The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - A Sensitive Gangster Lunch (RHUGT EP 7 Recap)

Episode Date: September 21, 2026

The Real Housewives party in barely-there intimates, and then head to the Big Apple for a “Gangster Lunch” that turns into a cry fest.  A Halloween party sees an “outfit repeater” and fill-in guests, and one housewife is more than fashionably late! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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About the ultimate girls trip from the Real Housewives, season 20 or the roaring 20s, we're celebrating 20 years of this thing. We see that during this episode quite a bit. The ladies start the episode in lingerie. They have an emotional gangster lunch. I still want to know what that means when you say gangster lunch. There's a lot of gangster talk, mob talk, but there was, I don't really. understand what that was.

And then the episode ends with a Halloween party that I kind of feel bad about and I'll tell you why later. Oh, my God, you're going to leave me hanging on that? Okay. Oh, yeah. That's what the art of podcasting is, Lauren.

You just like drop clickhangers. The problem is, half the time I forget to actually talk about it. And so the cliffhanger just lives out there forever. Wow, just pissing people off. Oh, yeah. Yes. The, okay, so we'll get to the gangster lunch, which I found to be very interesting.

But first we started at the lingerie party. A lot of these women look amazing and they're in their 60s and they look bomb, but they are in Miami. So we know that there's been some alterations done. Yeah, very perky. Yes. Very perky. We love to see it.

Yes. Here's a couple questions I have about a lingerie party. when you when I'm not going to say when you you know I'm not going to ask you to speak for yourself when women go to a lingerie party is the mindset hey I want to be the sexiest I want to be the most fashionable do I want to stand out the most I mean we saw everything here from corsets to like see through bras I think that's what you call like that thing yeah we literally saw nipples yeah I would say personally, mine would be to like make sure my body look the best

out of everyone's, even if there was like tape involved, it needed to be the best. I don't really don't care if I'm like, you know, you could tape things in the place. Yeah, but definitely like you know, put the boob tape to lift them a little bit. There's lots of contraptions out there.

I would use definitely fishnet stockings because that is very sexy and it hides any cellular. like you have. Interesting. I remember like back in the day, like stuffing was always like a kind of like a conversation like do they stuff their bra or not.

But I feel like watching this stuffing would be popular, right? Like you would definitely do that. And it would be acceptable. Definitely. I mean, you're talking middle school, high school with the stuffing with like when you had to use tissues or whatever you could find really. But now they've made advances. So there's actually like flesh-colored chicken cutlets you can put in and tape and hooks and everything.

So this is not hooks. This sounds so painful. You said tape and I thought I had to take a band-aid off of my ankle last night. And it hurt me. Oh, my God. Yeah. You're not meant to be a woman. Like tape on very sensitive areas of your body.

Yeah. And then at the end of the night, okay, here's my question. And I'm just asking you, I think this is what the housewives have done for me. I've had a lot of curiosity when it comes to women, even though I've been married for five years. My wife is just, you know, she's a skincare expert. She's not doing a lot of other things. Uh-huh. I was going to say she's low maintenance, but I don't think she's low maintenance with her skincare.

No, very, like very intentional about our skin care, very low maintenance. Like if we're going out to dinner, she can get ready in 10 minutes every time. Great girl. Yeah. Trust me. It's awesome. but if you're, I'm imagining these housewives, they're going to a lingerie party,

they all throughout this whole season, at least a few of them do seem very horned up. If they meet a guy, okay, walk me through this, they meet a guy at this party, they go back with him, and they start to like kiss, then things progress.

At what point then, like, is the guy going, let me remove your hooks, tape, cutlets? Like, how does that work? well you know if there's tape i would say excuse me let me go get the tape off before like i don't want you seeing that but if there's chicken cutlets and stuff those are very easily removed with like your bra and stuff okay yeah it's not that embarrassing but also like think of the mindset of a horned up man too um if you had to remove some tape you wouldn't really care no i guess not but it would

yeah no probably not exactly exactly sometimes with hunter i'm just like I didn't shave. He's like, do you think I care at all? Is that going to stop me? Nope. Well, we do see, like we said, the women show up to this lingerie party. We were curious about this party. What was it?

