The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Steve Wilkos On Relationship With Jerry Springer, Wendy Williams Documentary, Dr. Phil +More

Episode Date: March 13, 2024

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Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God.

What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. We need help! That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast

Post Run High is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions, but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay.

Have grace with yourself. You're trying your best. And you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Dr. Laurie Santos, host of the Happiness Lab podcast. As the U.S. elections approach, it can feel like we're angrier and more divided than ever. But in a new, hopeful season of my podcast, I'll share what the science really shows, that we're surprisingly more united than most people think.

We all know something is wrong in our culture, in our politics, and that we need to do better and that we can do better. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show Civic Cipher. That's right. We discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people.

We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle. We're going to learn how to become better allies to each other. So join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Wake that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne Tha Guy. We are The Breakfast Club.

We got a special guest in the building. Yes, indeed. His 17th season on air, ladies and gentlemen, Steve Wilkos. Welcome back. Hello. Thanks for having me again. How are you? I'm great.

Where'd you come in from? Connecticut. Okay, so it wasn't that long. No, I mean, you know, it's not great, but as long as the car's moving, I'm okay. Yeah, yeah. You're celebrating your 30th year's moving, I'm okay. Yeah, yeah. You're celebrating your 30th year in television, like on television. I know you started as Jerry Springer's bodyguard and actually the producer on the Jerry Springer show, right? Did you produce the, you were a producer on it?

No, no, no. I'm saying your name in the credits on a couple of episodes. Well, on my show, I'm an executive producer. Absolutely, I know that. But that's, I don't produce, that's just, you know, they give you the title because if my show ever won an Emmy, if I

was an executive producer, I wouldn't get an Emmy. That's why they do it. So I have nothing to do with the producing of the show, but I started on the Spinner Show, I was a Chicago cop. Yeah. They just hired some cops to do security and I happened to be one of them, and 30 years later, I'm still here.

Yeah, yeah. Did you ever expect your career to end up like that? No, I was going to be a policeman. My dad was a Chicago policeman for 30 years, and he retired, and that's what I was going to do, just be a cop, get my pension, and retire. But I kind of liked the way it worked out. So you didn't retire on a job? No, I had 12 years.

And I could have got a pension, but I pulled it. And, you know, just 12 years was long enough, actually. Did you have to really contemplate, like, do I leave this where I could go or do I wait 12 years, I get my pension, I'm good for the rest of my life? It was difficult because, you know, when I left, I had no idea. I left in 2001, and I got my show in 2007. So I never knew I was going to get my own TV show. I mean, that was crazy even to think.

But my wife, who's my executive producer, and she became the executive producer, Jerry Springer, I actually came home one night, and I was covered in blood in my police uniform. And she goes, this is crazy, man. You need to, you know. And she said, listen, when the Springer show's over, we're not staying, we're living on your policeman salary. She goes, I'm a TV producer. We're going to go to L.A. or New York and I'm going to be a TV producer and you'll find something to do. And I said, yeah.

And at that point I was kind of burnt out being a policeman. You know, I was tired of fighting and everything and getting hurt so i was like okay i'm okay with that when did you really start making money at 30 years in tv at what point did you really uh so in 94 when i started i was like uh an hourly guy then next year they they wanted me there so i was a week i got weekly pay and then i think it was 97 they gave me a contract for 75 000 so that's a part-time job you know and i was making i think 45 000 as a policeman and then um the next year they like not even the next year it was like six months later they tore the contract contract up and they gave me 150 000,000 because the show was skyrocketing. And so I honestly thought I was like the richest guy in the world, making $150,000 part-time

job. And so I guess that was when it really started. And then after that, then it kept climbing. And then obviously when I got my own show, I started making really good money. Now you're the second longest running syndicated daytime talk show in current production. Jesus. And I wish all those people that laughed in my face in L.A. when I did the media tour, like, they were just dogging me, man.

Like, Jerry Springer's guy, he's not going to last 13 weeks because back then it was 13-week pickups. They're like, you're not going to last 13 weeks. And I'm like, okay, we'll see. You know, 30 years in TV straight with never missing a paycheck is unheard of. What's the key to the success, though? It's a two-fold question. What's the key to success, and what did you learn from Jerry?

