then attending it. Okay. He was working it and I walked up to him. I mean, we have
Starting point is 00:30:30 a photo of this night. I look like a toddler in a dress. Like I'm so young. I was like 25. Yeah. And I walked up to him. I think I was a little tipsy. We started laughing. I was like, I think you're great. I didn't really know who he was, but I knew he was someone who did something fabulous. And I wrapped my leg around him and said, we're going to be best friends. So this is before Chelsea Lilley, but he was doing like tonight show Ross the Intern. Oh my gosh. That's so great. And I wrapped my whole body around him.
Starting point is 00:31:00 Not much. I can't believe he's called me back. But we've been friends since that night. I love it. Have you ever had a big fight? Such a good question. No. No.
Starting point is 00:31:14 That's great. I mean, we've had disagreements about things, but like he's really hard to fight with. I like to fight. I know. Yeah. No, he's just so good. He's such a good soul. Yes. No, we've never had a fight. We're gonna.
Starting point is 00:31:26 Yeah. He just inspired it. I'm gonna call him right now. Okay, so let's talk about, let's go back. I know I asked some of these questions five years ago. No, but I love it because you had your you said you said to me, this could be a TV show. And I was like, like, I couldn't say much, but I knew back then that it was on the road to that. OK. And I wanted to tell you, but I had, you know. And also, I was afraid to jinx it.
Starting point is 00:31:52 Right. You were so spot on. All the things that you said about this and that you kind of predicted all happened. So really, oh my god, now I want to go back and listen. Well, I had this prediction stuff that happens. Are you clairvoyant? Well, I just had a thing just the other day.
Starting point is 00:32:11 I was like, we're talking about Housewives. And I go, oh, I just got a prediction. It's not good. I feel like Gersel's gonna leave. And then she just made the announcement. And then within 12, like, I don't know, 20 hours later, I woke up to the announcement that she did leave. And so I 12, like, I don't know, 20 hours later, I woke up to the announcement that she did leave. And so I immediately was like,
Starting point is 00:32:28 oh my God, I have to do a video of like how one of mine come true. It's never anything like, it's not like I can predict like a war or an earthquake, but like, it's just kind of, it's stuff in the business too, but also like, I think I am a good manifester, but I also now like, I don't know,
Starting point is 00:32:45 something about being in the business long enough where I'm like, they should do this or I could see this happening or whatever. That's good. So take us a little bit back about your friendship. What was her name, by the way? Molly. Molly.
Starting point is 00:32:59 So how long had you guys been friends and what, like tell us about the friendship, how the friendship started. Yeah, we met in an acting class in Los Angeles in our early 20s. And I remember, I had like a pixie haircut at the time and was like, hey everyone, hi, like social in the room and kind of bouncing around and flirting
Starting point is 00:33:20 and trying to make everyone like think I was desirable and cute, cause I was 25 or 24. And I noticed Molly, and she at the time had really long brown hair and crystal blue eyes and was very striking. I always called her an alien model because she had these cheekbones and this perfect flawless skin, never really wore makeup.
Starting point is 00:33:40 And I just noticed her and she was a little quiet. Unbeknownst to me, she was completely judging me and was like, I don't like her. Because you're just too perky. You know that thing? Like, like, like, like, you know, But do you know the expression the pick me? I was a pick me with a pixie. That was me. I was, I would have punched myself in the face if I was this age now. I'd have been like, sit down, shut up, and just calm it down. And there were these guys in the class that were twin brothers.
Starting point is 00:34:11 And I had known them from working at restaurants previously. So we were talking and flirting. And Molly was like, oh, of course she knows the twins. Yeah. Flash forward a few weeks later, our acting teacher paired Molly and myself up together to work on a scene. And that changed the trajectory of everything because I don't know if we would have spent that time getting to know each other if we weren't working on a scene. So
Starting point is 00:34:35 I think I think I need to send that acting teacher a thank you card because I never really put that together. So then you become good really good friends. And at that time, were you both single? Or was she with her husband? No, because I was actually with her the day she met her husband at a restaurant. We were together. I was already dating my ex-husband now. And so Molly was very much, she was kind of the friend where
Starting point is 00:35:06 you become fast friends and then you can go a few months and not talk. And then the next thing you know is you see each other 55 times. And then so we had this ebb and flow in our relationship, but she was always a steady, but she wasn't the kind of friend that I would invite to like a happy hour or a party because she didn't drink. And we did best one on one. Like we just really wanted to be together. So I always saw her very separately. She wasn't kind of like the friend's friend. So our time together was always really intense and intimate and fun, but it was always really one on one, like six hour lunch one on one. Yeah. So then what happened first? Did you, were you just being friends and she found out she had this severe cancer diagnosis? Or were you already working on something creatively together and then heard it?
Starting point is 00:35:55 That's such a good question because I think we always secretly wanted to work on something. We just didn't know what because I was an actor and a host and she was really a writer so that we couldn't find anything to match up on but when she got diagnosed with cancer the first time she beat it. Double mastectomy went through chemo, radiation, the whole buffet as she calls it and then was in remission and then I remember when she called me and said something was going on with her hip and this was like five six years later and I just I didn't even think anything of it I was like that's probably because you're just on the elliptical too much.
