At the start of episode two, which aired as part of the two-part premiere on Wednesday, January 7, Nicole, 33, informed surfer Alana Blanchard and Disney alum Kyla Pratt that her ex is Kelce, 35.
“He’s dating Taylor Swift,” she said. “I just get a lot of s— online because he’s dating such a mega superstar.”
Nicole and Kelce dated on and off for five years and before calling it quits for good in 2022. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end started dating Swift in summer 2023.
Later in the two-part premiere, the Special Forces soldiers pull up an article with the headline: “Travis Kelce’s ex Kayla Nicole asks trolls to ‘leave her alone’ as Taylor Swift releases new album.”
The article was originally published by The Independent in April 2024. At the time, Nicole had tweeted, “There’s just no way I can fully digest all these new albums. I’m still on Cowboy Carter.”
The post was taken as a dig at the release of Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department a.k.a the first album that features tracks inspired by Kelce.
“I’m unproblematic. Mind my business. Never respond to the constant vitriol,” she fired back at the time?. “Solid as they come & don’t expect a pat on the back for it either. Just know everyone has a breaking point & would love for ‘yall’ (because you know exactly who you are) to leave me alone.”
On the show, one of the spiders told Nicole that they wanted to explore what happens “when social media becomes a battlefield.”
Elsewhere in episode two, the rest of the cast chatted about Kelce.
“I didn’t know that that was her ex,” Pratt said before Blanchard asked, “Is he a football player?”
Wide receiver Golden Tate subsequently informed them that Kelce is “arguably the greatest of all time to play tight end.”
“OK we ain’t here to pump that f— up right now,” Pratt declared. “We’re just gonna say he good.”
Keep reading for more quotes from Nicole about Kelce and Swift:
The Public Breakup
“Going through a public breakup, just to be frank, is overwhelming,” she said in a confessional on episode two. “I’ve never experienced anything like it. Being reduced to a headline —to something so small as someone’s ex-girlfriend — I feel like if I complete this it will be a massive impact for myself.”
A Fan
“I really like, like, her,” Nicole told Blanchard and Pratt on episode two, referring to Swift. “I think she’s very talented.”
An Interrogation
Before calling Nicole into the interrogation room on episode two, the Special Forces soldiers learn how Nicole was dragged into Kelce and Swift’s relationship online.
“Yeah it’s pretty consistent [and] exhausting,” she told staff about the discourse. “It doesn’t matter — I could post about the sky being blue and people will have a response about an ex and their new situation. It’s inadvertently affected me to the point where it makes me question my overall value as a person.”
Nicole then began to cry. “It’s just the comparison. It’s just, like, on loop. I think I’m still trying to figure out how to deal with that.”
When she got back to her costars, Nicole explained what happened. “They pulled up an article about my ex. I didn’t think they were going to do that,” she said. “They’re just really good at, like, putting the pieces together to the feeling of me needing to prove myself to people.”
Carey Hart — a motocross champion who is married to Pink — replied, “Well, good. Well, move forward from that s—.”
Stephen Baldwin’s stint on Special Forces was short but memorable — and we’re not just talking about his skinny black headband.
Hailey Bieber’s 58-year-old dad was the first star to leave during the Wednesday, January 8, premiere of the Fox show, which brings together celebrities from all genres attempting to pass training exercises led by a team of ex-Special Forces operatives. Season 3 takes place in North Wales and features Stephen, Bachelor Nation’s Trista Sutter and Ali Fedotowsky, Brody Jenner, Denise Richards and more.
“I’m the youngest Baldwin brother. I’m a thespian,” Stephen told the cameras. “I’ve trained twice with military technical advisers. Am I a Special Forces guy? No, but I’ve played one on TV.”
For the first task, the 16 celebrities had to jump from a speeding boat to a speeding helicopter and climb into the helicopter — and Stephen was actually one of the eight cast members who was able to complete the challenge. Before the end of the episode, however, the actor worried that he was injured and requested a medical consultation with the on-duty doctor.
“I smashed my meniscus on the helicopter today and my back is in knots and I can’t turn my head past there,” Stephen said before the doctor asked if he wanted him to look at his knee.
Things subsequently take a bit of a weird turn as Stephen becomes hostile. “It really, at this point, doesn’t matter,” Stephen said before asking the doctor, “Are you being paid to do this?”
Pete Dadds/FOX
“I’m curious — if right after this gig you had another one that paid you 10 times what they are paying you know, would you do it?” he continued. When the doctor replied that he wasn’t sure “where this conversation is going” as he thought Stephen wanted a medical consultation, Stephen declared that he had a “decision to make.”
“I have a gig right after this.The one condition for that gig is that I not get injured. It’s not worth it to me. It’s not worth it to have to go into a hospital for a couple of weeks,” Stephen said.
When the doctor asked if Stephen was aware of the type of tasks on the show, he responded, “Yes, but I didn’t know I would definitely get injured.” Stephen then appeared to get heated and spoke louder, repeating twice: “I cannot get injured.”
When the doc filled in the “staff” — a.k.a. the ex-Special Forces operatives who lead the show — they said they believed Stephen was looking for “an excuse” and subsequently dismissed him from the show, saying: “No. 5, you failed this course and you failed yourself. Go.”
“I think I can very safely say as naive as it sounds now, having gone through this learning curve in the past year and a half I did not have any understanding of just what it would be like,” Meghan said at the time.
Harry replied, “I had tried to warn you as much as possible. … I think you can have as many conversations as you want, trying to prepare as much as possible but we were totally unprepared for what happened after that.”
In October 2019, Harry and Meghan spoke to ITV’s Tom Bradbyand hinted that they were unhappy. Harry also confirmed reports that there was a rift between him and William.
“I have said for a long time to H, that’s what I call [Harry], ‘It’s not enough to just survive something. That’s not the point of life. You have to thrive. You have got to feel happy,’” Meghan said during the special, admitting she was “not OK.”
She continued: “I really tried to adopt this British sensibility of a ‘stiff upper lip.’ I really tried, but I think that what that does internally is probably really damaging.”
Meghan’s official introduction as Harry’s girlfriend was when the first sign of trouble began as the palace released a statement condemning the “wave of abuse and harassment” the actress received in the press.
“Prince Harry is worried about Ms. Markle’s safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her. It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him that Ms. Markle should be subjected to such a storm,” the November 2016 statement read. “He knows commentators will say this is ‘the price she has to pay’ and that ‘this is all part of the game’. He strongly disagrees. This is not a game — it is her life and his.”
The following month, reports surfaced that the palace wasn’t happy Meghan sported an “H” initial necklace during a December 2016 outing as it perpetuated additional headlines about their romance.
While sources told Us that things went well when Harry introduced Meghan to William and Kate in January 2017, things took a turn when the eldest brother felt they were moving too fast. Royal reporters Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand claimed in their book, Finding Freedom, that Harry was “pissed off” when William suggested he was “blindsided by lust.” William reportedly told his brother to “take as much time as you need to get to know this girl,” which upset Harry.
“Some felt it was an overreaction,” the book read. “But then, this sums them up as people — William, the calm and rational one, and Harry, who can’t help but take things far too personally.”
Before Harry and Meghan got engaged, there was reported tension between the couple and the Middleton family over her potential attendance at Pippa Middleton and James Matthews’ May 2017 nuptials. In the end, she only went to the reception.
Elizabeth, Prince Philip,Charles, Queen Consort Camilla, William and Kate all celebrated Harry and Meghan’s engagement in November 2017. Harry and Meghan also confirmed in their engagement interview that she met the queen — and the two women hit it off.
“It’s incredible, I think, you know, a) to be able to meet her through his lens, not just with his honor and respect for her as the monarch, but the love that he has for her as his grandmother, all of those layers have been so important for me,” she said at the time. “So that when I met her, I had such a deep understanding and of course incredible respect for being able to have that time with her. … She’s an incredible woman.”
Meghan subsequently became the first “fiancée” to have Christmas with the royal family in December 2017.
When Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle, opted not to attend her May 2018 nuptials after he was caught staging photos with the paparazzi, Prince Charles stepped in to walk her down the aisle.
There were conflicting reports, however, about Meghan and Kate’s relationship at this time, with some outlets claiming the women fought about Princess Charlotte’s outfit for the wedding.
According to Meghan, Kate was the one who made her cry during a disagreement about dresses. “That was a turning point. … The narrative with Kate, it didn’t happen,” Meghan said during an interview on CBS in March 2021. “A few days before the wedding she was upset about flower girl dresses and it made me cry. It really hurt my feelings. … She was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologized. And she brought me flowers and a note, apologizing. And she did what I would do if I knew that I hurt someone, right, to just take accountability for it.”
There were also reports that the queen didn’t approve of Meghan’s tiara choice. The Finding Freedom authors suggested that Queen Elizabeth’s official dressmaker, Angela Kelly, was the one who had issues with Meghan’s pick — the Queen Mary Diamond Bandeau Tiara.
Meghan attended her first solo engagement with the queen in June 2018. A source told Us at the time that “enthusiasm toward living a life of service and humanitarianism excites the queen and it’s just the type of vim and vigor she likes to see in someone.”
While the duchesses appeared to be on good terms in July 2018 when they attended Wimbledon together, Meghan hinted in March 2021 that things were tense between the two women.
“I know you say, 'Was it what it looked like?’ — my understanding and my experience for the past four years is that it’s nothing like what it looks like,” she said during her CBS tell-all when asked about the Wimbledon outing.
Harry and Meghan announced they were expecting their first child together in October 2018. Three days before they confirmed the news, the duo attended Princess Eugenie’s wedding to Jack Brooksbank. The princess was reportedly unhappy with the twosome for discussing the pregnancy at her nuptials. “It didn’t go down particularly well with Eugenie, who a source said told friends she felt the couple should have waited to share the news,” Scobie and Durand wrote.
In November 2018, Harry and Meghan made headlines for moving to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor. Sources told Us in December 2018 that Meghan struggled with royal rules regarding the press after she made headlines when her personal assistant, Melissa Toubati, and secretary, Samantha Cohen, quit six months after the pair’s nuptials.
“It’s just been frustrating and stressful to have no voice,” a royal insider told Us. “She’s always relied on her own voice to stand up for others, and for herself. So not being able to say anything is a debilitating feeling. She’s always been so independent, her entire life, and that’s all been taken away from her. She’s always been able to clap back on social media and now she can’t.”
There were also reports at the time that palace staff didn’t “trust” Meghan. While one staffer reportedly said she “comes with a lot of baggage,” another employee was allegedly overheard referring to the Suits alum as “Harry’s showgirl.”
While 2018 was plagued with on and off rumors about Meghan and Kate’s relationship, a source told Us that the queen influenced the two women to bury the hatchet over the holidays.
Meghan revealed in March 2021 that she hit her lowest point when she was five months pregnant with Archie.
"One of the things that still haunts me is this photograph that someone had sent me, we had to go to an official event at the Royal Albert Hall," Meghan recalled of the January 2019 event. "A friend said, 'I know that you don't look at pictures, but oh my God, you guys look so great' and sent it to me. I zoomed in and what I saw was the truth of what that moment was. Because right before we had to leave for that, I had just [told Harry that I didn’t want to be alive anymore] that morning.”
Meghan went on to claim that she told the family that she wanted to seek treatment but was told that "it wouldn't be good for the institution."
As for the event, Meghan noted that she went because she warned Harry that she couldn’t be “left alone.” She explained: “And that picture, if you zoom in, what I see is how tightly his knuckles are gripped around me. You can see the whites of our knuckles because we are smiling and doing our job, but we are both just trying to hold on."
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex split their royal household from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in March 2019. Several months later, the two couples officially split their charity too.
According to Harry and Meghan, the pair weren’t asked to take the iconic photo outside of the Lindo Wing when Archie was born in 2019. During their CBS sit-down in March 2021, the couple also shut down reports that they opted not to give Archie a royal title, claiming that they were given “no explanation” as to why their son wouldn’t receive a title or the subsequent security that comes with it.
Meghan also revealed that there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born … and what that would mean or look like.”
While sources told Us that Meghan and Kate were “civil,” noting that they would “never be best friends” because they don’t have a lot in common, Harry confirmed he and William had a falling out. During the same interview, Meghan got candid about royal life.
“If things were fair … If I’d done something wrong, I’d be the first one to go ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I would never do that,’” she said on ITV in October 2019. "But when people are saying things that are just untrue and they are being told they’re untrue but they’re allowed to still say them — I don't know anybody in the world who would feel like that’s OK.”
Us confirmed in November 2019 that Harry and Meghan were opting not to have Christmas with his family. While Buckingham Palace’s official statement said that the twosome had “the support of Her Majesty the Queen,” a source told Us that Queen Elizabeth II was actually “disappointed” by their choice.
Harry and Meghan announced their plans to stop working for the queen in January 2020. Reports suggested that the queen wasn’t happy with the pair going public with their announcement so quickly.
“The website took everyone, even their communications team, by surprise. Aides and family members knew the couple wanted to step back, but the public website, which laid out the details of their new half in-half-out model as if it were a done deal, put the Queen in a difficult position,” Finding Freedom claimed.
The couple subsequently went back and forth with the queen over the use of the “Sussex Royal” name as the pair initially tried to trademark their then-charity, Sussex Royal The Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
“While there is not any jurisdiction by The Monarchy or Cabinet Office over the use of the word ‘Royal’ overseas, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not intend to use ‘Sussex Royal’ or any iteration of the word ‘Royal’ in any territory (either within the UK or otherwise) when the transition occurs Spring 2020,” the couple said in a statement in February 2020.
A source told Us at the time that the queen was “so disappointed that her own grandchild would heap so much embarrassment on the monarchy and bring all this unwanted attention on his family at the worst possible time.”
Sources told Us in March 2020 that William and Kate were blindsided by Harry and Meghan’s announcement, noting that the brothers had only spoken “a couple times” about “business matters” in recent months. During Harry and Meghan’s final engagement as working senior royals in March 2020, William and Kate appeared to snub the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they arrived.
While Harry and Meghan didn’t travel to the U.K. after March 2020, due in part to the coronavirus pandemic, sources told Us that the couple FaceTimed with the queen, Philip and Charles so they could see Archie. When the couple announced they were expecting baby No. 2 in February 2021, the family — with the exception of William and Kate — sent a public congratulations.
Later that month, things took a turn again when the twosome announced their royal exit was permanent.
“Following conversations with the duke, the queen has written confirming that in stepping away from the work of the royal family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service,” the palace said in a statement in February 2021. “The honorary military appointments and royal patronages held by the duke and duchess will therefore be returned to Her Majesty before being redistributed among working members of the royal family. While we are all saddened by their decision, the duke and duchess remain much-loved members of the family.”
