Houselights from The State News

Co-hosts Liz and Claire, accompanied by special guest Anna Rossow, give their highlights from the new "MomTok" reality television series.

What is Houselights from The State News?

The State News discusses issues and the cultural impact of entertainment news including TV & film, fashion, music and more.

Liz:

Hello, and welcome back to House Lights. You're one shot for everything you need to hear about this week in the world of entertainment. As always, I'm your host Liz Nas, along with my beautiful, wonderful, amazing other cohost, Claire Donahoe. And today, we have the beautiful, amazing, wonderful guest, Anna Ross

Claire:

Rosso. Rosso. We've

Liz:

been friends for about a year. Yeah. Yeah.

Anna:

I don't That's okay. Everyone gets a wrong.

Liz:

Okay. Perfect. Expect you too. But Aw. Didn't expect you to get it wrong, but, you know, that's the kind a good start.

Liz:

That's the kind of boss I am. Not really personable. But anyways, today we have lots in store, but I wanna start house sites with another tangent of mine. Something that I, you know, thought about today, which is that I really wanna get back into learning TikTok dances. And how do we feel about that as a society?

Anna:

Like, do you wanna bring back the Renegade?

Liz:

Yeah. Like, kind of, but, like, I want it to be new. Like, I want people to, like, start, like, making new ones.

Claire:

Like, you wanna be the pioneer?

Liz:

I'm not making them.

Claire:

I just wanna dance them.

Liz:

Just like because I feel like I'm not creative enough to, like, make my own TikTok dance, but I do think that, like, I wanna, like, start I want I want other people to do it so that I can, like, dance credit and, like, do a

Claire:

TikTok dance. Current ones just aren't up to your

Liz:

Well, there I don't think there's many current ones. Like, that's the thing. Like, there's none that are, like, trending. I saw one recently that did trend, and I was like, just think I should have a whole multitude to choose from, like, recently. Like, there's old ones I could do.

Claire:

Some TikTok dances. Give me some TikTok. What do

Liz:

you guys feel about TikTok dances? Or, I guess, even Musically, if you wanna go back that far. Woah.

Anna:

I could never figure out Musically when it was, like, a thing because, like, you had to move your phone

Liz:

It's true.

Anna:

With it, and I couldn't figure

Liz:

that out. Like, the baby Ariel hand, it was like

Claire:

I am gonna be really vulnerable and say I am all too familiar with Muscial. Ly and, like, did it a lot and, like, really was, like, into it and was, like, doing the phone movements. And I know I should

Liz:

stop talking

Claire:

about it, the more I think about it and more slowly. Crossed my mind the worse it becomes. Yeah. No. I was, like, really into it.

Claire:

And then I was also 13.

Liz:

Can I just say that? You can.

Claire:

Thank you. And then in terms of TikTok dances, I kind of I burnt out really all my talents on Musically, talents of lip syncing to popular songs. So I was, I

Liz:

was being a child's story.

Claire:

Yeah. I was thanks for that recognition. But, yeah, I'm not really a big TikTok dance person because I'm not, like, a super great dancer. So I was like, these aren't gonna go anywhere. I'm not gonna do anything.

Claire:

I do them like I would do them for fun, past tense, guys. But

Liz:

Like

Claire:

I'm not I'm not, you know, in your shoes of, like, looking for, like, the the rebirth of TikTok dances. Like, I'm fine with where it's at. Like, you could move my keys.

Liz:

Yeah. How many likes are we talking?

Claire:

I mean, I that's not what today's about, really. How I don't

Anna:

Come on.

Liz:

So, like, popular or not popular?

Claire:

No. No. No. Not popular. Like, a private account that'll just, like, keep a middle school follow-up.

Claire:

Private. I mean, mean, yeah. Like, she's almost 13. Can I just really quickly?

Liz:

Yeah. Did

Claire:

you guys know you know Lauren Gray? Of course. Musical. Perfect. Apparently, she got famous on accident.

Claire:

She thought she was posting she thought she was saving the videos to her camera roll and was actually publishing them and then got enough notifications because she became, like, famous, and that is technically how her, like, fame began.

Liz:

That's insane. That's insane.

Claire:

Young. I mean, like, children, they're you don't know how to work an app. You're just like, oh, dance video. Boom. Camera roll.

Claire:

No. The world.

Liz:

No. The world. No.

Claire:

The public eye. So, yeah, isn't that crazy? That could've been any of us.

Liz:

Including Claire, apparently. Thanks for

Claire:

letting me get that off my chest. I'm not a big TikTok dancer though, but I like to watch them Yeah. And

Liz:

They're just teasing to the eye.

Claire:

I have a good friend who's a really good dancer and she does a TikTok dance every once in a while and will, like, show them to us. And I'm like, see, this is great because you're good at this. Yeah. So, like, it's really it's not cringe. Like, it's working.

