Zack Wickham
Appearances
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
There's like so many of those where it's not just like some crazy idea. It is like becoming law or becoming, you know, the law of like different areas. And it's kind of crazy to think that we're like in 2025, we're now dealing with this again.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Well, yeah. I mean, even then, I remember one year walking home from Pride, and this white car, this white van was yelling the F word out of the van. And they were passing me when they did that, and I flicked them off. And then... they did like a circle came back around cause I was waiting for my friend at seven 11.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
They circle came back around, opened up the door and there was like five giant men in there. And I was like, my, my jaw dropped and I just like was immediately like self preservation mode and like ran into the seven 11 and, Cause I think they were like being like, Oh, come at me, bro. I'm like, no, number one. No, I'm not going to get kidnapped. Sorry. Not on pride.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
You know, I usually diagnose like that's LA.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
I actually love a straight man that is comfortable in his sexuality and can be around gays and it's not like a thing. It's kind of like my roommate. He's like the gayest straight man there is. But just like the most accepting and just like, but these are his people. You know, it's like that big A, that big ally. You've got that ally card and... You're representing it.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
But you know why they have those? Because society, you know, it all comes down to like society and that societal constructs. And these are things that unfortunately we are so, they're so enamored into us at such a young or hammered into us at such a young age that
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
that we don't even realize they're there we don't even realize these prejudice against our own self are there until we're much older that's why like coming out stories are so important and that's why it became such a big movement because visibility seeing it brings it into the light and brings it oh wow that it brings the humanity to it
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Oh, absolutely. Also, we're also seeing the rise again of people wanting to host these straight pride rallies or whatever. And I'm just like, you're missing the point because it has nothing to do with well, if one has it, the other should have it. It's like, that's not what it is because when you say straight pride, when you say like white pride, stuff like that, that is actually taking away.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
You don't have to have, those are not things you have to have pride in because you can be it openly and it's not a problem. It's not looked down upon. It's not marginalized when it comes to being gay. The reason you're, you're celebrating it and being proud is because you're trying to
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
amplify and make it a positive thing whereas like when you're taking something like straight pride you're saying you like basically you're trying to come into a space where you're already the majority like you exactly you don't need to be proud of that like it's Zach, that was beautifully stated. And by the way... It could have been stated better.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
I was also trying to dance around my words to not get canceled.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
It was Samir and I, my, well, this story has been out there. So I'm not mom and dad, you already know this, but my best friends, Kayla, Colleen and Hope, we all turned 18. It was right before Thanksgiving, like the day before Thanksgiving of our senior year, her parents. So we're like, oh, let's have one drink. And so her parents like, let us have one drink.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
And then, and then it just kind of spiraled and I got drunk for the first
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Had you also, can I say how much I love it? How you say Smirnoff? How do you say it? Smirnoff. Smirnoff. Smear. Smear. There's no C8. Okay, I'm sorry. No, I just love the way you say it. It's funny.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Am I seeing you out for the rest of the time?
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
No, I didn't. I came out when I was still 18, but not... I came out to a girl that I just met. The first time was like maybe December. So I still hadn't come out yet.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
But, um, I had some inklings, you know, there was some, there's some, there was some red flags in my, in my own psyche where I was like, maybe you're gay.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
No. Okay. No. Mine was very undercompensating. I was like, no, I'm definitely gay.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Yeah, like, it's funny because if we didn't have the way society says, like, oh, you're... Like, what girl do you like? And it pushes you into these lanes. If people just listened to their kids or said, oh, like, the choices... I would have been gay at five. Like I knew I liked boys right off the bat. Yeah. Like boys were so much more interesting to me.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
What's crazy is my family is the most supportive, caring part of the community. My dad, when he was at Humana, which is where he worked, he was part of the... I don't even know what they call it. The work group for the LGBT... He was always involved. My mom was involved with the LGBT group on our college campus once I came out. They were super open, super whatever. However...
