Hi guys,
I’m 25, and I discovered this podcast when I was around 23. At the time, it genuinely altered my brain chemistry. I looked up to the girls so much and really valued their advice on men, friendships, work, confidence, all of it. In my head, they had everything figured out.
Then I watched Summer House 😭
Part of me honestly wishes I never had, because it completely shattered the image I had built in my mind. Watching the seasons unfold and seeing how differently some situations were handled compared to what was preached on the podcast gave me such a weird “never meet your idols” feeling 😭 especially with Hannah. Don’t even get me started.
And with Paige too… seeing certain things she’s tolerated or settled for made it hard to reconcile with the version of her I had admired through the podcast. It almost felt like there were two different versions of these people, and it changed the way I listened afterward.
I think what changed the most was the credibility I had attached to their advice. It suddenly made me question things like: do they actually believe and practice what they preach, or does it just sound good on the podcast?
I don’t even mean this in a hateful way — they were genuinely my comfort girls for a long time and I looked up to them A LOT. Maybe part of it is also that two episodes a week made the magic wear off a bit, I don’t know. But the transition from listening to the podcast to seeing them on reality tv, felt oddly disappointing.
Has anyone else experienced this?