Off The Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe - Andy Richter | Sidekick No More — From Conan to the DWTS Cha-Cha!

Episode Date: November 25, 2025

#896. Andy Richter is stepping out from the sidekick spotlight and spilling all the stories you’ve been waiting for! From his early days making teachers laugh to becoming Conan O’Brien’s iconic right-hand man, Andy has always found a way to bring the laughs.Then came Dancing With the Stars. Andy surprised fans (and himself!) and even earned the title of “People’s Princess” this season, giving us a behind-the-scenes look at why he said yes to the show.Hear about his start in improv, his friendship with Conan, the highs and lows of DWTS, and even honest confessions about health, weight loss, and how the show changed his life after a slow season. Whether you’ve been a fan for decades or just love a good story about comedy, dancing, and life in the spotlight, this episode is packed with Andy’s feel-good energy.Tune in and get ready to see Andy Richter like never before — sidekick? Not anymore.If you’re LOVING this podcast, please follow and leave a rating and review below! PLUS, FOLLOW OUR PODCAST INSTAGRAM HERE!Thank you to our Sponsors! Check out these deals!Booking.com: Head over to booking.com and start your listing today! Get Seen. Get Booked on Booking.com!Aura Frames: For a limited time, visit AuraFrames.com/vine and get $45 off Aura’s best-selling Carver Mat frames - named #1 by Wirecutter - by using promo code VINE at checkout.Figs: If you’re in healthcare—or shopping for someone who is—you can get 15% off your first order at Wearfigs.com with the code FIGS RX.Pura: Take up to 30% off sitewide during Pura’s Black Friday sale, the biggest sale of the year—for a limited time only at pura.com. Airalo: If you’ve got an international trip coming up, download the Airalo app now or visit AIRALO.com and use code VINE for 15% off your first eSIM.EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: (1:42) – Andy Richter on why he’s never loved being the solo spotlight, and how being a “morale keeper” shaped his sense of humor(8:20) – The story of how Andy met Conan and became the first writer hired on Late Night(21:37) – Andy shares the heartwarming moment his daughter realized he was in Elf(24:16) – Why Andy said YES to Dancing With the Stars despite initial hesitation(37:39) – Behind the scenes of DWTS: the highs, lows, and what it really felt like to be sent home.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Pura, take up to 30% off site wide during Pura's Black Friday sale, the biggest sale of the year for a limited time only at Pura.com. Aerolo. If you've got an international trip coming up, download the Aero app now or visit A-I-R-A-L-O.com and use code VINE for 15% off your first e-SIM. You're listening to Off the Vine with Caitlin Bristow. Hey, Vino's, real quick, if you are listening right now, which obviously you are or you wouldn't be hearing this, can you hit the subscribe or follow button on whatever platform you're on? please that one simple thing helps more than you even realize it allows me to keep growing on this podcast and making these episodes the best they can possibly be obviously for you that's the only favorite I'm going to ever ask okay it truly means the world to me thank you now let's get into it hey everybody welcome to off the vine I'm doing an intro from home today because I forgot to do one

for Andy but Andy Richter was on the podcast and we had obviously a lovely hilarious meaningful conversation he kind of opened up more than I thought he would and I just love him and respect him all around. We obviously talk about dancing with the stars, but we also talk about how his career came to be and the struggles that he's overcome. Where did you grow up? I grew up in Illinois. Oh, you grew up in Illinois? Yeah, yeah. I love people from Illinois. It's, you know, Canada is just a different kind of Midwest. Yes. There's a very, it's a very similar kind of ethos to Midwestern people to like, and, you know, in like Wisconsin, Michigan. I always gravitate towards those kind of people. Yeah, yeah. They're very similar. I always call them honorary

Canadians. Yes. You're not right. wrong. So when did you move? Was it when you were like, I'm going to go do big things in Hollywood? No, well, I started in Chicago. I started performing in Chicago. Do you stand-up? No, improv. Improv. I never really, I don't like being on stage by myself much. I like being, I like working with a group. And yeah, I started in Chicago, and then we had a show that went to New York, and I got an agent and then came out to L.A. and then, you know, agent got, you know, parts and just kind of slowly built it that way. That's cool. Improv. I did improv. I did improv. in high school.

Uh-huh. And I loved it because I feel like it gives you, like, confidence. It gives you a lot of confidence because you have to be super vulnerable and just, like, willing to put yourself out there. Yeah, yeah. Did that, like, kind of shape your sense of humor, or did you come out of the womb funny? I'm from a funny family. Yeah.

So there's a lot. I mean, my dad's really funny. My mom's pretty funny. My mom's older sister. My aunt Pat was really, like, my aunt Pat could have probably been a professional comedic actress, but she just, you know, didn't. Yeah. She wasn't.

But yeah, but they're pretty funny families. Isn't that interesting? It was valued. Yeah. You know, and there was value put on it and it was, and also too, like, it can be mean and, you know, lots of very judgmental aspects of it, too. But it's delivered better when it's funny. Yeah, yeah, it's kind of, yeah, like, bitchy can be pretty funny. But yeah, and then I just, and I just, it also was just kind of.

Yeah, it's a skill that I have. Yeah, it's interesting because I think about things with generations, like musical families, a lot of music's passed down, comedy, being funny, like it's like things that being athletic, like it's usually in your blood. And then we wonder why, like, we have this generational trauma. We're like, nah, that can't be. But it's like, no, it's all passed down. We all, it's, yeah, yeah, exactly.

