The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Three’s Company with Bekah Martinez

Episode Date: May 4, 2023

Ben and Ashley are hanging out with Bekah Martinez from Arie’s season, as she prepares for life as a soon to be mom of 3! Bekah shares her honest experience heading into baby #3, including how she reacted when her fiancé Grayston said he DIDN’T want any more kids! Find out IF and when she plans on getting married, and why she and Grayston can’t sleep in the same bed when they visit her parents!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious. Wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, luckily, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend's been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone.

Hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That seems inappropriate. Maybe find out how it ends by listening to the OK Storytime podcast and the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, my name is Enya Umanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect.

And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. Just like great shoes, great books take you places. Through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never forget. I think any good romance, it gives me this feeling of like butterflies.

I'm Danielle Robay, and this is bookmarked by Reese's Book Club. The new podcast from Hello Sunshine and IHeart Podcasts, where we dive into the story. that shape us on the page and off. Each week I'm joined by authors, celebs, book talk stars, and more for conversations that will make you laugh, cry, and add way too many books to your TVR pile. Listen to bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Apple Books is the official audio book and ebook home for Reese's Book Club. Visit apple.co-forward slash Reese Apple Books to find out more.

PSA rules so confusing. You got a hood of you. I'll take it all. I'm Mani. I'm Noah. This is Devin. And we're best friends and journalists with a new podcast called No Such Thing, where we get to the bottom of questions like that. Why are you screaming? I can't expect what to do. Now, if the rule was the same, go off on me. I deserve it. You know, lock him up.

Listen to No Such Thing on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. No Such thing. This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast with IHartRadio. Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Almost Famous Podcast. I am so thrilled to have on the guest that we have on today for an in-depth episode. It's Becca Martinez. She hasn't been here in so long, and so much has happened in her life since.

When was the last time we talked on here? Oh, my God. I want to feel like... I was probably pregnant with Ruth. Yeah. You may have been pregnant with Ruth. frank some other baby but i haven't been pregnant in three years so it's been a long time that actually is quite a bit of a gap because when you announce your pregnancy which you did in a very interesting way i have somebody the what questions we can ask you like teased it up yeah so like you did multiple

instagram reels and tic talks hyping us up for a big announcement it was either like you were going off the grid and like literally living in the middle of nowhere you were getting a tv show or you were pregnant. And I think I was between the pregnancy and the TV show because the going off the grid, like you really are entrenched in your social media. Like you're so good at it. So I didn't think that was it. Because what you do, which is awesome and I really need to take note of it, is you take

every January completely off. Yeah. I do like six weeks, which is so funny because people forget that. And then they're like, oh, like, or were you guys filming something during that time or like maybe you were pregnant? I'm like, no, that's just like my thing. I did it last year. I did it this year.

I'm going to do it again. I do like, I start the week before Christmas and then I take that off for like five or six weeks through the end of January, which January is usually slow anyway for like partnerships and like social media stuff. And for me, it's just like the perfect reset and it gets me all reinvigorated and like, because, you know, it can be a drag being on social media, but then taking that time totally off when i get back on i'm like refreshed and ready to go yeah i was like becca knows how to take time off go off the grid if she wants to so i think that's not the option but the tv option was definitely

thing and i thought that possibly the pregnancy thing was sort of like a thing to throw us off you you and grayson just you know you are fertile you are you guys don't have any fertility issues um thankfully yes which is very nice um um But I remember reading or seeing on your Instagram or something that you guys were going to like not actively try for a while because you wanted to just kind of enjoy this age in which the kids are kind of like getting out of the diaper phase and like the very, they're getting more into an independent phase and you're going to take a while, especially since you're so young. You are, what are you, 28, 27, 28? Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Look at you. You used to be the little 22 year old from the bachelor and now you're 28 and a mom. of almost three. I know. We had talked about what we had really said is like when the kids are four and five, like that's when we want to start trying. So like it definitely wasn't off the table. But I mean, at this point when you do the math, like Ruth's going to be, she'll be five next February. Babies do like September 30th October 1st. Yeah, September 30th, October 1st. So she'll be almost five. Frank's going to be like three in some months. And so when you really like look at it in the grand scheme of things, it was kind of like, okay, well, you know,