The couple subsequently fired back in a statement of their own: “As evidenced by their work over the past year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain committed to their duty and service to the U.K. and around the world and have offered their continued support to the organizations they have represented regardless of official role. We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.”
Leading up to the interview, The Times reported accusations that Meghan mistreated her palace aides and staff prior to the 2020 exit. While Meghan denied the allegations, noting in a statement to Us in March 2021 that she was “saddened” by the “latest attack on her character,” the palace revealed they were investigating the claims.
“We are clearly very concerned about allegations in The Times following claims made by former staff of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex,” the statement read. “Accordingly our HR team will look into the circumstances outlined in the article. Members of staff involved at the time, including those who have left the Household, will be invited to participate to see if lessons can be learned The Royal Household has had a Dignity at Work policy in place for a number of years and does not and will not tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace.”
According to an insider, the twosome’s inner circle believes that Buckingham Palace’s statement was a direct response to the upcoming interview.
“The assumption from friends close to Meghan and Harry is that the palace has released this statement to strike back at Harry and Meghan for doing the [tell-all] interview,” the source said. “The palace knows that they will not be cast in the best light by Harry and Meghan on Sunday and doesn’t want Harry and Meghan coming off as victims.”
Harry and Meghan filmed a sit-down interview with CBS for March 2021.
“I don’t know how they could expect that after all of this time we would still just be silent if there is an active role that The Firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us,” Meghan said during a sneak peek of the special. “And if that comes with risk of losing things, there is a lot that has been lost already.”
Sources told Us that William and Kate were “appalled” by their decision to do the interview, especially as Philip remained in the hospital amid his ongoing heart condition.
During their CBS tell-all in March 2021, Harry and Meghan gave an update on their status with his family, noting that she checked in during Philip’s health scare.
"This morning, I woke up earlier than H., and saw a note from someone on our team in the U.K. saying that the Duke of Edinburgh had gone to the hospital," Meghan said during the special. "I just picked up the phone and I called the Queen just to check in. I just called, that’s what we do."
Meghan added: ”So, there's the family, and then there's the people that are running the institution. Those are two separate things. It's important to be able to compartmentalize that because the queen, for example, has always been wonderful to me."
One year after their royal exit, Meghan and Harry welcomed their second child, naming their daughter Lilibet in honor of the queen. “Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet,” they said in a statement on their website.
A source told Us at the time that Lilibet was the couple’s “favorite” name option, but it “was important for them that the queen signed off” on the moniker. “They both agreed it would only be right if Her Majesty gave her approval, especially with something so personal,” the insider added.
Meghan returned to the U.K. for the first time in two years when she and Harry stopped in England to visit the queen on their way to the Invictus Games in the Netherlands. One month earlier, the twosome skipped a memorial for Philip, who died in April 2021.
Meghan traveled with Harry and their two little ones, Archie and Lilibet, to England to attend their first royal event since stepping down from their senior duties in March 2020 — the queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
A source told Us at the time that the couple “wouldn’t miss it for the world” and kicked off the weekend activities by attending Trooping the Colour in honor of the monarch’s historic 70 years on the throne. While the couple did not stand alongside Elizabeth on the Buckingham Palace balcony, they weren’t far away, instead taking in the parade from the Major General’s Office.
The royal family sent their standard social media messages to Meghan on her 41st birthday.
“Wishing a happy birthday to The Duchess of Sussex,” William and Kate’s official account tweeted alongside a photo of Meghan at the queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Charles and Camilla’s account opted for a picture from the Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral, writing, “Happy birthday to The Duchess of Sussex!”
In an interview with The Cut, Meghan further detailed the reasons she and Harry left royal life behind. The duchess pointed to the strict rules about releasing family photos as one example of what made life in "The Firm" so difficult.
“There’s literally a structure by which if you want to release photos of your child, as a member of the family, you first have to give them to the Royal Rota,” she explained. “Why would I give the very people that are calling my children the N-word a photo of my child before I can share it with the people that love my child?” the podcast host asked. “You tell me how that makes sense and then I’ll play that game.”
A spokesperson for Harry revealed the prince was traveling to Balmoral, Scotland to see the monarch before her death at age 96.
Though Meghan remained in London (the couple was in town for an engagement), she paid tribute to the queen after her passing was announced. “In loving memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022, the duke and duchess of Sussex's Archewell website reads.
Meghan joined Harry for a rare public reunion with William and Kate as they greeted mourners outside Windsor Castle. An insider told Us at the time that the appearance was the new Prince of Wales' idea. “William invited Harry and Meghan to join them,” the source explained. “They were delayed in arriving while they arranged the plans.”
Meghan remained in London for the queen’s funeral events and was one of the members of the family waiting to greet Queen Elizabeth II's coffin at Buckingham Palace on September 13. One day later, she rode with Sophie Wessex to Westminster Hall and was seen curtsying at the monarch’s casket inside the service led by Archbishop of Canterbury and Reverend Dr. David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster.
Meghan was spotted getting visibly emotional at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 19, 2022. She also looked somber leaving the Committal Service at St George’s Chapel with Harry.
While reflecting on her wedding to Harry, the duchess revealed in Netflix's Harry & Meghan that she was "guided" by others not to invite her half-sister's biological daughter, Ashleigh, to the nuptials.
"I don't think anyone understands what that very small comms team was dealing with. They just couldn't wrap their heads around it. And I have compassion for it. How do we explain that this half-sister isn't invited to the wedding, but that the half-sister's daughter is? And so with Ashleigh, the guidance at the time was to not have her come to our wedding," she recalled. "I was in the car with H. I had her on speaker phone and we talked her through what guidance we were being given and why this assessment was made and that's painful."
The couple also looked back on what went down with Thomas before the big day — and the father-daughter duo's subsequent estrangement. "Of course, it's incredibly sad what happened," Harry said. "She had a father before this. And now she doesn't have a father. And I shouldered that. Because if Meg wasn't with me, then her dad would still be her dad."
Meghan remembered the first holiday season she spent with her royal in-laws. "I remember so vividly the first Christmas at Sandringham. Calling my mom, and she’s like, ‘How’s it going?’ and I said, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s amazing. It’s just like a big family like I always wanted,'" she said of the 2017 Christmas during an episode of Harry & Meghan. "There was just this constant movement and energy and fun."
Her mood only got better when she was seated next to the late Philip for the celebrations that year — but things didn't go as planned. "At dinner, I was sat next to H’s grandfather and I just thought it was so wonderful," she added. "I was like, ‘Oh, we chatted and it was so great and I talked about this and talked about this.’ [Harry] was like, ‘You had [his] bad ear. He couldn’t hear anything you were saying.’ I was like, ‘Oh, well I thought it went really well.'"
Buckingham Palace confirmed that Meghan would not be joining Harry at the king’s coronation the following month. “The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet,” the statement read.
A source exclusively told Us that “Meghan is a mom first,” so while she “appreciates the invite,” she “wouldn’t miss her son’s birthday for the world.” The Archewell cofounder’s son Archie’s fourth birthday is the same day that Charles is being honored in the U.K.
“She feels very grateful to be included in such a special occasion by the royal family and is glad that Harry can go and show support on behalf of their family,” the insider added.
A second source told Us that the monarch is “thrilled” his youngest son will watch him get crowned, but Meghan will be missed. “Charles is sad that Meghan will not be in attendance,” the insider explained. “Charles was hoping the coronation would be a chance to better connect and maintain healing between them.”
When Charles was officially crowned king, Meghan stayed at home in California with the kids while Harry attended the coronation. “As much as Meghan appreciates the invite to the coronation, she wouldn’t miss her son’s birthday for the world,” an insider exclusively told Us, referring to the fact that Archie's 4th birthday was the same day as the ceremony. “Despite being the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan is a mom first.”
Another source told Us that Charles was "sad" his daughter-in-law wouldn't be present at the event. "Charles was hoping the coronation would be a chance to better connect and maintain healing between them,” the insider explained.
Harry, Meghan and her mother, Doria Ragland, were involved in a “near catastrophic” car chase in New York City following the 2023 Women of Vision Awards, a spokesperson for the Sussexes said in a statement at the time. The trio were chased by a "ring of highly aggressive" paparazzi, the rep said.
"This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers,” the spokesperson stated. “While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety."
One day later, Buckingham Palace told Us they wouldn’t be making a statement about the incident. “This is not something we’re commenting on,” the palace told Us at the time.
The NYPD later reported that no injuries or collisions occurred.
After news broke of Kate’s cancer diagnosis, both Harry and Meghan sent the princess their well-wishes.
“We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace,” Harry and Meghan said in a statement to Us Weekly at the time.
As they got older, Brandon and Brody entered the spotlight in 2005 via Princes of Malibu, which followed their mother’s marriage to David Foster. After Thompson filed for divorce, Fox pulled the remaining episodes. Brody went on to star in several seasons of The Hills, which debuted in 2007.
While the Jenner boys were seen on a handful of episodes of the E! show in the early seasons, Brody and Brandon weren’t cast members until season 7. Things took a turn when Kim opted not to give the former MTV star a plus one to her wedding to Kanye West in 2014.
While Brody and Brandon didn’t have public beef with Kendall and Kylie, their relationships haven’t been perfect either.
Caitlyn and Kris wed in 1991, causing the former athlete to spend more time with the Kardashian family.
“After Dad met and married Kris, family became a business for him, and I stayed away [for] most of my teenage years,” Brandon wrote in his book. “I didn’t want to be part of their dynamic. I know now, though, that Dad was pretty unhappy in that house and felt like [she] wasn’t treated well.”
Caitlyn, Kris, Kendall and Kylie attended Brandon’s wedding to Leah Felder in Hawaii. (Brandon and Leah split in 2018.)
While Kourtney, Kim and Khloé missed the ceremony, they all sent love on social media at the time.
While Brandon attended Kim and West’s overseas nuptials, Brody skipped the wedding after his then-girlfriend wasn’t extended an invite.
“To be completely honest, I don’t know Kanye. Like, at all,” he said on his then-podcast at the time. “I really don’t. I’ve had one conversation with him that maybe lasted 15 seconds or 20 seconds. I’ve known Reggie for a very long time. Reggie dated Kim for years and I developed a very close relationship with Reggie and [wife] Lilit [Avagyan]. We spent a lot more time together as a whole.”
Brody dissed Kim one year after the wedding drama.
“Look … @kaitlynn_carter and I finally get to go to a wedding together!!!” he captioned a later-deleted photo.
The Sex With Brody alum gave insight into where he stood with Kylie after he admitted he didn’t know she was pregnant with her first child until after she welcomed Stormi.
“Well, to be honest, I didn’t even know she was pregnant for the entire pregnancy. Now I found out and would love to see her,” he told TMZ. “Relationship’s always been there, but you know, they’re busy. It is what it is. I would love to meet the baby.”
That same year, he revealed Kendall and Kylie didn’t respond to his invite to his wedding. “My two little sisters, we never even heard from them. They never even RSVP’d I don’t think,” he said.
Brody gave an update on his relationship with his dad, who transitioned in 2015.
“Bruce was just never really around — every so often, maybe once every couple years. Wasn’t around for my graduation, wasn’t around for most of my birthdays so, yeah, it really wasn’t any relationship. It was very surface,” he said on The Hills: New Beginnings in 2019. “Eventually, we started to become closer but then all of a sudden, it’s like, I was just getting to know Bruce and then Bruce became Caitlyn. … She’s totally different. It’s awesome, it’s great. She’s happy, she’s running around. She’s off living her life, so what I’ve learned is to just not expect too much from her.”
During another episode, he slammed Caitlyn for missing his wedding. “Honestly, it really did hurt and I would have loved to have had her there,” he said. “But she had better things to do. Apparently."
Brandon seemingly confirmed he wasn’t notified about Kylie’s second pregnancy, commenting, “No way!!!!! Congratulations,” on her Instagram reveal. She gave birth to a son with Travis Scott in 2022.
While they haven’t been publicly photographed together in years, an insider told Us that there wasn’t an active feud between Brody and Brandon and their half and step-siblings.
“There is no bad blood between the siblings at all. Brody and Brandon are supportive of the Jenners [and] Kardashians even if they’re not physically seen together all the time,” the source said. “Everyone has their own busy life. They live in the same town so they run into each other and sometimes even see each other at events. It’s not like they would ever avoid each other if they’re in the same room. They’re not obviously as close as they were when Kendall and Kylie were younger, but that happens in life – people grow apart.”
During an episode of The Kardashians, Brody joined Scott Disick in Las Vegas — where they ran into Kendall. "That's my beautiful sister," the Hills alum said in the October 2022 episode before hugging the model.
After having a rocky relationship for years, Brandon revealed that he and Caitlyn are “very close” and they talk “almost every day.”
“We’re both pilots, so we share a hanger, and we're up there at least a couple times a week working on planes and flying and stuff,” he told Us in January 2024 of the duo’s shared interests. “So, we're very good friends and we have a great relationship, definitely better than it's ever been, or just more close than it's ever been, which is nice.”
Brandon also confirmed that his three kids have met Kylie’s children but haven’t spent a lot of time together due to their busy schedules.
There are two ways for Bachelor Nation members to keep the engagement ring gifted to them by the ABC series. Make it down the aisle … or stay engaged for at least two years. So who do they give it back to?
During a 2016 interview with StyleCaster, Neil quipped that the diamonds go to “ring heaven” if the couple doesn’t last.
“After they get the ring, I don’t have a say in it, and what happens after that, I don’t know,” he said. “I do make these rings with a great deal of passion — I have my whole staff working on them, with a lot of romance involved. And we hope it lasts forever. And surprisingly, there are some that are doing amazingly well.”
“[We were together for] 18 months and the reason I know that so well is because I remember they wanted to, like, take my engagement ring away. And I was like, ‘No, this is part of my history, like, this is mine, you cannot have it!’” Ali recalled. “Per the contract, it was supposed to be two years, but they let me keep it.”
While the former reality TV star is now happily married to Kevin Manno, with whom she shares daughter Molly and son Riley, Ali admitted she was “emotionally distraught” from the breakup at the time.
“I was like, ‘You’re not taking this from me, like, I’m keeping it.’ I put my foot down,” she told Us. “And then they were fine with it. They understood when I, like, broke it down.”
The two-year rule wasn’t established in 2004, per the season 4 winner, who auctioned off the promise ring Bachelor Bob Guiney gave her. Per reports at the time, she sold the $45,000 piece of jewelry for $22,300.