It's a real thing. So that was probably like your first spark of you wanting to get into that world was improv? Yeah. Well, the first sparks were, I mean, being a little kid and, I mean, honestly, imitating sketches from the Carol Burnett show. Yeah. After we watched the Carol Burnett show and my grandma being incapacitated with laughter. And then I got to stay up longer, you know, so starting to realize. And also realizing making teachers laugh could be good, could also be like, like, there's nothing that makes you feel more powerful as a child when a teacher is yelling at you and you make them laugh in the middle of it. It is just, it's like, I, you know, like, I short-circuited

you being, you adulting all over me. There's a glitch. Yeah, yeah, like, I exerted control over you. I was the same way. Yeah, yeah. So, no, it's just, it just makes life better to be, to make people laugh and to be funny, you know. And, I mean, of course, like you said, generational trauma kind of things, I was a kind of classic middle child kind of had made myself in charge of morale, you know, and had to kind of keep in what could be a very sort of dysfunctional argument, well, just loud, like screaming, yelling, fighting household, kind of the one that was trying to keep everybody happy and keep all the plate spinning. And, you know, and eventually having to kind of. take years and years of therapy to kind of be like... Did you? Yeah, same.

And just sort of like, you know, like... And to kind of learn to live for myself, you know? Yes. I mean, because I, for years, got all my self-worth and value on what I was doing for other people. I mean, I was ambitious. You know, I got into show business, which is not like... That is not for the faint of life. Yeah, you have to have a drive in order to do that.

But still at the same time, you know, it's... To me, it's very telling that I was an improv. I wasn't a stand-up. My main gig that everybody knows before is being a sidekick, is being a supporting player. And that was, and that was kind of what I was engineered for. So, yeah, but, but, you know, I've always enjoyed being funny. I still, I still like being, you know, like, just to be able to, I went to film school.

I've been on set since I was about 20 years old. It's my workplace. And one of the things that I like best, and I don't understand why people who can do it, who don't do it, which is have fun, make jokes, make people laugh. Like, just walk around and, you know, and be silly and play. Yeah. My friend Tony Hale was on my podcast, and he said, like, you as an adult, he said, you have the largest capacity for play of any adult that I know. And I was like, that's really nice.

and I'm really glad, and I don't ever want to lose that because it's kind of like, yeah. It's the whole like point of life, in my opinion, because I have also done a lot of therapy, and I did this one therapy where it actually was all about your inner child. And I was like this one day in the therapy course, we had to act like kids. And I was like, what? This is so stupid. Like, why are we playing games? And then I asked my therapist, I said, why are we just spending a full day playing games?

that, like, you would play it, like, three years old. And she goes, because some of these people didn't get a childhood. And they literally do not know how to just play. Wow. And I was like, oh. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Noted.

Yeah, yeah. I can do that, though. Can I just skip this part? Yeah, yeah. Can I sit this one hour? This is lame. Yeah. But, yeah, it makes so much sense.

But I was actually thinking of you, too, because when I was on The Bachelor, they would always be like, Caitlin, can you be a little more serious because I would just be trying to, like, zing jokes out every chance I got on camera. And my goal was to always have the camera guy because they aren't supposed to laugh. And I was like, if I got him, I was like, yes. And we did that in dancing with the stars. Remember, you were like, I got him. Yeah. I know that was, that was, and I've said this a number of times, that was on the Conan show, and also too, when I was on any movie or something, the audience to me was always kind of secondary because they were, you know, the way that

the audience gets there a lot of times is they got turned away from Big Bang. Right. You know what I And they're like, well, we couldn't get into Big Bang. Let's go watch Conan. So they might not even really be that into seeing us. So they were sort of like, I mean, I was happy to make them laugh. But if I saw a cameraman laughing from something I did, I was like, yeah. I made a family member laugh because he's heard every one of my bullshit lines, you know. That's funny.

How did Conan come about? How did that happen for you? I'm sure you've talked about this many times, so I don't know the story. No, no, it's okay. I, like I said, I had been doing a, I had been doing improv in Chicago, and there was a show that we did in Chicago that went to New York and L.A. So that kind of got me out of Chicago and met other people. While I was in New York, a couple of friends of mine got on SNL. And I met this guy, Robert Smigel, who's a writer at SNL.

And we became friends. When I then went out to L.A. to do a show. he came out in the summertime when he was off SNL, we hung out again. And then, and then I was in L.A. and I had made the movie Cabin Boy, which is my first kind of substantive job. I had had like a little one-liner kind of parts and things. And I was in L.A. and I decided, okay, I'm going to live in L.A. now because I got a part in a movie. And Robert called me out of the blue. And I mean, and I was like kicking around. I didn't make much money on that. And I was like having to, I was starting to look for a job. for just regular jobs.

And Robert called me, and he had been a writer on S&L with Conan, had done a live show with him in Chicago, because there was a writer strike, so they went to Chicago and did this live show with Bob Odenkirk and a few other people. And he said, this guy that's replacing Letterman, Conan, he's a friend of mine, and I'm going to be the head writer on the show, and would you submit a writing sample for it? And I said, yeah, I said, you know, but I was like, I want to perform. He said, yeah, there's going to be room for performers. And most of the writers that were on that show were also performers. And probably performers first, I would say. Really? So I said, sure.

