Frankie Grande

Summary

Thanks Dad with Ego Nwodim

Episode Summary: Frankie Grande (June 9, 2026)

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Main Theme

This lively and heartfelt episode of "Thanks Dad" features Ego Nwodim in conversation with performer, reality TV personality, and producer Frankie Grande. Together, they explore Frankie’s multifaceted career, sobriety journey, family dynamics, and the unique experiences of being in the public eye. The conversation blends humor, vulnerability, and real-life insight, opening up about “fixer” roles in families, the aftermath of reality TV, personal evolution, and—of course—shouting out dads.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. Sitting with Accomplishments and Staying Present

[03:08–04:13]

• Ego introduces Frankie as a Tony-nominated Broadway producer, which he admits he rarely stops to appreciate.
• Frankie discusses his habit of focusing on the present to avoid anxiety about the past and future:
  • "Reflecting on the past or the future are scary, scary, scary things. So… I try not to do that, but sometimes my accomplishments get put into that bracket of, like, well, don’t look at the past. That’s depression—that’s scary." (Frankie, 03:17)
• He talks about letting himself enjoy moments as they happen.

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2. Dreams, Typecasting, and Reality TV’s Double-Edged Sword

[04:21–07:19]

• Frankie grew up dreaming of a Tony but felt his Broadway achievements were erased after Big Brother typecast him as a reality star.
  • "Once you’re on a big, big reality TV show… all my Broadway credits were deleted." (Frankie, 04:41)
• He still appreciates the platform reality TV gave him, despite the homophobia and backlash, and has used it for good, especially for the LGBTQ community.
• Frankie shares about the emotional challenges that followed and his resilience in the face of online hate.

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3. Coming Out, Community, and Middle America

[07:20–09:38]

• Frankie only encountered homophobia after being on Big Brother, as he'd come out late (age 20) and spent his early adult life in accepting theater and college environments.
• On contrasting college/Florida experiences:
  • "Coming from Boca Raton, Florida, where there were zero [out]… to college, where there were six, I was like, this is a plethora!" (Frankie, 09:24)
• His platform allowed him to change some hearts and minds while exposing him to others who weren’t open.

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4. Sobriety, Self-Discovery, and People Pleasing

[10:20–15:22]

• Frankie’s substance use worsened after Big Brother due to the pressures and lack of support for reality stars post-show:
  • "They don’t give you the tools. When you leave reality TV..." (Frankie, 10:31)
• He describes reaching a low point, not being able to support family after his sister’s trauma, and making the decision to go to rehab.
• Sobriety is an ongoing journey:
  • "Sobriety is a constant gift and a constant journey. And I’m so grateful that I chose it." (Frankie, 13:03)
• Biggest lesson: confronting his people-pleasing tendencies and learning to set boundaries, forgive himself, and avoid becoming "a shell of a human being."
  • "I didn’t realize how debilitating my people pleasing was..." (Frankie, 13:30)
• Illustrates new boundaries with a personal anecdote about gym vs. pickleball with his husband.

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5. Family Dynamics, Grief, and Changing Roles

[18:39–22:58]

• Growing up, Frankie felt like the “fixer” in his family and shares a playful memory about always being needed—even when trying to use the bathroom.
• Recently, as family members have passed, he’s learning to adapt to quieter family spaces and cherish memories:
  • "Her legacy lives on through me, specifically—and I love that." (Frankie, 21:57)
• Ego and Frankie discuss grief as an extension of love (“grief is love persevering”).

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6. Pets, Parenting, and Being ‘Dad’

[26:06–28:20]

• Frankie’s dog Appa is a key part of his family—he and his husband joke about being “fun daddy” and “mean daddy.”
• Ego and Frankie trade stories about pet-parenting guilt and forgiveness.
  • "I still have, like, PTSD from... having him in a crate on a flight..." (Ego, 27:36)
• Frankie: "We could stand to learn a lot from [dogs]." (28:14)

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7. Pop Culture, Broadway Life, and Representation

[28:27–41:22]

• They riff on "Best In Show," Parker Posey, and the realities of casting and personality conflicts.
• Frankie loves Survivor and reality TV, critiques limited LGBTQ+ representation on shows like Big Brother, and pushes for better diversity alliances.
• Details the “crazy scale” of reality casting, the intense interview process, and the residual effects post-filming:
  • "I thought I was being watched all the time, so I would pull people into bathrooms..." (Frankie, 34:10)
• Frankie expresses excitement about performing in Titanique and the energy of live audiences and improvisation in Broadway shows.

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8. Lighthearted Segments & Rapid Fire

[42:23–47:23]

• Playful “Dad, Daddy, Father” segment sorts hypothetical men into those categories.
• Frankie recalls splurging on a Cartier love bracelet (and regrets it), offers advice on spending, and riffs with Ego about “3.5” craziness levels.
• Both share their backgrounds as biology majors, with Frankie impressing by remembering cockroach Latin names and Ego lamenting her forgotten science knowledge.

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9. Giving Thanks & Sharing Love

[52:30–53:43]

• Frankie is prompted: “Who or what do you want to say thanks to?”
  • "I want to say thank you to my dad... our relationship has gone through so many different phases, and we’re in the best one right now... I don’t often give my father the kudos that he deserves..." (Frankie, 52:30)
• A full-circle moment, bringing the episode back to appreciation for fathers.

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10. Musical Moment & Plugs

[53:53–57:23]

• Frankie plugs his new single, "I Drove All Night", a high-energy Celine Dion cover:
  • Sings an a cappella snippet:
    "I drove all night / to get to you / Is that all right?..." (Frankie, 54:28)
• On the discipline behind fitness and abs for music videos:
  • "Abs are is short for absolutely miserable... had to do a water cut..." (Ego & Frankie, 56:16)
• Playful banter about the trouble with getting a full six-pack and struggles of extreme fitness.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "It gave me the public platform that I have. Once I got sober... I figured out how to use that platform for good, especially for the LGBTQ community." —Frankie (06:23)
• "Grief is love persevering." —Ego (22:58)
• "I didn’t realize how debilitating my people pleasing was... you had to forgive yourself for your past actions and not people-please yourself into a fucking ditch..." —Frankie (13:30)
• "They don’t give you the tools. When you leave reality TV... you can collapse. Which I did.” —Frankie (10:31)
• "I want to say thank you to my dad... our relationship has gone through so many different phases, and we’re in the best one right now.” —Frankie (52:30)
• "I Drove All Night / to get to you / Is that all right?" —Frankie (singing, 54:28)
• "Abs are is short for absolutely miserable." —Ego (56:16)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:08] — Ego’s intro of Frankie and accomplishment discussion
• [06:23] — Reality TV and its impact
• [10:20] — Sobriety journey begins
• [13:30] — People pleasing and setting boundaries
• [18:39] — The “fixer” family role and growing up
• [21:57] — Grieving family, holding on to memories
• [26:06] — Discussion about Appa, pet-parenting
• [28:27] — Pop culture tangents, Parker Posey, Mike White
• [33:40] — Reality TV “toolkit” & post-show advice
• [34:10] — Life after Big Brother (“pulling friends into bathrooms”)
• [39:45] — Loving Broadway and Titanique
• [42:23] — Dad, Daddy, Father game
• [47:56] — Biology majors, cockroach Latin, surprising degrees
• [52:30] — Giving thanks to Dad
• [53:53] — Frankie’s single plug and musical snippet

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Tone & Language

The episode is warm, witty, and self-aware—balancing comedic honesty with vulnerability. Ego’s playful interviewing style keeps the conversation light even at its most heartfelt moments, while Frankie’s openness and humor shine throughout.

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For First-Time Listeners

This episode gives a nuanced, real yet uplifting look at Frankie Grande—beyond the headlines or reality TV persona. Expect laughs, candid insights, and a celebration of family, growth, and showing up authentically in the world.

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Next Episode Teaser

Frankie asks the next guest: "What’s your favorite Celine Dion song?" (52:28)

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Special Thanks

Frankie’s shout-out:
"Shout out to my dad… our relationship has gone through so many different phases, and we’re in the best one right now." —Frankie (52:30)

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Transcript

[Ego Wodem]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[Podcast Announcer]

What's up, y'?

[Frankie Grande]

All?

[Podcast Announcer]

Summer's got a different tempo. Everything's a little looser, brighter. One plan turns into another. You hear something, you stay a little longer. Next thing you know, you're somewhere you didn't plan to be. It's those in between moments. That's where the ideas hit. Conversations stretch out. Little memories sneak up on you. And sometimes it's just about what's in your hand. That color, that chill. The new Tropical Butterfly Refresher from Starbucks. Guava and passion fruit flavors with mango pineapple flavored pearls. Yeah, that feels like summer before you even taste it. Funny how one small stop becomes the best part of the day. Start your summer rhythm with Starbucks. Try the new Tropical Butterfly Refresher from Starbucks.

[Kal Penn]

Hey, everyone, it's Kalpen. I'm inviting you to join the best sounding book club you've ever heard with my podcast, Hearsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. Every episode, I nerd out with amazing guests and dive into the best new audiobooks available on Audible. It's the book club for your ears. Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart audiobook club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay, we've got a very exciting one coming up today. I cannot wait to share this one with you. I am going to be speaking to Frankie Grande. Very exciting. I don't know what else to say. And I guess I should let the conversation speak for itself, you know what I mean? All right, so keep watching, keep listening. It's going to get real good. You're your money back, guaranteed. Hopefully you did not pay someone to listen to this, because it should be gratis. But you know what won't be? The substack that doesn't exist. Yeah, I don't know. Maybe. Maybe the substacks will come to life someday. But I don't know. I don't know when. But for now, listen to this conversation.

