0:00

This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost

0:02

Famous podcast with her radio. Hey

0:06

everyone, I'm welcome to the Almost Famous

0:08

Podcast. Ben is unable to be with

0:10

us today, so to interview

0:13

Happy Couple number two Danielle

0:15

and Michael. I have the other half of my

0:17

Happy couple, Jerry here. I've always

0:19

I've always felt like the poor man's

0:21

Ben Higgins, and every time he's not on this

0:24

podcast, I replaced him, and he's just like, but

0:26

that's not a bad thing to be a poor man's

0:28

Ben Higgins. Plus, if I'm

0:30

an A minus, that's fantastical here in

0:32

a plus plus. I really we

0:35

Okay, okay, well we

0:37

are going to just let Danielle and Michael

0:40

into the room and get this cute gush fast

0:42

going. I'm not sure if there

0:44

is a couple out there that America is

0:46

more happy for than right here

0:48

in front of us, Michael A and

0:51

Danielle Mulby. Congratulations you

0:53

guys. I'm just so over the moon,

0:55

like my heart is racing just looking at you.

0:58

Thank you, happy to be here.

1:01

Sorry, did you guys hide your relationship at all?

1:04

Like or were you just You're like, we're

1:06

too old for this ship. We need to just we're just gonna

1:08

go on dates. Well, I

1:10

mean, we really tried to and

1:12

then um

1:14

it took it Wells asked if I wanted a plus

1:16

one and I was like, you know who I'm going to

1:19

bring? Like is that okay? Yeah?

1:21

To the wedding. Yeah, well

1:23

wedding and uh which that wedding.

1:26

By the way, if we were going to get caught,

1:28

I'd might rather get caught in that.

1:31

It was the most amazing wedding I've

1:33

ever seen in my life. So, yeah,

1:36

we're going down. If we're going down, it's

1:38

gonna be a Wells wedding. I feel like the production

1:40

company honestly wouldn't even mind

1:43

because they're just so happy for you guys. There

1:45

are so many of them there. It's

1:47

not like you went behind the productions

1:49

back. And I also

1:52

feel like you guys just reeked

1:54

of obviously this is going to work

1:57

out in paradise, So it wasn't like we

1:59

were like on pins and needle seeing how

2:01

it was going to end. Yeah. Well,

2:03

I mean, I think I think what wasn't really captured

2:06

too much during the airing of

2:08

the season was Danielle

2:10

and I were just heavily guarded. Um,

2:13

you know, I mean, we we have a shared

2:17

like history and tragedy,

2:19

but that doesn't define us, um,

2:21

but the ability for us to be able to break

2:23

down our walls and actually welcome Lovin.

2:26

That actually took a lot of time, that

2:29

was not overnight, and that actually started

2:31

happening once we left the beach, um,

2:34

you know, the final time that we

2:37

got to that point where you

2:39

know, you get engaged, you break up, you leave

2:41

together. There was enough

2:43

there that we could feel

2:45

confident, you know, dating in the real world

2:47

and starting you know, to create

2:50

memories and doing all that. But it's really

2:52

everything that happened off camera that really

2:54

got us to the point that we are at

2:56

today, which is, you know, we're celebrating

2:58

Thanksgiving tomorrow. It's

3:01

super cool. We're really excited. Um.

3:03

You know, her and James have a really cool relationship.

3:06

Everything just seems to be falling into place. I

3:09

really loved that there that

3:11

you guys didn't hit milestones. They're

3:13

in paradise, You didn't say love you.

3:15

There was no talk of engagement, but

3:19

behind the scenes, was there? No?

3:23

Not really? I mean like we both are like we're

3:25

I mean, like I know you're not ready. I know I'm

3:27

not ready and like, hey,

3:30

I was like, you're not going to do that to James,

3:32

Like, yeah, I think

3:35

where we are at this point in our life, Like

3:37

we understand that the show has a timeline,

3:40

We understand that the fans have a

3:42

timeline, But for us, we

3:45

are trying to c

3:48

yeah, ignored all of that noise

3:50

and we're just kind of marching to our

3:52

own drum. And I think

3:54

for us just being kind of the intentional

3:56

people that we are, Um, it's

3:59

in line with how we would normally conduct

4:01

a relationship. I think

4:03

for us, if we were to rush into anything

4:06

um early on or feel that pressure,

4:09

um, we wouldn't be where we are today.