And I wrote up a packet of stuff. And before I even wrote the packet, too, I met with Conan. He said, well, you guys should meet. So we met here in L.A. at Junior's Deli, which I don't think is there anymore on Westwood Boulevard, and immediately hit it off. Just like instantaneous chemistry. Yeah, we're just the same kind of stupid, basically. And we're making each other giggle. And so Robert told me that Conan got on the phone with him afterwards and said, hire him.

And Robert said, let's see what he writes first. He said, I don't care what he writes. Just hire him. So that was pretty nice. But I wrote a decent enough packet that I made the cut. And I was the first writer hired on late night with Conan O'Brien. So it was me, Conan, Robert, their two assistants, one person that was the booker, the executive producer, a receptionist, and I think two PAs.

So we were on this floor. It was like seven of us. And it was sort of really like pick an office in Rockefeller Center. That's crazy. And then it just slowly, you know, built from there to all of us kind of figuring out how to make this show. I mean, it was brilliant. Thank you. It really took a while.

But yeah, I mean, it was because we really did. I mean, Conan and Robert had experience, but it was on SNL. It wasn't, and we all grew up with David Letterman as a, you know, a guiding light, a very formative influence on all of us. Everybody of my age that was serious about being funny probably has David Letterman as one of their most formative influences. Yeah. So we knew we wanted to, you know, we kind of knew how these shows ran, but we also were working in reaction to him, especially because we were replacing him. Right. And there was plenty of ideas we would come up with that we'd go,

that's kind of lettermany. Yeah. It's a good idea and I can see it, but it'd be hard to make it not letterman. Yeah. So we were kind of living in reaction to that, but it did take us a long time to figure out, and any show, it takes a while to figure out what the identity of it is. Especially when you're replacing something that people are so used to and that they've lived in their home with every night and that's who they want to go to bed with.

I remember my parents kind of watching Letterman and I always was kind of into it. My family's kind of funny, too. Like, we like that kind of humor. We always watched SNL. And then it's so funny, I made my parents buy me a TV for my room so I could watch Conan every night. Oh, really? That was my show. That is what I wanted to watch every night. It made me fall asleep laughing. And it was the best. Yeah. And it's so you guys got there. I mean, and this is to Conan's credit and always has been, and Robert, too, high, high standards of, It's got to be our standard of funny. Yeah.

And it also has to be, it has to be unique. It has to be us. It has to be. And I mean, and this is where it becomes an art. This is where it becomes like, like you have artistic principles. You don't think of them as such because it seems, you know, like too uppity. But we weren't trying to find an audience. We were trying to be as funny as we could be.

And I think whenever, and I've been on shows. where they try and chase an audience, like, we need more young women to watch. Right. And I've always been like, do you know how to do that? Yeah. And the answer is always not really. Right. And, you know, because I'm one of the shows I was on, actually, they decided that there

was this network directive. We need more young women watching. And what they said, let me put my app t-shirt on. Well, I mean, what they ended up doing was like, it just seemed like all of a sudden, all the characters, every three pages, were telling each other how much they, they liked each other. Like, I really like you. You're such a good friend.

And I thought, okay, I guess that's how we're going to win. I don't know what research says that that's necessarily what young women want. But I've always been like, I don't know how to do that. I only know how to do what I do. I only knew is like, you give me a situation. You say, like, you know, there's a spot on the page. Put a joke in there. I'll put a joke in there.

You say, here's an idea for a sketch. You got any ideas? Well, I think the ending could be this. You know, I only can do what I can do. I can't chase an audience. I even think about that, like, as social media being my job, I have 97% women following me because they relate to me. I share outfits. Like, if they were, like, if somebody was to say to me, let's try and switch your audience to all men, I would be like, what are you going to do?

I'm like, I'm talking about, like, periods and, like, being a PMS-E and, like, they're not going to relate to me. And I don't know how to be anything different. It's kind of like not completely similar, but I understand that you're like, but this is what I know how to do. Yeah. And sometimes it must be scary, too, to say jokes that are in your head hilarious. And you're like, is this going to land with other people? Oh, you just got it.

Yeah, no, you got to like, there has to be a kind of fearlessness that happens. And because they can't all be winners, you know, and definitely I am capable of some clunkers. But you, you know, you, you end up relying on the people around you, too. You know, in the moment, if you say a joke and it doesn't work, oh, well, you know, we just move on, you know. But you can have really funny ideas and write them up and go, oh, man, this is great. You give it to people, you know, funny people you trust and they're like, it's okay. Yeah.

And you're like, oh, I guess that was just me. And everybody needs that. Everybody needs every really, really deeply funny person that I know needs to have somebody go, is this funny? Right. Because nobody knows 100%. Yeah. And it's all subjective, you know.

That's the thing, too. It's all subjective. I always think that with humor and, I mean, even music. There's certain things that, you know, like, because you know, on like TikTok and Instagram, everybody's copying each other now where it's like, oh, this idea happened. You had to do a lot of TikToks and stuff with Dancing with the Stars. But it's like almost become a form of flattery where I feel like maybe in the day of late night, was it so competitive?

Oh, it was very competitive? had it. And I'm actually, that was one of the interesting things. And I just, I talked about that a couple times. And Emma was just on my podcast and we talked about it. That one of the first things about TikTok that was strange to me was we're going to do something that that's exactly what other people have done. And that's just for, I'm like, you mean we're not going to put a twist on it? We're not going to sort of comment on it. Like, no, just do it. And I kind of get it now. It's like I said on my podcast, it's like, we're all going to go down the slide at the playground. There's only one way to go down the slide to the playground. And we all went down it.