that's what's the difference um so yeah i can't believe frank is almost three i know no that's how i feel too but like ruth i keep calling her a toddler she's not a toddler anymore she's like a little kid now like yeah she's like almost kindergarten age frank too is like yeah so anyway gray said he's really excited he's like all right because now we're gonna have another little baby and it does go by fast like of course i'm nervous about you know going through the newborn sleep deprivation phase thing again and you know we do cloth diapers and all that so like the first year and a half are kind of a bitch but um it goes by so fast so i don't know actually why are you thinking that she was just going like why were you hinting at going off the grid i watched all this stuff by the way it's

really good she she said that that was one of the three options on yeah i was like yeah yeah yeah i mean i'm manifesting all three i don't want to go completely off the grid but i think it would be fun to kind of go somewhere, some more remote and, you know, blog it and kind of document it and do that, not totally, like, awful. I can see you doing that, though, because, like, you know, you rock climb, you camp, you do, like, all these adventurey things. And then you cloth diaper, you know, so you're, like, crunchy like that. I would like to do that and make it a TV show.

Yeah. Maybe we could, you know, get that off the ground in, like, three years. And then I could get pregnant on TV show. So maybe I could do all three in a few years. So that's an interesting statement because I've always imagined that you're somebody that doesn't like being on television. Like this was a thing that happened. Am I wrong? That's so funny. Someone else said that in like a comment. They were like, well, I don't think she would ever do reality TV again.

And I'm like in a heartbeat. Are you kidding me? I love it. Okay, walk me through that. Like, why is this something you enjoy? Well, The Bachelor definitely didn't just happen. I watched The Bachelor for years and I was like, I'm going to be on that show one day. like next time I'm single because like I always had a boyfriend I was like next time I'm single I'm going on the show this guy broke up with me and the next month I was like great I'm going to go to a bachelor audition now's my time I thought it was going to be um Peter what's his face yeah

Kraus and so I'm going to go audition a bachelor who never was I know and I'm glad though I'm glad that it ended up it was kind of cool because on my season I didn't even know who Ari was and that was kind of like the fun of it but um anyway so i went to the audition and it was so funny because my mom doesn't like reality tv and she's like beck i don't go to this audition otherwise you're going to end up on this stupid show and then yeah then i got cast and that was and i told my dad and he said at the time he was kind of like okay sure becca but i was like no i'm gonna go on the show and i do think that like if i go like far on the show and if i like make a good impression on the show like I could really turn this like into a career.

That was me with my dad. And he was like, okay, I see these girls like they're making like they can quit their jobs, you know, like I think I could do this. So yeah, I mean, that was kind of, that was kind of my plan. And I totally was open to like, well, if I fall in love and like find my husband on the show, great. Like I'm down. Why not?

I wasn't like ruling out that possibility. So yeah. And then now, I mean, I just think reality TV is so much fun, so I would 100% do it again, especially if I had a little more control over production. If it was something that I was helping to produce, I mean, that would be

incredible. Becca, that's why I think like, you have like a cool dichotomy where you're like, oh, I love reality TV, I would totally do it again, but at the same time, you try not to have a TV in the house, and then you like make crafts and only thrift, but you'll definitely do the influencer thing. Oh, yeah. We can totally trust you that when you're doing ads that like they're really authentic. I know that you wouldn't do anything that you don't really

like. You just have really found your niche and it just makes a lot of sense to me. Yeah, I just think it's, you know, life's all about balance. And I don't know, even with social media, like I was just saying to Gray the other day, I'm like, man, I got to like delete my TikTok app or something because like with, I don't know, I've over the past few years had to find so many different ways to balance things out. You know how it goes. I'm like, man, I think I have to delete my TikTok app because I'll like I'll spend 45 minutes scrolling on this and afterwards I'll feel like legit like anxiety in my body and like don't know what to do with myself and I'm like okay I have to like put curbs on how I spend my time doing something that's although it's you know

tied to my job I still have to put up barriers and be careful just my wife has a she's a good scroller um at night she can really go at it but she I think she has an app or it's a setting on the phone where once she hits I think like 25 minutes or 30 minutes of total scrolling for the day it shuts it off she can't get back onto the app for the rest of the day okay I need to get that yeah I have the little phone thing where it's like you know you reach your time limit and then I'm like 15 more minutes 50 more she has something more I'm sure there's a work around it she could do it but it's like not easy and she set herself to that so I hear her say okay I'm done and she's done smart it's honestly easy it's hard

