Vault: Bert's Boys Club ATL Reality TV Show

Summary

Vault: Bert's Boys Club ATL Reality TV Show

Podcast: The Bert Show
Date: June 24, 2026
Cast: Bert, Jeff, Jen, Listeners

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Overview

In this episode, the Bert Show dives into Bert’s ongoing experience auditioning for a new Atlanta-based reality TV series tentatively titled “Boys Club ATL.” Created by Princess (producer of Real Housewives of Atlanta and Real Housewives of OC), the show aims to spotlight the lives and relationships of a group of Atlanta men—including Bert himself. Bert opens up about the decision-making process, weighs the potential risks and rewards, and responds candidly to both cast and listener concerns about stepping into the unpredictable world of reality television.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins and Concept of Boys Club ATL

• [00:46] Bert gives an update on how the reality show concept began with Princess—a notable reality TV producer—approaching him months prior.
• Princess’s pitch: “Doing a reality TV show here in Atlanta based on a couple of guys, a group of dudes… a lifestyle show.”
• Bert would be one of five or six cast members. The premise is to follow their social, family, and work lives.

2. Auditions & Production Process

• [01:55] Bert details the process thus far: interviews, sending family photos, and planned preliminary filming at Justin’s restaurant ("Just to see how we interact...if this thing has any legs.").
• [09:03] He reflects: "I don't know that anybody has ever heard somebody else talk about the process of making the decision to be on a reality TV show...We're still in the process. And it's taken so long. That's one thing I've really been surprised about, that it's taken so long."
• Next step: filming the crew "doing our thing" in the studio and at group events.

3. Pros, Cons, and Doubts About Participation

• [02:52] Bert expresses reluctance, citing concern for his family’s privacy and control over the final product.
• "I've got too much to lose to gamble it all on a reality TV show. A lot of the other guys that are doing this have a little less to lose, I think, than I do. They want the celebrity." — Bert [03:20]
• Both he and his wife, Stacey, are cautiously considering commitment, wanting transparency on contract terms, time investment, and editorial control.

4. Family, Drama, and the Nature of Reality TV

• [04:03] Bert is wary of his family being thrust into the spotlight and “drama” being manufactured for compelling content.
• "If I sign up for it, I have to think...they're going to be in the house all the time. They're going to dig up stuff from the past. Stacy and I have an argument, it’s going to be on camera." — Bert [04:11]
• Jen and Jeff discuss how successful reality shows require drama and speculate on how the wives/girlfriends might be pitted against each other.

5. Unique Angle: Male-Centered Reality TV

• [06:07] Bert comments: “I don't see this as a group that's full of drama. I think dudes communicate and they just don't have as much drama with each other as women do.”
• Panel discusses that producers may shift focus to relationships, stirring drama by involving spouses and girlfriends.
• Stacey’s strong, honest personality is highlighted as both a strength and a potential “target” for on-screen conflict.

6. Listener Calls: Support, Warnings, & Advice

• [07:05] to [14:31] Multiple listeners call in with advice, encouragement, and warnings.
  • Concern over impact on Bert’s charity work (Bert’s Big Adventure), and how editing can twist perceptions.
  • Jen suggests Bert could offer clarity on radio if events are misrepresented, though national TV reach limits this.
  • Calls for Bert to consider how “editing can affect reputation”—referencing a friend who was misrepresented in the editing room ([13:18]).
    • Memorable story: A reality TV editor made a woman look drunk by manipulating footage, when in fact, she wasn’t.
  • A listener (Leia) shares her own brush with reality TV and why she ultimately declined, stressing that “even if you’re chosen for being interesting, you never know how they’re going to contextualize everything.” [12:04]
• Many listeners say they’d “definitely watch” if Bert joined, but several urge caution.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Bert on Reality TV Risks:
  "If I'm going in, I got to think the worst." [04:11]

• On Family Exposure:
  "My mentality is this: If I sign up, I have to think, worst case scenario..." [04:03]

