October 28, 2025 • 40 mins
This week, Tommy is joined by a very special guest. Gio Benitez lights up your screens every Saturday and Sunday morning anchoring the #1 morning news show, Good Morning America. He is the Transportation Correspondent on GMA during the week and contributes stories regularly to World News Tonight with David Muir, 20/20 and Nightline. But perhaps even more importantly (to me at least), he is my husband of almost 10 years. Gio has been one of the most requested guests on this show for the last 2 years and the day has finally come. From career reflections to our relationship, we cover so many different things in this conversation, far too many to list. But I will leave you with this. When Gio asked at one point, “Is that part getting cut out,” there was only one answer: no, nothing is getting cut out…this is unedited and unfiltered. I hope you enjoy!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, guys, welcome to I've never said this before with me.
Tommy Diderio GEO Benitez Geo Geo Geo Geo is America's
sweetheart on Good Morning America and to me, well, he
is my sweetheart too. I know that was so oh God,
that was so dorky, but it's true. It's true. You
(00:22):
might know that he's my husband of almost ten years.
But to the world, he is the Saturday and Sunday
Good Morning America anchor. He is the transportation correspondent during
the week, and he appears on World News Tonight with
David Muor and twenty twenty in Nightline regularly. But I
want you to get to know the GEO that I know.
We see that megawatt, million dollar smile light up the
(00:43):
screen every single week, But what's behind the smile? Who
is GEO? Beyond the job?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Right?
Speaker 1 (00:49):
And I've been wanting him to do the show for
quite a while, for two years now, but we have
to find the right moment. And this is the right
moment because it's his birthday week and he is hitting
a milestone birthday forty years young. I want to know
what he's feeling and where he is in this moment
in his life. And yes, we're going to talk about
some work things, of course, but we're gonna also learn
(01:09):
about the heart that Geo has and you know, get
inside that mind a little bit. And yes, there'll be
some fun couples questions. You guys wrote some great ones in.
But it's such a great episode. Dare I say it's
my favorite episode yet? I am so excited to have
him on the show. So let's see if today we
can get mister Giobanitez to say something that he has
(01:30):
never said before. Giobanitas mm hmm, welcome to I've never
said this before.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Why am I so nervous? I don't know.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
You've been having like a nervous breakdown for four days now.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
My heart is racing.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
But I don't get it. You're on a morning national
news show with millions and millions and millions of viewers
a day, Yet your nervous to set across from me
aka your husband and have a conversation.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Okay, but I'm usually the one asking the questions, and
these questions I don't even know what these questions are.
So it's like, okay, so we have an entire podcast
and I don't know what you're gonna ask.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Well, to be fair, I have been saying I'm going
to ask totally outrageous things that you would never want
to answer.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
So that hasn't helped.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yeah, I know that probably hasn't helped your anxiety. But
you're here now and you feel good.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Right, I'll get there, Okay, Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
You do know that people for two years have been
asking when you're coming on and why you haven't come on.
People are like, I don't get it. Why has GEO
not come on?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
But why do they want me on?
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Well?
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Why wouldn't they want you on? I mean, you're You're
a part of my life. You have an interesting story.
People love your work, you know. But it's it had
to be the right time, And I felt like this
was the right time for you because you're embracing a
new chapter of your life very soon. Your birthday is
coming up. You're turning the Big four to oh and
(02:51):
I think with that comes a lot of reflection and
a lot of people know your work. You know, you're
known to be obviously you're the anchor on Saturday and
Sundays of Good Morning America. You're the trans pretation correspondent
during the week, you do World News Tonight with David Muore.
You do basically everything across ABC news shows. But I
don't think people always get the chance to learn a
(03:11):
bit who you are and you know, see a different
side to you besides what you're reporting. You get to
kind of hide behind what you're reporting sometimes.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
I guess I could see that.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Yeah, right, And it's always the facts, and it's always
the news, and you do a brilliant job at it,
and you know, you just you tell the people what
we need to know. But what we want to know
is more about GEO. And I'm lucky or I know
all about you, but I want to share the share
the wealth today, right.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
I was thinking because obviously two years into the show,
I know what the last question is. It's what's something
you've never said before? So obviously I have that, but
you kind of know it. Also, it's like, you know,
m hmm, it'll be something I haven't said before I
gets to the audience.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
But and I have no idea what you're going to say,
so I'm very very curious and know what you're going
to say. You would not tell me you you kept
that very but.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
You're totally gonna be like, oh, okay, yeah, well.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Let's say, let's see if you surprise me or not.
But anyway, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
So excited.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I am very happy for the world to hear more
about who you are. And we're going to talk about
some work stuff. Of course it will kind of blend
into the conversation. But this is this is a lot
more than that. It's it's something I think a lot
of people are going to be able to relate to
because it's such a new chapter for you and your life,
and this is coming out two days before your birthday,
(04:28):
I believe, so it's it's an exciting time. So let's
dive right in my first question for you. We're going
to go kind of kind of deep for the first one.
And your face just looked terrified. I read like the
look of terror that just came on your face was
I wish I had a picture of that. But anyway,
(04:49):
as you embrace a new you know, decade, what is
something in your thirties that you learned that changed the
way you live your life?
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Wow? That is really deep, That is really good. What
is something in my thirties that I learned that changed
my life?
Speaker 3 (05:06):
You know?
Speaker 2 (05:07):
I think when I think back to.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
The late teens and the twenties, it was all about yes,
saying yes at whatever cost, right, because you're you're building
your career, and it's like go mode, right, You're just going, going, going, going, going, NonStop.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Let's go no breaks.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
And I think that in my thirties I learned to, well, no,
sometimes you have to say no to, you know, certain
things or whatever, because you need to make time for
other things in your life. And that's really really important.
So you know, our time together is obviously extremely important.
(05:49):
Our time with our families are extremely important, and you
think back to you know, for me, I think back
to my grandparents and wanting to have spent more more
time with them. And that was all during my yes yes, yes, yes, yes,
yes yes at every waking moment because I was going, going, going,
Whereas now I think back and I'm like, oh gosh,
(06:11):
I wish that I had said no sometimes so that
I wouldn't miss this party or I wouldn't miss this event,
And that I think is something that I definitely learned.
I think, and by the way, I think everybody goes
through that that's not unique to me. I think everybody
goes with that as you start thinking about, you know,
the people in your life who you want to spend
more time with.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah, one PC. I think we've really gotten better at
saying no to things, especially because our time together is
sacred and we don't always have a lot of it.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
And that's not just like that's not work stuff, right,
A lot of times it's saying no to you know,
this event and that event, and and maybe there's an
event that you know takes you hours away from home
and you know that sort of thing.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah, at the end of the day, you also are
a little bit of a home buddy.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Well, I do love it, Yes, you love being cozy
on the couch.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
You nothing more so like to get us out of
the apartment to go to something.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
You know how much I love television. I know of
the television. Cozy on the couch, yes, is perfection.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
And to get us out of the house to go
to something. I think you're at the point. I'm at
the point where we really have to sit like it
has to have value to us. It has to be
for someone we genuinely love in a door or want
to support, or want to show up for or do
something for. Right like it has to have. It has
to fill our cup as well, you know, so I
think that's really important. So that's that's really fascinating. And
(07:32):
I imagine also they.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Get less deep from here or are we still going deeper?
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Can you stop trying to produce this? Like, my god,
you take the producer hat off, relax, simmer down.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
He started as a producer.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
I know you did start as a producer. You did, Yes,
you did. And you still very much produce a lot
of your stuff too.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
I mean I really like producing you do.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
And in the news world you do at all. Okay,
So since we're in the news world for a minute,
kind of going off of the first question a little bit,
did a story you ever knew wor gone, either in
locals or you know here in New York and national
ever changed something for you?
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Did a story ever change something?
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Well? Off that theme of spending time with people and
all of that, I think back to the pult snight
Club shooting, and you know, getting on that plane right away,
but before I even got to Orlando to cover the
pult snight Club shooting, which was just so horrific and awful,
and said, I ended up sitting right next to a
(08:33):
nine to eleven survivor, and the stories that she was
telling me about surviving nine to eleven when so many
people around her did. It prepared me for the people
I was about to meet, these conversations, these tough, heartbreaking
conversations that I was about to have when we got
to you know, the Pul snight Club shooting in Orlando,
(08:54):
And I think that that was definitely one moment where
I remember, like I was thinking a lot existential thoughts
right about, you know, what would happen if we were
anywhere and something like that were to happen at any
given moment without warning, and you think about all of
(09:17):
the people around you, and you know, obviously obviously us,
but you're also thinking about all of the people around
you who you know are standing in the way potentially
of gunfire, and all these things were going through my mind.