According to Jesse Csincsak, his ex and former lead was obligated to give her ring back in 2008 after they lasted less than one year. ”In the contract, it says if you are not together for two years after the final day of the show airing, you have to give them back the ring," he told Bustle.
DeAnna confirmed she returned the rock during a 2019 interview with Entertainment Weekly: “I had to give it back. It wasn’t painful for me because it had no meaning anymore."
The season 5 Bachelorette managed to keep her rock after calling it quits with Ed Swiderski one year after the 2009 finale. “I still have it. It’s in my panty drawer … but now I have to move it because everybody will know,” she quipped to EW.
The former Bachelorette told Us in August 2020 that producers let her keep her ring even though she and Roberto only lasted 18 months. “They were like, ‘That is something that's emotionally valuable to you, and we're gonna let you keep it,’” she recalled.
“I gave those back, gladly,” Emily, who got engaged to Jef Holm on season 8 of The Bachelorette and Brad Womack on The Bachelor season 15, told EW. “They just had bad omens.
The season 11 Bachelorette confirmed she kept her 2015 ring from Shawn Booth after their 2018 split. “I don’t know what to do with it … but I don’t feel right selling it,” she told EW.
In April 2023, Bristowe joined her fiancé’s “Trading Secrets” podcast and he asked about her former rock.
“Neil Lane has first rights of buying it back,” Bristowe explained, adding that she’d estimate she could sell the rock for $30,000.
The season 14 Bachelorette announced her split from Garrett Yrigoyen right around the two-year mark of her 2018 finale. She confirmed in December 2020 that she got to keep the ring. “I don’t want to reuse the diamonds for anything, like, for myself. I don’t want that juju,” she told Kaitlyn on her "Off the Vine" podcast, noting she was “never going to wear [the ring] again.”
During a separate interview with Insider in January 2021, Becca noted that the ring means “so much more” to her than just a token of ex Garrett.
"Some people who have been in my position still have their rings because it's a great remembrance of their time and the memories on the show, which I understand," she said. "For a hot second, I was like, do I sell it and donate all of the money to some charity? Do I sell it and put it towards a down payment on a house?"
Becca, did, however, return her Bachelor season 22 ring from Arie Luyendyk Jr. after he broke up with her for runner-up Lauren Burnham.
Becca went on to propose to Thomas Jacobs in spring 2022. That June, she told Us that she still has her ring from Garrett “somewhere in the house.”
“I haven't looked at it in over a year, but I still have it. It's around. I don't know what to do with it — probably sage it,” she quipped.
Slightly over one year after leaving season 16 of The Bachelorette early with fiancé Dale Moss, Clare and the former athlete split for good in October 2021. The former lead later revealed in March 2022 that she returned her diamond while in Los Angeles for an appearance on Clayton Echard’s season 26 finale.
“That was the reason I was in L.A. — I was taking my engagement ring back, [that's] the truth,” she said during an Instagram Live. “Which is fine, I mean, whatever. Why would I want to hang on to something that is — whatever.”
The season 18 Bachelorette and Nayte Olukoya split in June 2022, six months after the finale aired — meaning the rock is no longer hers. She addressed what the split means for her future jewelry collection for the first time in February 2023.
“It was my dream ring. I wanted the relationship to work. I was willing to put in work for the relationship. And I had the person take off,” she said on the “Almost Famous” podcast. “I feel like that was literally kind of stripped away from me. So it pisses me off. But I’m also like, ‘Great, I can't wait to do it, like, for real this next time with somebody who [I] really know will be there.’ S-t, I'm gonna have to figure out a different cut of a ring because pear-shaped ain’t happening anymore!”
Rachel and season 19 winner Tino Franco called it quits while the season was airing after he kissed another woman. She made a point to take off the ring during their heated breakup, which aired during the September 2022 finale, and revealed on the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast that she doesn’t have the 3.25-carat diamond anymore.
The season 19 co-lead stopped wearing her ring in November 2022 amid speculation about her status with Erich Schwer. The duo confirmed their split — which came two months after the proposal aired — later that month.
Theresa and Gerry Turner, the franchise's first Golden Bachelor, announced their divorce on Good Morning America three months after they tied the knot in January 2024. When asked what would happen to their rings, Theresa confirmed they would be returned.
"I think that's the rule," she said with a laugh in April 2024. Gerry chimed in, "But you know what? We don't have to give back the memories."
The season 21 lead has yet to reveal what she did with her Neil Lane diamond — but she noted winner Devin Strader, who received bling of his own when Jenn opted to propose to him first, returned his jewelry.
“I don’t know where the ring is. It’s somewhere. It’s insignificant at this point," she told Extra after the September 2024 finale.
The Bachelor franchise went nearly 20 years before an official divorce.
There are several pairings still going strong from The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise, but the majority of the duos who meet on the reality TV shows go their separate ways before they walk down the aisle. And while some consider Marcus Grodd and Lacy Faddoul the first Bachelor Nation divorce (more on them later), Krystal Nielson and Chris Randone made history in February 2020 as the first duo to legally end their marriage.
Krystal and Chris met while filming season 5 of Bachelor in Paradise during the summer of 2018. After getting engaged during the finale, they returned to Mexico to tie the knot in front of ABC cameras in June 2019. After less than a year of marriage, they announced their separation.
Several months after Krystal and Chris’ split made headlines, Bachelorette season 7 couple Ashley Hebertand J.P. Rosenbaum revealed in October 2020 they had quietly separated after nearly eight years of marriage. Since then, a few others have ended their respective marriages.
Scroll through for more on divorce in Bachelor Nation:
Three months after exchanging vows on The Golden Wedding, Gerry and Theresa, the first-ever Golden Bachelor couple, called it quits.
"We’ve looked closely at our living situations and we’ve kind of come to the conclusion mutually that it’s time for us to dissolve our marriage," Gerry, who lives in Indiana, said on GMA of his marriage to Theresa, who lives in NJ.
Bryan proposed to Rachel during season 13 of The Bachelorette in 2017. Two years later, they tied the knot in a March 2019 ceremony. After four years of marriage, Us Weekly confirmed in January 2024 that Bryan had filed for divorce from Rachel.
“If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I don’t like to put my personal affairs on social media and like to keep a safe space for our family,” he shared, in part, in a statement shared via social media. “Many of you know me as a chiropractor, and also a husband, my proudest role so far. After more than 4 years of marriage, Rachel and I have made the difficult decision to part ways and start anew.”
Us Weekly confirmed in January 2025 that Rachel and Bryan’s divorce had been finalized.
The season 4 Bachelorette married Stagliano — the twin brother of season 5 Bachelorette contestant Michael Stagliano — in October 2011. After more than a decade of marriage, the flight attendant announced their split.
“It is with immense sadness, Stephen & I have decided to end our relationship as a couple. We have been working hard for a long time — both as a married couple & as individuals & have come to the conclusion to remain separate,” she explained via Instagram in January 2023. “We remain loving parents to our beautiful children, Addison & Austin, & will continue to raise them together with love & faith.”
The pair met on season 3 of Bachelor in Paradise in 2016. They wed the following year in Mexico in a televised ceremony. News of Evan and Carly's split broke in December 2020 after three years of marriage.
In June 2022, Bass revealed it was still “hard” to talk about his split from Waddell. “I'm not out of it. … Like, it's still emotional,” he said on the “Talking It Out” podcast. “It's this deep sadness still, I don't know if you ever just get completely, like, perfect. There’s the scars and the wounds — they heal but they're also there to teach you and teach me and I’m trying my best.”
At the time, he also reflected on how the duo have approached coparenting their two children, daughter Bella and son Charlie.
“It's been a bit of a process,” Bass shared. “I really wanted, like, 50/50 but there's part of that you just have to give up and be, like, they're so young, they need their mom. It sucked. I hate it. I hate not being with them all the time. You work through it. It's never easy. There’s no such thing as easy coparenting. … But with Carly, it's fine. I think we've found our groove and it's good.”
Marcus and Lacy were the first successful Bachelor in Paradise couple, getting engaged during the season 1 finale in 2014. The following year, fans watched the pair exchange vows in front of Chris Harrison and the BiP season 2 cast. When news broke of their split in June 2016, however, Marcus revealed they were never legally married.
“It feels like she's a runaway bride,” he told Life & Style at the time. "When we came back [from Mexico], we were supposed to start the paperwork, but she stalled."
Three months after Chris told Us exclusively that he had recently received divorce papers from Krystal, the fitness guru announced she is pregnant and expecting her first child with boyfriend Miles Bowles.
Chris wrote via Instagram that the news was “icing on the cake for feeling truly broken.” He explained: “But I know in my heart I’m gonna find a super dope woman and have the most beautiful babies a dad could ask for. So, I’ll continue to follow my heart and let God guide my path in finding an incredible woman to build & grow with.”
Krystal and Miles welcomed daughter Andrea in March 2021.
The Bachelorette season 7 couple, who wed in 2012, share son Fordham and daughter Essex.
“We’ve done absolutely everything we possibly can to try to salvage this marriage,” J.P. wrote in October 2020 via Instagram. “I think we’ve both come to realize that we are just two very different people, with very different personalities and perspectives, who just don’t see eye to eye on a lot life fundamentals, those which are the building blocks for a happy and healthy marriage.”
Us broke the news in October 2021 that the pair finalized their divorce three months after J.P. filed the paperwork.
ABC announced the cast for season 29 of The Bachelor on Tuesday, January 7, revealing the 25 women who will be competing for Grant Ellis’ heart. And as always, there’s plenty to unpack with the group headed to the Bachelor Mansion for a shot with the 31-year-old day trader who was eliminated during week 6 of Jenn Tran’s season of The Bachelorette last year.
To start, Alexe, a 27-year-old pediatric speech therapist from Canada, “doesn’t do karaoke” — which could be an issue since Grant “can be found cheering on the Lakers, hitting strikes at the bowling alley, or belting out tunes at karaoke,” according to his bio. (Feels like a karaoke date is a no-brainer — don’t let Us down, ABC!)
Allyshia, a 29-year-old interior designer, is “a pumpkin spice season queen” who “drove a Barbie-pink Vespa in college” while Chloie, a 27-year-old model, “still sleeps with her baby blanket” and has “#NoShame.” Lawyer Dina, 31, is one of 11 siblings and will likely have a story line about dancing since one of her fun facts is “when asked what her favorite style of dance is, she says ‘Dina Dancing.’ #IYKYK.”
J’Nae, 28, has “a rose tattoo on her right forearm,” Litia, 31, “loves a good personality test” (is that like a Cosmo quiz?) and Radhika, 28, “is a self-proclaimed Harry Potter nerd.” Meanwhile, both Kelsey, 26, and Neicey, 32, have Kardashian references in their fun facts. (Neicey “would love an invite to the annual Kardashian Christmas party” and Kelsey “wants to study ‘empire building’ under Kris Jenner.”)
Sarafiena, 29, “has seen every episode of Grey’s Anatomy at least three times” (same, girl) and Vicky, 28, “is not herself without lip liner.”
The Bachelor returns to ABC Monday, January 27, at 8 p.m. ET. Keep reading to see the full cast:
Manalapan, New Jersey
Boxing Trainer, 30
Fun Facts:
- You will never see Alli Jo leave the house without lipstick on.
- Alli Jo is very organized but is terrible at folding.
- Alli Jo dreams of shopping in Dubai.
Tampa, Florida
Interior Designer, 29
Fun Facts:
- Allyshia drove a Barbie-pink Vespa in college.
- Allyshia is a typical Scorpio … very mysterious.
- Allyshia is a pumpkin spice season queen.
Atlanta, Georgia
Social Media Manager, 27
Fun Facts:
- Bailey’s comfort items include bread and a heating pad.
- Bailey once took a flight solely for the purpose of leveling up her status with an airline.
- Bailey dreams of seeing a polar bear IRL.
Howard Beach, New York
Insurance Salesperson, 30
Fun Facts:
- Beverly’s closet is color coordinated.
- Beverly aspires to visit all seven continents.
- Beverly’s first concert was the Jonas Brothers.
Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Public Relations Producer, 28
Fun Facts:
- Carolina describes her vibe as “cool grandma.”
- Carolina’s pet peeve is menus with no photos.
- Carolina dreams of being roasted by Nikki Glaser.
New York, New York
Model, 27
Fun Facts:
- Chloie loves a dirty martini.
- Chloie still sleeps with her baby blanket. #NoShame
- Chloie dreams of seeing herself on a billboard in NYC.
Fargo, North Dakota
Marketing Director, 26
Fun Facts:
- Christina loves matcha.
- Christina hopes to start a clothing line inspired by her grandparents.
- Christina’s favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.
Chicago, Illinois
Attorney, 31
Fun Facts:
- Dina has never met anyone who is cleaner and more organized than she is.
- Dina wishes she had more time to read for fun.
- When asked what her favorite style of dance is, she says “Dina Dancing.” #IYKYK
Los Angeles, California
Luxury Travel Host, 25
Fun Facts:
- Ella prefers glamping over camping.
- Growing up, Ella’s favorite look was a shirt with Justin Bieber’s face on it.
- Ella loves to play badminton.
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Account Coordinator, 28
Fun Facts:
- J’Nae loves taking pictures on her film camera.
- J’Nae’s love language is FaceTime.
- J’Nae has a rose tattoo on her right forearm! Coincidence!? Hmm …
Newton, Massachusetts
Client Service Associate, 28
Fun Facts:
- Juliana wants to own a dog-friendly bar one day.
- Juliana was raised on Frank Sinatra music.
- Juliana isn’t afraid of heights, but she has no interest in jumping off something high.
Brooklyn, New York
Interior Designer: 26
Fun Facts:
- Kelsey wants to study “empire building” under Kris Jenner.
- Kelsey wants to spend the night in an igloo someday.
- Kelsey loves to spend her summers in Martha’s Vineyard.
Wilmington, North Carolina
Retail Manager, 26
Fun Facts:
- Kyleigh lived in Uganda for four months.
- Kyleigh’s favorite movie is “Pearl Harbor.”
- Kyleigh loves line dancing.
Salt Lake City, Utah
Venture Capitalist, 31
Fun Facts:
- Litia is an incredibly fast swimmer.
- Litia loves a good personality test.
- Litia loves being outside but HATES hiking … like, truly loathes it.
Louisville, Kentucky
Ph.D. Student, 25
Fun Facts:
- Natalie is not a breakfast person.
- Natalie’s love language is gift giving.
- Natalie is a Seattle Seahawks fan.
