On Display with Melissa Gorga - The Right Stuff (w/ Joey McIntyre)

Episode Date: March 13, 2025

Melissa fan-girled over the New Kids on the Block years ago, and now she has the one and only, Joey McIntyre on the show!  Melissa and Joey talk about the highs and lows of being the young guy in the group, how Joey's humble take on fame has served him well during his entire career, and why the New Kids have stayed so close over the years. Joey also shares some very personal and inspirational news that is definitely worth us all celebrating. This week's sponsors: Apartments.com - The Place to Find a Place: www.Apartments.com Booking.com - Find the Stay That's Ridiculously Right for You: www.Booking.com Happy Mammoth - Feel Like Yourself Again: www.HappyMammoth.com , promo code: MELISSA (15% off) Naked Wines: Get 6 bottles for $39.99 with shipping included at www.NakedWines.com/melissa - click Enter Voucher and use code MELISSA for both the code and password Pluto.TV - Streaming TV: www.Pluto.TV (Free!) Progressive - "Name-Your-Price" Tool: www.Progressive.com Prolon - Fasting with Food: www.Prolonlife.com/OnDisplay (15% off + $40 Bonus Gift) 

This episode of on display is brought to you by booking.com booking. Yeah Every time I use booking.com to find a place to stay in the US I know they'll have exactly what I'm looking for They have a huge variety of options from hotels to vacation rentals and I'm always able to find something that fits my specific needs I've found that booking.com has something for everyone find exactly what you're looking for on Booking.com. Booking.yeah. We chose friendship and family over business, and that's a big reason why we're still together. What's up guys? Welcome to another episode of On Display.

I missed you guys. Can't wait to talk to you today. I am super, super, super excited about today because, you know, this one hits hard for me. It's super personal. I'm going to give you guys a little hint of who I have with me today as a guest because I'm so excited. It goes something like this.

Oh, oh, oh. Oh. Okay, I'm laughing. I can't even sing it right. I'm gonna have to redo that. But anyway, you guys will never believe who I have on the show today. He was someone I admired growing up

and we're one month away from the launch of his brand new Freedom Tour, which is going all around the US. He's a singer, he's an actor. He was the young face and the first boy band that we all can remember. Ladies and gentlemen, the new kid on the block himself, Mr. Joey McIntyre is with me today.

Hey. Hi. I like that intro. I want to sing. Oh, oh, oh. You did good. I think, no, no, you did good. I was like giggling while I was singing it. It works.

I want to hit the notes. I want to hit the notes. How are you? I'm so excited to talk to you today. Nice to talk to you. Nice to meet you. Thanks for having me. Yeah, of course. I know, obviously, I have to start off by telling you I was a huge, that was like my era. So I was a huge... You were clearly on the young side. You were one of those five-year-olds that we used to have. They were tiny. No, I wasn't a five-year-old actually, because my eighth grade school photo, I have on to this day, I'll never forget.

And I can't believe my mother allowed me to wear this to school picture day. But I had on an earring that was like a round circle and it said NKOTB in it. Amazing. And I was in eighth grade. I'm sure you have to talk about beauty on this podcast. So whatever your secrets are, you look amazing.

Not that it's about looking amazing. It's on the inside. Thank you. I'm just saying. I usually try to go, oh, I know how old you are just by based on demo and new kids and being a fan back then. Yes. So I was, I want to say like, I don't know, 12, 13, 14, 15, I'm going to say something around there.

I mean, you guys were going on for years and years, but I'm talking like, I'm going to embarrass myself now having you, but like, I got to say it. I had the pillowcases. I had everything, probably the backpack, the pillowcase. You're an OG. You're an OG. I'm a true OG, so I deserve to be, you know, I deserve this interview with you right now because this is like a, you know, a real OG fan in the house today. Perfect.

Yes. And you have always been known just so that you know, you've always been known as the real nice guy. Not that they all, they're all really nice guys, but everyone says. They all are, yeah. Yes, but everyone says you're such a gem. You're such a nice guy. I fooled them all. Kudos to you for like holding it up all these years. I mean, you started, you started so young. So I mean, it's, it's crazy. You're you now you have three children, right? You're married with three kids.

Yeah. And you've been married for a really long time, right? I guess so. Yeah. 20. We're going on. Geez. Can't believe how fast this year is going by. But yeah, in August it'll be 22 years. Wow. Okay, yeah, I've been married for 20 years this past August as well. August what? 9th. Okay, on that 21st.

