The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Bring Me A Man in 2026

Episode Date: December 29, 2025

The famously available women are setting their intentions for 2026 when it comes to love!    Find out what each woman is leaving in 2025, and what kind of love she’s hoping to attract in the new year. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. If a Lenovo gaming computer is on your holiday list, don't shop around. Just go directly to the source, Lenovo.com. It's your last chance to score exclusive deals on the gaming PCs you want, like the Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 10 gaming desktop and Lenovo Lock Gaming Laptop. So avoid all that shopping, chaos, and price comparing, and just go directly to the source, Lenovo.com,

where PCs are up to 35% off. That's Lenovo. I'm investigative journalist Melissa Jeltson. My new podcast, What Happened in Nashville, tells the story of an IVF clinic's catastrophic collapse and the patients who banded together in the chaos that followed. It doesn't matter how much I fight, doesn't matter how much I cry over all of this, it doesn't matter how much justice we get, none of it's going to get me pregnant. Listen to what happened in Nashville on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Have you ever listened to those true crime shows and found yourself with more questions than answers? Who catfishes a city? Is it even safe to snort human remains? Is that the plot of footloose? I'm comedian Rory Scoville, and I'm here to tell you, Josh Dean and I have a new podcast that celebrates the amazing creativity of the world's dumbest criminals. It's called Crimless, a true crime comedy podcast. Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know he has a reputation, but it's going to catch up to him. Gabe Ortiz is a cop. His brother Larry, a mystery Gabe didn't want to solve until it was too late.

He was the head of this gang. You're going to push that line for the cause. Took us under his wing and showed us the game, as they call it. When Larry's killed, Gabe must untangle the Dane. dangerous past, one that could destroy everything he thought he knew. Listen to the Brothers Ortiz on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Who would you call if the unthinkable happened? My sister was y'all 22 times.

A police officer, right? But what do you do when the monster is the man in blue? This dude is the devil. He'll hurt you. This is the story of a detective who thought he was above the law until we came together to take him down. I said, you're going to see my face till the day that you die. Listen to the girlfriends, untouchable, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcast. IHart Podcasts bring you the ultimate Summer of Love Tree. This is famously available. Hey, it's Ben Higgins back with you on Famously Available. Make sure to catch you. up on the last episode. I am handing over the microphones to all three of our amazing, famously available women, Kathy, Deanna, and Mercedes. I want to know what they're looking forward to in 2026 as we enter the new year. So let's jump back into their conversation.

Man, it feels like everybody's had a tough 2025. Is there anything that you're looking to leave behind? Oh, you're going to laugh when I say it. And I said it last year, too. And I will say I've made improvement this year. What is it? Interrupting people. Well, we are laughing.

But that's a good goal. That's a good goal. I am better this year than I was last year. So I left half of it behind last year. I want to leave the other half behind this year. That's an awesome goal. I love that. You know, it's funny because I believe as people, we think that our opinion is so important, that we need to be heard, right? Instead of actively listening, that is a quality that is really important to me when I'm looking to date is someone who is an active listener. But we as humans, I believe it is in our nature. We think that our opinion is so important. We think we need to be heard. And truth of the matter is nine times out of ten, it's really not important. Or we don't like silence. We're awkward. awkward, so let's fill it. Sure.

I'm going to interrupt you because you might not say anything and that'll be quiet. Yeah, I feel that. I'm kind of like that where I'm like, I don't want anything to ever feel awkward. So I'm always like, okay, what could I need to like start talking. What can I say next? So like it keeps going. Okay, something I want to leave in 2025. This one's like kind of deep, but I feel like it's like the thing that like is coming to me is like,

negative talk when it comes to like myself, I feel like I get like when I'm on dates or when I'm like, even if I meet new people like, I'm like, do they think I was weird? Like, you know what I'm saying? And I'm so unapologetically myself, but at the same time, I still do have these voices in my head? No one would ever know except for me that I'm like, dude, they think I was weird. That's like my biggest thing is like, do they think I was weird? Which is so crazy because I know it's not true. And I know that it's just the enemy in my head trying to like bring me down. So that's something that. I really want to, like, just kick out and say, say, Sainara, stay in 2025. I love that for you. Yeah. You're not alone. Just so you know, you're not alone. I know. I know it's a very common thing.