on TikTok. These algorithms these days just like know exactly what to put in your face for you to like stay on the app as long as possible. But anyway, I digress. Let's talk about motherhood a little bit more and your announcement. So you did it in a very special way. You made a claymation. It's like stop motion. What's true between clay motion stop motion. Like I know claimation is the actual like, you know, the clay figures. Yeah. I think stop motion is just like, because you could do stop motion like with your body, you know, when you see people on the ground and like doing. It's like the movement. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's just the stop motion is just the idea of taking a series of pictures and then putting them together to make like a little movie. So in the movie, you show yourself taking a pregnancy test and then going and throwing it at Grayson, who is, for those who don't know, her fiance, and he has a shocked, like, dead face on. So tell us if it was extremely accurate or, like, did you just do it for fun? Like, did you, did you, were you like, Grace said, I think I'm pregnant again.

I think I were pregnant again, or was the total bond. I was saying before I even took a test, it was so funny. Like, the chances of me getting pregnant, like, from when I conceived was really, like, so ridiculously low. We've been really careful the last few years. But I just, like, knew. I was like, dude, I am sure I'm going to get, like, pregnant. And so before I even took a test, I was like, I'm pregnant.

Gray, I'm convinced I'm pregnant. Like, I'm pregnant. I'm pregnant. And so I took the test, like, eight days before my period. and I was supposed to leave for a flight that morning. So it was 6.30 in the morning. I was like, okay, I'm just going to take a test. It was the faintest shadow of a line.

I think I have with Austin at first, yeah. Oh, my God. It was like, if I probably would have thrown away the test if I hadn't been like looking so hard for it. But I saw like the faintest shadow, took another. I saw like the faintest shadow in the world. And I was like, I'm like, yep, that's it. So I don't even remember what his reaction was.

I think he was just like, oh my God, like, are you kidding me? Because he's so, I mean, I know him so well. So I think it's hard for other people to understand. But Gray's always like, I don't want any more kids. I don't, like, that's what he'll say. That's what he would say on the podcast and all that. Like, I don't want anymore. But I know him.

And he's said that with like every kid, but he loves being a dad. When they're born, he's obsessed with them. And look, he's not putting that much work into preventing it. So, I mean, every time it's. the beginning it's been like oh my god what are we going to do but this time being the third actually i feel like pretty quickly his tune changed and now he's really excited and i think we're both just really so much more confident as parents now like zero to one for us was the hardest like i just felt like the shift from having getting to do whatever you want with your time to all of a sudden being like

i mean you know your whole world i know i know where you're like oh sleep and like everything is everything everything is new and it's just crazy and like the hormones for me postpartum were just so nuts and just like everything was crazy and then actually having the second it was so funny because your perspective just changes like when i had frank i remember putting him on the bed and i was like wait this kid sleeps all day and he like can't roll anywhere like i can stick him on the bed and like go do something and he's not going to go anywhere like this newborn thing is easy i remember just having to total whereas with the first i was like oh my god like i can't shower like, you know, you're just so, like, frazzled. And so, I don't know, it being the third,

a couple of my friends had new babies over the last few months and I was helping out with them. And I was just like, all right, we know, we know the drill now, you know. And the kids are a little bit older. So they can do stuff for themselves. Like, I can be like, go get a snack or can you bring me a glass of water or can you grab me a diaper? Like, so I don't know. I'm feeling, I think we're both feeling pretty confident going into this new one. That's awesome. That's so awesome. I feel like you guys were definitely going to have more than two. That's like absolutely ridiculous. Like Grayson knew that you were going to have more than two. We had been talking about it. It wasn't like completely out of the blue. It just wasn't like the perfect timing. And we had, I guess what was sort of a bummer is like we had talked about like, oh, it'll be so fun to like try. I mean, I know that's not always fun. But for us. I would say it's not that much fun. Okay. I do. We had though of like the intentionality just because we have an. experienced it of like let's have another baby you know like oh like am i pregnant like we're you know