Starting point is 00:36:27 And then she called and said, no, actually the cancer is back. And that's when they diagnosed her as metastatic, which is terminal. And that is the moment that everything shifted in our friendship really, because we started to work together, but also in her sex life, because she said, I do not want to live my last years in the way that I've been living. So she decided to leave her marriage in her as she's like the sickest she's ever been, decides to leave her marriage, gets an apartment near me, and decides to go on this, I mean, sexual journey of like having as much sex and as much fun, doing as much
Starting point is 00:37:06 fun physically with her body that she possibly could. And that was the moment when she was telling me we were in front of Trader Joe's on Hazelton and she's like, Oh my god, I just had sex this morning. I'm like, it's 11am. Where were you? And she's like, well, we met at the Dunkin Donuts and we made out in the parking lot. And then we and I'm like, who has sex at 9am at Dunkin Donuts? And I'm like, who has sex at 9 a.m. at Dunkin Donuts? And I'm like, I literally said, Heather, this is a show in my mind. And then I said to Molly, this is a show. And I said, and I think it's called Dying for Sex. Like the title just like came to me and she was like, let's do it. We didn't know what the hell it was going
Starting point is 00:37:39 to be. You're like, I don't know what this is. But we decided in that moment, we were going to do something together. And then we did. So then how did it work? Like, were you, because I can't remember, were you like writing? Did you put down a tape recorder? Like, did you think a podcast at this time? Because what year was this?
Starting point is 00:37:57 This was 2016. So like, you know how podcasts- But didn't you have, were you working, Ross had one before me, but that was not with you I don't think. So do you have one at that point? No, no. Okay. The closest thing I had done to a podcast was dip in and hang out with Ross.
Starting point is 00:38:16 But like, I didn't really understand what a podcast was, to be honest, and especially the kind that Wondry does, where it's like a limited series podcast. So this is so cool because it brings it back to Ross. Oh yes, I was doing that show with Ross because the CEO of Wondry came in to say hi to Ross and I was like, oh hi, nice to meet you. So flash forward years later. Wait, hold on, I also wanna say,
Starting point is 00:38:42 sorry to bring it back to me. I love bringing it back to you. First of all, Ross is the one who said I should have a podcast. To you. When he was at podcast one and then I did podcast one. But then when I left and went to Wondery, I introduced Wondery to Hernan. Wait, what? Yes, because then Ross was at Wondery for a minute, right?
Starting point is 00:39:01 You introduced Ross, Hernan to Ross? Yes. So I have you to thank. I guess so. Let's really bring it back to you. Because Ross was at Wondery for a minute. Yeah. And that's when I met Hernan, who was the CEO at the time.
Starting point is 00:39:14 He came in, I met him briefly, and then it was kind of a, you know, it's nice to meet you. And then flash forward when Molly and I were like, do we make a TV show? Do we make, what do we do? Like, how do we do this? Do we write a one sheet? I mean, I've been in the business for a long time. Where you pitch a show, yeah.
Starting point is 00:39:28 But there's no real formula of how to pitch a show. And she wanted to write it. And so we started a script, and we started a one sheet. And then eventually, we were like, we should just start getting pitch meetings. And we pitched it. I went to New York. I took like five or six meetings.
Starting point is 00:39:43 For it to be a scripted series. For it to be a scripted series. But everyone we met with, they were lovely, but they didn't quite understand the depth of it. And when you're dealing with someone who is terminal and who is very creatively, has a lot of creative integrity like Molly did, she didn't want it cheap in it. She didn't want it to be like Sex in the City, you know, which I love Sex in the City. But she didn't want it to be, she wanted it to be unlike anything anybody had ever seen. And I was like, well, that's a tall order, my friend. But she was right.
Starting point is 00:40:14 Because it didn't need to be like a Cosmo article about girls and cocktails and sex, because it wasn't about that. It was about getting really comfortable in your body, healing old wounds, all that, blah, blah, blah. So we decided to sit down and start recording. A friend of mine owned a production company and was like, you should just, let's just get some studio time. And we did exactly what you and I are doing. But we spent hours and hours sifting through all of our sexual
Starting point is 00:40:40 escapades and going through like, let's pair this guy with this guy and that'll be an episode. And so we recorded a bunch. And then I said, wait, that guy from Wondry, should I send like, maybe I'll reach out to him. And so by that time, Heather, Molly got really sick. And she was in the hospital. And we realized she wasn't coming out of the hospital. So I emailed her non. And he came to the hospital and met Molly on her deathbed on February 14th on Valentine's Day, three weeks before she died. And he's like, we're going to do something. We'll do something with your story. We're going to make this something amazing.
Starting point is 00:41:16 I mean, how great is that? And then also the other thought was really interesting that I remember from our last interview is that she like willed you Mm-hmm her life story. Yeah, how does that work? Like she gives you the IP the internet the intellectual property, which we just said on another show That that's all the thing. That's the only thing that's selling right now Like like fresh creative ideas that aren't based in true life or based on a documentary or something, for whatever reason, they're not going for those.
Starting point is 00:41:48 So this already was something that people were looking to do. Yeah, and it's funny because now I have my own production company and I'm getting people's IP and I'm now, like because of Molly, I'm able to now tell other people's stories. But you're right, there was something really raw and special about it.
Starting point is 00:42:06 But I don't think we knew, I think we thought it'd be really fun to record Let's Make a Podcast. And I really did think that would be the end of it. But when Wondry paired me up with Stephanie Jens, who was my producer, at that time. Your podcast producer. My podcast producer at Wondry. She sifted through everything with me
Starting point is 00:42:24 in a way that was just unreal. Like went through Molly's book, went through old recordings, went through, we did interviews with some of the guys she had slept with. But taking it back to your original question, which I forgot because I'm going to pause. Which was about her willing you, even though, because, you know, I assume she had some living relatives. She had the now, was he officially the ex-husband? No, not officially. So she had a husband.