• Jen’s Take on Drama:
  "The most successful TV shows have drama...those are the reality shows that are successful." [04:39]

• About Editing Fears:
  "You never know how they’re going to contextualize everything...I don’t want to work my whole life to gain a good reputation and then have it destroyed by some techy person editing." — Listener Leia [12:04]

• On Stakes and Control:
  “I want to find out exactly what the time commitment is going to be… what I have control of, which is probably very, very little.” — Bert [02:52]

• On Stacey’s Personality:
  “Stacey is what she is...very, very honest. And I love her for that. But for TV, that could be a big old target on her back.” — Bert [06:36]

• Listener Support:
  "I will watch it." — Listener Caller [11:29]
  "Really think about your life and the way that people are going to view you after the show because you don't really have much control over the editing." — Listener Leia [12:04]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:46 — Bert introduces the Boys Club ATL reality show pitch
• 02:52 — On audition process and reluctance to commit
• 04:03 — Discussing family, privacy, and potential drama
• 06:07 — Difference between male and female-focused reality TV casts
• 07:05 – 14:31 — Listener calls: Support, warnings, personal stories
• 13:18 — Bert’s anecdote about reality TV editing manipulation
• 14:48 — Wrapping up, next production steps

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Conclusion

This episode offers an inside look at the rarely-discussed pre-production process of being cast for a reality TV show, with Bert navigating the personal and professional implications. Candid exchanges with both co-hosts and listeners center on authenticity, editing, and the inescapable thirst for drama in reality television. The conversation leaves Bert—and the audience—grappling with a central question: Is fame worth the risk when you have so much more to lose?

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Transcript

[Burt]

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[Burt]

So let me give you an update on this reality TV show nonsense. So I told you guys, I guess we're going on months now.

[Jeff]

Yeah, months ago that there was this interest.

[Listener Caller]

Yeah.

[Burt]

There's a developer of reality TV shows here in town. Her name is Princess, and she was the creator and developer of a reality TV show that you guys might have heard of called Real Housewives of Atlanta. And she did Real Housewives of OC also. So she knows what she's doing. So she has this idea and concept now of doing a reality TV show here in Atlanta based on a couple of guys, a group of dudes, and. And they're calling it. Forget. They're calling it Boys Club. Yes, right. Boys Club. Atl. So they would be following five or six guys around that are in the same group and just, you know, same type deal. Just lifestyle stuff, showing different parties that we would go to, different events, charity events, showing inside of our house and family. And I hang out with some guys that she is interested in following. And I'd be one of the five or six guys in this reality TV show. So she asked me about it months and months ago and asked me if I would be interested in it. And I said, yep. Lukewarm. Yeah. You know, it's got its advantages, but it certainly has its disadvantages also. And Stacey and I have sort of started talking about it and they came over to our house and they did a tv, a camera interview, on air interview. And Princess brought that back to the producers in Los Angeles, who I guess have to okay the final cast. They asked me a couple of weeks ago for some more pictures of myself and my family. So I sent those out to Los Angeles also. And today, Princess is bringing in a camera in studio around 9 o'. Clock. And then tomorrow night, me and all the guys that they are thinking about having on this reality TV show are getting together at Justin's restaurant just to hang out, and there are going to be cameras there. And I guess I'm not really sure what they're doing with that. Just see how we interact with each other and if this thing has any legs.

[Jeff]

Preliminary footage.

[Burt]

Preliminary footage. And I'm still not totally in 100% on board on this whole thing, as I keep saying. Stacy and I haven't really wrapped our heads around it because they haven't said that they want us like, once they say, hey, we think that you'd be good on this show. Stacy wants to see a contract. I want to find out exactly what the time commitment is going to be on the whole thing, exactly what I have control of, which is probably very, very little. And just really get a better sense of what the TV show is supposed to be all about. You know, I've got too much to lose to gamble it all on a reality TV show. A lot of the other guys that are doing this have a little less to lose, I think, than I do. They want the celebrity.