[Frankie Grande]

Hi.

[Ego Wodem]

I'm putting lotion on my hands.

[Frankie Grande]

It puts the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay, wait. Remind me your pup's name.

[Frankie Grande]

Appa.

[Ego Wodem]

Appa. Which means father. Did you bring Appa because this podcast.

[Frankie Grande]

Yes, exactly. Because it's Father.

[Ego Wodem]

Father.

[Frankie Grande]

Because it's Appa. I am your father.

[Ego Wodem]

Appa. How long have you had Appa?

[Frankie Grande]

So Appa's five and a half.

[Ego Wodem]

Five and a half.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. And he's my little angel.

[Ego Wodem]

What a sweetie baby. Good boy.

[Frankie Grande]

And I really appreciate it.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay, I Have to do an intro for you.

[Frankie Grande]

Okay.

[Ego Wodem]

I've got to be official about this whole thing. I'll shut the fuck up because I'm a professional. Okay. My next guest is an actor, singer, Tony nominated producer and Broadway performer whose book Super A Memoir drops June 23rd. It's Frankie Grande.

[Frankie Grande]

Oh my God. That was so cool. I've never heard anyone say Tony nominated producer before. That was very exciting.

[Ego Wodem]

Excuse me. Do you. Do you ever sit with your own accomplishments?

[Frankie Grande]

It's interesting because, like, sometimes it literally will take someone doing an intro for me to be like, oh, wow, I did do that. I think part of my strategy of surviving in the world is like trying to stay in the present. Very much so. Reflecting on the past or the future are scary. Parts are scary, scary, scary things. So, like, I try not to do that, but sometimes my accomplishments get put into that bracket of like, well, don't look at the past. That's depression. That's scary. So not often, but what I have been trying to do is when it's happening to me in the moment, like getting nominated for the Tony, staying in that moment, live in the present, and I can re access that joy very easily. Cause I remember it. It was also super fresh. Cause it was this week, so it was like, there is that too.

[Ego Wodem]

It's like not the distant past. It's like kind of in many ways, it's still the present. It's very exciting. Thank you. Did you have dreams of being a nominated person of the Variety? We're talking. You got nominations.

[Frankie Grande]

So when I was a little kid, I got like a tarot card reading with my mother and they said like I would win an award when I was 50 years old and I was like, we're almost there. We're getting there. We are, we are super close.

[Ego Wodem]

When I was a 30 year old kid. Okay, you're going to get one.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. So when I was eight.

[Ego Wodem]

Eight.

[Frankie Grande]

So. So, like, I guess I was always in the back of my mind from a very young age. But I did kind of give up on my dreams of the Tonys because, you know, I was typecast as reality TV star. Once you're on a big, big reality TV show like that, it's like it's hard for people to look at anything else that you can do. Right. Like I started on Mamma Mia. On Broadway, but once Big Brother happened, it's like almost like all my Broadway credits were deleted.

[Ego Wodem]

Like, it's like no one. It's like that never happened.

[Frankie Grande]

We know you from Big Brother constantly. Everyone comes up to me after the show and is like, we had no idea you can sing. And I was like, oh, God, I'm 43. I've been doing this for 20 years, and I have an album and singles and. Okay, thank you.

[Ego Wodem]

Did you never sing in any of your confessionals?

[Frankie Grande]

I mean, they won't let you to because you're not allowed to have rights.

[Ego Wodem]

The rights.

[Frankie Grande]

Okay, so there's. The voice of Big Brother would always say, frankie, please stop singing. Like, it was, like, constant walking around the house. It was like, zach, please stop talking about production. Frankie, please stop singing. And it's, like, on, like, a button. So it's the same. Frankie, please stop singing.

[Ego Wodem]

That would give me a complex.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah, it's in my mind. It's in my mind on repeat. So, no, I didn't sing much on Big Brother, but. So it is nice to surprise people, but it kind of caused me to give up on my dreams of originating a role on Broadway. So the fact that I'm nominated as a producer, which is crazy, because this is my fifth Broadway show that I've produced, which is also. No, people don't really know that, but none of that was. I was never nominated for any of those. So this is really cool.

[Ego Wodem]

This is very cool.

[Frankie Grande]

In many ways.

[Ego Wodem]

It's so exciting for you. Like, I'm so excited for you, like, to go from giving up on the dream because of the reality TV of it all. Did any part of you then regret doing reality reality tv?

[Frankie Grande]

No, because it gave me so many gifts. Like, it's like, it gave me the public platform that I currently have and that I got to. That I'm currently. Once I got sober, big chapter we'll get to. But, like, I figured out how to use that platform for good and to do positive impact, have a positive impact in the world, especially for the LGBTQ community.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

So it's been. It is a gift.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

But it did feel like a curse right afterwards. Like, I did a lot of drinking and using at fans at. Well, not fans. Haters. Yeah. Like, there's a lot of haters.

[Ego Wodem]

You're like, you're obsessed with me, but obsessed with hating me.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. I don't know. You're a fan, but you really have a lot of opinions. Like, girl. Like, okay. Like, they're like, we really like that last thing that you did, but not this thing. And you're like, okay, well, okay, just.

[Ego Wodem]

Just receive and engage with what you like and don't engage with what you don't.

[Frankie Grande]

Like double tap or not.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

Or Swipe.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, that's.

[Frankie Grande]

That's all I need.

[Ego Wodem]

That's not that deep.

[Frankie Grande]

So. It is. Yeah, you're right. It is a fine line. But I did get a ton of attention after Big Brother, good and bad. A lot of homophobia, which I was never really exposed to in growing up at all, really, because I came out so late. I came out at 21.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

And then, you know, by that time, I was in college. At the end of my college, I was senior, junior. And then I. So I was 20. I came out at 20 and then went straight to New York and was in a Broadway show. So it was just like everyone was gay, right? I was like, where's the homophobia going?

[Ego Wodem]

Here you are me and I am you.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah, exactly. It's like. So I missed it. And then becoming. Getting on Big Brother, which is a largely consumed show in middle America, there was, like, I would say 30% of the people that were not happy I was there, but 30% of. Whatever. How many? 10 million is a lot of people, right? So it was like, okay. Wow.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay. That's a lot of people.

[Frankie Grande]

This country is. Whoa. Wild.

[Ego Wodem]

Network shows will introduce you to middle America. If you weren't familiar, and I was not.

[Frankie Grande]

I did not know her.

[Ego Wodem]

Right.

[Frankie Grande]

But to be honest, I do get a lot of people, like, not to blanket, like, middle America who are just, like, coming up to me, like, in Disney World and things like that. And, like, Frankie, oh, my God, we loved you on Big Brother. You're my favorite person. I was praying to Jesus that you and Zach would be together and live forever, happy ever after. And I'm like, shit. So, like, it did work that way as well. So it's like I did change hearts and minds by just being myself, but also exposed myself to people that were just not going to have a changed heart or mind.

[Ego Wodem]

No. Some people are just a brick wall in a brick house in a different kind of way. I'm like, okay, you keep that. That's fine. Sturdy in that place, if you will. Where did you go to college?

[Frankie Grande]

Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

[Ego Wodem]

You went to college in Pennsylvania?

[Frankie Grande]

I did. I did.

[Ego Wodem]

So did you have a good community in college?

[Frankie Grande]

Tiny, but yes.

[Ego Wodem]

Good.

[Frankie Grande]

There was, like, six gay people, but, like, you know, take it. I mean, coming from Boca Raton, Florida, where there were zero. Out. Out when I was in high school to college, where there were six, I

[Ego Wodem]

was like, this is a plethora.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah, this is.

[Ego Wodem]

Whoa.

[Frankie Grande]

All six to choose from. My God, I guess I'll have sex with all of them.

[Ego Wodem]

And did you?

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. 1, 2, 3. Like. Like, most.

[Ego Wodem]

I'd say most who didn't make the cut, I'm like, I would be devastated to be one of the six who didn't get. Didn't get a little love, didn't get

[Frankie Grande]

chosen, didn't get selected. Oh, my God. That's so funny. Oh, my God. I don't remember.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

No, I think. I think I sub. I had to.

[Ego Wodem]

Here I am trying to make you relive the past when you're like, I try to stay present. I'm like, take me back to college.

[Frankie Grande]

No, no, no. I love that. No, that's okay. Because that's what the book is. Right? So the book has been a journey of my life, like, from childhood through to present. Really, really present. Like, I was still writing this book, like, two months ago.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, wow.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. Like, still amending it, you know. Like, I wrote the epilogue, like, recently.

[Ego Wodem]

Wow.

[Frankie Grande]

So that's really cool also, like, you know, to have it be, like, up to date.

[Ego Wodem]

I wanna read. I can't wait to read it. I'm really excited about the notion. Now, you said we. The sober journey. Yep. Will you tell me what it was like getting sober and what, like, got you to the place where you wanted to do that?

