Rachel Fleit: Going Greek with BAMA RUSH

Summary

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Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa

Episode: Rachel Fleit: Going Greek with BAMA RUSH
Release Date: November 19, 2025
Guest: Rachel Fleit (Documentary Filmmaker)
Main Topic: Sorority culture, the making of Bama Rush, and the nuanced experiences of young women navigating community, belonging, and economic challenges in America

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Episode Overview

In this engaging episode, Kelly Ripa welcomes documentary filmmaker Rachel Fleit to explore the phenomenon of Bama Rush, the viral sensation around University of Alabama sorority recruitment, and Fleit’s process and perspective as a storyteller. The conversation delves into Fleit's experiences with resistance from the Greek system, the pressures and rewards of telling diverse women’s stories, and her latest documentary, Sugar Babies, which investigates the world of young women supporting themselves through online “sugar baby” work in small-town Louisiana.

The episode is punctuated with candid humor, personal reflections, and a raw look at what it means to seek connection, purpose, and power—especially for young women in today’s America.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Naming Their Recording Space—Podcast Banter (02:14–03:40)

• Kelly, Jan, and Albert riff about naming their podcast studio, considering names like "Club Fiona," "The Crib," and "Antique Shit Show".
• Kelly jokes about every possible podcast name already being taken, poking fun at the podcasting boom.

Memorable Moment

"Every podcast name is taken because everybody has a podcast."
— Kelly Ripa (03:32)

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2. Introducing Rachel Fleit: Filmmaker and Storyteller (04:01–07:56)

• Kelly gives a loving introduction, praising Rachel’s authenticity as an artist.
• The group discusses the idea of a podcast segment focused on “what did you eat for dinner?” exploring how food talk connects people and communities (ties into Rachel’s upbringing).

Notable Quote

“I love hearing what people had for dinner. I want to know in detail.”
— Rachel Fleit (05:00)

• A humorous aside about making food-themed programming more entertaining: “There needs to be more meat” (06:05).

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3. Telling Women’s Stories: Identity, Difference, and Documentary Approach (07:57–13:25)

• Rachel discusses how her lifelong experience with alopecia—and thus being visibly different—shaped her curiosity and approach to storytelling. This “outsider” perspective made her an observer, fascinated by what it means to belong to womanhood and girlhood in America.
• Her fascination with “blending in” and the deeper truths behind social media personas is a throughline in her work, particularly in Bama Rush.

Key Reflection

“I was just fascinated by women. I didn’t feel like I belonged...my biggest shock, I think, once I started to feel like I was part of the club...was that we all contain multitudes.”
— Rachel Fleit (10:28)

• Kelly connects, sharing how her daughter got hooked on “Bama Rush TikTok” and how the film became must-watch viewing for her family.

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4. The Rise of Bama Rush & Its Viral Impact (13:25–21:17)

• Rachel describes originally conceiving the sorority documentary idea in 2018 (inspired by Me Too) and then revisiting it after Bama Rush exploded on TikTok in 2021.
• The viral nature of the Alabama recruitment process made the story far more avant-garde and compelling than she anticipated.
• The panel discusses the cultural obsession with Greek life, with Jan sharing her own sorority experience and the rise of parents hiring "rush coaches" and even therapists for the process.

Memorable Discussion

"I think there is a loneliness epidemic, 100%...everything is digital, we’re talking to the robots at all times...”
— Rachel Fleit (23:10)

• Rachel frames sororities as fundamentally about the search for friendship and belonging.

Notable Quote

“At its core, it is a way for these young women to find friends…a place where you can go and you can feel like you belong—which I do believe is at the core of every human.”
— Rachel Fleit (23:28)

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5. The Cost of Community & The Sorority System’s Exclusion (24:04–26:31)

• Kelly and Jan examine issues of class and exclusion, debating whether looks or money matter more in rush outcomes.
• Jan argues that at certain schools, Greek life is essential for social existence; at others, alternatives abound.

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6. Making Bama Rush: System Pushback, Conspiracies, and Healing Through Criticism (28:29–36:36)

• Rachel recounts the severe pushback from the Greek system, including rumors and defensive tactics from sorority leadership, making access for filming very challenging.
• She suspects a coordinated campaign to shut down the documentary via rumors and internet hate, particularly after the film’s release.

Notable Exchange

“I do believe the Greek System did a bit of defense and, like, created a campaign of hate for the film because there was so much praise. And then there were some, like, mixed comments, DMs. They were so afraid, I think, so afraid. They didn’t want their thing to be taken. They didn’t want it to be the end of Greek life as we know it.”
— Rachel Fleit (32:28)

“But my spiritual experience…is, the haters said all the things I was afraid of hearing my whole life…But what happened was…I received these hate DMs alongside, like, thousands of love DMs and I survived those mean, nasty comments. And it was like, ‘Oh, they can’t hurt me.’”
— Rachel Fleit (33:14, 34:29)

• Rachel frames internet trolling as ultimately healing: "It fueled me…made me a more fearless filmmaker and artist because they already came for me so hard. I’m fine.” (34:32–34:49)

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7. The Parallel Project: Sugar Babies—Economic Realities and Connection (36:36–51:13)

• Rachel shares how she found the subject of her new documentary* Sugar Babies* through TikTok—Autumn Johnson, who lost her scholarship and started making money online as a sugar baby to pay for college.
• The film contrasts with Bama Rush: it’s about poverty, community, and how young women in Louisiana use sugar babying (mostly texting, little or no in-person interaction) out of necessity, not luxury.
• Autumn taught dozens of other women to do the same, creating a support network.

Notable Quotes & Insights

“They had created an online sugar baby operation...They were, like, talking to men online...to buy lunch. Sometimes she was making like a thousand dollars a day.”
— Rachel Fleit (44:03–45:18)

“She’s like a bit of a Robin Hood. She would teach girls all over the world...how to make money online from talking and texting with men.”
— Rachel Fleit (45:23–46:25)

“They were striving for purpose. They were trying to make money and get power. But what they had in spades was connection and community.”
— Rachel Fleit (46:59)

• The system they exist in was described as not being “for them” (low minimum wage, poverty cycles, broader American neglect of working class/poor communities).

