Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Mary Jo Eustace: Toronto Mike'd #1251

Episode Date: May 5, 2023

In this 1251st episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike catches up with Mary Jo Eustace to find out what the hell happened. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, the Yes We Are Open podcast from Moneris, The Moment Lab, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.

Welcome to episode 1251 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. A fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Season 4 of Yes, We Are Open,

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You need The Moment Lab and Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. Joining me today, making her return to Toronto Mic'd, is Mary Jo Eustace. Woohoo! Hi. Hi. Hi. Welcome back, MJ. Thank you. I got dolled up for you.

I was. So let's just let you know, there's no secrets on the show we've recorded. No, we've already recorded today because I was lucky enough to record you chatting with FOTM Jeannie Becker. Jeannie Becker. Yeah, seriously. Honestly, it was a moment. She is, I mean, I called her a bitch off the bat. That was a little tense, but then she leaned into it and she was so forthcoming and so honest and so hilarious and poignant. I mean, we learned so many things about her today that nobody, I don't think she's spoken about a few of the things that she spoke about this morning, right? I think you're correct. For example, she talked about the breakup of her marriage. Yeah. I don't hear her talk about that too often. But what I was going to say, so you recorded with Jeannie Becker for like an hour. So I saw you for an hour. I'm staring at Mary Jo Eustace for an hour. There are worse things to do. Then I went and I actually recorded a new episode of the PPL podcast,

the Pro Padel League podcast. So I went off and did that. My favorite podcast ever. There's an LA team. In and out. There's an LA team called the LA Beat in this PPL. So get on board. Okay, Mary Jo.

Okay, yeah, focus. We got back together remotely, of course, because you're in LA, I'm in Toronto. And we got back and then I noticed you looked different than you looked for Jeannie Becker. This is what I noticed. Yeah, yeah. You dolled yourself up for me. I put on lipstick for you. But why no lipstick for Jeannie Becker?

We recorded that video. Well, I did have some lipstick, but I had my hair out. Okay. So this is a different look, like a little sleeker, and I put lipstick on. I needed a boost, so I tried to switch it up for your podcast. I think you have a crush on me. I have a crush on your hair. Well, you know, that hair is protecting my brain. So it's very important to keep it.

We need to talk about your brain. We have a lot of topics on the table. Do that now because we have a lot of catching up to do because, well, I'm going to save it. I'll even set the table after you finish with your, I'm like an air traffic controller here. After you finish with your brain questions, what would you like to ask me about my humongous brain?

your brain questions what would you like to ask me about my humongous brain well imagine my surprise when i find out my friend like had a hematoma or a tumor or brain aneurysm out of the blue because i was like um ray don my friend ray don was like do you know what's wrong with toronto mike and i'm like no what what happened she said fucking check it out something's up with toronto mike which is you and then i looked and i did some deep diving and I'm like, oh my God, the guy like had an aneurysm two days ago. I spoke to him yesterday. You didn't even mention your blood thing. You mentioned nothing.

I didn't want to bring you down. I thought you were a little slow on the phone. I thought I want something's not quite right here, but you would like almost, well, I don't want to say stroked out. I don't want to make it more dramatic than it was, but you a health scare well I can't believe you just said you did a deep dive was your deep dive listening to my like 20 minute episode of what about what happened like where yeah yeah I did a deep dive she I did a deep dive and I shared it with her and she was like Jesus but yeah no I did a deep dive into it but you were very matter of fact i had lots of

questions listening to it but it was like wow did you write down those questions because uh i could answer all your questions but let me clarify for everybody you just called it uh an aneurysm and you called i think you used the word stroke and for the record i used everything everything i threw it all out there just in case one of them was right pretty much for the record because in case somebody who uh cares about me is concerned listening to you i did not have an aneurysm and i did not even have a stroke oh phew okay i had a blood didn't really listen to the deep dive and i wasn't really listening sorry go on you know who did listen i'm gonna shout her out now and i have a question that

came in for you from her in a minute but but I'm going to shout out off the top. F O T M Ray Dawn Chong, because she really seems to care about me. You should see the note I got when she heard my, my, she likes to, she has a little crush on you actually. Well,

she's going to have to get through Mary Jo to get to me. That's I know I'm your number one bitch. I told her that I said, you have to go to the the set you have to assume the second position but yeah she was she's she's got a little girl crush on you for sure wow i just want to go back in time and tell me that one day ray don chong and mary jo eustace will be fighting over me i'm quite uh quite flattered by all of this naked at the funeral home that you promote every day yeah well it's going to be like mud slinging or something, but yeah. Okay. So yeah.

So it wasn't a stroke. It wasn't an aneurysm. No, it was a blood clot. It was a blood clot on my brain. And I just literally, uh, yesterday or was it the day before yesterday? I might've been yesterday or the day before yesterday. I wrote a detailed update on Toronto, mike.com in which I share the good news I just received. Are you sitting down? Are you ready for the good news? I am sitting down. What's the good news? Imagine you were standing up. You'd have to sit down for this. Okay. The good news is... I know. Yeah. So two things. The hematologist tested my blood for many a genetic disorder that would cause blood clots. The assumption was I had one of these and that's why I got the blood clot. And then therefore I would need to be on blood thinners for the rest of my life. This hematologist, I met with her in person last week and she said

to me, your blood is normal. That's good, right? Normal is good. That's amazing. It's normal. So there's no markers. Like there's no it's normal so there's no markers like there's no like yeah there's no disorder there's no disorder okay so good so on the hemat although i'm still on the blood thinners for a while but that's fine so on the hematology front the blood is normal i like hearing that okay then i met then i had a phone call with my neurologist and i told him i was still having the headaches like seven weeks into this thing and he said, oh I hope we got to check in on your brain and

make sure this blood clot's not growing and he said... Did you have your MRI? Did you have it? The MRI to see if I have brain damage is scheduled late May. I have not had it yet. That'll be dicey. Go on. I'll send you the video and you can tell me what you think.

I'm a little nervous too. But this... That'll be dicey. Go on. I'll send you the video and you can tell me what you think. So yeah. Okay. I'm a little nervous too. Okay. So this neurologist sent me for a CAT scan. So I biked over, did my CAT scan, and then he reviews it all. And he calls me up and he says, I like what I see. He says, it's shrinking.

It's shrinking. It's shrinking. And I bet that's the first time you heard shrinking and you thought it's a good thing. It shrinks like a frightened turtle. Oh, okay, good. But this is good. In the scheme of things, this is really good. It's what you want, right?

So my brain is absorbing the blood clot, which is what's going to happen. So blah, blah, blah. Now I'm boring myself. But the headaches will go away because it's just my brain experienced trauma, which caused the headache. The headache will go away. The blood clot's going to be gone.

It's going to, my brain's going to absorb that motherfucker. It's going to go, okay? And the blood is normal. So, I couldn't, like, have any more good news. I mean, it's shitty. That is great news. That is such great news.

So, is it too soon to make, make like brain tumor aneurysm jokes? Can we do that? It's not a tumor. It's not a tumor. Can we delve into that? Well, thank God. Do you believe in God? Seriously.

Do you believe in God? I don't know God per se, but I definitely believe in energy and spirits. For sure, I do. What does that mean? I hear that a lot. I hear people say, I don't believe in God, but I believe in something. Like there's something out there.

There's an energy. There's something. And I always wonder, like, could you be more specific with your feedback? Like, what does that mean exactly, Mary Jo Eustace? Okay, thank you so much. Because I was just at the vatican in in rome a couple of months ago when i walked into the vatican museum i was like jesus fucking christ uh these catholics stole everything they took everything and just naked men everywhere i'm

like this is a party palace this is serious erotica in here like no i don't picture it as like um like a male figure or you know like that i saw in the sistine chapel i don't i don't picture it as like, um, like a male figure or, you know, like that I saw in the Sistine Chapel. I don't, I don't picture it that way, but I there's energy in the universe. There's an energy force field that really interests me that I think is, I don't know. I believe in a reincarnation and stuff. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. So like, you might come back as like a frog. Yeah. Or as in, what did Anthony Bourdain say?

What if I come back as a sea cucumber after having this amazing life? Um, yeah, no, I believe in reincarnation. I believe you keep coming back until you get it right. So you could come back a million different times, but you're not aware of your previous selves. Like, like if you come back, it's like a mutually exclusive happenstance. Like it's no awareness that you were once married. Joe used this. I think you get flashes of it. I think that you get stuff in your character that you're like, oh, this is from a previous lifetime. I've had that happen a few times.