Yeah, 20th, 20th. Congratulations, yeah. Thank you, congratulations. Yeah, it's funny when you hear someone else say it, you're like, wow, that's a long time. But for you, it doesn't feel that, it doesn't resonate the same way. So it's good to kind of for both of us to reflect the accomplishment. For sure.

Sometimes when I say I've been married for 20 years, I feel like it ages me or something almost. I'm always like, oh, well, yeah, I've been married for a really long time because people are like, she's married for 20 years. I'm always like, Oh, well, yeah, I've been married for a really long time because people are married for 20 years. Like, I know, right? It comes. Well, literally, I mean, yeah, I want I want your you know, I want your beauty secrets. But yeah, I'm slowly getting over that. You know, it's like I just involved. What I said when I turned 50, I said for the first

five years until I'm 55. When people ask me how old I am when I turned 50, I said for the first five years until I'm 55, when people ask me how old I am, I'm going to say I just turned 50, whether I'm 52, 53, 54. Up to 54, that's what you say. I've been doing that with 40. Oh, I just turned 40. Right, right, right. It's kind of, yeah, it kind of works. But actually I didn't like 51,

but when people ask me I'm 52, I just say it. And it's so corny. It's like, it is just a number. But I'm feeling pretty good about all that stuff right now. You know what I mean? Where I'm at, what my body looks like, how it's responding, all that stuff. So I guess that's an accomplishment too. Yeah, well, you look fantastic. You guys have always all kept yourselves together and look great. And just the fact that you just keep going and on and on and on,

and we're gonna get into all of that. But I have to say like teenager Melissa would never believe that I'd be having you on my podcast one day and also even as a teenager think that I'd be on this reality show or anything that I've been doing for the last 15 years. So it's kind of funny how life is like a full circle moment so many of the times and you just never know what's in store in life. And I always say that.

So that's true. That's true. That's true. Yeah. I also, one thing I have to tell you is that the very first concert I've ever been to in my life was NKOTB, New Kids on the Block. And I'll never forget, I have a sister who is, she's like 11, 12 years older than me. I was an accident. So she's at least 10 years older than me. I was an accident. She's at least 10 years older than me. She

took me and my girlfriends to this concert because my mother was like, you take her, because at the time my sister was probably like 23 and I was 13 or whatever it was. She took me and I'll never forget, she came home complaining because she's like the girls the screaming girls in my ear the whole time Yeah, it was the best thing that ever happened to me Yeah, she was like went home like holding her ears as like a twenty probably four-year-old girl that that makes a lot of sense Well, I I apologize tell her tell her I'm sorry. Oh, yeah can't know. Honestly, she wants to come see you on your solo tour. She's, she's a fan. I'm like, oh, see how this happened.

What happened? Where does she live? She lives in New Jersey. In New Jersey. Okay. Yeah. I know you're coming to New York. I was looking at your tour dates.

You're doing a whole tour in April. Yes. Yes. We're doing it. This, this I'm calling it phase one, but this phase ends in New York, which is always because I know, you know, we have, you know, where to play, like coming into the city is like, I'm glad it's a Saturday because they can make it a thing and you go into the city. But like, you know, our fans now, we have to plan those things out, you know, it's like, because sometimes I'm like, Oh, I should play Jersey in Long Island. You know what I mean?

They call that like splitting aces in the, in the business, like on a bigger level, like instead of playing Madison Square Garden, you'll play Jersey, like, like the Prudential Center. Yeah, in Long Island, you know, they do that. But it's my own little, I'm not splitting aces. I'm saying come to NYC and let's have a good time. Yeah. You're just going to do a one and done. Thank you. See you later East coasters. Are you, where are you originally from? Massachusetts, right? Yeah. We're all from Boston. I'm from Boston. From Boston. Okay. And where are you living now? Where have you guys been? I'm in Los Angeles. Boston. I'm from Boston. From Boston. Okay. And where are you living now?

Where have you guys been? I'm in Los Angeles. Yeah, I'm in LA. Got it. And that's where you like raise your kids. Everything's been there. Yep. My wife's from New York, but we met in LA and quick, we were married a year to the day we

met. So it happened very, very, I mean, it didn't feel fast at the time because, you know, when you're in love, like everything moves slowly, right? Right. But that first, you know, so we, yeah, our kids were born in LA. We did have one little, we moved in 2018, we moved back to New York because we like, we love LA, but we need to mix it up. So we moved back to LA. I mean, moved back to New York, never thinking we were going to move back anywhere.