4:11

So we're thankful to kind of have that patience

4:14

and and do it our way.

4:16

They trusted ourselves in that and

4:19

like knowing that it's okay, like

4:21

we're not to go at our own

4:23

pace. Yeah, yeah, without it, I

4:25

think we found like I found a person

4:28

that is okay with that, and that's not

4:30

always the case when

4:33

you're going through this journey on TV.

4:36

Well, I think you guys are different in the fact that you've been

4:38

through so much in your personal lives that going

4:41

on TV and developing this relationship you kind

4:43

of you have a perspective that other people, including

4:45

Ashley and I when we were first on the show, just

4:47

don't have where it's like, oh, we have to

4:49

do this and we have to get married and we have to go on this timeline

4:52

and you guys are like, no, no, no, that's not how life works. You

4:54

know, We're going to go on our own speed. Um

4:56

was there My my question though to bounce off

4:58

that was there and anybody who asked

5:00

you if you wanted to potentially propose

5:03

on the reunion, I

5:06

flat out told him. I was like, I'm just

5:08

going to throw this out there. I do

5:10

not propose to me. Okay,

5:14

don't do that to me. Yeah

5:18

they did. They didn't ask me at all.

5:20

They know that really wasn't

5:23

really respect and know you. Wow, Well,

5:25

I think I think there is an

5:28

understanding that um

5:31

you know, I'm I'm guarded and

5:33

they were very you know, um

5:36

understanding of where we were

5:38

at our life. Um. You know, there

5:40

there was discussion about

5:43

whether or not James would be involved at

5:45

the reunion and there would be you

5:47

know, some sort of meeting on stage

5:50

and at the end of the day,

5:53

Yeah, like I I signed up for this

5:55

James didn't. Um,

5:58

and that's that's a member

6:00

Marie in a moment that we want

6:02

to keep private. So what Well,

6:05

never mind that, because I was going to ask what your

6:08

first moment, Danielle meeting James was,

6:10

Like, I mean you guys talked about

6:12

that, Okay, what was the first moment? Like, yeah,

6:17

um, honestly, it was really cute. I was

6:19

really anxious to meet him cause I was like, oh my god, this

6:21

kid doesn't like me, like Michael's gonna dull me.

6:25

Yeah, James tell me everything.

6:28

But no, I feel like we just

6:30

really hit it off really quick. He I

6:33

like had pulled up to the house and texted

6:35

you that I was there because we met at this like

6:37

airbnb in the middle of nowhere.

6:40

It was a happy couple of weekend. No,

6:42

they didn't give us any happy couple of weekends. We

6:45

had an Airbnb in Bellevue, Kentucky.

6:48

Yeah. Yeah, why Yeah,

6:50

we're trying to hide up, trying to be wedding.

6:55

Was it? That was one slip up?

6:58

So you guys had the airbnb. So yeah,

7:01

We're at the Airbnb and

7:03

I literally like I hear this like thud on the

7:05

window and I look over and he's like, Hi,

7:10

it was so sweet. Um

7:13

No, we just had so much fun that weekend. He made

7:15

like chimmy churry for the steaks that

7:17

Michael, Michael,

7:20

what did you have to bribe Jans with in order

7:22

to do that? Be Like, listen, bro, I like this girl

7:24

a lot. I need you to go right up to the window and

7:26

make her feel right at home. You

7:28

know, it's surprisingly he

7:30

has a lot of emotional intelligence.

7:33

He can eat such an embath He's

7:35

such a sweet, warm kid. I mean

7:37

like look like I mean like yeah,

7:41

I mean he's he's he's really sweet. And

7:44

you know, just as a parent,

7:46

I'm really protective over him. And

7:49

I introduced Danielle really is just

7:51

a friend because one of my

7:53

concerns was always you know, James

7:55

already had his mom taken away.