Liz:

You know? Well, you know who are some people that are super into TikTok dances? The Mormon wives Oh. Of the secret lives of Mormon wives. See, I told you that I would be able to tie it all together.

Claire:

I said wait. Wait really quick. Do you

Liz:

Oh, wait. I'm sorry. Do you TikTok dance?

Claire:

I'm a little

Anna:

too far away.

Liz:

I think

Anna:

I, like, tried once when I first got TikTok, and I watched it back, and I was like, never again.

Liz:

Because it

Anna:

was And

Claire:

it was over after

Anna:

And that was it. Just that was it

Claire:

for me.

Liz:

Because, like, you just, like, didn't like

Anna:

I just the way it's done.

Liz:

For me,

Anna:

I'm not a good dancer. So but I'll watch other people do it, and I'll be enthralled by it. It. So

Claire:

nice. Like, how

Liz:

do you

Claire:

move like that?

Anna:

It's insane.

Liz:

Yeah. That is crazy.

Claire:

Good to be supportive. And, Liz, you know, I'll speak for both of us here. We support you getting back on the TikTok dance.

Liz:

Only do it if other people do it. So this is my call to action.

Claire:

Okay. Join mom talk.

Liz:

Join mom talk. Okay. Better segue than I did. Not true. Better segue.

Liz:

But, yeah, join mom talk, which is what we're gonna talk about today, specifically, not mom talk, because I've actually never heard of it. I do wanna, like, know I do wanna know if you guys actually knew about it before the show because I didn't. Like, it was, like, the huge scandal of these Mormon wives. Beyond that, we're gonna talk today about the secret lives of Mormon wives, which is one of my favorite things I've been saying recently. Just, like, been really into that, like, saying the title just like that.

Liz:

Yes. Verbal stim.

Claire:

For those that don't know, it is a recent reality TV show that came out on Hulu following a group of moms who call themselves mom talk, and they started on TikTok. And they're a bunch of, like, young ish, young let me say very young. Very young Mormon wives and moms who make dance videos and such. And then the show kind of I think there's, like, what, 8? 7 or 8 of them?

Claire:

Yeah. And, yeah, the show follows them, so we're gonna talk about them today. And all their scandals and the drama and their, like, love hate relationship. The whole time I'm watching the show, I could not figure out I mean, it was clear that, like, 2 of them were still into, you know, like, the Mormon church and following the religion, but the rest of them just kind of seemed as though they were mentioning it in passing. So we'll talk about that later, but that's what we're gonna.

Liz:

Yeah. I thought you were gonna say, like, I couldn't tell if they were all friends.

Claire:

Like, actually That too.

Liz:

I don't think they were. That's the thing. I I think it's the same setup as, like, Real Housewives where they just kind of cast people. But I also think maybe they they used to be friends, like, before because they were doing this, like, mom talk Yeah. Thing where they're all just doing, like, little dances.

Claire:

It started with 4 of them. Right? And then, like, other people kinda joined. But you can definitely tell there's groups within the group. I don't know.

Claire:

But you watched it first.

Liz:

So do you have, like Yeah.

Claire:

Yes. Initial reaction here.

Anna:

My initial reaction, I watched 6 of the episodes

Claire:

in one day because

Anna:

I was so fascinated by the way. And the only I thought they were gonna talk more about, like, the swinging

Liz:

Yeah.

Anna:

Which they never touched on.

Liz:

Yeah. By the way, swinging just sounds like a threesome. So, like, what's the difference?

Claire:

Well, might I just say they called it soft swinging?

Liz:

Because I'm sure we did that decision. Swinging sounds like a threesome.

Anna:

Which I don't know what soft swinging is.

Liz:

So, basically, I think the way that they describe it in the show okay. So let

Claire:

me quick answer. Let's so basically, it's how do you go? Listen.

Liz:

I did not grow up in Utah. I'm not familiar really. Which is

Claire:

off screen.

Liz:

But I was interested in this thing because that's, like, what created the show is basically on mom talk, which none of us had heard of before.

Claire:

I had seen Secret Lives. A couple of them individually. Okay. Like, this one video, Whitney, who we'll we'll get into my name. My god.

Claire:

But she had made some video, like, dancing in the hospital when her son had,

Liz:

had, like, ripped below their

Claire:

low r RSV levels. Yes. I saw that video a long time ago. Didn't connect it with her. And then one of the other moms has, like, a skin condition that she's been, like, pretty openly posting about, and I had seen her content prior, but I didn't know that she was part of the

Liz:

mom talker. The mom talker.

Claire:

I was kinda surprised to see her on the show.

Liz:

Did you know about mom talker?

Anna:

The only one that I really knew about was Taylor because she had all the scandals before. Oh. And then I did see the video of Whitney dancing with her RSV baby. But the other than that, like, the other TikTok? The other 6 moms, I had no idea who they were.

