Danae and Mandie: Straight as a Wet Noodle
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All right, gentlemen, coming to main stage next, this is Bunny. Get up there. She's got a tornado of titties coming your way. Get those dollar bills ready. She's got an ass that shakes like Michael J. Fox. So get up there and throw, throw, throw them dollars. Dude, that is fucking iconic. What's up, you sexy motherfuckers? Welcome to another episode of Dumb Blonde. Today we have a breath of fresh air. I was just telling them off camera that I tried so hard to dig up dirt on them and I couldn't find one thing and I was thrilled about it.

How are you guys doing?

What are you guys doing? Good. Probably exhausted. We've done nothing for a year and one month now of house remodeling. Dude, tell me about this. So Mimi was telling me you guys bought like a 1920s house or something like that. Tell me about it. 1990s house. 1990s, okay. And bought it and everything was...

The bedroom was still pink. The bathroom was pink, like bubblegum pink. What's wrong with a Pepto-Bismol bedroom? It was, it was, you know, I can have a pink moment. I can appreciate a pink moment, but that pink was dusty. Oh, I hate that. Yeah, and the carpet, so we have. It's ashy as pink. Like you could smell the moths. Oh, no, I hate that moth mold. Yeah. I hate that. So even like the carpets. Oh my God.

Oh my gosh. Yeah, we had to get somebody in there to sage the house like on week three because Mandy was like, I swear somebody has died in this house. And I was like, Mandy, it was built in the 90s, not the 20s. So then she made me call the realtor, talk to the realtor, and she's like, no ma'am, nobody has died in that house. And they have to tell you, right? Yeah. Okay, yeah. So you guys have just been working on this house for a year. That's got to be like...

just so fulfilling and frustrating all at the same time. Yeah. You know, Mandy's really good at interior design. Me, not so much. Like I bought a pickup truck just cause I wanted the excuse of a pickup truck and I wanted to be able to say that I needed it to like haul stuff to the dump. Yeah.

Does she actually haul stuff to the store? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. She does? Yay! I'm like the hauling queen. She's like, let me go take my truck, baby. I'm like, oh, okay. Meanwhile, Manny's like, pick. Here's the persona coming out. I know, the gay stereotype of Manny's like picking the paint color, going to the stores. Like, she's, God, she's thriving with it. I'm exhausted because I don't find any of that all too fun. Yeah, you're like, I just want to rest. Yeah. When is it going to be done? It's like 80% done now.

We just have some bathrooms left, but other than that, we've renovated the entire house, which has been wild. Yeah. You know, I, when we first moved here, we moved here from Austin and we put a house under contract and it was a brand new home and that was my decision. And then some stuff happened to it. So we fell out of contract and then Mandy found this house and

And I was like, how the hell did we go from brand new to my great grandparents just moved out of this house? Who shot grandma's house. Right. And we have to completely redo it. So, but no, it's been really rewarding and watching Mandy because she thrives in that element. Like she loves design and whatnot, but it's been fun watching you do it. Do you feel like it's been like a task that has kind of brought you guys together as a team? Yeah.

divided and conquered or what? I found that Danae cares about the things that I don't and I care tremendously about the things that she doesn't. That's a great team. Yeah, that's been really nice. Yeah, we've definitely had to work on our communication skills. I love that though. So I can't wait to dive into you guys' love story, but I want to find out like about you and your childhood and you and your childhood and then when you guys met. So if we can start like Danae, we'll start with you. Okay. You're from Alabama, right? Yeah. Tell me about that.

I was born and raised in a really small town in Alabama, like just super rural. I think it was like maybe a thousand people. I went to the same high school that my grandparents went to and I would eat lunch underneath my dad's graduation photo in the cafeteria. Yeah, like a real true Southern Mayberry style. Did everybody have a graduation photo or just dad? Nope. Everybody did. Everybody did. That's how small the school was. That's crazy. Oh.

So yeah, it was just a really tight-knit community and everybody knew everybody. My parents were pretty well known. They both had businesses in the town and I was like the star athlete. I ended up going to play softball at the University of Alabama and that's just kind of was my niche was softball. That's what I was known for.

But when I was like eight years old, I crawled in bed with my mom one day. She was taking a nap and I started crying and she was like, "What's wrong, baby?" And I was like, "I think I like Cassidy." And she was like, "Well, of course you like Cassidy, baby. She's your best friend." And I was like, "No, I think she's really pretty."

And my mom was like, well, she is really pretty. I think my mom was like, what the fuck? And so that went on for about two years of me having those conversations. And then when I was... Did you always feel like that even before you spoke up about it? Were you always just attracted to women? 100%. It was as natural as a thing. I had never heard the word gay. I didn't know what the word gay meant. And, you know, this was back in the 90s, so there wasn't a lot of exposure of gay people. Right.

So it's not like I was conditioned or exposed to gay. Right, right, right. It was just a feeling that I had that was as natural as, you know, a little boy thinking a little girl was cute. Yeah. But then when I was 10, those feelings got more and more. And then I, you know, tried to have those conversations with my parents and they weren't keen on those conversations. Yeah.

So I didn't have anybody to really talk to. Well, I mean, point blank, I didn't have anybody to talk to. When you say they weren't keen, was it more of like them just like trying to hush you? Or was it like them just like, we don't want to talk about it right now? More at that point, because I was so young, it was more of just like, let's not talk about that right now. They probably thought you were going to grow out of it. 100%. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And I was super tomboy, you know, I...

I've raced dirt bike, not race, but I, you know, ride dirt bikes. I wanted to hunt. I wanted to fish. I'm like the epitome of every Luke Bryan song you've ever heard. And so I think they always knew I was like super tomboy, but they were hopeful that that wouldn't change my sexuality for whatever reason, even though, you know, I couldn't change that. So when I was 10, I started to develop extreme obsessive compulsive disorder. Oh.

And I now know that that was my body and my mind trying to give myself some sense of control since I had no control over my thoughts and no control over just how I felt. And so I was going through the whole spiel of obsessive compulsive disorder from the ticks to the counting to the, one of my biggest ticks was I would have to tell my parents at nighttime about 20 to 25 times, I love you, I love you, before I'd go to bed because I was afraid.

that they're going to die in their sleep. So I just severe obsessive compulsive. So at that point, my parents were like, we need to take you to a counselor, a therapist, uh, to get you some, some help. So I just remember at this point I was like 10 or right at 11 and we went to the first counselor and my mom was like, we're going to get in the car and we're going to go see this doctor today and he's going to help you. And, uh, it's funny because I think as a kid, you, you, uh,

your brain kind of cartoon, like we cartoonize, if that's a word, but we characterize, we put these things as cartoons where like, I thought I was going to see this magic man that was gonna like. - Like the Wizard of Oz. - Yes, like he's gonna do this potion and I was gonna be fixed. And so my dad was driving, my mom was in the passenger seat and we went and we saw this guy and we went into his office and he was like, "Why do you think you're here today?" And I just said, "Well, you know, I have all these weird tics that I do."

And he asked my parents, like, what was the deal? Like, why do you think she does this? And they said, we don't know, blah, blah, blah. Well, then he asked my parents to leave the room and he said, Danae, you know, go into depth with me. Why do you think you have to touch the doorknob 10 times or tell your parents you love them 20 times at night? And I said, well, I think it's because I have a secret. And he goes, well, what's your secret? And I go, I think my secret is that I like girls.