Yeah. I can take one thought and turn it eight ways sideways in a matter of seconds. Yes. Oh, I'm an overthinker for sure. We all can do that, but to be aware, self-aware enough that you're doing it, that right there is half the battle, Mercedes. Yeah. For all of us.

If you recognize it, then you can sort of say, nope, I'm not going to let that happen. I'm going to turn from it before it really gets its, you know, grips on me. Yeah. That's something that I have also been working on this year. And I don't always see the improvement in myself. It is much easier for me to see the improvement in you guys or someone else. But I would say that I go down the rabbit hole less. It still happens because I am human, so I have to have some grace with myself.

But I go down the rabbit hole less. I spin out of control just a little bit less. And so I'll take those as wins because you too. Yeah, I used to. I could spend days. Mother effing anyone. So what do you want to leave behind? Or is that what you want to leave behind, Deanna? No, no, mine is kind of deep too.

And I think that's just because of the transformative year that I have had. But I want to leave my old self behind. I don't leave all of you behind. Nope, no. But I just think that what I have gone through over the last few years, and Kathy, we have discussed this, like divorce is grief, right? There are many, many versions of grief. And my divorce was very much grief for me. And I rode every wave. And so there is this beautiful piece where like, I still am me, but I also get to be a different version of me. And I

think I have spent a lot of time feeding into myself and doing a lot of work, you guys, doing a lot of work, all the therapy. I am a person of growth. I will jump on any experience to learn more about myself and to be better with myself. I'm going to a retreat in January and I'm going to meditate and I'm going to listen to my own, like, inner voice and be one with God, you know, and I am so excited. I have always been like that. Like, please, yeah, tell me what I did wrong. I want to work on that. I want to grow and I want to be better. I want to be better for myself, but I also just want to be a better woman and a better mother. I don't want my children to experience the same grief and heartache that I have had, that I have had. And so I just want to be a better person. So I say that I want to

leave my old self behind because I think it's really wonderful that I get to learn more about myself this year. And I get to choose greatness. I get to choose to be different. I get to choose to pause. You guys, I too, Kathy, believe that my opinion is very important that I need to be heard. It is. Not everybody needs to hear it. If a Lenovo gaming computer is on your holiday list, don't shop around. Just go directly to the source, Lenovo.com. It's your last chance to score exclusive deals on the gaming PCs you want,

like the Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 10 gaming desktop and Lenovo Lock Gaming laptop. So avoid all that shopping chaos and price comparing, and just go directly to the source. Lenovo.com, where PCs are up to 35% off. That's Lenovo.com. Lenovo, Lenovo. I'm investigative journalist Melissa Joltson. My new podcast, What Happened in Nashville, tells the story of an IVF clinic's catastrophic collapse

and the patients who banded together in the chaos that followed. We have some breaking news to tell you about. Tennessee's Attorney General is suing a Nashville doctor. In April 2024, a fertility clinic in Nashville shut down overnight and trapped behind locked doors were more than a thousand frozen embryos. I was terrified. Out of all of our journey, that was the worst moment ever. At that point, it didn't occur to me what fight was going to come to follow.

But this story isn't just about a few families' futures. It's about whether the promise of modern fertility care can be trusted at all. It doesn't matter how much I fight, doesn't matter how much I cry over all of this. It doesn't matter how much justice we get. None of it's going to get me pregnant. Listen to what happened in Nashville on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have you ever listened to those true crime shows and found yourself with more questions than answers? And what is this?

How is that not a story we all know? What's this? Where is that? Why is it wet? Boy, do we have a show for you. From Smartless Media, Campside Media, and Big Money Players, comes Crimeless. Join me, Josh Dean, investigative journalists. And me, Rory Scoville, comedian, as we celebrate the amazing creativity of the world's dumbest criminals.

We'll look into some of the silliest ways folks have broken the laws. Honestly, it feels more like a high-level prank than a crime. Who catfishes a city? And meets some memorable anti-heroes. There are thousands of angry, horny monkeys. Clap if you think she's a witch. And it freaks you out. He has x-rayed vision.