Liz:

No. I and I had never seen it before. So this was just exciting because the reason that I'm so into this is not because of, like, oh, TikTok or whatever. I'm super into, like, Real Housewives shows. And the most recent Real Housewives show that I watched was, Real Housewives of, like, Salt Lake City, and, like, half of them are Mormons and the other half are, like, super crazy Christians.

Liz:

And so I got, like, super into, like, learning about Mormonism through Real Housewives. And this is, like, sort of the same thing where they have, like basically, the producers throw together these preplanned girls trips. They're all very I mean, maybe they plan them themselves, but I assume not. It's probably producer Rand. But, yeah, it's basically, like, the same thing, but all Mormon moms who are super young.

Claire:

Yeah. And I I just kept wondering. I mean, the show is not about them. Right. But I I have a note that just says the children in all caps because I'm like this whole time, I'm like, where are your kids?

Liz:

No. I mean, I'm just

Claire:

talking about them.

Liz:

I saw Jen's little chunky baby, like, twin saw a door opener, though.

Claire:

Yep. I mean, there's, like, mention of the kids, but I just thought actually, I wanna know about their opinions on this. I thought the show right from the first episode was organized in such a strange way. Like, opening with a swinging thing, never talking about it again. I know.

Claire:

I thought that was so weird. The the very obvious cuts in conversation, which, like, does reality TV, the producers are gonna do that. Like, yes. But just the fact that it they were so, like, obvious to me. I don't know.

Claire:

It was very crazy just starting. I was like, what are we getting into? I felt like there was no context in the first episode. You just opened with, like Yeah.

Liz:

This is mom talk. That you know.

Claire:

Yeah. They're like, this is mom talk. Taylor, who was, like, one of the quote, like, leaders, I guess, has, you know, been open about this soft swinging scandal. And now the show is about to start, and the gang is back together. Like, we're all

Liz:

gonna together. Yeah. Be back

Claire:

in Utah. We

Liz:

opened in season 2. Yeah. I never got to explain what soft swinging is.

Claire:

Oh, wait. Yeah. Back to that.

Liz:

We

Claire:

spent a lot of time on soft swinging.

Liz:

It sounds like it's basically just cheating on other people's partners who you are, like, friends with. Mhmm. But soft swinging is like kissing apparently. Like, every no. The way they described it was like everything but sex.

Liz:

Yeah. Switch is soft. If you were swinging,

Claire:

then it's a threesome. Yeah. I don't know.

Liz:

That's not true.

Claire:

No. I feel like swinging I

Anna:

haven't done my research.

Claire:

Yeah. I I'm gonna, you know, go on the record saying I don't know. I'm gonna go on the record

Liz:

saying that I'm right. Soft swinging. Okay. I think.

Claire:

I feel like you're saying threesome here. I'm thinking swinging No. Swinging is just, like, cheating. You, like, switch partners, though.

Liz:

But they also, like, know about it.

Claire:

Yeah. It's like Okay. Never mind. It's nonconversion. Sensual let's, like, wife swap.

Claire:

That's really, like, abrasive way to put it.

Anna:

But There was, like, 3 couples from what I've heard that were, like, part of the swing thing.

Liz:

And can we just point out, Demi and Brett were definitely doing soft swinging with Taylor and her ex husband.

Claire:

Brett, who's 46, which I just 40 six to get away from.

Liz:

He's the

Anna:

most sane husband, though.

Claire:

Well, because he was pushing 50 and, like,

Liz:

superpowers him. Yeah. He didn't have the energy to have a bad haircut and, like, push against going to, like wife. You should

Claire:

have been there.

Liz:

He's like, my wife is hot and then moved on

Claire:

Yeah. As he should. Which husband was your favorite?

Liz:

I don't we didn't really get to know them all that well.

Claire:

Of the ones we saw.

Liz:

Brett is just so weird because it's like Brett is just weird because he's old, but I wanna say him no. No. No. Jesse's husband. Oh, Jordan.

Liz:

They Jordan. Because he first of all, it's it was Connor of the t while he was not there, which is Whitney's husband who was excommunicated basically be like, from the group because Whitney excommunicated herself. But it was it kind of pointed out that, like, Connor was, like, still in with the guys because, like, apparently, Jesse's husband, which is so like Jesse, was just calling up every dude and be like, you won't believe what just happened in Vegas. So for that reason, he's my favorite.

Anna:

I also wanna mention Connor's look look changes. Girl, it's

Liz:

I would love to talk about that, and I'm glad you brought it up.

Anna:

But I would have to say, like, my favorite is probably Brett just because he was he was just like, I do whatever you want. I really don't care. Yeah. He was just so out of it.

Liz:

I don't really 46 year old man supposed to do.