Blythewood, South Carolina
Pediatrician, 32
Fun Facts:
- Neicey has always wanted to be a spy.
- Neicey would love an invite to the annual Kardashian Christmas party.
- Neicey loves experimenting with different coffees.
Birmingham, Michigan
Pediatric Behavior Analyst, 29
Fun Facts:
- Parisa has a rock collection.
- Parisa is a wiz with PowerPoint.
- Parisa relaxes by watching organization content on TikTok.
New York, New York
Attorney, 28
Fun Facts:
- Radhika brunches regularly.
- Radhika is a self-proclaimed Harry Potter nerd.
- A bucket list item for Radhika is to kiss someone in the rain.
Dallas, Texas
ICU Nurse, 31
Fun Facts:
- Rebekah has never met an animal she didn’t like.
- Rebekah loves to play Scrabble.
- Rebekah always aims to be the best-dressed person in the room.
Chicago, Illinois
Registered Nurse, 27
Fun Facts:
- Rose admits she is a terrible dancer.
- Rose thinks Julie Andrews is the GOAT.
- Rose would love to attend a Formula 1 race.
New York, New York
Associate Media Director, 29
Fun Facts:
- Sarafiena really wants to learn how to play tennis.
- Sarafiena rocked a bob during her college years.
- Sarafiena has seen every episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” at least three times.
Charlottesville, Virginia
Wedding Planner, 27
Fun Facts:
- Savannah loves a competitive game of Charades.
- Savannah dreams of planning the Met Gala one day.
- Savannah has a serious fear of owls.
Las Vegas, Nevada
Nightclub Server, 28
Fun Facts:
- Vicky takes pride in her calves of steel.
- Vicky is not herself without lip liner.
- Vicky would love to live on a vineyard in Italy.
New York, New York
Tech Engineer/Model, 27
Fun Facts:
- Nothing makes Zoe happier than puppies and babies.
- Zoe can’t and won’t live without tacos.
- Zoe was the first female wrestler to join her high school wrestling team.
Many expected Nikki Glaser to go full roast-mode at the 2025 Golden Globes, but the comedian is getting rave reviews from critics and viewers alike for her slightly tamer opening monologue.
Those fans of Glaser’s more savage jokes shouldn’t fear, however. While she wasn’t too brutal in the room at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on Sunday, January 5, Glaser didn’t hold back when delivering the jokes that didn’t make the cut during an appearance on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show on Monday, January 6.
“The Golden Globes is the only show where you can see the biggest stars and movies and television joined together with the same goal — getting out of here tonight before Dax Shepard asked them to do his podcast,” Glaser began from the list of jokes she called the “Stern file,” which she worked on in the writer’s room. “This is the last time all of you will be in the same room together until the Diddy trial.”
Stern subsequently stopped Glaser because he couldn’t believe she didn’t make the joke about Diddy.
Nikki Glaser.Sonja Flemming/CBS
“We had another Diddy mention that works better and led us to more other jokes,” she replied, referring to her joke included in the broadcast; “Zendaya is here. Zendaya, you were incredible in Dune [2]. Oh, my God, I woke up for all of your scenes. You were so good. And Challengers, girl? It was so good. I mean, that movie was more sexually charged than Diddy’s credit card. “Oh, I’m upset too. The afterparty’s not going to be good this year. But, we have to move on. A Stanley Tucci freak-off just doesn’t have the same ring to it. No baby oil this year, just lots of olive oil.”
Talking to Stern, Glaser explained why she opted for the version of the joke she told on CBS: “But that [cut] one was so fun, and it was so nice to be like, ‘I’ll just tell it to Stern anyway.’ And that one you don’t want to do, because it’s like you’re accusing the people of that room of being involved in that, and they might turn on you.”
Keep scrolling for more wild jokes that Glaser opted not to perform at the Globes:
A Moment for Luigi Mangione
Luigi Mangione.XNY/Star Max/GC Images
“Glen Powell is nominated tonight for Hit Man. Who would have thought that by the end of the year, you’d only be the second hottest hit man in America,” Glaser said before revealing, “And that one we didn’t do because people Luigi was a big deal for a while, and then it kind of faded and took a while for people to get it.”
Coming for the Catholic Church
“I love Conclave, and I think it’s about the cardinals choosing a new pope. And I think everyone should see it. It was so heartwarming. Honestly, it’ll touch you so much that the church will have to move it to another theater. Conclave is rated PG, bring the kids. They’ll love it. The Catholic Church will love it. Hot tip, you don’t need ID to get into the Conclave afterparty,” Glaser said, noting that she felt “Catholic Church pedophile jokes” are played out.
A Twist on the Adrien Brody Joke
Adrien Brody.Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
“Oh, look, it’s two-time Holocaust survivor, Adrien Brody,” Glaser said during the show, but the original quip was more detailed. “If Adrian Brody could go back in time, he would thank baby Hitler for his career.” When Stern asked if he broke her heart that she couldn’t deliver that quip, Glaser explained that her assistant didn’t understand it.
“My assistant is Gen Z, and she was like, ‘I don’t get it.’ And we’re like, ‘Well, there’s this whole thing where you could, if you have a time machine, you go back and kill Hitler and you prevent the Holocaust.’ And so it’s like, oh, we’re gonna lose a whole demo of people that don’t know. And then I just said Hitler for nothing,” she said.
An ‘Only Murders’ Jab
Meryl Streep and Martin Short in ‘Only Murders in the Building.’Disney/Patrick Harbron
“Only Murders in the Building is amazing. And I think it’s so cool that legends like Steve Martin, Martin Short, Meryl Streep, we’re still at it, putting up some of the best performances of their careers, and it’s so inspiring,” Glaser said. “And it just goes to show you, you are never too old to still need money. Guys, please don’t fightJake Paul, please don’t do it. Why are you still working so hard? Did you get caught up in Hawk Tuah girl’s crypto scheme?”
A Self-Deprecating Joke
“Amy Adams is nominated for her performance in Night Bitch, while I was totally snubbed for my performance in ‘Day Slut,’” Glaser, who is known for poking fun at herself in her sets. “The documentary category is tough, though, by the way, Night Bitch is what Diddy hears every evening before it lights out.”
A Nicole Kidman Gag
Nicole Kidman.Amy Sussman/Getty Images
“The Wild Robot is nominated tonight. And by that, I mean Nicole Kidman after two white wines,” Glaser said, noting she wishes she could’ve told that joke but wasn’t sure of Kidman’s reaction. “If she makes a face, then … [but] I think she would have been cool with it.”
Back to Ben
Affleck seemed to be on the brain. “[I almost said], like, ‘Am I gonna roast or am I gonna toast? You know what? I’m not roasting. I’m gonna toast.’ And I just did all these toasts that were roasts. Like, ‘Here’s to Ben Affleck, I can’t wait to see which Jennifer you try to ruin next,’” Glaser said. “And I argued like, ‘Oh, I didn’t say ruin them. I said he tried to ruin them so it’s not against them.’ But I was like, ‘That would have been insane.’”
A Cocaine Quip
“Denzel Washington is here. The only thing that has convinced more middle aged men they could pull off an earring than Denzel Washington is cocaine. Kate Winslet is a lot like cocaine. She’s white. She’s always with Leonard DiCaprio, and I can’t wait to find her at the after party tonight,” Glaser said.
A More Savage Bob Dylan Joke
Timothee Chalamet.Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
Glaser shared a different version of the Timothee Chalamet/Bob Dylan joke she told at the show. “To sound like Bob Dylan, Timothée Chalamet took years of vocal lessons because, apparently, that’s how long it takes to learn to smoke 40,000 cigarettes. Timothée took lessons in guitar, dialect movement and vocals to become Bob Dylan, while Bob Dylan became Bob Dylan the old-fashioned way – heroin and autism,” Glaser said, leading Stern to burst into laughter. “Undiagnosed, but come on now, a lot of songs about trains.”
‘Wicked’ x ‘Queer’
“Daniel Craig is nominated for his performance in Queer, which is a movie and not just what my uncle Chuckie calls Wicked,” she quipped.
She Spared Nic
“Nicolas Cage is here tonight looking well-rested after a night of sleeping in Elvis’s coffin,” Glaser said, leading to more laughs from Stern. “Nicolas Cage is here, and so is the band of skeletons that follows him playing Ragtime jazz.”
A ‘Rust’ Roast
Alec Baldwin.John Lamparski/Getty Images
“Please know that I know this is not nice,” Glaser began before launching into the joke: “Michael Keaton was so great in Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice and Alec Baldwin, sadly, did not come back to play a ghost because he was too busy making them.” She added that the joke was “too mean” and she didn’t want to “retraumatize” Baldwin.
A Tab Into Politics
“The film Anora is nominated for four awards tonight. It’s been called the most unflinching look at sex work since Matt Gaetz’s payment history,” Glaser joked.
A Final Blow
“Squid Games is a show where people starve themselves while ruthlessly competing for the ultimate prize. Oh, wait, no, sorry that’s this show,” she said. “I saw Joker 2 and, you know, it reminded me of when the first Joker came out and I was in the theaters and I was afraid someone was going to shoot it up. And then during Joker 2, I was really hoping they would.”
Mindy Kaling has been open about her health journey over the years.
Many fans met the comedian through her character on The Office, Kelly Kapoor, which debuted in 2005. In addition to recurring on screen, Kaling was in the writer’s room. During a season 5 episode, Kelly went on a diet inspired by Beyoncé — replacing meals with a cleanse that consists of lemons, cayenne pepper, water and maple syrup.
That same year, Kaling released her first book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? In the candid memoir, she wrote about creating a “makeshift diet formula” in high school after a classmate told her she would “be really pretty if you lost weight.” As a result, Kaling “would eat exactly half of what was put in front of me, and no dessert.”
The actress explained that she “stayed at a pretty normal weight until college” when she gained 35 pounds during the first six months of her freshman year. She dropped the weight by introducing exercise into her life but declared she would be “chubby for life” for four reasons: she has “no hobbies except dieting,” she has “no discipline,” men she’s “dated have been into me the way I am” and she’s “pretty happy with the way I look, so long as I don’t break a beach chair.”
Kaling’s new approach to wellness came after she navigated losing baby weight. She welcomed daughters Katherine and Anne in 2017 and 2024, respectively, and son Spencer in 2020.
The star wasn’t afraid to take fashion risks as she navigated her own body image issues.
"On TV, if you were really thin, then you could be the lead. Otherwise, you had to be like 250 pounds, and you had to be the slapstick comic relief," she explained on Good Morning America in 2021. "But what was crazy, what was left out, is just like this range of people which is a majority of American women over the age of 24. What if you're like a [size] 12 and you want to just live your life and look cute and date?"
Kaling’s character on The Mindy Project, Mindy Lahiri, became a fashion and body image icon in her own right, once declaring: “First of all, I am not overweight; I fluctuate between chubby and curvy.”
In her second book, Why Not Me?, released in 2015, Kaling wrote about a 21-day juice cleanse ahead of a Mindy Project scene in a whipped-cream bathing suit with James Franco.
“Like every heterosexual woman and gay man in the country, I think James is a very mysterious and sexy weirdo … I didn’t want him to feel my bra-strap pudge on the set,” she wrote.
While she loved that she got to dress like “a slutty teenage hitchhiker and it felt great,” she spent her days laying “in my bed, grinding my teeth, waiting for dawn to break.”
Kaling welcomed her daughter in 2017, opting not to reveal any details about the father of her kids.
“After I had my daughter I had to shoot a movie, like, two months later, so I was very much like, ‘Just give me grilled salmon and sautéed spinach. I’m going to eat that for three months,’” she recalled to Entertainment Tonight in 2022 of losing the baby weight.
"IDK who needs to hear this but," the Four Weddings & A Funeral producer wrote via social media in July, “WEAR A BIKINI IF YOU WANT TO WEAR A BIKINI. You don't have to be a size 0."
Kaling posted a pic in a one-piece bathing suit in August 2021.
“I feel like in conversations about fitness and exercise, if you’re going to be talking about someone who’s healthy and fit, you have to be a hard body with, like, a six-pack. But that’s not really how it works, and I have learned to embrace [my body] in the past six months [since having a baby],” she noted to Shape three months earlier.
“I eat what I like to eat. If I do any kind of restrictive diet, it never really works for me. I just eat less of it,” she explained to ET in April 2022. “I wish there was something more juicy or dynamic about the way that I’ve lost a little bit of weight, but that’s the way I’ve done it.”
Kaling’s thinner figure made waves online in December 2022 when she rocked a white dress for a holiday party.
“I never wear winter white! I was always so worried about it not being flattering and also about dropping food on it,” she explained via Instagram.
Kaling shared an Instagram snap in December of her plate full of pizza, pasta and chicken wings. However, a social media commenter was quick to point out that there was “no eating” in the shots.
“I actually think this concern is sweet. But I swear this is not my issue. But thank you for being kind,” the Velma voice actress replied.
Kaling showed up to the 2023 Oscars in a white custom Vera Wang Haute Couture dress that showed off her petite frame. However, when she hit the stage to present, the writer was wearing the same design in black.
Kaling shared that she still indulges in carbs while showing off her svelte figure at an event. "Head to toe @cultgaia for a @clooneyfoundationforjustice event and pasta eatin’ at @giorgiobaldi_ristorante with my beloved @juliaspowellart," Kaling captioned photos via Instagram in April 2023.
Shortly after playing Bridget in the coming-of-age movie, Lively landed the role of Serena van der Woodsen on The CW’s Gossip Girl. The teen drama, which premiered in 2007, shot the actress to superstardom and her star has only risen in the decades since.
After Gossip Girl wrapped, Lively launched a lifestyle site called Preserve. That same year, she and Reynolds welcomed their first child, daughter James. Preserve was shut down in 2015 and Lively returned to making movies.
The California native looked chic at The Shallows premiere in January 2016 wearing a strapless gown and leather gloves. Later that year, she gave birth to her and Reynolds second baby, daughter Inez.
Us confirmed in October 2019 that the actress had given birth to her and Reynolds' third child earlier that summer. Their daughter’s name, Betty, was later revealed.
Lively headed back to work after giving birth to promote her film Rhythm Section in January 2020. The star revealed that she was still on mommy duty as she pumped breast milk during a press day. “PUMP @therhythmsection press day Pump,” she captioned an Instagram Story photo of her Medela USA pump.
Lively and the Deadpool star documented their trip to drop off their vote-by-mail ballots in October 2020. She wore a chic tweed coat over pink trousers.
Lively looked her happiest when she received her COVID-19 vaccination in a photo shared via Instagram. “Find you someone who looks at you like I look at the heroic nurse vaccinating me 💕,” she captioned the March 31 post.