Because he had a long career as well. I'm not trying to sound like I didn't learn anything from Jerry, but there was nothing to learn from Jerry's's show because we do a completely different show right um when i there's a lot of things i learned from jerry like being professional showing up on time being always ready and and he said hey man when you go don't don't try to be like me or the show just do your own thing and you'll be fine the really secret of my success is my wife and i say that and i'm you know i'm not just a husband saying about his wife you know if it wasn't for my wife i wouldn't be sitting here right now and that's the truth because um you know i had my problems about six years ago i had

dy and you know all that like she stuck with me through that pulled me out of it you know i i was going through things and and but even like she knows how to produce me on my show she knows how to do a lot of things she kept the springer show on the air for a lot of years so i got the best executive producer on tv so truthfully and she and she knows me she lets me be me the first two years of my show were terrible i was produced in a way that was just, I hated doing the show. I literally hated coming to work. And that person left, and my wife took over, and thank God. I definitely would not be on there.

Thank God for nepotism. I'm not mad at it. No, they did not want to give my wife the show because she was the EP of Springer. You know, when Richard Domic left the Springer show, they promoted my wife to EP. They did not want to make her the EP of my show, too. So they said, we're not giving you your wife as the EP. I said, okay. So they brought in a guy.

I think he was on Blind Date or Cheaters or something. I can't remember. And they said, we'd like you to interview this guy, and if you like him, we're going to give this guy a show. And I said, okay. So this was a process of like a month, like bringing him in, going to dinner with him. I said, fine, I like him.

He's okay. Wasn't bad, wasn't good, but kind of vanilla. But I said, okay, I can work with him. Well, during the the meantime my wife's doing my show the ratings are going like this second season you know and uh so i'm like damn man you know i don't want her but uh you know they were saying no no no so this guy ended up turning the offer down the guy that i interviewed he's like no i'm not taking it so i tell the president i go hey man so what's the story here?

Like, this guy doesn't want the job. My wife's doing it. And the ratings are. He goes, yeah, OK. We're going to give you your wife. And that was it. Oh, OK. So she's the key to the success there.

Clearly. She's a huge, huge part of it. Did you guys ever have any fallouts about you not wanting to? You know, of course. We used to fight about things. Yeah. You know, there was like, she would do shows, especially there was shows like with kids and stuff, you know, and I hated doing those.

I just, I don't know what it is. I don't like it. I feel like I can't relate to kids. You know, I'm not going to lie. And, but my wife's like, just do it, you know, and they would work and she was right. So like at this stage of my career, I just, even if I don't like it, I just keep my mouth shut. Just learn to shut up. I just do it you know and they would work and she was right so like at this stage of my career i just even if i don't like it i just keep my mouth shut just learn to shut up i just do it yeah because i'm like it'll be over in 20 minutes and why complain yeah now last week you

reported uh that steve wilkos was in uh just with the mess right yeah yeah um you had um taken the social media because you watched the the w. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And you were actually the first celebrity that spoke up, besides myself, spoke up, you know, in favor of her about, you know, her treatment and how they made her look on the documentary. Like, and I just, you know, wanted to know in person, you know, how you felt. Well, you know, me and Wendy, like, when I was launched, I did Wendy's radio show, and she was so nice to me. And then she launched right after me, I think the year after me.

So I would always appear on a show, and I had a personal relationship with Wendy. I mean, I went to her 50th birthday party and things like that, and I saw her. And I really liked Wendy. And I don't watch daytime talk show, but I would watch her show. I thought it was really good. I was interested in it. And I liked the hot topic segment and all that. So I really cared about Wendy, you know.

So then to show her in this, you know, and we were, where was I? I was in Florida. And we were flipping through me and my wife in a hotel, and I start watching. I'm like, oh, my God, this is terrible. You know, I think like when I was going through my struggles at my lowest, if there was a camera in my house filming me, like, no, but my wife would never allow that to happen to me. You know, she'd be like, no, we're never doing anything like that.

So it's just because, you know, especially be like no we're never doing anything like that and um so it's just because you know especially as a woman right what woman wants to see her wig damn like yeah taking off and shown in that light or hurt they're showing her feet she's got that some kind of problem with her feet and you know come on man if she was in her right state of mind she would never let anybody see and she's obviously suffering from alcohol uh you know being alcoholic or drinking problem. And, you know, when you're going through something like that, I don't think you should be on camera. And that manager's like, oh, we're going to do a podcast with Wendy, and she's ready. She's not ready to do anything.