And he goes, well, why do you keep that a secret? And I was like, in my head, I was like, is he trying to get me in trouble? Because I know I'm not supposed to talk about this. And I said, well, I think it's a secret because I'm not supposed to talk about it. And he goes, but why can't you talk about it? And I said, because it's wrong. And I just remember this guy looked at me and he smiled. He had such a warm smile. And he said, Danae, there's nothing wrong with whether you like a boy or you like a girl. There's nothing wrong with that. And I just, it was like this weight was lifted off of my shoulder. And I just...

I just felt like my chest could take a deep breath again. And I just remember... You felt heard. Yeah, I felt heard for the first time. And I went and I got out in the car with my parents. It was like a consultation type meeting to see if this was going to be a good fit. And it wasn't a good fit because... Mom and dad did not think it was going to go that way. So yeah, so exactly. So I'm sitting out in the back seat and I'm smiling really big. And I just remember my mom like propped her arm around on the wrist and she turned around and she goes, so how did it go? What do you say? And I said...

he said there's nothing wrong with me like in cassidy and uh my mom hauled off and punched my dad in the shoulder and he said i thought you booked a christian counselor and my dad said he was a christian counselor so that was the first time that i realized you can't like girls i still didn't know what the word gay was i just knew it was a feeling that i had and it felt like who i was um but that was the first time i realized okay well

This Jesus that my mom and dad speak of and the church that they take me to, I don't have a place there if I'm the way that I am. So it developed severe religious trauma and spiritual trauma. So then about a week later, they took me to another counselor. Sorry, I get so upset talking about this stuff. Not in a bad way because I want people to hear this, but it's just...

it's like sends vibrations in my body because it's like a child shouldn't have to go through this. People need to hear this. And I too grew up in a very religious Pentecost, Southern Pentecostal household where it was either you are good or you're bad and you're going to hell or you're going to heaven. There's no in between, there's no energies, there's no like, like it's literally just fear based. 100%. And people need to talk about religious trauma more because a lot of issues in children, you know, from our generation,

stuff that happened to us is because of the fear that our parents instilled in us. A hundred percent. And the types of relationships you find yourself in as an adult is 100% derived from, you know, the trauma you go through as a, as a child. But, um, so the next doctor that I went to, it was a form of conversion therapy, which, um,

I just can't imagine taking my kid to that. - For people who don't know what conversion therapy is, what is that? - Conversion therapy, there's different, I think, severity levels of it, but there's conversion therapy camps where you can take your kids to essentially pray the gay way. It's all religious-based therapy where you can do physical exercises.

and emotional exercises to rid the kid of homosexuality. My therapist was a psychiatrist, so he could prescribe medication. And so when I was 11, I was taken to this guy and he just would sit me down and teach me ways to suppress those gay thoughts.

All in the name of Jesus. And so the thing that stuck with me for the longest was you can think about robbing the bank. That's not a sin. But to rob the bank is the sin. So he would pretty much say, you know, you can think about these perverted thoughts, which anything woman on woman idolizing another woman or lusting over another woman is perversion. Right.

If you're a woman, same with men on men to him. So he would just talk about, you know, you can think about it, like just let it be in your head. God's not going to judge you for what's in your head, but you never act on it. That's terrible to tell a child. Right. That you're already going through, you know, obsessive compulsive disorder. And now you're being told, yes, you can think these thoughts, but you just can't act on them. Right. It's like dangling a carrot in front of a, you know, a rabbit. You can have it, but you can't.

And my obsessive compulsive only got worse. Of course, because you're suppressing so much stuff and just pushing down how you're really feeling. Right. And then later, a couple of appointments later, I was then put on Zoloft at the age of 11 to just zonk you out. I guess if you're zonked out, you can't really have any thoughts or you don't care about how many times you touch the fucking doorknob. So, yeah.

- You're not laughing at people. - No, no, no, I get it. - You're not laughing at people who take Zoloft. - No, no, no, no, I get it, I get it. That was me though. I was put on Zoloft and yeah, I mean, it helped. I mean, I guess, you know, if I,

shot a couple of glasses of whiskey, I wouldn't want to touch the doorknob that much. Right. Yeah. Whenever I drank, my OCD disappeared because I was shit-faced. So that's why I was a fucking binge drinker for 20 years. But it's a whole other story. So you're 12 years old. 11. 11. And they put you on Zoloft.

How are you, how's your relationship with your parents right now? Like, are you starting to resent them or do you, are you still in that mode where like what mom and dad say is right? Um, so I don't have a relationship with my mom. I haven't for going on since 2018. So it's been about five years. Um,

Whenever Mandy and I got together, she was my second... She was my third relationship with a woman. I had a relationship for the first time when I was 18. So I fucking robbed a bank when I was 18. I went in there, guns blazing, you know? Was that your first? That was your first. That was my first. Through this all though, you were playing softball, right? Yeah. Because I did see that you were like a softball star. Which is like, you know, just living in a...

chronic gay club. I was like, yeah. I'm like, mom, I was the shortstop on a softball team. Okay. Like you had to have had a inkling about this. Yeah. I think mom's in denial. Oh, 100%. So I haven't spoke to her in five years. My dad and I have the best relationship. He's my ride or die. Um, my dad holds, which I've, I've tried to release this for him just through conversation. Um,

But my dad holds a lot of guilt about that. And, but him and I, we have climbed that mountain together and I would go through it again if it led me back to the relationship I have with him now, because it's so strong. He understands me. He has so much empathy for me. And at the end of the day, I just asked him, why would you let your little girl go through that? And he just said, baby, I thought I was protecting you.

He's like, you know, I wanted you to make this decision when you were older and I didn't want you to have to go to elementary school or middle school in the deep south of Alabama where there's just mostly country white folk and have to live through that. I would rather you be able to hurt and suppress that as a child so you don't have to deal with outside opinions and then move on from that. So...

I get it. How was that going to school and knowing that you were, did you ever date any boys? Yeah, I. Tried to. I mean, me trying to date a boy. Yeah, I did. I did. I dated this one boy for, I think a year. And then I dated another guy for three years, maybe. God, it was so awkward. Three years?

I mean, you were really hanging in there. Girl. You were trying to convince yourself. That's what was happening, right? The last day before we ended it was the summer before I was going to Alabama to play softball. And this is like the most Alabama redneck story ever. But he was like, he called me on the phone. His name was Jesse. Jesse. Jesse. He said, hi, baby.

Does he have chew in his mouth? Yes. I can hear the chew. I can hear it. Yeah, chew in his mouth in a big old lifted paho. Oh, no. And he said, hi, baby.

can you come over to the farm it's like 11 o'clock at night he's like I gotta talk to you about something he's been eating and eating at me oh and I was like okay Jesse knew Jesse knew I said well I'll come over there in a little bit Jesse so I met him over there we're sitting out on his tailgate in the cow pasture I mean like y'all does it get any funnier than that and I said what's wrong Jesse

He said, I just got this feeling that when you go off to University of Alabama, you're going to find a girl you like more than me. I was like, oh, damn. I said, Jessie, I am not a lesbian. What are you talking about? I cannot believe you would accuse me of being a lesbian. You know, like I'm trying so hard to like give off this.

this straight persona. Tell me Jesse's DM. Do you sense that? I've been like, no, he hasn't, but his wife follows me on Tik TOK, which is hilarious. There you go. Which is hilarious. So, uh, yeah, no, that was, I should have, you know, just cut, cut ties with him for his own sake. So he could have went back and tried to, that's a good man though. At least he was like, you know what? Let's call a spade a spade. Like we know what's going on. He really was a good guy. And I think that, uh,

I think he probably knew, but I think he really did like me because I think I'm not... This sounds so conceited, but I think that to every straight guy, minus the fact that I'm not very girly, I think I'm like every straight guy's dream because I'll go hunting with you. I'll go fishing with you. I'll play basketball with you. Oh, no, you're their dream. I'll beat your ass on the golf course. My husband has a thing for...

lesbian women. He loves them. He's just like, I just love them. Like Jesse Lawless is right up his alley. We had, we had a friend named Roche. We used to make her flash her tits all the time. Cause you guys always have the best racks, dude. Like it's Jesse. I miss that department money. I don't think, uh, yeah, no straight dudes love lesbian women because it's like a, I guess it's like a fantasy or whatever. Yeah. Kink, I guess. I don't know what it would

One of the other. So you went to college. Did you break up with Jesse? Or did you cheat on Jesse? Jesse cheated on me. Jesse, you son of a bitch. You son of a bitch, Jesse. We were liking you, Jesse. I'll give him a pass, though. Okay. Because...