i think we just wanted to experience that and yeah i think we will get to i i want to have i see with i see with four or more yeah i think four is i like even numbers odd numbers see i'm already looking at plane you know at flights and like well with the seats like we're going to need to have like an even number otherwise like someone's going to end up sitting alone so yeah anyway but yeah so i think that was the only disappointment is we're like oh like we kind of wanted to be like an intentional choice that we both made together um so i think that was the only thing that we were like oh well here we go like another surprise but it's been it's been good my boyfriend's professor is way too friendly and now i'm seriously suspicious

oh wait a minute sam maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit well to Dakota, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend has been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now, he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Now, hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That sounds totally inappropriate.

Well, according to this person, this is her boyfriend's former professor, and they're the same age. And it's even more likely that they're cheating. He insists there's nothing between them. I mean, do you believe him? Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he's, now wants them both to meet. So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend really cheated with his professor or not? To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the Iheart radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, my name is Enya Umanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble.

Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. The U.S. Open is here. And on my podcast, Good Game with Sarah Spain, I'm breaking down the players from rising stars to legends chasing history. The predictions will we see a first time winner and the pressure. Billy Jean King says pressure is a privilege, you know.

Plus, the stories and events off the court and, of course, the honey, reduces the signature cocktail of the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open has gotten to be a very fancy, wonderfully experiential sporting event. I mean, listen, the whole aim is to be accessible and inclusive for all tennis fans, whether you play tennis or not. Tennis is full of compelling stories of late. Have you heard about Icon Venus Williams' recent wildcard bids or the young Canadian, Victoria Mboko, making a name for herself? How about Naomi Osaka getting back to form? To hear this and more, listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain,

an Iheart women's sports production in partnership with deep blue sports and entertainment on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. I don't write songs. God write songs. I take dictation. I didn't even know you've been a pastor for over 10 years. I think culture is any space that you live in that develops you. On a recent episode of Culture Raises Us podcast, I sat down with Warren,

Campbell, Grammy-winning producer, pastor, and music executive to talk about the beats, the business, and the legacy behind some of the biggest names in gospel, R&B, and hip-hop. This is like watching Michael Jackson talk about Thurley before it happened. Was there a particular moment where you realize just how instrumental music culture was to shaping all of our global ecosystem? I was eight years old, and the Motown 25 special came on, and all the great Motown artists, Marvin, Stevie Wonder, Temptations. thing of all.

From Mary Mary to Jennifer Hudson, we get into the soul of the music and the purpose that drives it. Listen to Culture raises us on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Before your first kid, did you expect to have a big family?

Or did Gray expect to have a big family? Like, I mean, when you're on the show and all this, and then it happened as a surprise, did your perspective change? um well it's so funny i gray and i did like a youtube q and a we posted yesterday and i was like gray how many kids do you want and he's like one and so that's kind of he's like uh one kid um i think for me i'm one of five i always had a really great relationship with my siblings i loved having a big family a lot of my friends had big families um and the friends that i knew that

like small families, I don't know, they always, or even like boyfriends. I remember them always like having fun, being, you know, a part of our big family. And my parents are each one of like my mom, I think they're both one of five. So I always grew up around a lot of cousins and just a big extended family. So I knew that I wanted that for for myself. And my oldest brother has five under the age of nine, which they're nuts. I'm not doing that. I'll take a little more time. I'm like, sister has four um so i don't know i feel like yeah i was always planning on having like more than two um and gray i don't i don't know i don't even think his even he was like 29 though i mean i remember when i got pregnant with ruth and he's like i'm not ready to be a dad i'm like shut up you're like

literally almost 30 like grow up l-a boy you're going to be fine um so i don't i know he he definitely wanted to be a dad but I don't think he ever had a I don't think I don't think he thought he was going to have three over the course of five years how many nieces and nephews do you have then this baby's about to be number 12 of my parents grandkids and my parents aren't neither of them are even 60 yet wow wow goodness gracious oh yeah I have nine nieces and nephews and my younger two siblings aren't even married or have kids yet so oh wow I'm sure I'm sure that's fun i mean already like christmases and holidays like getting the family together like ruths obsessed with her cousins and i just think it's really cute is it fun or chaotic i like it but i

i mean i think it's part of why i like reality tv i like chaos i like being like constantly stimulated by like i don't know having stuff going on it's kind of feel like where i thrive and yeah i love it I have to say you're just so inspirational to me through your Instagram. I have to say that you are probably like the person who I look at the most content from on Instagram. Oh, thank you. Yeah, I know. So it's like I feel like I see your every real and I always look at your stories.