How could I not follow him? Honestly, I got to follow him. He can see right through me. Listen to Crimless on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Dad had the strong belief that the devil was attacking us. Two brothers. One devout household. Two radically different paths.

Gabe Ortiz became one of the highest ranking law enforcement officers in Texas 32 years total law enforcement experience But his brother Larry He stayed behind and built an entirely different legacy He was the head of this gang And nobody was going to tell him what to do You gonna push that line for the calls

Took us under his wing and showed us the game As they call it When Larry is murdered Gabe is forced to confront the past He tried to leave behind And uncover secrets he never saw coming My dad had a whole other life that we never knew about. Like, my mom started screaming my dad's name, and I just heard one gunshot. The Brothers Ortiz is a gripping true story about faith, family,

and how two lives can drift so far apart and collide in the most devastating way. Listen to the Brothers Ortiz on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Who would you call if the unthinkable happened? I just fell and started screaming. If you lost someone you loved in the most horrific way. I said through you shot 22 times. The police, right? But what if the person you're supposed to go to for help

is the one you're the most afraid of? This dude is the devil. He's a snake. He'll hurt you. I'm Nikki Richardson, and this is The Girlfriends, Untouchable. Detective Roger Goloops, spent decades intimidating and sexually abusing black women across Kansas City, using his police badge to scare them into silence. This is the story of a detective who seemed above the law

until we came together to take him down. I told Roger Galuski, I said, you're going to see my face till the day that you die. Listen to the girlfriends, untouchable, on the Iheart radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Wait, I have a question for both of you, though. And I think, Deanna, you and I've touched on this, but your horrific divorce, Mercedes, I don't know. I'm sure in your fabulous, beautiful 27 years of life, I'm sure you've had heartache and disappointment because we all have, none of us escape it.

My question, do you both, and I ponder this all of the time. time. Because of my husband's suicide, because of what I've been through, I am a better person. I did a ton of grief therapy. Here's my question. Do you think it takes that kind of cataclysmic, catastrophic event for us to work as hard as we are working to be better people? Like, that's what I wonder. Like, sometimes I say, God, really? You know, did I need this? Couldn't you just like broken my or something, you know, slightly. I kind of love this question. Yeah, me too.

I love this question. And Mercedes, I know that you're a Christian as well. So I don't believe in a punishing God. I believe we are given free will to make decisions. I agree. We are allowed to do that. And therefore, there are consequences for our actions. When you try to deviate from the path you are meant to be on, when you deviate from that,

you get to reap the consequences. whether they are good or bad, consequences for our choices and our actions. So if you are allowed, allow yourself to relinquish full control and let your universe, your God, your higher being, whatever it is, have full control of your life. If you can truly do that, then you could have less heartache, less grief, less things if you're able to get yourself on the right path. but as humans, we are allowed free will to make our own decisions and therefore sometimes

we have consequences for our actions. So if I'm going to use myself, for example, I sometimes look back at my marriage. I'm not sure why I married that person other than my children are my greatest gifts. I was meant to have Addison and Austin. They were made for me. That's what I believe. Call me nuts. Whatever you want. I believe my children were made for me. They were a gift, my God knew that I needed them in my life that I needed those kids. And the only way to have those two children was to have them with my ex-husband. They are my greatest gift. I could not have made them without him. But because of some of the decisions that I made and the path that I walked, I had to endure grief and heartache and pain. And he did as well because ultimately I don't believe

that we are supposed to spend a lifetime together. I don't know. What do you think, Mercedes? Yeah. I mean, I'm with you, like, the same thing. Like, I do not think God does anything to punish us. I think God is, like, he's not chaos. He's not. So anything outside of that, I don't think is necessarily from him or was meant for us. But I do think back to Kathy's question, like, my heartbreak, I had never, so I experienced heartbreak when I was 23 or four, I think. Worst thing ever. And I know that it probably it did like I was a 23 or 24 year old whatever like but genuinely I was like I do not wish this feeling upon anyone I felt like I couldn't eat I couldn't sleep it was it was genuinely the worst thing ever and because of that I feel like I had so much hate in my heart towards that person because I'm like why would you do this to me like why are we doing this like can't we try to figure it out whatever but I will say because of that it gave me values that I love about myself now like the only way I got over that was because I prayed for him