I think he knew the end was coming so he's just trying to get ahead of it right he's just trying to get ahead of it but yeah to get over somebody you got to get under somebody else that that whole 100% yeah 100% so uh but no I had my first girlfriend when I was 18 I went to college in August and I think uh we started dating in October so it's like you know three months so how was that though were you finally just like finally I get to fucking be myself

or no were you still you were still no it was just i think i chose the wrong person damn it i think i chose the wrong person to pop that cherry with but we've all got to kiss a lot of frogs yeah princess but no i learned a lot in that relationship i i learned how to navigate through shame i wasn't the best at it i didn't fully overcome that um i think i'm still overcoming that childhood shame that was instilled in me but it was the first time where

I robbed the bank and was like, you know what? I'm here to live another day. Jesus still loves me. I can still talk to Jesus. My dad, I called him after the first time I ever hooked up with that girl.

I called him on the phone. I tell my dad everything. I love that. So you and dad were already, were you and mom? Mom didn't know that I was gay. I called my dad. I had never spoke to him about being gay again after conversion type therapy. And then I hooked up with this girl. That's a long time. Yeah, so I called my dad and I was like, dad,

just hooked up with a girl. He was like, what? And I was like, yes. I was like, oh my God, dad, I feel like I'm going to hell. I hooked up with a girl. And he was like, well, do you feel, do you feel bad about it? And I was like, I don't know, dad. I just, I feel really, I just feel really weird, dad. Can't wait.

I was like, I'm having some weird emotions, which now looking back, this would be like a straight person hooking up with the opposite sex for the first time at the age of 14, going to first base or, you know, this was kind of like you're coming out 100%. This was my first time ever having that feeling of fireworks exploding when you're hooking up. Not too much though, right?

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. No, honey. No, honey. No, no, no. You're the whole string. This is like a sparkler. I was waving a sparkler. A wet sparkler. A wet sparkler. Barely had a flame. There you go. Yeah. Good. Yeah. So he was just like, well, you know, if you don't like it, don't keep doing it.

And I was like, that was dad's one fishing reel. You didn't say to stop. No, she was my first girlfriend. And then we broke up after three and a half years, I think. You like to hold on. Yeah. Yeah. You're glutton for punishment. I'm a family woman. Yeah. What can I say? Okay. Gotcha. Yeah. So it took a while to actually, actually, you know,

Yeah. And that was the same sex as me. But all through college, you pretty much, you know, got to be who you were. Yeah. You weren't having to hide anymore. Right. 100%. All in relationships. I am like the worst...

hookup person ever. I've never had like a one night stand or I try to have them and every time they end up in relationships for fucking seven years. I tried to do that with my husband. He was like, no bitch, we're making a five year plan. Locked and loaded. Yeah. I'm like, I'm so, I'm so bad at one. Like I'm so bad at one night stands. I've never even had one. That's how bad I am. Yeah. You try, but they just end up in relationships. Yeah. So it's like, I ended up dating him for three and a half years. And with this one though, it was like, no, we're, we are forever. I knew the moment I met her,

I literally the moment I had my first phone call with her it was so weird it was like euphoric I was like she's gonna be my wife she's the hottest person I've ever been around like ever seen no she's gorgeous I looked at her I was like damn thank you she killed it's your time to shine let's talk about you where'd you grow up um I grew up in Orange County California okay so yes okay so you guys have the same dynamic of Jay and I I'm from the west coast I'm from Vegas so yeah I got me my little hill

Billy over here too. I love it. So it's weird because I always told my mom when I was growing up that I was going to live in Tennessee and have a ranch. I'm thinking when I was little saying that I was going to be with a cowboy. You're manifesting. Yeah. I'd be your hooker baby. It's weird though. He'll be your Jesse. He'll be your Jesse. It's weird because I grew up in California and grew up in Orange County specifically but I didn't have your stereotypical Orange County life. Like my mom is like a

I don't know how to describe her. A hippie? She's like a hippie, but at the same time has really traditional values. And she's accepting and loving. But anyways, I grew up with three brothers. My parents split up when I was five. And my stepdad, he was always present, but I never had a...

solid father figure that I could go to and like, you know, or feel shame from or anything like that. But growing up with three brothers, I had to have tough skin. Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah. And I was the second youngest. I had two older brothers, one younger. And I was just Miss Independent. Like I would take no shit from nobody. And I think it was because my brothers like always looked at me as like an equal. And then

We grew up in Orange County, but wasn't affluent like all of my peers. Right. If that makes sense. Like all of the people that I was around had like this...

godly life experiences. Oh, for sure. Orange County is very ritzy. Yeah, but my mom was so humble and she would design her things, makeup, anything girly. My mom is the biggest tomboy and it's funny because I had to teach her how to put on makeup. So it was like I grew up with five, six boys in the house and it was just me. But I've always been super independent and I remember I was...

12, maybe 13. And my mom taught at my high school and I would go over there, walk over there after like middle school so she could take me home. And the senior boys would always flirt with me because I looked like this when I was like in seventh grade. Wow. I had boobs.

I was very mature. That's hard. People don't talk about that, though. When you're pretty top-heavy or even have an ass on you at such a young age, you get sexualized by everybody. Adults, kids. It's weird. It's a whole weird thing. And it was very strange for me because I'm just a little kid at that time. I was like, what, 12, 13? Yeah.

and I remember these boys making these comments like sexualizing my body and I'd be like what is going on you know and these were like dudes who ruin it yeah and always there's just always a fucking thorn in our side

Yeah, and then that made me feel very insecure about my body. So I would always hide my chest, always hide my body, always be very modest. And I still am very modest. But it was from people always commenting on my body and my looks before even knowing my name. And so that was really hard to then understand self-confidence, self-worth. And I remember my first boyfriend, I was...

not my first but my first like solid relationship because you have boyfriends when you're like sixth grade and you like both hands one time yeah um but my solid like meet at the lockers yeah like or look at each other from across the room it's like yeah we're dating yeah exactly but I remember my first relation like solid relationship I was with him for three and a half years and I was a freshman in high school and he was a freshman or sophomore in college again I

hell no so you like them older yeah i would have beat your ass daddy issues 101 yeah exactly um and i remember thinking like oh this is like this is just what i'm supposed to do if i look like this this is who i'm supposed to date you know i'm supposed to like be in line i'm supposed to act mature i even had a job when i was like 13 you know i like played grown up since i was a young girl and yeah

January 7th. Capricorn. I'm January 22nd. Yeah, it's that fiery little energy. But I just remember in this relationship, it was just like a thing that I thought I had to fulfill rather than a thing that made me feel good, if that makes sense. I don't know how to describe really my childhood. I feel like I have a lot of holes in my childhood too because I just remember feeling like

I was grown up at the time that I was like 12 and then I just felt grown up from then on. You know what I mean? So you didn't really get a childhood. Yeah. In, in my own kind of mind, you know, like I, I played college softball. I did all of the things that I guess any of my peers did, but I just never felt that way. Right. And when I was a, I guess I'm really jumping around, but when I was a,

junior in high school, my best friend made a move on me and I was like, Oh hell yeah. Yeah. I think that's when everybody has like their first girl, girl experience. Yeah. Like high school. Mine was when I was in kindergarten, but I was always, I was always ahead of the game, you know? Um, but yeah, like that's normally when you start going around. And, um,

because I was so independent, I found like God by myself. My mom never pushed religion on us. She's a very, like she can quote the Bible back and forth, but she always was like, you're going to have a relationship with God, whatever that looks like to you. Like that. Yeah. Which I loved so much. And I would go to church by myself and I would worship by myself. And I like would have my relationship with God by myself. And so when I've,

figured that I liked girls, it was like this internalized homophobia. And I was like, there's no way, Mandy. Like, there's no way you can be like this because you've always been the pretty girl. You've always been the mature one. You've always been the one that all the boys like. You've always been the girl, you know? Like, you can't now...