Come on, you know. And she should be in a treatment facility somewhere getting medical attention from doctors and everything else. And it just, to me, it was really exploitative. People are blashing back at me like, well, you know, when you talk crap about her TV show, I go, she's not showing anybody in their deepest and filming them. Like, what are you talking about? It's a TV show. It's so crazy to me how people can cheer the downfall of another human being. You know, I don't get it.

Especially in these times, you know, people have been so desensitized. Like, they've become so desensitized from, like, actual problems. And they're not able to separate human being from, you know, Wendy Williams, the media personality, you know. Because she would ask the questions that people wouldn't ask. She would get in the business, but that was her job. Exactly. And then the other thing was people were like, well, she's the executive producer of that Lifetime thing. And I go, if you're not in your right mind, you can't consent.

People don't understand that. If you're suffering a mental breakdown, you're not going to go into a legal binding contract for anything. When's the last time y'all spoke? Well, I think I was on her show. Well, I hosted her show with Jerry when she was on the break, and I spoke to her just before that. And, you know, she was struggling at that time. And I told her, I said, hey, listen, anytime you want to talk to me, because I've been through it.

And she knew it. And we talked about it offstage the last time I appeared on the show with her. So, you know, it's just tough. And how did you get through it? Because you said you had a DUI. How did you get through your troubles during that time? You know, listen, I was drinking too much. Was it stress?

Was it too much? Stress, depression, anxiety. I was using alcohol to help with depression and which is probably the last thing in the world you should do you can afford to drive a thief i could it's listen i make no excuse i i can't tell you why i drove that day or what made me get in my car and get in it i'm absolutely wrong and i knew like my life could have changed for a lot worse that day, other than just going to do, I could have killed somebody or I could have killed myself.

And, uh, I just said, I'm not drinking anymore. Now, a lot of people can't do that. Just say, I'm not going to drink anymore. But, uh, I knew it was becoming a problem in my life and I was going to ruin everything in my life, my family, my career. And I just said, okay, I'm not 20 years old anymore. I got to take this serious and stop. And I did. Where did it happen? What's that? Yeah, so you haven't drank since?

Since 2018 was the last time I drank. Where did it happen at? In my town, Therian, Connecticut. That's what I'm saying. They didn't give you no Steve Wilco celebrity privilege? Well, when you're involved in an accident like I was, and they had to take me to the hospital, they had to draw my blood. So there was no taking care of me.

Got you. And truthfully, listen, nobody wants a DUI, right? Nobody wants, and especially when you're in our position, you know, it's like TMZ and you get blown up. But truthfully, it was probably the best thing for me because it made me, and listen, now that I don't drink anymore, I'm very productive. I work out all the time. My marriage is great.

My career is great. And, you know, alcohol was really negatively impacting all those aspects of my life, you know. And I was honest about it. I mean, like, you know, I wanted to fight it so bad because I started drinking when I was 14 years old. And, you know, to give up a lifetime habit like that, it's not easy. But I knew. And now when I look back, I go, why in the world did I ever drink? Like, you know, but a lot of people do it.

I mean, it's fun. It is. It is. The best times. You got to do it responsibly, but it's fun. The best times of my life were drinking. Absolutely. So, yeah.

What do you say to people when you think about Wendy Williams and how they showed her situation on television? But, you know, God bless the dead, Jerry Springer. People didn't even know he had cancer. So what do you say to people who feel like celebrities have an obligation to show you the bad since you've seen all of it? Jerry didn't even tell me yet, right? Like a month before he passed away, he called me up and said, hey, because he had nothing going on in Stanford at the time. You know, Judge Jerry was over everything. So he called me up and he said, hey, I'm having dinner with all his old guys,

his crew, security, because they all work on my show. And I was taping that day. I said, Jerry, I don't want to go to dinner with 20 guys when I'm done taping. And I'm exhausted at the end of my tape day because I'm doing like six stories a day. So I said, you know, I'm going to pass. And he goes, I really want to see you, Steve. Well, Jerry, you know, doesn't talk like that. You know, I really want to see you.

So I said, I'll tell you what. You go to dinner. I'm going to go home, rest a little bit. And then when you're done, you go meet me for a cigar at John Stark's. That's a place in Stanford, Connecticut, cigar bar. So I met him there. And it was crazy because we were two guys that never talked about the glory days. Like, oh, you don't remember this, remember that.

