Sibling Rivalry — "The One Where We're Shirtless"

Release Date: September 8, 2025
Hosts: Bob the Drag Queen & Monét X Change
Featuring: Producer Jacob
Podcast Description:
Monét X Change (Miss Congeniality, Season 10, Winner of All Stars 4) and Bob the Drag Queen (Winner, Season 8) are best friends, comedy queens, and not actual siblings—but their chemistry and hilarious banter have made Sibling Rivalry a beloved mainstay in the drag/comedy podcast world.

Episode Overview

This episode, dubbed “The One Where We’re Shirtless,” sees Bob and Monét debating the origins of their titular shirtless promise—amidst bickering, accusations of gaslighting, and a running investigation over a ticketing link gone awry. As always, their rapport takes center stage, with detours into streaming obsessions, website drama, warrior princess cosplay, the linguistics of “corny” vs. “cringe,” and a late-in-the-episode exploration of colorism. Producer Jacob is an active presence, stirring the pot and mediating as needed.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Shirtless Episode: Who Lied?

(03:08 – 10:10)

• Gaslighting Accusations: The show opens with Bob claiming Monét is gaslighting him about why they’re not both shirtless as planned. Monét insists this day was supposed to be shirtless, Bob disagrees, and producer Jacob becomes the tiebreaker.
  • Bob: “Monet tried to gaslight me.” (03:15)
  • Monét: “To be honest, Jacob wanted to answer truthfully, but you scared him.” (04:16)
  • Jacob: Explains he wanted Bob to be comfortable more than preserve the jokey bit. (04:23)
• Website & Ticketing Drama: The two fight over whose website is updated. Bob claims Monét’s ticket link doesn't work; Monét blames her web team and admits, “We do not strive for perfection here at Monet LLC.” (07:48)

2. Working Dynamics: The True Third Sibling

(10:10 – 12:30)

• The hosts debate who works hardest (with Bob slyly asserting his supremacy) and whether Jacob deserves status as an official “sibling.”
  • Bob: “Jacob is low-key the unofficial third sibling, the babies of siblings…” (11:40)
• Conversation gets playful/weird as Bob claims: “I kissed my cousin when I was a kid. That’s true.” (12:01)
• The moment quickly devolves into fat jokes and “girl vs. bro” linguistic riffs.

3. Who’s Cringe? Who’s Corny?

(14:30 – 41:13)

• Apple Watches & Modern Tech: Monét rails against Apple Watches—calling them corny and ugly. (14:15)
  • Monét: “If they made an apple watch that looked differently, I would be into it... I just don’t like having a little black square on my wrist.” (14:20)
• ‘Corny’ and ‘Cringe’ Defined: The hosts parse what each word means for them, with Bob speaking about intentional “cringe” in art while Monét focuses on how certain behaviors just feel “whack” or “goofy.”
  • Monét: “I use corny in a myriad of ways… In this time, I think it’s corny that people are just so tapped into the device and you can’t exist.” (38:44)
  • Bob: “When I think of something that’s corny, I think of, like… The jokes are intentionally quite cringe.” (39:29)
• Being ‘Cringe’ vs. Not Trying: Bob brings up social media/TikTok discussions about how a fear of “cringe” stops people from being creative—a theme Monét connects to artistic growth.
  • Bob: “Their fear of being cringy is actually stopping them from being creative…” (32:48)
  • Monét: “Part of our art, becoming good at your art, is…failing and trying and not succeeding... that’s one of the only ways to really get better…” (37:04)

4. Meme Etiquette & Communication

(40:11 – 48:52)

• The trio discusses the politics of sending each other TikTok/meme content.
  • Jacob wonders if he has to fake-laugh at things he doesn’t find funny: “Is it acceptable to be like, this is not for me?” (41:24)
  • Bob: “My double-tap in the DMs is just, I acknowledge that I’ve seen this thing.” (41:37)
  • Monét: “You be sending me sh*t that is not quality and not hilarious.” (44:39)
• Monét avoids outing the friend who sends him “seven memes a day.” (47:00)

5. The Try-Hard Conundrum: Is Ambition Cringe?

(54:09 – 61:56)

• Bob details how, for him, cringe is less about trying and more about “trying and pretending not to care.” He discusses the line between reasonable self-promotion and “begging.”
  • Bob: “I love to try hard. To me, I cringe when I see people intentionally trying not to try hard…” (54:14)
• Monét maintains she’s comfortable asking for what she wants. Bob admits his internal debate about publicizing ambitions—using anecdotes from when he wanted to host “After Midnight” and referencing people who campaign for SNL on social media.
  • Monét: “I would not feel kind of corny about that. I would do it right now.” (61:34)
• The two agree that there are lines where ambition might seem desperate, but also that directness can lead to opportunities.