The Gossip Girl alum went on a date with Reynolds to a Yankees baseball game. “After 14 years in NY, I think tonight made me an official Yankee... ⚾️🍎,” she captioned her photos via Instagram on April 30.
The Gossip Girl alum supported her husband at the August red carpet premiere of Free Guy, matching her glitzy gown with a pair of sneakers. Days later, the Deadpool actor credited Lively’s help in the creation of the film.
“Free Guy wouldn’t be the movie it is without @blakelively,” he captioned an Instagram Story of the pair, adding a "partners in crime" animated sticker. “She was essential in every part of the making of this film, creatively and emotionally, and the cameo everyone is talking about was entirely her idea. #WorkWife.”
Lively launched her nonalcoholic line of mixers and drinks called Betty Buzz. The Betty in Betty Buzz is a nod to her late father, Ernest Brown Jr.’s mom and sister’s names.
Lively seemingly revealed that her fourth baby had arrived when she no longer had a baby bump while celebrating the Super Bowl in February. It wasn’t until June 2024 that Reynolds confirmed their son’s name is Olin.
“Drinking isn’t my thing. But for f* sake, flavor is,” Lively wrote via Instagram in June announcing her alcohol brand, Betty Booze. “Homemade recipes. Real fruit. Real ingredients. Quality booze. No crap. Also a real time saver. Which is why I really did it. @bettybooze.”
Lively joined the beauty community in July with the launch of her own brand, Blake Brown Beauty, tailored to hair products. (Her family’s last name is Brown, which he gave up when he married her mother, Elaine.)
She also reunited with Reynolds onscreen voicing Ladypool in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Lively starred as lead Lily Bloom in the highly anticipated movie It Ends With Us, which hit theaters in August. The story is based on the best-selling novel by the same name and follows Lily as she falls in love with an abusive surgeon named Ryle (Justin Baldoni) just as her first love Atlas (Brandon Sklenar) comes back into her life.
While promoting the project, rumors swirled that Lively and Baldoni didn’t get along and they were feuding off camera.
Lively filed a lawsuit against her It Ends With Us costar and director Baldoni in December 2024, claiming he sexually harassed her, inflicted emotional distress and invasion of privacy among other allegations. The filling came after the actress filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department one week prior.
Baldoni filed a countersuit in December 2024 against The New York Times for libel after the publication allegedly painted him a false light and invaded his privacy with its “We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine” article that claimed Baldoni sexually harassed Lively for months on set.
While Lively and Baldoni’s It Ends With Us lawsuits were filed at the end of 2024, the legal battle trickled over into the new year. Baldoni’s lawyers claimed on January 3 that Baldoni did not coordinate a smear campaign against Lively like she alleged.
“Justin Baldoni, from the get-go, said, ‘I don’t want to do anything negative toward her. I don’t want to hurt her,’” the attorney said during an appearance on the Today show. The lawyer also said that Baldoni plans to countersue Lively and release all of their text conversations from their time working together.
While the comedian made major headlines in May 2024 for her epic set at The Roast of Tom Brady, which streamed live on Netflix, it certainly wasn’t the first time she came for some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Glaser was also a force at Comedy Central roasts for Rob Lowe, Bruce Willis and Alec Baldwin. She’s since given insight into how she prepares for the big events, revealing she practices her jokes at stand-up sets for weeks leading up to the taping.
Glaser is taking the same approach for the 2025 Golden Globes, which she’ll host on January 5.
“I have I think nine shows between now and Sunday, because I want to keep testing out jokes and I want to keep getting the monologue in the [most] perfect place it can be,” Glaser told The Hollywood Reporter days before the ceremony. “Not every host does that. I’m lucky enough to be a comedian who can go and find these rehearsal spaces in front of a live audience, and I trust my audience members to not leak jokes or tell anyone. And we have enough jokes that even if they do, I’ll be OK.”
From Brady to Cybill Shepherd to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, keep reading for some of Glaser’s most savage jokes over the years:
Jewel
“Jewel is here, so as I call her, Trailer Swift. Jewel, I do not want to badmouth you since God already did. … Your teeth are like the Spice Girls, they’re all different colors and doing their own things.” (Roast of Rob Lowe)
Peyton Manning
“I love you in commercials. I’d say you’re the greatest of all time. You’re like the Tom Brady of commercials. Like, the greatest.” (Roast of Rob Lowe)
Rob Lowe
“Rob defies age … restrictions. God, I had such a crush on you when I was a little girl. If only I had known that’s when I had my best shot.” (Roast of Rob Lowe)
Martha Stewart
“Martha Stewart, shank you for being here . … I’m a huge fan and my mom is an even bigger fan. My mom has learned everything from Martha Stewart, including cooking, cleaning, and withholding affection.” (Roast of Bruce Willis)
“He’s so cute, so adorable. I bet you eat p—y, but only with the crust cut off first. Isn’t that his look? Speaking of crusty p—-y, I’ll get to you in a second, Cybill.” (Roast of Bruce Willis)
Cybill Shepherd
“Cybill’s gorgeous. I’m, like, honored to meet her. Her resume is insane — model, actor, singer, you name it. She’s f—-ed it.” (Roast of Bruce Willis)
Bruce Willis
“Your daughters must be so proud of their father … Ashton Kutcher.” (Roast of Bruce Willis)
Caitlyn Jenner
Mike Marsland/Mike Marsland/Getty Images for Sky
“You are such an incredible athlete. People forget just how fast you once ran … from your first family to go be on a reality show. Seriously, I know being a new mom is hard, but even Casey Anthony knows the current location of her daughter.” (Roast of Alec Baldwin)
Blake Griffin
“Blake, you look like a Black guy that got made by a printer running out of ink. Yeah. Chris Redd is here because Comedy Central wasn’t sure if Blake was Black or not.” (Roast of Alec Baldwin)
Alec Baldwin
Jim Bennett/Getty Images
“Alec Baldwin, what an honor to be here roasting Justin Bieber’s wife’s oldest, fattest uncle. I’ll never forget that voicemail when you called your daughter Ireland a thoughtless little pig. It’s got to be one of the worst things you can call your daughter — after Ireland, actually. That name, yikes.” (Roast of Alec Baldwin)
Kevin Hart
“No one works harder than this man. Do you know that every morning Kevin wakes up at 4 a.m. to make a shitty movie? No, I love your movies. Or as I call them ‘short films.’ No, I’m kidding. I hate them. No, sorry, Kevin, I don’t mean to belittle you, but you ‘be little,’ man. Like, you’re a tiny guy. Kevin is 5’2’’, 150 pounds. Um, 155 after The Rock finishes.” (Roast of Tom Brady)
“But let’s get to the reason we’re all here tonight. Uh, Drew Bledsoe. ‘Drew bled so Tom could run.’ But I’m gonna move on from you, just like your team did after you almost died.” (Roast of Tom Brady)
Tom Brady
“Tom Brady, five-time Super Bowl MVP, most career wins, most career touchdowns, you have seven rings. … Well, eight now that Gisele gave hers back, but … Tom, the only thing dumber than you saying yes to this roast was when you said, ‘Hey, babe, you should try jujitsu.’” (Roast of Tom Brady)
“I mean, you’re the best to ever play for too long. I mean … you retired, then you came back, and then you retired again. I get it. Hard to walk away from something that’s not your pregnant girlfriend. Hey. To be fair, he didn’t know she was pregnant. He just thought she was getting fat.” (Roast of Tom Brady)
Rob Gronkowski
“Tom also lost $30 million in crypto. Tom, how did you fall for that? I mean, even Gronk was like, ‘Me know that not real money.’” (Roast of TomBrady)
Ben Affleck
While Affleck wasn’t present at the 2025 Golden Globes, Glaser gave him a shout-out in her opening monologue.
“Tonight, we celebrate the best of film and hold space for television,” she said. “Yes, Wicked, Queer, Nightbitch: These are not just words Ben Affleck yells after he orgasms. These are some of the incredible movies nominated tonight.”
“Zendaya, you were incredible in Dune [2]. Oh, my God, I woke up for all of your scenes. You were so good,” Glaser told the actress. “And Challengers, girl? It was so good. I mean, that movie was more sexually charged than Diddy’s credit card.”
She added, “Oh, I’m upset too. The afterparty’s not going to be good this year. But, we have to move on. A Stanley Tucci freak-off just doesn’t have the same ring to it. No baby oil this year, just lots of olive oil.”
Benny Blanco
During the 2025 Golden Globes that January, Glaser congratulated Blanco on proposing to Selena Gomez one month earlier.
“Benny Blanco is here because of the genie who granted him that wish,” she quipped. “Man, lucky guy!”
Gomez was seen pointing up at the stage in response
The actor and the TLC singer, whose real name is Rozonda Thomas, started seeing each other romantically in November 2022, three months after her rep told Us Weekly that they were “just friends” when they stepped out together in Hawaii. By the New Year, the twosome were “in love.”
“I made it through the year that did everything it could to try and break me, and there were a lot of moments where I thought I would break, but here I AM,” the dancer wrote on December 31. “2022 was a year filled with the most ups, downs & heartbreak (if I’m being honest) that I have ever experienced, but I wouldn’t be who or where I am today without those life experiences … I’m eager to move forward, to no longer be defined by my past, and SO ready to start the next chapter of my life. 2023, LET’S SHOW ‘EM HOW IT’S DONE!”
Scroll through for Chilli and Lawrence’s relationship timeline:
As his divorce from Burke continued to make headlines, Chilli and Lawrence were seen together in Hawaii on August 8, with her rep telling Us that they were “just friends.”
“TLC had a show in Hawaii and has been touring most of the summer. There was a group that went to the beach,” Jordan said in a statement at the time. “Chilli simply wanted to get some sun after being on planes and tour buses for the last few weeks. TLC had a few more stateside shows before heading to Australia.”
"Chilli has this permanent smile on her face, she’s so happy and telling everyone she really likes Matthew," a source exclusively told Us. "He’s equally smitten and it’s very clear to everyone around them that what they have together has a huge amount of potential."
The insider added: "They didn’t intend for things to move as quickly, it was a go-with-the-flow situation but right away, they just clicked and wanted to be together as often as possible. They’re both very optimistic and excited though, it’s an incredibly happy time for them right now.”
"That's the game plan. That's what we're trying to do," the actor revealed to Entertainment Tonight when asked about expanding his family with Chilli. "My life is in complete bloom right now. I get to spend time with an amazing woman like Chilli. I've never gotten to be able to experience that kind of relationship before. She's really, really special."
Lawrence shed more light on his comments about wanting to possibly start a family with Chilli, telling E! News that he didn't intend to "pressure" his new flame. "She's an amazing person," he gushed. "She's already a mother, she has an incredible son. I respect so much as to how she's raised him. She'd be an incredible mother again, and I'd be incredibly lucky but that's way in the future."
After the Mrs. Doubtfire child star gushed about his intentions to start a family with Chilli, the singer remained coy about their next steps.
“You never know,” Chilli said during a March 17 appearance on the “Ryan Cameron Uncensored” radio show when asked about potentially having more kids. “I would never say that [I’m done]. I gotta be married for sure — and I’m not married, yet!”
A source told Us in March that the “Brotherly Love Pod” host “couldn’t be happier” in his romance with Chili. “Their chemistry is off the charts and he feels like he can totally be himself with her,” the insider exclusively revealed. “Their relationship couldn't be better and he can't wait to see what the future holds for them.”
As the pair’s bond deepens, Lawrence’s brothers Joey and Andrew Lawrence have already given their stamp of approval. “His brothers absolutely adore her and they completely approve of their relationship,” the source added. “In fact, they have never seen him so happy as he is with her. Matthew loves how well she gets along with his family, they hang out all the time and she fits right in. That is something he really values in their relationship because his brothers are everything to him.”
“It’s real and there is nothing fake about it,” the TLC singer told Page Six about her romance with Lawrence. “I’m here with him because I wanna be and he wants to be. We’re just so happy, we really are. I honestly didn’t think that I would experience what I’m experiencing now, and I was OK with that. He has changed everything [about] the way I look at relationships. It’s so different."
Lawrence and Chilli packed on the PDA as they counted down the last seconds of 2024 and welcomed a new year. The actor shared a video of the moment via his Instagram and captioned it,“HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 🎊 Hoping 2025 brings many blessings to everyone 🙌🏼”
Garrett got engaged to Kufrin during the season 14 finale in 2018, but by 2020 there was trouble in paradise. Kufrin announced that September that the pair called it quits after Garrett made waves for his controversial comments about “Blue Lives Matter” after George Floyd’s death.
Garrett bounced back later that year after meeting now-wife Alex. The pair tied the knot in November 2023 on Oahu. Us Weekly exclusively revealed in January 2025 that Alex is pregnant with the couple’s first baby.
“Immediately I got super giddy. I was pumped up,” Garrett gushed to Us at the time. “She ran over, and she’s like, ‘Oh, my God, can you believe it?’ I was like, ‘No way,’ because I was thinking, like, that happened so fast.”
Scroll through for a timeline of Garrett and Alex’s relationship from the start:
Garrett revealed via Instagram that he was dating Alex in October 2020. The twosome subsequently shared a series of photos from different days and trips, hinting that they’ve been in item for some time.
Kufrin seemingly reacted with a cryptic quote at the time: “Sunday lesson. Be mindful of how you react to people when you feel disrespected.”
The pair proved they were going strong on Christmas in December 2020.”Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all had an amazing holiday & fired it up. 🎅🏼⚡️🔥🎄,” Garrett wrote via Instagram at the time.
The former reality TV personality gushed about the yoga instructor after she planned a trip for his birthday in February 2021.
“Feeling fortunate and full of gratitude! Amazing time out on the water and at dinner with great people. Thank you all for the special birthday!” he wrote via Instagram. “Thanks @alexfarrarii for taking the time and energy to set it all up 😘⚡️."
“I love the life we are creating together G — you are my person and my best friend,” Alex captioned a 33rd birthday tribute via Instagram. “Happy happy Birthday and to another electric year around the sun. I am proud of you every day for chasing your dreams, and making them come true. I love you. ”
Alex marked Garrett's graduation from the fire academy.
“Honor, commitment, dedication and strength are just a few of the many qualities you displayed over the last few months. I’m proud — to say the least, of where you are today and the man you continue to show up as every single day.,,” she wrote via Instagram. “I will always remember this special day pinning your badge Here’s to your success my love! (and im now taking any advice from those with a partner in fire!) ”
Garrett proposed on a boat in San Diego.