Anna:

Yeah. True. Yeah. And I don't really I feel like Jordan played, like, no part in the show. Like, we heard, like, a few words from him maybe.

Liz:

That's why I loved him.

Claire:

Well, we saw That's so far.

Liz:

Saw him drink. We We saw

Claire:

him drink. Him drink when he shouldn't have been drinking, and then we didn't really see him again.

Liz:

Well, and we saw that he, like, spilled tea.

Claire:

Yeah. Yeah. I thought in that same vein of, like, he didn't open his mouth, so therefore, he said nothing wrong.

Liz:

Every man was off.

Claire:

Macy's husband seemed fine.

Liz:

Isn't that the one?

Claire:

No. That's Mikaela's husband. Mikaela's husband, oh, was 21 years old when he got 16 year old Mikaela pregnant. Why did we gloss over that in episode 1? Episode 1 was crazy.

Liz:

I think it's crazy that you're asking who the favorite husband was before we talk about how awful the other men were. Well, the husbands and

Claire:

the boyfriends were horrible. I guess that's why I just I needed to know what happened to me. It's like it's been on my mind because we before the podcast, we were just talking about Zach, everyone's least favorite.

Liz:

Everyone's least favorite. Jen's husband because Dakota's pretty bad too.

Claire:

Crap. But I will say

Liz:

that Zach is the worst.

Claire:

I feel like Zach is the worst than Dakota.

Liz:

Just Dakota also takes her money.

Claire:

He had that, like, weird blue eyed stare going on. No. Dakota need to

Liz:

put in some contacts.

Claire:

He was just always like this. I was like, what are we talking about?

Anna:

Ever blinked once through the entire series.

Claire:

And he kind of looked, and I'm I'm just gonna I'm gonna dis on him because I think he also sucks personality wise. He looked un kept. He looked greasy in every shot. I was like, bro, you're yelling at her? Have you brushed your teeth?

Claire:

Like, I can smell. I can smell you, like, through the screen. I was just afraid of him. I was afraid.

Liz:

No. That's not And then Zach was just like,

Claire:

I feel like he was made of stone.

Liz:

I was

Claire:

like, what are we doing?

Liz:

He was made of stone and then fluff right on the top. Just a lot of hair and none of it brushed.

Claire:

Like a

Anna:

chia pet.

Liz:

But Like a chia and here's the thing, we're not just making fun of these men because of their looks, but we could continue to. But it's because they also suck as people. Right. Zach was spending mom talk money, Jen's mom talk money to go to medical school, but also to gamble the entire time he was in Vegas while also yelling at her for being in Vegas, and doing things with the girls.

Claire:

And invalidating mom talk as if that's not how your family's being financially supported right now and all of your wife's friends, but I digress. They're still together. They're still together. Will show. They're still together, and they did go to New York City for his medical school that she is putting him through even after he, like, threatened divorce because she went to a Because she went to Trippin' Dales.

Claire:

Trippin' Dales. Yeah.

Liz:

She didn't even touch any like, she didn't get a lap dance. She didn't touch any of the guys. And you know who did get a lap dance? My favorite girl, Layla. Okay.

Liz:

Let's talk now

Claire:

let's talk about favorite girls. Favorite girls. Let's let's enough with the men. God. This is about the wives.

Liz:

She might not be my favorite, but I just think that by default, she's almost my favorite because she had absolutely no problems. She got divorced, looked hot, and was fun. That's all that's all

Claire:

a girly needs to do. She's also 22 and I just get divorced. She's 22 and divorced with 2 kids.

Liz:

I'm 21 right now.

Claire:

I was about to say I'm like, you just walk in some other alternate universe, you just, like, walked across the stage at Michigan State a couple months ago. Right. Like, you just

Liz:

Girl, you should be at at Sigtao. You should be at midnight. Like, what do you mean, like, you were giving birth to Johnny? Oh, man. Should be

Claire:

Yeah. At Harper's. So I'm honky tonk. I was happy for her when she was, like, clearly being 22 because I felt like a lot of them weren't. In the beginning, I really struggled with the age thing, which is funny because up until the very last scene of the very last episode, every time one of them spoke, their name and age would come up.

Claire:

I'm like, we know them by now. You don't need to keep putting the name and age.

Liz:

No. No. It it reminded me. But for

Claire:

a while, I was glad they did that because I was really struggling to, like, make sense of the ages and how all these people were getting along and, like, just many people were not acting their age. Many people were acting older than their age. I don't know. But Layla, like, when I saw her having fun at Chip and Dale's, I was like, this girl is 22. She's having a fun time.

Claire:

She's divorced. She deserves. Let's go.

Liz:

She's divorced.

Claire:

She had a divorce party. She was, like

Liz:

There was a divorce party with a suit.

Claire:

Yeah. I thought Layla was unproblematic. And even in all the drama and all the shots, you can just see her, like, stare off at a space probably thinking, why did I come on the show?