Socio-Economic Commentary

“It’s really at the end of the day about being seen, feeling like you matter, feeling like you’re worth something...what does it mean to be a young person in America...but you’re really poor.”
— Rachel Fleit (48:30–49:10)

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Noteworthy Timestamps

• Rachel’s “What Did You Eat” Pitch: (05:00–06:48)
• Rachel on Growing Up Different & Blending in: (08:16–10:41)
• Documentary Inspiration from TikTok: (11:28–12:25)
• Sorority System Pushback & Rumors: (16:05–19:23)
• The Human Need for Community: (23:28–24:06)
• Rachel's Experience with Hate and Healing: (32:28–34:49)
• Introduction to Sugar Babies and Autumn Johnson: (38:14–44:03)
• Juxtaposing Bama Rush and Sugar Babies—Privilege vs. Poverty: (50:59–51:13)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

"My biggest shock, I think, once I started to feel like I was part of the club...was that, like, we all contain multitudes."
— Rachel Fleit (10:28)

“At its core, it is a way for these young women to find friends…a place where you can go and you can feel like you belong…”
— Rachel Fleit (23:28)

"You can just say whatever you want now. And it actually, I think, made me a more fearless filmmaker and artist because I was like, oh, they already came for me so hard. Yeah, I’m fine."
— Rachel Fleit (34:32–34:49)

"She’s like a bit of a Robin Hood. She would teach girls all over the world...how to make money online from talking and texting with men…”
— Rachel Fleit (45:23–46:25)

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Episode Tone & Takeaways

Kelly Ripa’s conversational warmth shines alongside Rachel Fleit’s thoughtful candor. The discussion balances humor, empathy, and a sharp analysis of female identity, social class, and community in America. Fleit’s honesty about facing online backlash and her refusal to sensationalize—or drag—the women she documents stand out. Both Bama Rush and Sugar Babies ultimately are framed as stories of striving for belonging and dignity, against the complex backdrops of Southern Greek life and economic precarity.

Listeners are left with an appreciation for the hidden depths behind social media “characters,” a nuanced understanding of Greek life’s functions and flaws, and a reminder of the universal quest for visibility, community, and self-worth.

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Transcript

[Kelly Ripa]

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[Jan Chalet]

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[Kelly Ripa]

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[Jan Chalet]

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[Kelly Ripa]

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[Jan Chalet]

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[Kelly Ripa]

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[Jan Chalet]

At prices this good, you can grab something for yourself too. Marshalls.

[Rachel Fleet]

We get the deals.

[Jan Chalet]

You gift the good stuff. Shop [e-mail] or find a store near you.

[Rachel Fleet]

I do believe that the Greek system did a bit of defense and, like, created a campaign of hate for the film because there was so much praise. And then there were some, like, mixed comments. DMs.

[Kelly Ripa]

They were so afraid, I think.

[Rachel Fleet]

So afraid. They didn't want their thing to be taken. They didn't want it to be the end of Greek life as we know it.

[Kelly Ripa]

Somebody gotta cue me or do I cue myself?

[Jan Chalet]

Cue yourself.

[Kelly Ripa]

Okay. Hey, everybody, we're back with another let's talk off camera. Get talking. Oh, my gosh, this one's big. Big. Listen, it's been all over the news. In case you've been sleeping, Albert, Bama rush is how sorority rush in general has become big business. Today we'll be diving into some of this because our guest certainly knows a lot about it. But Jan, Albert. Albert and Jan. Seth, Ashley, Andy Cohen has a clubhouse. Yes. Right.

[Jan Chalet]

Yeah.

[Kelly Ripa]

And a lot of these podcast shows, like, they have these swanky suites that they're in. They're pods. And I feel like we need a moniker or like a neon sign of some kind. I don't know. Do we call this the bedroom? Is it too icky?

[Jan Chalet]

It's like, yeah, it feels like dirty.

[Kelly Ripa]

It's giving you ick. Yeah, I like that.

[Jan Chalet]

Between the Sheets.

[Kelly Ripa]

Between the Sheets. No, but. No, but between the Sheets is the name of a podcast. Is it? Well, I'm sure it is. I'm sure it is.

[Albert Bianchini]

There probably is one, I think, as a nod to the various collectibles that are in the room. This should be Club Fiona.

[Kelly Ripa]

Club Fiona. Fiona.

[Albert Bianchini]

Albert, Fion or Fiona's Den.

[Kelly Ripa]

No, no, Mu. Dang, den.

[Jan Chalet]

It's kind of like a freak off, but that's very diddy.

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah, no, no, he can't say freak off anymore. He's ruined that phrase.

[Albert Bianchini]

Yeah, let's, like, let's pick up something out of the room.

[Kelly Ripa]

Masks and such. I don't know. Odd collectibles.

[Albert Bianchini]

Oh, yeah.

[Kelly Ripa]

Nerds are people, too.

[Albert Bianchini]

Antique Shit show.

[Kelly Ripa]

Antique Shit show.

[Albert Bianchini]

All right, we have FUNNY coming to you live from the Antique Shit Show.

[Jan Chalet]

I think our listeners should send us some ideas.

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah, send us ideas, listeners.

[Jan Chalet]

We need a name for this.

[Kelly Ripa]

Send us ideas. Good ideas.

[Jan Chalet]

Maybe the crib, because this is your son.

[Kelly Ripa]

Oh, the crib. Yes, yes, Maybe. Well, chan, you just named it. No maybe.

[Jan Chalet]

I bet you that's the name of a podcast.

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah, the crib is probably a name of podcast. You're right. You know what? Every podcast name is taken because everybody has a podcast.

[Jan Chalet]

All right, this might be the crib. We'll figure it out.

[Kelly Ripa]

Okay. All right, listeners, I want to introduce you to my friend who is a gem and a true artist, a storyteller. AI can't replace this woman in any way. Rachel Fleet is here. She is joining us in the. In the. In da crib.

[Jan Chalet]

Da crib.

[Kelly Ripa]

In de crib. Rachel. I'm gonna get. I'm gonna do your intro. So here we go. Try not to blush. Not only is Rachel very special to me, she's also an award winning writer and director. Her documentaries, including Introducing Selma Blair, Bama Rush, and her latest stock Sugar Babies, premiered at Sundance. We are going to get into it. We've been waiting three months to have a conversation about this. Rachel, thank you for joining us. Welcome, Rachel Fleet, everybody. Rachel Fleet. All right, so before we get into it, I hear you have a hot take. You want to defend Albert the Indefensible? Yes. Okay, I'm listening.

[Jan Chalet]

Yeah, I heard this from you. He's like, Rachel texted or DM'd me and said she defends me talking about food on the podcast.

[Kelly Ripa]

She does, but it's.

[Albert Bianchini]

Yes, true.