So that's something that I think really started to get
me thinking about just time with other people.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
I have to say, from an outside perspective, while being
very much inside your life, I've never seen you more
shake in while on assignment doing a story than the
pul night Club shooting.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Well, I mean, I remember we did a live twenty
twenty that day, and I had two stories in it,
and one of them was the first interview with a
survivor from the shooting. And he happened to be a mentor.
He wasn't gay himself, he was a mentor to all
these gay kids who were inside the club at the time,
and he lost a lot of them, a lot of
(10:10):
these mentees, and so he survived. And I remember, you know,
just keeping it together doing the two stories in that
twenty twenty special, and I remember the moment they said, okay,
you're clear. I took off my ear piece, took off
my microphone, and the live shot was in kind of
this hotel area, and so I had a little room
(10:32):
there and I walked back to that room, closed the
door and broke down. And that was probably the first
time that I did that, and wasn't the last.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
But definitely the first.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
And later on FaceTime as well, I remember we facetimed.
And that's one of the few stories. Because you're so
busy and you're moving locations all the time, and you know,
sometimes I want to do something nice for you, and
I just I can't because you're on the go, but
especially in these heavy stories, But do you remember what
I sent you to the hotel room.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yeah, you sent the rainbow flowers, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Rainbow roses. I found a local florist and I sent
you rain rainbow roses to just try to bring a
smile to your face. So how do you how do
you protect your feelings when you're delivering the news to people?
Sometimes horrific news like that that as any human being,
makes you want to just break down and cry, but
you have to deliver it.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Well.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
I don't protect my feelings. I think the only reason
that I'm doing this is to tell stories about other humans.
And so in order to do that authentically, I think
you have to feel it. You have to be human yourself.
You have to understand what it is that they went through.
And sometimes, yes, that has me in my mind putting
(11:43):
myself in that same situation. But I think that's healthy.
I don't think that's anything there's anything wrong with that.
I don't shut down. I don't shut down as a human.
I don't turn into a robot. And if I cry,
and our viewers on ABC have seen me cry, I'm
a little bit of a crier. Sometimes if I cry,
(12:04):
I'm going to cry, and it's okay. And I think
viewers will appreciate that because I don't think they're watching
to watch a robot. I think they're watching to watch
another human talk about humans. And for me, this job
has never been about searching for the next thing that
happens in the world that's awful or great. It's always
(12:26):
about understanding the human condition. What is the human condition
when we're going through something awful and when we're going
through something so great, the highs and the lows of
life and the highs and lows of being human. And
so that's something that I think a lot about when
I'm on these stories. So I don't shut myself down.
I don't shut myself down. And whatever happens happens. And
that's what you're going to get when you turn on
(12:48):
and watch it happen live.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Yeah, that's part of your magic. I think that makes
you very distinct from a lot of other people in
the business is you do lead with your heart, and
it is very human with you. And I think more
and more we want that, we that and we're all
living through the new cycle and it's hard. It's hard
to watch sometimes, it's hard to listen to. We're being
inundated with story after story that's not always great, and
you as a human r as well, but then you're
(13:11):
also working in it, so you're kind of hit from
both sides. Does that ever take a toll on you?
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Sure? I think so.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
I definitely think so. I think that there's times when
you know, I just have to like put the phone down,
go get a great workout in, go for a walk
in the park.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
You know how many times am I telling you, I'm like, Hi,
can we go for a walk?
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Hi, can we go for a walk? And sometimes you're
too busy or whatever, And sometimes I'll just go on
a walk. But a lot of times you join.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
Me and we just go and we take in nature.
I think when we see, you know, all the world
around us, and we really look at the other day,
we walked without the phone.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
We left the phones at home.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
I don't think we've ever done that.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
We've never done that ever. We left the phone.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
Now, Okay, by the way, full disclosure, we were getting
the phone was being updated, so we had.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
To didn't have to say that. You seem like decisions
we took.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
We took advantage of that moment and we said intentionally,
like you know what, while this is doing this. Let's
just go without a phone and go through for a walk.
And we saw things we've never seen before. We've we
saw birds and animals and.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Maybe a few rats. It's New York City and and
and we appreciated them. Yeah right, Yeah, And I think
that that sometimes we lose sight of that because we're
buried in our phones and all of that, that we
lose sight of the world around us. And so that's
how I deal with that.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Yeah, it's important. Everybody needs an outlet. And I'm glad
I worry sometimes about you and for you and for
your mental health because it is a lot. And I
know how much you feel and it's hard to turn
that off, and you don't turn it off, as you said.
So the protective side of me is like trying to
sometimes get you to step away from work for a
(14:51):
minute and focus on other things and do more more things.
And you have gotten involved in things like piano and
you know, things that simulate you and give you joy,
which which you need, which I so happy about. Okay,
So in new chapter of your life, you've learned a
lot throughout the course of your life. What is something
(15:13):
you would tell your twenty year.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Old self, it's all going to be okay. It's all
going to be okay. You you you sit there worrying
about the future and how is this going to happen
in this and that, and that it's all going to
be okay.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
You said that very quickly. Yeah, why how was it
just there?
Speaker 2 (15:34):
You you think about all the little worries that you
have growing up, and and I think that you spend
so much time in your head thinking about that. Right.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
For me, I think it was obviously growing up gay
and keeping that a secret, and that was something that
I didn't talk to anyone about really till I was,
you know, twenty four years old, right, And so I
think that you worry like will that hold me back?
(16:07):
And at the time, the message from society kind of
was like, yeah it would. And there was nobody I thought,
like me at the time on television, so I didn't
have an example to point to.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
And so this is something a dream that I.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Always had, but like, could me and being myself prevent
me from having that dream?
Speaker 2 (16:32):
And that was a worry that I always had. And
so that's why today I would say chill out.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Yeah, Yeah, I think I think that's something a lot
of us go through when we're figuring out who we are.
And I felt variations of that for sure, And I
love how emotionally you got talking about that because it's
still something that I think. I think we always have
to remind ourselves because we so believe that growing up. Yeah,
So even like as a almost forty year old man,
(17:01):
it's like you sometimes got to tell yourself that you.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Know, well, that person is still inside all of us.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Yeah, right, Like we constantly have to talk to that
little kid inside because they're there. They are a part
of us.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
They they were there through the most monumental parts of
our lives. Yeah, and they're still there.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Yeah, one hundred percent. Well, that little kid would be
very proud of you. I certainly am. I'm blown away
by what you've achieved in the course of your life,
seemingly very quickly, and it's all deserved. You work your
ass off to be where you are in this point
of your career in your life, and I look at
you and I'm like, Wow, I'm inspired by you, Like
(17:41):
you're someone who I am. I am like I just
over the years I have been And success is something
many of us dream of in different capacities and many
of us wants and we have dreams and goals and
ambitions personally and professionally. And you look at someone like
you and you're kind of the idea of success. You're
doing it, you're doing a job. So many people want
(18:03):
do you view yourself as successful and what's your relationship
like with that?
Speaker 3 (18:07):
Well, my definition of success is not necessarily professional. My
definition of success is being able to be present in
the moment, right because what good is it having a
great job if you're not present for it and you're
constantly wanting more. You're constantly in this mode of seeking, seeking, seeking, seeking, seeking,
(18:32):
And I think we all find ourselves in that. So
my and I think I'm working on that success. By
the way, I think we all are still working on
that success. I think it's very very hard. So that's
really my definition of success, that it's not necessarily professional,
you know. I think, of course there's a certain level
of professional success, but I think that it's something that
(18:55):
it's more of a mindset. I think success is more
of a mindset.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
So have your priorities shifted over the years given that definition.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
One hundred percent?
Speaker 3 (19:05):
You know? Because yeah, we we we all see with
everything going on in the world. There's there's so much
going on in the world. There are so many different people,
and I look to my.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Mom, and my mom is so present, She's incredibly present,
and I see that as an incredible example of success, right,
And and that's something that I think we all need
to keep in mind.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
M Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I think you and
I have really been working on that the last last year,
I'll say. And it doesn't mean you don't have ambitions
and dreams and hopes and want to work hard and
achieve things professionally, but it also means knowing that that
doesn't totally define you. And we're so much more than
our jobs.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Yeah, it's a piece of you, and it's a big
piece of you.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Right.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
You spend more time there sometimes than at home, So
it's a big piece of you.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
And it's important that you're happy when you're doing it.
But there's so much to life, and that's that's just
that's that's not the only piece. There's so much to life.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Is there anything you want to let go of as
you enter this new decade?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Fear? Fear?
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Is that possible?
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I don't know. I don't know. I'm putting it out
there to see if it is maybe it's not. Yeah,
but I think that we all have fear.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Right. I look at that, and I said, Okay, well
I'm turning forty. Does that mean I'm like halfway through
this thing called life?