Liz:

Yeah. Why am I part of this? She was probably one of the ones that got cast later playing by producers. They're like, oh, she's a hot Mormon that seems to have an Instagram following because she's hot. And she's like, yeah.

Liz:

No. Come join the show. And then she's like, I hate Whitney.

Claire:

She's like,

Liz:

what And everyone said I hate

Claire:

Whitney. Yeah.

Liz:

So my actual favorite though Yeah. Probably has to be Jesse.

Claire:

Okay. Same.

Liz:

For a while, it was Demi because she kept it real, but she was a little too crazy. You know what I'm saying? Like, she kept it real when her and Whitney were beefing, but then, like, she, like, ran into, like, Whitney's closet to then again attack her while she's, like, bawling her eyes

Anna:

on her. Doubled out

Liz:

on the flip. Like a little much. Like, I don't know.

Claire:

So I'm gonna say Jesse as well. I really liked Mikaela

Anna:

just because she stayed out of everything.

Liz:

When

Anna:

they were fighting in the closet when Whitney's crying and Mikaela just chimed in, she's like, hey. We have a reservation.

Liz:

Can we Oh, yeah. That was really funny. Hey, guys. So we do have dinner in, like, 5 minutes. I know.

Liz:

I do like that. I think the unproblematic ones are really such a treat to the show because there's just so much going on with, like, 3 of them that there's really just not enough time for everybody else.

Anna:

I wanna go back to the name thing. Why was Jen the only one that had her last name pop up? The entire series. Really? Yeah.

Anna:

Only one at the Jen Affleck.

Liz:

I think because there was a joke in the first episode that she's like J. Lo. Basically, that she's which age so poorly because didn't they already J. Lo and Ben Affleck? Like, they're not married anymore.

Liz:

Right?

Anna:

I have no idea.

Claire:

I also have no idea.

Liz:

I've I'm pretty sure I read a Daily Mail article.

Claire:

Okay. Not Daily Mail.

Liz:

That they're, like, not together.

Claire:

House Lices. Well, House Lites is sponsored by

Liz:

No. It's not. No. It is not. I just really like the Daily Mail Snapchat stories.

Liz:

Just click through. So did Evo. Super easy. She loves it. That's why me and Evo are soulbound.

Liz:

But yeah. No. So least favorite girls?

Claire:

123 Whitney. And Taylor for a long time. Yeah. I think towards the end, I started to feel

Liz:

I felt bad for her.

Claire:

A little more sympathy because I was like, god. You're just, like, so pregnant.

Liz:

You're so pregnant and so sick.

Claire:

This, like, idiot man who, like, you're gonna have to remind him of every single day because this kid is gonna come out of you. Oh, god. I just she was crying.

Liz:

He has, like, no object permanence like

Claire:

a baby too. The episode where Jen and Ben?

Liz:

Zach? Nope. Zach? Jen and Ben. My mind.

Liz:

Zach?

Claire:

Yeah. Jen and Zach were teaching Dakota how to, like, crash course in, like, parenting a newborn, and he was, like, letting the baby, like, slip, like, down the side of his body. I was so repulsed. I was like, oh my god. This kid's gonna see this show.

Claire:

That was the only thing I'm thinking about. Every time Whitney opened her mouth, every time one of the husbands said some stupid thing, I was like, you have so many children. You have so many children, and they're all gonna see this.

Liz:

And they're all gonna see this show.

Claire:

And they're gonna be like, wow.

Anna:

Like, wow. This is your friend group? That's crazy.

Claire:

This is you?

Liz:

I'm like, this is

Claire:

how you behaved. Anyway, but that's Yeah.

Liz:

Like, especially, like, the whole Taylor, like I can't believe we we haven't talked about it yet. Like, Taylor literally getting arrested for domestic abuse on Dakota. 1. In, like, episode 1, and then she is and then episode 2, she's, like, 6 months pregnant. Yeah.

Liz:

Well, episode 1 was filmed,

Claire:

and then 11 months later, episode 2,

Liz:

was filmed.

Anna:

Yeah. Oh, and then they all, like all the moms, they would go out to bars, and Taylor's like, yeah. I actually can't go. I'm still on probation. It was like every once in a while, it was just slipping that she That's

Liz:

why they couldn't film. They couldn't have their producer events tailored to Taylor because she simply could not leave the house for reasons of the law.

Claire:

Okay. Let's circle back to Whitney really quick. We you know, Taylor, you kinda feel for a bit at the end, but Whitney actually, I felt for her in the beginning because I was like, man, your husband has just been cheating on you this entire time. Wow. But then every minute after that, I just liked her less and less.

Anna:

Yeah. I also the way that she avoided literally every single conflict, she would just get up and leave. She wouldn't show up places. I'm like, grow up. Yeah.