Be gay. So you didn't feel like you were into girls even as a child? You just started noticing them in junior high? No. Truly, I just wasn't into people. High school, after you. Yeah, I just wasn't into really people. She's like, I fucking hate people, right? Let's be real here. Yeah, because it was just like I wanted control of so much and I felt like I had control of like nothing because...

I just always felt grown up and boys gave me attention. So I was just like, okay. Yeah. You know, like it was never like a, Oh, let's go seek somebody out. Right. Right. Right. And that sounds so conceited, but I just truly, I was mature. And of course, if an eight year old boy sees a girl with 36 D's, I'm like, yeah. Yeah. You know, um, so I had that problem. So living with big boobs like this thing. Yeah. You just looked at him like you've never seen him.

She was like, am I missing something? Yeah. I'm sorry. No, it's okay. So yeah, I just had extreme internalized homophobia because I was in Orange County. People think that California is super open-minded. Yes, it is. But you also have this precedent that you have to be an OC girl. Right. And if you're blonde and pretty, you have to fall in line to...

looks before brains type of mentality. That was the hardest thing for me moving to Tennessee. And this isn't a diss towards Tennessee women at all because the women are beautiful. But on the West Coast, women are so much more look obsessed than women are...

out here, you know? So when I first moved out here, I used to always have my hair, my makeup done. Now I literally run around looking like a vagabond unless I have fucking podcasts, you know? Whereas before I wouldn't, I wouldn't even go to the grocery store without a fucking full face of makeup. It's like a whole different way of life out there. Yeah. And it's, and it is,

Like the level of vanity made me feel like I had to be a part of whatever that is. Yeah. Rather than like find my own individuality and like be proud of who I am. And I felt like I had a lot of soul searching after high school when I went to college. Cause I went to college in Seattle where Seattle, anything goes. And so it's like so different, even though it's like right above, you know, it's just so different. Yeah. And my mom and I are very close and my mom was like,

do you like your best friend? And I was like, absolutely not. Why would I do that? You know, internalized homophobia. I'm like, I'm a guy's girl. Like, what are you talking about? And so I lied to her for a good stint. And finally she was just like, Mandy, stop. Yeah. Like you're, this is ridiculous. Like stop, like just own up to who you are. I love you regardless, but you doing this is creating so much more just chaos in your life. And it's,

That was the moment in my life where I'm like, it's not about my mom not loving me. It's about my mom not wanting me to hide who I am and being unapologetic. And of course... I love that your mom's like that. That is so awesome. Same. Same. But I also...

We grew up in a time where you didn't see it on TV and stuff, of course. Right. So on the softball field, it was like, nobo lesbos and dykes on spikes. And hearing all this commentary, you're just like, I don't want to be the dyke. When I'm like, who cares? Yeah. Who cares? Mandy and I, not to take up your space, but Mandy and I, we...

are very different than I think the media shows the LGBTQ community. You know, I just... This is before the media. Totally. But I'm saying like now Mandy and I, we don't lead with, "Oh, we're part of the LGBTQ community," or, "Oh, we're lesbians."

we just want to be Denae and Mandy. And because we want people to see us for who we are. And, um, I think people are so pressed to be put in a box that they box themselves in. And that's what I felt like I was doing as a kid because like, I didn't fit in with anybody. Like I didn't fit in with like the eccentric people that like were doing their own thing. I didn't fit in with the OC housewives, but I was kind of in this middle place where like my identity was like,

by myself. Right. You know, and I, when I went to college and I told my mom, like, this is who I'm dating. It's funny because I actually went to Seattle University and my girlfriend in high school went to University of Washington. So we like live 10 minutes away from each other.

just so happened that it worked out that way. And so I just at that point was like, you know what? I'm not coming out. I refuse to come out because I don't feel like it's not because I wasn't going to be open about it because I refuse to feel like I need this coming out story when I'm 18 to tell people who I like. I was like, I'm just telling people who I like. And so I have this Capricorn energy where I'm like, if you don't like me, like F off type of thing. But this is my life and I'm going to start taking control of it.

And so when I went to college, I just started posting my girlfriend like everyone posted their boyfriend. Yeah. You know, on Instagram. And I remember that like that was my coming out. That's a very bunny move. Yeah. Literally. I'm like, I'm not like, why do we have to have this whole coming out process of me calling up my best friends? Yeah. Hey, I have a girlfriend. Yeah. And I just think normal. You were just owning who you were. Yeah. And whoever. Yeah.

vibed with it, vibed, and if they didn't, they could just fuck off. Yeah, and so when I went to college and I just was somebody that had a girlfriend, it wasn't, oh, well, Mandy, oh, she's the gay one on the team. It was just like, oh, she has a girlfriend. And that's what I...

Aren't there lots of other gay girls on the soccer team? Yes. But that's why we have to talk about them. They don't come out? Yeah. And so... Yeah, it's a Tinder fest out there. Oh my God. Just bunches of lesbians. Yeah. Anyways. So in college, I dated my girlfriend and then I got out of that relationship, started dating guys again and just...

figure out who I was. And people always ask like, are you like a straight up lesbian? Like who, who do you like? And I'm like, why does it matter? Right. Why do I need a label? Yeah. Why do I need a label? Why do you actually care? Yeah. And why do you, why do I need to identify myself by the sexual identity?

pleasures I have. I couldn't agree more. Yeah. And so it just infuriates me with that. We've gotten to a place where it's supposed to be all accepting and all inclusive. And it's like, Oh, but the boxes are tiny. People will shame you if they don't agree. Unfortunately, I think it comes a lot from within our community. Our community wants us to identify as something so that we can cast our net out and show that there's a lot of us out there that

But then if you don't identify as one thing or your angle with which how you speak or present yourself isn't

gonna, you know, cast all of your light and energy on the LGBTQ community, then they get upset with you. And it's like, wait a minute, I'm not, not proud to be gay. Right. But just like I'm a former softball player, I don't shake your hand and say, Hey, I'm Danae. I won a national championship at the university of Alabama. Right. Like who the fuck cares? Right. You know what I mean? No, I'm saying that's impressive. I saw that whenever I Googled you. That's a huge difference.

part of my identity. I worked my ass off to do that. But it's also this big of actually who I am as a person. So I'm not going to shake your hand and be like, Hey, I'm, I'm Danae. I'm a lesbian. Uh, this is my wife, Mandy. I'm just gonna be like, Hey, I'm Danae. And this is my wife, Mandy. And, uh, and that's why you don't see a ton of just, you know, LGBTQ this LGBTQ that although we're proud of it,

It's not that we don't want to shove it down your throat. It's that that's just not a label that we want on us all the time. I think you guys will reach more people by being who you guys are than just screaming LG, you know, be how,

let me pronounce it right. LGBTQ. LGBTQ. I always get it wrong. It's a whole sentence. LGBTQ. Instead of pushing that down people's throats. You know, I think people would look at you guys as role models, you know, especially young girls that are coming up that are dealing with what you guys, you know, you guys both have two separate stories, but you know, either position can look at you guys and just be like, you know what? I think they're really fucking cool. And I want to be like them. I don't want to have to put a label on what I'm doing or,

tell people who I am if I don't want to, you know? So I think that what you guys are doing is amazing. It's pretty wild because like that was obviously my story. And when we met, yeah, let's get to when you guys polarized, how far into college were you guys? We actually met after college. What'd you guys go to college for? Let's talk about that really quick. I went to college for telecommunications and film. Okay. I went for PR PR. Okay. Yeah. It all goes hand in hand. Yeah. Maybe that's why I can't find him to do it. Okay.