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Like, what does it mean? I don't know. I don't know.
I was thinking about that about dying.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
No, I'm just I'm just saying, like, well, I mean,
you basically just said you thought about dying.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
I know. Well, look, I think that I think that
that's a really good meditation on life, right thinking Memento morys.
That's an ancient stoic you know, point of view that
you're you sort of like meditate on death.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Right.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
But I think that when you reach forty, I don't know,
like the number. I know, we say that the age
doesn't matter, but like we are living, breathing beings and
human beings, and you know, things stop working, and you know,
I'm going for a cardiologist examination today just to check
(21:11):
things out to make sure everything's okay. Like, I don't know,
like these are things that you think about, and so
that's something that I think about.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
What was your question? I don't know, because now I'm
worried that you have death thoughts like, so, I don't
even know. I'm a little frazzled right now. I didn't
know that. Oh my god, I've never said it. Well,
maybe I'm.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Gonna have to. We got there before the end of
the show.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Wow, Okay, Well we're gonna make sure you don't feel
like the road is near, the end is near. I
should say, okay, I'm gonna pivot. No, but I get
what you mean. I totally get what you mean. You
just think about life in a different perspective, because you're
also probably like, how the heck did forty years pass?
Speaker 2 (21:52):
I'm like, how did I get here?
Speaker 1 (21:54):
I feel like I'm eighteen still, I.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Can't believe it's just days away. I'm like, how did
I get Well? Right in my head, I'm still thinking, yeah, well,
your dad. Your dad's in his seventies, and he's like,
I feel like I'm sixteen.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Yeah, right, So I don't know if you ever get
through that.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
Yeah, but oh oh, I know what it was you
were saying about let go of fear, and so letting
go of fear is super important to me. But I
don't know if it's possible. But I think that there's
you always have a fear of the unknown, right, what
comes next?
Speaker 1 (22:23):
That's true, very very true. So given that you are
thinking a lot about all of this, and it's a
new chapter for you and you're reflecting back on what
you've built professionally and where you are personally, what kind
of legacy do you hope to leave this world?
Speaker 3 (22:39):
A legacy of kindness? Yeah, kindness is I love? That's
that's what I think about, right. I think we all
just need to be kind to each other, right like this,
this should all be about love, love in all forms, and.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
So so you know, for me, that's that's what I'm
thinking about. A lot is like, Okay, how do I
be kind as kind as I can be?
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Right?
Speaker 2 (23:05):
And look, there's always conversations.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
That are tough with different people in this and that
and whatever, friends, this, you know, family, But if we
have kindness and love as the base, I think we
can get a lot farther than otherwise.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Mm hmmm. I couldn't agree more, couldn't agree more. I
couldn't have you on the show today without having some
fan questions for an n oh boy, and this is
I kind of love these I went through them. There
were some wild ones in there. I was like, oohn,
not asking that one, But there are some really cool
ones that I think. You know, we don't do a lot.
(23:45):
I'll be the judge of that. Okay, Relax, we don't
do a lot together publicly in terms of interviews. So
I think it's fun for people to kind of get
at insight into us and our dynamics and our relationships.
So I picked a few that I thought were really
really good. So Alison s nine three to know who
asked who out and what were the first impressions of
each other?
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Well, this is this is a big debate. This is
a big debate.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
Humor me, please, okay, Uh, you followed me on Instagram, right,
I messaged you first?
Speaker 2 (24:18):
No, No, I didn't. I followed you back. I liked
a few posts, and then you messaged me.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Yep, you don't like a few posts you liked like
the only twelve I had up on my account.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Whatever.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Yeah, okay, just to make it clear, it was like.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Like like like like like you know, okay, you know,
I just wanted to make sure you saw it, okay.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
And then you were the first to write, and I
think it said thanks for the ad, Stay warm out
there because I was out covering something in cold weather.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
And that's that was kind of it, right, And then
that was it.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
So you well, so you're saying I asked you out.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
No, I guess you didn't know, because then I sent
my phone number.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Yes, and then said I would love to hang out
some time. Here is my number. I sent mine, and
then and you texted me for a week trying to
hang out. Yeah, And I was busy for that week,
had a lot going on. And then we finally met up.
So you asked me out. And first impression, it was
a week. It was, yes, it was a week, and
(25:16):
then we met up. And first impressions, first impressions, gosh,
I just remember.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
What that was my first impression.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Gosh, I'm tall.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Yeah, you're taller than me.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
I don't think I knew that.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Well, it's the first thing I said.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Oh you did say that.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
You walked out of the subway. I saw you in
the street and I was like, oh, you're taller than me.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Yeah, okay. I mean my first impression was a little
more like, oh wow, Like after our date, I kind
of like this dude, and you know, I don't want
to like someone, but I do, and yours was that
I'm tall. Oh God, here we go again. I know,
I know you did not think that. Well, the rest
is history, okay, so pri uh, I get the Pria says,
(26:00):
I get the impression that you two are really content
with your lives and it's very motivating. Any secret, any secret?
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Mm hmmm, if there's any secret. I think we have fun, right,
like we're best friends first. Yeah, I think we just
like we have fun.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
I think that when you go home, it shouldn't be
a time for like yelling at each other or being
angry at each other.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
And you know, there's a lot of that going out
all around the world. Like home should be a sanctuary,
and so I think that that's really really important. I
know that one of the things you always say is
a secret is don't go to bed angry.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
M hmm. Yeah, and let's kind of try it. And true.
I think for us too, it's it's we don't take
ourselves too seriously, and we have such a level of
respect for each other, and we genuinely like champion each
other in all areas of life total and not just professionally,
like you have a hobby you want to do. I'm like,
great do it like like we just we really we
have that got to support each other. Yeah, and we
(26:56):
surround ourselves with good like minded people too. Yeah. I
think that's also super import huge. Hannah Spears, what is
the secret to a long relationship and happy marriage? I
cannot tell you how many of these came in, like
a million.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
I don't know, so we'll be.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
I mean, I think part of it is what we
just discussed, right, like the having fun part, the respect part,
the all of those things. You know, we try to
keep things interesting and go like on on a trip
where like can we rent a car and just drive somewhere?
Can we you know, all of that, especially remember during
(27:33):
the pandemic we did that a ton. Yeah, where it's
like just kind of change your environment a little bit
and you know, anything you can, but just like go
explore together. Exploring is so great, Just like get in
the car and just go somewhere, go to some great
park and whatever it is, and we want a trip.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Well, and it'll be ten years married in April. And
I also think choosing someone or finding someone that's like
minded is very important because we're growing together. Yeah, we
haven't grown a part in ten years, if anything, we've
grown closer together, which is not easy to do, and
that's not always the norm. But we both have very
similar values and like mindedness and want the same things
(28:11):
out of life. And I think that's a huge thing, huge, huge,
huge thing. So that's it's important to find that in somebody. Okay,
a few more, Emily B I love this, Emily. What
is a quirk each other has at home that drives
you each crazy but also makes you smile? I know
yours right away.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Can you just squeeze the toothpaste in a more like
even manner, Like you squeeze it in the middle, and
it looks like deformed. When you open the mail, it's
also kind of deformed.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
I knew you were going to say that. I knew
you were going to say that you're always on me
because I'm what do you call me? Brute force? And
I open things like an animal, whether it's like the
top of us, it's just a letter. It's hard to
open a letter.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
Open the letter and it's just like ripped open, like
a came and attacked the letter. It's very hard to
open a letter. I don't have nails, Like, what do
you want me to do? Okay, Okay, well that's yours.
I knew you were going to say that you love
to open a cabinet where like the coffee mugs are
and leave it open. And then if I'm like across
(29:17):
the room watching a show or like on my computer,
I see it out of the corner of my eye
and it drives me so crazy. And then the funny
thing is you're still standing in the kitchen where the
cabinet's opened.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Oh, but I'll walk away in the cabinet still.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Yes, And then you'll walk away, and I'm like, I
don't understand, Like when you take something out, like a
plate or a mug, why don't you just shut the cabinet?
Speaker 3 (29:38):
You know, that's a very good process that you go
through mentally. I don't know if I do.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
I don't. I don't. I don't think to just close
the cabinet.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Oh God, just like, well, what really will make me
combus is then you'll open You'll get like a mug
out for your coffee, and then you'll go across the
kitchen and open another cabinet to get a snack out.
And then both of the doors are open and I
can't concentrate on any.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
And it's even right, because you have two open on easing.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Now and I am so type A I cannot concentrate
on anything until they are shut. So that's probably Emily B.