Anna:

Oh my god.

Liz:

And it's, like, it's funny because you're the one who started this conflict, and now you're like, I'm disengaging. You're the one that was I'm disengaging. You're the one that was telling people that Jen was

Claire:

too Mormon or that someone

Liz:

else said that Jen was too Mormon, which made me chance. Right. But, nonetheless, Whitney, like,

Claire:

you don't need to go into the same warm Mormon. No. But yeah. She just liked to when she got called out for this multiple times, but someone would confide in her, she would turn around and just expose it to the person. Yeah.

Claire:

And then, like you just said, just try to, like, physically leave the conversation and go, well, I've said what I needed to say. What? What are you doing? She didn't take accountability for anything.

Liz:

And then she's like, I'm

Claire:

gonna go to a farm maybe. Oh, yeah.

Liz:

And I was like, okay, pioneer woman.

Anna:

She left the group chat and was like, why isn't no one talking to me anymore?

Liz:

That was the craziest thing. She's like, I just wanted someone to reach out to me and see if I was okay. And I'm like, that is actual emotional manipulation. You had chest book cast lighting.

Claire:

You just said you don't want to be reached, and then you left the chat, and then no one called because

Liz:

because you you don't want

Claire:

to be reached.

Liz:

Them. Yeah.

Claire:

Yeah. Then you yeah. You blocked them.

Liz:

And and you're like, well, why did no one reach out to they physically can't. Physically, actually cannot. Would you like they're banging down your door.

Anna:

And then the only friend you have left, Macy, invites you to, like, her launching Yeah.

Liz:

And you

Anna:

still don't come. That sealed the deal for me. That and the pregnancy test thing, which was unbelievable.

Liz:

Pregnancy test thing is crazy because Why? Why'd she do that?

Claire:

Do that.

Liz:

And she's like like, it's fun if it's, like, a pregnancy test that wasn't. If you put that in a cake and you just, like, drew the little thing on, I'd be like, oh.

Claire:

Just for some context, just

Liz:

She peed

Claire:

on it. She did pee on it. She peed on a pregnancy test in the final episode and then put said pregnancy test into a large cake, which she made her family cut into in public. And then multiple of her family members cheered, you know, in the news of the pregnancy and then immediately said, hey, is that the actual one you peed on? To which she, without hesitation, smiled and said, yes.

Claire:

Yes. It is. And then they all kind of just went quiet because why would you do that?

Liz:

And she

Anna:

was like, but it has the cap on it. That doesn't really matter.

Liz:

Also You still peed on it.

Claire:

Also, I thought you were moving to the farm. I thought you needed to kind of work on yourself. Why are you now announcing a pregnancy in the middle of this restaurant? I don't know. So many questions for her and how it ended, and that was all in the last episode.

Claire:

She got pregnant. Taylor gives birth. We can't figure out what anyone else is doing, and then it just kinda, like, cuts.

Liz:

And then that's it. And it's, like, I'm I guess I'm glad that they're setting it up for a second season because I will gladly watch it. But there's just so many like, I like when they do maybe they'll do a reunion like Real Housewives does. Alright. 2nd episode of House Lights when that happens.

Liz:

That'll be fun. Yeah. Because, no, I that's what's so great about Real Housewives is, like, everything's, like, you know, obviously, like, recorded beforehand. And then, like, once it comes out, they give it, like, a week or so, and they're like, alright. Reunion time, and then we get to learn everything.

Liz:

Yes. And they should do that.

Claire:

They should. Yep. Unfortunately, I just thought But

Liz:

I don't think things are going well for them. I don't know. For Jen, who's moved to New York with her abusive husband.

Claire:

Yeah. I haven't looked into I haven't, like, since watching the show, you know, like, looked any of them up on social media. I've seen the TikTok of Jen and her husband in New York, so I know that they're there. And they went through with it, and he's in medical school now. But the rest of them, I haven't seen anything from I don't know if Taylor and Dakota are still together.

Claire:

I don't know if anyone is still with their husbands or boyfriends. Who knows?

Anna:

I don't think Taylor and Dakota are still together. Really? Because she posted, like, this thing kinda hinting at, like, a new chapter of my life. Well, she did

Claire:

have a baby. With her baby, though. Oh, okay. Oh. What about her other 2 children that she had?

Liz:

Just us 2, guys. No.

Anna:

That, I don't know.

Liz:

The others, I don't know where they are.

Claire:

Where are

Liz:

your children? And you can tell from the show. She's not quite sure who her babies are. I wanna make a quick 2, actually, quick notes. Okay.

Liz:

1, I wanna go back to what you said Connor changes his look every single time you see him. Every single time you see him. So does Whitney. And Whitney doesn't look the same in any, like, different episode that she's in. She had red hair for a second.