[Frankie Grande]

Absolutely. Yeah. So my drinking and using spiraled after Big Brother, and I think that that's also, like, I've reached out to a lot of contestants on reality TV show, especially Big Brother, that I'm seeing struggling in their DMs, and I'm just like, hey, do you want to talk? Because I know that it's. You don't get tools. They don't give you the tools. When you leave reality TV to deal with the wave of things that are coming at you, they're like, are you happy? Are you good? And you're like. When you leave them, you're like, of course I. Everything's fine.

[Ego Wodem]

Right?

[Frankie Grande]

Like, I don't know. Because they don't. You don't have a phone.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

Read any?

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

But then when you go into the real world, you look at everything, it's like you can collapse.

[Ego Wodem]

Which I did.

[Frankie Grande]

So it was like, I reach out to people. So drinking and using got real bad, started to escalate, started to spiral, and then got to a place where I was just. I wasn't. I wasn't showing up for my family anymore. Like, I wasn't able to be present. You know, my sister went through the horrible tragedy of the Manchester bombing, and I was really not able to show up for them. Because I was so incapable of using. I didn't have tools for that. And so my only tools were pills and booze. And so I was just high as fuck the whole time. And so I couldn't show up for them. And eventually I realized I was part of the problem and not part of the solution anymore. And as a kid, I was always part of the solution. Like, I was the fixer in my family for a long time. So I didn't like it, and I wanted to get back to that. And so I just literally was like, check me in. And went to rehab, got sober. And then I've been sober ever since.

[Ego Wodem]

Incredible.

[Frankie Grande]

And it was just. It was a beautiful. It's the best thing that's ever happened in my life.

[Ego Wodem]

It's very hard work, I imagine. Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

But still, you know, still, I go to a meeting every single day about my sobriety. I've been to rehab again in sobriety because I had surgery on my neck, and they gave me tons of opiates, and I had so much difficulty coming off of it.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

I was like, how do I do this? Needed to. They cut my spine open. Yikes.

[Ego Wodem]

Lol.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

Hello. I'm in pain hearing about it.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah, it was not fun, but, you know, it was hard. And so I went back to rehab to get off of the painkillers, which was such a good choice. Like, such a healthy choice, it seems like.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

And it's like, almost got to do, like, rehab part two in sobriety, which was so cool. Cause I learned even more about myself and more about my family dynamic. And now I'm married with a puppy, and it's like, we are. You know, So I was learning about my relationship, and everything has gotten healthier since that. Sobriety is a constant gift and a constant journey. And I'm so grateful that I chose it.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, I'm grateful, too. I'm really, really grateful. You seem so clear. Yeah. And even the notion that you're reaching out to people who have been on reality TV being like, do you want to talk? I'm here. They don't give us the tools. What is the most surprising thing that you learned about yourself through the second round of rehab or even the first round, that you're like, oh, I did not realize this about myself.

[Frankie Grande]

I didn't realize how debilitating my people pleasing was, like, so debilitating, like, to the point of where, like, I was starting to lose myself, like, in the relationships that I love because I had so much shame, fear, and guilt over What I did to my family when I was drinking and using. But even though I'm 8 years, 10 days, 20 some odd. 8 years, 10 months, 20 some odd days sober today, congrats. Than I still carried that shame, fear, and guilt, which would then make me not stand up for myself in conversations or in relationships. Because I'd be like, ugh, well, you were a piece of shit ten years ago, so you actually shouldn't stand up for yourself because you did that to them a decade ago. And it was like, no, bitch, you gotta let that go. Like, they've forgiven you. We've had the conversations. We've had the talks. You had to forgive yourself for your past actions and not people. Please yourself into a fucking ditch into the point of where you're not even a huge anymore. I was doing that. And so that was kind of what I learned in part two was that that is a huge coping mechanism of me to just be conflict avoidant and say, you know what? Instead of having this difficult conversation, I'm just gonna do what you want.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, wow.

[Frankie Grande]

And then I'm just gonna be a shell of a human being.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

So that was really good to learn.

[Ego Wodem]

That's so many people who struggle with people pleasing, obviously for different reasons. But the forgiveness of yourself seems so simple. Like, of course, forgive yourself. It's a new day, it's a new week, it's a new year, whatever. I'm a new vibe. But it can be really hard to forgive yourself for whatever you feel you need forgiveness for. So to have gotten to a place where you're like, I can forgive myself. And I can also stick up for myself because I accept who I am now. I honor what was, but I accept who I am now. And I want to stick up for myself. Is incredible because I think it's so hard.

[Frankie Grande]

So hard.

[Ego Wodem]

People pleasing. And it shows up in little ways, by the way, the, like, just, like, folding on yourself. Yep. It's.

[Frankie Grande]

It's little things and it's tiny things that add up.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

And to the point of where, like, that's why I didn't clock it earlier.

[Ego Wodem]

Mm.

[Frankie Grande]

Like, and then I was like, oh, yeah. And it's so funny. My husband was literally, like. The other day, he was like, wow, you've changed. Literally. He was like, said he asked something, and I was like, no. And he literally was like, oh, and what? You've changed?

[Ego Wodem]

And I was like, yeah, yeah, I haven't. I.

[Frankie Grande]

Cause I did. Like, it was something simple like, you know, like, will you come to pickleball instead of go to the gym. And it was literally like, no, wow. Like, I have to go to the gym. It's for me. And he was like, oh, okay, okay, okay.

[Ego Wodem]

By the way. And the people that love you will accept your boundaries.

[Frankie Grande]

Exactly.

[Ego Wodem]

Isn't that crazy?

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, yeah. Everyone puts up a little bit of a front in the beginning. Of course.

[Ego Wodem]

Of course.

[Frankie Grande]

But then they're like, okay, they adjust.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, they adjust. Okay. You are respecting yourself and holding it down.

[Frankie Grande]

You said what you needed, and I'm gonna honor.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

But this is new.

[Ego Wodem]

This is different.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. Yeah. Usually I'd be sitting there in pickleball with a sprained ankle watching him play and being like, fuck, I wish I went to the gym.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

But instead, I just went to the gym.

[Ego Wodem]

I'm glad you went to the gym. Me too. Oh, my goodness.

[Frankie Grande]

It was great. It was really cool.

[Ego Wodem]

Do you train yourself in the gym?

[Frankie Grande]

So I have Stephen. Stephen Durance is the app that I use, and he's. Stephen Goldsmith is my trainer, and he puts all this stuff into an app, and then you just do it. And also my husband, I don't know if you've seen him, but he is yoked. Oh, really? And he did this all within a year. He just started, like, he was like, very, like Twinkie, as we say. And he is now full on twunk. Like, he is huge.

[Ego Wodem]

Twink turned to hunk.

[Frankie Grande]

Twink. Twink turned to hunk. And it's like, whoa. And so he. And he's a vegan. And so. And he spends hours and hours. And he's self trained. So he gives me a lot of tips and pointers.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, my goodness.

[Frankie Grande]

We'll work out together. And of course, like, I'll be, you know, be like, I know what I'm doing, honey. And then he's like, let me see your form. And I'm like, oh, God, fine. And I, like, do it. And then he's like, well, you could. You actually should. Should be like this. And I was like, I'm like, fine. What do you know? But I'm like, okay. Well, he actually does know what he's talking about. So it's like, fine, I guess I'll listen to it.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. I mean, it takes such discipline. To have done that in a year is remarkable because the amount of discipline it takes and knowing that he's vegan is phenomenal.

[Frankie Grande]

Yep. Vegan. No caffeine only drinks, like, water doesn't take medicine. Like, we are polar opposites. I'm on my second coffee today. By the time I get to my Broadway show this evening. I'll probably be on six.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay. And that's okay. Okay. I'm a matcha girl, which I know is basic, but I did drink a coffee today. Cause it's better, though. It is better, but it's, like, still a, like, form of, like. Do you need. You need. I need it every day now.

[Frankie Grande]

I need it.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, it's full addiction.

[Ego Wodem]

It is.

[Frankie Grande]

You're chemically addicted.

[Ego Wodem]

I know. And that's. Whatever.

[Frankie Grande]

It's okay. It's better. Listen, as someone who's been chemically addicted to the worst stuff, you're fine.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay. Thank you.

[Frankie Grande]

Do. You're fine.

[Ego Wodem]

I'm gonna say that to somebody next. I'm like, frankie told me I'm fine.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah, you're fine. You're like, are you doing an eight ball of cocaine every day? No, you're fine.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay, then you're good.

[Frankie Grande]

You're good. You're doing great, hon. You're doing great, sweetie.

[Ego Wodem]

Frankie, you say you're the fixer in your family.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

Do you like that position, though? It sounded like you liked that.

[Frankie Grande]

I did. I really did like that position for a very long time. I think now we've gotten to, you know, a place where all of us are really doing the work to be not so codependent in the bad way. We're codependent still, but in, like, kind of the healthy way, but not in the unhealthy way. So I think everyone in our family has kind of become their own little fixer now, which has been great. But I did really like that role. Like, I used to joke, and it's actually still kind of true that as soon as I walk into my bathroom in a house, you hear, Frankie, like, as soon as I try to take a shit in my home, my family home, when my grandmother and grandfather were alive, if my Aunt Judy was there, like, if we had a family affair, as soon as I left someone's sight line, Frankie Immediate, you had a bunch of adult children. I did.