And there is a sense of community to that. But yeah, definitely, it was, well, it was competitive in those days because, A, there was a lot less stuff to distract people. There was no internet. Right. I mean, you know, it's still, we still, you know, at whatever time, you know, 11th, 30, 12, 30, you know, depending on your time zone, where we were. The ratings we got there were gigantic compared to now. Yes. There were still tons of people watching us. And there was also, too, because of Letterman Leno, because of Johnny Carson quitting

and Letterman wanting the job and Leno getting the job, and then Letterman, you know. I'm sure the politics of. Well, it just became, it became content for the, for the, entertainment media. Yeah. So they always, you know, they would, they were the late night wars. And whether we wanted to be in them or not, we were in them. And we were directly up against CBS, it was first Tom Snyder.

But we not, you know, again, we never, we never, like, thought, like, what can we do to beat Tom Snyder? We just did what we did, you know. That's great. I feel like that's, I don't know if that's usual or unusual, but was there anyone in the industry that you guys didn't get along with? You know, it definitely back then. was it felt more like football rivalries from high school or college, you know, like,

like there wasn't a lot of overlap, you know, kind of like I started to become friendly with Jimmy Kimmel. Yeah. And I got the sense, not necessarily from Conan directly, but just kind of institutionally was like, what are you hanging out with him for? Oh, yeah. He's the, he's the, he's the opposite. And, you know, it's like, and I always was just like, Jesus, we all run steakhouses. There's plenty of room for steakhouses in this town. But now everybody's friends. Okay, you know how every year there's that one holiday tradition that just makes the season? Like for me and my sister, it's our annual matching pajama breakfast, but we do it on Christmas Eve. We're always allowed to open one present on Christmas Eve. And guess what? It's pajamas every single time. My mom started it when

we were little. And every single year, she, I want to say forces, but I think we all agree to wear matching pajamas. And I really do feel like it's photos that I have since we were a little until now, year after year. And this year, I just wanted to start a new little tradition. So I got an aura frame. And I swear it's like a little nostalgia machine. That's what I call it on my counter. You just download the aura app. It connects to Wi-Fi and boom. Unlimited free photos and videos. I've been adding everything. All the cute stuff, the chaotic stuff, the why are we taking this stuff? And because I ordered early, I even preloaded it before I shipped it. So when it arrived, it was already full of matching pajama madness. And honestly, you can't wrap togetherness, but you can't.

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I always go around the end of November, November, and we always watch Christmas movies. I completely forgot you were an elf. Yes. I'm not hugely an elf. But yeah, yeah. The fact, elf is the, one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time. I think it's a lot of people's,

and the kids wanted to watch elf. So I was like, yes, it's my favorite. I had every DVD of, like, Best of Will Ferrell growing up from SNL. Yeah, yeah. And I'm just sitting there, and I went, oh, Mandy. That's me. What's more vulnerable than a beach?

It's funny because last Thanksgiving, we were in Illinois at my sister's house. Yeah. And my five-year-old was downstairs when she was four then. And she was down in the basement, you know, like classic Midwestern house. That's where the big TV with all the kids are. I can picture it. In the basement. And they were watching Elf.

And she came running upstairs and tell me, Daddy, you're in this movie. Like it was something. It must be crazy. It must be something that happens, like it was something that happened that I didn't know about. Like, what? I am. You know, I was like, yeah, I know, honey. That is crazy.

I just, you know, because I had just danced with you for the full week and then I decided to put on Elf one of my favorite movies and I completely had forgotten. I just died. Yeah, no, people, that's, people do forget that. And it is kind of outside of cone and that is the most sort of, I guess, culturally impactful thing that I've done. Although now probably dancing with the stars is probably going past that. Definitely.

you ever do Family Guy voiceovers? I know you did American Dad. No, I don't think I ever did anything on Family Guy. I think I've just done American Dad. That's my, that's like my biggest dream. I want to be a voice on Family Guy. Again, had every DVD. I know every episode. I know every line. You could be like, oh, this part. And I'm like, my best friend gets annoyed. She goes, you don't need to quote Family Guy every day. And I'm like, but I do. It's in there. You got to get it out. Well, and it's hilarious. If I just don't say from Family Guy, I could actually sound really funny and just use those lines on my own. but it's good that you're honest

I'm very honest but I do think you made such an impact I've been watching Dancing with the Stars since 2002 whenever it started and I just love the show so much I was so honored to be a part of it and there's few people that really make an impact in the way that you did

because you know you see people really grow as a dancer or you see the people that are really good or they're really famous or like something but the people's princess did you know it's National Princess Day today I did not It's your day. Did not.

Well, I would have dressed fancier. I would have put on socks. It's just, it was such a pleasure to watch you on that show. And I mean, you obviously created fandies, which is so crazy. I've probably asked you this when we were just dancing, but did you ever think this was, how did you even say yes to the show? I said yes because I got an email and, and, you know, they said, do you want to do this? And I've talked about this. My initial reaction was, no, I don't.

Right. And then two seconds later, literally, you know, less than a minute later, I'm like, I have to do this. Yeah. And not I have to do this. I mean, there's all kinds of, like, very sensible grown-up reasons to do it, which are, it's one of the biggest shows on TV. And I have, you know, and the last few years have been rough for me. I mean, I still make a nice living. Yeah.