I'm just kidding. So I...

I saw Mandy on Instagram back in 2016. She just popped up on my Explore page, and I thought she was the most beautiful thing ever. Explore page on Instagram? Yeah. I love that. But I was still in the closet. Yeah. I had never publicly come out. My dad knew that I had girlfriends, but my mother didn't know. So when she was out, she was out at the University of Alabama, but not anywhere else. Yeah, like my teammates knew and stuff like that. When you moved back to your hometown, it was back in the closet. Yeah. Aww.

living with my mom pursuing so our mom and dad divorced yes okay yeah I was living with my mom pursuing real estate she's a real estate agent and I wanted to do real estate so I was living in my hometown with my mom and I stumbled across Mandy's photo and I was like oh my god she's so hot yeah I was like yeah

You guys are both hot. No, I appreciate that. I would like to be a fly on the wall. In that 1990s house that you guys are renovating. We'll make it steamy, baby. We'll make it steamy.

No, I just thought she was super beautiful and I didn't know if she was gay or not. And I didn't know if she was like into women, but I played softball. So there was a, there was hope, you know, she's at least been around some ladies. We'll see if she likes it. But I followed her. She didn't follow me back. Then I unfollowed her. Why didn't you? She got in her feelings. I didn't know who she was. I was like, okay.

Like, you know, Bunny, you know, you said I was cute. I wasn't all that cute back then. Uh,

I needed to, you know, have like a little bit of a glow up. Oh, I think we've all gone through glow ups. I needed the glow up. And so I followed her back again. After the glow up? No, girl. This is like two weeks later. You were like, I'm still thinking about this girl. I am not going to let her go that easy. Yeah. When's your birthday today? Valentine's Day. Oh, you're an Aquarius. Okay, awesome. I'm an Aquarius. You're an Aquarius, yes.

So I was like, well, I'll follow her back. So I did. And finally, I guess I caught her attention and she hit me with a follow. She was commenting on my photos and she was offended that I didn't give her more love back.

How very Aquarius of you. What could she have said to my comments? I think it was like, I like your leggings. It was bad. It was bad. Thanks. Yeah. Thank you so much. Got them on Amazon. Yeah, literally. But she slid in and I was like, okay. When she slid in, what did she say?

I think actually I laughed at one of her videos. So then like it sent me like a laugh emoji. So then I said something like, it's go time. Yeah. I think we were talking about like working out or something. Like I have no idea. Were you guys in the same city? No. I was in Birmingham, Alabama. And I was in California. Okay. Okay. Gotcha. Yeah. So, um, you know,

Got, like, stretched out. And I was like, all right, here we go. Sent her a couple of really stupid stuff back. I look back and I cringe. But apparently... It worked. She liked it. Well, I'm also the person, like, either I'm going to or I'm not. Right, right, right. You know? And so when she was, like, flirting, I guess, she was like...

It was so bad. I love you so much, but you have so much more game as a married couple. We were talking about horses. You got swag. I have swag. You have developed the most attractive swag, but back then... Baby, we were talking about horses. You said you like horses, so I was just trying to talk about what you want to talk about. Okay, so she slid in, and she got drunk on New Year's and was like, hey, just to let you know I like you. I'm like, obviously. She's like, who are you? I actually told her I was straight.

She said, I said, she was like, what are you doing? I was like, well, you just play it hard to get. I was like, so what are you doing? She was like, I'm listening to Sam Hunt song. And she goes, he's so hot. I was like, fuck off. I don't even care. I was like, what? I was like, you know what? I said, every noodle is straight till you get them wet. So that's all I'm on. You know what? That's a pretty good fucking. I validate that. I would have been like, yeah, like five. So yeah.

She then was like, I'm just kidding with you. Yeah. Meanwhile, honey, it was New Year's and I was out partying and I went to my first ever gay club that night in Birmingham called The Quest. And if you've ever been to The Quest, it's like a porta potty with neon lights in it. It's disgusting. Sounds like a good time. This is what I was doing the first night. We were talking sexy to each other over the phone. Oh.

was I... Also, you guys exchanged numbers. Oh, yeah. It went from the... So the wet noodle thing got the number. I may have skipped a couple of parts, but... That's because it was on Snapchat. Nobody wants to go back to Snapchat. Oh, I hate Snapchat. Yeah. I'll tell you something. If a woman ever came up to me now and was like, let me get your Snapchat. Nope. Disgusting. Yeah. It's like, no. I feel the same way. Disgusting. But... I didn't even know it was still on. I was partying at this...

gay club with a bunch of my friends and this guy comes up to me and he was like, Danae. And I was like, do I know you? And he's like, we went to high school together. So we took some photos together and partied for like two hours. And then the next morning I wake up and I'm looking through my messages and

to see what kind of stupid stuff I've sent Mandy because I was intoxicated. Yeah. Intoxicated. And I have all these messages from people and they're like, Danae, why would you, why would you go out partying with that guy? And I'm like, why? And they were sending me news articles and

Apparently this dude had just murdered his kid and was out on... I just got goosebumps. Yes, and was out on however that works. Not parole, but waiting for bond or whatever. Oh my God. Had bonded out. So yeah, I was partying with his...

this murderer she calls me up being like hey guess who i was partying with last night i was like who are you again i was like what are you talking about and you're telling me this story and i was like who are the people that you hang out with we had not even met in person yet i was like babe i promise you this is not my crowd this guy found me i was with my old college friends that i went to college with all of them were straight but they were like oh today we want to go to a gay bar and i was like yeah sure and then this guy approached me so i don't know if that was the universe saying

you know, like never go back to the porta potty with me online. I don't know. But don't be dumb. Yeah. So then Mandy, I think God, what if he was trying to like kill you? Yeah. I just didn't even realize it. He dodged a bullet that night. Maybe. Maybe. Weirdos.

I do. You're so sweet and you trust everyone and it's terrible. Obviously, she's kicking it with murderers. But I think that was like the first time Mandy was like, wow, she's really immature. And I was. I was so

And then the mother instinct in her kicked in and she's like, let me go take care of her. Right. Exactly. I was like, if we're going to do this, I'm going to fly to you right now. Yeah. And no, literally like two weeks later, I flew and I was like, if we're going to actually talk more, I want to meet you. Yeah. And we met.

And then I was like, damn it. Damn it. Soon as you got in her energy, huh? Yeah, it was like instantaneously. I was like, this is what love is. And I hate it because you live in Alabama. It's in his face right now. She said. Yeah. I guess the horse talk really did work. It did. I think it was the murder. Just added that flair. I just gave a really immature energy at the beginning of our relationship because I had never been in a...