[Rachel Fleet]

I do. And I'll tell you why. I find I grew up in a house where, like, when my grandparents called my parents, they talked like almost every day. They would call them, they would say, how are you doing? How are the children? Then they'd say, oh, we went out to dinner last night. What did you have? They would list in detail what they ordered at the restaurant for dinner. It was like a big part of the conversation. Yes, it was like a daily thing. What did you eat for dinner? They would. The chicken parmesan. I got a side of spaghetti on the side. I got the broccoli. For dessert, I had chocolate pudding with like a. This is like the 80s and 90s.

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah, chocolate pudding is amazing.

[Rachel Fleet]

With whipped cream.

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah. Dollop in the center.

[Rachel Fleet]

Dollop. And it had like a skin still on it. Yes, it was.

[Kelly Ripa]

I love the skin. I like the pudding skin.

[Rachel Fleet]

You know, it's like Brooklyn and Queens and Long island. And they just talked about the food. And so I said to Albert, you know what? I love hearing what people had for dinner. I want to know in detail. And so then I pitched to him, and I'm still working out the format because I realized there needs to be more meat. Because, like, law of diminishing returns. It will be, like, boring if we just call people and ask them what they had.

[Albert Bianchini]

I don't think it's boring at all.

[Rachel Fleet]

But I think there's something. There's a seed of an idea here where we call people and it's like all different kinds of people. And we just. It's like people who might have a bold face name. It could be like my dentist. It could be like the pilates instructor. And we say, what did you have for dinner? It's a little asmr. Yeah, like, just tell us what you had for dinner.

[Kelly Ripa]

We could just call it what you eat.

[Albert Bianchini]

What you eat.

[Rachel Fleet]

What you eat. What'd you have, by the way?

[Albert Bianchini]

And I forgot to bust these out, but Kyle made gluten free chocolate chip cookies and knew that you were coming today. They're a New York Times recipe. And he said, bring them, so you.

[Rachel Fleet]

Have to have one.

[Kelly Ripa]

Rachel, you know what's nice? I. I work here every week and Kyle has never brought in for me gluten free.

[Albert Bianchini]

They're delicious. They're great.

[Jan Chalet]

So the execs at SiriusXM, actually, we were on a whole group call with them and they said, you know, I know you guys argue about the topic of food, but we think this actually would be for a good episode.

[Rachel Fleet]

And I was like, what?

[Albert Bianchini]

Why are you talk about food? People enjoy talking about food.

[Kelly Ripa]

Maybe it's the way you talk about food, because Rachel talking about food, it was seductive. Her voice is gorgeous. Her voice is like. It's like velvety. You talk about food like a man who has never eaten before. And I happen to know you've just eaten.

[Jan Chalet]

I don't understand a podcast about food. If you're not seeing it, who can't.

[Albert Bianchini]

You can talk about it. Everyone knows what a chocolate chip cookie looks like. Everyone knows what a slice of these.

[Kelly Ripa]

Look like the size of a head.

[Albert Bianchini]

Everybody knows about food, and it's a thing that people enjoy. It's communal. It brings it together.

[Jan Chalet]

We're going to do one episode about food.

[Albert Bianchini]

We have to.

[Rachel Fleet]

Okay, who are you going to have on to talk about?

[Kelly Ripa]

Rachel has to be here. Rachel has to be here.

[Albert Bianchini]

Well, Stanley Tucci, you brought up earlier your dentist.

[Jan Chalet]

Your dentist.

[Rachel Fleet]

My dentist.

[Kelly Ripa]

So, okay, Rachel, as a director and a woman, what is the most rewarding part for you about telling women's stories? Because I find that you tell stories so completely. There's always, like a surprising angle, a twist, something I never saw coming. How do you approach your work?

[Rachel Fleet]

Well, I think my whole, like, going back to, you know, the beginning, it's like my whole experience of being a woman has been different. And I think, like, growing up, I just observed women and, like, looked at all the other girls in my classroom and, like, the women in my life. And I was always looking at, like, how am I different than them? Which was like a very clear cut way, which is that I was bald. Like, I'm bald. I have alopecia universalis since I was like, 18 months old. And so it was like this ongoing inner narrative of, like, I am. Am I like her, but I'm not like her because I have no hair. I would say it was like a bit of a mental obsession. Like, I was like, how am I going to be like a normal girl? And like, growing up on Long island in, like, the 80s and 90s, and.

[Kelly Ripa]

It was like, it was the hair time. It was the hairiest time Long Island.

[Rachel Fleet]

Oh, my God. And Kelly, I. It was the. It was the time of big hair. And let me tell you something. I did the big hair. I got the wigs. I figured it out. I had a lady who sold me wigs on, like, Route 111 in Smithtown. I did, like, the curling iron. I did rave number four. I got the look. Like I was not. I was going to blend in, which we talk about all the time in Bama Rush.

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah, right.

[Rachel Fleet]

I was just, like, fascinated by women. And I felt apart from, like, I didn't feel like I belonged into, like, the girls group ever. And so I would say it started really young, this, like, fascination with women and what it meant to be a girl, what it meant to be a woman. And then when I stopped wearing a wig during college and I became, like, what I would define as, like, my true self, and I was like a bald girl out in the world, I was like, you're just a woman. You're just like, a girl that happens to have no hair. And, like, I found my. My own path through my own femininity and, like, my own version of that. And. And then because I've spent so long, like, kind of observing women, my biggest shock, I think, once I started to feel like I was part of the club.

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah.

[Rachel Fleet]

Was that, like, you know, we all contain multitudes. Like, I cannot, like, look on the Internet on, like, a TikTok video and say. Or on a social media post and say, like, I know her.

[Kelly Ripa]

Right.

[Rachel Fleet]

There's so much more underneath that because I knew, like, I was sort of, like, covering who I really was for so long. And so I think that's, like, what I'm always aiming to do. And that was, like, really my entry point for the Bama girls because I looked at those TikToks. I started out, like, I wanted to make a documentary about the sorority system in 2018 when, like, me too happened, because I started to think, like, how do you, like, be a sorority woman during this age of consent? And, like, what is it like on the campuses? And then I got. I just. I got busy with something else and other projects and I forgot about it. And then around 2021, I was having a bunch of meetings. I was thinking about what was next, and I. And people say, like, what do you want to do next? And I was just like, oh, right, this sorority idea. And I just, like, pulled it off the shelf. And then I. A month later, Bama Rush goes viral on TikTok. And I started looking at these TikTok videos, and I was like, this is like avant garde performance art. Like, it was wild. And so I became very fascinated with, like, who is the girl behind the curtain of this TikTok video? And I found, like, these young women, they just like, there's so much there. And we want to not believe that, but it is there. So true that there's so much there. I mean, I've had, like, very, very in depth conversations about, like, spirituality and, like, what goes on inside of their minds that, you know, didn't make it into the film and sits on the cutting room floor.