And you're in the hot seat here, Mary Jo. I just want to know, like, so you believe this and I'm listening to you and that's wild to hear you. But my question is this. Yeah. What makes you believe that? What makes me believe that? Yeah, like you just decided that, hey,

this is something I think I'll start to believe. Like if I, you apply that to anything else, it makes no sense. Like you don't have any evidence, obviously that we come back as other things. So you've just decided this is something I'm going to believe in. This is something that intellectually and spiritually makes sense to me. You know, it, it absolutely makes sense to me that you come into this lifetime to correct a problem that you come in and you choose everything and the obstacles to learn lessons. I believe that I believe there's a purpose and a reason that you're here. So I believe that that happens. And there's something that you keep doing it until you get to a certain level of expertise. But I believe in the energy in the universe. I believe in it. And I can't I can't pinpoint it to a certain figure, but I definitely believe in it. So what happens when you die?

Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home, but one day you will die. Yes. Not at Ridley. It's not going to happen at Ridley. You hate Toronto. We'll talk about that. It's going to happen in some LA place. Or Italy. Or like this afternoon. I don't know. I could take a bad fall. I could tumble. Let's face it. Like I was thinking that

when I got the news in emergency that you have a blood clot in your brain. I'm thinking, oh, like this is how it ends. I'm in my late 40s. And you're a young guy

with young kids and a full head of hair. Right. No one with hair this good should die, right? No, I agree. I agree. But what happens when you die, Mary Jo?

Like, is it lights out? And then next thing you know, you're like a horse? Well, that's a weird transition. No, I think, well, first of all, no offense to Ridley. I bet they do cremation, don't they? Oh my God, yeah. Are you kidding me? That's probably, that's one of the top sellers.

One-stop shop. One-stop shop. One-stop shop for all your dead person needs. Your dead needs. Well, I'd want to be cremated because the thought of being in a box, like if you ever watch The Young and Restless, the soap opera, lots of people get buried alive in a coffin, and I do not want that to happen to me. They're going to make sure you're dead before you put you in.

But I'm with you. Right, right. No, no, but I'm always worried. What if I wake up? No. So I want to be crem're dead before you put gin in. But I'm with you. Right, right. No, no, but I'm always worried. What if I wake up? No. So I want to be cremated. And I believe it continues. I believe it continues.

I don't believe that it's all over. I believe that your spirit and your soul goes somewhere. And there's a transition. And that's why I believe there's so many things in life that are familiar that you know that have happened or you feel. So there's a continuum. There's a continuum. Oh, my God. The universe is so amazing we're just like it's massive it's massive and and michael singer talks about this in the untethered soul like we're just like a little speck on this planet in a galaxy to get to another star is a grain of sand in the sahara

desert yeah we're all connected and i just think that there's a continuum. I like to think that there's a continuum of learning. Interesting. We've never had this conversation. I just thought of it. Okay. So I'm learning more about you already. And I feel I know you pretty well, because we've been working together for quite some time. And we're going to discuss what's new since you were last on Toronto Mike. But first, I want you to ask me about my morning, just like, hey, because before you had talked to Jeannie Becker, which was your morning, because you're in LA. It was my morning.

That was my afternoon. Do you know that? That was my afternoon. I understand the time difference. Okay. Ask Toronto Mike about his morning. Okay, now we're talking about Toronto Mike in the third person.

Okay, let me ask Toronto Mike about his morning. I was going to say, how was your morning, brain aneurysm boy? No, how was your morning? Okay. How was your morning? Every Friday morning for five years, I have whatever happens in the very early morning, get the kids up, get them to school, whatever, but then I make a coffee.

Every morning for five years, I have started Hebsey on Sports with Mark Hebbshire. Every Friday morning. So Mark Hebbshire every Friday morning. So Mark Hebbshire, I know you don't care about many sports, although you seem to be like that. I love sports. I love sports. But you don't care about hockey. You don't care about hockey.

No, hockey I don't, but I do love other sports. Even though you're a Canadian. I'm a big sports gal. You just, hockey never took. I've been down this path before. I just think the season's too long. People should not be playing hockey with tans. I think it's I just think the season's too long. People should not be playing hockey with tans.

I think it's too long. The season's too long. Do you like baseball? The games are too long. I mean, they just go on for hours and hours. You like NFL football is what you like. I love NFL football. I love tennis, basketball. I would say those are my sports.

Just so you know, basketball and hockey have like the same length seasons. Okay. I'm going somewhere. Yeah. So this morning, I start up Hebsey on Sports. We go live on his YouTube channel and record his podcast at 9 a.m. Eastern. I start at 10 minutes early, just like I do for you to make sure he sounds good and we go

Tesco live and everything. So I do that this morning with Mark Hebbshire. And I said, hey, Mark. Oh, I guess I call him Hebbsy. Hey Hebbsy, you didn't send me any notes for this week's episode. And he goes, no notes today. This is the last show.

Like five years. And he's the first TMDS client. He goes, this is the last show. And I'm getting his info. No heads up. No nothing. No nothing.

No foreplay, so to speak. No foreplay. Get the Vaseline, MJ. We I'm getting this info. No heads up. No nothing. No nothing. No foreplay, so to speak. No foreplay. Get the Vaseline, MJ. We're going for this, okay? Okay. Yeah, so now it's like, I'm like, let's just go live and talk about it. So I start recording, and he says, he talks about how, like, last night,

he had a, like, I don't know, I won't call it an epiphany, but he's just not feeling it anymore. And by the way, I don't mean any disrespect to Hebsey because I love this guy. He was the first client and I'm happy to have been a part of that show for five years, but zero heads up, zero notice.

And I find out as I'm recording episode 332 of Hebsey on sports, that it is the very last episode. So that's it. That was last episode. So that's it. That was my morning. So it's like, oh. So I delete the recurring. I've had this recurring calendar event for 9 a.m. Friday. I've had it for five years.

I deleted it. My Friday mornings are now wide open, everybody. And I told Hebsey if he's happy, I'm happy. And I just wanted to let the listeners of Toronto Mike know that the very final episode of Hebsey on sports recorded today. Oh my God. So how do you feel? Do you feel violated? Do you feel sad? Like, how do you, do you feel like you wish you had a known or like, what do you feel? Cause that's a long term relationship though.

I would have liked a little notice, but he explained, he didn't want like a farewell tour. He just wanted it to be like, like bam he didn't want to do it like a lot of famous people do where it's like i'm retiring at the end of the year and then it's like a countdown and anything he everybody's like oh we love you we'll miss you here's your cake here's your keg gift cards like he just wanted to disappear into the uh the fog of of night and he did that so i get but i would i think i would have liked a little heads up, like maybe give me a couple of weeks notice that we're winding down just for like scheduling purposes and stuff.

So, you know, I felt a little blindsided, but then my emotions went from disappointed. The show's over because it was the, again, he's the first TMDS client. He's the OG.

He's the first one. And that was five years ago when I launched TMDS. And I've been, I'm a co I'm not just a producer. I actually co-host the show and I enjoy it. I like his takes. Oh, gee. He's the first one. And that was five years ago when I launched TMDS. And I'm not just a producer. I actually co-host the show and I enjoy it. I like his takes. I like him. That's why we became friends.

So I was disappointed. But then listening to him talk, he seemed like, he says it was every Thursday night he'd have this anxiety about preparing for the next morning. Yeah. Yeah. You know what? It's funny because we've, you know, we, we've, we've, we've done some big interviews this week, Jan Arden and Jeannie Becker, and we have big

interviews coming up and I get it because, and I I've done, you know, lots of morning television and lots of stuff, improv and filming. And you always, just before you do it, you get that thing. You're like, fuck this. You want to be so good you want to have your um research and everything and you know it you never know how it's going to go like you know when you once you get your 10 000 hours it's going to be probably good but you never know what's going to happen and it is it's it's anxiety like so he wants to retire a night's sleep yeah i get it but it's done you were his podcast. He should have given you a little update. He should have given you a little something.

You're right, of course. But my friend Hebsey is happy with his decision and content with his decision, and he's got a new girlfriend. I don't know how new it is anymore, but he moved out of his college in Clinton basement apartment to move to Markham to live with his girlfriend. Why was he living in a basement apartment?

