Life Will Be the Death of Me with Chelsea Handler - It’s Me or The Dog with Madelaine Petsch

Episode Date: October 9, 2025

Madelaine Petsch joins Chelsea to talk about reconsidering motherhood, her love of horror films, and biting off more than you can chew. Then: A friendship is on the brink after a misunderstanding abou...t the news.  A friend wants to help her bestie lose her virginity.  And a woman must choose between her boyfriend and her beloved dog.  * Need some advice from Chelsea? Email us at DearChelseaPodcast@gmail.com * Executive Producer Catherine Law Edited & Engineered by Brad Dickert * * * The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the Podcast author, or individuals participating in the Podcast, and do not represent the opinions of iHeartMedia or its employees.  This Podcast should not be used as medical advice, mental health advice, mental health counseling or therapy, or as imparting any health care recommendations at all.  Individuals are advised to seek independent medical, counseling advice and/or therapy from a competent health care professional with respect to any medical condition, mental health issues, health inquiry or matter, including matters discussed on this Podcast. Guests and listeners should not rely on matters discussed in the Podcast and shall not act or shall refrain from acting based on information contained in the Podcast without first seeking independent medical advice.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. Behind every night spent making the kids' lunches, there's a lot of suspense. Will they finally eat the veggies? Will the pesto survive the first bite? Will the lunchbox come home empty, half full, or come home at all?
Starting point is 00:00:17 And will you finish episode eight before you're done slicing the cucumbers? Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Crave, Netflix, and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability.
Starting point is 00:00:32 Bell. Connection is everything. I survived nine months in captivity, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are The Survivor Files. Every week, I'm with survivors who lived through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:01:06 If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. Each week, we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture with your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions. Yeah, I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. Listen to Pro Society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Did you hear the new episode of the Hey Jonas podcast? We are at D23, so we'll see who stops by.
Starting point is 00:01:42 The cast of Frozen stopped by. Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, and Idina Menzel. I auditioned for Frozen. What? For Kristoff. They said, okay, what are you going to be singing today? I said, I don't know. That must have been why you didn't get it.
Starting point is 00:01:53 Oh, you probably won. Plus, John Stamos, Hayden Christensen from Star Wars, and more. And I guess I can share that, uh... No way. Listen to the latest episode of Hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I just announced all my tour dates. They just went on sale.
Starting point is 00:02:10 It's called the High and Mighty Tour. I will be starting debuting my new material in February of next year. So, I'm coming to Washington, D.C., Norfolk, Virginia, Madison, Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Detroit, Michigan, Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, Ohio, Denver, Colorado, Portland, Maine, Providence, Rhode Island, Springfield, Massachusetts, Chicago, of course, Indianapolis, Indiana, Louisville, Kentucky, Albuquerque, Mesa, Arizona, Kansas City, Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Nashville, Tennessee, Charlotte, North Carolina, Durham, North Carolina, Saratoga, California, Monterey, California, Modesto, California,
Starting point is 00:02:55 and Port Chester, New York, Boston, Massachusetts, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington. I will be touring from February through June. Those are the cities that I'm in. Pre-sale started last week, so tickets are flying. I haven't added second shows yet, but we probably will be to some of these. So go get your tickets now. If you want good seats and you want to come see me perform, I will be on the High and Mighty Tour. Oh, what a good little beeper you are. Hi, Madelaine. It's nice to meet you. Hi, Chelsea. Hi. Madelaine has some projects coming out, you guys. The Strangers Chapter 2,
Starting point is 00:03:32 which is a horror movie, hits theaters September 26th. And then she has a rom-com called Maintenance Required, which hits Amazon on October 8th. They are both now out. So I read that you grew up in South Africa and Washington state. Yeah. I mean, my parents are South African, so we would go back, but I was primarily in Washington. It's really interesting how interviews can skew the reality of my life so much. So basically all interviews get skewed and then they, like, I don't, I talk about being child free and people are like, Chelsea Handler hates children. I talk about not wanting to be married and be like, Chelsea Handler hates men, which is closer to the truth than hating children. But I don't hate anyone. I don't have the energy to hate, but I hear you,
Starting point is 00:04:20 what you're saying. So you probably were interviewed several times and told them that your parents are from South Africa and people are like, she commuted on the Concord, the one that goes straight from Johannesburg to Olympia, Washington. Yeah, actually. No, I'd go back. I would go back in the summer and in the winter. So twice a year, we'd go back and see my whole family because my entire extended family is there. But I would say the primary part of my life and the formative years were spent in Washington. Okay, cute. I dated a South African once. And then he bought me this very fancy pair. This was like when I was in my 20s and I was waitressing and he bought me this very fancy pair of earrings. And then I realized, oh,
Starting point is 00:05:01 it's time to break up. Was it a blood diamond? It was just obvious that he and I were on different pages if he was buying me jewelry. Do you know what I mean? I would never say no to jewelry though. I like buy me more before I break up. I would, because you know what, Madeline, we can both buy ourselves jewelry. So why, who cares? You know what I mean? That's what I like to focus on. What I, what I need from a man is not jewelry. And the jewelry that a man is picking is like probably not what you'd pick for yourself a lot of times. What do you think the biggest cultural differences
Starting point is 00:05:32 are between say South Africa and the States? That's such an interesting question. I think probably manners. Great fucking answer. I hate to say that, but people are a lot more polite in South Africa and like kind to people they don't know. I feel like people are more-
Starting point is 00:05:51 Lack of social awareness. Right. I feel like people are a lot more polite in many places outside of America, not just South Africa. I think it's an American problem, but yes, I think manners is a great thing to bring up. Yeah. I mean, Cape Town, are you from Cape Town? Durban. Oh, okay. Oh, I have a safari guide from Durban. So have you, I bet you've been on a couple of safaris. I certainly have. Kruger National Park, you know it. Oh yeah. I love safaris. That's my dream vacation. Minus the snakes. I didn't have any, I've never had a bad
Starting point is 00:06:23 experience with a snake before? I've never had like a snake attack me, but I believe they are out to get me. And when I see them, my reaction is like, I have a phobia. It's not, it's more than a fear. It's a phobia. Like I will freak out and I start to like, we saw one of those snakes with their heads up this last time we were on safari, which was like, it wasn't a Cobra. It's a, Oh, it was like, it was something that I, it was the most dangerous snake that they have in Kenya. I saw it out of the corner of my eye. I was like, what was that? They're like, nothing. And we were in the Jeep luckily, but they had the ones that could poison you by with their spit and they could get in your eyes. I don't think I want to go on a safari with you. I know. I do. I do
Starting point is 00:07:03 have bad luck. Although I haven't had one chase me, knock on wood. Let's not even talk about such things, Madeline. Okay. So tell me about your two projects. They're very opposite. One's a horror movie. One's a romantic comedy. What do you have a preference? I know this is a sequel, Strangers, chapter two. I don't have a preference. I think I love them both. You can't pick between your children. The Strangers chapter two is like, it's, um, it's honestly my baby because I shot all three at once in Slovakia three or four years ago. And I've been editing them. By the way, I love Slovakia. What's going on in Slovakia? I was terrified to go because I just didn't know anything about it. And it's so far away. I felt like I was being shipped off to never be seen
Starting point is 00:07:41 again. But I fell in love with Bratislava. I would go shoot there time and time again. Where is Slovakia geographically? Well, it used to be Czechoslovakia. So it's right next to Austria and the Czech Republic. Oh, so that's not that far away. It's just Eastern Europe. Yeah, Eastern Europe. Everyone says the Czech Republic is gorgeous.