[Kelly Ripa]

I always think it's so fascinating when you tell me stories about that time because I discovered Bama Rush on TikTok. Not that I have TikTok, but my daughter kept showing me these videos and she was really, I think, regretful that she didn't go to, like, a big rah rah school. She went to nyu. It's like, I'm sure they have Greek life there. But nobody really knows about it or talks about it. But she found it fascinating. She's like, these girls are getting ready to rush a sorority mom. And she just, like, could not get over it. She kept showing me these videos over and over again. And I was like, that's amazing. And then your documentary came out and I watched it with her. I watched it with my sons. I watched it with Mark. I watched it over and over again because I just couldn't get enough. Because you again, you think it's going to be a very simple cut and dry story about girls rushing. And it takes many left turns.

[Rachel Fleet]

I say that college was my favorite time in life. It just was like, I don't know, if I had to, you know, take a time machine back in time, I would go to college. I just like, I had a very, very amazing experience in Colle. And I think so much happens in that time period of you're a kid, but you're an adult. Like, you're finally on your own. And it was also like, interestingly enough, it's like the time when my life really changed. It was like when I went to school, when I took the wig off. And like, it was such a sort of potent moment. And I think with the youth. Yeah, I don't know, I'm like, curious about them. My dad said this recently. He was like, you're kind of like, ageless. I just, I don't know, it sounds like cliched, but I just like people. And so I want to know, like, what it's like to be 51. I want to know what it's like to be 19 right now. And so I would just kind of. I don't know, I think it's a bit of a chameleon. It's a little shape shifting, but it's mostly coming from a place of, like, deep curiosity. Like before we sat down to do this, and I've never met Ashley or Jan or Seth. I was like, dying to ask them questions. And so it's part of just who I am. Like, it's a curiosity. And so I want to know what the kids are saying. I want to know what they're into.

[Kelly Ripa]

It's really interesting. Joaquin graduated college and he moved back home for a couple of months. And every word he said to us, I was googling. I was Google translating my son because I sent him to college and he came back speaking a language I don't understand. Every word I would say to him, he'd go, cap. That's Cap. And I. No cap. Or no cap. But constantly he would say I was.

[Rachel Fleet]

Capping, driving around these cars, like with these kids, essentially like 18, 19, 20 year old girls. Like, I had turned 40 by that point. It's so much fun for me and it's so interesting. But I did have this moment. Like, at what point are you too old to do this? Like, I hope never.

[Kelly Ripa]

You're never too old because you're a documentary filmmaker and you're telling a story. And I think this story you told and every story you've told has been quite beautiful. And clearly in advocacy of the women that you are showcasing, were you surprised that when you went into the sorority system or the Greek life system, the amount of pushback you got, were you prepared for that? Did you anticipate it?

[Rachel Fleet]

No, it was crazy. The amount of pushback, I, because I just kind of like roll through the world. Like, I'm, I'm nice, I'm well intentioned. I'm like a nice girl who's not trying to take anyone down, like smear a campaign. I'm here to just like, tell a story. This is literally like what we wrote in the email. Like, I want to tell a story about what it means to be a young woman right now through the len of the Alabama sorority system. And let me tell you, at first there was a moment where I believe this woman was going to partner with us. And it all happens as it's supposed to happen. I really believe in like, the journey is the way. And like the film needed to have that sort of drama to show the power of this system. But we were talking with them and we were simultaneously writing to 500 young women. Like, we, we just like basically contacted, you know, as many because all of the young women, they put that they're rushing in their Instagram bio. So we just would like write to them and say, like, hey, do you want to like, tell us what your experience has been like? And they would just be like, either they didn't respond or they would be like, they're. This is totally against the rules. And I was like, oh, the rules. But I'm like a nice person, like, going to. I want to learn about like, what it's like to be you right now in this world. Like, very, like, kind of like just pure, really. Like, I. It was not. I had no. I say this all the time when I'm about to start a project. Like, I have no intention of dragging you through the mud. Like, it's. That is not why I'm here on this planet. And it's not interesting to me. Like, I don't want to make fun of women.

[Kelly Ripa]

There's enough of that. That in the universe that, you know, I think that's why what you do is so unique and interesting, because you never drag a woman.

[Rachel Fleet]

I won't do it.

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah. So we don't like girl on girl crime here.

[Rachel Fleet]

No, no. It's so dark. I think it's one of the darkest things. Yeah, I agree.

[Kelly Ripa]

But what was weird, though, was that the way this Greek system, I think it was just, like, by the total shutdown, they made themselves look so suspicious.

[Rachel Fleet]

Exactly.

[Kelly Ripa]

It was wild to me.

[Jan Chalet]

What did they do to try to shut you down?

[Rachel Fleet]

So we were talking with them for a while about partnering, and then out of nowhere, they were like, yeah, we're gonna do it. And then this is the national sort of branch. And then out of nowhere, they were like, alabama Panhellenic has said absolutely not. And so we were like, okay. So then we just went on our merry way. And then. I do believe this is a theory, but I do believe that they all talk. And I think that the word got out because we were very open. We're like, we're the HBO Max documentary about Alabama Rush. I think one person said one thing to another person, and that person said another thing to that person. And I think the way in which they shut us down was they started a false rumor.

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah.

[Rachel Fleet]

And it was just like, a false rumor that, like, we were doing nefarious things like putting mics on girls. And, like, first of all, I mean, I say it in the film. It's like, we all know if we work in sound.

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah, Right.

[Rachel Fleet]

That, like, that just wouldn't work.

[Kelly Ripa]

Well, first of all, it would be probably insanely loud. And secondly, they're wearing clothes that would clearly reveal a microphone. I mean, I've just. Just judging by the videos alone. Do you think they regret not partnering with you now?

[Rachel Fleet]

Well, I don't know. I mean, it's so crazy how it's blown up.

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah, it's blown up.

[Rachel Fleet]

It's like.

[Kelly Ripa]

It's even bigger now.

[Rachel Fleet]

It's bigger.

[Kelly Ripa]

Do you think, like, it was big and then your film made it huge, and now it's huge. Do you think it's like one fed the other?

[Rachel Fleet]

I think definitely when we started, the hashtag was 500 million. That's a lot.

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah. I mean, I can't imagine it's more than I can count to.

[Rachel Fleet]

I think it's like four and a half billion views on TikTok.