But it's not what it was. And I got used to being on a, having a steady income for 11 years on a show that kept me in one place. And I got to see my kids grow up and they're 24 and 20 now. And I was there for them. I was home for dinner every night, which to make a living and show business and be home for dinner every night is really unheard of it. So I enjoyed a lot of success. But there was the side note that I kind of was off on an island. And I think I kind of like got to, it's not that I was forgotten, but people just saw me as the guy on Conan.

Right. So when the Conan show ended, and it hasn't been the best of atmospheres, either with strikes and, you know, and different, you know, COVID impacting things. A lot. And there just has not, show business has been very weak. And so it's been, it's been a slow couple of years. And I, you know, and it's also, it's the frustratingly. There's, show business is also really stupid. It's like, there's, it's IQ just, there's a lot of real brilliance in it, but the general IQ of show business is like 12. Really?

Yeah, because, well, first of all, after COVID now, they, and it's now, because it's cheap, you self-tape. Yeah. You don't go in to audition for things. Oh, yeah, everything's changed. Which is just, to me, is, it's, I let me, I'll drive an hour to your, but let me come in. So if I'm doing something wrong, you can tell me. and I can fix it right now, as opposed to recording myself doing four takes, which is a pain in

the ass anyway. And then I'm doing it wrong and you just say no. And also you can't like get a, you know, there's a certain level of like, hey, I'm good to work with for 12 hours a day. Look how much fun I've been while I've been here in your office. There is something so energetically different when you're in person. Yes. So I would send in self-tapes and I would hear back from the casting person like, he is a really good actor. And it's like, oh, bastard, that's what I've been doing.

That's what I started doing. This Conan thing was a side road. So that can be frustrating. But then again, you're like, well, you know, I can't expect people to be up on every aspect of my personality and my sparkling wit. You know, I mean. And my good looks.

Doing dancing with the stars is like, yeah, this is going to be good. So it pays nicely, which you found out. And, you know, it pays nicely. It is very consuming. Did you know how consuming it was going to be? I didn't have, it's on paper, but you know, you don't know until it happens. And I also have friends that were on it, like Kate Flannery is a dear friend of mine. I love her.

And she let me know. Like, it's a grunt. Yeah, she's like, I hope that your wife will, like, is going to get used to not seeing you. Yeah. And not having you be able to do stuff. Mm-hmm. including walk, like you won't be able to walk. Yes, yes, that too.

Yeah. But I did it mainly because I knew I needed, I was in a stuck place, mainly physically. Mainly I hadn't, I had, I had, for years I've gone to the gym, but I went with a trainer. Yeah. And that was the way that I went to the gym is because someone was there waiting for me. Left to my own devices, I don't care, you know. It's like, you know, my joke is always, and it's a sad joke, but it's not a bad joke. It's always like, oh, you mean if I exercise and eat, right?

right, I get more life, this thing I'm ambivalent about, I get more of this, of this, like, what do I, okay, you know, fine. Yeah, okay. It's like I get more of the sort of what I feel like the equivalent of waiting in a dentist's office, you know. It was just, like I say, pretty grim. And I knew I needed to get out of that. And I knew, you know, my sister and I I will talk about, like, my mom and her many, well, my mom is like a world-class hypochondriac. Oh, okay. Like when you, you know, for years talking to her, it's 80% symptoms. Yep.

And then, and she just never took care of herself. And it'd be like, Mom, well, you know, you could get out and, you could walk and, you know, and all these things. And we would, you know, saying like, and my sister and, you know, my sister's turning 50. I'm 59. and we, and I had a point where I was like, you know, we know what she's done wrong, but are we really, are we? Are we learning from this? Yeah. Are we like, we have all these like prescriptions for her as to what she should do and all these like behaviors that are we really keeping up our end of that? And she was like, shut up. I know. That's a tough self-reflection moment. And I knew like, I somehow innately knew that this would, I needed this. Oh, my gosh. I needed this. And like, it was probably you needed it more than you even realized.

A hundred percent. Like, a thousand percent. Yes, moving your body, but the joy of dance, Emma as a partner, the family feel of that whole show, having people rooting for you and then reminding them of like, Andy, yes. Yeah, yeah. It's like, it's validating not only like from the outside perspective, but to yourself that you can do these things.

100%. Yeah, so did it like change your whole life in perspective? Oh, my, absolutely. And that's, you know, the joke that I say. like, oh, if I exercise, I get more of this, this life that I'm sort of ambivalent about. That joke doesn't apply anymore. Like, I want to, I'm like, I'm now like, no, no, I actually, I'm kind of invested in sticking around, you know?

I mean, and my friend Jonathan Groff and I, you know, we had a joke once about like, I don't want to die, but oh, God, the rest. Just think of, oh, that's just the rest that you get. The deepest sleep of your life. leap that, I mean, and that kind of joke, it's not, I mean, still, I still can appreciate that kind of thinking, but, do you feel like you have new life? Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I just, I, yeah, I, I, I, I, I took all of this, and I've said it before, and it, it, it was all fear and insecurity, yeah, masquerading as kind of, I don't, you know, like a funny curmudgeonly old guy,

you know, like who had seen it all and had passed judgment and that's not. for me and you know and look at all these people running around and all this activity I'd rather just sit here and and now I'm like no that guy was an asshole that guy that guy was first of all was a liar he wasn't he wasn't so wise and crumudge and he just was like I don't think I can do this I don't know if I want to do this I might look stupid doing this I might seem weak doing this Because for me too, like exercising has always been something, and I've said it before, like there's this fat kid stuff and there's just fat person stuff where you feel like I am this way because of a weakness in my character.