We didn't guys that never talked about the glory days. Like, oh, you don't remember this, remember that. We didn't do that. He has a grandson, and my son is about the same age, and they're both athletes. And we would always talk about our son. Is your country falling apart? Feeling tired, depressed, a little bit revolutionary? Consider this. Start your own country. I planted the flag.

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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast, Post Run High, is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests

and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. You know that rush of endorphins you feel after a great workout? Well, that's when the real magic happens so if you love hearing real inspiring stories from the people you know follow and admire join me every week for post run high it's where we take the conversation beyond the run

and get into the heart of it all it's light-hearted pretty crazy, and very fun. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions, but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia Keys opens up about conquering doubt, learning to trust herself and leaning into her dreams. I think a lot of times we are built to doubt the possibilities for ourselves. For self-preservation and protection, it was literally that step by step. And so I discovered that that is how we get where we're going. This increment of small,

determined moments. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay. Like grace. Have grace with yourself. You're trying your best and you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show Civic Cipher. That's right. We're going to discuss social issues, especially those that affect Black and Brown people, but in a way that informs and

empowers all people to hopefully create better allies. Think of it as a black show for non-black people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle. Exactly. Whether you're black, Asian, white, Latinx, indigenous, LGBTQIA+, you name it. If you stand with us, then we stand with you. Let's discuss the stories and conduct the interviews that will help us create a more empathetic, accountable, and equitable America. You are all our brothers and sisters, and we're inviting you to join us for Civic Cipher each and every Saturday. With myself, Ramses Jha, Q Ward, and some of the greatest minds in America.

Listen to Civic Cipher every Saturday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So, y'all, this is Questlove, and I'm here to tell you about a new podcast I've been working on with the Story Pirates and John Glickman called Historical Records. It's a family-friendly podcast. Yeah, you heard that right. A podcast for all ages. One you can listen to and enjoy with your kids starting on September 27th. I'm going to toss it over to the host of Historical Records,

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nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we talked about politics a lot and just what was happening currently in our lives. We never talked about the glory days. But that night we talked a lot about the glory days, which I didn't think anything over the

time and it was kind of fun because we never do it. But he never said, hey, Steve, by the way, I'm dying of pancreatic cancer. Wow. And never mentioned it. But I knew something was wrong because I said, Jerry, like, you okay? You know, because he was, like, shaking really bad and stuff. He goes, no, no, I'm okay, I'm okay. And that's the kind of guy he was.

He didn't even want to put that burden on me, you know, like, because I would. I'd be sad and depressed and worried about the guy. And so we had a great time, and he got up, hugged me, I love you, Steve. And I was like, I love you too, Jerry. Of course I love you. And that was it. And I, you know, then a month later passed away.

Wow. I think he, you know, that's the kind of guy Jerry was. I don't think he wanted to have people make a big deal about him. He didn't want to burden people with his illness. And so, yeah, I respect it. But again, just like with the Wendy Williams thing, when you're at your lowest, you know, and I think we've all been there, you know, and I don't think you want a camera on you when you're going through that.

Simple as that. How have you dealt with his death? You know, kind of like... It hasn't been a year yet, right? No, it's in April. It's coming up. It was almost like losing my father. And I always say, no man had a personal interest in me and, you know, kind of watching out for me, being there for me than my own father.

And so we were very close. And Jerry was so great to me and uh so generous and caring and you know so yeah i mean it was a big loss of my life yeah what was your craziest show from the jerry springer show something that was just so wild which is my favorite drop of water in the ocean um uh really it's just a million of them. Just a funny story. Like, uh, he was coming out with his movie ringmaster. Uh, I think it was like, this was 1988, 1999, something like that.

And he had came to me and he said, Hey Steve, um, I have to take my shirt off in the movie. So would you mind working out in me a little bit? I just want to lift enough. So, you know, I don't look terrible. I said, okay, we'll start weight start weightlifting well we had this big fight on stage it was two women fighting and I had bent down to like break him up and my groin just snapped in half like I felt like somebody shot me I actually thought somebody pulled out a gun and shot me that's all right I was in my

groin and I like I didn't know what was going on, and I crawled off backstage. I couldn't stand up, and I crawled. And a lot of people didn't even know this because the fight was going on. And I'm backstage, and I turned over. I threw up on the floor. And all of a sudden, Jerry comes walking. He looks down at me and goes, are we working out tomorrow? I was like, damn, Jerry.