Who is this guy? He's a little older than you. He's in his 60s, mid 60s. So he's 50 and he's living in a basement apartment? Listen, I almost called your party. We're teasing because we're going to walk through it a little bit. We're teasing it. But we're going to talk about your new venture and why there's a new venture but uh i wanted to call it 60 bitches because you're 60 years old

mary joe eustace fuck you and that's part of your brain damage speaking because that's not what the title was not he kept sending me stuff with 60 bitches i'm like what is is something wrong it's like did he have another episode it It's called Senior Bitches. Senior Bitches. Okay, spoiler alert. Let's do this. Because the listenership, many of the people who maybe aren't subscribed to your show, but they should be,

and we're going to talk about that in a minute. But let's go back to November 2022. Do you remember November 2022? I sure do. So you made your Toronto Mike debut remember November 2022? I sure do. Okay. So you made your Toronto mic debut in November, 2022. Here's what I wrote in the description that I published at the time. So I'm just going to read this verbatim because we're setting the table because that's really, this is the last time there was an update, uh, from you on Toronto mic. So in 60 minutes, go, just go in this 1,145th episode of Toronto Mike.

Mike chats with Dean McDermott and Mary Jo Eustace about how they fell in love, why Dean left the marriage and married Tori Spelling, the tabloid circus that followed and how they learned to be friends again. You can subscribe to their new podcast, X's and Uh-Oh's here. This episode is exactly one hour and 38 minutes and 34 seconds. How are you doing so far? I'm just checking in on you.

I'm getting a rash. I just read verbatim the last time you were on Toronto. So that happened, right? We won't dwell on it, but that happened. Okay. Yes, yes. Listeners of Toronto Mike witnessed 90 minutes featuring

you and Dee McDermott who are no longer together romantically, but you appeared to be very, very friendly. And we talked quite a bit about how you had this new project and we were recording episodes of X's and O's. Like, this is just what was happening in November,

2022. Right. Okay. Oh, okay. We're almost, don't worry. We're going to get to 60 bitches,

which is really called senior bitches. And I have, I really have a lovely comment from the aforementioned Ray Don Chong and some questions from people like David Ryder and Mike Shorman. Oh, oh, great. You know, David Ryder and Mike Shorman. Oh, great. I love that. You know David Ryder, by the way, he writes for the Toronto Star. Yeah, he's a, yeah, the name's familiar, definitely. Yeah, he's a big wig at

One Young Street, even though they're no longer at One Young Street. Okay, so. At Two Young Street? Were they at Two? They got booted. I'm ready. I don't know, they're doing something. Booted. Booted, that's so Canadian. Okay. As I recall, and just let me blab, and you don't know. They're doing something. Boot it. Boot it. That's so Canadian. Okay. As I recall, and just let me blab, and you don't have to say a word here, but unless you want to, of course, because you're my special guest. But in November, we were trying to promote the new podcast, which was very good.

And I had 11 episodes recorded. You went on three shows that I had a production role with. Okay. So you came on my show, Toronto Mic'd. I just read the description. That was November 2022, episode 1145. You did come on Dana Levinson's show, which is called On the DL.

You both appeared on that. And I put you both on Humble and Fred, even though that's 5.15 a.m. California time, which must have been hell, right? It was. It was hell. It was hell. Yeah.

It was early. I actually, I just, Carla Collins was just on and we had the same conversation. I almost don't like inviting people because that is terrible time to do anything. It's brutal. It is brutal. It's dark out. Let's put it that way. I wouldn't do anything at 5.15.

Okay. Why are you living in LA? Come back to Toronto. We'll talk about that soon. Okay. It's darker. Let's put it that way. I wouldn't do anything at 5.15. Okay, why are you living in LA? Come back to Toronto. We'll talk about that soon. Okay, so... Okay. Okay, so... Dean McDermott actually left the Humble and Fred interview, like, midstream, because he hated it, and he left it, okay?

So we'll just say he bailed. And then shortly thereafter uh this is now like uh american thanksgiving which is also november by the way so it must be shortly after that lovely episode we recorded at 11 45 uh dean said uh he basically i'm uh i'm i'm out i'm not doing this project anymore i no longer want to uh be doing x's and uh-oh. Those nine episodes that have not dropped, but have been recorded, I don't want them dropped. And he left the project. Do you want to speak to that just in generality here, like whatever you're comfortable with, but Dean and you were working on this project for months and I was part of this recording many episodes and he just decided

he didn't want anything to do with X's and O's anymore. He just decided he didn't want anything to do with X's and O's anymore. That's correct. I, to speak to that, I actually never got a reason. I never got a reason for it. There was some events that happened around it, but I never got a reason for it. And then, you know, the trajectory and the narrative changed drastically after that. So I did not.

But, you know, I say this and I own it. I take full responsibility for the fact that I got into that situation to, you know, see if this was possible, if you can get along with your ex or in our situation. So I chose to do that. I'm not, I don't, I don't, we've talked about this before. I don't see myself as a victim of it on any level. I think it was dynamics that are established that are not going to change. And I say my bad and my good for doing it, right? Like my bad for not knowing better, but my good for doing it for thinking there might be a different outcome. So I can't really speak to that question, but there was some family issues around it that happened. It was just sort of a perfect storm and it ended really,

really abruptly. And I was just as surprised as you were. I was just as shocked as you were because it was getting a great trajectory. But I did feel, if I'm kind of getting a little bit honest here and a little self-reflection. You better be, Barry Jo. This is Toronto Mike. No bullshit. Okay, no bullshit. I did start to feel that as we started to get into the deeper issues that I really wanted to discuss,

I felt that there was a level that was not going to happen. And I felt that the humble and fred was just reflective of that when the questions were going to get dicey, that it was going to be harder to do. And I completely, it is completely my ex-husband's choice not to engage in it any longer. That is his choice. If he was uncomfortable going there, I get it. I get it, you know. But it also happened sort of in another article that Shanann Gavani wrote. So my interest was that we were so the relationship, the past relationship had been so contentious and difficult that if we could get to the other side, I thought that that was a great journey. But I really felt we had to acknowledge the stuff that had happened prior. And that didn't seem to be a place that we were going to be able to go.

So, I mean, the, the intention was good. It was good. But too many variables to control on this one. So I'm just taking my responsibility, my, you know, my, what is it, my engagement with it. And was it the best decision for me to do? Well, I've learned from it. Do I love all the lessons? Maybe not necessarily, but I mean, I did choose to, I did choose to do it. So I put myself in that situation and what, what followed, you know, I take full accountability for, and I don't, I, you know, I own it, I own it. So it's just, that's kind of what happened.

You gave it a go. Look, you tried. It was kind of a social experiment. Because it wasn't just that you were exes. Because, you know, I have an ex. You know, you can't throw a rock and not hit some people with ex spouses, right? Everybody has an ex. Everybody has an ex, right?

But as I pointed out in that episode, and as any knowledgeable FOTM listening knows, that you guys had the extra layer there where the tabloids seemed very interested in your breakup because of certain people involved. So you had to deal for the last, I don't know how many years, almost 20 years or something, you had to deal with tabloid and whatever you call these, like a celebrity news articles, like you've been flagged in the tabloids forever, right? Yeah. The culture of it. Yeah. And by the way, once it's out there,

it's in perpetuity, you can't do anything about it. Whether it's true or not. Okay. So now, now I'm leading to this one little thing I'll touch on before we get you out of the country, okay? So now again, being fair to you and the people involved that you know and love. So I'm going to be very, very, very fair. You have to trust me on this one. But I have never been tabloid fodder, of course. Really?

Not even after your aneurysm around your brain thing? Nothing? Maybe the Canadian tabloids were very interested in that. Maybe they'll be saying like, Hebsey quits, Hebsey on sports and fires Toronto Mike. Like this will be the headline. Okay. It's kind of hot.

I guess shortly after the bail, I'll call it the bailing, which neither of us saw coming. And I was shocked by the bailing because everything had been so, like you guys were rowing together and it all seemed so beautiful. And we spent so many hours together on Zoom. And then all of a sudden the bailing because everything had been so, like you guys were rowing together and it all seemed so beautiful. And we spent so many hours together on Zoom. And then all of a sudden the bailing happened. So the bailing was shocking to me, but it's like, you know, that's your right. You know, I won't drop that.