Starting point is 00:07:59 Czech Republic is gorgeous. That's where Prague is. And so Slovakia is a newer country than the other one. Well, Czech Republic is a newer country too because it used to be Czechoslovakia. It's all Slovakia. So you had a great time there. What's it like?
Starting point is 00:08:13 what's the vibe there is it a big city were you shooting in the country we were shooting out in the middle of nowhere it was like two hours from bradislava but they've got a city center that's really sweet and there's a lot of things to do and then there's like lots of lots of lots of land and abandoned hospitals and things like that which is why we shot there right we needed some abandoned hospitals right right it sounds actually like a place slovakia sounds like a place that has a lot of abandoned hospitals well there you go and it does can confirm so when you're like crawling into the freezer beds in the morgue is that like a real one okay so actually i have i am a bit of a germaphobe and i had a bit of a freak out there are certain things that i can do like i'm like
Starting point is 00:08:56 you want me to run down this hallway hurt myself fine i'm not getting into a real morgue drawer that feels like where i draw the line okay there's really a dead body in there at one point i just I can't. They actually built the morgue, thank God. They built it in the hospital, which is such a crazy thing to think about, but they built the morgue. Wow. Allegedly. Actually, you know what? They could have actually lied to me. They just told you they did, and you're crawling in there with the old dead body. Now, you're a huge fan of horror, right? You loved the original Strangers with Liv Tyler. To me, because that movie and the Strangers chapter one, two, and three that you're talking
Starting point is 00:09:30 about now, like this is home invasion that we're talking about. To me, that's kind of like the scariest possible thing because like slashers, you know, whatever, a guy chasing you through the woods, like that can kind of happen in any movie. But you think about like someone coming into your home and it's just random. That to me is the most terrifying thing. So tell me, tell us about your love of horror. Well, it started at a young age. I was forced to watch it when I was like seven and it terrified me. And I was like, I'm going to conquer this if it's the last thing I do. I'll never be scared again by a film. No, and then I just fell in love with it. I'm not even sure why, but I think horror, similarly to like foreign filmmaking, is not so risk averse. I think every
Starting point is 00:10:07 other genre in American cinema is very risk averse. And so I think you could take a lot more risk to have a lot more fun in horror. There's a lot more genre bending and rule bending and probably why I love it so much, honestly. That's a good point though, because you can make it like campy. You can make it super heightened or you could make it a very nuanced horror so that's actually a good point that you make that I hadn't thought about yeah are you a horror person I don't typically love horror movies I don't like to be fake scared okay you know what I mean and I also I don't like violence but horror is a different category to violence I think horror is like you're supposed to be scared like I don't I don't love that feeling it's not my favorite
Starting point is 00:10:47 genre but I respect it yeah it's hard to do I mean it's I always say I feel like fear is the only emotion you can't really manufacture because your body doesn't know the difference with fear. So I was actually in fight or flight the whole time I was shooting those movies. I don't look back on it fondly, by any means, but I do love the movies very much. Would you do a horror
Starting point is 00:11:09 movie again, having, like, gone through because especially shooting them concurrently, like, I know you said, you know, one day you might be shooting a scene from the first movie and the third movie. So would you do that again in maybe a smaller scale with a single film? i definitely would never shoot three movies at once again well yeah who the fuck wants to do
Starting point is 00:11:27 that well i was you know you know me four years ago i can't talk to her now but she was like this is a fun challenge like you can do this totally but yes i i actually i love horror because again it's like i truly believe right now the best movies that are being made are horror because they're the only ones that are like different everything else is so carbon copy of something else this is actually like every script that i'm getting that's horror is like unique and different and you can make them for a small budget so you can follow the filmmaker's real vision and you're not arguing with the studio. Like it's just, there's a lot more freedom in horror, I think right now. And I think people are starting to realize that, you know, of course you
Starting point is 00:12:03 can have your campy and silly horror movies, but to have a really good solid actor in a horror film is what helps bring it to life. You know, like I love a schlocky seventies one with terrible acting, but like you're talking about porn. Catherine, you're talking about porn right now. I told you to stop talking about porn. It's always an allegory for porn. That's not what we're here for. But like the emotions that you're bringing on screen, I felt viscerally, like they're very real. You are like crying a lot of the time because you're being stalked. I will say one thing I very much identified with in The Strangers Chapter Two was there is a moment, I hope this is not too much of a spoiler, but there is a moment that includes a wild boar,
Starting point is 00:12:41 question mark. And there's a moment where you're actually like laying still and get stepped on by the wild boar and I identified with that because that's literally exactly what happens with my dog every single morning she comes like stands on my chest and is like sniffing my face seeing if I'm awake so I think that's a lot different than a wild boar first of all you know your fucking dog you're safe with that scene in that movie is fucking scary um threatening me that it's time to get up Madeline I know you talk publicly which I think is such a nice service especially for all your fans. And I know you have millions, 20 something million followers on Instagram alone. You talk very openly about stressful times in your life, panic attacks, therapy, how you calm
Starting point is 00:13:26 yourself down. And this podcast, we talk a ton about that because our listeners are, we have people who call in, which you'll see in a moment asking for advice. But can you talk a little bit about that and how you were able to find a way to kind of soothe your nerves and the steps you took to get to a place where you were able to identify that there was even an issue in the first place? Yeah. I mean, I grew up in a quite dysfunctional home as a child. And so I think it all felt normal as a kid. And then I moved to LA and I was alone and everybody around me wasn't experiencing that as much, the anxiety, the panic, the kind of like I would catastrophize everything. Everything was the worst thing in the world. And that kind of carried into probably my early to mid-20s and
Starting point is 00:14:10 during the pandemic actually was the impetus for me to figure out what was wrong with me. I went and got my brain scanned. I was like, there's got to be something seriously wrong with me. And it was actually kind of validated because he was like, oh, your body produces too much copper. So you have to do this to help fix it. And it was like, oh, my body actually has something that is creating anxiety within me. It was so validating to understand that at a real molecular level. That helped a lot. Yeah. It wasn't just like, yes, of course I'm an anxious person. I I don't know if that's ever going to go away, but there are tools I can have to fix that or to help manage it.