Those are the quirks that clearly we uh, you.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
Know, open the cabinet and then my mind goes somewhere else,
like squirrel, right Like I just open it and then
my mind somewhere else.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Okay, we'll go with that. We'll go with that. It's
a war works in progress in some ways still, so
we'll go with that. We have two more see it
to believe it, wrote in how do you overcome disagreements?
Speaker 3 (30:36):
I mean talking through them, right, like, don't letting don't
let them fester, Like we talk through any disagreements. Don't
let it get to the point where it turns into
a fight, right right, Like if there's a disagreement, you
calmly explain why there's a disagreement and you get through it.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Yeah, we nip it right away. Yeah, like we we
handle whatever the disagreement is kind of right then and there,
and even if it takes a little time to work through,
we do. We don't like revisit it the next day
or two days later or you know, one's on the couch,
ones on bed, in the bed, like we've never done that,
Like we just kind of address it. But I also
think you and I are ou dramatic people, and like
(31:15):
we don't thrive in drama and we don't want it,
so you know, we we tend to try to work
through things, not just between us, but even with a friend,
like right away, yeah, yeah, yeah, we're not into it.
We don't like the drama. No, don't like the DR's
Mary J. Bliche, it's right, no more drama.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
The cabinet thing, like the moment like you say something
about the cabinet, I go and I close it, like
it's not a big deal. Right, it doesn't turn into
the thing.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
And it's not always right away but quickly enough.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Okay, we'll go with that.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Moving on Mark seven eight to final question, does it
ever feel heavy for you both being in the new
cycle twenty four to seven? You kind of answered this earlier.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Yeah, well I try. I definitely try not to be
in the news cycle twenty four to seven. Like I definitely,
I think it's really important to go and do things
that you want to do that you know, by the way,
I don't think that's exclusive to journalists, right. I think
that we are all being hit with headlines constantly on
the phone. You know, the moment you turn on any device,
(32:23):
you're seeing headlines, right. So I think it's important to
live your life and you know, don't don't live on
social media, try not to live on social media.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
I think that that's one of the.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
Bigger crises of our time, is living in social media,
live out in the world, and the world happens around you,
of course, and you should be informed, and I hope
that you're tuning in and watching and learning and understanding
what's happening in the world, but also make time for yourself,
you know.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
I think that's really critical.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Yeah, I would agree one hundred percent. I cover entertainment
news for a living, so I'm not in like the
hard news cycle, but by default, through our marriage and
our relationship, I am like it's always around me, and.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Because the moment I find something out, I'm like, oh
my god, did you hear that?
Speaker 1 (33:06):
Right, So I'm always innodated with news and I've had
to take a little bit of a step back lately
myself over the last year. Whereas I used to watch
like the full shows that you're on, and now I
just kind of tune in for your story because I
just can't like be in it all the time. Like
you know, it's a lot, and I think that we
have to make decisions to, like, you know, protect our
(33:27):
peace sometimes. And I wouldn't feel that way if I
wasn't married to you, because I've heard everything already by
the time the show's ends.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
Well, but it's kind of funny because you do.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
Sometimes you'll like send a message and you'll be like,
I'm so sorry, I really want to watch, but I
really need to go to the gym, and I'm like,
I get it.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
No, because I feel guilty if I don't watch you
ten years in I'm like, oh my god, I'm missing
one of his stories and I feel guilty. I'm like,
you're a number one fan.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
I want to watching it anyway.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Well, true, that's true. Afterwards, true and if I miss it,
you do send it to me too to watch, so
I kind of have to watch it. So yeah, that's
true too. A lot of people want to know why
I haven't had you on the show yet and what
took me so long. People are literally like, I don't
(34:13):
get it. Why is why has he not been on.
Why wasn't he one of your first guests? And the
truth is you have a lot of anxiety doing longer
form podcasts. Yeah, and you were never dying to do it,
and I never pressed it and wanted to force you
to do it. And I think it's I also.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
Think that there are other people who have more interesting
things to say.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Oh, I disagree. I think you're You're extremely interesting and
fascinating and I've wanted you on for a while. But
then when I pitched this to you, I said, look,
it's a very pivotal time in your life.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
I don't think you asked I mean, I did not
ask a question.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
It was a statement I just said in a period
At the end, I just said, wouldn't be really fun
to come on for your birthday? Yeah? I did do
that really quickly so you couldn't back out. Did you
try to back out?
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Well, I jokingly said, I was canceling to you.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
I know about what percentage of like truth was that?
Speaker 4 (35:04):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (35:04):
Zero percentage?
Speaker 1 (35:05):
Ah? Good good, Well, I'm glad you're here. And as
you know, the final question of this interview is based
off the title of the show, YEP, So what is
something that you've never said before that you want to
say today publicly.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
Well, I've you know this, But I am an extreme introvert, yes,
which makes this very difficult. And I know that the
world sees an extrovert, but I am an introvert.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Because you are hiddy and smiley and laughing every day
on air and you're wrangling the troops and you're yeah,
I mean you would you present as an extrovert.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
But definitely not.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
And if I'm at a party, I'd much rather be
the guy in the corner just chilling watching everybody, maybe
do dance a little bit. But that's kind of like
where I go. You've broken me out of that show
because you're an extra through and through, Like you're nowhere
near being an introvert.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
You're just like all out there, all out there.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
I'm not sure you're giving manic energy right now. I'm
not sure, but you're just like, Okay, I mean, I'm social.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
I don't know what social. Okay, maybe that's yeah, I don't.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
Try out there means but like I'm a social person.
Speaker 3 (36:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
Yeah, So you've you've got that and I didn't have that.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
That's true, But you've gotten better, I have. You've gotten better.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
First of all, there's nothing wrong with an introvert, So
it's not about being better.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Well, no, you've gotten more outgoing, I feel like more.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
Yes, I've you still prefer to.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
Be home on the couch.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
I love it. I know so much. I know so much.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
You also like when it's a dark at four forty five.
That is very introvert of you. That's a very introvert.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
Love it.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
Do you remember when we were at the Critics' Choice
Awards and it was the first year we went last
year and we walked in the stroom and there's like
thousands and thousands of people and we don't really know anyone.
And I'm invited because I'm a member of the voting committee.
And we walk in and You're like, okay, so should
we just kind of like stand over? Then I'm like,
hell no, We're gonna grab a drink and walk around
the entire room and see who's here and who we
can talk to and mingle. And you were like why.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
I was like, can't we find the little buffet table
and like eat that?
Speaker 1 (37:11):
And I said, absolutely not. No, that is a good
definition of you, and I introvert. You do love food,
food more than you do. I mean, I enjoy food,
but I guess you're more of a foodie. Yeah, for sure,
I like to snack more. You do like to snack more?
Speaker 3 (37:30):
You do? You do?
Speaker 1 (37:31):
And you get very angry.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
Yes, yeah, yes, headaches the whole thing.
Speaker 1 (37:36):
Yeah, okay, well, introvert, extrovert. I love that getting cut out. No,
nothing's getting cut out. This is unedited, unfiltered. But I
do think people would be very surprised to know that
about you. So I do love that. And one of
the biggest comments people make to me and online it's like,
oh my god, Geo, his smile it's so bright and
he's so friendly and so outgoing, which is all true,
(37:58):
but you are aren't always that way outside of work,
like you rather be more to yourself.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Yes, but the smile always.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Smiles always, and you've gotten that from your mom. She's
got the best thing.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
She taught me how to smile, She really taught.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Me, and you look like her when you do it.
Speaker 3 (38:16):
Well, I think it's it's just really it's really important.
And I've gotten that comment about like, why are you
smiling so much?
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Isn't that ridiculous that people are have been angry that
you smiled too much.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
And I'm like, well, and by the way I felt
when I was younger, I felt like I had to
sort of mute the smile and sort of like, Okay, well,
no I can't smile. I gotta be a little more serious.
But you know what, there's not enough smiles out there,
so let's smile.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
Well, I am smiling so hard because you finally did
my show. How do you feel? Are you freaking out?
Speaker 2 (38:54):
I can't believe it?
Speaker 1 (38:55):
Do you remember?
Speaker 2 (38:55):
Well, I'm not nervous anymore. But that's because we reaching
the end.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
We're done. But that's good. I guess do you remember
anything you said today?
Speaker 2 (39:01):
Nah?
Speaker 1 (39:01):
Okay, Well, I'm proud of you for coming on and
stepping outside of your comfort zone. And I am glad
that the world will see a little glimpse into who
you are beyond just what they see on TV. I've
known this for ten years now, but I'm happy to
show the world all the things I love about you.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
I love you. I love you too.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
Thanks for coming on. Go close the cabinets when we
get home. Thank you, they're open.
Speaker 2 (39:24):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
I've never said this before. Is hosted by me Tommy Dederio.