[Ego Wodem]

I did. Because that's what mom said.

[Frankie Grande]

And I would run in and I would be like, what? Okay, What? Who is it? I was just trying to shit you guys.

[Ego Wodem]

And it was. It was flowing.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah, Yeah. I was really close. It was so exciting right there. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

And I had to clench.

[Frankie Grande]

And then I'm like, what? Guys, Guys, I'm just gonna go to the bathroom. Can I get, like, five minutes? Can I get five? Can I get. Take a fiverr? It is so funny. And still to this day, there's just less people around because we lost some family members. I know it's been tough.

[Ego Wodem]

How does that, you know, the adjustment from like having so many people around to it being quiet feel. So it's a tough adjustment. But how are you navigating that?

[Frankie Grande]

You know, it's been better to stay busy. I really haven't spent much time back home in Florida since Nona passed away. I think I was there for like just a few weeks while I was recuperating from neck surgery. So again, there was like something distracting. But it is weird, you know, like. And you know, the interesting thing is Hale's family, my husband's family is huge. He is one of five. So they come around for Christmas. And so Christmas still feels like boisterous and fun and fun and cool. And the house feels full of laughter and joy and stuff like that. But, you know, it's inevitable that we miss, you know, Nona and grandpa and Aunt Judy, like tremendously.

[Ego Wodem]

Of course.

[Frankie Grande]

So it will. It was an interesting Christmas to have without Nona. We spent most. Some of it in New York and then some of it in Boca, which took a little bit of the weight off. I think if we were only in Florida, it would have felt a little, little bit heavier.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

But yeah, it's. It'll. It's just an adjustment.

[Ego Wodem]

Of course it takes time.

[Frankie Grande]

It's gonna be a year anniversary in June, so it's like, it's just, you know, it's. It's hard. Every once in a while I'll just like. I mean, I thought that I was gonna have to remove her from my featured photos. My grandmother, cuz she's like. Was my everything. We are. We are like we were two peas in a pod. But I found that that was not the thing to do. I love seeing her face pop up on my phone like multiple times a day in different places. And it gives me really good memories. And like, you know, the Kentucky. Kentucky Derby just happened and like her little picture of her holding her like Horace statue at 99 years old with her hat and like orange suit that came up and it just gave me so much joy. So it's been an adjustment to know that she's not with us. But also at the same time, her legacy lives on through me specifically. And I love that.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. And having those memories pop up, it's interesting. Like how it can feel for some people versus another person. It's like there's no right answer. But sometimes those memories, it can be triggering or it's like, you know what? This is nice to remember. That was a positive time. That felt good.

[Frankie Grande]

Exactly. And I have to always remember, like, you know, like she was 99 years old and the end was. It was hard. Listen, being 99 ain't fun.

[Ego Wodem]

I can't imagine it didn't look very

[Frankie Grande]

fun, I gotta say. You know, everything hurt. You know what I'm saying? She couldn't really walk well, and it was like, things, like, she could stop trouble remembering things she couldn't see. Like, all right. Okay. All right.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. All right. And like, death is a part of life, as hard as that is to accept, but it's like, oh, wow. I think I heard. I mean, it's not that deep, but I feel like I heard that like, seven years ago, and I was like, oh, yeah, that's the part of the journey of being alive, is it? You go there and it leaves a lot of people with holes in their hearts. But, I mean, the depth of the hole is a function of just how much you love. Loved.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. That's beautiful.

[Ego Wodem]

Grief is love persevering. I saw someone embroidered that on a thing and it. Yeah, it's stunning. I, like, saved that picture. I'm like, I want to remember this for next time. I'm feeling that way.

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, I love that.

[Podcast Announcer]

Now streaming on Paramount from executive producer Lena Waithe, the acclaimed series the Shy reaches its final chapter. For seven seasons, we've lived these stories, Walk these streets streets. Become part of this community. Now it all leads to this. Friendships will be tested, families will evolve, and secrets refuse to stay buried. As the past catches up and the future comes into focus, one truth remains. The Shy is more than a series. It's a legacy. Don't miss the final season of the Shy, now streaming on the Paramount premium plan.

[Kal Penn]

Hey, everyone, it's Kal Penn, host of Irsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast, I'm sitting down with Diverg author Veronica Roth to talk about her sprawling new novel, Seek the Traitor's Son. It's a sci fi fantasy epic about two protagonists on opposite sides of a war and a prophecy neither of them wanted.

[Ego Wodem]

My first book was Divergent, and when that came out, like, because it was so popular, I think it attracted, like, mostly positivity, but the negativity I sucked in like a sponge. And I think it was, like, critiques of things I liked when I. I was like, you know, I was 23 and I wrote this book and it had all my, like, dorky little cheesy or maybe unrealistic loves in it. And I started to feel a lot of shame about those things. And so for the rest of my career, I steered away from those little things that like, make you feel pleasure when you read. But I also was like saying no to these parts of myself that I then was like, screw it. Yeah, so that's this book.

[Kal Penn]

Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Frankie Grande]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone Paying Big Wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments. But that's weird. Okay, one judgment and anyway, give it a try. @mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for

[Ego Wodem]

3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail] this is Kristin Davis

[Frankie Grande]

from Are you a Charlotte?

[Ego Wodem]

For timeless style that still feels fresh and modern, Tuckernock has become a favorite shopping destination. From elevated classics like denim striped tees

[Frankie Grande]

and crisp button down gowns to chic looks for weddings, vacations and everyday life, Tucker Nuck makes getting dressed effortless. Plus they curate an incredible mix of

[Ego Wodem]

brands with new arrivals dropping daily. Visit tnuk.com and use promo code iheart for 15 off a first purchase. Do you want to have kids?

[Frankie Grande]

So I want. I don't know. This one is a handful.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, bye.

[Frankie Grande]

This little guy is my child. I know. Who's the dad? I think. Well, there's. We always say like fun daddy and mean daddy because Hale brushes his teeth. So he's mean daddy because he has to do the business. And Appa, when it's time for he knows he's so smart and he'll come like over to my side of the bed and like hide under the pillow like on my side. Like, he knows mean daddy's coming with the toothbrush. He knows you want a toothbrush?

[Ego Wodem]

Oh no, I have to brush. Okay. I was flying with my dog yesterday and I was like, oh, it's time for me to brush your teeth because I've taken him to the groomers to get it brushed. But I'm like, I don't think they did a good job the last time. And I'm like, I'm seeing stuff.

[Frankie Grande]

My husband does it every night.

[Ego Wodem]

Every night. Appa has such good breath.

[Frankie Grande]

I know he's got good breath.

[Ego Wodem]

He's got good Breath.

[Frankie Grande]

He's got a good little teeth. Because he's a small dog, so he's really prone to losing his teeth.

[Ego Wodem]

I know. Okay. That's. An old makeup artist of mine had told me, like, very early on when I got my dog, was like, make sure you take care of his teeth. Because. Because, you know, I need to do it every day. Then I haven't done it once. I have the truth. I don't want him to hate me.

[Frankie Grande]

Cause I know.

[Ego Wodem]

I know. Sharing him with anyone, he's gonna be, like, bad mom.

[Frankie Grande]

But then he'll come right back to you.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

They have to me. I assume that they have very short memories.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

Cause he's over it in four seconds. You just give him a treat at the end.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes. And then it's like, no problem.

[Frankie Grande]

Yep. He's like, oh, thanks. Thanks so much, Dad.

[Ego Wodem]

I still. Okay. I still. Thanks, dad. Look at that.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah, there is.

[Ego Wodem]

I still have, like, PTSD from. And I'm sure my dog does from being in a. Having him in a crate on a flight, like his third flight with me. And he was trying to tell me he needed to poop, but, you know, we can't speak. And I'm like, normally, he likes his crate. What is going on? I'm like, you have to stay in your crate. I took him out, and he's, like, trying to crawl in the aisles. I was like, maybe because there's another dog. Cause he's very social. He had diarrhea. And, like, to this day. This is years ago. To this day, I'm like. And then I could smell, uh, oh, he went diarrhea in his crate. I was like, I'm a bad mom. He's trying to tell me Aunt Diary. My friends were like, he's gonna forgive you. It's fine. And I'm like, I feel so bad. We could stand to learn a lot from that.

[Frankie Grande]

We really can. And it's like, I do try to interpret everything that he says and does, and it's hard to do.

[Ego Wodem]

It's so hard sometimes.

[Frankie Grande]

But I'm like. I'm like, his tail is down. I'm like, what is he telling me? Is your tail down?

[Ego Wodem]

What does it mean?

[Frankie Grande]

Wait, have you seen Best in Show?

[Ego Wodem]

I haven't.

[Frankie Grande]

Okay. That's your assignment tonight.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

I'm gonna go watch Best in Show. Christopher Guest movie.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

Jennifer Coolidge is in it. And it just. There's all these parents, and Parker Posey's character, he's like, what's wrong with you? He doesn't want Busy be. What is wrong with him? Is he okay? He's mad at us because we hate each other. It's unbelievable. She has the most incredible monologue you have to watch.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay, we'll do. I'm obsessed with Parker. So that's overdue then. Cause you saw Parker in White Lily.