Starting point is 00:14:43 But there's actually also something that I can do right now that makes me feel like, okay, this can help. And so I am on some like a pretty good supplement regimen. And I also do weekly therapy. I think talk therapy is the thing that changed everything the most though, honestly. And did you have trouble finding a good therapist that you connected with? I've only ever had one. I've had the same one for almost 10 years.
Starting point is 00:15:04 So I guess the answer is no, you did not have trouble finding. Actually, you know what, Chelsea? When I first moved to LA, I tried one other therapist. And I mean, it was the hokiest thing. He was trying to hypnotize me on his couch. And I was kind of feeling bad because it didn't work. And so I acted like I was hypnotized. I was like, maybe I should just act like it's working. That's like faking an orgasm for a man, acting like therapy's working when it's not, hypnotism especially. Yeah, it was for a man. The things we do. But that's the thing is anxiety can so often be a physiologically induced thing. And, you know, people say, you know, oh, I don't want to go
Starting point is 00:15:38 get treatment or like, oh, I can manage it or whatever. But like, if you had a broken leg, you wouldn't say like, no, I don't want to go to the doctor. And it's really the same thing. Yeah. I remember the first time I ever had like that kind of shaky leg syndrome thing when I was on stage talking, the first time it happened, like the more conscientious you become of it, the more it increases and it gets worse and worse and worse. And then it's in your head. You're like, fuck, I can't stand up straight. Like I stand up for a living. I'm not going to be able to stand up and talk. And then I was like, oh, it's the heels. Let me get rid of the heels. And then I'd be in flats. And then I'd be like, and that was more stabilizing. But like, yeah, it's not,
Starting point is 00:16:11 you can't put a Band-Aid on it. You kind of have to get to the root of the issue. Then in the meantime, take a beta blocker, anyone who's listening. Hitler, I was a panicker in a panic attack call it a day. I don't know. Yeah. That was my thing for a while. So why was your family so dysfunctional? I grew up with a father who, how do I describe it? I don't want to like diagnose him on a podcast, but he was very unpredictable at like highs and lows all the time. And so I couldn't really, there was no consistency in my household as a child. So it was, it was a lot of like questioning
Starting point is 00:16:43 whether or not I was loved as a kid. Okay. And what about your mom? Were you, was your mom in the house with you guys? Oh yeah. She's the best ever. And I don't think I'd be where I am today without her. She's like one of those people who was meant to be a mom. Yeah. That was how my mom was too. My mom was so soft and sweet. Which do you feel like I have a question for you, actually, because I for the longest time thought I didn't want children. And I feel like having a mom who was meant to be a mom made me realize like or think that I realized I don't feel that way. Maybe I shouldn't have kids. And now I've shifted. Now I actually want children. But for the longest time, I think my mom being such a good mom made me be like, oh, I don't think I can live up to that. Yeah. I think you bring up a good point because I think that, yes, I'm one of six children. How many siblings do you have? Just one. Okay. So my mom was a mama bear. She was like, but not in a fierce way. She just loved us so much
Starting point is 00:17:37 and she wanted her cubs around her. She wasn't really that interested in our friends or our boyfriends. She tolerated those people and she gave out love to them when they needed it. I had a best friend from high school who I grew up with and she was like, your mom was the first person who told me she loved me. And I was like, oh my God, that's so my mom. You know, that was so sweet of my mom. My mom recognized that her house was pretty dysfunctional, as was mine.
Starting point is 00:18:01 I mean, I don't know anybody who grew up, I have some friends in LA that grew up here and think they had normal childhoods and I have to always remind them, you don't. You grew up in fucking Beverly Hills. Yeah, no. Your relative, like what's relative to you is not relative to the rest of the world.
Starting point is 00:18:15 And there's, and it's no wonder you still live here because you're living in a fantasy world. You know, like that's not real life. but yes back to the question at hand is my mom was so loving and such a caretaker and such a homemaker like she was always cooking for us there was always snacks when you got home from
Starting point is 00:18:30 school at like 3 o'clock in the afternoon there'd be like a vat of macaroni and cheese as a snack and so it was like you know her language was like food and comfort and we would go up to her room you know before we went to bed and jump into bed with her and like hope that we could
Starting point is 00:18:47 I would just always hope oh please don't kick me out of the bed. Like, let me sleep in the bed. You know, like, like that's how cozy and, and, and I used to call her chunky cause she was junky and she had little flaps of skin, like extra meat packets everywhere. And I just loved her like body, but she was, but it definitely was the, it's so antithetical to how I saw my life going. So that is a great thing to bring up. It's like, sometimes when you look at your own mother and you realize how good at mothering they are, you're like, wow, I won't be able to hold a candle to that. And then conversely, the opposite was true. She didn't have a lot of independence. She didn't have a lot of her own
Starting point is 00:19:22 money. She didn't have anything in her name. You know, my dad ran the show, but I looked at that like, I don't want that either. Right. Right. That's so interesting. I never thought about like that. I actually recently just probably in the last eight months or a year decided I want to be a mom for the longest time. I think I just like got so annoyed that society tells you as a woman, your only real purpose is to have children. But I was like, go fuck yourself. Like that's not how I feel. And then I was like, wait, am I just doing this to be a contrarian? Like, let me really check in with myself in therapy and see if I really feel that maternal instinct. There was one day I had therapy and I was like, I just want to have a child with my best friend. That would
Starting point is 00:19:57 be so fun. And she goes, hey, wait, you can. You can pick who you have your child with. And that's when I was like, oh. It's so funny because you're saying child and it sounds like chow and I have a chow chow in here. And I'm like, that's how I feel. I wanted a chow too. That's the only kind of dog I get are chow chows. You rescue animals too. I do, yeah. How many do you have? I have one little girl. Okay. Olive, right? Olive, yeah.
Starting point is 00:20:21 I've seen a couple pictures. She's very cute. I have her little teeth tattooed on my arm. And you have a tattoo of something your mom says too, right, my darling? I do. I have bruises there from pole dancing, but here it is. Are you pole dancing on the regular? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:20:36 I did it for a movie that I just wrapped like four or five days ago. How was it to learn pole dancing? Well, you know, I am anemic, so I bruised a lot. But outside of that, it's so much fun. I'm going to keep doing it now that the movie's over. And it's good exercise, people say. Beyond. It's really fucking hard.
Starting point is 00:20:55 I had no idea how much arm strength you need. In my head, it makes sense to need leg strength, but it's mostly your arms. Yeah. And it's like as women, that's something we have to like work on to have the upper body strength. Do you ever go to Jumbo's clown room and just like see the feats of strength? Absolutely. I love that. My favorite.