And then three years in Manhattan with three kids, we were like, yeah, okay, we're ready for LA again. So we love it here. We're back in LA, kind of in the same neighborhood too. So we're blessed and we love it here. We're back in LA, kind of in the same neighborhood too. So we're blessed and we love it here. Awesome. So I got to ask you, from being on a stage at an early age, first of all, how old were you when you got into this business, when you started?

Well, it's funny to say business. I'll say I was 12 when I joined New Kids, but it wasn't- Wow. That's so good. Yeah, yeah, I know. It sounds like a lot, but on the day to day, it wasn't like... I mean, we still went to school. We didn't have a lot of... It was a building period. It wasn't... That being said, when it really took off is the year after my freshman year of high school. I was 15 and we got a hit record and then the rest is, you know, the craziness started happening. So, um, yeah. Um, it was, it wasn't so like business oriented. I, it was fun to record and make records, you know, and, but it really was just like, where's our next show? Where's our next talent show? Where's the next time we can try to prove ourselves?

And we did that for a few years in Boston. And then we finally got a bigger break. Were there ever challenges with you being the youngest? Like, did you ever have to watch? I'm sure you got to see things at a young age that no child should have seen. Well, no, I wouldn't say that actually. I think I was lucky with that.

It was more like, literally being the new kid on the block and new kids on the block. They were from another, you know how it's funny, one town over, it's like them, right? It's like not that, you know what I mean? Every city has that. We think we're so different. So I lovingly, but kiddingly,

they were all from Dorchester and we call Dorchester in Boston dot, right? So if you're from Dorchester, you're a dot rat, you know? So they were all dot rats. I was from Jamaica Plain. Like literally they're right next to each other. But we think, you know, so, you know, going through that, you know, so, you know, going through

that, you know, being that much younger, you know, there was some bullying involved, there was fitting in, there was like, you know, some razzing, like they didn't know who I was, they all grew up together, you know, so there was, you know, there was that dynamic. But as far as like, you know, drug sex and rock and roll, that was never an issue gratefully. You know what I mean? So that was, I think we dodged a bullet there and you know, they, they just wanted to, um, it was probably, there was, there was, you know, if anything, they just wanted to meet girls, you know what I'm saying? The older guys wanted to meet girls. Like they didn't, they? The older guys just wanted to meet girls.

They didn't drink, they didn't part, they just wanted to meet girls. And so it was sort of a pretty natural experience. Right. With teenage boys. How much older were they than you? Was it like five years, 10 years? Three and four. I mean, Jordan's about three years older than me, but at that time, they were like 15, 16 years old. So compared

to a 12 year old, evolution wise, you know what I mean? Yes. Okay. I get it. Yes. So, all right. So you weren't that much younger, but you were definitely a couple years behind all of them. One of the hardest parts of getting older is feeling like something's wrong with your body, but not really knowing what. Everything just feels off, right? So I've come to realize it's not just aging, it's hormones guys. Women's hormones are so complex and if anything goes off balance, the whole body suffers. That's why I want to tell you all about Happy Mammoth's Harmone Harmony.

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Not available in all states. Okay. So coming into that group, I feel like Jordan was kind of known to be like front man, the singer, but you kind of come in and so you sang just as much and just as well and you hit these high notes that I feel like nobody could hit. Was that ever a challenge like coming in and them? Well, it was. I mean, Jordan, Jordan, you know, Jordan and John are kind of they keep to themselves in a way, you know, they don't say much, but when they do say something, it's important, right? You listen to people like that, you know what I mean? So,

but my point is it's not like, yes, I mean, he's talked about that when, when I came into the group early on, you know, I took some of his solos away. You know, he was a nice guy. He didn't like punish me for it or whatever, but there might've been some low key, like that's not cool vibes. Donnie was more of the, you know, he was a born leader. So he was a tough guy. He would sort of like look after me, but bust my chops.

He, you know, I mean, he was, he was a bit of a bully back then, unfortunately, but he was 15, you know, he was a kid from the street, you know what I mean? So it's not, it was what it was. The next album, by the time we got on Hanging Tough, I mean, we balanced it out. You know, Jordan was singing right stuff

and I'll be loving you forever. And in some of Donnie and Jordan's stuff shifted around too as far as lead. So, but by the time, you know, Hangin' Tough, our big album came along, like I had a few solos, Donnie had a few solos, Jordan had a few solos.