7:58

Like I've always been trying to like

8:00

cognizant of the fact that if

8:02

I do bring another woman

8:04

into our life and he gets attached and it doesn't

8:06

work, you know, what are the consequences

8:09

of that in his life and how he

8:11

perceives relationships and how he views

8:13

things. Um So, really,

8:16

just introducing Danielle as a friend,

8:18

allowing that relationship to develop

8:20

organically and again

8:23

at our own pace without putting, you

8:25

know, titles on it. I mean, clearly we

8:27

know we're together. Um,

8:30

But you know, for him, he's just happy

8:32

to see me happy. And I

8:34

always came into this believing happy

8:37

parents make happy kids, and

8:40

Dad's happy.

8:51

Is Daniel the first girl you've introduced

8:54

him too? Even as a friend? Yes,

8:57

Oh,

9:00

of course I believe.

9:06

I'm teesing. Okay, it's all right. How

9:08

did you go into Paradise this time? Because

9:11

it was such a

9:13

huge thing with you leaving

9:15

James for Bachelor at

9:18

and you know you ended up leaving because

9:20

he was so upset about you being gone so long.

9:23

So why did you choose a you paradise?

9:25

How did you make the situation different? Um?

9:30

I mean for me it was it

9:33

was a lot less strenuous from a

9:36

filming perspective. I mean, since

9:38

we did the Bachelor at Um, he

9:40

understood that I was going to be away

9:43

for you know, a couple of weeks. It actually

9:45

came at a really good time because it was during

9:47

the summer and he went on

9:50

multiple vacations with his grandparents

9:52

and by the time I got back, I

9:54

mean, he'd been on three vacations and time

9:57

kind of flew. And you

9:59

know, one of the reasons why I wanted to go on Paradise

10:01

was it just seems like the success rate is

10:04

significantly better. You get to spend more

10:06

time with people you know, you get

10:08

to know um uh, just

10:10

a lot more about them on and off camera.

10:13

And it was at a time in my life where

10:16

I felt like, if I didn't take it, I'd

10:18

always have that what if lingering

10:20

in the back of my head, like maybe

10:22

that was somebody I was supposed

10:24

to be with, And I didn't want to watch that on

10:28

TV without thinking

10:30

that that could have been mine. So,

10:34

Danielle, when did you get

10:36

the phone call for Paradise and

10:38

then when you came down were

10:41

you open to dating

10:44

people or was it Michael or bust?

10:47

So, man, I feel like production called

10:49

me like maybe

10:53

like two or three weeks before

10:55

filming was supposed to start, and

10:57

I was like, oh, y'all are cutting it pretty close. I

10:59

was seriously like, like,

11:03

well, you know, I think we have someone down there that, like,

11:05

you know, really wants to meet you. And and

11:07

I'm I'm not stupid. I know

11:10

how this thing works. Like someone's got to request you.

11:12

Everyone's got like lists and stuff.

11:14

But um no,

11:17

I mean like I hoped

11:20

like you had requested me. But

11:23

I mean like I was definitely open to seeing

11:26

who was down there. I had no I had no idea,

11:28

but I was like, but who is going to

11:30

be who remembers Danielle m

11:32

And she's like thirty six years old.