What is it? What's it about? I'm enjoying the women from Miami because being in Honduras so often and having some of my friends, marry Hondurans and being obviously just growing up in life and like the Latin spouses that I'm around. Like they are feisty. It's just a thing. And like this isn't like a stereotype.

They just are feisty. They're feistyier than most. They speak their mind. It's something I enjoy being around because you always know where they stand. And we see this with the group from Miami. You think they hate each other for a bit. And then they're like going to the bathroom together and giggling. It's just the way they work.

Yes. And it's awesome to see. Mm-hmm. Going off of that, we have Lisa Hawkestein. Hawke Stein, don't remember, don't know. And Larsa, and they're fighting, but they're fighting in a way that like best friends fight where you know at the end you're going to laugh about it.

And that was one of my favorite parts of the episode where they go outside and she's like push her against the wall. And she's like, she's like, no, stop it. You're a stupid bitch. And it's kind of like sister fighting. And it was so, it was so, I need therapy or they need therapy? I think they said it to each other. They need therapy.

Oh, yeah, so they need therapy. Like, they're just so close, and I believe it with them, not like the fake friendships that we've seen. Yeah, there's a depth here. We've been in Miami now for, it feels like a while, but it's really only like an episode and a half. Miami is known for its nightlife. They have a great time. The weather is typically really great. So you can be out late night.

You're not getting frozen like we see in New York. People enjoy themselves. down there. They do like to drink and party and dance. Miami's been a fun week for us, I think. I think it has brought the cast together in a way that was not existing in previous towns and cities. This ultimate girl strip, Vicky is really the one I'm thinking about. She's come out of her shell. She has. And Portia mentions it to her. we see this Vicky that I think rose to stardom on Housewives.

We're starting to see that, Vicky. Yeah, yeah. I'm really loving to see it. I think Tequila's doing well for her. That's definitely working down there. She's probably had time to also just warm up to the personalities of the girls and felt a little more comfortable

and a little more included. But yeah, everyone's taking notice of that. I don't really remember Vicki's outfit, though, with the lingerie. I'm sure she'd be one of the more conservative ones. Yeah, I don't know if we, like, highlighted Vicky during this. Yeah, I don't know if she wanted to be highlighted. Yeah, I don't, I think this is, again, something that they're asking her to do

that's now outside of her comfort zone. They should have had her, like, highlighted in her suite getting ready. Like, there's definitely tape there. One of the things that happens during this whole episode, though, there is a lot of conversation. mostly when we get in New York, a little bit still in Miami, around past relationships from the show. So there's a lot of names being thrown out there

that I am unfamiliar with. Have you talked to so-and-so? What's your relationship with like with so-and-so? And there's flashbacks that Bravo does so well when it comes to those past friendships that are now revisited. I am fairly out of touch with all of those. I don't understand what they're saying.

I don't know if you, I know that Lisa, and Larsa are chatting kind of in bringing up past people. Is there any of these relationships that stood out to you that said, oh, my gosh, I forgot this or I'm so glad it was, you know, paid attention to. Okay. Well, I know New Jersey, a little bit about New Jersey. Okay. And so Teresa and Melissa, we know Teresa. Melissa is her sister-in-law, and she was an OG housewife as well.

but they've always had like a bad relationship but I guess that's why they someone's asked Teresa oh Jacqueline have you talked to Melissa and she's like yeah we're on okay terms so basically we're just like there's so many people at the party and they're just like saying are we okay or is everyone okay and basically everyone is okay so we're just like kind of flashing through all these like relationships I've had issues um I would imagine it's hard to not run into your sister-in-law and not develop an okay relationship after 20 years. So that's the one that I kind of knew of when they were talking. And then Lisa and Larsa are talking.