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Besides Will and Grace being the only thing our family had ever talked about being gay or like seeing a gay portrayal.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Well, and it broke her career for a while. Yeah. You know, when she decided to do that... and be so brave. Like she lost her career for many years.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Yeah. And, and it, it took her a while to recover. And then after Ellen and I don't remember what year that was, but then until willing grace was on in 1998 was when it premiered, there wasn't like that, you know, there was like queer as folk and some other things, but they were on like HBO or Showtime or, you know, Oh, my God. Do you remember on HBO Taxi Confessionals? Taxicab Confessions.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Oh, my God. Now, that was a sexual awakening. It was called like real sex, blah, blah, blah. Like 71 or whatever. They always had a dick somewhere and I'd never seen them in the wild before.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Yeah. I mean, I'm going to say, I'm definitely going to say it's gotta be, I mean, I'm not, I'm kidding. Yeah.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
but Louisville is different. Louisville is one of the most progressive cities in the South. It has one of the largest gay populations randomly per capita. We have very strong gay community. Also pretty much every politician that has been around since I've been around or like been alive has been a Democrat or liberal. Like our mayors have given speeches at the gay club and, So our pride is huge.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Louisville's a different beast. We also have some of the strongest LGBT protections for workplace, for housing, that includes trans people. It includes the full umbrella. It doesn't just disclude some or...
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
and it's workplace and housing which you don't have in other cities in the south so as far as that's concerned louisville was great to grow up in i never even though i was catholic i did go to an all boys catholic high school and i mean oh dear god it's probably why i drank smirnoff ice you know as my first drink but um That was a little difficult.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Well, let me put it this way. I was never not myself. So if people wanted to call me gay, they could call me gay. Or then I had my defenders that were like, he is totally straight. He just likes dancing. If it tells you anything, I went to seven. I had to buy a tux. I went to seven tuxes. senior proms at all the all-girl schools. I went to every single Catholic school.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
I went to all of their senior proms. And then the only other one was my own. Oh, and then I went to two public school ones as well.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
My mom was like, we're buying a tux because I'm not renting a tux every time you let go.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
But yeah, I feel like I felt, but it's the not knowing. You don't talk about it. It's never talked about. You have to find out all this stuff about yourself on your own. Like through, you know, men's fitness magazines. And, you know, just like Yahoo Messenger.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Yeah, it was. period and actually what's really what's amazing about we ho and something I want to bring up and what's so important about pride too is gay bars so gay bars are actually kind of like the hub of gay the center of like gay life but Granted, in the past 10 to 15 years, it has shifted because gays are more accepted other places so they don't congregate in just gay bars.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
And a lot of gay bars have actually been going out of business in smaller towns. But... They are the center of gay life because that's where the knowledge transfer on how to be gay or what it means to be or what has happened in the past. That's where you get that knowledge because you're not going to get it in school.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Exactly. And again, it was like, that is what your chat GPT was. It's the old guy at the end of the bar that is going to tell you what happened in 1980 or 73 or whatever year, you know what I mean? It's like, that is how you learn these things. And, and I feel like that is kind of a disconnect now where I'm like kind of scared.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
I'm hoping that we can bridge that gap again to like the younger generation to make sure that they understand how important, um,
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
And that happens all the time, you know? And it's definitely not easy coming out because, you know, it's the only time where you have to, where you could possibly be disowned from your family. You're probably, I mean, more than likely, you're not going to be disowned from your family for, you know, any other thing really except for that. Yeah. Right off the bat, you know?
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
struggling have struggled but overall we're moving in the right direction i feel like even when we take these steps back we're we'll we'll i i have some faith in america i have some faith in humanity that okay guys is it better right now or was it better a few years ago like come on come on
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
It's definitely palpable.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
I feel it in my palple.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Can I just... Let's walk down memory lane of... I remember... Let's not walk too far. Well, let's not walk too far. Actually, I don't want to go with a sad story, but the year after I moved here was the Pulse Club shooting. And I was just in Orlando that day and had just flown back from gay days in Orlando and landed here in L.A., I had just been to pulse to, uh, I can't remember.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Uh, what's the other, whatever, all the like bars. I had just been to gay days at Disney and like come back here. And then like that shooting happens. And then, and then I remember Brittany's working at sir. And I'm just like a wreck. And then I think you guys like, didn't know if you were going to film or not because it was like a little on, on like, nobody knew what was going on.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Yeah, no, it was terrifying.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
That's why it's like, yeah. Again, that's why pride is just... It's so important. But I digress from that type of stuff. The Sir... Prides, though, were so much fun. Lit. Lit.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Yeah, and once Tom Tom opened in Pump.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Was that the one day you worked at Pump? Was that on a Pride?
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
It wasn't even a Pride?