I have them here on my Google Drive, these nine unaired episodes. I never dropped them. I'm an honorable guy. So shortly thereafter, I was a of like uh tabloid articles kind of slagging you again and talking about the like you know uh why x's and o's was not continuing and stuff like so i what i'm telling you is i had a taste i had one no i had 0.001% of what you've been living with for 20 years. And I learned from that 0.001% that truth does not matter. And the tabloids just love to run with salacious bullshit, regardless of who is hurt and who is dragged.

And I think that culture sucks. It does suck. And I think that, you know, yeah. And we talked about this a bit too, because you were a tabloid virgin and I'm a tabloid whore. Right. We talked about like sort of that first taste that you had of it and how you just found it really disorienting. And you roamed and I roamed and, you know, we sort of dealt with it different ways, but I remember you saying this is fucked up, you know, because it's fucked up because I know the truth because I live the truth. I'm sorry for interrupting. I'm so rude, but I am the host of this program,

but I found it particularly, and we're going to get back to the roamed roamed because it's a very clever line I used and it makes sense in a minute here, but okay. I found it particularly fucked up because i was living and breathing the truth and i know it's in my heart and mind and as i i practice you know five years of tmds i know how i treat my clients and what goes on and having you know being the unnamed producers stabbing dean mcdermott in the back and all these things i was reading about in people.com i guess that's not the magazine but it's a digital like service from people,

which I always thought of as like a, like above this. And I guess they've changed over the years. What do I know? But it sucked because I knew the truth and I knew what was being published. And even though they called me like the unnamed producer, uh, people who know and,

you know, follow me knew exactly who it was because I've been talking about X's and O's on Toronto Mike in episode 1145. So shitty, shitty culture. I am so sorry, Mary Jo. We're good friends now. I'm so sorry that you've had to live in that tabloid world for so long because truth does not matter. And it is such bullshit and people seem to consume it and believe it. Yeah, no, they do. And it's funny when you see people.com and a source, a source, give me a break. A source is like a PR person, you know, giving their spin on everything. And it's just like so insidious. And look, I mean, you know, when we were promoting our show, we did interviews. definitely engaged in it, but this last experience was the death nail for me on it. Um, because I've utilized it over the years, but this, this last time was too much, um, you know, for all the

different things that played out around it. And yeah, it is like that. And it's just a really interesting thing in culture right now. Like I don't really have any interest in it. I don don't even get it it's just sort of putting down people to feel better about yourself or promoting people who are idiots um you know and that i guess sell magazines and do all this stuff or i don't even know they sell magazines anymore i guess they're clicks you know or whatever is happening around it um like this person is fat now look look at how bad this person's plastic surgery turned out like it's just meant to like make you feel better like look at this famous person who look at how they dress when they go to the market look at how this person has aged like oh this guy lost his hair now you know like when i first got divorced in the tabloids they added five or six years to

my age okay so i was 60 way back then. They said I was 5'11 and from Texas. And you know, like all this stuff that I used to see about myself, there was no, there was no truth to it, you know, whatever. So I think after a span of roughly about 20 years with it, I, I wholeheartedly agree with you, like once they, once it gets on a tear, I wholeheartedly agree with you. Like once they went, once it gets on a tear and it gets out of control. And then what happens because of the, obviously the internet and social media,

it gets reiterated on 9 billion different platforms. Scraper sites take the quotes from people.com and republish it because they're looking for SEO, right? And they're looking for clicks themselves because they have their own ads. So it's basically like a self-propelling bullshit machine. Right. And they take it out of context. So nothing's in context anymore. So you read a quote. So it's fucked up. So. And people don't, you know, you can always listen because we did

drop two episodes of you and Dean and people could always just still in the field. Like you can always listen to those two episodes and make your own decision but people don't bother to necessarily to take that actual step and they just read something and go oh my god this is like how would a horrible thing here meanwhile like literally like we've published these episodes so you can make your own decision it's just which are people are either getting dumber or lazier or both or both it's the culture and and, I've been part of it. And over the years, utilized it and not and been, you know, again, no regrets, no victimhood, let me say that again, was your perspective just going, whoa, this is fucking weird. I didn't know this. And now you know it. Right. So there's not many people who know what that feels like. So there's not many people who know what that feels like.

Now I know it. Now I know it. So now I feel great empathy. Okay. So Mary Jo, that's like December. I don't know. This happens in December 2022, which is like, I don't know, six months ago or something. Then I'm thinking, okay, well, Dean just bailed.

So there goes X's and O's. But you, for a period of time, you wanted to continue X's and O's by yourself. Yeah. So we recorded episodes of X's and O's without Dean. We just changed the theme and we changed the picture, got rid of Dean, and we dropped episodes. So I guess I want to find out, earlier you used the expression, you know, we each roamed, right? Because here's what happened. As I was like listening to what was written

about the unnamed producer, well, listening, while I was reading it, I was trying to figure out what the hell it was talking about because I deemed it bullshit and I wanted to know like, who's telling what lies where I get bothered me. It actually hurt me and bothered me

because I thought Dean was a friend and now I was like what the fuck so legit bothered by it and I thought I knew this guy and I didn't but then I would deal with it by roaming the city on my bicycle but I'm curious to find out uh where did you roam? Because you did disappear on me for, I don't know, a month or so. Like, tell me, tell me about that. Well, I think that, yeah, there was such an implosion on so many different levels, like personally, professionally, because of that fallout, you know, and that I was, I, you know, and I talked about this before, you know, when stuff like this happens in your life, people have it happen. You have like an implosion, you know, stuff goes down the drain.

And it all sort of happened at once. And I thought I really need to do a big life reset here. I really, this is kind of, this is kind of too much for me to, what's the word, not absorb. Well, to even process, yeah, to even process like this is, I'm just not, so I need a complete change of scenery where I'm sort of going to be forced to confront these experiences and, and what they meant to me and my involvement and all that stuff. So I actually decided first week of January, I went to Rome. I got on a plane, didn't speak Italian, didn't know anybody. And I went over to the most, as I said, beautiful, broken city in the world,

which I think represented, you know, humanity. And I went there for like seven weeks and did like these deep dives and writing and walking around the city, you know, for 10 miles a day. I see, you know, the Borghese, Borghese gardens. I would hang out by the Vatican with the nuns, having lunch with the priests, met some great Italians at my sports bar watching NFL football, who showed me places that people don't normally see. And, you know,

I had a friend come visit me, my friend, Anne Marie, and she's coming up after the Jan Arden podcast. And I've known her for 10 years and, you know, at 61 or 62, she is starting on the most exciting job she's ever had in her career. And we went for lunch and we started talking about aging. And she said to me, you're a senior. And I said, fuck you. I'm not a senior. She said, you're a senior, you're over 55, you're a senior. And it's time that we start owning our age and our life and the good, bad, the explosions, all of it.

And you got to flip that word senior and make it positive because most life formats, it is positive if you're a senior, right? You've got wisdom, you've got respect. And then I'm like, yeah, senior bitches. I love that. That's, and I got in touch with you. He said, that's what I want to do. I said, my narrative of trying to get along with my ex and sort of making that all right, that it happened over the course of two decades was a narrative

that was not, was not obviously working for me anymore and never really did me much good anyway, you know? So I wasn't going to hold onto that anymore. And it was ready to move on to the next phase of life and the next thing. And, and that's, that was sort of, that was a, an epiphany moment. It was like, yeah, that's what I want to do. How spontaneous Mary Jo was this trip to Rome? Like, was it like, oh, I need to like clear my head reset.

I need to get away from here. Like, did you just randomly go to a, like spin a globe and like, oh, I need to like clear my head reset. I need to get away from here. Like, did you just randomly go to a, like spin a globe and say, okay. Like, like how, how spontaneous was the trip for seven weeks? So spontaneous, so spontaneous. Like January 2nd, I'm like, I think I got to go somewhere. And I was like, you know, and I, I was fortunate that I can work remotely and do all that stuff. And I was like, I don't want to lie on a beach And, uh, I was like, I don't want to lie on a beach. I don't want to go, I don't want to go somewhere comfortable. I want to go somewhere

where, you know, cause we just interviewed Jen Arden. If I mentioned that, and she's got that great lyric that says, um, no, I will not lay down. I will not be a ghost in this town. I'm not, I'm not lonely, swear to God, I'm just alone. And I thought, wow, that's a really, that's a great metaphor, uh, for it. So I was like, packed my suitcase and that was it. Got in a plane, went to Rome in January. And so solo, just to be clear, you went all by yourself. You just went to Rome. I did. I did. I landed in Rome and I ended up in a 17th century monastery. I told you one floor above the nuns, Lots of Armenian nuns below. I had pizza every night and drank beer and partied, which I thought was awesome.