So it was sort of, you know, pretty well balanced. So I'm not, you know, but yeah, there was some, it was almost like, it was probably like high school. Like every once in a while I would have some feelings of like, you know, because, you know, I would sell the most t-shirts. So it was like, oh, Joe was like the most popular, but like we'd all sort of like, oh yeah, you know, it's and then like, well, he's getting all the, it wasn't too much. I think we balanced it pretty good, but there was a little bit of that.

It was, you know, but we kind of kept it to much. I think we balanced it pretty good, but there was a little bit of that. But we kind of kept it to ourselves, I think. Let me ask you this. Back in the day, because the merchandise was probably just as big as the songs and the music, did you guys make, like back in the day, the way the music industry was set up, did you get a lot of that money? Were you guys benefiting from the merchandise as well? Yeah, yes. Yes. Yes. Well, I mean, you know, there, I think just intrinsically,

you know, listen, the way I, the way I, the way I describe it is artists come and go, right? We don't have, in the music business, there's no artist union. We all feel for each other, but we're never at the same table. We never call a meeting. We're never all together, but managers, lawyers, agents, and accountants have lunch every day. You know what I'm saying? True. Very true. Their business is to, how do we make money now

doesn't make them bad people, but they there they go on a daily basis. How are we going to make this work and still be, you know, good to our artists, but like, so yeah, you can look at the numbers and very easily go, you make what for what, you know, it's, it's, it can be hard and difficult, but you know, for us, especially back then it's on the up and up. It's, there's no secret, you know, people stealing money, you know, it was what it was. Like Maurice Starr, who produced us at the time, you know, it was his idea, you know what I'm saying? So early on, I mean, now we own the name and we kind of, you know,

because we've been in the game so long, we kind of control the situation. Which is good, you live and you learn, right? But my point is, my point is back then, we didn't get robbed. We didn't get robbed. I mean, it's a numbers game, yes, but it wasn't like this, you know,

you hear the horror stories. It really wasn't like that for us. I think we had good people around us. That being said, you look at the numbers and you always go, that's all we get. Of course. We still do that on Bravo. We do that everywhere.

Absolutely. There's always the one, there's the head and then there's the neck, right? So there's always someone who's controlling the head, if that makes sense. Sure. And that's business, right? No one's got a gun to our head when we sign the dotted line, right? Exactly. Exactly.

We can walk away and we make choices and we're like, okay, I'm sure you're like, all right, I'll do another season or I'll do another blah, blah, blah. You got to balance it. It's hard to say no because you start to weigh your options. You're like, well, I can go back to what I was doing before or I can make the money. And so everyone kind of goes back into like, let me make the money, right? Yeah. Yeah. As you know, as the profile and you help things and connections, it's not just about the money, but how can I better do what I love to do? Right? Like you're here you are, you know, doing

your thing, like, you know, and making right because of the platform, I own many businesses. So that's, right. That's always the way that we all kind of look at it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Going back though to the boys, who did you relate to the most? Like who was, was there someone

who was really like your person? Well, what I do say is, you know, Is there someone who was really like your person? Well, what I do say is, you know, Donnie and I came from very similar homes. He had older brothers and I had older sisters. So he was more like a rah rah rah and I was like, don't you dare. You know what I mean? So we would kind of butt heads a lot. But the good news is we rode the wave

and like we're all really good friends. I think we all, we chose friendship and family over business, you know? And that's a big reason why we're still together. And that making that decision, it's not easy, you know? It's not easy to choose, you know, family and your history and friendship over business, but we've somehow balanced that, you know what I mean?

And, cause we all have our own personalities and wants and needs and you gotta negotiate all that. But back in the day, I connected, we got to connect with each other. Everybody had their little moments and, Danny historically was nice enough to say, all right, we can share a room. We had to share a room on the road early on. Oh, wow.

Danny was like, come on, you can stay with me because Jordan and Donnie were nuts. You know what I mean? And John had to have his own room. So, you know, and then, you know, Jordan and I, you know, over the years and still today, we really, we really like to have, you know, we laugh at the same things, you know what I mean? I think we make each other laugh.

He's super funny. He's very dry sense of humor, which I love. And John's, you know, he always seemed like the chiller of every, was he like, shy when he was a shy one. So we didn't always connect. I mean, now it's now we do, I just appreciate like, what he's done with his life and his passion, of his show on HDTV has shown the world what he can really do. And that wasn't a vanity project.

He loves to remodel and build houses and he knows what the heck he's talking about. And he's got a beautiful marriage with his husband and Harley and it's just good to see friends that have arrived at a good place and still be challenged. Right. I think it's important to be able to reinvent yourself. He kind of reinvented himself with that and showed his passion. I always feel like you need to keep moving, right?