[Kelly Ripa]

That's wild. Yeah.

[Jan Chalet]

I mean, I. I was in a sorority in the East Coast. It was nothing like any of this, you know, And I'm blown away. And it's all over the news now. These parents are hiring the coaches, and you featured that for me. There's a lot of blurred lines, right? Because I think in a lot of cases, a lot of moms want this even more than their daughters. Yeah, I feel that that's. You know, I see my friends with daughters who are. They're on eggshells. If their daughter got into the sorority, it's, like, crazy. And it has to be the right sorority. You know, it's a really big, big deal. And it's. They'll lose sleep over it for a week. But the concept of, like, now there's coaches and now I just saw there's actual therapy. Like, people have created. Therapists have created centers for girls who are dealing with. It's called gracefully. It's Gracefully Greek.

[Kelly Ripa]

Gracefully Greek.

[Jan Chalet]

And it's like, at this point, I think people are capitalizing in a really fucked up way.

[Kelly Ripa]

Jen, what did you have to do for your sorority? Can you take us through your rush?

[Jan Chalet]

Yeah, I don't remember all of it, but it was at Lehigh. So, like, I see in Bama rush, they have social resumes.

[Kelly Ripa]

They have.

[Jan Chalet]

You know, it was nothing like that. You would go to a couple cocktail parties. I think the real number one rule is that if. As long as you didn't sleep with or. Or. Or try to sleep with any of the sisters boyfriends or ex boyfriends, then you were okay.

[Rachel Fleet]

But if you had.

[Jan Chalet]

Or if you were hitting on one of them, then you're not going to.

[Kelly Ripa]

Get a bit, huh? Right, Right.

[Jan Chalet]

But then, you know, once you get into a sorority and it became pledging wasn't bad. Hell Week, I guess, was the worst of it.

[Kelly Ripa]

What'd they make you do, Jan?

[Jan Chalet]

So for us, I'll tell you, I don't care. They. So we had to sleep in a room all on the floor. And then every few hours, they'd wake up us up with music. Lehigh is notoriously all steep hills with stairs. And we weren't allowed to take any stairs.

[Kelly Ripa]

Stairs.

[Jan Chalet]

So we had to walk. Not on stairs.

[Kelly Ripa]

Like uphills.

[Jan Chalet]

Uphills. But not using the stairs. Okay, this is dumb. And then, like, it was. We couldn't talk unless we were in a class. We couldn't speak unless we were in the classroom or a sister was talking to us. And that was kind of like it. I honestly wasn't. I don't know if it's because I was from the city and I thought this, I was too cool for school, but I was just like, this is so dumb.

[Rachel Fleet]

At the end of the day, every single girl I talked to and we. We did end up speaking to over 50 young women to make the film. And, like, then a smattering of them become, like, sort of lead characters. They all told me the same thing, which is that I just want to make friends. And so it's like, in this world we live in where, like, I do believe there is a loneliness epidemic 100%. And we are getting so digital, everything, like, we're talking to the robots at all times.

[Kelly Ripa]

At all times. It's like Albert's best friend is a robot. Chat. Chiba.

[Albert Bianchini]

Too chatty.

[Kelly Ripa]

Chatty. His best friend, chatty.

[Rachel Fleet]

So it's like there is this, like, kind of at. At its core, it is a way for these young, like, young women to find friends. They're living away from home for the first time in their lives. They're maybe in a place they've never been to before. They don't have their people. And this is like, we will be your people. And at its core, I still stand by, like, the nuance of all of it, which is that it is this place where you can go and you can feel like you belong, which I do believe is at the core of, like, every human.

[Kelly Ripa]

Well, I think community is good.

[Jan Chalet]

I agree, and I agree with all of that. I just find it difficult because college is a place where a lot of people go to either reinvent themselves or, as you said, evolve and really find out who you are. And I feel doing a rush so early into a school year, it's like these sororities put you in class. It's like a tiered class system, and you're then forever labeled. And there's something about that that I find stifling. And it's like, you're. And then certain fraternities won't hang out with certain sororities. And that all, to me, is my problem with this.

[Kelly Ripa]

So what happens, Jan? Let's say I'm me, I'm Kelly, and I go to college. Okay? Let's just go back in time. And I go to. I go to college. I don't like. I don't take the road I've taken. I take a different road. I already know that I would not have been able to afford, like, sorority stuff. Like, what it takes to get in. Not. I don't mean, like, where you went. I'm just saying if I went To a big school with big Greek life. I. That would not have been afforded to me. I would not have been able to do any of that. What happens if I go to college and I don't join a sorority?

[Jan Chalet]

Okay, well, my take on this is, first of all, without having the money and stuff, you were fortunate you would get into a sorority because you're a pretty girl and that, that carries so much more currency. No, no, no, no.

[Kelly Ripa]

Money has made me prettier. You forget.

[Jan Chalet]

Okay, but that has so much currency in this day and age is just your looks. And I don't know if you agree with me, but there's so much currency in your looks. Whether. Yes. Whether you have the money for the nice outfits or not. Anyone can buy a ripped pair of jean shorts and a tank top. You're a gorgeous girl, so you would be fine. And then there's certain schools you would find your friends if you were joined a club or something else. My son doesn't belong to a fraternity. He's really happy. It's not for everyone, but in certain schools I think it's necessary. And you know, in Alabama, yes, I would have probably been sucked into the entire system. It just to me, I don't know, maybe it's because I have so many years away from it. I just think people are judging you on such a level. It just makes me super uncomfortable.

[Kelly Ripa]

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[Jan Chalet]

What was the hardest part for you last night?

[Rachel Fleet]

The hardest part was when they shut us down. Like, when the. When the rumor started. I say they shut us down when the rumor started. We had all these plans. Like, we had, like, you know, six different camera angles planned for certain things, and we had a whole plan of how we were going to film Rush, and it was just demoralizing. It was like, anytime we went onto camera with our cameras, like, some young woman would be like, there they are. Like, it was so dramatic and, like. So that was the hardest part. And I was like, how are we possibly going to do this? And, like, it really felt like I was in the boxing ring and, like, I would call Anthony, who's also a documentary filmmaker, at the end of the night from the. The Marriott in Tuscaloosa, which became my home away from home. The Marriott Residence Inn. It was lovely. They were like, what are you doing here all the time? And I was like, nothing.

[Kelly Ripa]

I'm not. Certainly not making a documentary about Bama Rush.