I just find them really interesting. And you always have an interesting perspective, even if like we're not like in agreeance. You always have like this great way of expressing yourself in a way where I can like see a point of view. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. You're never like too preachy. I don't know. like i just really like admire you in lots of ways but one of the things that i wanted to ask you

about is just the fact that it seems like you always have your kids doing something like fun and interesting and even though like you know that they're all over the place like i know like in my head like like yeah they're their kids they're running all over the house you seem to have like some sort of like semblance of calm and peace in the house too can you tell me your tricks yeah i think that for me i think that it really comes down to just like confidence as a parent and what I mean by that is like not I guess I guess just like accepting that I don't have it all figured out granted I'm only showing certain parts on social media right yeah but I but I actually believe you like you know how sometimes like people like you have like this great mix of realism and

the picture perfect sure sure like curated and not yeah I mean but like yeah I guess I just do want to remind people I'm showing usually like 90 second clips of like the day when you really boil it down to like the whole day um but I just think like what big thing for me is I'm into just letting the kids like do their own thing like not in the sense that I'm neglecting them or ignoring them but from a young like what we started doing from like 12 to 18 months is I just started getting really comfortable with being like no I'm not going to pick you up right now or like no I'm not going to play with you because like I'm in the middle of doing something and like you know it that was not

fun they'd be like crying or upset and I'd be like I know I know no, I'm here. I'm sorry. It sucks. You want me to hold you. I'm not going to. And it's like really uncomfortable to deal with as a parent, you know, because you like want your kids to be happy all the time. And sometimes in a selfish way where you're just like, I don't want to deal with like this overstimulation right now. So like please stop. But I feel like that's something we implemented kind of early. And so now, you know, if I'm just like, hey, I'm in the middle of doing this, like I can't stop what I'm doing in play with you right now. Like you're going to have to go find something to do or you're going to have to go in the backyard. And now I feel like they're like,

yeah, okay. And they are really just like, they do like a lot of self-directed play. And I think some people think like, oh, that's their personalities. But I'm like, no, we did really work consciously on it. I'm like accepting their their tantrums and they're like upset when, you know, they didn't get what they wanted from us in that moment. But I feel like it's really paid off because they will literally play sometimes, like, an hour and a half, two hours by themselves. And I think it's good for them because I, one thing that's important to me, and I learned this as a nanny, too, is like, I don't, I think kids know what our energy is like. And if I'm not having fun, like, playing, pretend with them, you know, or if I'm doing this whole faky thing, like, yeah, I love what we're doing. And, like, I don't.

I feel like kids know, like, mom doesn't, is not enjoying herself. so I don't know what I try to do is I just try to bring them into the stuff that I'm doing when when I can sometimes it's a little difficult like some oh my god like a couple weeks ago I was like cooking dinner and I was making pizza sauce and I was making salad dressing and the kids wanted to help so I was like yeah sure and then Frank like took the salad dressing I just made and like dumped it in the pizza sauce and I was like and I was like I think I like did that and I was like okay I'm sorry I'm sorry I like didn't me to yell just like frustrated like so sometimes you know it's not doesn't go as planned and I'm like okay I don't want to like involve you guys in what I'm doing when it does go smooth it pays off and so anyway I would say I only like play with them this is kind of a secret to my piece like I only like play with them for like maybe 20 minutes a day but I still make time to like I'll read books with them I'll do stuff that I enjoy doing with them right like let's go on a walk together and like pick flowers. I'll, I'll enjoy that, you know, or like, let's, let's draw together. So I guess