and I was like he needs he needs healing and he it's not it has nothing to do with me it has everything to do with him and he needs healing so let me pray for him and it made me forgive him and now everything I do in life like if someone makes me mad or someone does me wrong like I pray for them and it's I don't know it just completely changed my thought and it took me like a year to get there but now I feel like it, because I went through heartbreak and because I went through that, now I have something about me that I know what to do when people do do me wrong. And it just completely changed my life. That's beautiful too. Yeah. Just to be clear, that's beautiful, Mercedes. And by the way, do not diminish when you say I was only 23 or 24. Do not diminish your heartbreak, what you

went through. That's as real as anything that I've gone through. That's your life. And your life has all as much value as our lives do so yeah but just to be clear though i wasn't saying that um god punished me i i was saying if god wanted my attention obviously my husband of the free will i agree with you diana to do what he did um but at the same time i also believe that god is in control of our lives and so i'm thinking god was trying to really get my attention, which he did, you know, whiplash. But that was my question, sort of, not a question, more of a comment. I wish that it didn't, we didn't, I wish, Gianna, you didn't have to go through the horrible divorce to get you where you are today. I wish I didn't have to go through

what I went through. Mercedes, I wish that that hadn't happened to you. But I realized saying that at the same time, you know, as we close out this fabulous year, that these, that life lessons, I mean, life is what happens to us on the way to death. You know, we have all these lessons. And I just, I sometimes wish they weren't quite so stringent, quite such a big smack across face. And having said that, I am a much better person. I joke all the time. The guy that gets me, Mr. Wright, who is right around the corner, he is getting so much of a better version of me. than my husband had, which is sad to say. I hate the saying that there's beauty and pain because there is, right?

The pain and exactly what you said, you went through Mercedes. Like, we've all done it, right? We've all done it. I did it just a few years ago. There were days I could not get out of the bed. Had I not had children, I would not have gotten out of the bed. It is awful. But then when I say that rebirth, you guys, for me, look at the beauty in that.

Look at the beauty in that. Yes. I would have absolutely, and my ex-husband, is not my only heartache, right? I've, I've had, like, grateful to have loved many times and loved really great guys. Like, I wouldn't change that for the world. I might change some of the circumstances. I might take a few bad decisions back, but, like, I am grateful to have loved and lost than to have never loved it all. And I hate cliche sayings. I hate them, hate them, pay them, pay them.

But it is true. I would have taken it over anything. Well, I just want to say, we're going to move into what we think about 2026 here a second, but I just want to say, for me, one of the other fabulous things about 20 to 25 is getting to know both of you. And you're beautiful, such incredible women. But one thing I've learned from both of you that I don't even think you set out to teach me is that we all, it doesn't matter.

you know, Mercedes, you're the youngest, Deanna, you're in the middle and, and I'm bringing up the rear here. But we all are looking for love. We're all looking for connection. We all have families we love. We all work hard. And that gives me joy to know that there's some consistency in the world that, you know, we're on this journey and we're working hard to be the best we can be. But we all, age doesn't really, again, another cliche age is only a number. We usually talk about that in terms of dating. I'm talking about it in terms of you two guys. Age is only a number. I value you guys, your opinions, your thought, your friendship. So I just wanted you to know that. I love you guys. I think that there's a path

for us all and look at the three of us is that we're on the right path right now. The three of us were meant to meet each other this year and do this podcast together. We might not walk off here with the man of our dreams. Oh, I am. Oh, okay. Look at Kathy. Take me with you. Take me with you, girl. And by the way, Mercedes and Deanna, you will too believe you know we're in the moment of believe that's my word for 2026 what is yours my word is believe i believe that good things are out there and we just need to open our eye need to keep my eyes open and wait for it and believe that it will happen and i do believe it yeah what about you guys what's your word my word for 2026 um let's go with maybe like

alignment where that's so good like i hope that like everyone that comes into my life is aligned with where i am that's that's the word i'm using and even even people but like also like job opportunities everything like i hope it's just all aligned with who i am as a person and my values i want to steal that i don't think i have a word you can have the same word yeah maybe i might Maybe I might borrow Mercedes word because I have lots of feelings for it. Like I, you know what, I think I really want some peace. I want some peace. Yeah.