Yeah. A relationship I cared about. So when we got together, it was not only growing up different, but we were also in two different places in our life. Danae had just started her real estate career. She's still living with her mom or her parents. And I had already lived in New York City and had a career in PR and marketing for interior designers and architects. I'd lived in Switzerland. I'd lived in Seattle. Very well-rounded. Yeah. And so I was like finding my place and I had like a

really great corporate job in Orange County at the time. And so when we met, I was like, what the hell am I getting myself into? Meanwhile, I'm selling $80,000 houses out the middle of Illinois. At least you're selling them. Yeah, I was. Yeah. And so fast forward, I was like, after we met, I was like, I'm all in. I don't know why in hell I am.

But I'm all in. And so I moved to Alabama. It just took a chance. Oh, you moved to Bama. You didn't move to Nashville first. You moved to Bama. No, we moved to Alabama. Oh, girl. She went straight to Alabama. How was that? I had never been in the closet before, but I was slammed shut into a closet. Oh, no. So there was... That was... The year that we lived in Alabama was the hardest time in my life personally, but also our relationship. It was rough. It was...

I had also never been around people that knew experience of like conversion therapy or conversations where their parents didn't love them for X, Y, and Z or pushing different ideologies that Jesus hates this person and Jesus hates that person. And so like that for me, like,

You were so different because of your mom. Yeah, and it was eye-opening. And so when we were building our life in Alabama, I physically hurt so much because she had no idea what unconditional love was. And I remember seeing this and I was like, I'm going to fucking fix this. I'm going to make her feel it. And I remember the first time we actually, prior to me moving to Alabama, because we had did long distance for like 10 months after the first time we met.

She had a very traumatic experience with religion growing up, and I had a good experience with religion and my spiritual relationship with God. And the first time that we met, I didn't make her, but I asked her to watch a service with me. And so that was her first experience with God in a same-sex relationship being present. And that was the foundation of us kind of healing together. It felt like... It just felt like...

It just felt like a full circle moment in a way of God giving me his stamp of approval. Like, I know you hurt really bad, Danae, as a kid, but I promise you, you're right where you need to be. Because I had just, at that point before I met Mandy through Instagram, which was so not like me. I've never sent anybody a flirtatious message. At least I don't think. Your soul. Yeah.

It just felt, everything with Mandy and I's relationship has felt like a divine intervention. You know, you find this broken, broken, lost, shameful person living in Alabama. And you find this very mature, just full of abundance, ray of sunshine living in California. And God somehow manages to connect the dots and doesn't allow anything to get in the way of us coming together. Yeah.

Um, and I always say that Mandy is my saving grace. Cause I'd hate to know where my life would be at. Had I not met, met Mandy. I just love you guys. This is so sweet. No, this is like, this is amazing. She just, for the first time, I know my dad has unconditional love for me. Yeah. I think it, what he, what he allowed to happen as a kid. Again, we've, we've walked through that, but for the first time in my life, Mandy just,

She could have easily, she's so beautiful, she's so smart, she's so intelligent, she's so kind, she could have easily already found somebody that was in a great state that could have elevated her. And instead, she saw this broken person who

And she saw some, whatever she saw in me potential or what, but she, she just grabbed me and threw me a life raft and was like, climb aboard. We're going to go through hell together in a gasoline suit. But when we come out on top, it's going to be the best thing we've ever done. You are deserving of love and you're deserving of her love. You know, she sees something in you that she just wants to

And, you know, you guys both love each other. It's how it was when I met Jay. I've never dated a big boy, ever. And when I met him, I was like, that's mine. That's mine. I'm going to stick beside him. You know, like, it's just when you know, you know. And it's not even anything that us physically can control. It's literally a spiritual thing. It's a spiritual level. It's a soul contract that we had before we even came here.

You guys believe in that stuff, but I do. No, 100%. Can we talk about what happened with your mom? Was it the relationship with you guys that kind of pushed it to the edge? My mom, I try to have so much grace for her and so much empathy because I know that was her first time being a parent. And I know this is her first walk of life, at least in the body she's in today. And so I try to have a lot of grace with her, but...

You know, there comes a time where you do have to be selfish. And unfortunately, you know, I hated that I can't have a relationship with my mom. My mom just uses a lot of religion to justify her hatred. And I, you know, I was just reading through some text messages between her and I back in 2018. Just because sometimes I can...

I can convince myself that I'm a bad daughter. It's just that, you know, you're like, well, how can your own mother not want to have you in her life? Well, it must be you because no mother walks away from their kid. So, you know, I'll go back and read the messages and then I'll remind myself like, okay, it's clear as day tonight. You did everything you could. But I said to her in these text messages, I said, I worship a very...

I said, that's God loves all, you know, come as you are. He says like, there's, there's nothing you could do where God could turn his back on you. I said, and I think you worship a very angry God and a very condemning God. The Jesus I worship hung out with hookers. So right. You know, a hundred percent. Yeah. And so everybody loves everybody. Jesus was a Capricorn too. Yeah.

But no, when I came to my mother and told her, I said, you know, I'm going to spend a weekend with this girl that I met online. She's my girlfriend because Mandy and I were already calling each other girlfriends before we ever met. You just finally at that point were just like, I just want to be honest. Yeah. Yeah. I just, I was cooking egg whites in the kitchen and she walked in and I said, she goes, what are you doing this weekend again?

And I was like, now or never baby. One, two, three. I'm gonna go see my girlfriend. I rented an Airbnb on the lake. She drives a BMW. My mom was like, what? And I was just doing everything I could to try and make Mandy look really appealing. I think she's got a great job. She makes X amount of money. She drives a BMW. She lives in Orange County. Like all these things that I felt like would lessen the blow.

And so it was very weird, Bunny, because at the beginning of our relationship, my mom was like... I'm not going to say she was on board, but she was very nice to Mandy. I'd bring Mandy around. She was very kind to Mandy. She would ask Mandy for decor advice for her home, how to do her hair, how to do her makeup. Mandy's the girl's girl, right? And then...

I started posting some stuff on Instagram where it looked like we could have been in a relationship, but it wasn't very clear. And I remember my mom was like, you need to take those things down. People are going to get the wrong opinion. You know, the ladies in our real estate office are going to talk. You need to take that down. And at first I was like, okay, well, you know, I'll just go light on the posting. And then I was like, no, wait, you're putting more shame on me now. Like you're, you're just brick by brick. You're adding more shame to me again.

And when I was grown at this point, I was 24. Um, and so when she thought I was being defiant, it put a huge strain on us and it got to the point where my grandmother on her side sent me this huge packet in the mail to our apartment.

And I opened it up and I was on a walk by myself and I grabbed it and I opened it up and I was like, oh, somebody sent me a gift, you know. I'm going through it and it's all of these brochures and scripture of this local church to where they have rid yourself of homosexuality meetings. And it was from my grandmother and I just broke down and

I went and jumped in the car. It just gets to a point where it's mean. Yeah. You know, like you're literally, this is your child, you know, and you're just trying to break her down as a human. And it hasn't worked since she was eight years old, you know? So why would you continue to keep trying to hurt your child? That is something within your mom that she needs to heal. Right. Mm-hmm.

And then I called her after I grabbed that package and I was bawling. And I was like, why is she sending me this stuff? Like, why is she trying to hurt me? This is hurtful. Like you just said. And I just remember she said, well, honey, you and Mandy are like alcoholics. You're just addicted to each other. And until you can break that addiction, it's never going to go away. You need to turn to the Lord. And I went home. I wept like all.