And I think we may need to have a little more context on that from Heather. Heather, will you give us some follow-up? I know Larsa is Marcus Jordan, Michael Jordan's son's ex. Is that Larsa Pippin, too? Larsa Pippin, yeah. So she was married to Scotty Pippin as well? Yes. So I can't give too much background on the fight or riff between the two of them

because I haven't watched Miami in years. And like I put in the notes, Miami was on hold when they were filming this. And then Miami has now since then, like, again, been put on pause for who knows how long. it has not been renewed. But yeah, the whole argument is basically like, Larsa being like, you still follow my ex and you're supposed to be my, my girl. And then Lisa Barlow jumps in in her interview and is like, well, I follow her ex too because we met on super yachts.

And I am not going to unfollow him anytime soon. Sorry. So Lisa, Hawstein and Larsa are fighting because Lisa still follows Marcus Jordan. Correct. And then Lisa Barlow jumps in and she just needs, this is where we're starting to see Lisa Barlow, like, name drop and, like, act like she's more important than she is. And because she just had a throw in that we were on, not yachts, super yachts, super yachts. Super yachts. That's one thing, Lauren, I didn't want to bring up.

You know, kind of the one of the storylines we've been following and commenting on is Lisa Barlow, because she has been such a polarizing character. not only during her time on Housewise, but also through the girls' trip, we've seen moments where people go, wait, is the dislike or the resentment towards Lisa warranted from the woman in Utah? And at first, we're like, I don't see it. I don't get it.

And then we start to see signs, and we start to see things that might be annoyances if you're around too often. Lisa Barlow and Larsa do chat about this Ben Affleck premiere, of the accountant too. Ben Affleck has to be sitting at home giggling that if he's watching this, that there's so much controversy surrounding one of his movie premieres. It is incredible free press for him. And I don't even think the accountant, too, did that well in theaters. But both are

talking about going to the premiere and being around Ben Affleck. This was a conversation that annoyed the women from Utah because Lisa kind of name dropped this. And they got sick of her name dropping. And I've made this, you haven't been around for it. The almost famous listeners have been around for it. One of my biggest annoyances in life, and I've stopped talking about it because I overdid it for so long, is self-describing. And so when you come to me, Lauren, and we're in a conversation, you're like, you know, I am one of those honest people that cares too much. I'm like, I don't know if you can say that about yourself. I think others have to say that about you. well Lisa here says I don't like to name drop I'm not a name dropper she mentions that

when somebody says that to me after they've just name dropped three names I go no I think you're exactly a name dropper I would rather you'd be like the girls from Miami be like no 100% I'm going to tell you every famous person that's in my phone every famous person I've talked to and I want you to do like proudly because that's just what you enjoy doing yes then I couldn't say it any better. It was a really hard watch because I think she even name dropped more people than Ben Affleck within a three

second time frame. Larissa was like, you're name dropping and she goes, I'm not name dropping. I was just with Gwyneth Paltrow. Like, it was a very bizarre thing to see and to see someone be so unself-aware is crazy

because because I couldn't, I just couldn't, I couldn't and not overthinking every word that comes out of your mouth. But yes, the self-describing is a 100% a pet peeve, especially like in the dating world when guys will be like, I'm a nice guy. I'm a nice guy.

I'm like, now I know you're the devil. Thank you for actually saying that. I would say it's a red flag. You make it a great point. When you're dating somebody and they're telling you there are positive attributes all the time, I'd actually pause and say maybe I should revisit if these are true or not. Absolutely. Yeah, that was really fun.

fun to watch, but also I'm not liking Lisa anymore, just with that one little sentence. But going back, being invited to these premieres honestly isn't like the craziest thing in the world. Ben, how many premieres have you gone to? There's been lots of premieres, lots of invites. It's like a PR thing. It's not like you're friends with Ben Affleck. Yeah, I mean, like I was just recently with Brad Pitt and I was recently, see, no, it's not, they're just not a thing. And I mean, think of a best. A better example of this because they, for a while, we're making a killing doing it, is your sister and her husband.

Like, Jared and Ashley would go to all these Tom Cruise premieres because whoever behind the scenes found out that Jared legitimately loves Tom Cruise and Ashley loves Tom Cruise and they are excited to promote whatever Tom Cruise is doing. And so as a result, they have found their way into rooms with Tom Cruise. Now, if Ashley and I are at dinner and she drops that she is hanging out with Tom Cruise, I'd say, Ashley, you're not hanging out with Tom Cruise. Like, that's not what's happening here. No, yes, exactly.