I guess that's something that I feel like kind of browns me. I feel like that I'm never stretched too thin. That's super duper interesting. And I feel like I can ask so many questions about that, but I won't drag it off here. We'll have to do another like side of this. But do you have a nanny? We do three days a week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And usually they're like in the house, which that's kind of you know even that's that's us too i basically prefer them in the house if they're going on walks and stuff that's fine yeah yeah yeah well and sometimes it doesn't always go so well like right now i have the door like barricaded because i'm like don't let them in because they're going to be following me everywhere i go but yeah we have a nanny three days a week and then yeah i'm with them

Thursday Thursday and Friday during weekdays so that i mean that definitely helps too obviously Um, but yeah, we didn't have a nanny until I'd say like a year and a half ago, but I was like losing my mind trying to do work and like it's crazy. You inspired me with that too. You like made me feel like it was okay that I needed that. Because I mean, dude, I know that it feels like it's not a real job sometimes. So when you're trying to like feel emails and like get ads done during their nap and then they wake up 35 minutes later and you're like, oh my God, like how I like how am I physically

supposed to get this stuff done? okay, I'm guessing I'm going to have to do it tonight at 8.30 when they're passed out. Like, that's just, I don't think that's sustainable because, you know, we are working moms. So you can't do it all at the same time. Thanks. Yeah. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly and now I'm seriously suspicious. Oh, wait a minute, Sam.

Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast. So we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend has been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Now hold up, isn't that against school policy? That sounds totally inappropriate.

Well, according to this person, this is her boyfriend's former professor and they're the same age. And it's even more likely that they're cheating. He insists there's nothing between them. I mean, do you believe him? Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he now wants them both to meet. So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend's, friend really cheated with his professor or not. To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeartRadio

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, my name is Enya Umanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD, ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychopaths.

Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. The U.S. Open is here. And on my podcast, Good Game with Sarah Spain, I'm breaking down the players from rising stars to legends chasing history.

The predictions will we see a first time winner and the pressure? Billy Jean King says pressure is a privilege, you know. Plus, the stories and events off the court and, of course, the Honey Deuses, the signature cocktail of the U.S. Open. The U.S.S. Open has gotten to be a very fancy, wonderfully experiential sporting event. I mean, listen, the whole aim is to be accessible and inclusive for all tennis fans, whether you play tennis or not.

Tennis is full of compelling stories of late. Have you heard about icon Venus Williams' recent wild card bids or the young Canadian, Victoria Mboko, making a name for herself? How about Naomi Osaka getting back to form? To hear this and more, listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain. I heart women's sports production in partnership with deep blue sports and entertainment on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. I don't write songs. God write songs. I take dictation. I didn't even know you've been a pastor for over 10 years.

I think culture is any space that you live in that develops you. On a recent episode of Culture Raises Us podcast, I sat down with Warren Campbell, Grammy winning producer, pastor, and music executive to talk about the beats. the business, and the legacy behind some of the biggest names in gospel, R&B, and hip-hop. This is like watching Michael Jackson talk about Thurley before it happened. Was there a particular moment where you realize just how instrumental music culture was to shaping all of our global ecosystem? I was eight years old, and the Motown 25 special came on. And all the great Motown artists, Marvin, Stevie Wonder, Temptations, Diana Raw.

From Mary Mary to Jennifer Hudson, we get into the soul of the music. music and the purpose that drives it. Listen to Culture raises us on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Well, I would love to hear about the future plans, too. You are obviously engaged. We mentioned your fiancé. Are you in the wedding planning process?

No. Why not? Is it delayed? Is it like just not something you want to focus on right now? Where are we saying? Are you secretly married? No, we're not secretly married. People think that.

I know that. Can we confirm that you're not? No, we're not. But, okay, it's funny because, like, I... The helicopter going to happen. I always, like, rolled my eyes at people who said this, and I was just like, oh, my God, shut up. But it's so funny.