This podcast is executive produced by Andrew Puglisi at iHeartRadio
and by me Tommy, with editing by Joshua Colaudney. I've
Never Said This Before is part of the Elvis Duran
podcast Network on iHeart Podcasts. For more, rate, review and
subscribe to our show and if you liked this episode,
(39:51):
tell your friends. Until next time, I'm Tommy Dederio.
Hey, guys, welcome to I've never said this before with me.
Tommy Diderio GEO Benitez Geo Geo Geo Geo is America's
sweetheart on Good Morning America and to me, well, he
is my sweetheart too. I know that was so oh God,
that was so dorky, but it's true. It's true. You
(00:22):
might know that he's my husband of almost ten years.
But to the world, he is the Saturday and Sunday
Good Morning America anchor. He is the transportation correspondent during
the week, and he appears on World News Tonight with
David Muor and twenty twenty in Nightline regularly. But I
want you to get to know the GEO that I know.
We see that megawatt, million dollar smile light up the
(00:43):
screen every single week, But what's behind the smile? Who
is GEO? Beyond the job?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Right?
Speaker 1 (00:49):
And I've been wanting him to do the show for
quite a while, for two years now, but we have
to find the right moment. And this is the right
moment because it's his birthday week and he is hitting
a milestone birthday forty years young. I want to know
what he's feeling and where he is in this moment
in his life. And yes, we're going to talk about
some work things, of course, but we're gonna also learn
(01:09):
about the heart that Geo has and you know, get
inside that mind a little bit. And yes, there'll be
some fun couples questions. You guys wrote some great ones in.
But it's such a great episode. Dare I say it's
my favorite episode yet? I am so excited to have
him on the show. So let's see if today we
can get mister Giobanitez to say something that he has
(01:30):
never said before. Giobanitas mm hmm, welcome to I've never
said this before.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Why am I so nervous? I don't know.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
You've been having like a nervous breakdown for four days now.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
My heart is racing.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
But I don't get it. You're on a morning national
news show with millions and millions and millions of viewers
a day, Yet your nervous to set across from me
aka your husband and have a conversation.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Okay, but I'm usually the one asking the questions, and
these questions I don't even know what these questions are.
So it's like, okay, so we have an entire podcast
and I don't know what you're gonna ask.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Well, to be fair, I have been saying I'm going
to ask totally outrageous things that you would never want
to answer.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
So that hasn't helped.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yeah, I know that probably hasn't helped your anxiety. But
you're here now and you feel good.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Right, I'll get there, Okay, Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
You do know that people for two years have been
asking when you're coming on and why you haven't come on.
People are like, I don't get it. Why has GEO
not come on?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
But why do they want me on?
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Well?
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Why wouldn't they want you on? I mean, you're You're
a part of my life. You have an interesting story.
People love your work, you know. But it's it had
to be the right time, And I felt like this
was the right time for you because you're embracing a
new chapter of your life very soon. Your birthday is
coming up. You're turning the Big four to oh and
(02:51):
I think with that comes a lot of reflection and
a lot of people know your work. You know, you're
known to be obviously you're the anchor on Saturday and
Sundays of Good Morning America. You're the trans pretation correspondent
during the week, you do World News Tonight with David Muore.
You do basically everything across ABC news shows. But I
don't think people always get the chance to learn a
(03:11):
bit who you are and you know, see a different
side to you besides what you're reporting. You get to
kind of hide behind what you're reporting sometimes.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
I guess I could see that.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Yeah, right, And it's always the facts, and it's always
the news, and you do a brilliant job at it,
and you know, you just you tell the people what
we need to know. But what we want to know
is more about GEO. And I'm lucky or I know
all about you, but I want to share the share
the wealth today, right.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
I was thinking because obviously two years into the show,
I know what the last question is. It's what's something
you've never said before? So obviously I have that, but
you kind of know it. Also, it's like, you know,
m hmm, it'll be something I haven't said before I
gets to the audience.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
But and I have no idea what you're going to say,
so I'm very very curious and know what you're going
to say. You would not tell me you you kept
that very but.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
You're totally gonna be like, oh, okay, yeah, well.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Let's say, let's see if you surprise me or not.
But anyway, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
So excited.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I am very happy for the world to hear more
about who you are. And we're going to talk about
some work stuff. Of course it will kind of blend
into the conversation. But this is this is a lot
more than that. It's it's something I think a lot
of people are going to be able to relate to
because it's such a new chapter for you and your life,
and this is coming out two days before your birthday,
(04:28):
I believe, so it's it's an exciting time. So let's
dive right in my first question for you. We're going
to go kind of kind of deep for the first one.
And your face just looked terrified. I read like the
look of terror that just came on your face was
I wish I had a picture of that. But anyway,
(04:49):
as you embrace a new you know, decade, what is
something in your thirties that you learned that changed the
way you live your life?
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Wow? That is really deep, That is really good. What
is something in my thirties that I learned that changed
my life?
Speaker 3 (05:06):
You know?
Speaker 2 (05:07):
I think when I think back to.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
The late teens and the twenties, it was all about yes,
saying yes at whatever cost, right, because you're you're building
your career, and it's like go mode, right, You're just going, going, going, going, going, NonStop.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Let's go no breaks.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
And I think that in my thirties I learned to, well, no,
sometimes you have to say no to, you know, certain
things or whatever, because you need to make time for
other things in your life. And that's really really important.
So you know, our time together is obviously extremely important.
(05:49):
Our time with our families are extremely important, and you
think back to you know, for me, I think back
to my grandparents and wanting to have spent more more
time with them. And that was all during my yes yes, yes, yes, yes,
yes yes at every waking moment because I was going, going, going,
Whereas now I think back and I'm like, oh gosh,
(06:11):
I wish that I had said no sometimes so that
I wouldn't miss this party or I wouldn't miss this event,
And that I think is something that I definitely learned.
I think, and by the way, I think everybody goes
through that that's not unique to me. I think everybody
goes with that as you start thinking about, you know,
the people in your life who you want to spend
more time with.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah, one PC. I think we've really gotten better at
saying no to things, especially because our time together is
sacred and we don't always have a lot of it.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
And that's not just like that's not work stuff, right,
A lot of times it's saying no to you know,
this event and that event, and and maybe there's an
event that you know takes you hours away from home
and you know that sort of thing.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah, at the end of the day, you also are
a little bit of a home buddy.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Well, I do love it, Yes, you love being cozy
on the couch.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
You nothing more so like to get us out of
the apartment to go to something.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
You know how much I love television. I know of
the television. Cozy on the couch, yes, is perfection.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
And to get us out of the house to go
to something. I think you're at the point. I'm at
the point where we really have to sit like it
has to have value to us. It has to be
for someone we genuinely love in a door or want
to support, or want to show up for or do
something for. Right like it has to have. It has
to fill our cup as well, you know, so I
think that's really important. So that's that's really fascinating. And
(07:32):
I imagine also they.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Get less deep from here or are we still going deeper?
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Can you stop trying to produce this? Like, my god,
you take the producer hat off, relax, simmer down.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
He started as a producer.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
I know you did start as a producer. You did, Yes,
you did. And you still very much produce a lot
of your stuff too.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
I mean I really like producing you do.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
And in the news world you do at all. Okay,
So since we're in the news world for a minute,
kind of going off of the first question a little bit,
did a story you ever knew wor gone, either in
locals or you know here in New York and national
ever changed something for you?
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Did a story ever change something?
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Well? Off that theme of spending time with people and
all of that, I think back to the pult snight
Club shooting, and you know, getting on that plane right away,
but before I even got to Orlando to cover the
pult snight Club shooting, which was just so horrific and awful,
and said, I ended up sitting right next to a
(08:33):
nine to eleven survivor, and the stories that she was
telling me about surviving nine to eleven when so many
people around her did. It prepared me for the people
I was about to meet, these conversations, these tough, heartbreaking
conversations that I was about to have when we got
to you know, the Pul snight Club shooting in Orlando,
(08:54):
And I think that that was definitely one moment where
I remember, like I was thinking a lot existential thoughts
right about, you know, what would happen if we were
anywhere and something like that were to happen at any
given moment without warning, and you think about all of
(09:17):
the people around you, and you know, obviously obviously us,
but you're also thinking about all of the people around
you who you know are standing in the way potentially
of gunfire, and all these things were going through my mind.
So that's something that I think really started to get
me thinking about just time with other people.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
I have to say, from an outside perspective, while being
very much inside your life, I've never seen you more
shake in while on assignment doing a story than the
pul night Club shooting.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Well, I mean, I remember we did a live twenty
twenty that day, and I had two stories in it,
and one of them was the first interview with a
survivor from the shooting. And he happened to be a mentor.