“Our engagement was exactly how I imagined it,” he wrote via Instagram. “I love you so much Alexandra. I can’t wait to spend forever with you lil Al. #engaged #shellyeah.”
“Happy 3 years to my beautiful, smart, fun, loving, hard-working, fake harmonica playing, moon walking, car karaoke champion, yoga master, adventure co-pilot, ocean swimming, football throwing, banana pancake expert and so much more fiancé,” Garrett gushed via Instagram. “Can’t wait to come back here to take this same picture with you as my wife. Love you so much ❤️.”
The pair tied the knot on November 3. “Forever till the end of time … what a magic moment and the most perfect day,” Garrett wrote via social media, sharing photos from their nuptials. “I’m through the roof, over the moon, on top of the fricken world and down right FIRED UP to be married and starting this new journey with an incredible person and best friend. I’m looking forward to what the world has in store for us.”
“Merry Christmas 🎄 The best present is having you as a wife! Love you,” Garrett captioned a holiday Instagram snap. “Hope everyone has a great day with their families and loved ones.”
The couple exclusively told Us that Alex is pregnant with their first baby. They revealed she is due in June 2025.
“I’m just hopeful to have a little fishing buddy, boy or girl,” Garrett exclusively told Us, noting that he and Alex were not going to find out the sex of the baby before its birth. “Someone to go out adventuring with us, traveling around the world together. I need somebody out there fishing with me."
After Cooper tweeted that he was “appalled by the photo shoot,” calling it “clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate,” the network cut ties with Griffin.
Cooper continued to keep the coverage light by teaming up with pal Andy Cohen as his official cohost for the 2017-18 broadcast — and the twosome began their tradition of taking shots to celebrate the show.
A few years later, Cohen made headlines during the 2021-22 broadcast when he threw shade at Mayor Bill de Blasio and Ryan Seacrest. The outburst resulted in an alcohol ban for one year for both Cooper and Cohen.
Scroll through for the most-talked-about moments from the broadcast over the years:
During her tenure, the comedian made wives for cursing several times. In December 2008, she told a heckler, "I don't go to your job and knock the dicks out of your mouth.” The following year, she said the F-bomb, joked about threesomes and asked Cooper why he doesn’t “stare in the mirror all day and pleasure yourself because you're so gorgeous.”
After kissing a crew member during the 2010-11 show, Griffin planted one on Cooper the next year. The 2011-12 broadcast also featured her stripping down to just a bra.
Cohen isn’t the only one who has been tipsy on air. After several shots, Don Lemon ended 2016 by getting his ears pierced on air. During the same broadcast, the network seemingly cut his mic after he declared “2016 was awful.”
CNN announced in May 2017 that the network had “terminated our agreement with Kathy Griffin to appear on our New Year's Eve program” amid the fallout from her graphic Trump photo shoot.
Cohen’s first target on NYE was The Times Square Alliance. During the 2018-19 show, the Real Housewives producer claimed he and Anderson were being singled out after being asked to put down their umbrellas on the rainy holiday. Cohen ranted on air and alleged that the Alliance threatened to pull CNN’s credentials despite other networks using umbrellas.
The Times Square Alliance fired back in a statement at the time: “It has been our policy that umbrellas are not permitted on the media riser so as to not interfere with media colleagues’ sightlines. There were over 100 credentialed members of the media and 15 live broadcast camera spots on the media riser this year. We don’t monitor this issue on other stages that are stand-alone with no other networks present, thus no potential for other camera shots to be blocked. Some tempers flared, but it was never the case, nor will it be the case, that CNN would be denied credentials or the ability to cover New Year’s Eve.”
Cohen has been triggered by the (former) NYC mayor on several occasions.
“I just don't need to see that in the beginning of 2021,” he said after watching de Blasio and wife Chirlane McCray dance in Times Square during the 2020-21 show. “Do something with this city! Honestly, get it together!”
The next year, he declared that de Blasio wouldn’t be reelected.
“Watching Mayor de Blasio do his victory lap dance after four years of the crappiest term as the mayor of New York — the only thing that Democrats and Republicans can agree on is what a horrible mayor he has been,” Cohen said. “So sayonara sucka. 2022! It’s a new year because guess what? I have a feeling I’m gonna be standing right here next year, and you know who I’m not going to be looking at dancing as the city comes apart? You!”
“If you look behind me, you’ll see Ryan Seacrest’s group of losers performing. … I’m sorry but if you’re watching ABC, you’re watching nothing,” Cohen quipped during the 2021-22 broadcast. “We were doused with confetti from fake Journey on ABC. If it’s not Steve Perry, it doesn’t count! You get it? It’s not Journey! It’s propaganda! It’s propaganda! It’s not Journey! It’s not Journey! No, that was not Journey. Steve Perry is Journey.”
That same year, Lemon joked about “broke dick” with comedian Dulcé Sloan and told haters: “You can kiss my behind, I do not care."
Cohen later apologized to Seacrest for his comments and the pair made amends. “I don’t like fighting with people,” Cohen said during a January 2023 episode of On Air With Ryan Seacrest. Seacrest insisted, “Well, we’re not [fighting]. We’re not.”
Following Cohen and Lemon’s drunken antics on the 2021-22 show, Variety reported that the network wanted to sober up the show. Cohen fired back at the claims on WWHL, saying that he and Cooper were going to “party harder" for the 2022-23 broadcast. He also addressed the situation during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“What [CNN CEO Chris Licht] said was that he didn’t want the correspondents out there drinking, but that he wanted Anderson and I to do our thing,” he said in November 2022. “So I’m happy to do our thing. My only directive for years on CNN has been to have fun on New Year’s Eve, and that is absolutely what I plan to do."
Despite his claims to the contrary, Cohen and Cooper were not allowed to drink during the 2022-23 broadcast. “Are you going to be able to make it?” Cooper asked Cohen at the start of the December 31, 2022, countdown.
“That’s the question. We will see! Do I have a pocket full of edibles? I do. Will I take them? I don’t think so,” Cohen teased. “I don’t know, it’s a long night. This is a telethon with no disease, do you understand? We’re here all night passing time.”
During the 2023-24 broadcast, Cooper and Cohen brought back their annual tequila shots and shenanigans ensued. In addition to Cohen laughing uncontrollably over John Mayer making a cameo from a cat café mid-show, Cooper went off on the French over their coffee choices.
"The thing that drives me nuts about France is they don't know what iced coffee is," Cooper shared, noting that he celebrated Christmas in Paris. "Literally, I would go into every cafe and ask for iced coffee and they would look at me like I was the first person in the world that has ever even mentioned there is such a thing as black coffee with ice."
While Cooper got fired up over coffee, Cohen went off the rails talking about his theory that The Brady Bunch’s Alice (Ann B. Davis) was actually a lesbian.
“When are we going to admit that Alice was a lesbian? Wake up America!” Cohen yelled, hinting that Alice’s romance with Sam the Butcher (Allan Melvin) on the show was a cover story. “We all have Sam the Butcher?” he added. “What does that mean?” Cooper said with a laugh, to which Cohen admitted, “I don’t know.”
Eight years after filing to legally end their relationship, Brad Pittand Angelina Jolie have settled their divorce.
Jolie, 49, and Pitt, 61, signed off on their divorce on Monday, December 30, Us Weekly confirmed.
“More than eight years ago, Angelina filed for divorce from Mr. Pitt. She and the children left all of the properties they had shared with Mr. Pitt, and since that time she has focused on finding peace and healing for their family,” Jolie’s lawyer James Simon told Us in a statement. “This is just one part of a long ongoing process that started eight years ago. Frankly, Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved this one part is over.”
Pitt and Jolie were together for a decade before they exchanged vows in August 2014. Two years later, Jolie filed for divorce in September 2016 after two years of marriage and a decade as a couple, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split. They share six kids: Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh and twins Knox and Vivienne. Jolie’s rep said at the time that she filed for divorce “for the health of the family.” Pitt was later investigated by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services regarding an incident with their eldest son on a plane. Although the allegations — which Pitt has denied — were investigated by the FBI, no charges were brought against the actor.
The exes have been declared legally single since November 2019, but have been battling it out in court over custody issues and their French winery, Château Miraval.
In November, Jolie took a major step forward in her ongoing legal feud with Pitt when ajudge tentatively ruled that the actor must turn over documents and communications that Jolie claimed would prove that he covered up alleged domestic violence against her and their children.
“I want to again emphasize that Angelina never wanted any of this. She never pressed charges, she left all their properties, and she is the one who tried to sell him the business in the first place,” Jolie’s attorney Paul Murphy exclusively told Us in a statement at the time. “To this day, Mr. Pitt has never been held accountable for his actions and has at all times controlled Miraval and the winery, yet he still demands more.”
The statement concluded: “She wants this to end, the children want this to end, and Mr. Pitt should focus on healing their family,not pursuing lawsuits. If he does not, Angelina will defend herself in court by presenting the evidence necessary to demonstrate that Pitt’s allegations are demonstrably false.”
A source close to Pitt exclusively told Us later that month that the ruling was “mostly irrelevant because he has provided so much information already.”
Jolie and Pitt have also continued to fight over Miraval throughout this past year, which is not connected to their divorce proceedings. The legal battle over the $164 million French estate and winery began in February 2022 when Pitt filed a lawsuit against her claiming she illegally sold her shares of Château Miraval. Pitt claimed that he and Jolie previously agreed they could only sell their shares with each other’s approval.
In November, Us confirmed that a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the Château Miraval case heading to trial — and Pitt’s remaining claims against Jolie have been allowed to proceed. The judge upheld that Pitt has sufficiently alleged a contract regarding shares in the holding company, and Pitt’s claims were valid on two counts of interference. The update came after a judge previously shut down Jolie’s attempts to have the case tossed.
The Southern Charm star and the Summer House personality crossed paths while starring on their respective Bravo shows. “I met Craig, actually, three years ago and he was single. I had a boyfriend, and I absolutely respected that I was in a relationship,” DeSorbo exclusively told Us Weekly in October 2021, referring to ex Perry Rahbar.
While they initially struck up a friendship, DeSorbo and Conover spent more time together in 2021 when they filmed Winter House — but never crossed the line. Conover was dating Natalie Hegnauer at the time, but the pair called it quits not long after he wrapped the crossover series.
Conover confirmed he was single in May 2021. Things between him and DeSorbo were on by the summer, per insiders, and by the fall, the twosome were officially dating.
“We actually love long-distance,” DeSorbo told Us in October 2021. “I feel like we’re more present with each other when we are together.”
After three years together, DeSorbo confirmed their split in December 2024, saying on “The Giggly Squad” podcast, “I love him, I think he loves me. I think we will remain friends. No one did anything. It wasn’t a bad thing. I think we both were just being really mature and saying what we want and what we didn’t want, and I think that’s extremely powerful to be able to voice how you’re feeling in real time and what you want for your future.”
Scroll through for a complete timeline of their relationship:
The twosome were joined by Cooke, Amanda Batula, Lindsay Hubbard, Luke Gulbranson, Ciara Miller, Austen Kroll, Andrea Denver, Julia McGuire, Gabrielle Kniery and Jason Cameron to film season 1 of Winter House for 17 days in February 2021.
After filming on the crossover series wrapped, fans were convinced something went down between DeSorbo and Conover in Vermont after she traveled to Charleston with friends. She denied they were dating during an April 2021 interview with Us.
The duo confirmed their relationship at Batula and Cooke’s September nuptials.
“We did get a little drunk at the wedding and threw a Story up there from the photo booth,” DeSorbo told Us one month later. “[But] I’m just waiting [for] the right scenery to happen to snap [an official] pic.”
While promoting season 1 of Winter House, DeSorbo gushed about Conover during an exclusive interview with Us.
“You’ll just have to see how it kind of plays out toward the end of our vacation. It sounds so cliché, but Craig just gets me,” she said. “There’s a lot of things I don’t have to explain to him because we look at things very similarly. It just fits, like, it just is very natural and it’s a lot of fun.”
During an interview with E!'s Daily Pop, DeSorbo shared that the pair celebrated Thanksgiving together with Conover's family in Delaware and her family in New York. When asked about a possible engagement in the future, she quipped, "I mean, we have only been dating for a couple of months. But if I can trick him into a diamond ring, I'm going to do it!"
The couple became Instagram official after attending the season 8 Southern Charm wrap party in Charleston. “Sew in love,” DeSorbo captioned the snap, giving her boyfriend’s sewing skills and company, Sewing Down South, a shout-out.
DeSorbo and Conover’s love story will play out on the season 4 of Summer House, but their romance actually started a few months before filming in the summer of 2021. The New York native explained to Entertainment Tonight that she and Conover first kissed in April 2021 but were just “casually dating” in the months that followed — which viewers will see on the Bravo series.DeSorbo was also keeping things casual with her Winter House flame, Andrea Denver, after the Vermont spinoff filmed in March 2021. She explained in January 2022 that she was single when the Summer House cameras started rolling in July 2021 — but she did find herself in a bit of a love triangle when Conover came to visit the Hamptons house and Denver was staying there too.“Craig was not the reason I stopped hanging out with Andrea,” she told ET. "I was no one's girlfriend, so I was very much in the mentality of, I don't really owe any of these guys any explanation on my decisions because I'm not their girlfriend. So I definitely was playing the field all spring and certainly all summer."
"I can't pinpoint a certain thing that he did or said, it was kind of just realizing how I felt about myself when I was with him," DeSorbo told Entertainment Tonight as to why she started seriously dating Conover. "And it was just kind of undeniable. Little things that I would get excited — if I had a text message from him on my phone — and it didn't even compare to when other guys would text me. So I knew that I was very into him a lot more than any other suitors that were around." She added: "We've had such a great six months already. We've talked about big things, just to see if we're aligned the way we feel about certain things — and we definitely are — but we're not even a year into our relationship. So, have we talked about a marriage and engagement, it's a normal conversation, but there's nothing very serious happening. We're only six months in."
The couple enjoyed a night out in the Big Apple while Conover was in town visiting DeSorbo. “First Broadway show!” the southern gentleman captioned a snap of the pair outside of Disney’s production of Aladdin, noting that it was an “awesome night.”
“Do I look like someone who’s getting married on a beach? Does it look like I’m not going to wear shoes at my wedding?” DeSorbo exclusively told Us while attending the Sports Illustrated Proudly Presents The Party of her and Conover’s future wedding plans. “If we can see the ocean, I’ll compromise with that, but I’m not getting married on the beach.”
Conover, for his part, told Us that his girlfriend can have “whatever she wants” as long as the Bahamas is a possible venue spot, noting they’ve only been dating for seven months.