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
You can literally see your panic attack happening on that security video, I swear.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Well, I hate you. I'm going to kick you. I don't think I have a big head. I don't think I'm going to be one of those people that ever would get a big head from stuff like that because I'm humble. I meant literally. I'm Ginny from... I know. I knew what you meant. I was trying to avoid it. I know.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Oh, my God. Would I be in it? 1.002 seconds. I'm just kidding. No, I'd actually feel like you'd be a little bit of it because at least 30 seconds. I don't know. What would play? But I feel like this year, especially for us, I feel like we've become a lot closer, even though we've always been friends and whatever. But now we're basically hanging out every single weekend.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
We're besties. Yeah. Which I'm sure somebody might not like that. Wait, I want to hear your answer to the question. What would my seven minutes of... Just a little highlight reel for the listeners here. I think some of it would be like the first... I feel like it would be a lot of firsts because you get those like...
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
real nostalgic like bursts of um serotonin so like the first time you really fell in love or the first time you kissed well for me the first time i kissed a boy which was later than the first time i did other stuff wait we got to stop there because that was actually one of my questions who was can you say can you mention who you're you don't have to mention their name if you're not comfortable with it when was your first kiss was it in kentucky
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
uh yeah my first smirnoff involved there was vodka probably well his name was chase and he was my first boyfriend but before that there was still there had been other people we just didn't kiss probably because they were straight strictly business yeah yeah well you know like kids are horny and you know what i mean like when you're younger and you're a boy and You just like try things.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
You're experimenting. And I was just like, you know, I think I was an easy target for people to be like, he'll definitely do something. They were like, I'm pretty sure those rumors were true.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
wait is this this is the highlight reel it's you just hooking up with straight boys the entire time no absolutely not seven minutes of you guys okay you just exposed yourself uh it was consensual though you know and then like you know just like i would say like honestly probably first time or like one of like one time at a drag show uh first time being at a club yeah
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
But well, and because I moved later. Yeah. So you how did you make it during the that was literally the financial crisis because I also graduated. Well, actually, I graduated like one year after that because I took a little bit longer. But. When I graduated, there was no jobs. I wanted to come to LA or New York City. It was one or the other. I was like, that was my goal. I'm moving.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
I even sold, actually, this is a fun story. When I graduated, I sold my car. To force myself without my parents knowledge, which was I do regret that. But I sold my car and I was like, because I didn't need it. If I moved, I was going to ride the bus or the subway or whatever. That would be my seed money. Little did I know that was not even remotely going to get me anywhere.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
So I stayed and I finally found a good job and saved up and kind of took the longer route to get here because I didn't move here until I was 29. So... I kind of had like all those like I kind of lived a full life in Louisville, like a full adult life, and then moved here. And it felt exactly where it was really hard, though. The transition was really hard.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
literally never i i did i've done so many things working here to make it work and during because also the pandemic hit like what three or four years into me being in la and bam all of a sudden the entertainment industry is at a halt and that is what i work in that is where you know i do social media i do what and now no one wants to pay for it now no one you know everybody's like
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
And it was crazy, but yeah, just grind away. Next job.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Well, see, they don't want my shirt off.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
I've sold plasma before, you know, just for, you know, the extra, you just do what you got to do to make every single end meet. Actually, when Jasmine and I lived together in this apartment, um, we almost started something called ratchet kitchen.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
We were going to do like a YouTube show called ratchet kitchen because we were both so incredibly poor for like, it was like the first or the first eight months of the pandemic, um, And we would come home. Number one, we would use reward apps and try to just get an extra chicken sandwich or whatever.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
But then we would come home and all we would have left is like pickle juice, noodles, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, whatever. And then we would just be drunk and just like make some concoction. And that's what we were going to eat that night.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
the drunken chefs we've all been there drunken chefs you gotta improvise you know so you know i've i've eaten my fair share of pickle or buttered noodles that i'm i just i powered through we've paid our dues we've paid our dues now zach am i or am i not an ally Oh, you're a capital A ally. Actually, though, and I always tell Kristen.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
I always tell Kristen that, okay, so I get her out two times a year, my birthday and Pride. Those are the two times where I can guilt her to come out with me. Yeah. And this year on pride, she was like, her daughter will be born. Um, we thought like at a certain day or whatever. And I was like, Oh, perfect.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
So you'll be, she's actually an ally because she like, you're going to be able to go to pride. And she's like, absolutely not. I'm not going to pride. I'm like, okay, this is the one year I'll give you a pass. But previously, if she doesn't show up, I'm like, if you don't show up, I'm going to take your ally card and I'm going to burn it and you will never see it again. What? Yeah.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
You can take the ally card back? Gays can. Anybody in our community can take the ally card in any time we want. And if you want to get it back, what is it, a 10-question test or something? No, it's a point system. So you have to do enough points. Quiz me. No, it's not quiz. You have to do, it's work-based. So you have to buy a certain amount of gay shots. You have to attend your friends.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
You have to attend a gay person or a person in the LGBT community's stand-up comedy or improv show. I get it. You know what I mean? And then you get points based on that and then you can get your allyship back. But once you lose it, though, it's hard to get back. Yeah. I feel like I'm pretty knowledgeable in general.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
No, I mean, that's why I say you're flying in the day of pride and still going to make it out. And that's a true ally.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
I am going to put your ally to the test. We don't have to. Actually, well, I kind of a little bit mentioned that I was going to do a little quiz with you where I was going to say a gay word and see if you knew what it was.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
So we'll start off really easy with just Grindr.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
I'll take that. Now, as a bonus point, can you make the Grindr notification sound?