You need to keep moving with the times and what's going on and being able to do something else. It's not like you say, okay, this was the one thing I did in life and it's over and it's over. I feel like that's a really great important quality to have because I even say that now, just reinvent. Okay, you got to go even with with social media with whatever it may be, you got to move with right now podcasts are in right? So you're going to advertise something. You got to be on the podcast. You

got to get that where that was nothing five years ago. Right? Yeah. And I think, I think, you know, to piggyback off of that, I think it's, you know, and to do that, you have to be willing to get uncomfortable, right? To do things that are scary, you know, to do things that are uncomfortable. And now I'm at a point where like that stuff comes up and even though it's uncomfortable, like it's a sign that I'm growing.

It's a sign that I'm moving forward. And, you know, it really is, I think about me, it's like, you know, on a bigger scale, it's like, it sounds cliche, but like when I'm when I'm old and gray, and I'm sitting in that rocking chair, like, I don't want any regrets, like, and I think I'm just pretty good at it. And it's just, it's a practice of going, okay, what's that next thing? Cause it comes up, we all have ideas, these creative ideas. And we say no to them for different reasons.

And they might be reasonable reasons, like I'm too busy or I gotta do this, or this is a priority, or I gotta pay the bills, or I gotta take care of my kids, or I gotta take care of loved ones. And I don't have, you know, yes, that's, that makes sense too. But at the same time, I know the bigger ideas that I want to accomplish and I'm just going to keep doing that. And that's like my album, not to plug my album here, but finishing an album was a big accomplishment

and it took commitment, it took time, and I'm glad I did it. I'm really proud that I did it. I'm happy with the result, but I think I'm more happy to just the fact that I did it and finished it. Right. Long work weeks and busy weekends month after month can leave you feeling and looking depleted. Prolong works at the cellular level to rejuvenate you from the inside out, supporting enhanced skin appearance and fat loss and improving energy and focus post-fast. Prolonged

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Pool, check. Close to the coffee shop, check. No matter who you are, booking.com helps you find the stay that's absolutely right for you. So check them out and find exactly what you're booking for on booking.com. Booking.yeah. Well, you did release a brand new solo album just in January, right?

Yeah. And the album was on the top 20 on the billboard and the top five on Apple. I mean, did you expect such success with this or were you surprised or it was about 15 years ago before you released something prior, correct? Yeah, yeah. I've been doing a couple songs here and there. That's huge. Congratulations. That's awesome. Yeah, it was fun. It was fun. I was sharing screenshots of my albums between like Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift. You know what I mean?

Yes, there you go. Yeah, it's sweet. I mean, you know, we, we, I say we the new kids and myself, I mean, as lucky as we've been, we never take anything for granted, you know, as you can imagine, like in this business in this world, you know, it's like, oh, this is going to do great. It's like, you know, and, you know, just to have that opening, it's like an opening weekend for me, you know what I mean? Like it, it, it did get some eyeballs. It did, you know, the fans did show up.

I guess like, you know, if I did anything right, like I gave it the proper runway. Um, I think oftentimes, you know, when I make things, it can be like, let's just get it out there. You know, in this digital world, I could have finished the album and put it out in a week. Now that's fine if that's the kind of thing you wanna do, but I knew this was different. Like I wanted to make the vinyl, make a CD,

you know, that takes time to press up. You know, you put a single out, you wait a while, you build up momentum, all that stuff, like takes patience, especially for me. So I guess doing that and then seeing people finally, when it came out, being excited that, you know, it happened in, and, and more and more like they're digging the album. Like I did this create Donnie.

Donnie is much better on social media than me. He's just like, it's tireless. Like he's just able to like connect and it doesn't, it doesn't draw his energy down. It actually feeds him where I have to balance it. Sometimes it's exciting, but like, sometimes it's worth so much. Yeah. I can only do so much. And that's my journey. Knowing when to put it down, but that being said, I did this story of, it said, what's your favorite song off the new album? And so you click on that thing and you get to see what's yours and you add that. And Donnie's telling me, hey, the fans are doing one of those things and I did one too,

so click on it. And he's telling me how to click on it so you can see who's doing them to click on it and then reshare it. And then he goes to the next person. Yeah, exactly. So I was like, normally my stories, I might have two or three during the day and then I'll disappear for a week. But my stories is like,

you know, when you go on some of those like, did did did did did. Yes. And they're like, they're my daughter, my daughter calls that something. I wish I could come up with because when I do that show, why are you whatever she calls it? She's maybe spamming, you're spamming. Why are you spamming Instagram? Get off Instagram. Like she literally calls me and yells at me. I'm like, be quiet. I love it.