11:35

So but

11:43

um, but yeah, I mean like I was open to it. I

11:45

was obviously hopeful that you

11:47

had to me. I mean

11:50

everybody when you as you guys know, when you go on

11:52

the show, it's a matchmaking show, so

11:55

they want people to try to find somebody

11:57

that they're compatible with. They ask every contestant,

12:00

who would you like to see from past

12:02

seasons? And I did request uh,

12:05

Danielle. It was interesting because Danielle

12:08

and I, uh, you know, we had

12:10

spoken, you know last year

12:12

when I had gotten off Katie season. We she

12:15

reached out after I did an anniversary

12:17

post for Laura, and you

12:20

know the fact that we had both lost significant

12:22

others and we're both in the being

12:25

in the franchise. It's it's a very

12:27

small group of people that can actually relate

12:29

to everything, and so we formed

12:31

kind of a friendship even though we had

12:34

never met in person. So while

12:37

it may look as though, you

12:39

know, things jumped off to a hot start,

12:41

there was kind of a lot of pressure on

12:44

us because we had been friends and as we

12:46

know, if relationships don't work,

12:48

you run the risk of losing a really good

12:50

friend as well. And you don't

12:53

know that chemistry is there until

12:55

you're right next to them and you

12:57

know, going through this with them,

13:00

it's it's it's a really scary

13:02

thing. Um. And so it

13:05

wasn't overnight. I mean it's it took some time

13:08

to develop that romantic chemistry that

13:11

we needed. We knew the friendship was there, which

13:13

is great to build a relationship off of what

13:16

was the romantic part there? And um,

13:18

it is we can relate,

13:21

totally relate. What was the extent of

13:23

the d M s? Were you only talking

13:25

via d M? Was it a total Instagram

13:28

friendship? Did you talk on the phone voice

13:30

to voice anything like that. It's just us

13:32

talking guys, nobody else. And

13:34

plus we think that villainizing people for talking

13:36

beforehand is overwritted. I mean, everybody

13:39

talks, everybody's and everyone's d M um.

13:42

You know, it's just like an Instagram like friendship.

13:44

Yeah, that was it. We didn't. We didn't talk

13:47

often. We liked each other's posts.

13:49

Um, you know, there was it

13:52

was it was brand it was brand new we had,

13:54

like I knew about Danielle from

13:57

other people in the Bachelor franchise to

13:59

that just spoke so highly of her.

14:01

And I think when you when

14:03

you hear so many people

14:06

give consistent reviews, positive

14:09

reviews of somebody, you you

14:11

know it's a it's a I

14:13

don't know, it's so telling. And so I

14:15

didn't know if she was going to come down. I was very

14:18

surprised when she actually came down. Um,

14:21

And I'm just happy with how

14:23

everything kind of worked out. It hasn't

14:25

been easy, but it's been also worth it.

14:28

I do. I strive. I strive to

14:30

do the same thing as Audrey's. That's what I'll say positive

14:32

reviews. Are

14:35

you gonna say? I want

14:37

to I want to piggyback off that just a little bit, because,

14:40

um, it's like for

14:43

two people that were so guarded

14:46

going into this, um like

14:49

even that is like a friendship. Like I was

14:51

like, oh no, like you hear the rumors, like

14:53

I knew you were being considered for like

14:56

Bachelor's stuff, and I was like, no,

14:59

guard no, this is just I've

15:01

got crush on you, man, but like, no,

15:05

this is strictly I'm platonic,

15:08

super just like nice, having like a friend

15:10

that that got

15:13

it, you know. Yeah, and

15:16

that's that's one of the benefits

15:18

to is um. You know,

15:21

we found each other because we have a similar

15:24

past UM. One that's

15:26

important to note that we will

15:29

not allow it to define us. UM.

15:32

It's something that we understand. I mean, there's

15:34

so much more to a person than just the

15:36

tragedies of their past or

15:39

their experiences. And you

15:41

know, for us, it's

15:44

it's been very refreshing

15:46

to not have to explain how

15:49

confusing grief can be. She

15:52

she has gone through this. I mean

15:54

I think it's what twelve years for

15:56

since Nick passed, and for Laura

15:59

it was too. I was nineteen, so you

16:01

know, I'm on three plus years,

16:04

and you know it's I've

16:07

been able to learn and be inspired

16:09

by her own journey UM so

16:11

much that it's given me hope and it's

16:13

created this like amazing safe

16:15

place where we're hugging

16:19

me, where we can be ourselves

16:22

without judgment UM and

16:24

and again work at our own pace. Danielle

16:38

on the finale, You Touched on the fact

16:40

that you're you're

16:44

your past relationships were

16:47

different. You know, yours wasn't necessarily

16:49

the healthiest relationship and then

16:51

Michael's with Laura was pretty much

16:53

perfect. So how does that

16:56

player role? And and just understanding

16:59

the grief and the loss of the relationship.

17:03

So I think you kind of just touched

17:05

on it, just understanding that we

17:08

both have different

17:10

relationships, um with

17:13

our past partners that like

17:17

grief will I

17:19

mean, grief doesn't really care, so like there's like

17:21

that one common ground

17:23

in there. But I know that

17:26

mine looks different compared to

17:29

compared to its Like I can't,

17:31

I can't look back on mine and like

17:37

you know, like now it's been twelve years, like lots

17:39

of therapy, I can see like

17:41

the manipulation and things like that,

17:44

and and caring like guilt around

17:46

that um and

17:49

knowing that that's not something.