But Lisa will double down and be like, no, no, no. So like at the after party thing, we hung out, but she probably just said, like, can I get a picture with you? And then that was it. Yeah, he was in the corner being surrounded by a thousand other people. And she walked up at some point and said, I'm Lisa. You might know me from the housewives. and he goes, oh yeah, okay? And they get a picture and that's them hanging out.

And honestly, good for her. I want her to be excited about the life she is living. I'm not, but just let's not cover it up. Like, let's be more in the vein of, this is so cool that I got to be invited to a premiere of a movie because I'm on reality television. Now, that's really from Miami what I'm going to take from this lingerie party. It is a bonding experience for the girls on the road.

trip. There are some side conversations about past friendships and life lived. And everybody, like you said, is looking great. Not only because they're in their 50s and 60s, but also they just dressed up nice and it looks like a fun event that everybody got to attend and they felt good doing it. The next day, we find out that the women are traveling to New York City. When I think of the housewives, I think of Beverly Hills, just not even being like a deeply ingrained fan for years in my life. It's just I think of New York City and I think of Beverly Hills. Those are the two places that come to mind.

I don't know why for me, but those are at New York City makes sense, I think, because it is where things started. And you had some big characters come from that, like Bethany Frankel, who's done great, you know, from starting on this show. And I remember hearing that story. Yeah, absolutely. There are a couple people that I, you know, which we saw. but first

Durinda shows up to greet Luan as Luan is in bed with her boyfriend, her man friend and Durinda is amazing Durinda is like one of the OGs her and Luan are still close have you seen Durinda before

do you know anything about her? Was she a part of the table flip scene? No, that's New Jersey. Oh, okay. No, I've heard her name. I think you have mentioned Dorenda's name. Her name, like when she said Dorenda is showing up, it, it sparked a, hey, I need to pay

attention to who this person is because I've heard about her. Yeah. Durinda developed a drinking problem, basically, like, while on the show, like, every season, she got sloppy and sloppy and slop her. So now she's sober. And we see that at the gangster lunch. Yeah. Yeah, because the first time they went there, I think they were in, like, Queens or

something. It's kind of like, you know, classic old Italian restaurant, um, wasn't super fancy. So everyone was like roasting her roasting Durenda being like, why are we here? Why are we here? Why are we at like, you know, the most fancy place ever. We're too bougie for this. But then they ended up having like the craziest most iconic lunch of all time. And it was like a gangster lunch because everyone was just yelling at each other and they're in like queens and they're all wearing, you know, their little like boas and stuff. So now it's the iconic gangster lunch. So that's kind of, the background of it, but now Durinda is doing it sober. Wherever you're headed, Dejardin is here to assist.

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Yes, absolutely. But yeah. So Duran is amazing. I'm really sad we didn't get to see Ramona or Sonia. And they said that. that Sonia won't get out of bed for like less than $5,000. So I'm, I'm assuming they're not paying very well here.

Actually, I didn't. Oh, they're in the Bronx. Sorry, they're not a Queens. They're in the Bronx. I didn't put two and two together when you said that. But that's probably true.

If they're not getting paid that well to show up to this, this is more of a, you get screen time and your relevancy will increase. And then people will be talking about it the next day. Like we are that you showed up or didn't show up. But hey, She said no, so she didn't have to take up the time, and we're still talking about her. So she got everything and more from this lunch, even without going.

But I do think if I'm a housewife, we're about to do this with The Bachelor Cruise. There is something special about a reunion. And I think you never know, especially with what I'm learning about the housewives, when something's going to be a reunion and when something's going to be a reunion and when something's to be chaos. But this ends up being a reunion. It's very sweet. It's very heartfelt. It is people getting together who are friends or acquaintances or have just known about each other. But they all have this similar thing in common. They've been through this experience. They know what it's like to have their life aired out. And so many of them, especially Teresa, have been through it

during this show. Yeah. And prison. And been judged for it. Yeah. Yeah. It was very nice to see everyone kind of like just calm down. Like no one showed up late because of glam.