Starting point is 00:42:49 So like, that's a very conscious thing that she did. What was that discussion like? It was, it's funny you ask that because I hadn't thought about it in a really long time, but looking back, like we were full on doing business in her hospital bed. We had, she was like, I need to will you my book, my likeness, all my photos, my phone,
Starting point is 00:43:11 every, everything about me I have to will to you. And I was like, okay, can't we just like. How did she know to do that? She is so fucking smart. She was just a really smart woman. And she also knew that legally we needed to have a document to give it to some, I mean, right, just a random friend, but you know what I mean, not a family member. So we were taking meetings with, like we had a lawyer, my lawyer, we had her family lawyer in the room coming
Starting point is 00:43:39 in drafting things up. We were talking and laughing. It made us feel so normal. Like we were still working together, but she willed me everything. So I think she secretly knew deep down, like that this was going to do something or why would you go to such great lengths? But she wanted to protect it. So so that I had the free will to do what I wanted with it. I know, isn't she cool? There was, by the way, there was this lawyer that came in and she was so sick and she was, I mean, she was months from dying and didn't leave the hospital for that chunk of time. She was very, very sick, but still had her sense of humor. And there was the lawyer that came in
Starting point is 00:44:15 and he had on an interesting hat and she's like half out of it and she looks up and she goes, ahoy, matey. And I was like, oh, no. He had like a sailor kind of a hat. So I still don't remember his name, but I just know every time he came in, we'd say ahoy, matey, and he didn't know why.
Starting point is 00:44:33 So we were still laughing when we were like, getting this legal stuff all figured out. It's one of my favorite stories about her. And so did she have parents, and how did they feel about the fact that she was just being a reckless, you know, sex fiend in her last, like what, year of her life? Yeah, well, I'd say two to three years.
Starting point is 00:44:53 Oh, okay. Yeah, she went for it. So, and it ebbed and flowed with her illness, right? Some days she'd feel great and some days she'd be wiped out. But yeah, for about a couple of years, I think off and on, she was having these little fun sex, sexcapades. But her dad, I mean, no dad wants to think of their daughter in that way, but fully supported it was just like, you do you enjoy, right? Yeah. And I think her mom was a little like, oh, okay. All right.
Starting point is 00:45:20 Well, but there wasn't a ton of parental judgment. What was her relationship with sex prior to this? Was she very monogamous? Was she religious? Why did she feel that she hadn't done everything she wanted to do in that department of life? Well, she writes in her book, so I always like to bring it back to her own experience of when she was a little girl.
Starting point is 00:45:42 And she speaks about this on the podcast and in her book. But something really tragic happened to her when she was seven years old. She was sexually molested by someone in her mom's life. And I think in that moment, and she says it, that she was kind of split and kind of fractured in that moment. And then sex became really uncomfortable and weird, and she didn't quite heal from that. So then when she was looking for partners, she was really looking for safety.
Starting point is 00:46:10 And there was really not, like, she didn't really screw around like I did in my 20s. Like, my 20s were just, like, dancing around and having sex with whomever I wanted to, and she wasn't doing that. So I don't think she ever got that. And then she immediately got into a monogamous relationship and then gets cancer and then loses really the drive for sex.
Starting point is 00:46:34 But then when she got diagnosed as metastatic and terminal, something shifted and the fire was lit. And she was like, couldn't wait to have sex with people. And how does she, I'm sure we'll see it in the scripted show, but like, how does she tell her husband? Cause did they have, did he think they had a decent marriage anyway? Here he had stuck by her side through these illnesses.
Starting point is 00:46:58 With that, what was that like to tell somebody like, hi, life is short and I don't want to spend it with you. I want to like be, I want to spend it with you. I want to see 12 other dicks this week. I think it started off as cyber sex, right? Who says cyber sex? It starts off as cyber sex, but at the time that's what we called it. I think he was really open to her doing that. You mean just like virtual?
Starting point is 00:47:22 Yeah, virtual. Okay. Well, I'm like, do you mean you meet someone online? Because doesn't everyone meet someone online? But meaning not talk, not meeting anybody in person. And then she can kind of confessed it to him and said, I've been sort of exchanging these. And he was very supportive because he understood he was also her caretaker at the time. Yeah. And it's that dynamic I can't even. Yeah. Dip into trying to be sexual while also caring for someone or being cared for.
Starting point is 00:47:53 And I just don't think that that was a part of Molly that she had really tapped into and picked a partner that maybe didn't match up with the desire she was having now. So I feel like he was really supportive at first. And then I think when she wanted to take it into real life, that's when the separation happened. So yeah, it was not comfortable at all. But at first there was a lot of support there of like, yes, you wanna get into your body and feel sexual
Starting point is 00:48:19 and maybe this virtual sex is the answer for you now, but she wanted to take it into the real world. So she moved out. So, okay, so then when you decide you're gonna go with Wondry and do the podcast, was the desire to go with Wondry over anybody else because he was like, I think we can make this a TV show. So I sent the email to the CEO of Wondry with,
Starting point is 00:48:41 now at this point, Molly was about a month away from passing. I didn't really know that, but I knew we were getting close. And I thought, I have these 10 episodes of my best friend and I don't want her, ugh, makes me so sad. I don't want her to die without knowing, with thinking this is just in my computer and not in the world.
Starting point is 00:49:01 So I was gonna release it on my YouTube page. And I was getting ready to put the episodes up and just release it. And I thought, I'm going to email that guy from Wondry Back, Hernan. I'm going to email him back because I never heard back from him. So I said, hi, following up on this email, never heard back from you. I'm going to release these in the next four to five days. Let me know if you'd like to speak. So you gave him to him to listen to too? Yeah, I sent him in a random email.
Starting point is 00:49:26 I had sent it like maybe a month prior and then I never heard back. And this is such a good lesson of like always follow up because he never got that first email. He's like, I either didn't get it or I got lost in the shuffle. Do not release them. Come to my office and let's have a chat.
Starting point is 00:49:40 So I went in, I met with him. And then five, six days later, he went to the hospital and met Molly. And it was all just very, I don't know, I hadn't thought to go to another podcast company. I hadn't really, I just kept thinking, oh, I met that guy through Ross. Ross met him through you.