And yeah, I was in the city center. So I could go to Campo di Fiore. That's like the biggest market in Rome, the Pantheon, Colosseum. I was at Borghese Gardens, the Vatican. Everything was like within two miles of walking. So like I could literally go to something from like BC times and take a look at it. So it was just such a great inspiration to, you know, to think and to recalibrate. And it wasn't easy, but it's the best thing I ever did. I'm so glad I did it.

So when you, and I was, you know, we were in contact. Thank you to WhatsApp. Like we were in contact, right? But at this point, so you're in Rome for several weeks. At this point, I can't remember the exact timelines,

but X, X's and O's, we was dead, right? Like that, that, yeah. So X's and O's,

even though you did do uh some episodes including uh one with our uh boyfriend canada's boyfriend george strong i love that episode and and again like when i did that episode with him it's not like i opened it up and i was like oh my god the tabloid it was like no not at all like we just hit it hard right we just hit it hard because uh we talked about him and his exes. He's only got like 600 of them. Right. And he said,

he said, I can't believe I'm doing this. I would not do this with anybody else. So we talked about our exes and then it turned into this wonderful conversation about his mom. And like, so we, he was amazing.

I, I loved interviewing him, but, but, and that happened in December. And then it was like, you know, yeah. And I enjoyed it. And I was like, uh, And that happened in December. Right, that was December. Yeah, and I enjoyed it and I was like,

I think that I need to find something new. And then it came to me in Rome. And we're having a blast doing it. Like we're several episodes in, we're interviewing the most amazing women and we're loving it. And I love that we didn't quit. I love that we rolled with it. And let's shout out the fact that so, you know, for those who are keeping up with us

here, so the podcast is now called Senior Bitches. Senior Bitches. With Mary Jo Eustace. Yes. Is a rule is like, I mean, your guests, maybe not the guests in the first episode, but the first episode, I saw it as like the pivot episode. Like we have to reset this whole thing because forever we were exes and uh-ohs and now we're senior bitches because I wanted you know to have some continuity so your guest in the first episode is actually yours truly it's it's uh you and I chatting about what the

fuck went down I'm not over 55 but henceforth are all guests over the age of 55. Is that the deal? I think so. There might be a few exceptions. I've got my eyes on a few people if I can get them and they're not 55. But yes, yes, I want to celebrate that. And everybody that we've done so far is over 55. And, you know, you know, Jan Arden's episode was called happy because you can't help but be happy when you talk to Jan Arden, you know, our first episode was called Roma because we dug deep into all this stuff. And then with Jeannie, and then with Anne-Marie's episode up next weekend, next week,

it's called ouch, that hurts. And she was the one who said, you're a senior, so you just fucking better own it. So, and then we have Jeannie Becker and then I'm working on a really special episode with a friend of mine and then, you know, Ray Donald come on. So it's just, I'm excited about it. And we're learning something every single time with these women and their journeys and their stories and look, they're messy and crazy and all of it, you know, because it's not just this homogenous path, that's for sure, which we love, like they're dirty and deep. So that's what I'm interested in. That's what I'm interested in. I told you earlier that I've got like a few questions for you from people like

Ray Don Chong and David Ryder and Mike Shorman and all three FOTMs, by the way, but we'll get to those questions. I'm in here. Let me just, generally speaking, I've heard you say this on X's and O's, but I can't remember anymore because we recorded 11 and only dropped two. So I can't remember if this ever made the public realm, but you hate Toronto, right? Have I said that? Yeah. I took a mental note. You said I hate Toronto. Well, that's harsh. I don't think I should say I hate Toronto talking to Toronto Mike. I just know it to be. Well, you're from here, right?

Where are you from? I'm from Toronto. Yeah. I'm from Toronto. I'm from Toronto. Yeah, but I've been in California for 20 years. Yeah, but you're 60, so you had 40 years here.

Own your age. Can I call you a bitch? Sure is that rude if I called you a bitch? Okay. No, no, you can. It doesn't offend me at all. So, yeah, so I've been in California for 20 years. And, yeah, yeah, I just, the weather kills me. And it's like hometown, you know, like I do love Canada.

I do love it. I have to admit, I do love Canada. I do love it. I have to admit, I do love it. I love them both there. I've just changed my narrative. It sounds like you don't like the climate, which I wouldn't blame you for that. We've had some, we have a much shittier climate than you get in LA.

It's more the climate, but you know, like when you find your place, like California is just my place. I can't explain it, you know, back to our previous life discussion. It's just my place. I can't explain it. You know, back to our previous life discussion. It's just my place. I love it. But did you consider moving to Rome?

It sounds like Rome might be your place. Like, was there any, I love it. I love Italy. I would love to, I love Europe. I would love to visit you in Rome and we'll,

yeah. Anytime. Anytime. Okay. So the reason I asked about Toronto because uh a fun fact is your parents still live in toronto yes okay yes so you and i even though we've been now i don't know what the math is on this but it feels like we've been working together a year now okay 10 years it feels like 10 years shout out to uh fotm bob willett who i believe introduced us oh my old

producer at proud fm right oh yes there's a question coming up about Proud FM shortly. Oh, I've got. Bob Willett used to surf porn in the morning and like eat hot dogs. So did you catch him? You caught him surfing the pornography? If not surfing porn, definitely on Facebook. He would like just lose interest because Ken would like be in the wrong mic and give like the wrong cue. And Bob would just be on Facebook having a Danish and just be losing his mind because Ken would miss every cue possible.

Right. So there is Ken. One of the questions is regarding Ken. So we're going to get to Ken Kostick. Okay. And I'm going to get to the questions. But, you know, if you ever do come to Toronto and I'm lucky enough to meet you, I'm just going to share with you a few quick, a few gifts I will give you, Mary Jo Eustace. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Good, good, good. Fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery. Delicious. You know, I love the people at Great Lakes. I'm going to be crushing some Great Lakes

with my friend FOTM Hall of Famer, Cam Gordon tomorrow at Sugar Beach. We have plans to meet at Sugar Beach to crush some Great Lakes beer. Okay. That's going to happen. So I'm going to get you a fresh craft beer. I'm getting on a plane now.

I'm on a plane. I'm on a plane. I can't complain. I'm leaving. On a jet plane. You're John Denver, I think there. I don't know. I'm doing Nirvana with on a plane.

Okay, so you were just in Italy. That's where they make the best Italian food because it's fucking Italy. But you know what? If you can't get to Italy, you can get to Palma Pasta. I can't wait to give you a lasagna from Palma Pasta. Oh, that sounds like a euphemism for something else.

I can't wait to give you a lasagna. A sizable sausage in that lasagna for you, Mary Jo. Okay, so. Now I'm perked up. We've already shouted out Ridley Funeral Home. I can't wait to give you a sizable sausage in that lasagna for you, Mary Jo. Okay. Now I'm perked up. We've already shouted out Ridley Funeral Home. I have measuring tape for you so you can measure whatever you want. I don't know what you want to measure. Well, I guess for my urn, for my ashes.

Right? Right, because you're being cremated. That's right. I'm going to be cremated. Just in case they bury you alive because that happens all the time. On soap operas, it always happens. You're buried a week and then, and then you wake up and you can't get out. So I want to be cremated. That's my thinking. Smart, smart, smart. I have a wireless speaker for you from Moneris. And with that wireless speaker, you will be listening to season four of Yes, We Are Open hosted by FOTML Grego, because he's got inspiring stories

from small business owners. And as an entrepreneur yourself, you're going to want to hear this inspiration. I do. I want to. Okay. Great speaker. It's like a gift basket.

Yeah. It's wonderful. And this, I feel like you would really benefit because it's for like reputation management, crisis management, PR, getting you in the news for positive things. They do a great job. I would love to introduce you to Matt and Jared from

The Moment Lab. The Moment Lab, proud new sponsors of Toronto Mic'd. And they work with brands like Mary Jo Eustace. They would be awesome. I'm down. I'm down for it. Absolutely. And last but not least, go to recyclemyelectronics.ca. This is more for your parents who are here

in Toronto. Maybe they have an old eight track player that doesn't work anymore. I don't want your dad throwing that in the garbage. Okay. The chemicals in that eight track player are going to end up in the landfill. You've got to go to recycle my electronics.ca. Find out where you can drop off that eight track player safely, properly.