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, yeah, of course. I love her. I like her. You want to live in Taiwan. It's just unbelievable. Unbelievable.

[Ego Wodem]

Captivating performance.

[Frankie Grande]

Unbelievable through and through. Oh, my God.

[Ego Wodem]

Frankie. Are you Kalana?

[Frankie Grande]

Kalanidine. Kalanapan.

[Ego Wodem]

Is it a Kalan. Is it a Klonopin?

[Frankie Grande]

No, it's. What was it? Lorazepam. Lorazepam. Lorazepam. Mm.

[Ego Wodem]

Someone.

[Frankie Grande]

I thought she was fantastic.

[Ego Wodem]

She was phenomenal.

[Frankie Grande]

And I love the drama of Helena Bonham Carter being X'd.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh. Oh, my goodness. What do you.

[Frankie Grande]

Well, first of all, Laura Linney is in it.

[Ego Wodem]

Is it Laura Linney or is it Laura Dern?

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, Laura Dern.

[Ego Wodem]

Dern.

[Frankie Grande]

Dern. I love them both.

[Ego Wodem]

It's all, of course, queens. Two queens. Laura Dern, Laura Dern, Laura Dern.

[Frankie Grande]

Which is so funny.

[Ego Wodem]

I know the drama of that. You just wish you could be a fly on the wall during production.

[Frankie Grande]

I mean, to me, that sounds like personality conflict, but I don't fucking know.

[Ego Wodem]

I think so. They were also very PC and, like, kosher and cordial.

[Frankie Grande]

We know Helena Montmore can do anything.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, exactly.

[Frankie Grande]

Like, I don't think that there's. Oh, she wasn't right for the character.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, yeah, she's got rang.

[Frankie Grande]

What is she. She can do anything.

[Ego Wodem]

She can do anything.

[Frankie Grande]

Meryl Streep wasn't right for the character.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay, okay, okay.

[Frankie Grande]

So I'm sure there's some sort of personality conflict, but, like, whatever. Who cares?

[Ego Wodem]

A little butting of heads. But another reality star, Mike White, I love him. You do love Mike White. Me too.

[Frankie Grande]

Well, I'm watching Survivor. My bated breath. I didn't watch last night, though, but I'm losing my mind.

[Ego Wodem]

I haven't watched Survivor in a really long time. Oh, God.

[Frankie Grande]

Well, he's awesome.

[Ego Wodem]

Do you watch any other reality tv?

[Frankie Grande]

And he was the one representing for the gays on Survivor.

[Ego Wodem]

I know.

[Frankie Grande]

There's only one every season.

[Ego Wodem]

I know. Which is their only one on Survivor,

[Frankie Grande]

only one on Big Brother. Only usually one couple on. On Amazing Race.

[Ego Wodem]

And there's. And on Traders.

[Frankie Grande]

Traders has like, two, like, three or

[Ego Wodem]

four Traders has a couple.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah, because we. They're always like. Is like a lesbian, a bi, a gay, you know, and like, they really try to Hit every box. Which I appreciate.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes.

[Frankie Grande]

I'll take it. Cuz usually there's only one slot it's got.

[Ego Wodem]

And that's the same for a black.

[Frankie Grande]

So the fact that we have every letter is great. Yes. But you.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes.

[Frankie Grande]

And that's the thing on Big Brother, which is amazing. Like, you know, they really responded to the cultural outcry, the country's outcry for equal representation for people of color. Yeah. Which was amazing. And all of a sudden there were like six on one season, and they all went to the end. They called it the cookout. It's amazing. I am waiting for the fucking rainbow alliance. I'm waiting. Every time I've played. I've played three times. I've been the only gay person.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay, we're gonna fix it.

[Frankie Grande]

So I was ever able to make, like, an LGBTQ alliance.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

I want that so badly.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay. We gotta make. I feel like it's. It is doable.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

It's time. Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

I want it to not, you know, I. I'm glad that they responded to race equity. That's beautiful.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

Now it's time to do, you know, like, a sexual orientation representation.

[Ego Wodem]

We're gonna make it happen. I'm being. You tell the people, me and you,

[Frankie Grande]

it's even called sexual orientation anymore. What do we call it?

[Ego Wodem]

Is it?

[Frankie Grande]

Is it?

[Ego Wodem]

Is it? Is it? I don't know.

[Frankie Grande]

Sure. Sounds great.

[Ego Wodem]

It's just.

[Frankie Grande]

I don't know. It sounds good.

[Ego Wodem]

I'm like being.

[Frankie Grande]

Being human. Queer representation.

[Ego Wodem]

There we go. Oh, that. That is it. That's.

[Frankie Grande]

Love it. Board member of GLAAD should probably know what to say.

[Ego Wodem]

You'll look it up after. That's your.

[Frankie Grande]

That's literally my.

[Ego Wodem]

You'll look that up. So you said that they don't give you tools, which I can imagine. And I've seen somebody else say this after leaving, which. I watched Age of Attraction, for better or worse, I watched Age of Attraction. I watched some of it, and then I saw someone being like. And then you get thrust into the. Back into the real world, and it's like, wait, what?

[Frankie Grande]

Whoa.

[Ego Wodem]

And then you see the edit of it. You. There are no There. There are no tools. What are the tools you think people should have when they exit reality tv?

[Frankie Grande]

I think everybody should have a really good therapist going in.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

I think that what they. I think that it would be nice to. I think that everyone thinks that it's going to, like, change their life for the better. And I think everyone needs to understand that you're just gonna go back to your life. You know what I'm saying? Like, you just go back to the people and places and things that you have and you loved prior to going on the show. And then you go back to your life. If you get more career opportunities or things, that's great. That's confetti. That's not the cake. The cake is your home. Like, the people in your life that had you. So it's like, if you go now onto reality tv, knowing no matter what you go back to your life, you don't put so much stakes into what you do on the show and what the edit could be and what the outcome is. Like, go be entertaining. It's a job. Think of it as a job. And then at the end, you're fired from your. You are fired and you're laid off and you go home.

[Ego Wodem]

Wow.

[Frankie Grande]

That's it. You gotta go find a new job.

[Ego Wodem]

When you put it that way, because I do. I can imagine getting on a reality TV show and being like, it's gonna change. Like, I'm gonna be on tv, People are gonna know my name. They'll be rooting for or against me. It's gonna be different. And then to go back and be like, oh, no, I'm just. Okay. I'm just back in my life.

[Frankie Grande]

It's a gig. Yeah, you're gigging.

[Ego Wodem]

Were people weird to you when you went home the first time?

[Frankie Grande]

Time I was weird.

[Ego Wodem]

You were weird.

[Frankie Grande]

I was so weird.

[Ego Wodem]

Did you think you were a better. What was your vibe?

[Frankie Grande]

No, I thought that I was being watched all the time, so I would, like, pull people into bathrooms to have conversations with them. Like, my sister. I was like, hey, you wanna. I was like, let me just get bathroom massage. And she was like, you know, you can. We can talk out there. Like, it's okay. I don't know why we're talking in the bathroom. And I was like, safe in here, right? There are no cameras in my house. Oh, like, it was weird.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, yeah. That is a mind didn't trust me.

[Frankie Grande]

Like, my friends, who I've known for years, Like, I was like, oh, my God, they're trying to backstab me. And they're like, what are you talking? What if I. What?

[Ego Wodem]

Of course, because. How long are you gone filming, though, Frankie?

[Frankie Grande]

I am gone filming for four months for Big Brother. That is near no contact with the outside world.

[Ego Wodem]

Nearly half a year and nothing to supplement the experience. It's just that. That I would be crazy, too.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. So good therapist would be great. Like, have a really good therapist. When you come out of the house,

[Ego Wodem]

knowing your life is the same.

[Frankie Grande]

Knowing your life is the same. And, you know, I would say, say, like, really supportive family and friends and just, like, trusting in those people when you get out. When you get out, you know, and it's like. You know, and knowing that, like, it's not real. Like, reality TV isn't real. It's not. It's produced content for the world.

[Ego Wodem]

Frank, you said it.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. It is not the furthest thing from actual reality, but, you know, it's not scripted. It's unscripted. I like unscripted television.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes.

[Frankie Grande]

As opposed to reality. As opposed to reality tv. Because it ain't real.

[Ego Wodem]

Isn't. Isn't it a touch scripted where it's like, we're gonna kind of.

[Frankie Grande]

Big Brother isn't.

[Ego Wodem]

But.

[Frankie Grande]

But other shows I know are. But Big Brother Survivor, I've heard, like, are very much, like, real. Like, Big Brother. They just. They let you do whatever. That's why they. They try to cast crazy people. Because we're entertaining.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah, we're really entertaining.

[Ego Wodem]

And you said I'm included in the. I know myself.

[Frankie Grande]

I think there's, like, a scale of, like, zero to five. Five is, like, fully committed. Four is, like, you have, like, serious mental health issues and are, like, one millisecond away from being committed, and they want, like, a 3.5. They're like. They want you to be as close to the. Like, you need to be in an asylum as humanly possible without them getting sued.

[Ego Wodem]

Wow.

[Frankie Grande]

That's where it is.

[Ego Wodem]

That's the way they cast. What's the interview process like?

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, wow. It's days. Days.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

So I did it when in Big Brother went before COVID so we actually went to a hotel. And they put you up for five, and you have interview after interview after interview and thing and thing and thing and tests and thing, and you're like, it feels like school.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, wow.