Starting point is 00:49:58 So really, thank you. Back to you. Oh no, please. No, but I am. Those kinds of things are not an accident. Those things happen for a reason. And I do. I think if I would have released it on YouTube,
Starting point is 00:50:11 it would have been a really great homage to my best friend. But now it's like this powerful story that I could tell, not just from my perspective, but my other producer Stephanie Jens helped me really sift through and go, what's going to make this? What is going to make Molly's out there journey? What's going to make it understand, be understood by other people? How do we tap into this humanity of this? And I don't think I knew what that was at that time until I went through that process. So you guys do the podcast,
Starting point is 00:50:45 and then how does it come about to we wanna make this a show? So Molly passes, an entire year later the podcast is released on Valentine's Day, or Gallentine's Day they call it. Do you know what Gallentine's Day is? Yeah, it's just for girls. It's just celebrating the love of girls.
Starting point is 00:51:04 I didn't know when it was until then, which I love. Yeah. So we released it. And then before the show had even, I think, gotten to the air with Wondry, like episode one hadn't been released yet, we were taking meetings with amazing showrunners. Because Aaron Hart, who works over at Wondry,
Starting point is 00:51:23 he's a TV guy over there. We were setting up meetings. So we were meeting with showrunners, meeting with people that were interested in the story. I mean, I had heard rough cuts and they had heard rough cuts, but there was already this weird thing. And I'm going to these meetings, Heather, and I'm all dressed up and I'm thinking that I'm pitching to the showrunners. Like, here's my story. Hope you want to... But they were actually... They were pitching themselves to us to produce the show, which I had never been in that position.
Starting point is 00:51:53 Never been in that position. No, no, never in like only anything, but like hopefully they'll give me a validation for the parking when this never goes anywhere. A hundred percent. I was still the pick me girl. I was still like, Hey, everyone, so welcome. Thanks for coming. And there were all the people from my friends from Wondery
Starting point is 00:52:09 were all like, why are you so? We're choosing like we are this like we're the hot, you know, selling, we're the listing on the street and it's a hot market and everyone wants to buy us. And then I started to get clear about how powerful the story was, which I knew, but I don't think I knew knew. And then we took meetings and then eventually we met with Liz Merriweather, who is my showrunner. And then she... And what are some other things that she's done? Because I know the name is familiar to people. Liz did the dropout, which was the...
Starting point is 00:52:41 One drop. Oh my God, that's good. What would you do if you could save your Uncle from dying of cancer. I love I love anything Elizabeth Holmes related. I You know, she's in prison with a former Real Housewife Jen Shaw and they are pickleball partners. No in prison. Of course, you know this what yes to play pickleball in prison They all do now. Oh gosh. It's a big it's a big deal in prison. Of course you know this. What? Yes. Who gets to play pickleball in prison? They all do now. Oh, gosh. It's a big deal in prison.
Starting point is 00:53:09 I play pickleball down in the desert. I don't play pickleball. I bought a pickleball. Oh my god, I love pickleball. It's not going away. And I'm thrilled. OK, well, we need to do that. I love it.
Starting point is 00:53:17 I love it. OK, continue. So Liz Merryweather did the dropout. But before that, she did New Girl. So she had great, great comedy chops, understood, like really telling fun, deep stories that were very funny, great sense of humor, and then the dropout. And so when I met with her, when we met with her, I just could... And the dropout had like weird funny moments too.
Starting point is 00:53:40 Yeah, it did, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And she's just so amazing. And then she brought in her partner, Kim Rosenstock. So I had two amazing women. She was only murders in the belly. Like just, I mean, hello. So yeah, we started working.
Starting point is 00:53:53 It was a very long process though, because we met in January, 2020 and then COVID hit. And then all the strikes. So here we are five years later and the show is coming out. And then this and what I love is so it's on FX but then of course you can stream it on Hulu as well. It's only on Hulu. So I think there's a lot of, it's FX for Hulu. Got it, got it. Right. And Disney Plus which always makes me laugh when I'm like watching Dying for Sex on Disney. I honestly have such a hard time, like even figuring out TV.
Starting point is 00:54:26 Like I'm like, someone's like, oh, it's on Lifetime. I go, I don't even know how to watch Lifetime. That's when you just take your remote and go look for the show. I need to do all that stuff because it's like, but Hulu, I know how to do that. I know I had my app has, I do the little house. That's all you got to do. And then I go to the thing and then I can click on that and I can get that.
Starting point is 00:54:46 So that's good. And on April 4th, it was so easy. You don't have to, just like one button. I was like, what are you gonna do if I've got it? I'm like, I'm gonna hire a little man that like lives in the house. That's not as scared to like light the fire pit. I'm scared to light a fire pit.
Starting point is 00:55:01 I don't know how to work the TVs. I'm just like, whatever. And I was worried about sounding old saying sober sex. You're like, no, you're in good company. It binges, you can binge it. Okay, great. So April 4th, all eight episodes drop on Hulu or Disney Plus produced by FX.
Starting point is 00:55:15 And it's just, I mean. Okay, guys, have you found that you're waking up in the middle of the night just a little too often and then you grab your phone and you spent waste two hours of your life on TikTok or is that just me? Well, I was and I did some changes. Now I put the phone away, but I also switched to Boll and Branch Sheets. And guys, it's life-changing. They are the softest, most luxurious. I cannot wait to get in my bed at night. It feels great against my skin. I cannot wait to get in my bed at night. It feels great against my skin.
Starting point is 00:55:45 It's so soft. What I really love about the sheets is they actually get softer over time. I've had them for a couple months now, so we've washed them several times and they actually get softer. How is that even possible? So it just every night just gets better
Starting point is 00:56:00 when I'm sleeping on Bowlin' Branch. Upgrade your sleep during Bowlin' Branch's annual spring event for a limited time. Get 20% off at bowlinbranch.com slash juicy scoop. That's bowlinbranch, B-O-L-L-A-N-D, branch.com slash juicy scoop to take 20% off site-wide for a limited time. Exclusions apply, see site for details.
Starting point is 00:56:23 This podcast is brought to you by Aura. By the time you hear about a data breach, your information has already been exposed for months. On average, companies take 277 days to report a breach. That's nine months where hackers have access to your personal data, your name, address, phone number, even your social security number, before you even know it's out there. Think about it.