No one was pissed at each other for something stupid that happened in the car. It was nice that they were just like going around like sharing their stories, especially all as mothers and being like, I am subjecting my children to this TV show and scrutiny when they really didn't have to when they all were saying they have mom guilt. and that must be crazy, especially Teresa seeing all these people around her that I've gone through the same thing. And she's just like, I can't believe maybe also this show is like what brought screwing into my family and what made us go to me and my husband go to jail. And now I have to deal with all this. But the women are really supporting each other from every single city.

And it was really sweet. And I can't believe that all of this heartfelt talk was happening while Luan had a, her own mugshot on her shirt. I was like, how could anyone take her seriously with a fedora and her own mugshot? Do you like Luanne now? I might be with the women being like, hey, she's a lot. She's a lot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's a lot.

I like her as a character on this show. I think she is funny. I think she's unapologetic. I don't think she's self-aware. I love how she thinks she is the hottest thing in the room at all times. Sexy, sexy, sexy, yeah. And so I do appreciate it.

And I don't love the bowling on any side. Real Housewives is kind of known for it, but I did find it funny when somebody, I forget when it happened this episode, but they said, there was a moment where I got a phone call or I woke up to two guys, voices. one was a Lans and one was

Carol. That was Carol. That was Carol. So Carol is a big part of this. She kind of was the host of this Gangster Dinner, although Durinda should have been. But Carol, her iconic line was, I woke up to two male voices, one of them being Luanns. So that's like a true housewives.

We'll say that line once a day, probably. Yeah. But Carol is, kind of the head of the table here, she talks about how she wrote something for BravoCon. And I honestly, when she was reading it, I was like, this is so corny. Oh my God.

This is so embarrassing. I thought they're going to do like clown music in the background. You know how they try and like make you think a certain way by the music? And I was like waiting for it. And then Ever was like, that was beautiful. I'm like forged in the fire of housewives. Yeah. What?

I'm with you. But I'm glad they liked it. I don't know. I'm with you. Okay. But it's sweet and they're trying. And I think for me, victories here look in the way of, hey, can they get through a lunch without yelling at each other or somebody leaving feeling worse about themselves? However, it does seem like what I'm learning about the Housewives franchise is these women are so calloused to criticism that I don't know how like any type of critical feedback or being laughed at even affects them because it seems like it happens all.

all the time in all different ways. We see it throughout every episode in the flashbacks. Everybody's getting ripped on. Everybody's getting annoyed with each other. Now, Lauren, last week, and I forget who it was, you mentioned to me that I'm going to meet somebody, and I believe it was Durinda, and you said she's going to drive you crazy. Was it Durinda or who was that that you guys were bringing up to me that would drive me crazy?

You know, I think it was Ramona, who we didn't actually get to see. Okay, so I never got to meet her. I'll have to go back and watch clips. You're right. It was somebody that you were excited that I could potentially meet in New York City and be familiar with. And we did not get to see Ramona. Seems like a big loss.

Was her name even brought up, though? No. Like, I don't think she wants anything to do with housewives, maybe. Or she's like, I'm not getting paid enough. So don't even mention my name. They showed her on the runway with her, like, crazy eyes. And they said, Oh, she looks like an alien invaded her body.

She looks like an alien invaded her body. Yeah, exactly. So that's for Mona. You never got to meet her. You would have lost your mind. But unfortunately, you'll keep your mind this week. Thanks, Lauren. I would like that.

That'd be good for me. Before we move on to the Halloween party, just a side note, a personal opinion. I didn't know a lot going into the Ultimate Girls trip. It's been a great ride for you and I here. I just didn't know a lot. And I have a friend. I won't mention his name or give to me details. It's a social media friend.

Somebody who has really paved the way in their own space at a young age. And he always talked about how, I think it's his aunt, is Kyle Richards and how great Kyle was to him. And I've always known of her basically from that. I didn't really know who she was before that. Watching this, I really have enjoyed watching Kyle. We've seen the emotion, we've seen the leadership. we've seen her ability to navigate other people fighting and just kind of shut it down and say, stop, this is stupid.