But I have multiple words. I don't know that I can choose one. I want peace. I want acceptance. I want to be fully and wholly loved as I am as I was made. I love that. Was that too much to ask? No.

No, not at all. Like I said, keep your eyes open and believe it's coming for you. Well, I don't know how far. However, the line starts here. So it's behind getting line. Yeah, well, there we are. There we are. If a Lenovo gaming computer is on your holiday list, don't shop around.

Just go directly to the source, Lenovo.com. It's your last chance to score exclusive deals on the gaming PCs you want, like the Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 10 gaming desktop and Lenovo Lock Gaming Laptop. So avoid all that shopping chaos and price comparing and just go directly to the source, Lenovo.com, where PCs are up to 35% off. That's Lenovo.com. Lenovo, Lenovo.

I'm investigative journalist Melissa Joltson. My new podcast, What Happened in Nashville, tells the story of an IVF clinic's catastrophic collapse and the patients who banded together in the chaos that followed. We have some breaking news to tell you about, This is attorney general is suing a Nashville doctor. In April 2024, a fertility clinic in Nashville shut down overnight and trapped behind locked doors were more than a thousand frozen embryos. I was terrified. Out of all of our journey, that was the worst moment ever.

At that point, it didn't occur to me what fight was going to come to follow. But this story isn't just about a few families' futures. It's about whether the promise of modern fertility care can be trusted at all. It doesn't matter how much I fight. It doesn't matter how much I cry over all of this. It doesn't matter how much justice we get. None of it's going to get me pregnant. Listen to what happened in Nashville on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Have you ever listened to those true crime shows and found yourself with more questions than answers? And what is this? how was that not a story we all know what it what's this you where is that why is it wet boy do we have a show for you from smartless media campside media and big money players comes crimeless join me josh dean investigative journalists and me rory scoville comedian as we celebrate the amazing creativity of the world's dumbest criminals we'll look into some of the silliest ways folks have broken the laws honestly it feels more like a high level prank than a crime.

Who catfish is a city? And meet some memorable anti-heroes. There are thousands of angry, horny monkeys. Clap if you think, she's a witch. And it freaks you out. He has x-rayed vision. How could I not follow him? Honestly, I got to follow him.

He can see right through me. Listen to Crimless on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Dad had a strong belief that the devil was attacking. us. Two brothers, one devout household, two radically different paths. Gabe Ortiz became one of the highest ranking law enforcement officers in Texas. 32 years, total law enforcement experience. But his brother Larry, he stayed behind and built an entirely different legacy. He was the head of this gang and nobody was going to tell him what to do. You're going to push that line for the cause.

Took us under his wing and showed us the game, as they call it. When Larry is murdered, Gabe is forced to confront the past he tried to leave behind and uncover secrets he never saw coming. My dad had a whole other life that we never knew about. Like, my mom started screaming my dad's name, and I just heard one gunshot. The Brothers Ortiz is a gripping true story about faith, family,

and how two lives can drift so far apart and collide in the most devastating way. Listen to the Brothers Ortiz on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Who would you call if the unthinkable happened? I just fell and started screaming. If you lost someone you loved in the most horrific way. I said through you got 22 times.

The police, right? But what if the person you're supposed to go to for help is the one you're the most afraid of? This dude is the devil. He's a snake. He'll hurt you. I got you. I got you. I got you. I'm Nikki Richardson. And this is The Girlfriends Untouchable.

Detective Roger Goloopsky spent decades intimidating and sexually abusing black women across Kansas City, using his police badge to scare them into silence. This is the story of a detective who seemed above the law until we came together to take him down. I told Roger Golooski, I said, you're going to see my face till the day that you die. Listen to the Girlfriends, Untouchable, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Are you on Raya or anything? Would you ever do dating apps? I have done dating apps.

Kathy and I have had this conversation because I was trying to encourage her to get on them and try it. I applied to be on Raya, but apparently I'm not cool enough. Me either. Mine has not been approved. Yeah. No, you guys definitely aren't too old. What's the end? How do you get in on Raya?