17:53

It's just the knowledge of knowing that

17:55

things are different, but we also carry

17:59

they're different but they're the same, right,

18:02

Yeah. I think

18:04

like for me, it's there's

18:07

this when you look back, you

18:10

you think that you have an idea of where your life

18:13

is going, and you you

18:15

have these trajectories, you know, you get

18:17

the job, you buy the house, you get married,

18:19

you have the kid, You do all of these things

18:22

in this timeline, and life doesn't

18:24

care like real things

18:27

end up getting in the way, and so it's

18:29

grief sometimes is mourning the loss of the

18:32

life you thought you were going to have, And

18:35

in so many ways that's it's

18:38

really tragic. But you know, if

18:40

you were in a bad relationship, once you get

18:42

into a healthy one, you know, you

18:44

start to feel a little bit more grateful, and

18:47

so you're you're mourning a lot than just the loss

18:49

of a person. It's all of these ideas that

18:51

you had in your head and that you

18:54

fell in love with and bought into a

18:56

long the way. Yeah,

18:59

so have you guys, Um,

19:02

well one has James watched the show?

19:05

No? Okay, too

19:07

many too many black boxes, way

19:10

too many blacks already, Like

19:13

why is your belly hanging out? Dawson's

19:20

gonna say the same thing fastally, Yeah,

19:23

she's well, Dawson's gonna be like, what's

19:25

that sparkly thing in your belly? And it's like, it's

19:27

a belly ring. Okay, But

19:29

you're gonna put it back in, he said, She's

19:32

going to put it back in. But um, So

19:35

is he aware that like, you guys

19:39

are Yeah, so like

19:41

is I guess my question is is he still think you guys

19:43

are friends? Like? How I guess I'm a question.

19:46

How do you handle that? Yeah? I

19:48

mean I have kept it. James

19:51

and I we speak

19:53

openly and honestly about everything. UM.

19:56

I always wanted to be that kind of parent that

19:58

you could have that say place with UM,

20:01

not just for like the grief and the lost stuff,

20:03

but things that happen at school, things that are going

20:06

around. And I don't want to keep him in

20:08

the dark. UM. We haven't had

20:10

that conversation yet about you

20:12

know, Danielle and I dating. UM.

20:15

This may be a great weekend to have it. Um.

20:18

He's off school for like the next five days, and

20:20

Danielle is going to be up here for a little bit. UM.

20:23

And so I'm not scared to have it. I mean,

20:25

at the end of the day, he wants happiness, he

20:27

loves having people here, he

20:29

loves when she comes in. UM.

20:32

It's not something I am really

20:34

fearful of. UM. And

20:36

it's something that's you know, imminent,

20:39

and and we're just really excited

20:41

to have the holidays and be able

20:43

to have someone next to you. It's been forever for both

20:46

of us. Um, it's just a really exciting

20:48

time and I think the focus has really

20:50

just been at least for me with

20:53

James. I just want to be someone that he feels

20:55

safe around. That like he

20:58

wants to color with, he wants

21:00

to play tag with, he wants to sing weird

21:02

songs with, you know, like I just want

21:04

to be like someone

21:07

he feels comfortable around. Their

21:09

relationship is so adorable.

21:12

I mean, like it's

21:15

so cute. We were last time she was

21:17

here. We were driving up to like the airport

21:20

and right before

21:22

we dropped Danielle off. He's

21:25

in the back seat and he's like, Danielle,

21:28

do you want us to give you a call when you get

21:30

in there so you have someone to talk to and you can

21:32

hear our voice? Oh my gosh,

21:35

how sweet? Really

21:38

talk like that? I was like, yeah, yes,

21:41

yeah, she's confucious. It's

21:43

a lot functions

21:45

on He's like Rodney. He functions on that like

21:48

higher empathetic, like find

21:50

level. Yeah, yeah, he really, he really does.