She is in the Housewives franchise watching this. She has the attributes of such an incredible leader. And I've enjoyed her. I think she not only can bring some of the spark and funkiness and she's beautiful. So she has that going for. I've just also enjoyed her demeanor and the way she walks through life. And so I don't know if that's a comment. thought? I don't know if that's a controversial thought. Okay. She's your gal. I mean, she is

unproblematic, is what I would say. Unproblematic. Friends with everyone, a good mediator, but I've heard recently that people are getting tired of her because she's too, like, aware of the cameras. And she's almost too polished to be a housewife. She's not very messy. That's why you like her. Yeah. But, I mean, she is a good person to have in between all these crazies. Yeah. So people would, their criticism would be that she's like too dull.

And I would say, no, that's like, that's, I respect that or I appreciate that. You need that. She keeps sanity here. But the housewives fandom is going,

no, we want messy. We want the fights. Yeah. That's why we like when Kathy Hilton is there too, which is her sister, which is so weird. Yeah.

I'll never get over that. because Kathy has zero filter. And so when they're playing off of each other, it's good. But yeah, she's a little bit dull for everyone. Okay. Well, we do see, we'll go into the Halloween party. Luann is hosting this Halloween party. She's pretty excited about it.

She has all sorts of things lined up, like a magician and a, what do you call those people that, like, can predict what you're thinking? Mentalist. Yeah. She's a magician and a mentalist showing up to this. She's very pumped for it. Everybody does kind of show up in a big way. I think these costumes are better than most that we've seen through this girl's trip.

People seem to have tried hard. I don't know if it's because of New York or if it's just because of the cast that has been invited into this. Before we kind of kick off the details of this party, we do see Kelly Ben Simone there. She did fill in for you a week here, Lauren. that was awesome. She helped me break down the ultimate girl strip and did hint at the time that we might potentially see her. We did.

But before we talk about the details of this party, there are a lot of randoms here. And that's one thing we haven't necessarily seen at a party thrown yet, is the fans being also invited in. You think that's a Luann move? Yes. Okay. My theory, I was like, my theory is that Luan needs her fans surrounding her and pumping her up. that's just classic.

I think she probably just wants as many people talking about her as possible. Yeah, I mean, there's like the page six podcast hosts are there. She uses this as an opportunity to continue to solidify her presence in New York City, is my assumption, right? Yeah, definitely. But the other girls did not seem amused by it, because I guess there was enough people to fill a room from the other cities, but they had to have fans and podcasts,

come to this one, which I don't think it's a great look. No, I'm with you. It's not a good look, Lauren, but it is strategically creative. And I think there is a brilliance to Luanne continuing to take opportunities like this moment to say, hey, I want you to know, not only do I still live here, I'm still a big deal here. And I'm going to invite all of you fans in so that when you happen to see me on the streets in the next couple years of my life, you still stop and say hello

because you remember that I invited you to this party. Oh, you are so right. That's exactly what it is. Yeah. So she got her own, which I think is a characteristic of Luanne that I'm learning, is she just wants to get her own if it's with her boyfriend or if it's with her moment of singing

or if it's with the party that the housewives are throwing, she just wants it to be hers. And this is a way to do it. Mm-hmm. Wherever you're headed, Dejardin is here to assist, helping you with investment, insurance, banking, and business services. Dejardin, proud partner of the Amazing Race Canada. Watch Tuesdays at 9 on CTV.

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Would you be willing to see your family go to pieces? Some ways it already has. Listen to Underground Zero on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The costumes are fantastic. We see hockey players to Julia Roberts. pretty woman costume. We see everybody, I think, looks great. That's one takeaway from this.

The start of this party, one of the controversial topics is that, and I don't know her name right now. Describe. She redid a costume that she wore on the show because it was iconic. It was the bubble Lady Gaga costume. Oh, Durinda was Lady Gaga. Okay. So Durinda comes in as Lady Gaga.

She says it's iconic. She gets criticism for it because she repeated an outfit. Yes. I know that's a thing. I mean, obviously, I have a wife, so I'm familiar that repeating outfits is not like a common occurrence, especially when it comes to fancier outfits. I mean, goodness, she wears the same t-shirt to bed.