I am this way because I f*** up. I didn't do the things I was supposed to do and now I'm heavy and now I'm unhealthy and oh shit. I can't, like that must feel daunting. Absolutely. You blame yourself. And so you just don't want to, like the notion people would be like, do you want to go on a hike? And I'd be like, yeah, if you do not talk to me.

Right. Because I cannot talk to you while we're hiking. I can hike, sure. But don't talk to me. And that's like deeply embarrassing because I feel like, oh, this person is going to realize that I have quote unquote let myself go, which I, you know, has been in my head forever. Of course. And it's the classic thing, too. I'll look back at pictures of myself when I was in my 20s.

when I thought I looked like shit and be like, I look pretty goddamn good. I look pretty fit and like in pretty good shape. And I still thought I was fat and lazy and, you know. And so this has really helped me. I mean, and yes, I lost weight and yes, you know, which I had already kind of started before the show to do that. And of course, dancing a million times, you know, a million hours, certainly supercharged that.

But I also, I'm on Zep bound, one of the semi-glutide, you know, things, which I will always say, because I think it is a crime that people are made to feel guilty for using a medication to help them get over a chronic problem. And become a healthier person who is less of a burden on society. Because if you are unhealthy, you are a burden on society in some way. Yeah. So I, you know, and I always liken it to when I started taking antidepressants in the late 80s and people were trying to shame me about it and say like, can't you just pull yourself up by your bootstraps or aren't you worried about it changing your personality or do you really need to do that? Right. And the answer was, yes, I need to do this. And I've been doing it ever since and it saved my life probably. I'm, you know, so I just feel like it's the same thing. Shame around what people will like... Oh, you're on Ozmpic. Yeah, so what?

Yeah, I am. You're taking insulin. Like, yeah, I'm a diabetic. Fuck you. I know. Yeah, yeah. Sent the season with Pura. Take up to 30% off site wide during Pura's Black Friday sale,

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Install it, and boom, you're connected the second you land. So no sketchy public Wi-Fi, no surprise roaming fees, no kiosks in the airport that feel like a trap. You just pay for the data that you need, and then you can top it up anytime. So whether it's streaming, playlist, scrolling, texting, navigating, or video calling home, AeroLO keeps you connected without your phone bill exploding. They work in over 200 destinations and are trusted by more than 20 million travelers, and honestly, I just wish I knew about them sooner. So do what I do.

And if you've got an international trip coming up, download the Aero app now or visit Aero.com. That's A-I-R-A-L-O.com and use code Vine for 15% off your first ESIM. Terms apply. Dancing with the Star is such a perfect show to put people in such a good mindset, to move your body, to feel good, to make other people feel good, and see the impact that you have. I was unaware of what, like, a common story that is. You know, I did this thing, and, you know, I challenged myself to do something. I made, I was vulnerable in public doing something that I could have looked like an ass doing. And also, and, you know, and you are serving, people are fucking mean.

Like there's, if you, if you went through TikTok or actually, I find Instagram comments to be meaner than TikTok comments, but you'd think there's a choreographer on every fucking block. Oh, I know. Because all these people are such goddamn experts about like, you know, like that fox trout wasn't very good. Oh, really? Tell me about what a fox trot is. Yeah, do this, do the counts of a fox trot right now. It's wild how many people are judging out there and judging the judges judging. I'm just like, you. You guys don't know what you're talking about.

I mean, ultimately it's good for the show. Totally. And it's, and it is like, it's one of the strengths of the show is that it gets people inspired. It gets people passionate. But, you know, and it's kind of the, you know, like the off-gassing of all that popularity. It's just like nonsense opinions. Well, and there's so much love, too, right? Oh, it was, yeah, I mean, I don't mean to, we're, it's more fun to talk about the haters than it is.

Well, and it's comical. So much, so much the level of like love and acceptance that I got that just kind of, again, came out of doing TikToks and dancing on the show. And then all of a sudden people are filming themselves excited that we made it through and doing Halloween costumes. That's what I mean. You really impacted people at home with. And that's what I'm like, people were so bummed when you got sent home. Were you bummed or were you a little relieved or both? Because it really is hard on the body.

Initially, well, I couldn't, you know, I didn't know what was going to happen. I was shocked. By the way, I thought it was my fault. Oh, no. I was like, I didn't get Andy the points. No, no, no, no. Well, first of all, I've always been lowest in the points. So the points really didn't.

Really, I don't think ultimately mattered that much. I think that we were getting lots and lots of votes. And, you know, they're very cagey about the algorithm and how, you know, that all works. And there's no transparency. And I know from talking to pros, they have never heard a bit of information about how many votes, how the votes are. They just, it's like Fort Knox. There is just a fortress around that information. But there were like little indicators that we were getting from people on the show when we would say things like, well, if we're coming back next week.

And they would go like, oh, come on, you're going to be here for a while. And we were like, oh, shit, I guess we're going to be here for a while. And then we started, you know, we started sticking around. And people are online saying, you're going to make it to the finals. And other people are saying, you're going to win the mirror ball. And, you know, I'm like, am I? I don't really think that's possible. But in your head, there's like, I thought you were in the final four for sure.

Possibly, yeah, you know. Well, you kept proving it to yourself every week. I, yeah. And I mean, I just kind of felt like, and I never thought it's because of my, well, yes, it's because of my dancing. but it's not because of the technical proficiency of the dancing. Right. It's because of what feelings were we were inspiring with people with the dancing, both me being me and Emma engineering the whole thing,

choreographing it and understanding my strengths and weaknesses and understanding what made good viewing. I think like one of the strengths that I don't see many people talking about was the variations in our dancings from week to week. Yeah. That I don't, there's other people I don't see that so much. There's kind of smoldering sexy. You get smoldering sexy every week, every week, whatever the version is.