Because mine just continues to say that my application is being reviewed. Oh, I don't know. I mean, you have to have, did you put like people, like references? I did. Yeah. And I have like a lot of my references were celebrity friends who are also on the app. Weird. Okay, I need you all to send me a list of who's on there because when I applied

they did not I don't even remember I don't think I got a response back they pull it from your contacts and sometimes you're in review for a period of time and I guess they only let a certain amount of people on the app like they at one point in time in your area but they'll pull your your references from your contacts once you do it you can click on whomever might be on Raya and that person can be your reference and so I have done that so I didn't get approved to be on Raya but I've done Bumble And that's for another podcast, Mercedes. That was a bit of a show, shall we say? Okay.

I was really surprised at how many men wanted to send me pictures of their genitalia. Oh. On Bumble? Yeah, and I just didn't want that. It's just not what I'm in it for. I don't think the penis is attractive anyway, let alone sending me a picture of it. I don't want it. I don't want it. I don't want it. Yeah, no, that's weird.

And especially on the, yeah, no. No. I did meet a couple of guys that I went out with that turned into second or third dates. One guy in particular, I dated off and on for a year and a half. And I really, really liked him and cared about him and have nothing but wonderful things to say. But I just think in the long run, the things that I need to align in the long run weren't there. Like I could never imagine introducing him to my children. Yeah. And that's a huge red flag for me. Yeah. There was one and I can't think of the name of it. I just thought of the name of Keller International. that approached me when I came off the show. But they wanted me to pay $35,000. It's a membership deal. And I just didn't really feel like I,

it sort of felt like I would be, I don't want to say, prostitution, but kind of. They wanted you to pay $35,000 for them to find you a man? So there are several apps, you guys, that are like that where you have to pay a membership. Yep, you pay a membership and Mercedes, it's a lot of money. Like, it's like thousands of dollars. I don't want to invest that much to go on 17 first dates. Well, I figure if, if when she called me, as right off the show, she said, you know, we, we saw you on the show. We think you'd be great. Da, da, da, da, da. And of course,

then asked me to go and say, I'm somebody's island. Do you know what I'm talking about? Some guy is a an island, some famous Hollywood person, and somebody knew who it wasn't. Like, really, you got invited to go to that? I was like, yeah. And by the way, that was $35,000 to go there as well. You know, there's a lot. No. Yeah. Those sound like pyramid schemes to me. What I think the three of us need to get on board. Richard Branson, that's who it was. Yeah. Well, he's, listen, he's a multi-millionaire for a reason. But what I think the three of us need to start doing is we need to all send our emails to iHeart and and maybe what needs to happen is they need to do the next couple of podcasts in 2026 as a matchmaking service maybe we need to have a matchmaker come on and

set the three of us up and now that we have done you know the concert dates maybe we should start exploring because i did hear this in bryce's interview as well he was like it was kind of hard to date with 80 other people around maybe we start exploring you know in our next couple of episodes more traditional dates, and I believe our listeners would like that as well, a more traditional situation where we actually get to know someone and see if there's something there. But maybe you guys, we need to talk to our producers as if they're not listening right now. I'm going to say, Deanna, you sound like a producer, but would that not?

I'm really pulling for the three of us, okay? And maybe we need a matchmaking service here. Wait, can I just, I just need to point out something. I never got a concert date. But after watching your concert date, I'm going to take a hard pass on the answer date. Listen, Kathy, you can learn from our mistakes, okay. Although I would say I would think Mercedes went really well. But yeah, let's, you know, concerts are fun.

They're fun. Let's do this. Let's do this. All right. One more question I have for you. I'm loaded with questions. That's another thing. I ask you any questions.

I'm going to try to stop that too. All right. How do you plan to prioritize? loving yourself in the new year. I stay up late night thinking of these questions. You're just your head. Look at her. Mercedes,

if you need it, her head is just out of control. She's just spinning down the rabbit hole right now. I will answer first, if that's okay. I'm already practicing this. I have been practicing this for the last, I don't know, eight plus months is prioritizing myself,

putting myself first. And that goes across the board with everything because I told you guys, A lot, what my prayer is when I wake up in the morning is like, you know, thank you for my gifts. I've got a lot of them. And I'm really, really, really grateful for everything that I have and the way my life is going and the path that I'm going down. But truthfully, I want to be a better woman.