It feels like every night of her life. But when it comes to a dress, it's a little. different, I guess. Since it is directly correlated to a Housewife episode and this whole trip is about memories from reliving Housewife episodes, then it's definitely acceptable to be an alpha repeater in this case. Yeah.

Well, and also, maybe I think my Midwest is showing. But I look at this, and I'm learning a lot in life. But if every time I was asked to come to a party, I don't get asked to go to a lot of parties. My friends aren't throwing big shindigs anymore. I keep buying things. I got nowhere to go. Yeah. Like, it's expensive.

Yeah. I mean, you're like, if I'm going to your party and I know that I'm wearing something that cost me an extra 200 bucks, like that's going to stress me out more than the idea that, hey, I have this outfit at home, my Tigger outfit that I've had since college that works perfectly for Halloween. Everybody comments that it looks good. I think it looks great. It's a full body suit.

I spent 25 bucks on it at the thrift store back in college. And it still works today. I think that's cooler than you showing up every time with a new outfit. Yeah, that is your Midwest and that is your mail coming out for sure. Yeah, especially with these ladies, like, you can't be doing that around them. Even with Ashley from like last season, like she would wear the same shoes, basically, and be like, you wore the last week. Let's step it up, you know? So shoes are should be able to go with multiple outfits.

Is it like a laziness thing? What is it? Like they're saying you're just not trying? Like you're just not like like you, that's all you have to give. Like you got to give us more. Oh my God. You know, I know. So it's just, it's, um, it's, it's any other circumstance.

I understand why the ladies would be pissed about it. Not pissed. Judgy about an outfit repeater. But you have this costume. It's very cool. You're never going to wear it again unless you're on a housewife reunion tour. And here we are. So no judgment for Durinda.

No, I like Durinda style. Good for you, Durinda. You are thrifty. Yes. And for that, I give you a checkmark. I like the way you operate. What made you sad in the Halloween episode, though, on the Halloween section? Thank you for asking me that because I would have forgotten.

Yeah. It made me sad because for all of the things that annoy me, me about Luann. Lauren, I'm going to go on a soapbox here. For all the things that have annoyed me about Luan, I do think you see signs that she just wants to be seen. She just wants to be known. She has this desire for others to respect her or to appreciate her or to see that, hey,

when Luan's around, yes, it's going to be a little goofy. Yes, she's going to be singing a lot. It's probably going to be more annoying than we like. but the time is going to be had. She elevates the environment in the room. And I don't have that quality. I like to be in rooms. I like to sit in spaces.

But I can't always elevate the environment or the vibe. And I think Luanne does that, either through making a fool of herself, which she definitely does, or through just being controversial, which she definitely does. I think if I'm taking leaps and balance, to try to understand each one of these women.

I think I look at Louie and I say, you just want to be appreciated for who you are. So she throws this party. And I think her inviting fans speak to, speaks to her desire to be seen and known. She needs that fame to like fulfill this void in her heart that exists and this void in her soul that exists as she even, she's getting older.

Like at some point you kind of have this like second chapter of life where you start to settle into a piece of, hey, my purpose here on earth is different than it was when I was 30, 40. Yeah. So she throws this party and it just doesn't feel like the party lands. You know, people are showing up late. People are, you know, are complaining about the food, lack of food. Yeah. It kind of just seems like people went into it going, this is Luann's party and I have to be here because the show is making me.

and that makes me sad for her. Yeah, I mean, we see that next week of the little cliffhanger that Porsche, well, she yells at Portia for being late to her party. And then Louaigne actually gets upset. Like, we see tears from Luan because she just feels underappreciated. And again, she just wants to be seen.