Starting point is 00:21:10 It's my favorite. We used to live on the same block as that, actually. So we went quite frequently. What a co-winky dink for you. And my husband never wanted to go. I was just like, I want to go and like cheer for women in bikinis doing feats of strength. Like it's so fun. Incredible. When they're hanging upside down, you're like, Hey, this is crazy. How are you even up there? So Madeline, you love what you do. You can tell that you love what you do, right? You feel very pat-licked. You feel, you must feel very grateful to have such a successful career
Starting point is 00:21:38 at such a young age, right? I do. Yeah. I really, I think there's nothing else in the world I'd be happy doing. I think that's how you get into this business is when everything else just seems unreasonable. Like I tried to be a temp and they were like, you're fired. I got fired from every single job I ever did. And my sister's like, that's because you can't do anything but be in this business. Like you're a comedian, you're a voice, like you want to talk. And that's really all I want to do is talk. Luckily, I've made a career out of talking. I never realized that until I was writing my last book. And I was like, oh my God, how lucky are we to get to do the thing that we want to do.
Starting point is 00:22:12 And also you make such a good living doing what you want to do. I used to remember watching baseball players like get traded and I'd be like so upset at their disloyalty to their original team. Like, how could you trade? How could you go from the Boston Red Sox to the Yankees? Like, doesn't any loyalty matter?
Starting point is 00:22:29 And I'm like, you're already making crazy money doing the thing you love to do the most. Like some people have to work at a job they fucking hate their whole life and they don't get to make, Like those people deserve to make the big money and the people who get to do what they love should just be able to get by. That's how I feel about it. I mean, I'm not trying to give away, you know, my good blessings, but it's all upside down.
Starting point is 00:22:53 I think it's kind of interesting, isn't it? Yeah, I think so. We're going to take a break and we'll be right back with Madelaine Petsch. The Jonas Brothers are running it back. We live the Burning Up Tour and celebrate the biggest Jonas Brothers hits that have defined a generation. One incredible celebration. One unforgettable night. See the Jonas Brothers live at RBC Amphitheater, September 28th.
Starting point is 00:23:24 Get tickets now at Ticketmaster.ca. Jonas Brothers, the Burning Up Tour, all over again. When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and held captive for nine months. I survived, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are The Survivor Files. I just remember this low, taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable. I knew if he woke up, without a doubt, he was going to hurt me.
Starting point is 00:24:04 I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed, and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. But these aren't stories about what's taken from them. They're stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts if your bookshelf and your for you page are equally important to your personality welcome home this is prose society the weekly podcast that's part book club part group chat for thought daughters pop culture obsessives and anyone who thinks pride
Starting point is 00:24:46 and prejudice and love island deserve the same level of discourse i'm eli rallo and every week we're connecting the dots between books the internet and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. From best-selling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table. It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters, then that is a Trojan horse. Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place. Listen to Pro Society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts
Starting point is 00:25:29 See you between the pages Hey, this is Hayes Davenport And Sean Clements We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook on the Big Money Players Network Our show is extremely accessible to first-time listeners Each week we talk to someone in show business, aka The Biz And try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us Everyone has a good time and no one gets mad at their publicist for letting them do our show
Starting point is 00:25:52 we've had a lot of great guests like sarah sherman not that great actually can you help me can you help me shape this yeah how about we flip it on his head okay how about we flip the script okay what is the surprise woman who actually you think is the straight man is actually the one who's acting weird adam scott this entire time you've been expecting adam sandler to come to visit the show i i would never let go of that i have i would never set expectations for something like that it seems like if the universe allows for something like that to happen i'm open to it i'm always going to accept you know danny mcbride fine yeah it's all this fragile masculinity exuding i could smell it walking down the hallway to be honest with you i was like is that weed nope it's
Starting point is 00:26:44 fragile masculinity ben stiller no because a lot of times in out of context people don't get it or even know what a circle is you know what i mean like you're like oh what's this everyone's so dumb and fake right fake and and also not interested or just like oh i've got my life i don't care about your life and a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us oh and by the way will ferrell told us personally he loves the show and he wants to be a on every episode, but he's just so busy. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
Starting point is 00:27:18 your podcasts. And we're back with Madeline. Okay, so what do you got, Catherine? We've got some advice questions. People call in for advice, and then we give it to them. You seem very mature that you're going to be good at this. You've been to therapy. All of our
Starting point is 00:27:34 ducks are in a row. Quack, quack. And feel free to pull from experiences like friends have had and things just that you've learned in the world. It doesn't all have to be from your own experience. So our first question is about dating a bad texter. So our first question comes from Jack. This one's just an email. He says, Dear Chelsea, I'm a 26-year-old gay man, single and dating in NYC. About a month ago, I went on a hinge date, and we really hit it off. He seemed to check a lot of the boxes since then, and we've gone on about five dates. Every time we get together, the
Starting point is 00:28:04 conversation is endless, and he seems very into me. We have great sexual chemistry as well, and every time we part ways, we try to set another date. It's been a while since I've gone this long talking to someone. While everything is going well, the but here is that the man is an awful texter. During the week, texts can be pretty sporadic, and sometimes during weekends, I'll go a few days without hearing from him. When I lightly joke about it, he says, sorry, I'm a bad texter and have been super busy. I personally can be a bad texter myself and also do not like to look at my phone too much if I'm with other people and having a good time, but I'm excited about this prospect and would like for it to keep moving forward. I worry that not talking with this guy
Starting point is 00:28:42 more often might cause this to fall through the cracks. I feel like I'm walking a fine line of not trying to seem too available or too invested since it's only been about a month, but I also don't want him to think I don't care because like I said, I want to keep this moving in a positive direction. Any thoughts, Jack? I think some people just really are bad at texting. Like I was on this guy's, I was vacationing at this guy's house and I sent him this beautiful text like, well, I thought it was beautiful. I was like, thank you so much. Your house is so beautiful. Your staff is so beautiful. Like just going on and on like a normal thank you, you know? And it was almost two paragraphs long and he wrote back, welcome. And I'm like, God, I'm like, what did I do? Like maybe
Starting point is 00:29:21 he hates me. And then like two weeks later, he invited me to something else. Some people just don't communicate like that. I don't know what you do about that. What do you think, Madelaine? I actually think it's a green flag if someone's bad at texting. Okay, say more about that. I know that's a hot take. I like the idea of somebody not being so obsessed with their phone. I had this spiritual awakening recently where it's like, this is not communication. Nothing about this is connection and communication.