Starting point is 00:56:49 Nine months is enough time for criminals to open accounts in your name, rack up debt, and disappear. All while you're left dealing with the mess. And when the company finally tells you, it's too late. The damage is already done. Data breaches aren't slowing down. They're getting bigger, and the delays in reporting them aren't helping.
Starting point is 00:57:09 Right now, your personal information could already be on the dark web, and you wouldn't even know it. How long do you want to wait before taking action? That's why we're thrilled to partner with Aura. Aura monitors the dark web for users' phone numbers, emails, and social security numbers, delivering real-time alerts if any suspicious activity is detected.
Starting point is 00:57:28 Additionally, Aura provides up to $5 million in identity theft insurance, offering a robust safety net in the event of a worst-case scenario. Aura goes the extra mile by scanning the dark web for your sensitive info and alerting you instantly if anything is found. And if ID theft strikes, no need to panic. Or as US based 24 seven broad resolution team works around the clock to fix it fast and get you back on track. Or is a complete online safety toolkit, which includes a variety of other
Starting point is 00:57:57 features to keep you safe online, including a VPN for secure browsing, data broker opt out to stop companies from selling your personal information, a password manager to help you create and store strong passwords and more. For a limited time, Aura is offering our listeners a 14-day trial plus a check of your data to see if your personal information has been leaked online, all for free when you visit aura.com slash defense.
Starting point is 00:58:21 That's aura.com slash defense to sign up for a 14 day free trial and start protecting you and your loved ones. That's a u r a.com slash defense. Certain terms apply, so be sure to check the site for details. So now, did you ever have any like shortlist or who you thought could play you because it's really the friendship of the of you and and Molly. Yeah here's the cute part about Molly is whenever we would do that fantasy like who would play you in a movie. Yeah. By the way who would play you in a movie
Starting point is 00:58:56 or a tv show. I actually have no idea. I mean I would have to explore well I'm hoping that when I sell my TV show, which by the way, I have the perfect show. It's my book, You'll Never Blue Ball in this Town Again, which is about my life from 18 to 30. I'm the opposite of your friend. I was an old virgin. I didn't have sex until I was 27,
Starting point is 00:59:18 but I would never admit it. I'd act like I was kind of slutty on stage. I'd write all those slut jokes. I would dry hump a lot and I never understood. But then I was so old. You dry hump people or things? No, people. I just like, and then I would,
Starting point is 00:59:35 I was like, well now I've waited this long. Like, I don't want to just sleep with someone. So I'll just have to wait till he's my boyfriend. But then in that day and age, the 90s, like after guys and back then guys took you out on dates. So it's like, pick me up, take me, I always had like a nice meal that they paid for. And then like, I'd make out, no,
Starting point is 00:59:55 I'm not gonna sleep with you. And by the third date, they were like, this chick just doesn't like me. And then I was like, well, I'm waiting for you to say you're my boy, but I never said I was like a virgin. So there's all these stories that I had. So I wrote a book about that.
Starting point is 01:00:08 And then when it came out in 2010, it was weird because I was kind of like, well, now there's texting and all this. But the thing that makes it work is that it was the 90s, and there was answering machines, and leaving a message, and you could play the rules. And it was the 90s and there was answering machines and leaving a message and you could play the rules and it was a whole different thing. So now I feel that that could be a show now. Because I feel like Gen Z is thirsty for the 90s.
Starting point is 01:00:37 They're like, what's it like to have dated without social media and without phones and like, what is that even like? And so- I love this idea. But I don't know who could play me. I'm sure people sound off in comments, emailing who you think like would be a 25 year old version of me.
Starting point is 01:00:58 I wouldn't come here. Only once did I have someone do me. For like be a young me. And it was ghost stories. Remember ghost stories? Celebrity ghost stories. Who played you? Just some girl, but it was like a very,
Starting point is 01:01:13 she didn't look anything like me. I'm tall, she was short. Not to be a bitch, but like I didn't think she was cute enough. And I was just kind of like, and I'm watching this weird thing because it's like me like telling a scary story about this ghost story that was pretty much BS, by the way. Well, it was like literally I did have a it was weird because the night before I was at
Starting point is 01:01:36 the London hotel and in New York doing like a press thing for E or whatever. And I was kind of buzzed, but I had this very vivid weird dream where like this, I felt like a press thing for E or whatever. And I was kind of buzzed, but I had this very vivid weird dream where like this, I felt like a man's like hairy arm in my bed and it was just felt weird. And I woke up like, that's such a weird dream. While I'm in the airport to fly home, my like agent or PR guy is like, have you ever had a ghost encounter?
Starting point is 01:02:01 Like celebrity ghost stories are looking for like people to do it. And I was like, hi, I kind of had one last night. And then I'm like, what does it pay? And he's like $6,000. One day and I'm like, yes, it was terrifying. And so I like my life is forever changed from that. Like before I got the producer, I talked to my friend who's like into like ghost hunting,
Starting point is 01:02:21 whatever. And she's like, if you're in a hotel, say that the air kept getting cold and hot and cold and hot. And then I was like, also I kept misplacing my lip liner. So then I was like, was my like potential like ghost rapist like trans? Like, I don't know, but like, I was like, cause I told the whole story about the lip liner kept being like moved.
Starting point is 01:02:42 And then I was like, what is this story? Anyway, so we do it. My husband has never laughed hard because he never seen me be on TV, not being like funny, like not doing like a Chelsea. And so, going back to the story, that is when they, then they go, I go, I was, you know, I go, oh, every time I travel, I'm very organized,
Starting point is 01:03:03 which I'm not organized at all. So I said, Why are you such a liar on time I travel, I'm very organized, which I'm not organized at all. So I said- Why are you such a liar on ghost stories? I'm like, very organized. I put my makeup and my lip liners in here and so, cause that was a big story that the lip liner kept getting moved. And so then they show this girl like holding a mic,
Starting point is 01:03:16 like, and I was like, what? That's me? I didn't like it. So you have Jenny Slate play you. and I do think that's a good match. So like how, and she's a great actress and she's funny and then Michelle Williams, of course. But you know, I just think the age and just their vibe, obviously they don't like necessarily look like you guys.