[Rachel Fleet]

I'm just. We're here for a convention, a dental convention. And so that part was so hard. And he would be like, basically, like, this is so stressful. But I promise you, when you're in the edit, this is gonna be gold. And he was right. And then, you know, the thing about trailers, I don't know if you guys have had this experience, but. But in the two films that I have that are on hbo, Max Introducing Selma Blair and Bama Rush, people take trailers so literally. So, like, you know, with Bama, there's this line that says, like, this could be the end of Greek life as we know it. And it was like. That was the line that they were just like, wow, yes, exactly. What have they done? So the film launched on the same day that, like, Max, as we then knew it was launching. So it was like, at midnight you could watch the film. And so by like, 11:00am it was like, you know, my DMs were flooded.

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Rachel Fleet]

But it was also. I mean, it was just like. It was wild.

[Kelly Ripa]

Was it supportive or were there people that were coming for you?

[Rachel Fleet]

It was. It was mixed. Also, the last film I made, there was an outpouring of support for Selma and what she had been going through with Ms. And so it was like, I'm like, wow. Documentaries can really be tools to help people feel seen. There were so many DMs from people who felt seen. Like, I would be on an airplane and because I'm in the film, someone would, like, come up to me and, like, they would grab me by the arm and be like, thank you so much. I. I went prematurely gray during college and you helped me. Or, like, you know, other people would come up to me. This was actually so crazy. I was doing a lot of Core Power Yoga at the time.

[Kelly Ripa]

I thought you were going to say cocaine, which is the weirdest thing. I don't know why I thought you were about to say cocaine. And I was like, this is crazy.

[Rachel Fleet]

I'm like, here we go. Okay.

[Kelly Ripa]

Core power yoga.

[Rachel Fleet]

I was like, I don't know. I just got kind of into yoga sculpt. I was going, like, every single day. And this crazy thing would happen in yoga after yoga. There'd be these, like, women that were, like, looking at me, and they would eventually be like, did you just make the film Bama Rush? And I would be like, yes. And they would all say really nice things, like, thank you so much. I love that so much. And my friend Brendan was also going to Core Power Yoga at the same time. And he looked at me, he saw, like, one of these interactions, and he was like, does this happen a lot? And I was like, it's been happening, like, every day.

[Kelly Ripa]

Wow.

[Rachel Fleet]

And he's like, you are the Martin Scorsese of core power yoga. It was really good, but there was so much positive. Like, there was so much positive. But then the haters came, and I.

[Kelly Ripa]

Don'T know, like, well, they need to shout louder because they have to.

[Rachel Fleet]

And then I started to believe. Believe in a conspiracy theory, which was that in the same way that the rumor started on TikTok, like, we talk about this thing, the Machine. Right, Machine. I do believe that the Greek System did a bit of defense and, like, created a campaign of hate for the film because There was so much praise. And then there were some, like, mixed comments. DMs, they were so afraid, I think, so afraid. They didn't want their thing to be taken. They didn't want it to be the end of Greek life as we know it. But my spiritual experience, which I do want to write about one day in some way, is the haters said all the things I was afraid of hearing my whole life. They said the things that I wore a wig because of, right? Like, they were like, you're ugly, you're bald, you're stupid, you're the worst director ever. You are old. This, like, Bama, like, barstool, Alabama, like, made memes of me. And I actually, like, it was very hard to experience it at first, but I really bounced back very quickly because, like, I have a brain that will, like, I will have tons of praise, but I will become fixated on the one person that said that human looked like, I don't know, some horrible monster creature. But what happened was, and this is like the spiritual experience of it is I received these hate DMS alongside, like, thousands of love dms and I survived those mean, nasty comments. And it was like, oh, they can't hurt me.

[Kelly Ripa]

Is that it? It?

[Rachel Fleet]

Is that it?

[Kelly Ripa]

Like, that's all you got?

[Rachel Fleet]

Yeah, it's like, it really healed this, like, deep wound in me that I was like, oh, you can just say whatever you want now. And it actually, I think, made me a more fearless filmmaker and artist because I was like, oh, they already came for me so hard. Yeah, I'm fine.

[Kelly Ripa]

And that's it.

[Rachel Fleet]

Yeah. And I'm still working and I'm like, making my movies and everything, still making art and.

[Kelly Ripa]

Why can't, why can't you say, I didn't like the documentary because I belong to this sorority and this is, this is how we did it and I loved it. And I wish you had featured that or whatever. They can't say that. So they say, oh, my God, you're bald. Yeah, like, that's like. Yeah, it's like when people tell me I'm flat chested as though they're breaking news to me. And I'm like, oh, my God, you're kidding. I am.

[Rachel Fleet]

I mean, to me, it actually, it fueled me, you know, it did the opposite. I think they were trying to, like, I don't know, they felt like I don't need to get into the psychology of like, the bullies and the trolls on the Internet, but I do believe they too want to feel seen and heard. Like, when I'M in my higher self. Like my Michelle Obama, who was on this podcast.

[Kelly Ripa]

I know she was on this here podcast.

[Rachel Fleet]

Oh, I love that episode. I do. I have, like, so much. I have so much.

[Kelly Ripa]

Very exciting.

[Rachel Fleet]

I could write. I was like, I could write to Kelly and Albert. And now, Jan, if you'll give me your cell phone.

[Kelly Ripa]

Oh, yeah.

[Rachel Fleet]

After I listen and Seth, Ashley, we'll.

[Kelly Ripa]

Be in a group text and just.

[Rachel Fleet]

Commenting on certain things, like Richard, like my dad.

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah.

[Albert Bianchini]

Nothing excites me more than Rachel commenting on an episode, though.

[Rachel Fleet]

But so I just, like. I'm like, in my higher self. I'm like, these people feel like. Like they need to be seen and heard, and they don't feel seen and heard in their lives. And so they're taking to the Internet to feel seen and heard, and therefore they're harming people. And usually it's like that, like, kind of cliche saying, like, hurt people, hurt people. Right. So it has fueled me because I'm like, oh, I survived that. And now let's go on to the next thing and we'll see.

[Kelly Ripa]

I'm very curious, and you sort of alluded to it before when you said you scroll through your algorithm and you come up with these subjects for your documentaries, which is how you discovered this industry of sugar babies, which is the most compelling. Sorry. Every time we speak the truth, the alarm goes off. You know, they're listening. It's. I find the most riveting. It's almost like the opposite of Bama Rush. I mean, it's very similar, but it's the opposite world of Bama Rush. It is a world I didn't know anything about. Although I know what Jan's gonna say. She's gonna say we should start sugar babying on the side because college is expensive. Jan, tell me about it. But. But I was fascinated by this story because I believe that poverty has a force field that pulls people back. Sometimes the pull of poverty is unescapable. Even when you can have a moment to break out, even if you have all of the tools to go in the right direction, there is something safe about going home. Did you experience that? Can you take us on the journey of how you found your subject, how you got in with this group, this. I mean, it's friends and family.