I'm never going to get that picture out of my head. I wept. It was like, it was a release. Probably a hundred percent. I had all this built up trauma in just every cell of my body. And I wept and I looked at Mandy and I said, we're moving. I don't know where I said, let's move to Nashville. And she was like, I think we need to be further away. She's like, let's, I said, let's go to California.

And Manny just looked at me and she's like, my little Southern baby just wants to move to California. Holy shit. Yeah. With a month later we had packed up and we were on the road to California and we moved to California to live there for two years. How'd you like Cali?

I am a Southern girl through and through, so I need to be in the South, but I, it was like a two year vacation. I woke up every day without knowing a single soul out there. And I was able to dress the way I wanted to dress. I was able to kiss my girlfriend in public, hold my girlfriend's hand, call her baby, you know, down the grocery aisle, babe, do you need this? And not be like, oh, fuck.

you know, whereas like at home, I was like at the Piggly Wiggly and I was like, Mandy, what do you need? What do you need Mandy? You know? And, and it was just like, I could just breathe for the first time. So I love California in that sense. I'm not a West coast girly. No, my husband, we tried to move him out to Vegas and he lasted six months. So you did better than he did. He's a Southern boy and

And he just has to be in the South. So I get them. It's pretty wild to hear our story. Still, to this day, I'm like, we went through that? Holy shit. But at the same time, a lot of people are like, Mandy, how did you stick? I'm like, I don't think people understand how much I've learned about myself and about other people and about trauma and about...

in the last six years. And I think that Danae was put into my life because Capricorn, very, very rigid boundaries. Very also, my walls were as deep as a freaking bunker, you know? And so getting to know Danae and getting to know her life and her

light and then seeing how empathy could just really open you up and open your heart up to people. It was like, she was my saving the grace in the same way that I was hers, you know, she opened my bunker up, but then I also opened up hers, you know? And so I think a lot of people see our story. They're like, Oh my gosh, like that's so much trauma from like Denae side of thing. I'm like, I was a culprit of my own, you know,

shit that I was going through with my lack of dad and all of that stuff. And so it's both softened and healed. Yeah. And it blows me away that we're here today in this state. Look at you guys now. When did you guys get on TikTok?

Because everybody loves you guys. I got one at the beginning of 2021. So you're like me. You fought the system until we had to get on it. I was like, I'm not fucking getting on TikTok. Oh, Danae, I got on TikTok during the pandemic for probably four months. And Danae goes, delete that. It's going to ruin our lives. I was like, OK, I'll delete it. I said, hey.

president Trump came out and said that China is corrupting us. I was like, maybe you need to delete it. And we were getting messages saying like, somebody is going to embalm our house and all these crazy. And I'm like, Oh my God. Like people were sending us articles like they can track your house and blah, blah, blah. And I was like, yeah, Mandy, you got to delete it. So I do. It was like a new app. It came out of fucking nowhere and blew up out of nowhere, you know? So of course everybody was like one eye on it, you know? I was like, okay.

Yeah. It's been life changing, like just in so many ways. I mean, I've always wanted to pursue a career in entertainment, like acting or comedy. And like, there's been doors open for that because of social media and you're a funny motherfucker. I appreciate that. I love it. Thank you. I appreciate that. So I'm, I'm just working really hard to stay authentic and not, I don't want to use the word sell out, but stay authentic in, in,

the abilities that I have without trying to be everything for everybody. And yeah, well, I mean, being on, people don't realize that having the big followings that we do, you hear so much shit all day long that you start to kind of question like, who am I sometimes if you feed into it? So staying authentic is really what, you know, your power because everybody changes who they are because of so many outside opinions that are coming in. Yeah. And I also feel like we've, we've had a bit of a, I don't want to say luxury, but like,

I do want to say luxury of getting on it when we're not 18. Right. You know, like I cannot imagine being like 18 and blowing up and being like... They're babies. Yeah. Literally. And...

I'm so glad that we went through all of that and then grew the platform, you know, after all that rather than through it. No. Oh my gosh. No, if I was on this, listen, if I was on TikTok in my 20s and 30s, I would have been fucked. I'd have been canceled 575 times. Literally. There's no way that I could fucking be on there. Oh God. I have poof now, you know, so I know how to like navigate the waters. But before, boy, I did not. No, I did not need to have any sort of megaphone.

when I'm 18. Right. Anything like you needed to put some duct tape over my mouth. I was, yeah. Yeah. So thank God it's come at the time in our life where we are. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I'm so grateful for the platform too, especially for watching Danae come out of her shell and just own who she is. It's like, people are always like, like, how does it feel? You know, or when Danae gets recognized, I'm like, I'm,

I'm her biggest cheerleader. I was her biggest cheerleader when she was in her closet. Like, I don't think people understand like her watching her pursue something that she's done since she was a little girl. Like she used to make homemade videos and then provide them for the audience of her family. And like, a lot of those videos would get me canceled. Mom doesn't leak them. Yeah. But yeah, it is just,

It's so much fun and it's so much fun to be a part of and to watch flourish. And I just love this space. Yeah. Like opportunities, you know, like we're right now getting to talk to you. You have just been such a light. The thing that I'm not trying to be the interviewer now, but the thing that Mandy and I just absolutely love about you is how

How you are on social media is 100% how you are in real life. Oh, I appreciate that. You are just such a genuine person. And you... Nowadays, because of social media, you can have so many smoke and mirrors. Oh, yeah. You can be whoever you want to be on social media. Oh, yeah. That's crazy. You know, you could have a dollar to your name and be a millionaire on social media. You could...

be 300 pounds and make yourself look like you're you know a size zero on social media so it's like it's crazy but you do such a wonderful job of who you are in your life is who you are you have an absolutely beautiful spirit i love you do you guys want to make out yeah i mean i'm ready so you know just let me know my husband will not trust me

We can turn this into a whole other type of video. Maybe we can put this on OnlyFans. Is that OnlyFans money? I have one. Oh, yes. I'm bringing

- Anytime. - Let's go. - No, I always tell everybody, I had to get everybody's attention with my clothes off and now I make more money with my clothes on. Like it's crazy. - Love that. - Are you guys gonna start an OnlyFans? - I'm not. - You know, I don't think I have the body for OnlyFans. You know, I tried to get on feet finders for a while, but a size of- - My makeup artist just got on their pretty, what is it? Pretty feet, pretty toes forever on feet finders. - My username was long and skinny.

Wait, on feet? Oh my God. Are they long and skinny? Look at these. They're size 11. I tried it out for two days. I tried it out for two days and I was like... I was getting emails to my email. I'm like, what the hell is this?

And I was like, you know, I just, this doesn't bring me joy. I think I'm going to, I think I'm going to do this. I don't understand the appeal of feet. I've never, guys like when you scrunch them too. Like what is that? I just, we, I can't relate. We were actually getting messages that were like, can you do it in a different angle? They look a little too skinny. And I'm like, too skinny. There's no we in this. I'm like, I don't have time. You can isolate that experience by yourself. Like,

I don't have time to reposition my feet, dude. That's hilarious. That is so funny. I've never, I have yet to do the feet finder thing, but I mean, if I ever, listen, I won't pass up a dollar. So let me calm down. I ain't about it. I'll do it too. Well, they weren't paying any dollars.

Yeah. I need to steal somebody else's feet. Poor Dinesh. You're going to be sleeping. She's going to be taking pictures of your feet while you're asleep. She's got beautiful feet, y'all. I bet. Beautiful Asian feet right here. I was going to ask, are you mixed with Asian? Yeah, with Japanese. Okay, I love it. Yeah. Yeah. Very exotic. You got an exotic. Yeah, I got me an exotic bra. There you go, baby. Dinesh Dinesh King. I'm just 100% hee-haw. That's it. I love it.