Starting point is 00:29:46 As long as you're in person and you've got a good thing going and you feel like somebody is trustworthy and you can tell them how you feel, that's kind of all that matters. And if it falls through the cracks because you guys aren't texting enough, then that's just not your person. Let it fall. I also don't think you should let it fall through the... Like you shouldn't have the mindset that it's going to fall through the cracks because of his lack of interest in texting. While it annoys you, it is like she just said, there are good points to like not having somebody addicted to their phone and not having someone.
Starting point is 00:30:13 And some people also don't feel confident in their texting abilities, right? Like I see that with some people. Like they don't know, you know, things get lost in translation. And I do think our phones have hijacked our lives as we are learning and have learned for the last 10 years. So that's not a deal breaker in my opinion. I think you should just like work around that and reset your expectations about what you want from the relationship. It doesn't really, texting doesn't keep a relationship alive.
Starting point is 00:30:39 Yeah. I mean, some people have a different vibe when they're texting than in person. Like I know one of my girlfriends, she's now married to this woman, but her now wife was like, yeah, when we first were texting, like she was oddly formal with texting, which is sort of a language like she and I use where it was like to be a little funny. we use very formal language in texting. And she was like, I thought she was going to be kind of weird. And then like, obviously they hit it off and, you know, are in love and married now. But I do have one more question for you about this. So I've heard that amongst people your age,
Starting point is 00:31:10 there is a phenomenon of guys, especially using chat GPT to like craft their text responses. Have you or any friends experienced this? My best friend uses ChatGPT for everything. Oh, no. Oh, yeah. She'll actually like input texts and be like, what does this mean? What is he trying to say to me? How should I respond?
Starting point is 00:31:34 It's really interesting to watch. Yeah. Yeah. Well, tell your friend every time she uses ChatGPT, she's killing about 10 water buffalo. Because every time we use ChatGPT, it is like you have to go to, it goes to a lithium farm. They have these huge battery-operated farms that are providing all the energy resources that we need. So it's terrible for the environment, which is something they never fucking talk about. As soon as I heard that, I'm like, oh, my God, I'm not ever going to use it.
Starting point is 00:32:00 How have they never heard that? I asked ChatGPT how bad using ChatGPT was for the environment, and it gave me a comprehensive response about why it is so bad. But on another note about talking about guys who would make up like text or consult chat for like how to talk to a woman, talking about incels. Like I was at this thing the other night and this guy was telling me, I was at this dinner and this guy was telling me that he's in the tech world, he's in AI, he's one of these investors in one of these AI groups. And he was delineating all the, you know, the differences between all of the AI platforms like Grok and chat. And so he was saying that, you know, it's only a matter of like a month or two before we're going to have our own robots that are going to be available to like, you know, the first wave of robots. And that men are going to be able to customize. Did I already tell you this?
Starting point is 00:32:53 That men are going to be able to, as will women, be able to customize the type of person they want as like a lover or an assistant. Like I could say, oh, I want someone with red hair and I want somebody who doesn't talk back. And I want somebody who's really good at making Mexican food. And I also want somebody who's going to also be really good with the dogs. Like, you can basically customize your person. They can have a working vagina. So you can have sex with your robot. And I was like, okay, well, listen, as a person, I go, that's something, he goes, every guy is going to want to do that who doesn't, like, really know how to operate with women.
Starting point is 00:33:28 And I'm like, yeah, but does human connection not count for anything anymore? And he said, no, it does, but only to the people that it matters to because there's so many in-cell types of people now in the world that don't have any communication because all they do is, you know, stay on their phone or communicate via their phone. But I was like, oh, I could design a robot that's really good at skiing for the winter that makes me drinks when I'm done with skiing, that stretches me in the morning so I can get ready for my skiing, and then makes me dinner and then has sex with me. and he can look like whatever I want and come and appear as a real man. And he's like, well, that's not going to be the first wave. Like you are going to be dealing with a robot, but eventually you will be able to create a person who has all the qualities you want. And I thought that is so fucking crazy. It's so fucking crazy. I mean, I did see someone on the street in West Hollywood yesterday with a robot dog. So, I mean, it's happening. It's
Starting point is 00:34:22 already happening. It is happening. And there's a movie called Companion that everybody here needs to watch clearly. And what was the movie with Scarlett Johansson? What was that? Her? Her. Yeah. Oh, yeah. That's it too. That's where we're at now. It's literally what you're talking about. Yeah. Yeah. And we basically made movies to give everybody ideas about how to make this a reality. How to ruin everything. We're turning into the Terminator because we, yeah. Well, I read an article about this recently too. Apparently a lot of like teens, like young teens, like their first romantic relationships are with AI. Like they're like giving it a name and it's their boyfriend and they like check in after school. I mean, it's dark. I'm so glad that I just hope that I'm dead
Starting point is 00:35:01 before all of this is, it takes charge. I can't take any more changes. I can't take this technology. It's too much. Maybe AI can finish my house. Oh, there you go. There you go. Well, Alyssa writes in with a question that hopefully you both will be able to help with. She says, Dear Chelsea, I love the podcast and I look forward to listening every week. I'm a longtime listener, but I've never written in before, mostly because I always knew what you would say and figured I should just get my shit together. But this time I'm truly stuck. I've had my dog since April of 2020, and he was my COVID baby. I was home with him 24-7 for a year before going back into the office. And ever since I got him, he's truly saved me from the darkest moments in
Starting point is 00:35:43 my life. I got him just a couple months before I ended a 10-year toxic relationship with my high school sweetheart. He helped me rediscover life for myself, got me out of bed on my worst days, and reminded me that life is fun and silly and joyful because he is. All the responsibilities of a dog, by the way. Exactly. He is my soul dog, and I don't know where I'd be without him. As many dog owners are, I'm obsessed with my baby. From April 2020 to March 2024, he got to do everything with me. We ran errands together, took drives. He slept with me. He basically stayed by my hip at all times. Then I met my now boyfriend who is wonderful in so many ways. We have so much in common and he makes me laugh like no one else can. We have such a good
Starting point is 00:36:24 relationship, but he isn't the biggest fan of my dog or dogs in general. And some days it makes me wonder if this is what I want. Does that sound crazy? Am I choosing my dog over him? When I say he isn't the biggest fan, let me be clear. He takes care of him, helps walk him and feed him. He plays with him. But when I met him, he asked if we could sleep without my dog. I reluctantly agreed. But over time, and now that he's moved in, it has grown to my dog not being in the bedroom often at all. I have a one-bedroom apartment, so there isn't anywhere to be other than the living room or the bedroom. When we're watching TV before bed or just hanging out or whatever, he asks for dog-free time. It's gone from my dog having my company 24-7 to about an hour in the
Starting point is 00:37:04 morning and an hour at night. On weekends, it's a bit more. I can tell my dog is upset by this. He sits outside of the bedroom door sometimes. When I open the door, he's just waiting for me. It breaks my heart because I love my dog more than anything in life. I tried to talk to my boyfriend about it before, and he told me that I can spend time with my dog whenever I want to, but it still sucks. As I'm writing this now, I asked my boyfriend if he could spend some time with us in the bedroom as we watch TV, and my boyfriend went out to hang out in his car alone so I could be in bed with my dog. He reassured me that nothing was wrong,
Starting point is 00:37:35 but it hurts me so much because I love them both and want nothing more than to spend time together, for us all to spend time together. Alyssa. Alyssa. Let that man go, Alyssa. See you later. What the fuck?