And I would love to know about her childhood, honestly, and why she always has to put on a show and perform. Yeah, it's, This is where I take this to a place that no listener once because like you said, when you watch Real Housewives, you want the real, you want the messy, you want the relatability or the ability to sit there and be like, hey, at least I'm not that crazy. And that's why these shows typically don't work for me and why me hosting a podcast about them sometimes misses the mark. I understand that. But at the end of the day, I've been around name drop all these reality television celebrities. And so many of them are great. All of them are great in their own way. But the one thing that always makes me hurt is when it feels like your moment on reality

television has become the identity to which you operate in the world. And it always fails you at some point. And I don't know. Some have a long lifespan in it. And they can run this race for as long as they can remember. But at some point it does end. And then you look back and go, what was it all for? And so I just want Luan.

to know when she steps out of this world, that time is coming. Let's be honest. It's not like a, you know. How many girl reunions can she do? She does cabarets. I don't know who's going to keep going to buy the cabaret tickets. That's why you've got to do maybe a Bethany Frankel, diversify and come up with something that's going to make you some kind of passive income. So Luann, go live on a beach and flirt with every cabana boy you can find. And there doesn't have to be cameras for it. Do it. Go for it. But that's my take. That's what it would be sad. But this is, we do have another episode of the ultimate girls trip that Lauren and I will be breaking down.

It looks like they're going to stay in New York City for the next week. So we get to see more of New York City, which is such a fun place for these women to operate in and to live within. And there's so many fans for the housewives there in New York City. A good episode. I felt like I followed it. You know, my schick here. I was just at mom con this last week. Great conference from mothers across the country,

the world, really, coming together. 4,000 moms in one room. I was able to host that. That was fun. And I was asked about this show specifically multiple times. Really? And they said, how in the world are you hosting a show about the housewives? And I said, I think my schick with you and your sister is this.

I am unaware and unfamiliar. I'm the out-of-touch dad that I've, you know, that is just trying to catch. up and be relatable in life to the people around him. And then I have incredible co-hosts that navigate the journey. And this week, I feel like I'm like a part of it now. You almost know more than me at this point. Yeah, like I feel like you're really catching on.

Sometimes things go over my head, but you catch him. You're probably going to end up teaching me at the end of this. Yeah, but you know what? At this age, Ben, I think we're done. Like, I feel like everyone's going to teach us everything. Like, I don't understand clothes anymore. Like, I don't understand these trends. I don't, like, I'm the person now that's like, I don't want to learn anything new.

I have my apps that I know and I'm not learning anything now. So unfortunately, we're going to bring someone younger and maybe next season to keep us up to date. Just it's tiring, staying involved. And then you give up and that's it. Yeah. Yeah. Your golf shirts and your shorts and you're good to go. Actually, right now, Lauren, I am rocking two pieces of clothing that I've had since high school.

So amazing. And a new hat that was given to me by our producer, Heather, for my birthday this year. So thank you, Heather, for making my wardrobe a little newer and a little fresher. Speaking of newer and fresher, we have more content coming your way here at the Almost Famous Podcasts. Some incredible interviews. Let me tell you, like this week, we have a lineup of interviews with past contestants that are making headlines. Those are going to be awesome. Ashley is going to be joining us for those.

And then next week, we'll be back here breaking down the next episode of the ultimate. Ultimate Girls Trip. If you have some free time in your drives this week, we also are having Trista and Deanna break down every episode of Dancing with the Stars. And then you can see some other cool content sprinkled in to the feed. We love having you. We love breaking this down. And until next time, I've been Ben. I've been Lauren. And vote for Taylor Hanson on Dancing with the Stars. Let's go. Hey, everybody, it's me, W. Kamabelle. This season on my podcast Who's with me, I speak with Bruce Lee's daughter, Brandon Lee's sister, and my friend, Shannon Lee.

Back to your initial point of stewarding my father's legacy and giving my energy to that. You're lending your life to stewarding somebody else's life. Listen to Who's With Me with Debbie Chmell on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Bobby Bones. Join me in former NFL quarterback Matt Castle every Wednesday on a lot. our podcast, Lots to Say with me Bobby Bones and Matt Castle. You're in training camp and the rookie quarterback has one good throwing session in front of the media. Suddenly everybody online says he should start over you week one.

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Gold bars, Sylvainich. It could be worth half a billion. Starring Steve Sharipa, Rea Brutzo, and me, Michael Imperioli. How far you're prepared to go? Depends how far you are. Listen to Underground Zero on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Mimi Brown, and every day on Front Page Podcasts. I help you make sense of the story.

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