[Frankie Grande]

It feels like the most intense school interview process you could ever have in your life. They drug test you. Like, it's like you are. You are a lab rat.

[Ego Wodem]

Do they care if you're on drugs?

[Frankie Grande]

They do care.

[Ego Wodem]

If you do care of you. They don't want you on drugs.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

You can't do drugs.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

And did you feel like at the end of that first, like, that audition for that interview process where you, like, nailed it? I'm gonna. They're gonna cast.

[Frankie Grande]

Absolutely.

[Ego Wodem]

You knew. Oh, yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

I was like, I. I destroyed that.

[Ego Wodem]

I ate.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah, Yeah, I did. I was like. I was like, there's no way.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

There's no way.

[Ego Wodem]

You start packing your bag. It's like, come on.

[Frankie Grande]

I literally left, and I was like, see you there.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. See you on tv. Oh, wow.

[Frankie Grande]

But again, one of the best experiences of my life is very difficult. Extremely hard. But I think I am built for reality TV.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. I think I'm. You think you're a 3.5.

[Frankie Grande]

I'm a 3.5.

[Ego Wodem]

I'm like, dude, 3.5s know they're 3.5s, because then that. That, to me, is giving. Like, you're a 3. Because I think a 3.5 is like, you're so damn crazy, you don't even really know you're crazy.

[Frankie Grande]

I'm probably on the lower end of the crazy scale. I think I had other things that were interesting for them. Like, I was the first social media star to ever be on Big Brother. It was the first season that was in hd. Like, so there were a lot of firsts about my season. You know, I happened to be in the house with a bisexual man who was in the closet and kind of out. Like, we came out together. Like, it was very weird. So there's a lot of firsts that happened my season of Big Brother that have not yet been repeated in the past 11 years. So it was the perfect storm. It was the perfect storm.

[Ego Wodem]

I love it.

[Frankie Grande]

But I think they knew. I think they were like, he might be a tad bit sane, but he's crazy enough. He plays crazy.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

I play crazy.

[Ego Wodem]

And, you know, so it is like a little bit of a character.

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

You're like, I'm well worn out.

[Frankie Grande]

I know there's cameras. Are you kidding me? I knew exactly where the cameras were.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

In fact, I knew what was happening in the game based on where the cameras were pointing.

[Ego Wodem]

Ooh.

[Frankie Grande]

And no one was paying attention to that. And I was literally like, why is that camera pointing? Oh, my God. Like, I was like, yeah. Cause I'm very well aware I'm a winner. I'm an actor. I know my angles. I know where my cameras are.

[Ego Wodem]

Let's go preserve Gibbs.

[Frankie Grande]

But it's like, I know. I see the red light. And I was literally like, the camera's like. And I was like, that's what's.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, my God.

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, my God. It's them. It's them. And then they'd be like. I would be like, oh, my God, they're lying. They're lying. They're lying. And, like, how do you know that? I know. I was like, Cause you're not allowed to talk about production.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. You can't say.

[Frankie Grande]

I just know. I know.

[Ego Wodem]

Shuff. I said to me, oh, my goodness, Frankie, then you have street smarts, too.

[Frankie Grande]

I do. I don't know why.

[Ego Wodem]

I mean, I don't know if you have to be from the streets to have street smarts.

[Frankie Grande]

Exactly.

[Ego Wodem]

It's just like, I'm aware my head is not up my own ass.

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, yes, Exactly. I was like, I'm from the streets

[Ego Wodem]

of Boca Raton, Florida, a very wealthy place.

[Frankie Grande]

Things. Wow, it's crazy there, you guys. You gotta have street smarts to survive in Boca at that Town center mall. Whoa, you guys, that food court is crazy.

[Ego Wodem]

Boca Raton, ladies and gentlemen.

[Frankie Grande]

Okay, snaps for Boca.

[Ego Wodem]

What are you looking forward to most of all? The things you have on the docket.

[Frankie Grande]

I'm really enjoying doing Titanique on Broadway. Like, being back on Broadway, doing the eight shows a week, it is a grind. It is so difficult. But I have so much fun every single night. These idiots that I. I'm in the show with. And I say that with the most love. Like, we are so stupid. There's a lot of 3.5s in my cast.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

And we are having a good time on that stage.

[Ego Wodem]

Well, let me tell you, 3.5s are fun.

[Podcast Announcer]

Oh, yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

That's why we're casting shows.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. 3.5s are fun. Let's be clear here.

[Frankie Grande]

But it's crazy. Like, we have a really good time.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. I mean, it seemed like it would. And I need to come see the show because I've heard about. Because Marlo was doing that show in LA at some point. Am I right? Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

I was with her.

[Ego Wodem]

You were? Oh, really? Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

I've been in for eight years.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, my goodness.

[Frankie Grande]

Okay. Yeah, I was in the. I don't know if it was the first reading in la, maybe in, like, the second, but I was there since pretty much the beginning.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. And it is a workout. I did, like, some shows at the Lincoln center, and I was like, I bow down to you all on Broadway. Utmost respect. What a workout. How do you keep yourself excited about each new show when you do it so many times?

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, goodness. Because the audience is different every night. So that. That helps. So it's always. That's the. I would say the wild card. Because you don't know if it's gonna be a crazy audience, if a tame audience, a quiet audience. When they're quiet, then it's like. It just makes us crazier on stage. Cause then we Just start doing it for each other.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay. Yeah, great.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. We just try to make each other laugh, and then they. Then it's like SNL in that way where it's like, okay, well, they're not getting the gay joke, so we're just gonna be crazier and just try to make each other laugh. And then they have the best time anyway. Cause they're like, what are those clowns doing up there? I'm having a great time. I wanna be part of that party.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. People love watching gay jokes.

[Frankie Grande]

What is Grindr like? What?

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, Grindr.

[Frankie Grande]

Cocky search. Great.

[Ego Wodem]

No problem.

[Frankie Grande]

We're educating.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay. I love that because I found it, of course, hard at times to be like, okay, I've done this. I've done this already because I love improv. So I'm like, oh, I already did this. I did this one night, two night, three night. But it is nice when you have a different audience. And I had some audience interaction, which I do think saved me, frankly.

[Frankie Grande]

And we have improv in our show. You do every night?

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

Mara does something completely original every single night. So you can come every show and it's, like, going to be different. Different. Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

I'm very excited.

[Frankie Grande]

Incredible.

[Ego Wodem]

I'm excited.

[Frankie Grande]

Come on. Tony nominated.

[Ego Wodem]

That's what I'm saying.

[Frankie Grande]

Come on. I hope she wins. A girl.

[Ego Wodem]

She's too. I do too.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah, me too.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay, I'm going to come see. I'm very excited. Yeah. All right, well, I have time. We're gonna do a segment, okay. One of our little fun segments.

[Frankie Grande]

I love segments.

[Ego Wodem]

This segment is called we're trying something New. It's our version of Fuck, Marry, Kill.

[Frankie Grande]

I love it.

[Ego Wodem]

But it's dad, Daddy, Father. Okay, so I'm gonna name three types of men, okay? You're gonna tell me if each one for each one, whether they are a dad, daddy or father. But you have to distribute one to one so that you multiple can't be dads. Multiple. So I'm gonna read all three and then what you can say, okay. His body is mid, but he records every workout and posts it online.

[Frankie Grande]

Okay.

[Ego Wodem]

He drives a cybertruck. He thinks the electoral college is a real university. These are three. Okay. Oh, no Body is mid, but he records every workout and posts it online.

[Frankie Grande]

Okay.

[Ego Wodem]

He drives a cybertruck.

[Frankie Grande]

Okay.

[Ego Wodem]

And he thinks the electoral college is a real university.

[Frankie Grande]

Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.

[Ego Wodem]

Do the chart.

[Frankie Grande]

Wow, this is tough.

[Ego Wodem]

It's hard. Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

This is tough because, like, I want to put one of them in father, obviously, but that denotes like to me like a position of respect. And I don't think I respect any of those men at all.

[Ego Wodem]

Right.

[Frankie Grande]

But okay, so let's do. Let's do body as made but part posts his. His workout as father.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

Because like I actually I do respect that person because they're like I'm trying to better myself and I want to record it. So you're father. Okay, I'm gonna. Oh God. Okay, fine. I'm gonna say dad is electoral college and daddy is cybertruck. His daddy's got money. You know what I'm saying? Daddy's got money. He might buy. He might. I don't know, he might have a small dick because he's driving the cybertruck. But you know what? He's got money. So he's daddy, okay? He's daddy father we respect because his body is mid and he's post. He's trying, he's trying, he's trying. And then dad is just. What the are you doing?

[Ego Wodem]

Electoral elect.

[Frankie Grande]

You don't is a university. I'll kill you just fine. Dad. Your dad. Shut up. Dad. Dad. Shut up.

[Ego Wodem]

That's a different daddy.

[Frankie Grande]

You got money Haney and father, you're doing great.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay, Keep going, father. Keep going, keep going. Keep taking those videos. Okay, good. Cybertruck men does probably have. Have a small.

[Frankie Grande]

A teeny Dean.

[Ego Wodem]

Does size matter?

[Frankie Grande]

Yes.