Starting point is 00:37:46 He's in his car to avoid being around your dog? That is fucked up. Yeah. He also went to smoke a spliff, so that's why he also went outside. Thank God. Thank God he had something to do in the car. I mean, that doesn't...
Starting point is 00:38:00 I think, first of all, listen, you can't, your dog is innocent and defenseless. Like, it's so unfair to be around something like that. Like, it's like being with a baby and then abandoning a baby. And I, for everyone who's listening who doesn't love dogs, I understand that dogs aren't the same as children, but they're defenseless and innocent in the same way that children are. And so to take away, to like, to basically, it's like punitive. Like, this guy is setting the tone for how much time you spend with your dog that was
Starting point is 00:38:29 pre-existing. that was a pre-existing relationship that your boyfriend is now disrupting that in and of itself is unacceptable in my opinion madeline i feel like you want to say something look i feel like if he was allergic and there was an actual issue then like there's something to be discussed there like there's an actual bodily reason why i don't trust people who don't like dogs i know there's something like innately unless he was attacked by a dog at one point maybe there's something to discuss in therapy there like i want to give them the benefit of the doubt but at the end of the day like that's your baby get the guy out of there like who needs the guy seriously and why can't
Starting point is 00:39:03 the dog sleep on the floor in the bedroom is that not allowed like in a little doggy bed we're on your side yeah i've i've tried that before and honestly more so than him being in the room i think the he asked for it initially because i snore really loud and my dog is a french bulldog so he snores even louder and he just like can't take both snoring at the same Right. Then he should sleep on the floor outside in the living room. You and your dog can snore together in your bed like a couple, like the couple that you are. Yes. I agree. And you know what's hypocritical too is that like, for example, I went on vacation a couple months ago. He watched him for me and he slept in the bedroom with him every night. So
Starting point is 00:39:43 it's not like he has a problem with him. It's just that he constantly asks for dog free time. And I don't want to be away from him like ever. I want to be around him all the time. That's weird though. Like I dated a guy- This is getting weirder. I know. I dated a guy that wasn't a dog guy. Like I could just tell.
Starting point is 00:40:01 And I find that suspicious as well. I find that to be suspicious. It's like, if you don't like dogs, like something's off. But I kind of gave him a pass and he tried. He made the effort with my dog. He would take my dog for walks. Like he actually made the effort. And I'm like, well, that's all he can do.
Starting point is 00:40:15 I can't make somebody fall in love with your dog. Just like you can't make somebody love your child, like that you had, you know, before you met them. So, but I do think it's very strange to ask for dog free time. That's like some sort of controlling or weird issue. Something is off with that. Especially if he's sleeping in bed with your dog when you're not there.
Starting point is 00:40:33 That feels more like a control piece. Like he doesn't want any other attention taken away from him. Yes. Right. And it really is honestly mostly just on the weekdays. On the weekends, this isn't a problem. Like I don't even, he doesn't really bring that up to me. But weekdays are most of your days.
Starting point is 00:40:48 Right. I think he asked for a boundary. You tried that boundary out. And it's time to readjust the boundary. Like, that's not working for you. And I think that's kind of the way to maybe start that conversation. Again, like, if he needs to sleep in a dog bed on the floor, fine. But, you know, dogs are our family.
Starting point is 00:41:04 And if he can't be in your family, then, like, it's time to reassess some things. But I think he will actually acquiesce if you're just like, look, we got to adjust this boundary. It's not working for me. I need my dog. I need my dog in the room with me. Like, I really, I have no other problems with this man. Yeah. Other than the fact that he is not, like, as obsessed with my dog as I am.
Starting point is 00:41:24 And like I said, he takes care of him. Like, he walks him. He feeds him. He even plays with him and stuff. It's just, like I said, this dog-free time that is the issue. Well, then, if he's great, then he will be able to adjust, you know? And if you need to, like, talk to a counselor about this, but I think you guys can handle this. Yeah, I second that.
Starting point is 00:41:45 I actually think he's going to come through. Yeah, I think so, too. So just be – you have to reset the boundary. You gave him the benefit of the doubt, and now you have to take it back. Yes. This is a preexisting relationship. You know, like he knew he was living with your dog. You have a one-bedroom apartment.
Starting point is 00:41:59 It's not like you have some huge amount of space for him to roam around. It's unfair to the dog, and you're not going to do that to your dog anymore. And get a white noise machine. If he can't handle the snoring, like just like blast a bunch of fans in the room. That's what you got to do. That's a good idea too. Yeah, but tell him to wear headphones when he goes to sleep. Oh, there you go.
Starting point is 00:42:14 And then tape his mouth shut so he can breathe through his nose. People are loving that. oh no they tape their mouths shut yeah so they can be through their nose yeah I was thinking about that I'm getting him like wax earplugs or something there you go alright well let us know how it goes Alyssa
Starting point is 00:42:32 yes I will thank you guys so much it was great to meet you both bye Alyssa thanks for calling in bye that was easy we say this as if we have two dogs roaming around our room I'm like Doug cover your ears first of all yeah
Starting point is 00:42:47 If anyone wasn't like- But you sleep outside. Yeah, no kidding. You don't sleep outside. Fuck off. I know. It's like when I come to bed and there's like my husband and our three pugs like taking up the entire bed, I'm like, my family.
Starting point is 00:42:59 Not that there's any room for me, but it's my family. Okay. So our next question comes from Elle. She says, Dear Chelsea, I have a conflict with my friend that I can't seem to get over. My good friend of five years is a gay man. We're both therapists and met at an old job, and we've been very close ever since. We're aligned on the state of the world, politics, all that. He's just moved to a new city.
Starting point is 00:43:19 We were voice memoing, texting daily, and even though I appreciated this connection and his friendship, I found his relationship at times to be negative and draining. We're both therapists, and so we both already take on the mental load of the job on a daily basis. I was probably holding in some of these feelings when he texted me a headline about rights being taken away recently. He has a tendency to catastrophize, and therefore, through my own process of taking in daily news content, I've been careful of where I watch or read the news. When he messaged me this alarmist
Starting point is 00:43:49 headline, I validated it but also encouraged him to make sure the source was credible. He seemed to shut down and therefore I did let him know that I personally was trying to take an emotional distance from all the news headlines myself and needed that boundary. Ever since then though, our friendship has changed. I noticed an obvious decrease in communication and his attempt to see each other. About a month ago, I told him how I felt that there was distance ever since that day and wanted to apologize for it. I opened up about how I was feeling with the state of the world,
Starting point is 00:44:17 which prompted my response to him that day. And while he appreciated my accountability and vulnerability, he said at that moment, he questioned whether I was a safe space. I was taken aback by this because I've always been so empathetic. I couldn't believe that one message would make him question his ability to trust me.