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Was it? Yeah. I don't know. I feel like there's a lot of allies out there that would know that.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
It's basically like a zoo.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Yeah. So we'll start with the hairiest and go to the least hairy. I like that. So bear.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Yeah. So, you know, you have the bear. So that's a bigger guy. Burlier. Burlier who has, you know, a lot more hair on his chest, body, back, you know, just pretty much anywhere. Yeah. Yeah. Now you have a slightly, so there are in between where it's like a pre, you know, like we are pre bear, but like you're clearly going on that path, but we're not going to get into that. Yeah.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
We'll just go front down from there. You have the otter, which is a slightly skinnier version with a lot less hair. My hands up in the air proudly right now, but although I'm not, but still some hair.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
I think it's actually very fitting. Thank you. I, for myself, I don't really fit in any of the animal categories. I'm like... You defy categorization. You do. You're in a league of your own. Yeah, kind of. I feel like there's a lot of us that can't really be categorized into those very overarching terms. Yeah. Yeah, because I don't have hair, but I'm not a seal like... Wait, what's a seal?
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
I just made it up. Oh, okay.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Yeah. So a twink, which is, you know, a very skinny white male, but can be any ethnicity as well. I actually, sometimes I will call Benji a seal because he's so smooth.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Okay. So what about mother?
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Dad. No mother. Meaning it's a gay term. Oh, if I said, Oh my God, your mother, what would that mean?
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
I like the way you describe that. It means like queen. She's the she is our matriarch. She's the one that basically like you birth. But you could say mother to a man, too. I can say you want to.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Yeah. Or like, you know, RuPaul is mother. Um, any, any pop star is mother basically. Like, you know, like for me, mother would be like Britney Spears or Christina, but for others it could be, you know, this is good stuff.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
It was really funny. Actually Keshen and interviewed the other day said, do you know about this mother? And like, I guess she had never heard the terminology before. So it was really funny. Um, This one's going to be an easy one. Snatched.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Am I snatched? You are snatched. Really? Yeah. Thank you. I've always thought you're snatched. Wow. Especially your hair at all times. You have the best. I am the only person's hair I'm jealous of is your hair. Wow. I wish I had your hair.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
But for the worst reason.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
It looks better. I'll say that.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
But I also, I've come so, like I love the term Lego. I love that that's like a thing. So now I'm like, should I put my hair back? No.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
No. Well, they did bully me, but that's okay. I also, you know, sometimes when you don't realize exactly how something looks and you take a step back and you're like, I could try harder. I'm very lazy. Your hair just sits like that all the time. I've never seen you have to style your hair or whatever, whereas mine takes effort to get it to go up and blah, blah, blah.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
So I've just learned, okay, I just have to do it.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Oh, my God. People have said that a few times. The Robbie Rotten person. Yeah. They've been saying... They said that... What was the other... Chris Lilly, who does Summer High Tie. Yeah. Which is like that... Have you seen that?