[Listener Caller]

And.

[Burt]

And as we've discussed before on the show, I sort of feel like I'm really comfortable with what I got right here.

[Jeff]

Do the other guys on the show have children?

[Burt]

One does. Kenny does.

[Jeff]

Oh, okay.

[Burt]

Kenny Burns has kids, but he's already made it perfectly clear that he sort of wants to keep his family sheltered from this whole thing. And Princess has said she thinks it can accommodate that. But at the end of the day, she doesn't have the final say in all that.

[Jeff]

Well, I mean, sign up. You're signing up Stacey and your two boys, too.

[Burt]

My mentality is this is if I sign up for it, I have to think, worst case, scen scenario. I'm not going in there thinking that, Mel.

[Listener Caller]

You know what?

[Burt]

I could probably manipulate my way around this or that. I've got to go into it thinking they're going to be in the house all the time. They're going to dig up stuff from the past. Stacy and I have an argument. It's going to be on camera. If I yell at somebody here at the office, it's going to be way blown out of proportion. So my mindset is, if I'm going in, I got to think the worst.

[Jen]

Yeah, because Princess, I mean, she's wonderful, but she's also a salesperson. She's pitching you for something for her product. And we've. I mean, we have lived in the eight, you know, the decade of reality tv. So it's not like you're not savvy to how all reality TV is. And the most successful TV shows have drama. I mean, Wendy and Jen are so invested in the Bachelor simply because there's drama.

[Jeff]

That's true.

[Jen]

And we were involved in Real Housewives of Atlanta because there was drama. So, you know, those are the reality shows that are successful now, whether you would be the drama guy in it. Cause, you know, there's also the possibility that you are one of the side characters and one of your other buddies is gonna be the one that's the center, you know, drama king.

[Burt]

You know, there are certainly guys that they are talking to about this show that I think qualify as more drama than I do. Like Kenny Burns, I think probably walks around with this sort of like, he's just got this bigger than life personality, and he's always at the clubs. And I think he's probably more drama filled than my life is. My friend Dolvett is a single guy. He goes out on a lot of dates. He's out on town a lot. So there's more drama involved there. I think what they'd get is a peek into my relationship with Stacy. And of course, you know, any marriage that's been around this long, 13 years is going to have ups and downs, so they get some drama with that.

[Jeff]

But you said she's on board. She's more into it than you are.

[Burt]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, you were there at dinner the other night when we were talking about, she's ready to jump in, man.

[Jeff]

She was all about it.

[Jen]

But remember that on Real Housewives of Atlanta, the couple that was the least drama didn't make it to the second season. You know what I mean? So, I mean, they let somebody cut them out. That was nice.

[Jeff]

Yeah, they were nice and normal.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Jeff]

Which means not good for reality.

[Jen]

Reality tv.

[Jeff]

Yeah.

[Burt]

And as I was looking at this cast that they're thinking about, Jen and Wendy and Jeff and I were talking about it on Friday or Saturday night. I don't see this as a group that's full of drama. Like, I think dudes communicate and they just don't have as much drama with each other as women do.

[Jen]

That's what they come to your families because they want drama between wives, girlfriends.

[Jeff]

They'll probably somehow pit the wives against each other, and then you have. You guys have to go defend their honor. That would be an easy storyline.

[Burt]

And that I'm really nervous about. Cuz my wife, I love her for this reason. And it also scares me for this reason is Stacey is what she is, man. And she is. She's abrasive at some points, and she's just very, very honest. And I love her for that. But for tv, that could be a big old target on her back. And I think I'd be more protective of her than I would be myself. So that would. That is definitely going to be a big part of this equation for me. Good morning, Courtney. You're on Q100.

[Listener Caller]

Hey, Burchell.

[Jen]

Good morning.

[Listener Caller]

Didn't the psychic say something about how your career might take a change or remember when you got that psychic reading done a couple months back?