And ours was kind of like, one week's kind of funny, one week kind of cute, one week's, you know, a heartbreaker. Yeah. You know, and she did that. She gave lots of different colors for us to, for us to display. And I think that's part of what the joy was watching you, though, is it's like we got to see so many different sides of you. And when, and I told you this, but I'll say it again. And I've said it on my podcast, but watching you pick up the waltz the way you did. I was like, dude knows what he's doing.

I love the waltz. The waltz was really, truly, the most fun. Because, like I've said, you grab onto each other and spin around the room. And it's just fun. It's just plain old fun. The Tuesday night that we went home, that's when I, and again, I talked about it on my podcast with Emma, like, we did really well. We did that quick step. And that quick step was meant to be shut up.

Yes. You know, all these people are like, he never does anything. Emma does everything. He just walks around. I was just kind of like shut up. And, you know, and even Bruno said, it's a quick step. You was quick and it was steps, you know. And so I did that and I felt really good.

And I mean, you know, it was eight and three sevens. It would have been nicer to get that up. But even them, I could say they all, it was four eights. Still wouldn't have mattered, you know. Right. But it was, I was so, because I got to watch you in practice and I got to watch you do the camera blocking. And when I saw you, you, you should. I was like a, I was like your mom out, like, back in Washington and the backstage.

I was like, yes, yes, yes. And I was freaking out and I was like, he nailed it. Thank you. Yeah, no, that was, and I'm very happy that we did that. Then, because I think we went third, then every other people were going, you know, and you know, like I said in one of them, I said, I lived on the chopping block. And you start to get a sense of who's on the chopping block with you, both, you know, largely through the things that people.

people are saying online. I think that's where you can take the temperature of how people are feeling about who's vulnerable. So you're, you know, like, I'm aware of, like, who, like, I'm not, I don't think I'm going to, you know, like, I'm not going to beat Robert. Like, like, Robert is always going to be, yeah, but I mean, just, just, yeah, I mean, but he just, like, there's no question about it. There's other people where it's like, well, they're, you know, they're, they don't have the scores that these other people have and, you know, and are they getting as many votes as we're getting? So, you know, who's, you know, who's kind of in there with you as terms of, like, vulnerable. Yeah. And they started, as I said, they were giving out tens like it was candy.

Yeah, they really were. And I had this feeling of, like, how the hell am I going to stick around and they're going to send somebody that got like three tens and a nine or three nines and a 10? Yeah, you start doing the math. Yeah, it's just like, and I mean, and I just was like, people are going to lose their minds if that happens again. And they would have a point at this point in the competition. There would be, like, they'd be like, I would be like, yeah, I don't know. I probably shouldn't still be here. But that, it was during that show that I really started to feel like, oh, I don't think the finals are for me.

I don't think I'm going to be winning any mirror balls. it just kind of I sort of had a sense like this might be it because I also knew if I'd stuck around till the semifinals it would start to turn because it turned from the previous week

after Danielle went home there were a lot of Daniel fans that were really mad at me and I you know but it's not your fault oh I know I know but I understand like I understand what fandom is and I understand too

you know like there's a lot lot of people, I saw this online, like a lot of people saying, you know, like, well, we got tired of watching Andy fans or Fandies celebrating when someone lost. It's like they weren't celebrating that someone went home. No, they were celebrating that we were staying. So, but, you know, I'm sure that there were a lot of people that were sort of like, okay, enough's enough. You're right, it is a fandom. Like, you think about sports and just how I remember thinking there's a guy who was mad, I remember one time about male cheerleader, a man in the stands. And I was like, dude, you're the biggest male cheerleader. There's just, this crowd is full of male cheerleaders.

You're all screaming for men and what they're doing wrong and what they're doing right and you're mad at the other people. And that is, it's kind of like dancing with the stars is kind of like people's Super Bowl. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. No, they're very passionate about it. And I mean, and there's people pissed that I'm not there anymore. Oh, yeah. There's people, you know, Yeah, but I mean, but there's people like, you know, like I'm not going to vote, you know, like I'm not going to watch, you know, I see that, which I don't want, I don't want that. Right. I love this show. And that was when people, I would, you know, there were comments that nothing like made me stay up late at night.

Yeah, you're not losing sleep over everyone. Yeah. But I mean, there's just annoying shit. Uh-huh. They're like all these new people are ruining my show, which A, honey, the show's never been stronger. So I don't think. The proof is in the pudding. I think the show's doing fine.

And then the other thing that I would feel is like your show, I've now put in more time on this show than you have. Yes. It's my show. You know, it's more my show than it is your show. To say that I'm ruining your show is like, mm-mm, you're getting the ownership confused here because this is, I have a stake in this thing now and will forever. And you worked hard to get there. Just like you do. Yes.

You get a stake in this thing and you're part of. You know, a family or just, you're part of this organization and you will always be linked to it. Yes. Oh, my gosh. And gladly so. I was going to say, and I'm honored to be. Yeah. It's just like, I remember the uproar was Tyro Banks was the host on my season. And people lost their mind over that.