I'm dying over here. What happened? I tore my groin. I took to the hospital. I was all black and blue down there. It was just a freak injury. It just happened. But it was pretty painful.

Did it take a little while for things to get back working? Yeah. Right down there? I mean, it was black and blue, man. I mean, like somebody hit me with a baseball bat down there. Jesus. It was nuts. You couldn't get hard?

Jesus. I didn't want to get hard. bat down there. Jesus. It was nuts. You couldn't get hard? Jesus. I didn't want to get hard. Right. I'm scared, man. I was afraid, man. Damn. Is it true that you have a human hair collection from the Jerry Springer show? Yeah, so.

Are you trying to make a wig out of it? No. It was so stupid, man. So women would always fight, and they'd be pulling each other's hair out. Hilarious. So one day, I took the strand of hair, and I just wrapped it up in a little tiny ball. Well, then after that, every time there was a fight, I would add that hair to the ball. Well, it got to be the size of like a bowling ball after, you know, like 10 years.

And it was so gross, man. You think about all his hair. It was all different colors. And, you know, it was a lot of probably wig hair in there. And I used to just keep, we had three chairs. It was Jerry, the executive producer, and me. And then my wife. So it was four chairs. And right behind my chair was in a corner.

And I would just throw this human ball of hair back there. And then I got my own show. So I don't even know what happened to that big ball of hair. Oh, wow. I hope nobody kept it. Do you remember the first time the audience started chanting Steve, Steve, Steve, and why? Like, is that organic?

Yeah, it was organic, and I couldn't tell you when the first time it happened, but I remember like, I do remember like I was coming up on stage a lot when the show shifted and they started having a fight and then i would sit in between the guests sometimes you know because it was just getting crazy and i remember nobody knew who i was so jerry came up on stage and was like

you know you're here a lot and you know what's your name and i said steve and i think people just were like you know back then and you know it's crazy because in chicago we had these great audiences you know we're right off mich in Chicago we had these great audiences. You know, we were right off Michigan Avenue and NBC Tower. So the audience would be packed. It was like probably the Coliseum back with the Romans, you know, feed the Christians to the lions because that was kind of the atmosphere in the Springer Studios back then.

You remember the first time you got recognized in the public when you was like, wow, I'm a celebrity? I remember walking out of the studio and the first time uh a kid asked me for my autograph because this was before cell phones you know yeah i'm sure a lot of your listeners can't even imagine it there wasn't no cell phones back then but uh he asked me for my autograph and i said dude why would you want my autograph you know i was like no he's like no please you know, okay, here you go. And that was kind of like the first time I'm like, man, I guess I'm a part of this show, you know. Absolutely. All of that led to, all of that had to lead to you getting your own show, though.

Like, there had to be some producers back there like, yo, Steve is really popular. I don't know if that was the case. I think what really cemented it was when Jerry went on Dancing with the Stars. And, you know, because I was a big part of the show. So when he went on Dancing with the Stars, they said we can't shut the production of the show down. He'll probably be gone a week. You know, he's terrible.

He'll get voted off right away. And back then we taped three days a week, and we would do two shows each day, so six shows a week. I did all six and then they they you know underestimated jerry because audience loved jerry and they kept voting them to stay on so i think he was on six weeks well i ended up doing 30 shows and when those 30 shows aired they rate it really well so i don't think anybody was sitting around going, hey, let's give this guy a show. I think a lot of them looked at me like, he's a cop.

Who cares? But when I did all those shows and they rated well, then somebody said, hey, let's give this guy shows on Monday. So Jerry would tape Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. He'd come in and do Tuesday, Wednesday. I would do Monday shows. And then after that, I got a phone call and said, hey, we're giving you your own show. I hope that person got a raise, damn it.

I know, right? They didn't give me one. They barely paid me a little more than what I was making on the Springer show. I was like, this is crazy, man. The first offer was less than what I was making. So I don't think anybody even knew what I was making on Springer. And so I was was like that's less than what i'm making now and i'm gonna make i said no i didn't know so they gave me a little

more so yeah the first year was kind of rough you said you and jerry used to talk politics so being that this is an election year is that something that we might see in the 17th season no not on my show no we've never talked politics on the show. I mean, you know, when you're on the air so long, because people, like, when I'll come September, I'll be doing the big media, you know, for season 18. And everybody will say, oh, you know, is there any changes coming up for the season? And the answer is no. Because when you've been on this long, people tune in. They expect a certain show, lie detector test, DNA test.