I want to be a better mom. I wonder how do you plan to do that, though? I'm about to tell you, Kathy. Oh, sorry. I thought you were saying this once. You know what? Interrupting 2026 can't come soon enough. We're almost there, Kathy.

you just hold on tight. I wouldn't be a better woman. I want to be a better mom and I want to be a better partner someday. Those are like those are my top three priorities right now and myself. And so what I'm doing is I'm diving into myself and that comes with self care like waking up, making sure I'm doing my prayer and my meditation. I have to do that you guys to get myself right before I can be present for anyone else. And then it's really just feeding into myself and being really aware and listening to my own intuition of what I need. And some days I really want to go out and I want to be social and I want to meet people. And some days I want to lock myself in my house and binge television and go to bed at 7.30 at night. So I am truly just trying to tap into my own

intuition and understand what it is that I need my soul's purpose for this upcoming year and really, really listen hard because I want to be on that path. Because y'all, that path has got to be better than my own path for myself if you have seen me in the last year. That path has got to be better than anything else that I have experienced in 2025. And so I am trying to sit with myself in the uncomfortable pieces and listen to my own intuition and really be sure of those decisions before I jump the gun on those things. And a lot of that looks like just being alone. I feel like for me I feel like just taking yeah taking care of myself and putting myself first and listening to what I need I feel like I'm a helper I'm a giver and I love love love that about myself but sometimes people take advantage of it um so again like with what I was saying earlier of me being like this is me take it as you will like I just want to be like so in the zone with myself and and know that we do have goals that we're going to reach.

But, like, I have to be, I have to put myself first. And sometimes that's hard for me. But I think that once I figure out how to do that, I'm going to be a lot happier. You're so wise beyond your years, Mercedes. It's a really beautiful thing, Diana. Thank you. My answer is a combination of both of you. I want to spend more time in the morning praying, meditating, getting myself right before

I get up out of bed. but also listening, what you said Mercedes, sort of listening to myself and because I also am a giver. I'm also checking on my friends all the time, trying to help. And instead of sitting back and being a little bit quiet with myself and say, you know, what do you need, Kathy? It really, again, this is proof that the three of us, regardless of the age difference, we all have the similar challenges, similar goals. I love hearing that. Yeah. We're not putting ourselves on the back burner in 2026, Kathy.

No, we are not. No, we are not. I love you guys. I'm so glad we're doing this. And I'm really, really glad to be doing it with the both of you. I second that, second that. Happy holidays, you guys. Happy holidays, happy New Year, happy Christmas, happy Kwanza, whatever you're celebrating.

Here's to 2026. Yes, it's going to be a good year. I can feel it. We're all going to find our man. Fabulous year. If we don't find him, we'll find ourselves. Right, exactly. Oh, I love you guys. Have a great day.

You guys too. Take care. Bye. Wow, ladies. Thank you. Thank you for letting me be a part of this journey along with all of you listeners. It's been a great fun getting to know all of you on a deeper level and seeing you not give up on love at any age. I'm hoping we make some love connections in the new year for all of you. But until then, I've been Ben.

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Lenovo, Lenovo. I'm investigative journalist Melissa Jeltson. My new podcast, What Happened in Nashville, tells the story of an IVF clinic's catastrophic collapse and the patients who banded together in the chaos that followed. It doesn't matter how much I fight, doesn't matter how much I cry over all of this, it doesn't matter how much justice we get.

none of it's going to get me pregnant. Listen to what happened in Nashville on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have you ever listened to those true crime shows and found yourself with more questions than answers? Who catfishes a city? Is it even safe to snort human remains? Is that the plot of footloos? I'm comedian Rory Scoville, and I'm here to tell you, Josh Dean and I have a new podcast that celebrates the amazing creativity of the world's dumbest criminals. It's called Crimeless, a true crime comedy podcast. Listen on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know he has a reputation, but it's going to catch up to him. Gabe Ortiz is a cop. His brother Larry, a mystery Gabe didn't want to solve until it was too

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This dude is the devil. He'll hurt you. This is the story of a detective who thought he was above the law, until we came together to take him down. I said, you're going to see my face to the day that you die. I got you, I got you, I got you. Listen to the girlfriends, untouchable, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

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