Like, now that I'm in the position myself, like, more and more I find myself being like, why do I have to like sign this like legal document in order to like make our relationship like legitimate and binding like it sort of bothers me I think especially just because I come from a very Christian family and like gray and I still aren't allowed to like sleep in the same room together when we go to my parents house which is that's a whole other thing. Because you never had sex. Yeah right or I guess they just don't want it happen. No they're like no baby's made in our house. That's our rule. Um, so I don't know, I, I think I'm just, and I've sort of felt that with my, my family lately, where I'm just like, so like our relationship is like still not legitimate to you, you know, like even though like to me making the choice to parent together, I always, I've said this a lot on my own like channels, but I think it's like one of the biggest commitments you could ever make like bigger than marriage because my dad always said my dad's been divorced and he has. kids with other people and my dad just says like if you divorce someone you could never see them

again like you could literally erase them from your life if you have kids with someone barring you being like a person who's going to ditch your kids you're going to see that person for the rest of your life you're going to see them at piano recitals at your grandkids birthday's party like you are going to be around that person that you made that choice to have a child with for the rest of your life and so anyway that's kind of how I look at it where I'm like, wow, like we made, to me, one of the biggest commitments we could make, which is to like raise humans together. And so it kind of bothers me that some people still don't view our relationship as like legitimized in the same way it would be

if we like went to a courthouse. And so I don't know. That's been kind of like bothering me lately. I'm not going to say that we're not going to get married, but I'm sort of like, why like, I guess like what's, for me, I'm just sort of like, what's the difference at, at, at this point. I would still like to have a party and all that kind of thing. But even so, I actually feel like really uncomfortable at the idea of all the attention being on like us and like our love and our relationship, which is strange. But like I just feel I feel like a little awkward. I'm like this is kind of something special between us. And I don't know. I guess, yeah, I guess I just feel like awkward including like a whole bunch of other people in that thing that feels like really just special

between the two of us so but also my family would kill me if we just did a private ceremony so I'm not going to do that either because like literally all my siblings and my parents are like please like can we just like be there for getting married like please don't just like run off and do this I'm like okay I promise so can I ask a question if you don't answer you don't have to no I'm curious so when you think about your relationship with gray and it right you know right now i i completely understand everything you're saying but when you think about it is this a lifetime relationship is this something that you like you two will be together in you know a committed relationship or however you design it forever i mean we literally that's i guess that's sort of my point is because we're both

committed to like parenting our children and being involved in their life like we undoubtedly will for the rest of our lives regardless of even of how our romantic relationship goes like we yes we will have to be in some sort of a relationship for the rest of our lives i guess that sounds like a little when i say it like that it sounds a little doomsy i will say i'm one of those people where i really believe like a lot of couples could like work through anything given the right tools and they're right like because look we've been through couples counseling the last year so and like our relationship had a really difficult start and i will say that i understand why some couples don't make it just because they like financially don't have the tools to like get help

on their relationship and if they didn't have the foundation of like seeing a healthy relationship you know or having like a healthy foundation in their early life i think it's like really hard for people to continue to nurture and have a healthy relationship when they just weren't ever given the tools and don't have the resources to have someone help guide them through learning all that stuff. Anyway, I don't know why I got off on that. But I guess I think we are both sort of realists

in the sense of like, I'm not going to pretend to know what's going to happen 30 years down the road. Like already so much has happened in our lives the last five years. I don't know if I could ever, I know people are going to roll their eyes at this, but like, I don't know that I could ever say for certain like 40 years from now, like we're still going to be together. That is, I will say though, that is our goal. And I think we both really feel committed to working on a relationship and to nurturing our relationship so that hopefully it is a lifelong relationship. But yeah. But I mean, shit happens. This is this is, this is.

is super dramatic but like what's that what's that movie a horrible movie manchester by the sea where like the house burns down like all the kids are inside it and like all that kind of thing i mean god forbid anything horrible like that did happen but i mean i don't know you don't you just don't know people have struggle with addictions things i don't know things happen so i guess i could never say for certain that like i would be with anyone 40 30 years from now but i would make up i think for me then because it's super interesting to hear this. I'm one, I'm curious how these conversations go between the two of you. Obviously, you have a very open line of communication if, you know, these conversations

are existing and you're kind of being like, hey, I, you know, I love you. My plan is to be with you forever. I don't know if that's going to be the case or not. You know, for me, you know, there was when I was getting married, there's a lot of it that was like, wait, is this necessary kind of thing? Those questions. And I think for me personally, what it did was. it solidified that yes Jessica my wife believes and wants to be with me forever you know like