Starting point is 01:03:42 But how did the discussion come of casting? Well, when we brought Liz Merriwether on and Kimberlyn Stock as our showrunners, then all of a sudden I started getting emails from agents and people kind of pitching me, celebrities, which was so fascinating to get an email from a really, really famous person's agent saying, hey, take a look at her reel. And here I am sitting and I can't say any names. I wish I could because I was just like, I'm going to be watching blah, blah, blah's reel to be like, is she good enough? You know, is she good enough to play me? So weird. And there were so many options for Nikki, but they really couldn't cast Nikki,
Starting point is 01:04:23 really, until they got their Molly. And Michelle, I think, had gotten pregnant and had a baby, and then the strikes, and then it just kind of, it kept going and going. And finally, once Michelle locked in, we were off to the races because we knew we had the perfect Molly. She looks like her, she embodies her,
Starting point is 01:04:40 she is like so good as Molly. And then after that, we were like... Now, with someone at that caliber, they don't have to read or anything. They don't have to audition. I don't think so. No, right. But you know what?
Starting point is 01:04:52 Jenny came in and did a chemistry read with Michelle. Oh, okay. She came in and did it. She was like, of course. And I love her. Yeah. She went in and once they got together, it was like fire.
Starting point is 01:05:01 And they just knew that she was right for the role of Nicky. And I can't think of a better Nikki. And how did they do a chemistry test? They actually gave them a scene to do? Yeah, so I believe, okay, Gina Bacharach, I don't know if you know her, she casts the bear. She's amazing and Jessica Daniels are the casting director. So they facilitate that Michelle comes in,
Starting point is 01:05:18 Liz, I think Liz was in the room and Jenny comes in and just like in a room like this with two chairs and they just sit and do a scene. And was that incredibly surreal for you to witness? I didn't get to witness it, but I'm just pretending like I did. But I think what was surreal for me was to hear about it because I would get feedback from the casting directors.
Starting point is 01:05:40 They'd tell me the little tidbits of the story because this was all happening, I think in New York, I want to say. And I just couldn't believe it. When I remember it was around New Year's, I got the call that Jenny was going to play me and that we were starting production within a month.
Starting point is 01:05:59 It was a long process, but then what had happened, it happened very quickly. And I remember thinking, oh my God, Jenny Slate, what a perfect me for the Michelle playing Molly. Like it just felt like the right fit. And so now, so then it starts getting underway. Where did they film it? We decided to film in Brooklyn
Starting point is 01:06:19 and that Molly was born and raised in New York. So it kind of felt like going back home and New York is such a, Brooklyn is such a sexy city. Like how does that happen where the stuff took place in LA, but they decide we think for the sake of everything. Cause I personally love any show that's shot in New York. There is something special about it. It's such a character.
Starting point is 01:06:43 It feels, it's a whole nother character. It feels hyper cooler. Like how does that come shot in New York that is something special about it. It's such a character. It's a whole other character. It feels hipper, cooler. How does that come about where they say that? Was there any part of you that was like, oh, all right, I imagined us going to Alfred's, but whatever. Well, I think, right, Hugo's for the 12th time. No, I wasn't really married to LA. I mean, when they did tell me they were doing it in New York, I was like, oh, hadn't thought of that as an option. I just assumed it would be LA. I mean, when they did tell me they were doing it in New York, I was like, oh, hadn't thought of that as an option.
Starting point is 01:07:05 I just assumed it would be LA. Michelle lives in Brooklyn. Liz lives in Brooklyn. I think a lot of scheduling and a lot of organization. Yeah, yeah. But Brooklyn, for me, and New York felt like such a great backdrop. It's such a sexier, grittier town than LA, where you're like,
Starting point is 01:07:21 And do these characters, are they like in the business? Are they actors or are they just friends? Well, Molly's character is not in the business at all. And Jenny's character is a theater actress, which I thought was interesting that they took some of that from my life. I mean, I started in theater. But the irony here is that I really don't like Shakespeare. Like, I don't.
Starting point is 01:07:44 I mean, I've seen some good Shakespeare, but it's not my jam, but Jenny loves Shakespeare and quotes it all the time in this. So in the show, and I just think it's really funny. Like, I don't know, I just think it's super funny. I love when they take liberties and make it so funny and make it so, I mean, it's not, it's all based in the truth,
Starting point is 01:08:02 but they took so many great liberties and kept so many beautiful little sweet moments. Like there was such a nice balance of, making it their own, but also staying true to me and Molly. Then now as a, as you're being your life story, the creator, like the EP, but you're not the writer, you're not the director. Like how much do you get to say or show up
Starting point is 01:08:27 or you just sit back, collect the check and wear a cute dress to the event? Well, a normal person would do the latter, but I was like, let me in here. And Kim and Liz were so, so great. They always called me. They said, Molly's the North Star of this project, but you are our North Star as well.
Starting point is 01:08:43 So I got to be in the writer's room. It was all virtual. I got to sit on the phone and do timelines and outlines and they would, I mean, we get on the phone for hours at a time sifting through. So I was very, very involved. I think at first there was a little worry of like, am I going to be that person? Well, that's not how it was or how, why are you changing that? The podcast was there. Molly was so held sacred in that space. I felt like this was a reimagination of the show. And I mean, I trusted.