21:53

And I don't know, things that come out of Kid's mouth

21:55

sometimes are the most profound, the

21:57

sweetest I know. It makes when you're Danielle

21:59

and your saying you want James

22:01

to feel safe and comfortable. I

22:04

was thinking about, you know, obviously,

22:06

Michael, you're a parent, and now Danielle

22:08

you're coming into that, and we're just becoming parents

22:10

as well. And we flew to Virginia yesterday

22:13

and I had this like many emotional

22:15

moment to myself that I'd even tell you to this moment because

22:18

we were flying. We were taking off, and I hate

22:20

flying because I immediately think that the planets

22:23

news it's going to take off is just gonna go crashing down right

22:25

after the runway. Oh yeah, I have a weird

22:28

But it's so weird because in the a because

22:31

I remember Dawson was sitting on me and he's fine,

22:33

and it actually helped, Like

22:35

having him I usually have an emotional support animal,

22:37

and having Dawson on the flight actually helps me because my

22:40

focus is so much on him, ensuring

22:42

that he feels okay. And I remember thinking

22:44

that, like, he has no idea

22:47

of the dangers of this world that surround

22:50

him, and as a parent, you know,

22:52

he's just the embodiment of innocence, and

22:55

it makes me concerned because it's

22:57

you know, as a parent, you just want. You want to make

22:59

your kid feel as safe as possible. Now

23:01

I'm talking about the physical safeteness

23:04

of my child, but of course the emotional safetess

23:06

as well is something that will you know, down the line

23:08

have to really tackle. And you

23:11

know, you guys love that. I

23:13

love that your your your beautiful

23:16

child has become your emotional supporting.

23:20

It's like I have to keep it together and marrying them and through

23:22

the airport and put them on your lab a leash.

23:24

You don't have to all

23:27

the paperwork with Lois was so annoying,

23:29

but he used to hold Lowest like he'd have to take care

23:31

of her on takeoff. It was really a dark we get

23:34

through and like everywhere we go with Dawston now it's

23:36

like everybody's just like trying to take care of us

23:38

because it's like we have a baby, we take priority.

23:40

They're like you do scrollers

23:44

through security or were the first ones

23:46

to board. It's like we're group seven,

23:48

but we're like, we have a kid, and they're like, oh,

23:51

it's so great. Veterans,

23:57

Danielle, have you thought about

24:00

that that a sticky situation where it's

24:03

not I'm not replacing your mom or

24:05

keeping your mom's legacy around, like how

24:08

you'll deal with that when you talk about

24:10

Laura when James gets older. I'm

24:13

assuming you guys will be together for a very a long time.

24:15

I'm I'm assuming that as well. Yeah,

24:21

again, like I just want to feel some

24:24

I want him to feel like I'm somewhere

24:26

safe that he can talk to about

24:28

his mom um and

24:32

just know that. Like again,

24:35

like I'm not trying. I'm not trying to step in and

24:37

like replace. I just want

24:39

to be somewhere safe for him. And

24:42

yeah, and it's

24:44

I think it's easy for people to want

24:48

to do that. It's difficult to do and

24:50

she handles it with so much grace. Um,

24:53

and she's actually able to do it. Which

24:56

makes this whole thing so much

24:58

better. Is that I know that I found

25:00

the right person. That's

25:02

awesome. Well, we do have to wrap with you guys, Unfortunately

25:05

before you go, last rapid fire question.

25:08

Any thoughts on the Johnny Greg Victoria,

25:11

dramatic this going

25:13

on? Oh man, hope

25:18

that everyone's taking care of their mental health.

25:21

Good answer, good answer, good answer, Yeah,

25:24

yeah, I second bet. All

25:27

right, guys, Seriously, I could

25:29

go on for another hour with you, so hopefully

25:31

you can come back for an in depth soon. We really

25:34

appreciate you coming. Have a great happy

25:36

Thanksgiving to

25:38

every Thanksgiving and for everybody listening

25:41

rate to Audrey's with five stars on Ye

25:44

Yeah, Breaking

25:47

World, Got the best coffee in Rhode Island.

25:50

Hey, whenever you guys want a little romantic

25:52

Christmas or whatever holiday get

25:54

away to New car Oh

25:57

my god, that would be amazing. And Jared, I'm

25:59

still mad at you for eating me in Fantasy football.

26:01

Goddamn right, baby, what's

26:04

your teen name is? Sad? Dad? Sad Dad?

26:10

Well that was Now he's happy dad. You know

26:12

I'm if I make the playoffs?

26:15

All right? Guy? By

26:18

by Yeah, Oh

26:20

my god? What kay?

26:23

So so sweet by

26:26

guys, said Dad. Follow

26:33

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26:36

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26:38

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