6. Modernizing Opera: Monét’s Grand Vision

(61:56 – 66:23)

• Monét pitches a “Drag Race Ballroom” version of The Magic Flute and advocates for more modern, creative opera stagings.
  • Monét: “What if it was set in like a 90s ballroom situation, where you have the Queen of the House of Night and Zoroaster is the mother of the House of the Sun?” (62:13)
• Bob confesses that, left to his own devices, he finds opera boring—unless Monét’s on stage.

7. Colorism & Nuance in Black Experience

(68:01 – 73:07)

• The hosts turn toward a serious late-episode conversation about colorism in the Black community, reacting to a Laverne Cox town hall.
  • Monét: “I would not call Laverne Cox a light-skinned person… she’s just a brown-skinned woman.” (68:31)
  • Bob: “It’s not just light skin and dark skin, y’all. We as Black people come in so many shades… can we just acknowledge that there is nuance?” (70:31)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Sibling Rivalry’s Dynamic:
  • Bob: “Jacob is low-key the unofficial third sibling. If I’m the eldest, you’re the middle child…”
• On ambition vs. embarrassment:
  • Bob: “I’m not afraid of people seeing me as cringe because I am a try hard. I love to try hard.” (54:14)
• On Cringe Holding People Back:
  • Bob: “They feel like people’s fear of being cringy is actually stopping them from being creative and having fun.” (32:53)
• On Modern Tech:
  • Monét: “You can exist without [an Apple Watch], too. So you have this in your hand, you have this on your wrist. I think it’s corny how people just have to exist with these things.” (38:14)
• Gag of the Episode:
  • Bob: “I kissed my cousin when I was a kid. That’s true.” (12:01)
• Philosophy on art and growth:
  • Monét: “That’s one of the only ways to really get better at whatever your art is.” (37:04)
• On Colorism:
  • Monét: “Laverne Cox not a light-skinned woman, she’s just a brown-skinned woman.” (68:31)
  • Bob: “It’s not just light skin and dark skin, y’all… There is nuance.” (70:31)

Fun Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:08 — Bob accuses Monét of gaslighting about the shirtless promise
• 05:38 — Kangaroos: Are they really desert animals? (Bob vs. Monét)
• 07:37 — Website link drama and the BAM Family Reunion ticket scandal
• 10:16 — Remembering why they agreed to do a shirtless episode
• 14:15 — Monét calls Apple Watches corny
• 32:48 — Deep dive into “cringe culture” and creativity
• 37:04 — Monét’s view on failure and artistic development
• 54:14 — Bob’s philosophy: “I love to try hard…”
• 61:56 — Monét’s Drag Race ballroom Magic Flute opera pitch
• 68:01 — Colorism & representation discussion

Episode Tone & Energy

As always, Bob and Monét bring shady, quick-witted energy, oscillating between playful jabs, pop-culture takes, personal anecdotes, and moments of genuine insight. Their unfiltered style is maintained, peppered with in-jokes, references to the extended Sibling Rivalry family (including Jacob and “the polycule”), and switches between dead-serious and playful irreverence at a moment’s notice.

For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This episode is classic Sibling Rivalry: chaotic, hilarious, sometimes poignant. Whether debating the semantics of “cringe,” sharing stories of their own ambitions (and perceived embarrassments), or unpacking serious conversations about colorism, Bob, Monét, and Jacob deliver laughter, messy honesty, and a few take-home lessons about being your authentic, creative self. If you’re looking for an episode that covers everything from opera to meme etiquette to the hardships of website management (and enough drag queen banter for days), this one’s for you.

Listen for: fierce debates, surprising vulnerability, and the full range of what it means to be both cringe and cool—sometimes in the same breath.