So you're not going to fool. Like, people always said to me, well, why does Maury do DNA every day? I go, because people watch. Yeah. As simple as that. Like, you know, don't mess around with it. I was going to ask, with you being an ex-police officer, what do you think about how the world is taking towards cops now? Like things have changed right now with bail reform.

You know, criminals are getting out faster it feels like cops are scared now to do anything because everything's on camera well when you when they i think in new york then they take away their immunity like you can be personally sued right yeah i mean you know we didn't have that when i was a cop and i mean who's gonna jeopardize you know their financial well-being to you you know, listen, I think I'll put it this way. When I was coming out of the Marines in 1989, I wanted to be a cop just like my dad. And it was a good job, you know, like you got pension benefits, all this stuff.

If I was coming out of the Marines today, I would never take that job. Not in a million years. So, I mean, I think policemen really really are it's not a good job you know you fight all the time and like you said you make arrests and people are back out on the street especially here in new york and chicago's the same way so you know yeah it's not a good job do you have a a timetable on when you want the show to run its course uh i love doing the show and i you know i'm all i'm only 60 god i was 30 when i started on tv but yeah okay yeah it is come on man no when you say 60 see you don't think it's old because you're not there yet when you become 60 it sounds old and it is old you know

but so the answer your question is is I love doing the show. I enjoy it. It provides me with a great life. So I'm never going to say I'm going to quit. But, you know, TV's changing. It's difficult and it's tough now, you know. And now they're exploring all these different avenues to bring revenue into the show. But I would definitely like to hit 20.

I'm at 17. I'm going to season 18. Nice round number, 20. If it would go longer, I guess I would do it. You know, because I just finished taping last Wednesday, and now I won't go back to work until last week in August. So I'll get a nice break. Oh, that's amazing.

Yeah. I do have one last question. I look at Dr. Phil, right? And people say Dr. Phil went from fixing relationship problems to focusing on fixing America's problems. Like we saw him at the border and things like that. What do you think of that? You know, it's funny you say that because I just saw him on The View talking about how COVID affected kids. Yep, yep.

And the women on The View were like, oh, well, you know, we saved kids from, you know, getting COVID. And he's like, hey, man, kids weren't getting COVID anyway. That's right. You know, and we really hurt our children by not having them in school. And he made a great point where I never even thought about kids that were in bad situations. And now we weren't following up on them like kids that were being molested or abused at home all these you know uh agencies that were responsible for that we're sending them into the home being constantly with the abuser and so i thought he made a really wonderful point and uh

so i think dr phil is you know he well first of all he's a very educated guy right um i think he's a very smart guy so i just thought think he's a very smart guy. So I just thought that was really a great point, and he was making some really good points about how kids, we've hurt them with their development. Teen suicides, you know, just went through the roof with this pandemic. Because I don't know how you guys reacted to it, but, you know, just being home all the time in the same spot, not going out, everybody fearful, that's tough

on your psyche. And so like with kids, they weren't getting COVID. They weren't really a risk. We should have been sending them back to school and getting out there and socializing and everything else. So I had a lot of respect for Dr.

Foe for doing that. And listen, he has the platform where he can make that change. I don't have that platform. You don't? You don't think so? No, not with my show. And Dr. Phil, I think it's a good move for him. And I enjoy listening to him.

You don't think they would accept something like that from you if you decided to? Not on my show. I'd have to have a different platform other than my show my show my fans i don't think would be down for it you have a very set formula yeah you know people like it and i just i wouldn't be good clearly it works man 17 seasons congratulations congratulations that's right the steve wilco show in his 17th season and thank you for joining us again one second um what is your skin regimen you do not look like a six-year-old white man you do not i'm sorry i shave i don't do any like you know my old pubs is gary rosen he give me all these skincare products and stuff and i they're probably

all shoved in my drawer in my bathroom never touched or broken and my wife like she's like damn it your skin's so beautiful. Right. You don't do anything? I don't do anything. Okay. Yeah. You're aging like a black person.

Yeah, that's why I'm like, you know. Damn. Steve Wilkos. Well, I'm not the whitest guy in the world either. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning. Thank you. Wake that ass up early in the morning.

The Breakfast Club. Good morning. Thank you. Wake that ass up early in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Hey, guys. I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast Post Run High is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together.

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