[Burt]

I don't. I don't remember that. I mean, I remember that, the reading, but I don't remember her specifically saying that.

[Listener Caller]

Yeah, she mentioned something about a career change or something is going to be coming up in your professional life. Something different.

[Jeff]

I thought that was Jeff's reading.

[Burt]

It could have been all of us. It seems like such a broad thing for somebody in the psychic field to

[Jeff]

say there's going to be a change in your life.

[Burt]

There's change every week, man.

[Jen]

Yes. It's like, ooh.

[Jeff]

Thanks for being so specific.

[Burt]

Hey, Crystal, good Morning. You're on Q100.

[Listener Caller]

Good morning, guys.

[Jen]

Hi.

[Burt]

How are you?

[Listener Caller]

Pretty good.

[Jen]

Good.

[Burt]

What's up?

[Listener Caller]

I was calling to say you do the Burt's Big Adventure, and I've heard you when you mentioned this before, but it makes me so nervous that way that they twist these things when it gets on tv. And there's so much at stake that you don't need anything negative to truly affect what you do, which is so positive. And it's so much bigger than just the fame or the next step up. What you do is big, you know,

[Jen]

My only thing is because most everybody I believe here on the show has been warning you not to do it. And the only stipulation I have, which I don't know if Princess would agree to it, but we have a show that's open and honest and you talk. And so the only thing that I think would. If you did do it, that would help a little bit, is the fact if you could be open on the show about what we saw and what really happened, but I'm not sure if they'll allow that or not.

[Burt]

I'm not. That would be probably a. You know, that's a. That's a big clause right there. And we're not on nationally. So if I was going to address those things, it would only be on a local level anyway. Hey, Ally. Good morning. You're on the Burt Show.

[Listener Caller]

Hey, Burt Show.

Hey, excuse me.

I was wondering, what's the name of your show?

[Burt]

Well, it's not my show yet. There'd be six guys on it, and it's called Boys Club atl.

[Listener Caller]

Oh, okay.

[Burt]

And it's still in the. It's still sort of in the audition stage also. Part of the reason why I'm talking about this is I don't know that anybody has ever heard somebody else talk about the process of making the decision to be on a reality TV show. I think most people go to auditions, and at that point, your mentality is you want to be on.

[Jen]

Right.

[Burt]

They came to me. So we're still in the process. And it's taken so long. That's one thing I've really been surprised about, that it's taken so long.

[Jeff]

What's different about this. This Fran, this potential franchise in the Real Housewife franchise is it's really just your life. It's not any sort of competition show. So typically, if you're going out for a reality TV show, you want to be on the Amazing Race, Survivor, the Biggest Loser, the Bachelor. Like, you're going on as a single person to compete for something. And whether you win or lose is whether you win or lose. But this is just, hey, I'm gonna sign up my life, which includes, like, your family and, you know, and your coworkers and your friends and, like, everybody involved in it. And so it has to be drama, because you're not on a competition show. You're not going on American Idol to try to win a record deal. Like, you're going on to show your life, and if there's no drama in your life, then there's no show.

[Burt]

And I think everybody has a certain amount of drama in their life.

[Jeff]

Sure.

[Jen]

Everybody's got drama in their life.

[Jeff]

Of course. Of course. And everybody's got all kinds of things that could make for a great reality show. It's just, do you want to share that with the rest of the country or not? You know?

[Burt]

Hey, Jennifer, good morning. You're on the Burt Show.

[Listener Caller]

Hey, guys. You rock.

I love you.

Thank you, Bert. You know, they're gonna dig up. They're gonna probably, oh, Burt, let's go see your mom. Let's go see your dad. But I would definitely watch it, because I really want to meet your dad and see.

[Burt]

That would be a tough one to take. Cause, you know, like, my dad and I now are patching up our relationship and things are heading in the right direction. And my mom and I now haven't talked for months, so.