[Rachel Fleet]

Totally. So it's. It's actually so interesting in that I was scrolling through TikTok to find my next documentary subject in, like, the spring of 2021, and I had this idea, like, I wanted to create a verite documentary that was like kids, the 1990s Larry Clark film but not in a coastal city in America. And I wanted to again see what it was like to be a young person right now with social media and all of it. And so I set out on a journey through my phone to find these young people with like, you know, I was looking for something that was like, had a bit of meat on its bones. Like, I was like, there's, you know, all different kinds of young people in this world. But what I came across was a phenomenon of hashtag sugar baby. And I'm like, what is this? And I was working with a story producer and I was like, like, we need to look for people who are sugar babies. But like online Sugar Babies was like this phenomenon I had seen on TikTok and she sent me a TikTok like a couple weeks later and she said, I think I found your girl. And I looked at this TikTok and it was Autumn Johnson's TikTok. And she was like instantly compelling. And she was talking about how like she didn't have enough money to pay for college and she'd lost her scholarship and she made $5,700 in one day by asking Men Online to send her money.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Rachel Fleet]

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[Commercial Announcer]

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[Rachel Fleet]

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[Kelly Ripa]

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[Albert Bianchini]

Oh, hey, welcome to gift wrapping.

[Kelly Ripa]

Whoa.

[Albert Bianchini]

Zoe Saldana.

[Commercial Announcer]

Hey, can you wrap these, please?

[Rachel Fleet]

Wow.

[Albert Bianchini]

IPhone 17s.

[Kelly Ripa]

You splurged at Team Mobile.

[Commercial Announcer]

You can get four iPhone 17s on them.

[Kelly Ripa]

The new center stage front camera is.

[Commercial Announcer]

Amazing for group selfies. It's the perfect gift for everyone.

[Kelly Ripa]

I'm the worst.

[Albert Bianchini]

I only got my mom a robe.

[Commercial Announcer]

Well, it's better than socks.

[Albert Bianchini]

So I have to trade in my old phone, right?

[Kelly Ripa]

No. @ t mobile.

[Commercial Announcer]

There's no trade ins needed when you switch. Keep your old phone or give it as a gift.

[Albert Bianchini]

Incredible.

[Commercial Announcer]

In fact, wrap up my old phone.

[Kelly Ripa]

Too, for my aunt Rosa. Forget that. Aunt Liz will be jealous.

[Albert Bianchini]

Sounds like my family drama.

[Kelly Ripa]

Oh, I got it.

[Commercial Announcer]

I'll give it to my abuela. I'll take reindeer paper with.

[Kelly Ripa]

Hey, where are you going?

[Rachel Fleet]

To T mobile.

[Albert Bianchini]

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[Rachel Fleet]

It was Autumn Johnson's tik tok, and she was, like, instantly compelling. And she was talking about how, like, she didn't have enough money to pay for college and she'd lost her scholarship and she made $5,700 in one day by asking men online to send her money. I could probably like, quote the TikTok because I've heard it so many times, but I needed to meet with her immediately. I was like, we need to get in touch with her. So we DMed her and we set up a zoom meeting with Autumn. And she was on screen for 10 seconds. And I was like, you contain multitudes and you are fantastic and can I come and film with you? And she was like, you want to film with me? And I was like, yeah. And so I went down there and. And we, you know, at first she was like, a little nervous and she had to call her mom, like, after like an hour or two and say, yeah, it's cool. They're not like serial killers, you know, like. Cause it's like, who are we?

[Kelly Ripa]

That. My whole. The whole time I was like, I was nervous for her and all of the girls, because, you know, some are just online. But, I mean, I don't want to give away the plot points. I want everyone to see this documentary. But. But, you know, it can progress. And when it progresses, your likelihood of encountering a serial killer, I would think would go up exponentially.

[Rachel Fleet]

Totally. And the thing. So I met her, and, like, her best friend Bonnie was, like, staying with her, and she revealed to us very quickly that she was pregnant. And then we met her sister, and then we met her boyfriend, and then we met the entire family. This is all within the first filming date. And, you know, it took a little bit of time, but I slowly got to meet the whole world. Like, all of these kids that were living in Ruston, Louisiana, which is the north part of Louisiana, and northern Louisiana is so different from southern Louisiana. It's like, there's a joke, like, if you're from northern Louisiana, they ask you, like, where do you go to church? And in southern Louisiana, they ask you, what do you want to drink? That's like their Louisiana joke. But I loved these kids, and what they were doing was, like, they had created an online sugar baby operation, and it wasn't like to live in, like, a fancy apartment in Miami and have, like, a fancy handbag and go to sushi dinners that cost, like, a thousand dollars. They were, like, talking to men online with, like, Autumn's certain kind of, like, special way that she had sort of crafted to, like, make money to buy lunch. Lunch?

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah.

[Rachel Fleet]

Like, it was like, $20. I mean, sometimes she was making, like, a thousand dollars a day.

[Kelly Ripa]

Well, she was able to cover her college tuition after she lost her scholarship.

[Rachel Fleet]

Yes, that was the impetus. And then she was like, wait, I can do this. And so she started making money online by just talking and texting with men and flirting with them. And they were lonely, and so they wanted to talk to someone. And this is 2021. 2020 is when she started it. But she's like a bit of a Robin Hood. And so she class and she would teach girls all over the world. She had, like, 75 girls in her group chat how to make money online from talking and texting with men, which.

[Kelly Ripa]

I was fascinated by. You know, you would think she would want to keep that for herself. Right, because you're. You're creating competition in the marketplace. But she was very not like that. She wanted them to learn all of the tricks so that they, too, could get money. I think she understood the. The mission is that there are a lot more girls like me in the world who can't get their basic needs met.

[Rachel Fleet]

Exactly. And like, she had girls that were like pregnant and like needed money, like to eat and like she would teach them and they'd be like, at some point someone was like, you should pay. You should have somebody. Like, you should have people pay for this class.

[Kelly Ripa]

You should charge for it.

[Rachel Fleet]

You should charge for it. So she started to charge for it. And there'd be young, like women that would say, like, I don't. I have like a one year old kid and I need to buy food. Like, can I pay you after I get paid? And she would be like, totally. And she would get paid and some girls wouldn't pay her, but she didn't care because she's just a really good person.

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah.