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
i do give some of those vibes so i can't like argue with them i'm like okay yeah and then like those are like extreme extreme versions but yeah i i can't not agree with it i'm like yeah i i see what you're seeing i'm not blind zach i'm so happy you're here and you're sitting in front of me i know it's not a good closing statement but it's not isn't your life better because i'm in front of you
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
At least by 20%. Thank you.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
We'll do just a little audio shot.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
I was like, what do you mean detox? Oh, is that why you put the... This one's more about love.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Oh, do you try to do detox, then retox every other episode? Yeah.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
It's going to be so much fun. You guys got to come.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
The thing I always say is take your time. It's on your schedule. It is on nobody else's because if I don't want to get out of bed in the morning and I need like a little bit of extra mental time for that or mental time for anything, I take it. And I think that is the most important thing is to protect your mental state at all times.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
So if you're thinking about it, going back and forth, talk to people, but take your time. Don't do it on anybody else's schedule or because anybody else feels like they, you need to or whatever, or you feel like, oh, well, why am I making this such a big deal? It is what you're going through and never put that pressure on yourself because
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Um, but just know that like, once you do make that leap, it's gonna, you, you will feel so much better. You just don't know it. Yeah. It's just one of those things. You can't experience it until you feel it.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
It'll be so much fun. It's going to be so fun, you guys. Stick with us. Take a shot with us.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
We are in West Hollywood. Well, we're technically at my apartment first, but we are about to consume Smirnoff Isis.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
That was so satisfying to hear.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
You're so welcome. Cheers.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
There will be an explanation.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Yeah, this is not a choice that I would normally make.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Yeah, I come down to hand you the pass and it's just the passenger seat filled with Smirnoff ices and you holding your head in kind of shame with like sunglasses on.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Yeah. The sunglasses didn't help either.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Yeah. Because you all abandoned me during the pandemic and all we're like, Oh, let's just go buy houses. And then I'm stuck over here still in my apartment. Been like, Oh, thanks guys. Yeah.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Oh, it had to be like 52.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
And, um, well, cause don't get me wrong. I loved it when you all live there, but I just remember, you know, like you guys made it your own. Exactly. But then you live in a house. You don't want to come back to the apartment. You, you know what I mean? Like it's just, it just felt like a, yeah, no. Yeah. That's like kind of backwards. A little backside.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Let me just say it's great. Let's start with that. Let's start with that. No.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Well, thank you for that. I do feel like I'm not any different off camera than I am on camera or anything like that. It was a very natural transition.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Yeah, I feel like when people constantly tell you your entire life, and they could have meant it in negative ways, or they could have meant it in positive ways. You never know. But they're like, you should be on a reality... You're meant for reality TV. I'm like, I don't know what you mean by that, but I'll take it. Thank you. You were...
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Okay. Now let's actually, I'm glad you brought that up. Cause let's correct that a little. Let's put a little addendum on that. Um, number one, she always used to say, babe, you have to be on a reality. I used to tell you that. So yeah. And I'm like, ha ha ha, whatever. But then, um,
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
we were i was auditioning or not auditioning but like they were figuring out the valley for the last year that i was working for her so yeah it got talked about a lot but like not where i was like that was all i ever talked about so you're not plenty of other things to talk so you're not dehydrated thirsty guy yeah salivating over the prospect of being on television i'm kidding i'm
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Well, no, I think it's really funny when people say like, oh, they're thirsty to be there. No, I'm sorry. I'm just good enough to be here.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Right. I didn't, you know...
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Meet somebody else and then, you know, whatever. Like, I knew people before I moved here. I know. Like, Nicole, her little sister, was my best friend growing up. So, even before I knew Brittany. And then, I met Brittany in college. And, yeah. So, like, the two people when I moved here were Nicole Scherzinger and Brittany Cartwright. Yeah.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
And then Tom Schwartz shortly thereafter.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Have you been watching Overcompensating on Amazon? Oh, it's so good. It's so good. Benito is, I'm so happy for him because he was, he's such a pandemic star where like he, I always considered those TikTokers that rose during the pandemic, pandemic stars. And I'm so glad to see him just like thriving and thriving.
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
You know, I think that's what it's crazy to think about how far we've come, but how far we still have to go. I don't think people realize Pride this year means probably more than it's meant in a lot of years because LA Pride got defunded. They lost huge sponsors. They're not even having... I think last year was Mariah and Megan Thee Stallion... Megan Good, Jesus...
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
making the stallion and then um the year before was christina aguilera you know they've had huge acts and now all of a sudden they're not doing like the concert series they're maybe doing like a watered-down version yeah you know it
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
uh st louis pride lost their biggest sponsor which was budweiser they'd been sponsoring it for years and years and years all of a sudden just not it is so crazy to think how far we've come and then kind of like you and your old apartment like i feel like we're living in the old apartment again and we need to figure out how to get back to the house yeah some of the headlines i've been seeing lately some of the legislation that's being proposed is scary
Detox Retox with Tom Schwartz
Celebrating Pride with The Valley's Zack Wickham
Yeah. Well, in being proposed, but also like legit and not just being like talked about like, oh, randomly, you know, here's this really crazy person saying, you know, they don't want drag, you know, in public or whatever, that it'll never even get talked about. These are like mainstream politicians that this will go to the floor and this will get voted on.