That's what your dad's going to do. Mary Jo. You've covered death, recycle player safely, properly. That's what your dad's going to do, Mary Jo. You've covered death, recycle, pasta, alcohol. How old is your dad? Some stuff you mentioned, I don't understand what it is, but my dad's 87. And how old is your mom? My mom is 86.

She was just in California. She's wonderful. She's a wonderful gal. You got good genes there. They're amazing so yeah that whole package sounds really great get it together okay so now i'm going to get to the questions but now that i've mentioned your parents uh i get a question anything do i get a baseball hat what's the baseball hat what's that that's roy halliday uh the late great uh the second greatest starting

pitcher in blue jays history after uh dave steve roy halliday he's in the hall of fame dave's not. Didn't know that. I got a lot of useless info for you. One thing that saddens me about not releasing the nine episodes with your ex is that we had that great episode with your parents. With my dad. That was a good one.

What would happen? Could he sue me if I drop that? What's he going to do? He's already hurt my feelings. Yeah, I don't know. Well, we'll put a lid on that. Only one way to find out. We'll talk offline here. Look at you.

You're all cocky and ballsy today. Look at you. All right. The brain kicked in. Something happened there. Okay. My brain's absorbing everything. Okay.

Ray Dawn Chong, who was on my show, and I had the best con convo with her and she's going to be back on my show. And I absolutely loved her vibe. Like she's also a Canadian living in L.A., right? She's like you. She's an icon. She's an icon. She's a true icon. She's amazing.

She wrote me when she heard Mary Jo Eustace was returning to Toronto Mike solo. She was very excited. very excited. She wrote, what does it feel like to be a stunningly gorgeous woman who is hilarious, joyful, and very loyal and loving in a crazy mixed up world? Oh my God, she sent that? I read it verbatim. Yeah, you know, it's really funny because my mom was just here and Ray Dawn and my mom and I went out for dinner. And my mom was like, you two are the same people.

Like, we're very we're very similar. She you know, she's just anyway. I mean, she's such a force. And I'm so thankful and lucky that we just we became friends last two or three years. Like, she's such an important two or three years. Like she's such an important person in my life, such a warrior and so supportive. And she, by the way, is the most loyal person in the entire world. And what's really so great about her is her word is gold because you know, a lot of people, they say, oh, we'll do this. We'll do that. They don't show up. They bail, not her. If she says it, she does it it um wow so that's a question so basically what what

is it like to be fabulous in the world and you get kicked down all the time is that what she's asking well let's yeah let's pretend that's what she wrote yeah oh did she not write that well she wrote what's it like being you yeah in a crazy mixed up world i I think that it's getting better. I think some days it's wonderful and empowering. And wow, it's just such a great ride. And some days it's a little bit more difficult because she talks about this. If you have a strong personality as a woman, it's tough. And a strong personality doesn't mean you're perfect, obviously. But if you have a personality that's a little out there and in your face, some people just don't support it. They

don't support you having that light. And we've talked a bit about this, that people can want to take you down. And again, not as a victim. It's just a fact. You know, it just happens. And so she said that a lot in her life. So sometimes we discuss that. I think that she would say this and I would say this. After years of it happening, it makes you stronger. You start to get a lot stronger and you start to rely more on yourself.

But it's a process and you can certainly get knocked off the wagon. And, um, but it's, yeah, yeah. It's the closer you get to it. It's great.

It's great. It's great. I can tell by, uh, looking at you talking to you, I can tell you're probably not a big Simpsons fan. You don't, you don't,

you don't watch a lot of Simpsons, right? No, I don't think so. Should I? Well, I mean, of course you should, but just stick to the first six seasons. You'll be fine. Okay. Now, because they're in like season 32 or something. I don't know, but the reason I bring up the Simpsons is because there's this great episode with

John Waters and it's like Homer is upset that he calls himself queer because Homer Simpson, the episode is called Homer phobia. I think something like that. Homer says, Hey,

that was our word for you. And now you're, you took that word from us. Like he's upset that they took like, uh, as a proud gay man, he took ownership of the word queer and turned it into a powerful force. Whereas

Homer, being less open-minded, wanted that word to be what he would call a gay man queer. He took it back. And you were just talking about strong willed women and how

one of the words I think of by ignorant people for a woman like that might be the word bitch like whenever like if a woman is uh outspoken uh cocky uh proud exuberant a man might try to put this woman uh an ignorant asshole man might try to put this woman, an ignorant asshole man might try to put this woman down by calling her a bitch. But what I think you are doing, and I'll let you speak for yourself since you're actually here, but with senior bitches, you're doing what John Waters did with the word queer. You are taking that word and you're using it as a badge of honor, you're a senior bitch. Yeah, I am. And the people, the women in my life that I love,

I always sign up. I always say, how are you, Biatch? You know, I'll meet you at Biatch or like, you know, love you, bitch. Because I, yeah, I do. I, you know, a badass bitch is like, you know, as I call Jeannie Becker. I don't know.

So I will tell you, I witnessed the moment. I know I witnessed the moment and this will be in the feed shortly because right now if you go subscribe right now, because I dropped these right away. So if you go to Senior Bitches right now, you're going to find that episode with me, which we dropped, I think, like Tuesday or something. And then you'll find the episode we dropped yesterday with Jan Arden, two of Canada's biggest celebrities back to back. But Jeannie Becker's coming in a couple of weeks. So stay tuned, get subscribed and it'll drop on your phone. But you did call her a bitch off the top.

And there was a moment of awkwardness where she was like, I don't know if I like being called a bitch. Like you could tell it was like, Hey, that's a bad thing to call somebody. And you said, no no it's good i said it's good a badass bitch like i when i i say it with admiration so i'm changing the word around like i think it's like fuck yeah right you know listen she was in the trenches of rock and roll like she's a badass bitch and she laughed about and she was so cool

she said i'm gonna roll with it so when senior bitches is like i always want there to be humor i always want it to be a bit irreverent like i i you know we're talking serious topics cancer death you know um you know coming out like estrangements and you know and also all the humor and beauty around it and i want to have that irony, that twist on it. I love senior bitches, you know, because I think it's a collective. I choose to see it as a positive word. I choose to use it as a positive word.

And I feel like you took that word back and you're using it as a positive and that takes away the power from these ignoramuses who will use it as a negative. No. Right, right. Fuck you. I agree. I'm a use it as a negative. No. Right. Fuck you. I agree.

I'm a senior bitch. Watch out. Oh my God. Look at you. You've got like estrogen flowing through your veins now. What's happening? I had a vasectomy. That's what happened. Is it your stroke?

Is your stroke kicking in? I don't know what it is, but yeah, senior bitches. It's like we're senior bitches. And you're in LA and I'm in Toronto, so you can't punch me. But I'm actually going to read this next question verbatim. So I went on Twitter and I said, Mary Jo Eustace is coming back to Toronto. And that's where I got the Ray Donchon question. And I read that verbatim for you.

So I'm actually going to read this question because it's coming from a journalist I respect very much. David Ryder, after the John Tory news broke that next morning, I had a recorded phone call with David Ryder about basically like, when did the Toronto Star get wind that John Tory might be having an inappropriate relationship with a city hall staffer? How did they approach it? Like what did like all the nuts and bolts of that story before it went to press? Because shortly after that story went to press,

John Tory called a press conference and said i'm stepping down and that's why we're in the middle of a freaking mayoral election here in this city with like 65 people running or something but david rider i respect the heck out of this guy as a journalist and by all accounts because he's an fotm who took my call that next morning he is a sweetheart so i'm going to read what he wrote, and then you can either reply, or you can say, I'd like the next question, which deals with Ken Kostick. Are you ready? Mary Jo Eustace.

Is this question going to give me diarrhea? I'm nervous already. Well, remember, this is a public figure. This is a Toronto Star journalist who put this on Twitter, public Twitter. So this is not... Okay, is it for me, the question? Yeah, of course.

I'll ask for a question. Okay. What insights has Marye eustace gained about the tory pr publicity machine who is in it how it works what it costs her who it targets it seems fearsome so that's david rider's question for you all due respect you can you can address that question or you can uh ask me for the next one. Okay. I mean, I can address it because I can address it.