[Rachel Fleet]

And the thing about that place, you know, there are like these things. My, my boyfriend friend's mother is an incredible writer, Francis Moore Lepe. And she's written 19 books or something. And she talks about like these things that you need. You know, it's like power, connection and purpose. And I'm probably like messing it up a little bit. But power comes from money, purpose comes from what you do and connection comes from your community. And like, what I noticed about, about Rustin was that Louisiana, where all these kids are from, is that they were striving for, you know, purpose. They were, you know, trying to make money and get power. But what they had in spades was connection and community.

[Kelly Ripa]

They were very connected to each other.

[Rachel Fleet]

And so it was like they were rich in that. But the system that they live in, like they live in the state of Louisiana where the federal minimum wage is $7.25.

[Kelly Ripa]

So outrageous. When watching those, like congressional hearings and just watching them shut down giving, you know, cost of living increases was so frustrating for me. That was like, it's so funny because there are so many frustrating parts to it. You know what I mean? There's so many parts where you're like, no, don't do it, don't do it. But that was equally frustrating.

[Rachel Fleet]

Yeah. And so it's like they're part of a system that is not for them. And so she creates this way that they can, you know, make money and find power and in the process search for this purpose. And it's really hard. But I think ultimately, you know, the film is about being seen feeling like you matter, feeling like that you're worth something. And we're looking at that through the lens of this like online sugar baby operation. And really, at the end of the day, it's like, what does it mean to be a young person in America trying to find purpose, trying to make something of yourself, but you're, like, really poor.

[Kelly Ripa]

You're really poor. And the blueprint for you is poor. And the blueprint before your parental generation was poor.

[Rachel Fleet]

Autumn, mom says in the beginning of the film, she's like, I want to make something. I want to get out of here. My parents are saying, like, why are you trying to be bougie? Why are you trying to act Hollywood? Like, you're not gonna. Like, we're from Louisiana. We're not. We're not like that, essentially. And, like, that line says everything.

[Kelly Ripa]

It's almost like, shame.

[Jan Chalet]

Shh.

[Rachel Fleet]

Like, don't try to be.

[Kelly Ripa]

Don't be. Don't get too big for your britches.

[Rachel Fleet]

Yeah. I just, like, basically thought I was gonna make a pretty, like, salacious documentary about, like. Like, men and loneliness and, like, you know, different.

[Kelly Ripa]

Taking advantage of young girls.

[Rachel Fleet]

Yeah. And, like, different forms of, like, what we define as sex work. And what is sex work. And then I was like, wait, this is, like, a whole different thing. Once I was, like, embedded in the community and saw simultaneously to filming, there was, like, this fight for the minimum wage in Louisiana. And the first time I heard about it was, like, actually from one of our subjects who was like, she says it in the end of. Towards the end of the film. Bonnie, the one who had the baby, she's like, I saw in the news today that they were trying to up the minimum wage, and they didn't let them. Like, what do they want us to be? Poor?

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah.

[Rachel Fleet]

And I was like, wait, what? And so then I started looking at it, and my editor was like, there's all this, like, news footage about the minimum wage. And so we were like, how do we bring this in and make this, like, a bigger story about, you know, what we think about as this part of America that is just, like, not focused on, like, it is a bit invisible. And I will say, like, one thing about Sugar Baby's the film is that I was filming that at the same time as Bama Rush. Oh, my gosh.

[Kelly Ripa]

So the juxtaposition must have been wild.

[Rachel Fleet]

I was going back and forth between Tuscaloosa and Rustin, and, like, you. You could not think of two more different groups of young people. Yeah. And it was so wild.

[Kelly Ripa]

I just loved having you here. Thank you for doing our podcast.

[Rachel Fleet]

I loved being here.

[Kelly Ripa]

Listen.

[Rachel Fleet]

So excited.

[Kelly Ripa]

Listeners. Make sure you check out all of Rachel's documentaries. They're just so good. You are so talented. You are Such a storyteller. And don't forget to. I don't know. I was going to say download. Rachel. Rachel's upcoming documentary about food with Albert.

[Albert Bianchini]

Yes, I am in. Leaned in for that one.

[Kelly Ripa]

Rachel.

[Rachel Fleet]

90 minutes of just, like, soft tones about food, just talking to people about food.

[Kelly Ripa]

Albert's like, it's only 90 minutes.

[Albert Bianchini]

I'll make it 92 minutes.

[Rachel Fleet]

We can make it a series.

[Albert Bianchini]

Yes.

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah. You guys, you know what's so funny? I would pay attention to that. I would pay attention to the.

[Rachel Fleet]

We have to think about some programming that, like, makes it a little meatier. No pun intended.

[Kelly Ripa]

Didn't you say you wanted to not. You didn't want to do a cooking show. You wanted to do an eating show? Yeah, he didn't want to do a cooking.

[Rachel Fleet]

Well, that's a mukbang. That's like on Tik Tok, they. There's all of these people. I didn't know what a mukbang was. It's literally the video where, like, they take the thing, they make the sandwich and they eat it.

[Jan Chalet]

We watch those.

[Kelly Ripa]

We.

[Rachel Fleet]

We. Kelly and I have seen it.

[Kelly Ripa]

We've seen mukbangs. We are like facets. We're always like, we did a mukbang on our show. Do you remember that? We had some TikTok girl, some mukbangers on. And my kids were younger at the time. They knew who they were. They were like, you're doing a mukbang. And I'm like, is it gonna hurt? Because I didn't know what a mukbang was. I was terrified. But now because of that, mukbangs are also in my. It's very funny. My algorithm.

[Albert Bianchini]

You decide what it is. I'll join anything. You decide.

[Rachel Fleet]

All right, great. Well, this has been incredible.

[Kelly Ripa]

Well, thank you. Congratulations on all of your films. And I can't wait to see what you do next.

[Rachel Fleet]

I can't wait to see you next and be here. Thank you.

[Kelly Ripa]

Rachel Fleet, everybody. Thank you. Thanks for joining us. Can't wait to talk next week off camera.

[Rachel Fleet]

Bye.

[Kelly Ripa]

Bye. Let's talk off camera with Kelly Ripa is a production of Malojo Productions. From Malojo, our team is Kelly Ripa, Marc Consuelos, Albert Bianchini, Jan Chalet, Seth Bronqvist, Roz Therian, Devin Schneider, Michael Halperin, Julia Desch, and Team Radio Andy Lisa Mantineo, Scott Marlow, Jake Getz.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Rachel Fleet]

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[Kelly Ripa]

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[Rachel Fleet]

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