Starting point is 01:09:12 I mean, hello. I got the best. So I just trusted it. And there were very few times that I raised my hand and said, hey, question or let me. But I felt really, and I felt very involved. And I felt really seen and heard in all of it. Now, how do you feel about life after death? And have you had any moments where you feel like, wow,
Starting point is 01:09:33 that was a sign, or I think she's here? Oh, that's good. How do you sit with that? Well, the fact that when Molly passed away, her mom was laying in the bed next to her and I was in the chair sort of facing her and my hand was on her leg. And Heather, I fell asleep and something woke me up. And she was sedated and her mother was asleep. But something tapped the underneath of my fingers.
Starting point is 01:10:03 And when I woke up, I woke up for her last two breaths. And there is no way that that was happenstance. She woke me up to say, it's time. You need to get up. And I was with her, and I put my hand on her chest and my hand on her head. And I said, I'm here. And I got you.
Starting point is 01:10:21 And she took her final two breaths. And there was something in that room. Was her mom awake? Her mom was asleep. Cause she didn't want her mom awake, I bet. I bet she wanted you for that moment to then go and wake up the mom. Yeah, that's how it went.
Starting point is 01:10:37 I mean, she kind of orchestrated it. I love that you just said that. Yeah, she, something tapped my finger. So much so that I thought a nurse was in the room hitting my hand and I... So to answer your question is like, I do believe that our brains could never understand what's on the other side.
Starting point is 01:10:55 I love when people are like, well, I know, my faith says this. And I was like, well, none of us know. We don't have a clue. And faith is beautiful by the way, have it. I love it. But we have no answers. But when things like that happen,
Starting point is 01:11:08 there's no denying that something outside of our human selves was in that room waking me up. So I think there's something else out there. Yeah. What do you think? Well, there's interesting signs like my parents have passed. Both of them? Oh, gosh.
Starting point is 01:11:23 Yeah. And I remember one of those like interesting, stronger signs that I had is that I was like on a girls trip or something and we were waiting to like get our to go get our massages. And I told this story about my dad, which I just know that my dad would love this story. And it's about when he was in advertising and he fought in World War II against Japan and now he was going to Japan because he was an executive for Toyota. And then he's meeting with these guys that at one time were also in the army fighting
Starting point is 01:11:57 him and he was like, this is so weird. And he got there, they stood up and they're like, oh, McDonnell Marine and like bowing to him and it was this amazing thing. And it was this amazing story of capitalism after war, whatever. So I told the story and then I go to get, to go get my massage right after, like right after. And she goes, oh, and let me show you to your locker.
Starting point is 01:12:21 And your locker is 34. And my dad's football number was 34. And every passcode, bank, everything was 3434 for everything, for everything. And I was like, so I'm like, oh, he's loving that I'm telling this story. And so there were things, so sometimes there's just things like that that I just think are just too coincidental.
Starting point is 01:12:45 Or if you open your mind to the signs, or when you're thinking, or even when people are just, I think, alive. Like all of a sudden, like, like I just had a girlfriend call me out of the blue, but she was still on my phone to just ask me about her son possibly going to ASU. And we've been moving and literally the next day,
Starting point is 01:13:06 I see a box and by the third photo, it's just she and I together. And I haven't talked to her in so long part of that. So I do think there's a lot where it's like, you put it out there and whether it's your thoughts or this or that, somewhere in the universe, whether it's someone from the other side actually manipulating 34 or whatever,
Starting point is 01:13:24 I just wondered if this coming to fruition, if there's any signs or anything that you felt like. I've been asking her for signs because I'm kind of the Lone Ranger doing this with her. I feel a little bit of that guilt of like, oh my god, all of this is happening and she's not here. Is there like a premiere party or anything you're going to? Yeah, we're gonna go I'm gonna be I'm'm going to go to New York and I was outfits together. I do.
Starting point is 01:13:48 I do. I'm glad you asked. I got my lashes done. My nails done. I mean, I went I like left left my sweatpants. Okay. And like actually thought ahead. Well, as I was getting my dress, I thought she's not getting a dress like, wow, this
Starting point is 01:14:03 sucks like not having her with me But yet without her passing this story would not have touched as many people as it's touched and she had you had people Reach out and say I am terminal and I am gonna get my fuck on hundreds Didn't even face me that you said get my my fuck on. I want that on the mug. Get my fuck on. Nobody said it verbatim. But yes, I've had so many people that are like,
Starting point is 01:14:34 this is, I had one guy who I'm actually working with, a guy who reached out to Molly on her Instagram, but I had her phone and she had already passed. He didn't know she had passed yet. And he was reaching out and he's like, I have stage four terminal melanoma skin cancer. You have cancer. We're both dying.
Starting point is 01:14:54 You're hot. I think I'm cute. We should definitely hook up. And so now I'm working with him on his life story because he is doing what Molly did, but with a lot more adventure and travel and meeting women all over the world and sleeping with them because he knows he's on a ticking clock and he just wants to explore things. But he reached out to Molly to see if she
Starting point is 01:15:15 wanted to connect and I had to break it to him that she had already passed away. But the ripple effect of her story because people don't know she's gone yet when they listen to episode one, two, and three, they're like, oh, here's this amazing woman. When we did the promo for the podcast, we couldn't really reveal it, that it was that terminal. Yeah, so people would, yeah. Spoiler.
Starting point is 01:15:37 Which is weird to take your friend's life and be like, don't tell anyone she's dead. But it was kind of like, wanted to keep that kind of a secret to give people this journey of falling in love with Molly and then feeling, I wanted them to feel the loss of Molly. I wanted them to feel like they lost her too so that they could stop and go, okay, what am I doing in my life?
Starting point is 01:15:57 Who are the important people in my life? Who do I wanna connect with? Who are the friends I wanna be near? And like, kind of inspire those kinds of thoughts. So yeah, it was like a secret and you went with it I remember you were like so we can't talk about the fact that she's dead I'm like no I'm so happy for you I'm definitely going to watch it I can't wait to hear I'm dying to watch I will die from dying to watch it I'm dying to sex. And yeah, I remember once promoting the podcast,
Starting point is 01:16:26 how many people really liked it. And I love that if you did enjoy the podcast, this is a little different of a version of that, and you can have fun with it, just like you read a book. A hundred percent. And then you go see the book, and you're like, oh, I imagined her to have red hair, whatever, it doesn't matter.