Liz:

She had blonde hair. She had bleach blonde hair. She cut it. She or there was extensions. I don't know who that girl is.

Liz:

Never seen her in my life.

Anna:

I don't think if they didn't put, like, the name of Connor, I would not recognize that man.

Liz:

Well, he he opened it with show up.

Claire:

No. He shows up with, like, frosted tips. You're immediately like, alright. This is you. And then the next episode, he's got almost, like, a shaved head or, like, a very close

Liz:

Closely shaved head with with dark facial, like, facial hair.

Claire:

Then he's, like, trying for the flow a little bit. I don't really know. But, yeah, I fully agree.

Liz:

I'm sorry

Claire:

with that.

Liz:

With a dad cut.

Anna:

It was just and, like, just a really thick mustache. I'm not gonna

Liz:

say, like, taped that on for the finale. Just so

Claire:

damn fancy. Also, that man

Liz:

okay. This is gonna be mean. That man is not pulling on Tinder. Like, you can't tell me that, like, while he was cheating on his wife the entire, like, marriage, that he was pulling anything. And you know why?

Liz:

He's probably the easiest to catfish because he has so many different disguises. Yeah. That was a shocking it was like, that's the one that's cheating? Really? That was a shocking

Claire:

way to just, like, open Whitney's storyline. But then the more you kind of learned about Whitney or Connor or just, like, their marriage in general, the more shocking it became because I was like, how did this go on so long? And how why is he crying now telling you this? I just I have so many questions.

Liz:

And also, like, don't get me wrong.

Claire:

Also, divorce him.

Liz:

Also, divorce him.

Claire:

Your kids are gonna watch this. They're gonna grow up and be like, oh, awesome. My dad cheated on my mom.

Liz:

And not even in, like, in a cool way. Like, not even, like, like because there

Claire:

is no cool way to cheat on your spouse.

Liz:

But I mean, like, just, like, scrolling on Tinder is, like, your way of cheating. Well

Anna:

I'm not even a

Claire:

There is no

Liz:

I'm saying I'm saying, like, appropriate in a hit, Claire. Like, I mean, like, not in a way that, like like, oh, I met, like, the love of my life in, like, a natural way or, like, whatever. No. It was, like, scrolling through to like, swiping on Tinder like a loser. Like, that's such an uncool way to cheat on your spouse.

Liz:

They're all And I stand by that.

Claire:

Oh, special cheating is uncool. Okay. All of it. Cool. The

Liz:

other thing I have to say

Claire:

I'm sweating. The only thing

Liz:

I have to say is that you don't watch this show for the fashion. Whitney? Who?

Anna:

Who dresses Whitney? Is it her children? And they're like, I think she looks good in that. Oh my goodness.

Claire:

Her toddler children. It's horrible.

Liz:

There was a one very low point of the show, which I think you guys will all know what I'm talking about. It's Whitney's, like, pilgrim dress. While she's, like, really upset, it's, like, really frilly on top, but it's also, like, very much Mayflower with just, like, little pearls. No. We were watching it and Liz looks at me just We don't watch it.

Claire:

And goes, she's getting sad clown. And then on cue, Whitney, a tear falls down her cheek and she exits the frame and you see the full outfit of Mayflower, which you you put it eloquently there.

Liz:

Thank you. Wow. Yeah. Sad clown. Yeah.

Liz:

No. No one watches this for the fashion. And even the other girls, like, they were better, I guess, but it wasn't good.

Anna:

Another one of Whitney's horrible outfits that I would like to point out was, the Galentine's when everyone else was in this, like, cute, like, pink or red, and she showed up in baby blue with orange on it. And I'm like

Claire:

Like, the flowy pajamas at Yeah. Thing? Yeah. Yeah. I'm thinking about following that episode, she showed up to the function in, like, a geometric neon, like, tight.

Claire:

I don't know how to describe it other than those words, which don't really help. Like a, like, 1 piece long sleeve. Guys, someone say they know what I'm talking about.

Liz:

I feel like they're gonna show up.

Claire:

And the ear muffs.

Liz:

The ear muffs.

Claire:

It was that and the ear muffs. And I was like, how are you wearing, like, long underwear right now that are so harsh on the eyes and ear muffs? Like, I just don't

Anna:

It was when they were going in that girl's trip.

Claire:

Yes. For Okay.

Liz:

Yeah. Yeah.

Anna:

Now I do remember what you're talking about.

Claire:

I'm pretty sure that was the episode she was wearing that, and I just I couldn't look away. I couldn't I just I wish I could've, but I could.

Liz:

I'm just like yeah. No. Some shows you're like, wow. Especially like Real Housewives and like Kardashians and stuff, which really fall into the same vein as the show for me. Mostly because it has the same music as, like, Selling Sunset, where it's just, like, just, like, random DJ beats with, like, random words over it.