I love it. I love it. So what is, what can we look for in the next, you know, what's 2023 got in store for you guys? What you got in store, baby? You're the one that has things in store. I am pursuing acting. I've wanted to act my entire life, but, um,

I was dealing with a lot of other shit, bunny. Are you doing like standup comedy and stuff like that? I do stand up comedy occasionally, but it's not, it's not what I want to pursue full time. Gotcha. If you know, opportunities present themselves, like I have a couple of things lined up right now with standup, but I'm really picky with that. Cause it's not, it's not what I would probably plug you in at Zany's. Yeah. Okay. Or like we're doing a podcast tour and I've been thinking about having like musicians or comedians come out before we,

you know do our shows so pick and choose in on things like that for cool opportunities like you just said but my main focus right now is i want to pursue acting i want to get into you know television especially like in the comedy room yeah it's gonna happen thank you manifesting it right now thank you so much yeah what about you babe i i'm in like this weird space of

I feel like your supporting role. But... We do it really well. Thank you so much. I love social media. I love creating. I love fashion. I actually just got a studio, like, set up for photography because I've always loved photography. Yay. And I really want to shoot, like, kind of editorial shots for some weird reason. Probably just for me. And I'll, like, maybe post some videos about it. But I think my...

creative outlet is supporting this chapter, you know? And I love doing that, but I also, I know that that's going to open up more doors for both of us. Absolutely. I did that with Jay when we first got together. He was the main character and I literally was the supporting actor, just like you say, and it works out because, you know, you have two people pouring so much energy into a dream. It really does come to life. Yeah, I don't think that it would, not necessarily be fair, but I don't think that

Danae would feel as empowered to pursue what she was doing if I was like, no, I'm going to go do this. You know, a hundred percent. That's what I was about to say. Growing up in a small town, the art, the arts and stuff are not really celebrated. And Mandy has, so I never really had people pushing me to do theater or drama or anything like that. But Mandy, um,

God, she's just so good at like saying you're so natural at that. You're so good at that. Pursue it. Go take an acting class. Go join an acting studio. And it's that it's that nudge of constantly just saying like, you've got this. You're not too old to do this. Like, like, go. That is another thing with Denae's career that I didn't know I loved is I love writing. Like I love writing a lot of her skits and a lot of her comedy things. And so I

That might be an avenue I go down, whether that's writing scripts for TV or just like something like comedy skits or I don't know. Power couple. Yeah, I just, I love to create and whatever I'm doing to create something from nothing is where I think my body and mind thrives the most. And right now it's with Danae at the platform, I'm like...

I love it. I think you guys, all your guys' dreams is going to come true. You guys, all you got to do. I tell my team all the time, just put it in the air and literally the universe grabs it and makes it happen. You're never too old. I'm going to be 43 and,

How long? When do I turn 43? Fucking three days, four days. Oh, right on. You're never too old. It took me until now to finally get everything I've worked hard for for the past fucking five years. You know, well really since I fucking left home at 14, but you're never too old. Don't ever let age limit you. You've never let anything limit you. So don't let it limit you now. Thank you for saying that. I really appreciate you standing beside her too and pushing her. I think that you guys have a really beautiful relationship and I can't wait to see where it goes. So you made it in, you made it in California for two years, uh,

How'd you make it to Nashville? Today, say we're getting a hell of a shit. No, we got to go. We're in a place to we are in a in the place that we want to finally buy something like want to put some type of roots and make a financial investment into some type of real six. We love real estate. We love talking about portfolios and stuff like that. But we were looking at real estate in California. We're like, if we are self-employed, what the hell are we doing here?

And so we were looking at different areas, Florida, Texas. We even looked at Colorado for a second. We're like, I can't breathe out there. Yeah, I cannot. My lungs hurt after two days of being there. Absolutely. And I don't drive a Subaru. And we're fucking North Face. Right. And I don't really enjoy like climbing the mountains and looking elk all day.

I mean, you can't really fucking climb because you can't breathe out there. I don't know how people live. Amen. Like, it's a great vacation spot. For all you Coloradians out there, love you. 24 hours. 24 hours.

That's how we caught our audience. Yeah, so we were looking at places to buy, and we visited Austin, Texas. Because we just heard so many great things about Austin, Texas. I'm from Houston. Really? Oh, yeah. And I love Texas. The Texans that love Texas, I love that. Oh, yeah. They are. Proud Texan. So we went to Austin and visited. And by day two or three, we signed a contract to build a house. We were just like, let's just do this.

I don't know what. And then we just were desperate to get out of California. So then we lived there for exactly 18 months. And Mandy's parents had put in our ear that they were excited to move to Nashville. And I said, well, my parents live two hours down the road. So what about Nashville? We've always...

we know Denae needs to be in the South. So we always knew we were going to come back more to the Southern roots of Denae. Um, we just didn't know when that was going to be the right time. And then when we lived in Austin, our house did so well because we bought it in 2019 and sold it in 2021. Um,

And then moved here and then ended up buying the house that we have here. And it was, like I said at the beginning, it was always my dream to live in Tennessee for some weird reason. I have no idea. I think it was because I was listening to some country music that talked about Tennessee probably.

No, it was probably manifested that as a child. And I love it here. No, it literally, it took me a long time to say fuck the West Coast. But I, whenever we go back, I'm always like, I can't wait to fucking get home. My husband's like, we just bought a fucking house here. What are you talking about? You know? And it's, it's crazy because like the West Coast, it is amazing. Like the, the culture and so much about it is so incredible, but there's also a flip side. Exactly. And then here, um,

I always tell people, they're like, how do you like it? I'm like, it's like a warm hug. It's peaceful. Like it is so peaceful. It's not so filled with vanity. There's relationships that actually care. I'm allowed to talk to my neighbor, you know, and that's a weird concept to me. I sort of got weird. My husband and I laugh all the time because when he moved to Vegas, he would go and talk to all the neighbors and I'm like, why are you doing that? Yeah. Like stop. Yeah. Like stop talking to the neighbors. We don't do that. She did that too. And I was like, what are you

doing yeah no same like it's such a it's a culture shock i didn't even i had never even seen what are those glow bugs the glitter bugs what are they called lightning but they call them something else too right fireflies yeah i'd never seen a firefly until i moved i was like what the fuck

is flying in the air? Am I high? What's going on? My husband's like, no, baby, they're fucking fireflies. We have some of the same things because when are they out? I think like the summer. So they were like going over the little green space in our house here in Tennessee and they were all like lighting like a freaking movie. And I grabbed my phone and I was like, this is so incredible. I didn't know that these were real. And Danae was like, what are you doing?

I was like, babe, what are you doing? Those are lightning bugs. She was like, what's a lightning bug? Yeah. I still won't call them lightning bugs. I'm like, they're fireflies. It's the politically correct way to say it for us West Coast people, I guess. Right. Well, thank you guys so much for being here. Why don't you shout out your socials so that people can find you? Absolutely. So my TikTok is Danae Hayes and my Instagram is Danae.Hayes.

H-A-Y-S, no E. Yeah. And I'm MandyKai, M-A-N-D-I-E-K-A-I-I on both Instagram and TikTok. And then we have a shared YouTube. Mandy and Danae. Cute. Yay, we love it. Well, you guys have to promise me that you'll come back in like a year. We absolutely will. We'll be back with you guys. Absolutely. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you guys for tuning in to another episode of Dumb Blonde. I will see you guys next week. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

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