I thought you were going to say meritorious and I'm like, Jesus. No, I think that's right. Oh, yeah. I just talked about meritorious. This Tori has an I at the end. T-O-R-I. Okay. I would say, and it could be that person you asked me about or it could be another person who utilizes them.

You know, it's like an ongoing relationship that you have that, what is that expression? Quid pro quid. Quid pro quo. Quid pro quo. You do this for me. I do this. I'll drop this here. Like, you know, I can start a narrative here.

Will it get picked up? Will it get completed? You know, it's, there's a fabric of it and picked up will it get completed um you know it's there's a fabric of it and you can launch it at any time and and utilize it and it's um it can be very one-sided and then what happens when the public gets involved in the comments and everything that's where it takes a different trajectory right because people are like what the fuck and this and that and then they can be brutal. I mean, I would never want to be in that.

I mean, like that amplification of public visibility, whether it's who you asked me about or somebody, I would never want to be in that position. How scary, you're just open season. But there's definitely people who work it, work it, work it all the time. And it's a real thing. And that's how this, that's how it runs.

I mean, when I see stories from A to Z from people and I see them, I'm like, oh my God, that's so planted. Okay, got it. You just saw it with Reese Witherspoon because, you know, she's getting a divorce from her husband. She runs a huge company. I can't even imagine she has any time for her marriage because she's so phenomenally successful as a producer and an actress. So, you see the narrative starting to come out. Everything's good. Everything's fine.

It's because of this. And then you know it's coming, right? So, they set the groundwork. And it's not very smart. It's not really, you know, it's just kind of little click bites, but you see it. And the force of it is when it gets picked up and thrown out there, and then it just can, it can go viral. It can catch and there's no truth in it. And it's like, then it's done. It's one and done. So it's a constant engagement.

You have to constantly be engaged. And like, if you look at the coronation, right? Like that's the whole thing they talk about with the palace and the daily mail and all those publications, right? Like they're just like this, they go back and forth and they both depend on each other for revenue, right? It's revenue. Quid pro quo. Quid pro quo. I said quid pro quid, which was wrong, but quid pro quo. I speak Latin. Yes, clearly. So it's a huge machine and it's a huge commitment

and it's huge engagement to keep it at that level. Yeah, you're not passive. Right. David Ryder says it seems fearsome to him. And he's, again, an accomplished journalist too. It is fearsome. It's fearsome. What a great word.

He's smart that day. Yeah, he's pretty bright. Yeah, no, it's fearsome. He's pretty smart. It's fearsome. It's fearsome. What a great word. He's smart that day. Yeah. He's pretty bright. Yeah. No, it's fearsome. It's pretty smart. It's fearsome. It's intimidating. It's actually scary. And you know, when we talk about this stuff, because I had personal things going on behind it, I get scared of it. It does kind of scare me. Well, that's why I gave you that option to tap out. I didn't want to put you in a position where you were not feeling comfortable.

It freaks me out. It's not like, you know, if you say or do something, it can go unnoticed. Like, you can get penalized. But, you know, I'll take it. But yeah, it's a fearsome, fearsome machine. You said A to Z. When did you switch from A to Z to A

to Z? Because is Z American? Yeah. Because, you know, you were here for 40 fucking years, MJ. It was always A to Z. Because is Z American? Yeah. Because, you know, you were here for 40 fucking years, MJ. It was always A to Z. And then suddenly. Well, at least I say pasta. I don't say pasta. I say aunt, not aunt, because that's what the Americans say.

But Z. I don't know. That's a really good question. You're right, Z. I do Z. It's A to Z. Come on. A to Z.

Mike Shorman, who is an fotm he writes uh can you ask her about her friendship and collaboration with ken caustic now we did a lot of this when you were on with dean mcdermott but uh you know yeah there were two of you on so this is your chance to really dive into the because because he's no longer with us. Can you just talk about Ken for a while? I love hearing the Ken Costner story. Oh yeah. Listen, um, it's funny cause I was thinking the other day, like he passed away 2011, 12 years ago. Um, so, so many friends. So, okay. So I miss him so much. Like I really miss him. And I, I talked to him and God, I could use him now. I could use him now because he was such a pit bull for me. He was so fierce and so determined and such a great advocate and, you know, just adored him. It was complicated. You know, we sued each other. We

had fights. We did all our bullshit. But I loved him. He was the funniest person i knew we would have so much fun on set like number one he never got the right camera he could not open a show he'd look at the wrong camera and i remember you do you know dennis saunders was he on polka dot door no no yeah he might have been he did much music he was the coolest guy he was our director he'd be up in the booth drinking like beer with his hawaiian shirt on like he was with much music he was the coolest guy he was our director he'd be up in the booth drinking like beer with his hawaiian shirt on like he was with much music with like strombo would know him all these guys yeah he was not on polka dot door by the way but go on yeah okay so i don't know he might have been smoking weed i i don't know what he was more of a beer guy but he was like the

coolest guy and he would come to set like in february in a hawaiian shirt and shorts right so he'd roll on to set and give us our cues. MJ, you open Ken, you know, daily tip, viewer mail, whatever. Every time Ken would get it wrong. Okay. Every single time. So our very last show and Dennis was so good natured. Ken blew the camera and Dennis came down and said, I just wanted for our last show for you to get one fucking camera shot.

Right. One. And you're going to get it right on the next take. And Ken was like, and he did. He got it right. So Dennis came down and lost his shit. But I think if you interviewed anybody who worked on What's for Dinner, because we did over 500 shows, and it's on Amazon Prime right now.

Okay. So please tune in. Anybody who worked on our show would say it was the most fun they've ever had in their entire life. What happened in between scenes was the gold. Do you make any money when Prime airs that show? Not when Prime, but I did make residuals before. But, yeah, so Ken was a force.

We traveled together. We did another show called He Said, She Said, which was hysterical. Actually, I liked it more. Almost in What's for Dinner. It was hilarious. And we did a radio show together called What's for Breakfast. Well, that's where the Bob Willett comes in, right? Because we alluded to it earlier.

That's where Bob Willett, yeah. And that was on Proud FM. Proud FM. So he was my favorite person ever. The most fun ever. The most inappropriate ever. The smartest ever. Smart, like crazy, crazy smart. living in California and I found out he was ill and I was coming to Toronto and he was in love with my daughter, Lola. He was just such a great role model for her. So I came up to Toronto to do some work. And just before I came up, he had like a really bad health incident. So he was in the ICU and it was not good. So I went to visit him in the hospital the first day that I got there and I would

go every day and just sit with him because I didn't want to say goodbye to him. And I remember, I think I told you this. So he was hooked up to machines and he was like kind of pumped with fluid, but his skin looked perfect. Like he had not one wrinkle. Like I said to him, I've never seen you look hotter and younger than you look right now. And I said to him, you can say goodbye. It's okay. You can. And the next, I left that night and the next day he passed away. Oh, man. And how old was he when he passed? 58. Fuck, that's too young.

It was too fucking young. We could still be working. We would still be pumping out the same old shit. The two of us would still be doing it. You'd have a podcast. You and Ken would have a very successful podcast. Oh, another TV show. It would be endless.

So I really, really, really, really miss him. He was a wonderful person. The best ever. The best. And as you said on your last visit to Toronto, Mike, he was an undercover CSIS agent? Yeah, he worked CSIS, yeah. And that's not bullshit, right?

Sometimes I think that's a bit, but that's real. No, no. He worked with CSIS. Yeah. And that's not bullshit, right? Like I sometimes I think that's a bit but that's real. No, no, he worked with thesis. He had a black belt in karate. He like I don't know broke some guy's shoulder once when the guy tried to steal his mom's purse. He was ferocious. Ken was ferocious mentally and physically like he had a black belt. And you did not want to cross him. If you crossed him, forget about it. You'd be eviscerated. So as kind as he was, there was a line. But oh yeah, he did the stuff that he got up to.

Like he would have had to have all these altered lives because he was such an interesting person. He was such a complex person. But yeah, yeah, he did. He was. I'm sorry I never got to meet Ken Kostick. And I'm sorry for your loss. Oh my God, you'd love him.

You'd love him. He used to wear makeup to the radio show in the morning. I'm like, are you wearing foundation and lip gloss? And he would say to me, I don't want to look homeless like some people I know. And I was like, fine. Ask Bob, Ken wore makeup. Every morning he wore makeup.

