Bar Rescue's Jon Taffer Explains How Us Weekly Helped Form His Friendship With
Donnie Wahlberg
Donnie Wahlberg
Category
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FunTranscript
00:00What can we expect from this season of the show?
00:02I watched the first episode, and you already start off
00:04with such a wonderful story.
00:06Yeah, you know, I always think that every failing business
00:10is a failing owner.
00:11And you know, Bar Rescue, especially this season,
00:15is much more about the failing owner
00:17than the failing business.
00:19And of course, the transformations and the remodels
00:22are always great.
00:23But you know, these are families struggling.
00:25And this first episode is a good glimpse
00:27into what these episodes are like.
00:29Don't think that I'm not getting angry,
00:31because some people are irresponsible,
00:33even though their family's in trouble.
00:35But this is an emotional season.
00:36You know, it's a challenging time for the industry
00:39and for a lot of us these past eight or seven or five years
00:43have been very challenging.
00:44So, you know, the bar industry is still digging out
00:47from the pandemic and all those years.
00:49So it's a rough season.
00:51You're gonna see me tear up once or twice this year.
00:53I should say, we're gonna see a little softer side
00:54of you this season.
00:56Yes, yes.
00:57What kind of pulled at your heartstrings
00:59this season then?
01:00Well, you know, this episode was a pretty good example,
01:02the one that aired this week.
01:04And next week's episode is a great one
01:07with Spike Mendelsohn, who's a dear friend,
01:10leading the charge on that one.
01:11And then the one after that is with Donnie Wahlberg,
01:15who's a good friend.
01:15And, you know, it was interesting to do an episode
01:18with Donnie and I together.
01:21We're friends.
01:22By the way, we met because of Us Weekly.
01:24Oh, really?
01:24Tell me more.
01:25Yes.
01:26So anyway, I would just finish.
01:27So when Donnie and I were doing Bar Rescue,
01:29I looked to my left and I saw the tears
01:31coming down his face.
01:33So it's emotional.
01:34It must have been 10 or 12 years ago.
01:36I was reading Us Weekly, as I often do.
01:39And I see an article of Jenny McCarthy and Donnie Wahlberg
01:43that their Sunday pleasure is laying in bed all day
01:47watching Bar Rescue marathons.
01:49So when I saw that, I sent a note to Jenny,
01:53thanking and saying, that's great, thank you.
01:55She reached out to me.
01:56She and I became good friends.
01:58I did her serious radio show a few times.
02:00She did my podcast.
02:02And then she, Donnie, and I, and my wife, Nicole,
02:04all became friends.
02:05And we've had dinner together and such.
02:07So they love Bar Rescue.
02:09So Donnie got to do one with me,
02:11and Jenny got to do one with me as well
02:13a couple of years ago.
02:14So that's how that happened, all because of Us Weekly.
02:17You're welcome.
02:18I love it.
02:19I love that.
02:20So what was it like working with him?
02:22What was that collaboration like?
02:24It was fun.
02:24I've known Donnie before we worked together,
02:27but Bar Rescue is all as it comes.
02:30We don't know what's gonna happen.
02:31So he is in the restaurant business, as you know,
02:34his family.
02:34So he had a lot to add, but he saw how intense it is.
02:38You know, it's emotional when you watch it.
02:39It's far more emotional when you're in it.
02:41Yeah, definitely.