He wasn't gay himself, he was a mentor to all
these gay kids who were inside the club at the time,
and he lost a lot of them, a lot of
(10:10):
these mentees, and so he survived. And I remember, you know,
just keeping it together doing the two stories in that
twenty twenty special, and I remember the moment they said, okay,
you're clear. I took off my ear piece, took off
my microphone, and the live shot was in kind of
this hotel area, and so I had a little room
(10:32):
there and I walked back to that room, closed the
door and broke down. And that was probably the first
time that I did that, and wasn't the last.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
But definitely the first.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
And later on FaceTime as well, I remember we facetimed.
And that's one of the few stories. Because you're so
busy and you're moving locations all the time, and you know,
sometimes I want to do something nice for you, and
I just I can't because you're on the go, but
especially in these heavy stories, But do you remember what
I sent you to the hotel room.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yeah, you sent the rainbow flowers, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Rainbow roses. I found a local florist and I sent
you rain rainbow roses to just try to bring a
smile to your face. So how do you how do
you protect your feelings when you're delivering the news to people?
Sometimes horrific news like that that as any human being,
makes you want to just break down and cry, but
you have to deliver it.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Well.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
I don't protect my feelings. I think the only reason
that I'm doing this is to tell stories about other humans.
And so in order to do that authentically, I think
you have to feel it. You have to be human yourself.
You have to understand what it is that they went through.
And sometimes, yes, that has me in my mind putting
(11:43):
myself in that same situation. But I think that's healthy.
I don't think that's anything there's anything wrong with that.
I don't shut down. I don't shut down as a human.
I don't turn into a robot. And if I cry,
and our viewers on ABC have seen me cry, I'm
a little bit of a crier. Sometimes if I cry,
(12:04):
I'm going to cry, and it's okay. And I think
viewers will appreciate that because I don't think they're watching
to watch a robot. I think they're watching to watch
another human talk about humans. And for me, this job
has never been about searching for the next thing that
happens in the world that's awful or great. It's always
(12:26):
about understanding the human condition. What is the human condition
when we're going through something awful and when we're going
through something so great, the highs and the lows of
life and the highs and lows of being human. And
so that's something that I think a lot about when
I'm on these stories. So I don't shut myself down.
I don't shut myself down. And whatever happens happens. And
that's what you're going to get when you turn on
(12:48):
and watch it happen live.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Yeah, that's part of your magic. I think that makes
you very distinct from a lot of other people in
the business is you do lead with your heart, and
it is very human with you. And I think more
and more we want that, we that and we're all
living through the new cycle and it's hard. It's hard
to watch sometimes, it's hard to listen to. We're being
inundated with story after story that's not always great, and
you as a human r as well, but then you're
(13:11):
also working in it, so you're kind of hit from
both sides. Does that ever take a toll on you?
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Sure? I think so.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
I definitely think so. I think that there's times when
you know, I just have to like put the phone down,
go get a great workout in, go for a walk
in the park.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
You know how many times am I telling you, I'm like, Hi,
can we go for a walk?
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Hi, can we go for a walk? And sometimes you're
too busy or whatever, And sometimes I'll just go on
a walk. But a lot of times you join.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
Me and we just go and we take in nature.
I think when we see, you know, all the world
around us, and we really look at the other day,
we walked without the phone.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
We left the phones at home.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
I don't think we've ever done that.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
We've never done that ever. We left the phone.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
Now, Okay, by the way, full disclosure, we were getting
the phone was being updated, so we had.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
To didn't have to say that. You seem like decisions
we took.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
We took advantage of that moment and we said intentionally,
like you know what, while this is doing this. Let's
just go without a phone and go through for a walk.
And we saw things we've never seen before. We've we
saw birds and animals and.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Maybe a few rats. It's New York City and and
and we appreciated them. Yeah right, Yeah, And I think
that that sometimes we lose sight of that because we're
buried in our phones and all of that, that we
lose sight of the world around us. And so that's
how I deal with that.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Yeah, it's important. Everybody needs an outlet. And I'm glad
I worry sometimes about you and for you and for
your mental health because it is a lot. And I
know how much you feel and it's hard to turn
that off, and you don't turn it off, as you said.
So the protective side of me is like trying to
sometimes get you to step away from work for a
(14:51):
minute and focus on other things and do more more things.
And you have gotten involved in things like piano and
you know, things that simulate you and give you joy,
which which you need, which I so happy about. Okay,
So in new chapter of your life, you've learned a
lot throughout the course of your life. What is something
(15:13):
you would tell your twenty year.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Old self, it's all going to be okay. It's all
going to be okay. You you you sit there worrying
about the future and how is this going to happen
in this and that, and that it's all going to
be okay.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
You said that very quickly. Yeah, why how was it
just there?
Speaker 2 (15:34):
You you think about all the little worries that you
have growing up, and and I think that you spend
so much time in your head thinking about that. Right.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
For me, I think it was obviously growing up gay
and keeping that a secret, and that was something that
I didn't talk to anyone about really till I was,
you know, twenty four years old, right, And so I
think that you worry like will that hold me back?
(16:07):
And at the time, the message from society kind of
was like, yeah it would. And there was nobody I thought,
like me at the time on television, so I didn't
have an example to point to.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
And so this is something a dream that I.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Always had, but like, could me and being myself prevent
me from having that dream?
Speaker 2 (16:32):
And that was a worry that I always had. And
so that's why today I would say chill out.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Yeah, Yeah, I think I think that's something a lot
of us go through when we're figuring out who we are.
And I felt variations of that for sure, And I
love how emotionally you got talking about that because it's
still something that I think. I think we always have
to remind ourselves because we so believe that growing up. Yeah,
So even like as a almost forty year old man,
(17:01):
it's like you sometimes got to tell yourself that you.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Know, well, that person is still inside all of us.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Yeah, right, Like we constantly have to talk to that
little kid inside because they're there. They are a part
of us.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
They they were there through the most monumental parts of
our lives. Yeah, and they're still there.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Yeah, one hundred percent. Well, that little kid would be
very proud of you. I certainly am. I'm blown away
by what you've achieved in the course of your life,
seemingly very quickly, and it's all deserved. You work your
ass off to be where you are in this point
of your career in your life, and I look at
you and I'm like, Wow, I'm inspired by you, Like
(17:41):
you're someone who I am. I am like I just
over the years I have been And success is something
many of us dream of in different capacities and many
of us wants and we have dreams and goals and
ambitions personally and professionally. And you look at someone like
you and you're kind of the idea of success. You're
doing it, you're doing a job. So many people want
(18:03):
do you view yourself as successful and what's your relationship
like with that?
Speaker 3 (18:07):
Well, my definition of success is not necessarily professional. My
definition of success is being able to be present in
the moment, right because what good is it having a
great job if you're not present for it and you're
constantly wanting more. You're constantly in this mode of seeking, seeking, seeking, seeking, seeking,
(18:32):
And I think we all find ourselves in that. So
my and I think I'm working on that success. By
the way, I think we all are still working on
that success. I think it's very very hard. So that's
really my definition of success, that it's not necessarily professional,
you know. I think, of course there's a certain level
of professional success, but I think that it's something that
(18:55):
it's more of a mindset. I think success is more
of a mindset.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
So have your priorities shifted over the years given that definition.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
One hundred percent?
Speaker 3 (19:05):
You know? Because yeah, we we we all see with
everything going on in the world. There's there's so much
going on in the world. There are so many different people,
and I look to my.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Mom, and my mom is so present, She's incredibly present,
and I see that as an incredible example of success, right,
And and that's something that I think we all need
to keep in mind.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
M Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I think you and
I have really been working on that the last last year,
I'll say. And it doesn't mean you don't have ambitions
and dreams and hopes and want to work hard and
achieve things professionally, but it also means knowing that that
doesn't totally define you. And we're so much more than
our jobs.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Yeah, it's a piece of you, and it's a big
piece of you.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Right.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
You spend more time there sometimes than at home, So
it's a big piece of you.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
And it's important that you're happy when you're doing it.
But there's so much to life, and that's that's just
that's that's not the only piece. There's so much to life.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Is there anything you want to let go of as
you enter this new decade?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Fear? Fear?
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Is that possible?
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I don't know. I don't know. I'm putting it out
there to see if it is maybe it's not. Yeah,
but I think that we all have fear.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Right. I look at that, and I said, Okay, well
I'm turning forty. Does that mean I'm like halfway through
this thing called life?
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Like, what does it mean? I don't know. I don't know.
I was thinking about that about dying.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
No, I'm just I'm just saying, like, well, I mean,
you basically just said you thought about dying.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
I know. Well, look, I think that I think that
that's a really good meditation on life, right thinking Memento morys.