We have the same kids. Okay. But yeah, so I spam the hell out of it. And people were doing different songs. And the good news is it's 10 songs. And there were a couple that were more than others. Right. But everybody was like, liking

their own, you know, so people are digging in and I'm just happy. You know, I knew it was like, as a piece of work, like they were all important songs. And you know, to get that feedback, you know, from the fans is very cool. Yeah, for sure. I mean, were you nervous to go ahead and do anything on your own? I mean, when you come from such a huge boy band and such a strong presence of a boy band and then you go into your own, what made you want to do that or gave you that decision to go ahead and try it? Yeah. I mean, I've always done plenty of stuff on my own.

You know what I mean? I've done Broadway, I've done TV, I've done some movies, so I'm comfortable. Solo. Solo. But my battle is, and I don't get explicit with the album, but I was open about what I call, you know, I talk about a little bit, the gilded cage.

You know what I'm saying? It's like, it's like your show. It's like, Bravo is the gilded cage. Man, is it fancy, right? Man, is it fancy. You got all the bells and whistles. Everybody knows you, but like, what about me? What about you, right?

What about Melissa? What about Melissa? And you know exactly what I'm talking about. I know exactly what you're saying. On steroids, actually. Because I got five guys that I kind of like been coming up with. It's all relative, you know, to each his own. But so to carve that path and say, this is me me and not go, oh, is it enough?

Is anybody going to care? How many people are going to care? Am I, you know, again, the credits don't always transfer. It's like, yes, the new kids are immensely popular. We're playing arenas. That doesn't mean when I put out a solo album, I'm going to be playing arenas. You know what I'm saying? I got to like, sort of reconcile like where I'm at and still value what I bring to the

table, you know, and artists, correct? Yeah, yeah. So there's all those feelings, but you have a very healthy way of thinking. And that's why this all works for you too, because it's it's everything you say is on par and on point with a very healthy way to live your life coming from a platform and starting out how you started out. Everything you're doing just sounds like the healthy, great way to do it. And I think that's why you've been so successful too, because you're very aware of all of that. But it takes a lot of work.

It takes a lot of work. It's a genuine sound bite right now, but it takes work to get there. Of course. You know what I'm saying? I'm grateful for that journey. I'm grateful for the work I did. I'm grateful that I can share openly about my experience. It's not some secret.

I'm not trying to go, well, this is my story and blah, blah, blah. It's like, I'm saying it with Donnie, like hosting a listening party. I'm telling our fans what I'm feeling. You know what I mean? And it's okay. It's like, it has weight,

but it doesn't have to be like the sharp sword, you know what I'm saying? And that's a pleasant surprise because I wasn't so sure how I was gonna be able to experience me really being honest about the album, but it seems to be going well. Yeah. You were also on the first season of Dancing with the Stars, right? Yeah.

You did that. You did a Christmas movie, I believe, as well, right? Yeah. I just did a Christmas movie last year on the Roku Channel channel and it's called Jingle Bell Love and people loved it. They liked it so much that we're actually doing a sequel. So you get the scoop on that. Okay, love it. We're doing another one that's coming out next year too. So that's how much it's nice to, you know, because you could make something and enjoy it, but that doesn't mean they're going to want a sequel. But so, Oh, I love it.

Exclusive news. Yeah, I'm busy. I just did an off Broadway show. I'm a theater kid. So theater is important to me. Just originated a role, um, off Broadway and, uh, yeah, it's, you know, coming up in the business, loving to do a lot of things. Sometimes I felt like I spread myself too thin.

But if you do that long enough at my age and my point in my experience, it's easier to go back and forth. Now it's all kind of feeds each other. Yeah, you're a talent in so many different ways. You truly are. Try try. I try. You are. This podcast is sponsored by Naked Wines. Ever walk in a store and have no idea what wine to get? Yeah, me too. I've stopped wasting time at the grocery store staring at a giant wall of wine and not knowing what to pick. That's why I love Naked Wines.

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everything in between. They've helped millions of renters find their perfect place to live. The ones that check off all their own personal boxes. So check it out apartments.com the place to find a place. How is your talent of balancing it all though? Like, let me ask you that because I know you're about to go on tour, you know, solo by yourself. You guys have a Vegas, new kids on the block have a Vegas residency coming up in June. I mean, you have three kids, you have a wife. How do you do that? Like, do you come into, is it hard to travel this much?