The Delaware native gushed about his girlfriend and their dynamic, saying, “We are each other’s biggest fan, so it really helped. I think I’m always rooting for her, she’s always rooting for me, which honestly goes really far in a relationship. Especially with our lives comes so many challenges.”
DeSorbo, for her part, recalled having a “crush” on her man for “three years” after seeing him on Southern Charm. Conover added that he “always had a crush” on his girlfriend. “I think so,” he concluded when Us asked whether DeSorbo is his person.
“I was upset for a while, but you gotta suck it up. It just is what it is at the end of the day,” the Pillow Talk: What's Wrong with My Sewing? author exclusively told Us about how his relationship with DeSorbo played out on season 6 of Summer House. “The fact that they made our relationship anything [negative] — it was pretty disappointing. I [had] just gotten out of a long-time relationship. She was doing her own thing and we lived in different cities and for three months we just, you know, we did our own thing and honestly it worked.”
Conover continued: “I really wished, you know, some more of the positive would've been focused on [with Paige]. At the end of the day, you let it go and it is what it is. … They cut our date because it was so positive and so happy that it wouldn't have made sense to show it. Those were the things that I was really upset about because Paige and I, we are a good example of a non-traditional relationship ending up in a really great place.”
The southern gentleman further explained that while the beginning of the romance was “shown in a pretty dark light on television” they are now in a good place. “My parents [approve]. I don't think I would be allowed to be with anyone else if Paige and I didn't make it. My mom has decided that Paige is her daughter-in-law. And I feel the same about her parents,” Conover told Us. “We've only been officially dating for a little over six months … and no one ever plans on breaking up or bad things happening, but in our perfect world, yes, we'll get married and have a family.”
The businessman told BravoTV.com that his girlfriend would be joining him in Charleston for May and June to help him make decisions on his home renovations. "I'm having a ton of stuff done to my house, and she's definitely got an input on all those new changes, which really excites me," Conover told the outlet. "I'm getting it ready to live with a partner." He added that while this stay is only “temporary” the duo are "excited to move in together eventually. That's definitely the direction we're headed.”
On an episode of “Behind the Velvet Rope with Davi Yontef,” the Southern Charm star warned fans that they shouldn’t expect an onscreen proposal from the couple.
"I think if you guys ever saw it, the answer would be ‘No' from Paige. We do a good job of keeping…some of our milestones outside of the camera's reach,” the Delaware native said, adding: “You won’t see a proposal until we’re at least together for a year.”
“If people mutually hate us, it kind of brings us together,” DeSorbo told E! News in July 2022, noting she feels “lucky” to be dating a man who understands what it’s like to show off life on reality TV. “I'm like, 'Everybody hates us.' And he's like, 'Whatever, I love you.’"
“Honestly, Carl [Radke] and Lindsay getting engaged made everyone start asking me [about my own possible engagement], so I’m livid,” DeSorbo joked during BravoCon’s “Summer House in Autumn” panel.
The stylist then commented on her relationship with Conover after more than one year together. “But I am not in a rush to do anything. I feel like I really love where we are right now,” she explained, noting she recently gave her beau “closet space” which she called a “really big milestone.”
DeSorbo exclusively told Us during the New York City event that giving Conover “some room and a closet” was her “version of being engaged.” She recalled, “He was very, very happy. I mean, I thought he was gonna cry at [one] moment. He was like, ‘I can’t believe you did this for me.’ And I was like, ‘Stop. Don't make it a thing!’”
In all seriousness, DeSorbo told Us at BravoCon that the duo have come a long way since they started seeing each other. “I think the first year of your relationship is just, everything's so new and so fresh,” she revealed. “And especially to live, like, in this world that we live in and be able to experience BravoCon with each other, it makes it that much sweeter.”
Miller exclusively told Us that DeSorbo and Conover were “so good” after their ups and downs on season 2 of Winter House. She noted that the couple were “still so new in their relationship” when they filmed the reality show in early 2022.
“Now, I feel like they know each other so much better and they are more adjusted to kind of, like, what makes each other tick,” the nurse added.
Batula also weighed in on the duo’s TV struggles, exclusively telling Us, “He didn't need to wait to see things air and play out to realize what he did wrong or how he acted might have been inappropriate. ... I think that's huge and the two of them have only grown since then. Closer and stronger.”
When it comes to the next steps, Batula revealed that she thought DeSorbo could eventually move to Charleston for Conover. “I feel like Paige will follow in her mom's footsteps of these amazing, like, dinner parties and plate settings and all of her holiday events,” she told Us. “I think that's what Paige wants and she'll get that down south.”
DeSorbo was all smiles as she cozied up to her boyfriend during a weekend getaway following rumors that they were on the rocks toward the end of 2022. The couple shared photos via social media while attending a pal’s wedding, including snaps of a day out on a boat together.
"We don't post a lot together but she's always by my side. It was really awesome having her with me on set," Conover captioned an Instagram video of DeSorbo while referring to an upcoming movie appearance. "If anyone needs someone to run lines with, she's your girl."
DeSorbo admitted during an April 2023 episode of Summer House that the “thought of getting engaged and getting married and being someone’s wife is very f—king scary.” The following month, her relationship once again faced a bump in the road when Conover had his own doubts.
“Everyone in the world can see that something is wrong except the one person that I wanna see,” Conover told DeSorbo during the May 15 episode the show, which was filmed in September 2022, referring to his girlfriend seemingly ignoring how sad he was that he missed his mom’s birthday.
When the New York native confronted Conover about what he was crying about, he quipped: “Every time I get sad about something or I have a feeling, your response is, ‘Stop being a f—king p—y.’”
The businessman later confided in Cooke, saying, “I’m just sad. I just feel like I have to have a solid rock in my life.” While Cooke insisted that he had both his company and DeSorbo as something “solid” in his life, the Delaware native said, “Sometimes I just feel really alone.”
DeSorbo revealed to Elite Daily that she and Conover considered getting married during BravoCon weekend in Las Vegas. “I said, ‘Let’s go do it in a chapel,’” she recalled of the November getaway. “Craig chickened out, though.”
Conover was happy with his choice, explaining, “I’m not going to get married in Vegas. I want something more real than that.” DeSorbo joked, “What’s more real than me, you and Elvis, honey?”
The pair proved their relationship is going well — and full of trolling — on Valentine’s Day. “Life is this. I like this,” Conover wrote via Instagram, sharing a montage of moments with DeSorbo set to Anella Herim’s “Tennessee Love Song.”
DeSorbo initially poked fun at the over-the-top heartfelt tribute, writing in the comments, “CRAIG I’M ALIVE I DIDN’T DIE.” She added, “I take a nap for two hours and this is what happens on the internet.” DeSorbo added a third comment with three pink hearts, seemingly giving Conover the stamp of approval for the post.
Later that month, DeSorbo once again called out her boyfriend’s social media activity after Conover posted a sexy picture of himself after a gym workout. “Did you just post a thirst trap? We will talk when I get home,” she teased.
“Craig and I have decided to no longer be together,” DeSorbo revealed, confirming her split from Conover. “I have so much love and respect for Craig. I think he is one of the best people I’ve met in my entire life. I will remain the biggest fan for him and want the best for him, and he truly will get the best, because he is the best. But, with that said, I think it is the right decision for both of us.”
Kelsey Anderson and Joey Graziadei, Theresa Nist and Gerry Turner, and Jenn Tran.
More than two decades after The Bachelor premiered, the franchise still never fails to deliver plenty of headlines.
The year began with 5.22 million fans tuning in to see The Golden Bachelor stars Gerry Turner and Theresa Nistexchange vows live on ABC on January 4, with more than 50 Bachelor and Bachelorette alums in attendance. Three months later, they called it quits — but they weren’t the only ones.
Also in January, news broke that season 13 Bachelorette couple Rachel Lindsay and Bryan Abasolohad filed for divorce after four years of marriage. Things between the pair quickly got messy, with Bryan seeking large amounts of spousal support and Rachel claiming she found out he took legal action via text.
It wasn’t all wilted roses in 2024, however. Season 28 Bachelor Joey Graziadei won the hearts of Bachelor Nation and now-fiancée Kelsey Anderson. The proof was in the numbers as Joey’s season was one of the most-watched in years (outside of Gerry’s season) and Joey and Kelsey both gained large Instagram followings (Joey is just shy of 1 million and Kelsey hovers around 827,000) just as it seemed like the reality show wasn’t breeding influencers like it used to.
OG Golden Bachelorette Joan Vassos also got engaged in 2024, accepting a ring from Chock Chapple during the November finale. It’s still early for the duo, but all signs point to a long engagement (in comparison to Theresa and Gerry) and plans to make it work.
Keep scrolling for more of the biggest Bachelor Nation moments of the year — plus, what they could mean for the future of the franchise:
Gerry and Theresa’s Wedding, Divorce and Revelations
Gerry and Theresa announced their breakup on Good Morning America in April. At the time, distance was mostly cited as the cause for their divorce as they struggled to agree on where to live despite plans to relocate to Charleston. Fans later learned in December that Gerry had been diagnosed with an incurable cancer shortly after the wedding, which he told People “had a huge bearing on my decisions and I think probably Theresa’s as well.” Theresa denied that she broke up with Gerry because he was sick, but acknowledged that his decision not to leave Indiana affected their marriage.
Takeaway: After getting invested in the senior franchise, some fans were quick to write it off because of Gerry and Theresa’s whirlwind divorce. While their love story still came to an early end, learning about Gerry’s health battle, which began weeks into the marriage and only months after they met on the show, changed things for Us.
Joey and Kelsey’s Love Story
While runner-up Daisy Kent appeared to be the front-runner for Joey’s heart, there’s now no denying that we all fell for some classic editing tricks as Joey and Kelsey got engaged during the March finale and are still going strong.
Takeaway: Love isn’t completely dead in Bachelor Nation! In addition to giving fans something solid to root for, Joey and Kelsey made it through his stint on Dancing With the Stars with a mirrorball trophy and their relationship intact despite the dancing competition often coinciding with Bachelor Nation couples calling it quits. Kelsey’s open communication with fans — a.k.a asking them to stop trying to make it seem like something weird was happening between Joey and his married partner, Jenna Johnson — definitely helped too.
Bonus takeaway:It’s time to take a closer look at the numbers in 2025. Gerry and Joey both proved that the franchise is still popular — or at least can be — but the ratings for Jenn Tran’s season of The Bachelorette and Joan’s season of The Golden Bachelorette didn’t quite compare. Historically, the male-lead seasons bring in more fans, so all signs from this year prove that the franchise isn’t going anywhere.
Rachel and Bryan’s Messy Breakup
Bryan filed for divorce on January 2, citing their date of separation as December 31, 2023. He later revealed that the pair had been sleeping in separate rooms for months and were in counseling. Rachel, for her part, opted to stay quiet — at least at first. During an appearance on The View in December, she noted she saw “signs” that things might not work out between them even before they wed. “But as women, we’re fixers and we think that we can figure it out. They’re a challenge to us!” she said. “But eventually I saw it more. I would say within two years, and we were married for four and a half.”
Rachel Lindsay and Bryan Abasolo.
Takeaway: Everything is not what it seems … unless it is? During their relationship, Rachel said several times that the lack of Instagram posts shared by the twosome wasn’t a sign of trouble. Bryan basically said the opposite in his tell-all interview in July. “We didn’t spend enough time with each other. I mean, in my estimation, we saw what the other person was doing in the relationship, mainly on Instagram, although we lived in the same house,” he claimed.
Bonus takeaway: Get another job? We didn’t say it, the judge did! Bryan — who claimed his annual income is $16,000 after he was forced to relocate for Rachel’s career — scored a major legal win over the summer when a judge ordered Rachel to pay the chiropractor over $13,200 a month in temporary spousal support. The court also ruled that the support should end in March 2026, advising Bryan to pursue more work and not rely on Rachel. The court battle is set to rage on into 2025.
Jenn’s Journey Jenn Tran made history as the first-ever Asian lead in the franchise, but wasn’t necessarily given a fair chance by some fans who were rooting for Daisy or Joey’s other fan-favorite Maria Georgas to get the gig. The season was soured again when her winner, Devin Strader, broke up with her shortly after production wrapped despite accepting a proposal from Jenn (never forget, she was the one to propose to him!) Things started looking up for Jenn when she landed a last-minute spot on DWTS (and a position on Us’ Reality Stars of the Year list) and a new love interest in dance partner Sasha Farber.
Takeaway: Let people show their own true colors. It was heartbreaking to watch Jenn cry over a less-than-remorseful Devin at After the Final Rose — especially watching the twosome relive their proposal live in front of a studio audience. Devin, feeling like he was made out to be the bad boy of Bachelor Nation, subsequently opted to release hundreds of his and Jenn’s private text messages to prove … well, we still don’t know what he was trying to convince Us of, tbh. In the end, he looked worse and Jenn cha-cha’d her way to 600,000 Instagram followers, several more weeks of TV time on DWTS and a showmance-turned-romance with Sasha.
No ‘BiP’
Outside of 2020 (because of Covid-19), 2024 was the first year the beaches of Mexico were closed since Bachelor in Paradise debuted in 2014. While several crossover duos still formed — remember when Christina Mandrell and Brayden Bowers got engaged during the aforementioned Golden Wedding? — this break allowed Us to get excited when the spinoff does return in 2025 as ABC already confirmed the show will be back.
Takeaway: We miss it! Yes, Love Island USA season 6 was one of the best seasons of summer TV in history, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get invested in BiP, too. The back-and-forth of Susie Evans and Justin Glaze’s romance would have carried the season alone. Plus, we’ve still got several single stars from Joey’s season who we are begging to have back on our TV screens.
Joan and Chock Get Engaged
Two-time Us Weekly cover star Joan accepted a Neil Lane sparkler from Chock during the November finale, giving hope that the Golden franchise could create happy endings after all. With the twosome spending the holidays as a blended family and looking to split their time between mutual location NYC, Joan’s house in Maryland and Chock’s homebase in Kansas, they might be the modern fairytale the show needs to create chatter for any Golden seasons in 2025.
Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple.
Takeaway: Could The Golden Bachelorette revive the idea that the female leads have more success than the male leads? Just like the OG Bachelorette Trista Sutter back in 2003, Joan could be the first Golden Bachelorette to wed. And in the heyday of the franchise, there was a run of female leads who appeared to have cracked the code with season 11’s Kaitlyn Bristowe, season 12’s JoJo Fletcher, season 13’s Rachel and season 14’s Becca Kufrin all having long-term relationships outside of the show. Yes, we know only JoJo is still with her final rose winner (shout-out Jordan Rodgers!), but it was one of the more successful streaks in franchise history.