Starting point is 00:44:32 We ended on good terms from that conversation and I've seen him once since, things were fine. I'm still upset that our friendship isn't the same and I can't seem to not think it doesn't have anything to do with what happened? Or is it just the natural shift of our friendship? What do I do? Work on accepting the new trajectory of our friendship? Know that maybe this was for the best? Or do I initiate a conversation again to try and work on the friendship more? With love, Elle. Hi, Elle. How are you? This is our special guest, Madelaine Petsch.
Starting point is 00:45:00 Hey, how are you? I'm so glad to be here. Thank you. I could totally understand your situation and your friend's situation because that's not the response that they want to get, you know, when someone finds out about their own rights. It's like me texting, like think about you texting one of your guy friends and saying, okay, they're about to overturn Roe v. Wade. And he's like, check your sources. You don't know what you're talking about. Like, it's so personal that I totally understand. But now how do you kind of fix the friendship? I definitely think your friendship has been impacted by that. I think it would be if it were in reverse some way, like if he was dismissive of your rights, I think you
Starting point is 00:45:34 would probably have that same reaction, whether it would play out the same or not. So taking that into account, I don't know. Do you address it again? What do you ladies think? Or do you just keep showing up as the friend and hoping to get back to the friendship that you had? What do you think, Madeline? I've had situations, not similar, but I've had friends falling out where I've wished that it wouldn't have happened. And I think it feels like it's more about what you feel aligned with. Does it feel aligned to you to keep... I mean, you're a therapist. Is it more aligned to you to continue trying to communicate does that feel like it's working or does it feel more aligned to you just like to let him come to you when the time is right and
Starting point is 00:46:10 show him that the love and support is there it really is like person dependent I think especially with a person you're in this friendship with like will they respond better to that or will they respond better to giving them space and just making sure they know that you love them yeah I feel like I've been trying to you know ask them how they're doing how their trip was you know like not be so overbearing but I kind of get the feeling they've kind of drifted and I'm kind of like then I it forced me to take the look at the friendship as a whole and reflect on it and I was like okay you know what maybe it was a lot in general I did find myself becoming a little frustrated at other things and I don't want to feel like there's
Starting point is 00:46:56 underlying resentment in this friendship I guess I would have handled it I don't know like I give people the benefit of the doubt a little bit and especially if they apologize you know and that's where I feel like there's still this grudge and it's just kind of unspoken now and it's a little awkward I don't know how it would be when we see each other again I feel like it's just been continuing this distance. And even when I got Catherine's email that morning, I was thinking like, maybe the distance is okay. Well, let me ask you this. Before this happened, you know, you've said there was some negativity and you felt kind of drained. When you were off the phone with this person after having a phone call or getting a voice memo, did you feel fuller or did you feel
Starting point is 00:47:41 more drained? Good question. I think I felt more drained, which is something I was kind of thinking about as of lately. I think I felt a little exhausted or a little frustrated at certain times. And that's also sad to kind of think about as well. I do love them a lot. Yeah. I think that once you make an apology and you are clear and you meant it, which I'm assuming you did, right? You don't really apologize for the same thing multiple times. You kind of have to apologize once, put it out there and see how it's received. That's on them, how they want to receive that. If they get it, great. If they don't, you can't keep apologizing for the same act. You already did that. So I think you have to let this friendship live in this kind of new
Starting point is 00:48:29 territory that it's in. You're admitting that it's draining to you. Take the space as a gift, like take the space as like, oh, this is kind of like a little blessing in disguise and look at it that way and just enjoy this time that you don't feel drained by him. And if he comes back to you in, you know, a few months or if it takes a year or whatever, and you guys get back on track, really be conscientious about how you're going to move forward in the relationship, because it seems like you did something that shifted the relationship and that might be for the better in the long run. You know, I'm glad you apologize. You should have. And now you can just like deal with it like you would tell one of your clients to deal with it. Like an adult, you did the right
Starting point is 00:49:10 thing. Now you have a different kind of tone in your relationship. That's okay. Don't fight it and don't resist the reality of the new situation and just go with it and just be relaxed about it. Don't put any pressure or any like timelines on it. Just be cool. And then I think you'll have more information in a few more months, like about if the relationship is going anywhere or if it's coming back, you know? Yeah. And I think weird vibes are like way easier to get past being in person with someone versus like doing your normal voice memos and texts and stuff. So maybe it's just like you leave it light until maybe they're back in town or whatever. And then, you know, you go out to dinner and maybe things will be totally fine. Or you'll kind of get your
Starting point is 00:49:48 answer of like, no, the vibes are still just too weird. I think you're right. I think like it would be less awkward, obviously, as a group and we're in person. And I think because you're both therapists, there's like a tendency to want to like over-therapize yourselves about this issue. So, like, I think you can let yourself off the hook. Yeah. You know, you did your due diligence. As a general rule to anyone listening, like, you don't have to keep apologizing for the same thing. People have to be graceful in accepting their apology in order for that to work, for the relationship to work.
Starting point is 00:50:16 But I do love that therapists are calling in for advice to dear Chelsea. I mean, talk about a feather in my cap. Yeah. I mean, listen, we can't always take our own advice that we give to clients. You need an outside perspective is the best perspective, in my opinion. Exactly. Awesome. Elle, well, let us know how it goes and what happens down the road. And yeah, we wish you luck. Thank you so much. Thank you, guys. Bye. Have a great day. You too. Well, we're going to
Starting point is 00:50:42 take a quick break and we'll be right back with Madeline Petsch. Behind every night spent making the kids' lunches, there's a lot of suspense. Will they finally eat the veggies? Will the pesto survive the first bite? Will the lunchbox come home empty, half full, or come home at all? And Will you finish episode eight before you're done slicing the cucumbers? Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Crave, Netflix, and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell. Connection is everything.
Starting point is 00:51:17 When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and held captive for nine months. I survived, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the Survivor Files. I just remember this low, taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable. I knew if he woke up, without a doubt, he was going to hurt me. I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed,
Starting point is 00:51:55 and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. But these aren't stories about what's taken from them. They're stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home.