there is no easy way out now there is no hey you know we're going to work on this and we're going to do this thing for as long as we you know as long as we live and that was what I needed I think because if not I would all I'm so insecure that I think I would be wondering like does this person really like me like do they really love me do they really want to commit to me or are they just kind of stuck in this because well we have kids. kids. So my question to you is like, how do those conversations exist in your relationship? How do you keep them healthy and uplifting? So you both feel like I am loved. Yeah. I mean, we definitely had a lot of those conversations. I think that's been a difficult

point in our relationship at times. Like you said, in times of insecurity, and I think that look, all relationships like have their ups and downs. I know that's a cliche. I do think there are some people out there where their relationships really are just like hunky dory most of the time. I think just some people have personalities like that. Gray and I are very like we are not people who shy away from conflict and we're both very stubborn. So I think like in difficult points in our relationship, like we have those insecurities have come up and those questions have come up. And sometimes they've been really painful and difficult to navigate. But luckily, like I was saying, we've had the support of a really incredible couples counselor. And I will say not all couples

counselors are built equally we've seen a couple others that were not so great and every week it was kind of like so what did you guys fight about this past week okay like no we have like an amazing couples counselor who's really about like his whole thing is like how can you connect in the middle of conflict and like find the other person even when like instead of avoiding those times where you guys are both like at a 10 like how can you guys connect in the midst of that and like find a way to come back to each other um so anyway we've had guidance sort of sorting through those But I will say, like, we've had a couple really serious private conversations that, to be honest, I think for both of us felt like the point where we sort of became, like sort of made this crossover to like husband and wife. We call each other like husband and wife, even though it's not an illegal document. But we had some really like intimate conversations where that basically those things were said of like, no, I do want to be with you forever. Like I am committed to. being with you. I'm not just here because, like, we have kids together, but because, like,

I care about you and, and I'm in this for the long fall. I'm like, I see you as my wife and, like, I see you as my husband. And so, um, so yeah, I think, I think that answers the question. But I think for us, we, we, I think we've had, like, some really touchstone conversations about that, exactly. And I think since then, we do sort of see each other, um, on that level. And like I said we call each other like husband and wife and basically consider each other like on the level of being married but now it's just time for the party at some point yeah after the next year so well every couple has their own dance and it's inspiring you know as actually said to see you to his parents uh to see your story play out it's always exciting it's always fun it's always interesting

keep up the claymation i enjoy it um and uh and come back soon uh don't make it three years that's just ridiculous. No, I love being interviewed on podcasts. I'm like, everyone invite me on your podcast. I'll come. I love it. Yeah. Let's have her come recap an episode with us and we still have to talk about good Alma and all that, your clothing line and all the other

things that you're doing. The fact that you don't have a podcast anymore, where's your talking outlet? We can give you a talking outlet here. So we'll talk about that next time you're here. Yeah. Thanks, guys. Thank you. Bye. Well, this has been another episode of the Almost Famous podcast. We have a very special guest.

Becca. And as Ashley mentioned, if you don't know that Becca has her own clothing line, please go check it out. It's worth it. Also, follow Becca on Instagram to keep up with updates. But until next time, I've been Ben. I've been Ashley. Bye. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcast on IHartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly and now I'm seriously suspicious. Wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, luckily, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend's been hanging out with his young professor a lot.

He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That seems inappropriate. Maybe find out how it ends by listening to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, my name is Enya Umanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you.

But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psycho babble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. Just like great shoes, great books take you places.

Through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never forget. I think any good romance, it gives me this feeling of like butterflies. I'm Danielle Robay, and this is bookmarked by Reese's Book Club, the new podcast from Hello Sunshine and IHeart Podcasts, where we dive into the stories that shape us on the page and off. Each week, I'm joined by authors, celebs, book talk stars, and more for, conversations that will make you laugh, cry, and add way too many books to your TBR pile. Listen to bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Apple Books is the official audio book and ebook home for Reese's Book Club. Visit apple.co-forward slash Reese Apple Books to find out more. Why are TSA rules so confusing? You got a hood of you. I'll take it all! I'm Manny. I'm Noah. This is Devin. And we're best friends.

and journalists with a new podcast called No Such Thing, where we get to the bottom of questions like that. Why are you screaming? I can't expect what to do. Now, if the rule was the same, go off on me. I deserve it. You know, lock him up. Listen to No such thing on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. No such thing. This is an IHeart podcast.