Starting point is 01:16:43 And so congrats. Thank you. And thanks for having me. It's nominated and I hope this, it sounds like it's leading to a whole nother, this isn't the end for you. Like there's gonna be other opportunities and other careers.
Starting point is 01:16:58 I mean, other things, part of this from your career as an EP and taking people's life stories and making them shows. And I think it's like a great time for that in the business. Yeah, thank you. And so talk about making lemonade out of lemons, girl. I know.
Starting point is 01:17:14 In the best way. Like grinding it. Yeah, I know. Thanks for saying that. I love you and I think that you've always just been a great support and inviting me to talk about her. And it like, really at the end of the day,
Starting point is 01:17:29 all we have are the pot of people around us and how they make us feel. I mean, you've always just been so good to me. So I appreciate you. That's so sweet. Thank you. Thank you. And tell everybody where they can follow you
Starting point is 01:17:39 like on Instagram or get in touch with you. I am on Instagram at Nikki Boyer. I don't really use anything else. And it's N-I-K-K-I. N-I-K-K-I B-O-Y-E-R and I'll be posting a ton about the show and behind the scenes photos if anybody's interested and also Molly's book. Like she wrote a book when she was in the hospital as she was dying. She wrote her memoir. And what's that called? It's called Screw Cancer Becoming Whole and it's just on Amazon. I self-published it. And if you're interested, I just love
Starting point is 01:18:08 that she got to be a published author. Yeah, well, thank you so much. I love you. Thank you. Everybody, it's on Hulu. It starts April 4th. And you can binge the whole thing, or you can keep it like a little treat.
Starting point is 01:18:21 I like to spread stuff out. You like a treat? OK. I like a treat, because I don't feel like there's that much good stuff. So I want to get a little treat. I like to spread stuff out. You like a treat? Okay. I like a treat because I don't feel like there's that much good stuff. I know. So when I get a juicy thing. But I also think if you're flying somewhere,
Starting point is 01:18:31 I like doing a series versus like two movies. No, that's smart. That's smart. I feel like the five, six hours go by a lot quicker if you do a whole series. So if you're going somewhere for spring break, this could be one that focuses you. And one more thing is I I want to do your show,
Starting point is 01:18:47 and we've got to figure out who we're casting as you. Oh, as you. You'll never blue ball this town again. Yeah, we're going to figure it out. OK, awesome. I'm putting that out there. Let's put it out there. Thank you.
Starting point is 01:18:56 You guys, OK, remember, go to heatherbickdahl.net. Join the Patreon. Now, I am going to Augusta. This is the Masters. This is like the final big golf thing where I'm going to see families like the Ravenals and the Radcliffs or whatever their names were in the fictional family of White Lotus. I'm going to see a lot of rich southern people. I cannot bring my phone and take a bunch of videos or anything. So I'm going to be talking about it on my Patreon.
Starting point is 01:19:26 So you definitely want to join my Patreon. It's so juicy, so great. And there'll be some extra content about this different week. I don't know what to expect. I'm going to Augusta. I'm going to Luigi's. I'm going to these places that, you know, is where Sutton grew up. So I think I'm going gonna be meeting some interesting characters
Starting point is 01:19:47 because I can't be on my phone, I can't be taking photos, and I'm actually gonna be like really present and excited. And I wanna give you all the juicy scoops. So you go to heatherrichdahl.net for that. Thank you. This podcast is brought to you by Aura. Imagine waking up to find your bank account drained,
Starting point is 01:20:05 bills for loans you never took out, a warrant for your arrest, all because someone committed a crime in your name. It sounds like a nightmare, but for millions of people each year, it's reality. And here's the scariest part. By the time companies tell you your data was stolen, it's already been nearly a year. 277 days. That's how long on average
Starting point is 01:20:29 hackers have to use your social security number, open accounts, take out loans, and destroy your credit before you even know you've been exposed. By the time you get that breach notification email, the damage is done. Your identity stolen, your financial future at risk, and the company that lost your data, they'll just apologize and move on. Hackers aren't waiting. Why are you? This can all sound really scary,
Starting point is 01:20:56 which is why I'm so glad we're partnering with Aura. Hackers don't wait, so why should you? Aura monitors the dark web 24-7 for your phone number, email, and social security number because the moment they show up for sale, criminals are ready to use them. If Aura detects your info, you'll get an instant alert so you can act before the damage is done.
Starting point is 01:21:18 What if your identity is already stolen? Criminals can take out loans, max out credit cards, and vanish. That's why Aura provides up to $5 million in identity theft insurance and a US-based fraud resolution team that works around the clock to shut down fraud fast and get your life back on track. Your personal data is a gold mine for hackers, and Aura helps lock it down. With a VPN for private browsing, data broker opts out to stop companies from selling your
Starting point is 01:21:46 info and a password manager to help secure your accounts, Aura gives you the tools to fight back. For a limited time, Aura is offering our listeners a 14-day trial plus a check of your data to see if your personal information has been leaked online. All for free when you visit aura.com slash defense. That's aura.com slash defense. To sign up for a 14 day free trial and start protecting you and your loved ones.
Starting point is 01:22:15 That's aura.com slash defense. Certain terms apply, so be sure to check the site for details. Find fastest route to Markholm. Cal. Find fastest route to mark home. Calculating fastest route to mark gnome. Mark home. Calculating fastest route to mark foam. CAA members, enjoy a shortcut to savings with the Shell app.
Starting point is 01:22:37 It's the easiest way to save time at the pump. Plus, save $0.03 per liter on fuel every time you stop. I should really get the Shell app. Now calling Shelley Hap. Not what I said. Download the Shell app today. Visit shell.ca slash CAA.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.