Starting point is 00:52:23 This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo, and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table it's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters
Starting point is 00:52:58 and that is a trojan horse whether you're looking for literary deep dives smart pop culture conversations or a community of readers who love to think a little too much you're in the right place listen to pro society on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. See you between the pages. On the new podcast Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman. I can wait four hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering me a ride on his motorcycle. I chose option B. I'm Julie Pinheiro and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first. I'm on a mission to reclaim the word solita, trading the pity for possibility. Every time I tried to be alone,
Starting point is 00:53:46 I kept meeting people and they were like, you smiled at us. Not a lot of people smile around here. It's when you're alone that you're most receptive to the world as it is and not the lies you're sold about it. It can be a time where you push your limits, change your mind, or wake up to a new version of yourself. So whether you're a solo travel veteran or you're too nervous to book your first trip, I hope you listen to Solita on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back with Madeline. All right. Well, our last question comes from Jamie, and she says, Dear Chelsea, I need your help, girl. I have a friend, Miranda, who is a 32-year-old virgin. And when I say virgin, I mean it. This girl has not even kissed
Starting point is 00:54:37 a man, maybe not even hugged a guy. I wish I was kidding. I used to think that it was sweet how innocent she was, but now I'm starting to worry. I shared a funny story to another friend, Jennifer, of how Miranda has never worn a thong in her life. Jennifer then commented that Miranda's innocence actually showed signs of a person who was sexually abused in their past life. After hearing this from my friend, it really got me thinking and analyzing some of the things Miranda has shared with me. Most recently, Miranda had a family event where I helped her choose a nice dress to wear, but her parents, specifically her dad, told her to change her outfit because it quote, wasn't appropriate. To me, this was very weird. How can a dad tell their 32-year-old
Starting point is 00:55:17 daughter to change her outfit because it's not appropriate? And mind you, this wasn't the first time he's done this. Obviously, this is a sensitive topic, but I'm really worried about my friend. She wants to date guys and finally have her first kiss, but she doesn't even put herself out there. She's on every dating app and can't match with a guy. She's also a horrible texter, so that's no help. I want to help her out and maybe get her a date, but what if what my friend Jennifer said is true? Am I overstepping? Are they talking about past lives, past lives? Past lives, past lives. Okay, well, that's a pretty big leap I need to take from somebody. I mean, like, look like they were the version of themselves they are now.
Starting point is 00:55:53 Yeah. I mean, that's a pretty big, like... That's a leap. That's a little bit of a leap. But I don't think you can jump to conclusions like that about someone's life either. Or their past lives. Like, let's not get it twisted. That's a little crazy. Yeah. This overbearing dad that like maybe has some religious undertones. Listen, if your father is telling you what to do and what to wear at the age of 32, then you are probably stuck at an age that you were traumatized at, which is probably eight or nine years old. And that's why she's behaving like a young girl who's never been kissed, who doesn't know how to text.
Starting point is 00:56:23 These are like young girl attributes. So I think in order for your friend to like, if you want to be helpful to your friend, you have to get her into like counseling and find a good therapist for her. where she can talk to somebody about what really happened in her childhood and why she's taking direction from her dad as a 32-year-old woman. Yeah, even to just, like, help her get out of this sort of enmeshment with the dad who's really overbearing. Like, she's got to see somebody to kind of get her out of that. And that also isn't your burden either.
Starting point is 00:56:51 You know what I mean? Like, at the same time, it's like you can love your friend and you can give him all the resources, but you also, like, you can't force them into therapy even if they're not ready for it. True. So it's a really tough balance. Yeah, but you can always, I mean,
Starting point is 00:57:02 there are soft and gentle ways to suggest therapy. Like, Hey, I saw a couple of things. I saw your father. I thought that was very strange. Just so you know, like that's not normal or it's not common for men, you know, for people to listen to their fathers about their outfits at your age. It's also unusual. Don't shame her, but it's also unusual that you've never been kissed. It's unusual for you to be a virgin. I'm wondering if you should really have somebody who has no like opinions about your life that's kind of removing yourself from the situation to to bounce this stuff off of so that you can get a real idea of if something happened that maybe you're not remembering or maybe there's a traumatic event in your life that you need to
Starting point is 00:57:41 uncover in any of your lives in any of your lives yeah i love i love jumping to that i love a friend going to it first first conclusion is that must be the past yeah madeline did something happen in your past life that you oh that you have this long red hair like it's so presumptuous to say something like that. So don't say that. No, no, no. Okay. Well, tell her she can just use chat GPT to text boys. I mean, that's, you know, you learn how to do that, but then she's going to kill all those water buffalo. So, well, Madeline, it was so nice to meet you today. I mean, what a pleasure you are. Yes, absolutely. We loved having you, you know, Madeline from Riverdale sightless and the strangers chapter one, but now we have the strangers chapter two, which is in theaters.
Starting point is 00:58:21 It's happening. And you can also go on Amazon to watch her new rom-com, which is called maintenance required. Awesome. Thank you. We did it. We did it. We're wrapped. Thank you so much. Thank you, guys. Okay. Take care. The word of the week is acquiesce. To accept something without protest, acquiesce. I just announced all my tour dates. They just went on sale this week. It's called the High and Mighty Tour. I will be starting in February of next year. So I will be touring from February through June. I haven't added second shows yet, but we probably will be to some of these. So go get your tickets now. If you want good seats and you want to come see me perform, I will be on the High and Mighty Tour. Do you want advice from Chelsea? Write
Starting point is 00:59:12 into DearChelseaPodcast at gmail.com. Find full video episodes of Dear Chelsea on YouTube by searching at Dear Chelsea Pod. Dear Chelsea is edited and engineered by Brad Dickert, executive producer, Catherine Law. And be sure to check out our merch at ChelseaHandler.com. I survived nine months in captivity, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the Survivor Files. every week i'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable abducted stalked controlled and nearly silenced these are stories about what it takes to make it out alive listen to the survivor files with elizabeth smart on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts
Starting point is 01:00:05 if your bookshelf and your for you page are equally important to your personality welcome home pro society is a weekly podcast that's part book club part group chat for anyone who thinks pride and prejudice and love island deserve the same level of discourse each week we're connecting the dots between books the internet and pop culture with your favorite writers book talk creators and plenty of overthought opinions listen to pro society on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts did you hear the new episode of the hey jonas podcast we are at d23 so we'll see who stops by the cast of frozen stopped by Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, and Adina Menzel.
Starting point is 01:00:46 I auditioned for Frozen. What? For Kristoff. They said, okay, what are you going to be singing today? I said, I don't know. That must have been why you didn't get it. Oh, you probably won. Plus, John Stamos, Hayden Christensen from Star Wars, and more.
Starting point is 01:00:57 And I guess I can share that, uh, no way. Listen to the latest episode of Hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast, Hollywood Handbook. Each week, we talk to someone in show business and try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us. Everyone has a good time and no one gets mad at their publicist for letting them do our show.
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