[Ego Wodem]

I was thinking we were going to have a nice little discourse about it. Like there's no nuance.

[Frankie Grande]

Great moving. Next question.

[Ego Wodem]

Simply put, do you like to be spoiled?

[Frankie Grande]

I do. Well, I. Yes. But it's not by my man. It's by my mother. I'm spoiled by mommy.

[Ego Wodem]

That's the best.

[Frankie Grande]

It's the best. That's the best. Mama's boy. Italian. Hey, I'm obsessed with that.

[Ego Wodem]

That means that. Yeah, that's like less responsibility for a partner.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah, no, you already spoil. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I spoil myself because my mother spoils me.

[Ego Wodem]

What's the craziest thing you've spent money on that you're like, that was 3.5. But I did it.

[Frankie Grande]

But I did it.

[Ego Wodem]

But I did it.

[Frankie Grande]

Oh God. I had one of those Cartier love bracelets that was like super expensive and it was screwed onto your wrist. And every time I went through an airport, I had to go into a separate screening line because that stupid thing screwed to my. That, that, that handcuff that I bought for a million dollars and eventually I just sold it.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay?

[Frankie Grande]

Eventually I was like, I. And. And the stones fell out every year.

[Ego Wodem]

Cuz.

[Frankie Grande]

You can't take it off. So I'm working out in it. I'm doing all this stuff. And then they're. I'm like, okay, the stones fell out, and they're like, cool. It's like $300 per stone to replace, and you'll get your bracelet back in four months.

[Ego Wodem]

I'm like, you know, keep it.

[Frankie Grande]

Worst purchase I ever made.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

Worst purchase I ever made. So happy somebody bought it.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay, but did you warn the person buying it?

[Frankie Grande]

Absolutely not. I mean, it was still in good condition. It was beautiful. It just like. It's the same condition that the store gives it to you in, which apparently is. I mean, it's for. Let's just say it is not for people with active lifestyles.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, that's a good way to put it.

[Frankie Grande]

It's. It.

[Ego Wodem]

That's a good way to put it.

[Frankie Grande]

It is like. It's like if you are a woman or a man of flesh, luxury, who doesn't have to do nothing for work, doesn't have to work out. They just, you know, you have your salads and you have your luncheons, and you come home, and then you get your massage and go to bed. Perfect.

[Ego Wodem]

And doesn't have to go through tsa.

[Frankie Grande]

Doesn't have to fall out.

[Ego Wodem]

Because we got a pj.

[Frankie Grande]

We got a pj. Exactly. That's what it's for.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes. Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

Those people have no issues with their Cartier love bracelet.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. But you know what? I am not seeing them as much as I did. I did not know they were going off at the Dagon airport. That's crazy. And the fact that they're not building it in a way where it doesn't go off at the airport.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. Cause she's a big chunk of.

[Ego Wodem]

It's a big old chunk of metal.

[Frankie Grande]

It's a handcuff.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

True. You're wearing.

[Ego Wodem]

It is. You're like a beautiful gold handcuff with gems. Okay. I respect that. Oh, my goodness.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. That was the worst purchase of my life. And I was so thrilled when it sold. I was like, oh, my God.

[Ego Wodem]

I got rid of my old apartment that had roaches. And I, like, let someone take over my lease. But I was so conflicted. I'm like, I have to tell the person why I'm moving in the middle of my lease is. Cause this place has roaches. And the first people that came to see the apartment where a girl and her mother, and she's from Brentwood, and. Yeah. And she was like, it's gonna be your first apartment. And I was like, I don't want this place.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. You were like, oh, no, I'm not selling.

[Ego Wodem]

I'm not selling. No, no, no. And then the next guy who came was like, what's up with the place? And I go, I'm so glad you asked. There's roaches. And he's like, no problem.

[Frankie Grande]

I love that.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah, it was nice.

[Frankie Grande]

People were like, yeah, I'll just kill him.

[Ego Wodem]

Are you scared of roaches?

[Frankie Grande]

I used to be. And then I studied entomology in college.

[Ego Wodem]

Entomology?

[Frankie Grande]

Why not?

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. I was a bio major in college.

[Ego Wodem]

I was, too.

[Frankie Grande]

Shut up.

[Ego Wodem]

What? But you seem like you've retained something. Cause I've retained nothing.

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, no, I do. What is Paraplanata Americana? Is the American cockroach.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, I thought you said something in Latin.

[Frankie Grande]

No, it says genus and species of a cockroach. I still remember.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

I have a really good one.

[Ego Wodem]

You got a biology degree, and you made it worth something.

[Frankie Grande]

I can talk about Paraplanata Americana here on Paraplanata Americana. I love.

[Ego Wodem]

I thought it was a mall.

[Frankie Grande]

I was like, she thought it was the electoral college.

[Ego Wodem]

I'm dead. I'm dead. They're a Plana Americana. I'm terrified of them.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

We have to dissect one in high school.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. So I took entomology. I captured one. I had a whole conversation with it before I killed it. I was not having a good time. You have to put it in a kill jar. It was not.

[Ego Wodem]

I was like, what did you say?

[Frankie Grande]

I was like, you can do this. You can do this, Frankie. Like, it was more to myself. I was like, I'm sorry. Like, thank you for your sacrifice. Like, you're gonna go in my little kill. Kill box, and I'm gonna get. And they were very impressed. Cause she was like this.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, my gosh.

[Frankie Grande]

It was, like, pinned on its own.

[Ego Wodem]

Not.

[Frankie Grande]

No.

[Ego Wodem]

And I was like.

[Frankie Grande]

I had, like, such a. Yeah, literally. And I was already, like, work. I was like. So I got an A. Oh, my God.

[Ego Wodem]

Frankie. Little known. I feel like this is a little known fact. I'm a biology major.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. People don't know that.

[Ego Wodem]

People need to know this. And I'm glad they're hearing it here.

[Frankie Grande]

Me, too.

[Ego Wodem]

And you made me look like a true dumbass on my podcast. And you know what?

[Frankie Grande]

No. Come on.

[Ego Wodem]

That.

[Frankie Grande]

Very specific.

[Ego Wodem]

But no. But, like, what else do you remember?

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, I remember tons of things. Cause I was bio, like, bio major, so I had to take different things. Like, I did neuroscience, and I did. I really? Like cellular biology.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, my gosh, Frankie.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah, I remember a lot.

[Ego Wodem]

I'm shook because I have a degree and I do not remember anything. I know how to do a Punnett Square, kind of.

[Frankie Grande]

Okay, well, that's good. I don't even really remember that.

[Ego Wodem]

The genetics. Dominant gene, recessive gene. Yes.

[Frankie Grande]

Ab, blah, blah, yes, yes. Big R, little R. Yeah. You understand. I remember now. All right.

[Ego Wodem]

I've redeemed myself.

[Frankie Grande]

I redeemed myself. I didn't remember pun and square, so that's good.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay, that's something. But that was really impressive. You're Latin, though.

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

You're Latin.

[Frankie Grande]

Acetylcholine esterase.

[Ego Wodem]

What? Why is Frankie talking dirty to me?

[Frankie Grande]

I don't know.

[Ego Wodem]

Acetylcholine esterase.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah, I don't. I don't. I don't.

[Ego Wodem]

What is that?

[Frankie Grande]

I don't remember, but I remember that.

[Ego Wodem]

Acetylcholinesterase.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah, yeah. Adenosine triphosphate. ATP. That's what gives you the. The energy in your cells. I've heard of ATP and the mitochondria. That's how you make energy. I'm remembering things. I'm like, oh, centromere, centromere. Cellular division.

[Ego Wodem]

It's coming back to your. Your degree was worth coming back. So come back to Frankie, please stop singing. Call back to Big brother.

[Frankie Grande]

I think you'll get away with that.

[Ego Wodem]

No, no, no, I'm kidding. No, no, no. Frankie, please keep singing.

[Frankie Grande]

No, I'm kidding.

[Ego Wodem]

I was being the big man, the voice of God.

[Frankie Grande]

You're totally right. I am always scared. I'm like, oh, God. You have the rights to that about it.

[Ego Wodem]

You're allowed.

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, cuz we're on iheartradio.

[Ego Wodem]

Iheart.

[Frankie Grande]

They have the rights to everything. Probably do have the rights to Celine Dion.

[Ego Wodem]

Wow. Oh, my goodness, Frankie, this was so fun. Thank you for being here. Wait, I. Gosh, I think. Do I have a question for you, Freddie, from a guest.

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, good. Please.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, my gosh, no. I'm doing such a bad job at these segments. I need to ask you a question you wanna ask your next guest.

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, yeah, my next guest.

[Ego Wodem]

A question you wanna ask my next guest.

[Frankie Grande]

Okay. What's your favorite Celine Dion song?

[Ego Wodem]

What's your favorite Celine Dion song? Okay, our next guest is gonna answer that.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. What was the last guest? Did they answer? Did they have a question for me?

[Ego Wodem]

You know, because we just started this.

[Frankie Grande]

You're like, you have the first.

[Ego Wodem]

These papers because we just started this. We don't.

[Frankie Grande]

Can I give a shout out to my dad?

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, My gosh, yes.

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, my goodness.

[Ego Wodem]

We were supposed to cancel my podcast, throw it in the trash, and Frankie reminded me of segments. I was just so enthralled with you.