[Listener Caller]

And I think it'll be a different perspective, even if it didn't have drama coming from the male perspective on, you know, it could be educational for you single women out there to, you know, to see how, you know, the young single guys, you know, what they're looking for, how they. You know, how they maneuver around Atlanta.

[Jeff]

But there's only one single guy in the whole cast.

[Listener Caller]

Oh, is it? Yeah.

[Burt]

At this point, there would only be one. Unless there. There's. There's a trump card guy that I'm not really familiar with, that I have heard that they're bringing on the show because he's really filled with drama, and he's a single guy also in Atlanta. But I don't know anything about that guy.

[Listener Caller]

I will watch it.

[Burt]

You watch it?

[Listener Caller]

Yeah, and I'm watching.

[Jeff]

We're gonna be glued. I mean, on the mornings after the show. That's all the entertainment buzz is gonna be. I mean, nothing else is gonna exist in television, movies, Hollywood, nothing. It's gonna be all about that show.

[Burt]

So hopefully you're talking about on the show and not me.

[Jeff]

I'm with you. I'm with her. I would definitely watch it.

[Burt]

I'll take one more call on this. Good morning. Is it Laia?

[Listener Caller]

Leia?

[Burt]

Leah, how are you?

[Listener Caller]

I'm good.

I'm so glad to talk to you. I recently moved here from Chicago, and I've fallen in love with your show. So thank you for the amusement in the morning.

I need it.

[Burt]

Thanks.

[Listener Caller]

Well, I have some advice for you. I tried out for the Real World, kind of as a spoof. My friend really wanted to do it, and I didn't feel like studying for my linguistics test, so I went and I ended up getting chosen. And we had to, like, fill out this huge questionnaire, and we didn't really know where we were going. We just knew it was somewhere in Europe. And my mom was really encouraging of me to do this, but, you know, you never know what's going to happen with the editing of the show, which I think is the biggest concern that I had is that even though I, you know, was chosen because I'm a fun and interesting person, and at that point, I was a dance movement therapist, and I knew they kind of wanted to figure out more about that, but you never know how they're going to contextualize everything. So I didn't do it. And I'm really happy that I didn't. So I know that, you know, for all of our amusement, we probably think, oh, do it. Do it, because we want to see what happens. But really think about your life and the way that people are going to view you after the show because you don't really have much control over the editing. And that kind of came down to the wire for me. I was like, I don't want to work my whole life to gain a good reputation and then have it destroyed by some techy person editing.

[Burt]

No, I've thought about all that too. And just quickly, I'll pass on a story to you which really, really has been in my mind through this whole process. And it's one I've told these guys before. I have a friend that used to edit reality TV shows, and there was one scene where the character on the show was, like, a real drunk. She was working at a bar, and they had her sort of labeled as being an alcoholic. Well, one day she is in her bar, she's working. It's the middle of the day, and a light goes out in the bar. She gets up on a bar stool, she fixes the light, and while she's fixing the light, she falls off the bar stool. Well, my friend goes back and they edit it to look like it was at night. It looked like it was a whole bunch of people in the bar, and it looked like she was drinking and she was drunk and she fell off the bar stool when that wasn't the reality of it at all. So that has been sort of in the top of my mind as we're talking about this entire thing.

[Listener Caller]

Yeah. And first impressions do make a lasting one. And it would be very hard to, you know, quote, unquote, be the girl on the barstool and try and explain to people that that's not the way that it happens. And I feel like there's an unconsciousness that we all know this is not real, but we buy into it because

it is so delicious.

Like, I'm totally into the Bachelor too. So I can't say that I'm not on both sides, but I just want. I just wanted to share my story because I've been in that same situation, and my boyfriend was very unencouraging. So I understand how that plays a factor too.

[Burt]

Thank you. These are all things that I'm really gonna have to think about if they decide to use our group. And as I said, the next step in the process is they're coming in studio here at about 9 this morning and they're just gonna, you know, shoot us doing our thing. Then I think they bring that back to LA and they make their final decisions. So if this was American Idol, we'd be in the round of 24 right now.

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