And how does your wife handle all this? Because if my husband said he had to go, I think I'd be I'm not good with that. I'd be like, Nah, no, stay home. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. Um, you know, I seem to be picking up because yes, I think as a parent, I go, ah, it really has to be important for me to leave. But also one, as a parent, I think you can really teach your kids like, oh, dad or mom's like doing their thing. That's what it looks like to be a person in this world is getting after it, you know what I mean?

And like, my kids are 13, 15 and 17 now. So, you know, you don't have to, you know, you're not in the, they're not in the stroller and you're not feeding them Cheerios. You know what I'm saying? So as life goes on, there's more opportunity. That being said, my wife is absolutely amazing and hugely supportive.

And so I can't do it without her and have a family. The balance, to get current actually, and I've been sharing about this more and more, I've always been able to, I guess balance it in my own way. But today, actually, I don't know when this is coming out. But today, Thursday, I, yeah, I haven't. I've been sober for a year. I haven't drank in a year. Yeah. Wow. Congratulations.

Yeah. It's wow. Always wanted to give it a shot. Yeah. And like specific reasons. Was it clouding you? Was it, it was, it was more, you know, as I share sometimes it wasn't, it wasn't the obsession of wanting to drink. It was the obsession of wanting not to drink, you know, it all meaning like, Oh, I wish I could give this a shot. You know what I mean? And I wasn't a huge drinker. It doesn't matter. It's not the amount, you know, it's the it's the noise around the drinking for me.

So and it wasn't easy. And I still have days of like, Oh, it'd be great to freaking have a Manhattan on the rocks. Right. But, but what I've experienced, you don't know until you know the space it gives me spiritually and mentally, like I didn't even know. But I think to me drinking in that thing is so attached to planning and in the future being in the future like we do.

Right. That human experience, it's all about the next thing. And so it takes me out of the moment. And the spaciousness- You know, it's a huge piece of discipline too, right? Like that is disciplining yourself in- Good word. Good word.

Thank you. In such a way. And for me, you are so right. For me, even though I always worked hard, even though I always showed up, I had good parents, my dad would say, get a job. And it didn't matter if I was raking leaves or playing Madison Square Garden. So I had that in me, but yes, the practice and the discipline, no matter what we're talking about, is an esteemable act. It gives you self-esteem and like more strength, you know, to kind of,

you know, accomplish what you want. But I also noticed that like, even though I'm busy, even though I got this tour and then I'm doing a movie and then we're doing Las Vegas, like all this stuff, I just, I also have a lot of space in my day to take a walk or go for a run or meditate or be a person and doesn't believe me, I'm not walking on air all the time. You know, life is still in session, right? But that was, I mean, that's the elephant in the room for me is my not drinking.

Congrats on that. First of all, we got some exclusive news on the sequel. I have exclusive news. I got you one year from the day. Do you miss alcohol at all? Do you miss it? Are you going to keep it going? It's wild.

It's wild. Listen, I mean, my message, I was thinking I'm going to do a message today, like not beating the drum because by the way, let me make you a martini. Like enjoy it. Good for you. Like I'm not, I'm not trying to be, but I, you know, there's certain days, like, you know, the first like 15, 16 days, you're like, you got to have a community, you got to have help, you know what I mean? You got to be able to call people and go, this sucks.

You know what I mean? And I had those people in my life, and there's a lot of help out there and to each his own how to how to get through that. But like, you know, But 60 days I was like, yeah, I'm all set. I am all set. I'm good. I'm ready to drink. 80 days I was like, but then it gets easier. I got to closet this beautiful closet in this room. It has a sink in it. It's old school. It's got all kinds of alcohol in there and like, and I'm good. You know, the grace of God, like I'm good. Like I don't have

that physical urge. Yeah. And and but I it's a miracle. I couldn't believe it. It's like, I was like, but here I am, you know, here I am and it's doable. That's the message I think, you know, for anybody. And it's funny when I was trying to, for some reason, of course, as algorithms go, right? When I was like a year ago and I'm like, should I give this a shot?