And they were like, I'm not watching and blah, blah, blah. But the thing is, America likes their comfort food. Yeah. They really like things to stay the same. They don't like change. And they all get in a tizzy. And it's like, really their outlet. for what's actually going on in their life,

that they get to be mad at something else. And it's just, it really is never going to change. Right. I saw a really funny, I mean, funny. It was just a very interesting thing from a sociologist on Instagram. They just post different things about, like, you know, why people are the way they are and stuff that happens. And there have been studies now where they,

because there was this sort of conventional wisdom that the reason people are so awful on the Internet is because they're anonymous. They can get away with it. They can sit there behind a keyboard and no one knows it's them and they can be, you know, say the ugliest things. And that they're not really that bad. They're just, this is gives them an outlet and they sort of, again, like let off steam or just, you know. And this, they did this study and found like, no, no, those people are actual assholes in their real lives too.

Like these are generally unpleasant, unpleasant people that don't get along well in groups. And they just, they're the same online as they are out in the world. It's my dream to do a show like catfish, but find the trolls in the trolls and like talk to them and be like, do you need a hug? Or like, what's going on in your life where you're so upset? And then people would have compassion for the trolls and they'd be like, well, now what do I do? Because everyone would love them and then they'd go, you know, it just, it would be so fascinating.

I wanted to ask one more thing about Dancing with the Stars. Did you, because it was the whole Bobby Bones thing. You remember that where it was like people were so mad that he won because he wasn't a good dancer. and I think Tom Bergeron had made a comment or something, so Bobby Bone sent back his mirror ball. Did you hear about that? I did. What do you feel about that? I don't know.

I mean, I don't want to speak on it much. And to be frank, Bobby asked me to be on his podcast, and I was kind of like... I asked Bobby to be on mine, too. Oh, did you? I mean, because I was already doing this, but I was kind of like, because, like I say, I just... Emma and I did about 90 minutes on my podcast, and I sort of, like... like I don't have a lot more to say. I get that. I totally get that. And I mean, and I had already committed to them. He asked me and I was like, I don't really want to talk about this. Like,

I'm doing interviews, but it's like, you know, like, with Parade Magazine. It's not, I'm not going to cry for them. So I just was like, I don't think I want to do long form stuff. But I also do think like there is a difference between him and me and that I, I mean, from what I understand, he had a radio show. He had a big platform. And I think a lot of people were voting. as a lark because it was fun and you're like yeah let's let's with dancing with the stars yeah i know he's not necessarily responsible for that but i think there was that aspect of it people might say the same thing about people that found me and emma on ticot and started to like ticot and started to vote for us for that but it was like ticot isn't a syndicated radio show right you know and i do

And I, so he has every right to kind of be offended, but I mean, I also kind of feel like you also don't have to say anything, you know? You can also just like, if Tom Berger on next season says something sideways about me, I think I'm just going to let it slide. Yeah. You know. Yeah. I love Bobby and I know he's, he's a very strong personality. So I'm like, when I saw that, I was like, he would. Yeah.

I feel, I mean, I do feel like he does, he's gotten a lot of shit for just kind of, again, being in a show. and he's polarizing to people. Yeah, he just kept going and kept trying, you know. And they even, I guess, changed the entire. They did. They changed the whole show because of it because they felt like there was unfair influence among voters. Like the voters had too much leverage that, you know.

And so they changed it. Yeah. Yeah. So it's like it doesn't even like what happened with him isn't even kind of relevant in just sort of purely procedural terms now. Yeah. Yeah. But I do think, I do think people don't, they don't need to be fucking mean about a guy that won the mirror ball trophy six years ago. No.

Just everybody needs to calm down. Yeah, seriously. If we all could, that would be great. This episode of Off the Vine is brought to you by booking.com. Now, I've got to say, if you are looking to grow your vacation rental business, this is the place to be. Booking.com is one of the most downloaded travel apps in the world and for good reason. Since 2010, they have helped over 1.8 billion vacation rental guests find places to stay. That's billion with a B.

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I also do a live radio show on Wednesdays called the Andy Richard Collin Show, which is just for fun. It's an hour, and we pick a topic, and I have a guest host come in every week. I love that. And it's things like dating disasters or bad neighbors, or we did ghost stories a couple weeks ago. Oh, that's cool. All the ghost stories are my favorite. Oh, I could listen to all day.

So it's just kind of like silly party conversation. I just kind of wanted to be like when people, you know, like, You know, like when everybody, like somebody tells a story about throwing up in public, and then everybody's got a story about throwing up in public. Yes. And then so, you know, I just love those kind of sharing on those kind of like party topic conversations. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. And thank you for dancing with me. It really was fun.

I'm so glad they paired us together. Yeah, me too. I can't imagine anybody better or more fun. Me too. I was so happy. We went out with a bang. Everybody says it. We sure did.

We went out with a bang. I can't tell you how, I never know when I go on TV again, I never know if people are going to decide they love me or hate me. And people, because I was with you, everyone was like, this is the perfect pairing. And they loved it. And I had the best time dancing with you. And we nailed it.

We did. I think we did really well. I think we deserved the points, but whatever. I've seen that online too. People are like, I think they should have got. Yeah. God, I agree. Are you, Dylan?

Just kidding. Yeah. Thank you again. And tell everybody, are you doing TikTok still? Are we... Yeah, we're doing... Yeah, we've done a couple. And I mean, we've gone back and forth.

Andy Richter TikTok. Perfect. Is my TikTok. And my Instagram is Richter, comma, Andy. Love it. Because there is some real Andy Richter out there who won't let it go. He won't let it go. Damn it.

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