That's an ancient stoic you know, point of view that
you're you sort of like meditate on death.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Right.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
But I think that when you reach forty, I don't know,
like the number. I know, we say that the age
doesn't matter, but like we are living, breathing beings and
human beings, and you know, things stop working, and you know,
I'm going for a cardiologist examination today just to check
(21:11):
things out to make sure everything's okay. Like, I don't know,
like these are things that you think about, and so
that's something that I think about.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
What was your question? I don't know, because now I'm
worried that you have death thoughts like, so, I don't
even know. I'm a little frazzled right now. I didn't
know that. Oh my god, I've never said it. Well,
maybe I'm.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Gonna have to. We got there before the end of
the show.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Wow, Okay, Well we're gonna make sure you don't feel
like the road is near, the end is near. I
should say, okay, I'm gonna pivot. No, but I get
what you mean. I totally get what you mean. You
just think about life in a different perspective, because you're
also probably like, how the heck did forty years pass?
Speaker 2 (21:52):
I'm like, how did I get here?
Speaker 1 (21:54):
I feel like I'm eighteen still, I.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Can't believe it's just days away. I'm like, how did
I get Well? Right in my head, I'm still thinking, yeah, well,
your dad. Your dad's in his seventies, and he's like,
I feel like I'm sixteen.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Yeah, right, So I don't know if you ever get
through that.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
Yeah, but oh oh, I know what it was you
were saying about let go of fear, and so letting
go of fear is super important to me. But I
don't know if it's possible. But I think that there's
you always have a fear of the unknown, right, what
comes next?
Speaker 1 (22:23):
That's true, very very true. So given that you are
thinking a lot about all of this, and it's a
new chapter for you and you're reflecting back on what
you've built professionally and where you are personally, what kind
of legacy do you hope to leave this world?
Speaker 3 (22:39):
A legacy of kindness? Yeah, kindness is I love? That's
that's what I think about, right. I think we all
just need to be kind to each other, right like this,
this should all be about love, love in all forms, and.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
So so you know, for me, that's that's what I'm
thinking about. A lot is like, Okay, how do I
be kind as kind as I can be?
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Right?
Speaker 2 (23:05):
And look, there's always conversations.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
That are tough with different people in this and that
and whatever, friends, this, you know, family, But if we
have kindness and love as the base, I think we
can get a lot farther than otherwise.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Mm hmmm. I couldn't agree more, couldn't agree more. I
couldn't have you on the show today without having some
fan questions for an n oh boy, and this is
I kind of love these I went through them. There
were some wild ones in there. I was like, oohn,
not asking that one, But there are some really cool
ones that I think. You know, we don't do a lot.
(23:45):
I'll be the judge of that. Okay, Relax, we don't
do a lot together publicly in terms of interviews. So
I think it's fun for people to kind of get
at insight into us and our dynamics and our relationships.
So I picked a few that I thought were really
really good. So Alison s nine three to know who
asked who out and what were the first impressions of
each other?
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Well, this is this is a big debate. This is
a big debate.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
Humor me, please, okay, Uh, you followed me on Instagram, right,
I messaged you first?
Speaker 2 (24:18):
No, No, I didn't. I followed you back. I liked
a few posts, and then you messaged me.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Yep, you don't like a few posts you liked like
the only twelve I had up on my account.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Whatever.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Yeah, okay, just to make it clear, it was like.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Like like like like like you know, okay, you know,
I just wanted to make sure you saw it, okay.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
And then you were the first to write, and I
think it said thanks for the ad, Stay warm out
there because I was out covering something in cold weather.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
And that's that was kind of it, right, And then
that was it.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
So you well, so you're saying I asked you out.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
No, I guess you didn't know, because then I sent
my phone number.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Yes, and then said I would love to hang out
some time. Here is my number. I sent mine, and
then and you texted me for a week trying to
hang out. Yeah, And I was busy for that week,
had a lot going on. And then we finally met up.
So you asked me out. And first impression, it was
a week. It was, yes, it was a week, and
(25:16):
then we met up. And first impressions, first impressions, gosh,
I just remember.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
What that was my first impression.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Gosh, I'm tall.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Yeah, you're taller than me.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
I don't think I knew that.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Well, it's the first thing I said.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Oh you did say that.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
You walked out of the subway. I saw you in
the street and I was like, oh, you're taller than me.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Yeah, okay. I mean my first impression was a little
more like, oh wow, Like after our date, I kind
of like this dude, and you know, I don't want
to like someone, but I do, and yours was that
I'm tall. Oh God, here we go again. I know,
I know you did not think that. Well, the rest
is history, okay, so pri uh, I get the Pria says,
(26:00):
I get the impression that you two are really content
with your lives and it's very motivating. Any secret, any secret?
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Mm hmmm, if there's any secret. I think we have fun, right,
like we're best friends first. Yeah, I think we just
like we have fun.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
I think that when you go home, it shouldn't be
a time for like yelling at each other or being
angry at each other.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
And you know, there's a lot of that going out
all around the world. Like home should be a sanctuary,
and so I think that that's really really important. I
know that one of the things you always say is
a secret is don't go to bed angry.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
M hmm. Yeah, and let's kind of try it. And true.
I think for us too, it's it's we don't take
ourselves too seriously, and we have such a level of
respect for each other, and we genuinely like champion each
other in all areas of life total and not just professionally,
like you have a hobby you want to do. I'm like,
great do it like like we just we really we
have that got to support each other. Yeah, and we
(26:56):
surround ourselves with good like minded people too. Yeah. I
think that's also super import huge. Hannah Spears, what is
the secret to a long relationship and happy marriage? I
cannot tell you how many of these came in, like
a million.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
I don't know, so we'll be.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
I mean, I think part of it is what we
just discussed, right, like the having fun part, the respect part,
the all of those things. You know, we try to
keep things interesting and go like on on a trip
where like can we rent a car and just drive somewhere?
Can we you know, all of that, especially remember during
(27:33):
the pandemic we did that a ton. Yeah, where it's
like just kind of change your environment a little bit
and you know, anything you can, but just like go
explore together. Exploring is so great, Just like get in
the car and just go somewhere, go to some great
park and whatever it is, and we want a trip.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Well, and it'll be ten years married in April. And
I also think choosing someone or finding someone that's like
minded is very important because we're growing together. Yeah, we
haven't grown a part in ten years, if anything, we've
grown closer together, which is not easy to do, and
that's not always the norm. But we both have very
similar values and like mindedness and want the same things
(28:11):
out of life. And I think that's a huge thing, huge, huge,
huge thing. So that's it's important to find that in somebody. Okay,
a few more, Emily B I love this, Emily. What
is a quirk each other has at home that drives
you each crazy but also makes you smile? I know
yours right away.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Can you just squeeze the toothpaste in a more like
even manner, Like you squeeze it in the middle, and
it looks like deformed. When you open the mail, it's
also kind of deformed.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
I knew you were going to say that. I knew
you were going to say that you're always on me
because I'm what do you call me? Brute force? And
I open things like an animal, whether it's like the
top of us, it's just a letter. It's hard to
open a letter.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
Open the letter and it's just like ripped open, like
a came and attacked the letter. It's very hard to
open a letter. I don't have nails, Like, what do
you want me to do? Okay, Okay, well that's yours.
I knew you were going to say that you love
to open a cabinet where like the coffee mugs are
and leave it open. And then if I'm like across
(29:17):
the room watching a show or like on my computer,
I see it out of the corner of my eye
and it drives me so crazy. And then the funny
thing is you're still standing in the kitchen where the
cabinet's opened.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Oh, but I'll walk away in the cabinet still.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Yes, And then you'll walk away, and I'm like, I
don't understand, Like when you take something out, like a
plate or a mug, why don't you just shut the cabinet?
Speaker 3 (29:38):
You know, that's a very good process that you go
through mentally. I don't know if I do.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
I don't. I don't. I don't think to just close
the cabinet.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Oh God, just like, well, what really will make me
combus is then you'll open You'll get like a mug
out for your coffee, and then you'll go across the
kitchen and open another cabinet to get a snack out.
And then both of the doors are open and I
can't concentrate on any.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
And it's even right, because you have two open on easing.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Now and I am so type A I cannot concentrate
on anything until they are shut. So that's probably Emily B.
Those are the quirks that clearly we uh, you.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
Know, open the cabinet and then my mind goes somewhere else,
like squirrel, right Like I just open it and then
my mind somewhere else.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Okay, we'll go with that. We'll go with that. It's
a war works in progress in some ways still, so
we'll go with that. We have two more see it
to believe it, wrote in how do you overcome disagreements?