Like, I'm seeing all these algorithms, you know, like especially like John Mayer talks about how he doesn't drink anymore. Like the couple of clips, you know what I mean? And so maybe, you know, I'm one of those voices that might give that person at least it's worth a shot, man. It's it's worth a shot if if if you hear that voice in you, you know, if you don't think great, like, God bless, you know, It's not an issue for a lot of people, but I think it is, and again, I wasn't a big drinker,

but it's interesting and it's a fricking, it's a high on its own. Cause you're afraid I'm not gonna have fun, right? I'm not gonna have fun. I'm not gonna laugh. I'm not gonna blah, blah, blah. It's like, I've laughed, you still laugh. It's like I've laughed. You still laugh. You still go out to dinner. You still have a good time. And you wake up in the morning feeling a lot,

lot better. Right. For sure. It's a trip. See, I hope that reaches anyone out there who's listening that is just questioning it. And it's true. It's, is that a noise in your head or not? And if it is, maybe you gotta try it out. It can bring up a lot of, when you take away that numbing thing, when you take away that rip cord of, you know, which is lovely, but when you take that away, yes, it's going to bring up other stuff. It's going to bring up space and you might have to fill it with other stuff or who knows? It's not easy. Everybody has their own path, but I'm a fan.

I'm a fan. Awesome. I love that. And congratulations to you. Okay, the last thing I have to ask you before I let you go. Do you watch Bravo? Are you a Bravo fan? No, I was gonna say to you, and I don't know, maybe that's refreshing. before I let you go. Do you watch Bravo? Are you a Bravo fan?

No, I was gonna say to you, and I don't know, maybe that's refreshing, like this is the first time we met. I've never watched any of the shows. I couldn't tell you, I couldn't tell you what, what, I didn't know if you were from Jersey or Beverly Hills. I love it, so you don't watch any of the Housewives. Now I know you're a Jersey girl. You're a beautiful Jersey girl. So I

don't want to insult you. But no, no, I, I, it's, I'm not a, um, a Bravo junkie. Not, not even a, not even a little bit. I can't really see you tuning into Housewives. Honestly, I don't think that's gonna be your thing. I would get too involved. I'd be like, that's not good. Yeah, it's because I want to get in there with everybody else and be like, wait a minute, what did you just say? Don't say that to her. You know all that jazz. You know what I mean? I'm way too practical. Oh, you're a good person. You would be team Melissa because you're, you're a good person. I'm teasing, but I had a feeling you didn't watch Bravo, but I'm like, if he does, we

need to get a couple of takes from him on what I know, you know, so I can get Donnie on FaceTime and I'm sure he'd, he'd, he'd give you the blow. Oh yes. I know Donnie does. No, yes, for sure. I know he's, he's friendly with one of my hairdress. Oh yes, I know Donnie does. No, yes, for sure. I know he's friendly with one of my hairdressers and some guys I know, which is so funny. So, but anyway, Joey, thank you so much for coming on today. Honestly, best of luck with everything you're doing this year. And all

my listeners, make sure you check out his Freedom Tour starting April 4th in Houston, April 5th in Dallas, April 7th in St. Louis, and then all over the US and Canada. I want to be seeing you April 26 in New York City. So I will. Are you gonna come? Yes, I definitely will. You gonna bring your sister? I'm gonna bring my sister because now she's into you. Girl's night out.

It's a girl's night out. I love it. I'm very excited about that. And also, you know, your residency with New Kids on the Block in June, that's huge also. So you know, and more importantly, and most importantly, congratulations on your first year of sobriety. That's huge. Yeah, that's very cool. Thank you.

Yes. So thank you so much for coming on today. I know so many of my listeners are going to be, you know, freaking out and geeking out and so excited. And I appreciate you and hopefully I see you on tour. Yeah, I'll see you in I'll see you in New York. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. So nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Ciao. Let's do it! Oh Yeah All right, I may not be as funny as Nikki Glaser. I want to pit the series of like calendars where men are just crying in a therapist office or punching a pillow and working out their anger towards their dad.

But I do have my moments. I actually have full conversations. With the moon. Yes. I try have full conversations with the moon, yes. I try to keep it pretty balanced on this podcast, a little fun dance between comedy, therapy, self-medicating. Oh, and sorry, if you haven't guessed, hi, I'm Caitlin Bristow, host of Off the Vine podcast where we like to just keep things loose and keep them raw

and keep them real, like when we have listeners call in and give confessions. And then that glass of wine progressed into me becoming a unicorn for them. But we do, and I promise you this, try to keep it honest and vulnerable. So jump on the wagon, not off. Grab your favorite bottle of wine, preferably Spade and Spheros, and join the Vinos. Have yourself a time. The Off the Vine podcast is available wherever you get your Are you looking for your next case? Pluto TV has all your favorite crime dramas streaming for free. You're gonna need some backup.

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