Liz:

Those are all the soundtracks that they have for every single one of those shows. But, like, those you can watch for, like, oh my god. That's cute outfit. She's our like, that's, like, half the comments I'll make about shows like this. And then this time, I was like, things are grim.

Liz:

Things are grim.

Claire:

For the Mormon wives.

Liz:

Do we wanna point out a favorite moment or a least favorite moment before we close our episode for the day of the show that maybe gets people to either watch it and maybe love it or inspire them to hate watch the show.

Claire:

Yeah. I I'll say a quote that I I wrote

Liz:

in my Oh, good.

Claire:

I thought you were so prepared. During one of the first girls trips, I believe, featuring previously mentioned tracksuit and earmuff outfit from Whitney, Macy's birthday, there was a big fight happening almost immediately upon them all being in the same room, and it cuts to Jesse's, you know, like, 1 on 1, and she just goes, I would rather give birth without an epidural than sit through this. And then it cuts back to them all fighting. And I just thought that was a really, you know, interesting way to frame it. Powerful.

Claire:

Yeah. It was just I was like, wow. My god. You hate this moment. So Yeah.

Claire:

The truth

Liz:

box was horrible.

Claire:

What I wanted to share. The truth box was horrible.

Liz:

Who's on there? Definitely one of the producers. No one wanted to do that. Yeah.

Claire:

No. Yeah. That was So, yeah, that was just a crazy that whole episode, that's episode 4. And, yeah, Jesse

Liz:

Then it only gets worse from there.

Claire:

Oh, like, it's just a train wreck. But, yeah, her saying that, I was like, wow. Wow. Did not expect you to kind of compare these two moments. But yeah.

Anna:

One part that I found very interesting is that, like, Mormons don't do drugs, but they would just

Liz:

Oh my god.

Anna:

They would just get Botox so then they could get high off of laughing gas. Right. And then it also cuts in that Demi's like, Whitney and I did ketamine.

Claire:

It's like, okay. Wow.

Liz:

They're like, yeah. During the, like, ketamine therapy. I'm like because, like, it and the Laving Gas thing is before they bring up the ketamine too. So it's like

Anna:

us into it.

Liz:

They're like, oh, yeah. Like, the way that Mormons can, you know, like, unwind is, like, you know, through laughing gas at, like, Botox or, like, the dentist. I'm like, that's kinda like a crazy, like, thing and, like, a crazy loophole. I'm like, wow. This is so silly.

Liz:

And then they're like, yeah. Later. And then we had this beautiful moment while we were both doing ketamine. I was like, wait.

Claire:

It was so nonchalant. It

Liz:

was like

Claire:

you almost missed it. Like Yeah. You you really almost missed the moment. And then she's like, well, yeah. She told me that we were doing ketamine, so let me go check on her.

Claire:

I'm like, I'm sorry. When you went

Liz:

When you

Claire:

went you did what? Oh my god. Yeah. I've completely forgot about that.

Liz:

Miss k? Really? Like, that's that's insane.

Claire:

I the laughing gas scene was crazy. I look great.

Liz:

I this was like this really isn't a moment. It's just a thought that I have. Throughout the entire show, they say, you know, we need to get back to what mom talk really stood for, which apparently is about female empowerment and about, you know, being your true authentic self through the power of TikTok dances. And and I'm just, like, not like, I'm not saying that, like, that can't be true, but that is my first note on this entire list. And I thought that I'd bring it up and see how Yeah.

Liz:

You guys react to it. Because I mean, like, of course, like, with the but they're, like, they bring it to the point where they're, like, we're fighting against the patriarchy and, like, male standards by doing these TikTok dances and, like, getting brand deals. And I'm like, I don't know if that's exactly the point, period.

Claire:

Yeah. I I agree with you there. And the beginning like, the first half of what you kinda said of, like, they mentioned that so often. Yeah. And they all of them at one point or another multiple times had stated, like, I don't know if mom talk will survive this one or, like, we need to get back to what it's all about or, like, something of that vein.

Claire:

I'd leave no no no. 7, you're kind of like, I don't think you're gonna survive this. You guys have been Yeah. But seriously trying to get back to your core values the entire show that would just spanned over, I don't know, maybe a year and a half of production. Just give up.

Claire:

And they kept Stop being friends.

Liz:

And they kept saying, we're not gonna survive this. You're right. You're correct.

Claire:

It's gonna stretch your reputation, and 3 college kids are gonna talk about it on a podcast.

Anna:

I don't know if Montauk will survive this podcast. I really don't. I don't

Liz:

think they will. We'll have to see. In season 2.

Claire:

Oh, god.

Liz:

Well, guys, thanks so much for being on this podcast. Anna, it was beautiful and amazing to have you on. Thank you for having me. And next week, nope. No plans.

Liz:

We'll see you next week. Bye. Bye. Bye.