Hey, is this true? Bob told me a story about a real quick here that, uh, I guess, uh, your daughter Lola had chicken pox and you, you wore a sweater into the office that, uh, had chicken pox on it. And Bob Willett had never had chicken pox. And because he put on the sweater or leaned against the sweater, Bob got chicken pox. Is this true? Is that true? Like, is that anything that sounds realistic? the sweater, Bob got chicken pox. Is this true? Is that true?

Like, is that anything that sound realistic? Did Lola ever have chicken pox? Lola had chicken pox. How's this for a story? How's this for a bitch in a bad way? This woman who Lola used to go play with her kids. How about this? So I was going to New York for work.

I had something that I had to do. So I took Lola for a plane date on the Friday before, Thursday before I left. So I dropped Lola off and I go to pick up Lola. Like I go to this girl's yard and we're sitting in the backyard and chatting with her. And I'm like, Oh, where are the kids? Her kid runs out. He's got chicken pox so badly. He's got a chicken pox, like on his eyeball. I'm like, your, your kids have chicken pox. She's like, yeah. I'm like, and this is information that you didn't feel you need to share with me. She's like, well,

you want your kids to get it. I'm like, are you kidding me? Cause Lolo was halfway between the vaccination. So she got chicken pox so badly. That woman made a parental decision on your behalf that they had no right to make. Yeah.

I, and I called her and I, and she was so flippant about it and like i it that was evil her kids were chicken pox so if i connect these dots that's that's shitty that's almost worse than what hebsey did to me this morning by bailing and not give me any notice so when you got that now that so lola gets chicken pox from that right yeah yeah and then maybe uh you wear a sweater into the proud fm office that Bob Ouellette gets chicken pox from. Like he told a story on my show and I just wanted to corroborate it.

But so you cause adult chicken pox is very different. It's very dangerous. Oh, this is coming back to me. It's coming back to you now. So maybe apparently Bob says there's no statute of limitations. He's still consulting with a lawyer about suing you, about giving him chicken pox back in whatever that was. I don't even know. Good luck.

Did he say I was the best person he's ever worked with? I think he said that. Well, you know, I actually didn't know fuck all about you because, no offense, I didn't watch What's for Dinner or What's for Breakfast. Okay. So I just didn't know. And I kind of knew the name.

I also always hated tabloid stuff. Like I have no interest in the tabloids and I have no interest in TMZ and all that stuff. No interest. So I didn't know this name, Mary Jo Eustace. But I listened. I was helping Bob at the time. I was producing Bob's Basement, which was Bob's podcast. And Bob had an episode with Mary Jo Eustace.

That's you, by the way. And I went for a bike ride and I said, oh, I kind of know this name, but I have no fucking clue who this Mary Jo Eustace is. And I wrote Bob after and I said, this is my favorite Bob's basement. I love this woman. You can ask Bob. Oh, that's so sweet. And look where we are now.

Okay, so I want to put everything on a nice bow here as we say goodbye here. So, everything has changed since your last toronto mic'd episode but what's new is that you have a solo project a podcast called senior bitches and it's good i can verify that i get to produce this show and i encourage everyone listening to subscribe toes. Just pause me right now. Go subscribe. Welcome back. You just subscribed. Amazing.

Senior Bitches, people should subscribe. I have one last question for you, Mary Jo, before I give you an opportunity to share your final thoughts, and then I'll play it out. I'm single. Okay, go. Go. Are you single?

Yeah. Okay. Are you available? I mean, in the that you are you looking to have a boyfriend i think so genie becker told me i should okay genie met her yeah genie met her current partner when she was uh about your age right so your age is 61 no she was 64 okay but in her yeah close enough you know yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah and she's and she's madly in love she's madly in love and uh yeah she deserves love as you do so

you are are you are you on an app like tinder this is not my final question i'm now curious i'm on grinder um my well that explains that i'm switching it up i'm switching it up um i never go on uh i mean i've got the app so but I never actually end up going on dates off the app. But I told you, I'm having conversations with somebody right now. It's hilarious. We're just talking for hours and hours. But how did you meet this person to have conversations? It was on an app, but I don't even know how it happened.

And so we've become like phone buddies and friends. We've been talking for like a couple of months it's a it's a blast it's a blast and you don't recognize the voice it's not it's not dean right yeah it's dean and i want to talk to you i don't want you to get cat i don't want you to get cat it's gonna happen yeah yeah yeah i'm getting catfish right now but it's okay careful because it's good for me you don't you you don't know like you should maybe at least do a live video chat and just see if their lips are moving oh no yeah yeah no no no no he's completely about it yeah yeah no he's not a hologram he's completely about it it's it's very very sweet and lovely and it's just really amazing nice positive energy it's

great energy okay i'm happy for you you can't you you can't fake three hours of conversation oh i thought you could say three hours of something else. Okay, I got it. Yes. Yeah, well, either. It's hard. That's what she said. That's what she said.

No pun intended. So, yeah. So, we'll see. I'm happy for you. We'll see. I'm happy for you. I'm trying. Final question is, you're 61 years old.

You're owning your numbers, i'm gonna say it again i just turned 61 may 1st i was 60 like a week ago we actually launched senior bitches the day you turned 61 that was on purpose okay so you're 61 in a few days you look great i've never met you i'm just looking at you through zoom lenses and you look amazing for you look amazing for any age i don't want to say anymore for 61 because that suggests like it's an ageist in my opinion that sentence i should stop i'm going to erase it from my uh i've told you to erase that it's gone lexicon so you look great you're 61 would you ever get what's it called plastic surgery what's the word for that oh i think you're gonna say married i

think oh no i mean i think you know if you meet the right guy you'll get married if you want to oh would you ever age since do you think i've aged since we've started this podcast i don't think so it's only been it's only been an hour just kidding okay mary jo it's been an hour have i aged since june no I haven't noticed anything different. You put on the lipstick for me. Jeannie Becker didn't get that much lipstick. Okay, so you're saying I have not aged like 10 years since June. Would you get plastic surgery?

Like I see women, I won't name anybody, but I see women younger than you who have obviously had work cosmetic surgery done. Like I can see obvious cosmetic surgery. And I am curious whether you will allow yourself to continue aging gracefully and naturally, or if you would consider going under the knife. Well, I have Botox. Is that surgery? What is that? A needle, right? Yeah. Botox. Yeah. So it's to get rid of wrinkles and I've had some fillers, but I don't have them now because,

um, I don't like how they look. I, they don't, I just don't have any fat on my face. So, um, but I, I do my Botox. I, at this point in time would not want to, I don't want to, it scares me because who knows what you're going to end up with, but anybody who wants to knock yourself out of support, whatever you want. Sure. Sure. But you, you know, uh, again, do what you want. It's your body. It's your body.

You're right. But I do notice some women end up looking like aliens. Well, especially here. It's really frightening. You should see what I can see. And it's like the filler is because, well,

I look at Madonna. I mean, come on, you know, we can say, I mean the OG, I thought of feminism and such. I don't, anyway, I, I can understand why she says I can own my face. It empowers me, but there seems to be a line people can cross that

it is a visceral, it's visual. You can see like, you don't even look like yourself anymore. So I'm not sure if you have, when you have plastic surgery, that extreme, shouldn't you just say you had it? isn't that the conversation if you're gonna owe your own your number if you're gonna own your number maybe you should own your plastic surgeries as well oh that's a good way to end okay god okay good thank you mj i love chatting with you and i love chatting with you too thank you so much and that brings us to the end of our 1250 first show you can you can follow me on twitter i'm at toronto mike don't tweet at mary jo there's nobody manning that fucking uh booth instagram yes instagram how so follow mary jo eustace on Instagram. Is it just Mary Jo Eustace?

Correct. Okay. And do it. Mary Jo is a great follow on Instagram. She's a shitty follow on Twitter. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery, they're at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta.

Moneris is at Moneris. Recycle My Electronics are at EPRA underscore Canada. The Moment Lab, they're at The Moment Lab. And Ridley Funeral Home are at Ridley FH. See you next Monday when my special guest is... Kurt Swinghammer. Ooh. And I don't know what the future

can hold or do for me and you. But I'm a much better man for having known you. Oh, you know that's true because everything is coming up rosy and green.

Yeah, the wind is cold but the smell of snow...