Speaker 3 (30:36):
I mean talking through them, right, like, don't letting don't
let them fester, Like we talk through any disagreements. Don't
let it get to the point where it turns into
a fight, right right, Like if there's a disagreement, you
calmly explain why there's a disagreement and you get through it.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Yeah, we nip it right away. Yeah, like we we
handle whatever the disagreement is kind of right then and there,
and even if it takes a little time to work through,
we do. We don't like revisit it the next day
or two days later or you know, one's on the couch,
ones on bed, in the bed, like we've never done that,
Like we just kind of address it. But I also
think you and I are ou dramatic people, and like
(31:15):
we don't thrive in drama and we don't want it,
so you know, we we tend to try to work
through things, not just between us, but even with a friend,
like right away, yeah, yeah, yeah, we're not into it.
We don't like the drama. No, don't like the DR's
Mary J. Bliche, it's right, no more drama.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
The cabinet thing, like the moment like you say something
about the cabinet, I go and I close it, like
it's not a big deal. Right, it doesn't turn into
the thing.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
And it's not always right away but quickly enough.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Okay, we'll go with that.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Moving on Mark seven eight to final question, does it
ever feel heavy for you both being in the new
cycle twenty four to seven? You kind of answered this earlier.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Yeah, well I try. I definitely try not to be
in the news cycle twenty four to seven. Like I definitely,
I think it's really important to go and do things
that you want to do that you know, by the way,
I don't think that's exclusive to journalists, right. I think
that we are all being hit with headlines constantly on
the phone. You know, the moment you turn on any device,
(32:23):
you're seeing headlines, right. So I think it's important to
live your life and you know, don't don't live on
social media, try not to live on social media.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
I think that that's one of the.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
Bigger crises of our time, is living in social media,
live out in the world, and the world happens around you,
of course, and you should be informed, and I hope
that you're tuning in and watching and learning and understanding
what's happening in the world, but also make time for yourself,
you know.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
I think that's really critical.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Yeah, I would agree one hundred percent. I cover entertainment
news for a living, so I'm not in like the
hard news cycle, but by default, through our marriage and
our relationship, I am like it's always around me, and.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Because the moment I find something out, I'm like, oh
my god, did you hear that?
Speaker 1 (33:06):
Right, So I'm always innodated with news and I've had
to take a little bit of a step back lately
myself over the last year. Whereas I used to watch
like the full shows that you're on, and now I
just kind of tune in for your story because I
just can't like be in it all the time. Like
you know, it's a lot, and I think that we
have to make decisions to, like, you know, protect our
(33:27):
peace sometimes. And I wouldn't feel that way if I
wasn't married to you, because I've heard everything already by
the time the show's ends.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
Well, but it's kind of funny because you do.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
Sometimes you'll like send a message and you'll be like,
I'm so sorry, I really want to watch, but I
really need to go to the gym, and I'm like,
I get it.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
No, because I feel guilty if I don't watch you
ten years in I'm like, oh my god, I'm missing
one of his stories and I feel guilty. I'm like,
you're a number one fan.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
I want to watching it anyway.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Well, true, that's true. Afterwards, true and if I miss it,
you do send it to me too to watch, so
I kind of have to watch it. So yeah, that's
true too. A lot of people want to know why
I haven't had you on the show yet and what
took me so long. People are literally like, I don't
(34:13):
get it. Why is why has he not been on.
Why wasn't he one of your first guests? And the
truth is you have a lot of anxiety doing longer
form podcasts. Yeah, and you were never dying to do it,
and I never pressed it and wanted to force you
to do it. And I think it's I also.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
Think that there are other people who have more interesting
things to say.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Oh, I disagree. I think you're You're extremely interesting and
fascinating and I've wanted you on for a while. But
then when I pitched this to you, I said, look,
it's a very pivotal time in your life.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
I don't think you asked I mean, I did not
ask a question.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
It was a statement I just said in a period
At the end, I just said, wouldn't be really fun
to come on for your birthday? Yeah? I did do
that really quickly so you couldn't back out. Did you
try to back out?
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Well, I jokingly said, I was canceling to you.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
I know about what percentage of like truth was that?
Speaker 4 (35:04):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (35:04):
Zero percentage?
Speaker 1 (35:05):
Ah? Good good, Well, I'm glad you're here. And as
you know, the final question of this interview is based
off the title of the show, YEP, So what is
something that you've never said before that you want to
say today publicly.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
Well, I've you know this, But I am an extreme introvert, yes,
which makes this very difficult. And I know that the
world sees an extrovert, but I am an introvert.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Because you are hiddy and smiley and laughing every day
on air and you're wrangling the troops and you're yeah,
I mean you would you present as an extrovert.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
But definitely not.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
And if I'm at a party, I'd much rather be
the guy in the corner just chilling watching everybody, maybe
do dance a little bit. But that's kind of like
where I go. You've broken me out of that show
because you're an extra through and through, Like you're nowhere
near being an introvert.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
You're just like all out there, all out there.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
I'm not sure you're giving manic energy right now. I'm
not sure, but you're just like, Okay, I mean, I'm social.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
I don't know what social. Okay, maybe that's yeah, I don't.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
Try out there means but like I'm a social person.
Speaker 3 (36:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
Yeah, So you've you've got that and I didn't have that.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
That's true, But you've gotten better, I have. You've gotten better.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
First of all, there's nothing wrong with an introvert, So
it's not about being better.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Well, no, you've gotten more outgoing, I feel like more.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
Yes, I've you still prefer to.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
Be home on the couch.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
I love it. I know so much. I know so much.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
You also like when it's a dark at four forty five.
That is very introvert of you. That's a very introvert.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
Love it.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
Do you remember when we were at the Critics' Choice
Awards and it was the first year we went last
year and we walked in the stroom and there's like
thousands and thousands of people and we don't really know anyone.
And I'm invited because I'm a member of the voting committee.
And we walk in and You're like, okay, so should
we just kind of like stand over? Then I'm like,
hell no, We're gonna grab a drink and walk around
the entire room and see who's here and who we
can talk to and mingle. And you were like why.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
I was like, can't we find the little buffet table
and like eat that?
Speaker 1 (37:11):
And I said, absolutely not. No, that is a good
definition of you, and I introvert. You do love food,
food more than you do. I mean, I enjoy food,
but I guess you're more of a foodie. Yeah, for sure,
I like to snack more. You do like to snack more?
Speaker 3 (37:30):
You do? You do?
Speaker 1 (37:31):
And you get very angry.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
Yes, yeah, yes, headaches the whole thing.
Speaker 1 (37:36):
Yeah, okay, well, introvert, extrovert. I love that getting cut out. No,
nothing's getting cut out. This is unedited, unfiltered. But I
do think people would be very surprised to know that
about you. So I do love that. And one of
the biggest comments people make to me and online it's like,
oh my god, Geo, his smile it's so bright and
he's so friendly and so outgoing, which is all true,
(37:58):
but you are aren't always that way outside of work,
like you rather be more to yourself.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Yes, but the smile always.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Smiles always, and you've gotten that from your mom. She's
got the best thing.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
She taught me how to smile, She really taught.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Me, and you look like her when you do it.
Speaker 3 (38:16):
Well, I think it's it's just really it's really important.
And I've gotten that comment about like, why are you
smiling so much?
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Isn't that ridiculous that people are have been angry that
you smiled too much.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
And I'm like, well, and by the way I felt
when I was younger, I felt like I had to
sort of mute the smile and sort of like, Okay, well,
no I can't smile. I gotta be a little more serious.
But you know what, there's not enough smiles out there,
so let's smile.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
Well, I am smiling so hard because you finally did
my show. How do you feel? Are you freaking out?
Speaker 2 (38:54):
I can't believe it?
Speaker 1 (38:55):
Do you remember?
Speaker 2 (38:55):
Well, I'm not nervous anymore. But that's because we reaching
the end.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
We're done. But that's good. I guess do you remember
anything you said today?
Speaker 2 (39:01):
Nah?
Speaker 1 (39:01):
Okay, Well, I'm proud of you for coming on and
stepping outside of your comfort zone. And I am glad
that the world will see a little glimpse into who
you are beyond just what they see on TV. I've
known this for ten years now, but I'm happy to
show the world all the things I love about you.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
I love you. I love you too.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
Thanks for coming on. Go close the cabinets when we
get home. Thank you, they're open.
Speaker 2 (39:24):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
I've never said this before. Is hosted by me Tommy Dederio.
This podcast is executive produced by Andrew Puglisi at iHeartRadio
and by me Tommy, with editing by Joshua Colaudney. I've
Never Said This Before is part of the Elvis Duran
podcast Network on iHeart Podcasts. For more, rate, review and
subscribe to our show and if you liked this episode,
(39:51):
tell your friends. Until next time, I'm Tommy Dederio.
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