[Frankie Grande]

This is an interview in my life, actually. Really fantastic.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, my God, Frankie, thank you.

[Frankie Grande]

Absolutely fantastic.

[Ego Wodem]

So much. That means a lot.

[Frankie Grande]

I could do this for three more hours.

[Ego Wodem]

Thank you. As could I. And Appa is just like SoCo. Maybe I'll bring Chief. But Chief is very good boy. Way too social. Like, Appa's like, chill. How old is Appa? You told me five and a half. Yeah, that's all he wants, sister. Just chill. What a sweet baby. Okay, here. We'll do this the right way. Frankie Grande, who or what do you want to say thanks to?

[Frankie Grande]

I want to say thank you to my dad.

[Ego Wodem]

Yes.

[Frankie Grande]

For this. On this podcast, specifically because he's just such an amazing and generous person. And I think that our relationship has gone through so many different phases, and we're in the best one right now. In this phase of my life, and that's definitely explored in the book. But I always talk about my mom and my Nonna and my sister, the women in my life, and I don't often give my father the kudos that he deserves because I've always lived with my mom. So just shy out to my dad.

[Ego Wodem]

That is special. Shout out to. Shout out to Victor Marchioni.

[Frankie Grande]

Hey, doctor. Dr. Maone.

[Ego Wodem]

Victor Maioni.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah. He's an amazing man.

[Ego Wodem]

I love that.

[Frankie Grande]

And the full journey is. Is really painted in the book.

[Ego Wodem]

So I'm really excited about that for

[Frankie Grande]

everybody to get a chance to get to know him in our story.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah. And I'm happy to hear that. You guys are in a great place. That's very special. That's really special enough. You were in such a great place for Frankie that you were like, bitch, I need to shout out my father.

[Frankie Grande]

I was like, is that called my daddy?

[Ego Wodem]

It's called daddy issues. It should be thanks, dad. It's called thanks, dad. Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

So how about thanks, dad.

[Ego Wodem]

Thanks, literally, thanks, dad.

[Frankie Grande]

And Appa means father.

[Ego Wodem]

And Appa means father. And that's actually gonna go ahead and be a full circle. And we love you, Appa. We love you, Frankie. We love you.

[Frankie Grande]

Can I plug my single, please?

[Ego Wodem]

Plug the single.

[Frankie Grande]

Okay, cool. So I just released I Drove All Night, my cover, because it's my song in the show. Okay. So it is, you know, a gayer, faster, danceier version of my favorite Celine Dion song. So it's out now anywhere you stream your music, especially right here on iHeartRadio.

[Ego Wodem]

So good. So good. Wait, Frankie. I'm gonna be selfish and ask. Can you do Frankie, Will you give us, like, a tease, a bar of the song?

[Frankie Grande]

Sure.

[Ego Wodem]

Or two.

[Frankie Grande]

God, it's early. I was actually. My release party was last night, so I was singing at midnight.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, my God. Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

I drove all night to get to you Is that all right? I drove all night Crept in your room Woke you from your sleep to make love to you Is that all right? I drove all night I'm like, God damn.

[Ego Wodem]

A man drove somewhere for me.

[Frankie Grande]

I use my very sexy, rock, sultry voice in this version. And it's really fun because. And Broadway have to, like, belt it.

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

So it's, like, fun to just be

[Ego Wodem]

like, oh, my goodness.

[Frankie Grande]

Thank you for afraid and a little, you know, like, I love rock music.

[Ego Wodem]

Me too. I'm a big Rod Stewart fan.

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, yeah. That's awesome. And I was in Rock of Ages, so I just love rock.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

So it's like this is my kind of, like merging pop and rock and theater.

[Ego Wodem]

You absolutely bodied. I love it. Thank you for this snippet. This was so fun. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Frankie Grande]

I can't wait to see the music video. It's very sexy.

[Ego Wodem]

Ooh, tease. Maybe we can put a little clip on it.

[Frankie Grande]

You should. You should.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

Cause you got all these cameras, so obviously they can see it.

[Ego Wodem]

Come on.

[Frankie Grande]

So yeah, yeah, put the snippet. You want to see the abs?

[Ego Wodem]

Yeah.

[Frankie Grande]

I worked really hard for the abs.

[Ego Wodem]

Their abs are. How many do you have?

[Frankie Grande]

Oh, God. Like, I think I have five in this one only.

[Ego Wodem]

What happened to it should be even numbers?

[Frankie Grande]

That's the sixth one just never shows up.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay. It's so weird you have five.

[Frankie Grande]

I don't know. I have five abs. It's so strange. Every once in a while, in, like, a shot, you can see all six, but, like, it's rare.

[Ego Wodem]

Which one is the shy one that don't like to come out?

[Frankie Grande]

I think bottom right.

[Ego Wodem]

Bottom right. Oh, same for me, though.

[Frankie Grande]

It's like, I'm like. And it's weird because it' and then

[Ego Wodem]

bottom right is shy.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah, she's so shy. Come out and play, girl.

[Ego Wodem]

Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

Come on.

[Ego Wodem]

Come.

[Frankie Grande]

But also, like, I have and I worked so hard, so I have no desire to find out what it's going to take to have sex. Like, absolutely no desire.

[Ego Wodem]

I like to say that abs are is short for absolutely miserable. Because you have to be in order

[Frankie Grande]

to get all, yeah, girl, I gave up the sugar. I drink Water. Yes, I did a water cut. Like, it's.

[Ego Wodem]

You have to do a water cut.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah.

[Ego Wodem]

What am I doing wrong? Should I get in touch with Hail?

[Frankie Grande]

No. Well, no, he doesn't approve of such things, but my trainer does, like, because, you know, he understands what it takes to be, like, a model or, like, you know, this is what everyone does, okay? Like, from Johnny Bailey to, you know, like, whatever the. The hot male model is today of whatever. Like, if you're going to do a photo shoot, you do a watercut.

[Ego Wodem]

Oh, my.

[Frankie Grande]

Yeah, it's a Hugh Jackman. You know, like, they. They do the water cut. Like, if you can see all that, their abs, it's.

[Ego Wodem]

Cause they did a water test.

[Frankie Grande]

It's because they didn't drink water for three days.

[Ego Wodem]

And here I am bragging about how much water I drink.

[Frankie Grande]

You're literally on set and you're like this.

[Ego Wodem]

Just abs in the trash. But did you see the abs? But the abs are popping out. Don't pay attention to this parched human. Yeah, the abs felt.

[Frankie Grande]

I drove horses.

[Ego Wodem]

That's the snippet we wanted, Frankie.

[Frankie Grande]

But the apps are good.

[Ego Wodem]

But the abs are good. Thank you so much for doing this. Thank you for being here. What a ball. Okay, Appa. Okay.

[Frankie Grande]

I love you.

[Ego Wodem]

Wow. That, my friends, was Frankie Grande. I mean, how perfect was that shot? That was such a fun episode. And King, did you see Appa just sat there quietly? True father energy from Appa. And shout out to Frankie for helping keep me on track with the segments of my podcast. We're sorting it out, guys. We're family here. We're figuring it out. I love you for listening. I love Frankie. I love Appa. I love life. Tune in next time. Bye. Thanks, dad. Is a production of Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and I Hunt Heart podcast. I'm your host, Ego Wodem. Our producer is Kevin Bartelt, and our executive producer is Matt Apodaka.

[Kal Penn]

Hey, everyone, it's Kel Penn. I'm inviting you to join the best sounding book club you've ever heard with my podcast, Hearsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. Every episode, I nerd out with amazing guests and documents. Dive into the best new audiobooks available on Audible. It's the book club for your ears. Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart audiobook club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ego Wodem]

Maintenance fee, overdraft fee, minimum balance fee. Maximum balance fee. Banking fees are just a part of modern life. Or are they? They're not at all. Bank At Ally bank there are no tricks, no hidden fine print or jumping through hoops for better rates. They just want to help you save automatically while you spend with spending accounts and savings tools with great rates. No tricks, no hidden fees. Banking built for life today. Learn [e-mail] Ally bank member FDIC Paramount

[Frankie Grande]

plus is now the home of all your BET favorites. What?

[Podcast Announcer]

Yes, with all new episodes of Tyler Perry's Divorce.

[Ego Wodem]

Sisters you've always liked a little drama,

[Frankie Grande]

plus a whole new world of movies like Gladiator 2. Now I will control an empire original

[Podcast Announcer]

series like the Shy.

[Ego Wodem]

Just make sure we protect each other.

[Podcast Announcer]

And live sports like ufc.

[Frankie Grande]

Welcome to the history books. New home, same family. Your BET favorites are now on Paramount. Subscribe now okay.

[Ego Wodem]

Laundry stinks. Literally. I mean you could just keep buying new ones.

[Frankie Grande]

Underwear.

[Ego Wodem]

Not that I've ever done that. Or maybe sort your clothes into piles based on how re wearable or filthy they are. Or just use Arm and Hammer Deep Clean. It's made for real life stinks and stains. So even if you don't do laundry, the quote right way Deep Clean will knock it out. I mean it is from the number one liquid detergent brand that tackles more loads than any other. Come clean with Arm Arm and Hammer Deep Clean Number one claim based on total wash loads sold. This is an Iheart podcast. Guaranteed human.