The Restraining Orders Us can’t ignore that there were three different legal cases against contestants unearthed across two seasons in 2024. Bachelorette season 21 Devin’s ex had filed a restraining order against him in 2017, The Golden Bachelorette’s Gil Ramirez was accused of stalking an ex and The Golden Bachelorette runner-up Guy Gansert’s ex-wife had once taken legal action against him, later voluntarily dismissing her request for a protective order.
Takeaway: All three situations are different, but it certainly feels like the current setup for background checks needs to be reevaluated to protect the leads.
Grant Ellis Is Named the New Bachelor
ABC named Grant, one of Jenn’s contestants, the season 29 lead shortly after his week six elimination. While there’s no denying Grant has got the looks to lead a season, some fans were confused by the franchise making the announcement when they did. This isn’t the first time this has happened, however, with season 26 star Clayton Echard seemingly being plucked out of nowhere in the middle of Michelle Young’s season. While season 27 Zach Shallcrosss was announced in a more traditional manner (AFR), viewers had deemed him boring before even watching a second of the season. If you ask Us, both Clayton and Zach delivered wildly entertaining seasons — not to mention Zach and winner Kaity Bigger are still together — but there’s no denying that season 28 lead Joey was the most popular lead in a long time.
Takeaway: The jury is obviously still out, but based on the trailer, Grant’s season could break the random Bachelor pick curse and continue the momentum Joey brought?! Stay tuned for the 2025 Bachelor Nation recap to find out.
At the risk of sounding like a Real Housewives tagline, when Andy Cohen talks, people listen. That’s true when he hosts Watch What Happens Live and the Bravo reunions, and it’s especially true for his SiriusXM show, where he has time to dig into everything from Wicked to Bravolebrity brouhahas.
“There are things I say that the viewers disagree with,” Cohen, 56, tells Us from his Andy Cohen Live studio in NYC. “There was a moment early in Vanderpump Rules where I said [on the radio], ‘Lala [Kent] is the voice of reason this season.’ People played that clip for months on end and were all over me.”
During the daily broadcast on Radio Andy (channel 102, 10 a.m.), Cohen and cohost John Hill — also his ex-boyfriend, more on that later — “generate a lot of pop culture news,” he says. “And we also reflect on it. Whatever’s going on in pop culture, it will be dissected here.” And at Andy Cohen Live, that often means the latest in the Bravo universe.
Cohen is the first to acknowledge it can be tricky to navigate giving his frank take while wearing so many hats in reality TV (he also produces the Housewives franchise). “Sometimes I mess up, but I think I have a good sense,” Cohen says, adding, “[Radio] is also a place I talk more often as a producer than I do anywhere else. It’s a great opportunity for me to give background and explain further my point of view.”
The people he discusses on-air might respond in the media — or they might even respond directly. “I remember Teresa [Giudice] called me about something I said, but I was like, ‘Teresa, did you hear the clip? Let me explain,’” Cohen recalls of the Real Housewives of New Jersey star. “And she was like, ‘Oh, my God, I get the context now.’”
On December 2, he addressed VPR again, telling listeners: “Bravo announced, or word got out, that they are revamping the show, and I have to say, this is, first of all, the absolute right thing to do.” No, he’s not a producer on that particular show, but fans looked to him — as did a slew of celebrities. Without naming names, he confirmed his phone blew up when news broke of the season 12 recasting. “[The response was] mainly sadness and, ‘Oh, my God,’” he says. “Then I have to say, ‘Look, it’s how it needs to be.’”
Katie Maloney, Ariana Madix, Tom Sandoval, Lisa Vanderpump, James Kennedy, Lala Kent, Tom Schwartz, and Scheana Shay.
How does it feel to see his opinions be sought after and passed along? “If it’s a good headline, I’m happy about it. If it’s a bad headline, I’m annoyed by it just like anyone else,” Cohen says. “We have a lot of airtime. [Often] it’s just John and I talking. Anything that could be said could wind up either making a headline or [laughs] coming back to bite me.”
The secret sauce to Andy Cohen Live just might be cohost Hill. “I can’t think of too many exes that host something together — Sonny and Cher hosted after they got divorced — but I think it’s interesting for the listener to hear John absolutely shading me,” Cohen admits. “Or he totally knocks me down in a way that no one else would go there. Even Jeff Lewis.”
And when Hill gets into his own Housewives feuds — most recently exchanging in a back-and-forth with former RHOC star Kelly Dodd — Cohen lets him fight his own battles. “That was between John and she. I sat it out and he quickly apologized,” he said. “At Radio Andy, I’m just proud of everybody in the family for what each person has built, because they’ve all kind of come to this with their own personality and point of view. And they’ve all built their own followings and their own little universes on the channel.”
Ah, back to Jeff Lewis — another personality under the Radio Andy umbrella on SiriusXM. His remarks on Jeff Lewis Live have become storylines on several Bravo series this year, including The Real Housewives of Orange County and The Real Housewives of New York City, which Cohen acknowledges plays a part in why the shows now break the fourth wall.
“It’s wild that the tentacles of the Housewives have reached him, and he’s reached into the show,” Cohen says of the “outspoken” and “provocative” host. So outspoken that Lewis hears from his boss? Not unless Cohen wants to be part of that storyline too. “It will take a lot for me to get involved because I’ve been burned,” he says. “He’s read my messages on the air!”
There’s also Dorinda Medley, the only former Housewife on the channel. “I wouldn’t have done it if she was still on the Housewives. It would’ve created some potential issues,” Cohen says. “She’s got a very unique perspective. She’s been in the game. She’s also a fan. She’s very savvy. She’s opinionated, so she works on a bunch of levels.”
Outside of the Bravo universe, Radio Andy features talent like newswoman Gayle King, who “brings a totally legit perspective on pop culture to radio,” Cohen says; actress Sandra Bernhard; the Smith sisters (“they disseminate pop culture is unlike anything else”) and perhaps the most popular addition to the team of late, social media influencer Tinx. “When Tinx is on, the phone lines are absolutely jammed. She gives the best relationship advice — people really want to hear from her,” Cohen says. (Us witnessed the calls rolling in before Tinx’s broadcast had even started.) Time to make your own headlines, Tinx!
Hey, Mr. DJ
While music is part of Andy Cohen Live — just three minutes before going to air during Us’ visit, Cohen confirms to his producer that “Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin is the choice to bring in that particular Wednesday’s show — it’s the main event on his separate SiriusXM channel, Andy Cohen’s Kiki Lounge. “During Covid, I spent many nights searching for my most perfect 600 or so songs,” he tells Us. “They are just songs that touch me, songs I have a story about [and] songs that have affected me in my life.”
Song He Can’t Get Enough Of: Cohen adds and subtracts from the Kiki Lounge lineup “all the time.” His latest obsession: Troye Sivan’s “One of Your Girls.”
Song He Overdid: Should Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” stay in 2024? “It’s a great song but such an annoying earworm at this point.”
Song of the Summer: “I was a brat this summer,” Cohen happily declares, referencing the title track of Charli XCX’s critical fave. “I love that album.”
Song for the Holidays: Cohen’s preferred classic tune is “Christmas Wrapping” by the Waitresses, but he’s also a sucker for Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” telling Us as a fact: “Mariah is everyone’s queen of Christmas.”
Song His Kids Make Him Listen To: Son Ben, 5, “loves ‘Life Is a Highway’ from Cars,” Cohen reveals. Asked whether he feels the same way about the Rascal Flatts cover from the 2006 animated film, he simply replies, “No.”
Song That Makes Him Cry: Coldplay’s “Warning Song” can still put him in his feels as he considers it his “breakup song” from cohost Hill.
Song That’s a Hit With the Family: Cohen beams as he reports Ben and daughter Lucy, 2, are on board with his devotion to Madonna, naming “Hung Up” as the family’s No. 1 song. But when they’re stuck in traffic (as often documented on Cohen’s Instagram Stories), his go-to is the Grateful Dead.
It wouldn’t be a Hallmark Channel movie without chemistry between the two leads … and sometimes the love isn’t just onscreen!
Three years after Carlos and Alexa PenaVegawed in 2014, they starred in the made-for-TV film Enchanted Christmas. The pair have gone on to costar in their own Hallmark Movies & Mysteries franchise, Picture Perfect Mysteries.
Eric Winter and Roselyn Sanchez, who tied the knot in 2008, collaborated on Hallmark’s A Taste of Summer in 2019.
“We had a blast but our process is very different. This was a lighthearted romantic comedy, so there was no point in us being all crazy serious. I goof around on set and have fun with everybody,” Winter exclusively told Us Weekly at the time. “Roselyn was so serious. I was looking at her like, ‘Why do you look like you want to kill me? We’re working together, we’re supposed to be falling in love!’”
Reardon and Ory tied the knot in 2008 after meeting on the set of 2006’s Merlin’s Apprentice. They made their respective debuts on Hallmark separately in 2014 and 2015 with The Christmas Secret and Debbie Macomber’s Dashing Through the Snow. After more than a decade with the network, the couple costarred in their first rom-com for Hallmark with 2024’s Believe in Christmas.
The Chesapeake Shores alum shares three children with Reardon.
The couple confirmed their romance in June 2023, one month before their Hallmark movie, A Royal Christmas Crush, premiered.
Cassidy and Huszar exclusively told Us that same month that they connected over crystals on set before falling deeper during their shooting schedule. “I remember there’s this one scene in the barn where I literally am looking at him, and that was the moment for me. I’m not kidding you. I’m, like, leaning on the table and he’s saying his lines and I just like, I think I like almost fell over,” Cassidy gushed to Us, confessing that she and Huszar later realized they first began falling for each other “30 seconds apart” while filming the “same scene.”
The duo both joined the cast of When Calls the Heart in 2019, which appears to be where they met. The actors confirmed their romance in November 2020 when McGarry shared a series of Polaroids of them together via social media. The twosome have since starred in Hallmark’s 2022 hits Feeling Butterflies and My Grown-Up Christmas List.
They got engaged in December 2022. Nearly two years later, Wallace announced via Instagram that they were married. “Just McGarried,” she captioned a photo from their special day in September 2024.
The pair met while filming 2018's The Sweetest Heart, where they played exes who reunited after 14 years apart. Fans speculated for years after the film that the two were actually dating, and they confirmed their relationship status when they announced in June 2022 that they welcomed their first child together. The baby's birth was a surprise to fans since neither publicly revealed they were expecting. In October 2023, the twosome reunited onscreen for Hallmark’s 3 Bed, 2 Bath, 1 Ghost.
After making their joint Countdown to Christmas debut in 2017’s Enchanted Christmas, the duo went on to star in several Hallmark movies together, including 2018’s Love at Sea and the Picture Perfect Mysteries films. They reunited onscreen for Hallmark’s 2022 rom-com Love in the Limelight and 2023’s Never Too Late to Celebrate.
The twosome share sons Ocean King and Kingston James, born in 2016 and 2019, respectively, and welcomed daughter Rio in May 2021. The PenaVegas announced in November 2023 that they were expecting their fourth baby. The pair revealed in April 2024 that Alexa suffered a stillbirth.
The couple, who wed in 2015, appeared in the 2020 movie Love on Iceland. They welcomed daughter Cecily in July 2020 and announced in October 2022 that a second child was on the way. Their second daughter, Lorelai, was born in April 2023.
After meeting on the set of 2017’s Love Blossoms, Webster and VanSanten started dating. In February 2021, the One Tree Hill alum revealed that Webster had proposed.
“We hiked 2000ft to the top of the mountain where @iamvictorwebster told me he loved me for the first time years ago! What happened next still has me in shock … He told me he wanted to spend forever with me, as he got down on one knee and asked if I would marry him!!” the actress wrote via Instagram. “I didn’t say anything for awhile, not out of suspense although it would have been a good prank, but because my legs stopped working, I had to sit down and I couldn’t stop crying and kissing him … I forgot to say anything at all … BUT OBVIOUSLY I SAID YES!!! I cant wait to spend FOR-EV-ER with my best friend!!!! I F—KING LOVE YOU.”
They tied the knot three times in 2021. After less than two years of marriage, Webster filed for divorce. He listed their date of separation as January 10, 2023.
The couple, who met in 2016 on the set of Virginia Minnesota, starred alongside one another in Hallmark’s Midway to Love. The pair tied the knot in May 2019.
The couple met and started dating in 2013. As their relationship progressed, the TV personality was often asked whether she wanted to walk down the aisle again. Kotb was previously married to Burzis Kanga from 2005 to 2008. After Kotb adopted daughter Haley in 2017, questions about her future with Schiffman continued. In January 2018, she told Ellen DeGeneres that they “might” tie the knot.
“I feel like everything’s great. He’s Haley’s dad. I’m Haley’s mom. We’re together,” she said at the time. “I feel like there’s not a rush other than we’re old, and we probably — if we’re going to do it, we might as well do it. But I think it’s fun like this. I don’t mind it. … We’re enjoying our lives. Yeah, I think we’re good this way.”
“Joel and I have had a lot of prayerful and really meaningful conversations over the holidays, and we decided that we’re better as friends and parents than we are as an engaged couple,” she told Today viewers in January 2022. “So we decided that we are going to start this new year and begin it kind of on our new path as loving parents to our adorable, delightful children, and as friends.”
Scroll through for a timeline of their relationship:
The pair met in New York City after she spoke at an event.
"I asked someone from the place — I asked, 'Will you find out his situation?’ Because I didn't know anything about him,” Kotb told Andy Cohen in 2015. “I knew he didn't have a wedding ring, but that's all I knew. Then she emailed him and he emailed me and asked me out on a date."
The journalist revealed that they were living together.
"It's a little weird to be in your 50s and we're like, 'Hey, we're moving in!’ It's like we're kids. It's so weird,” she said on The Hoda Show in 2016. “It's been so long since I've lived with someone, I'm a little concerned with me — not him. Like, how I am, as a human? You know, it's not going to be easy for poor Joel."
The Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, and Kathie Lee author adopted daughter Hope Catherine Kotb in April.
“You think that you’re full … and Joel and I were standing there when they hand you the baby and it’s the closest thing you’ll get to a live birth,” she said on Today at the time. “It’s amazing. I can’t believe it’s happening!”
The twosome postponed their nuptials amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“It was a destination wedding, which would mean people getting on planes,” she said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in June 2020. “We were kind of holding out to see what could happen, but the destination we were going to is turning into one of the hot spots. So, it looks like we may have to postpone.”
