‘Twas the year 2022. Coronavirus and its variants were still out there, TikTok was booming, AND the internet broke over the Try Guys cheating scandal involving “Wife Guy” Ned Fulmer and producer, Alex Herring. Three years later, the former Try Guy has now dropped a podcast, with the first episode featuring his partner at the time, Ariel Fulmer, and a full deep dive into the drama that made him public enemy number one on the internet.
Just like a messy situationship from the past, the former Try Guy shook the internet to the core earlier this week by announcing his return to the internet via his new podcast, Rock Bottom With Ned Fulmer.
In his first post after three years — AKA the year the cheating scandal got exposed — Fulmer told his remaining followers that he was “excited to return to creating” and about how his new podcast would be all about “surviving Rock Bottom”.
“I know it’s been a while since you’ve heard from me,” Ned penned.
“I’m excited to return to creating, although things are going to look a bit different this time around. My show is about surviving Rock Bottom, and tune in to my debut episode with Ariel on Wednesday to gain an understanding of what the past three years have been like and how we are building something new.”
So with the episode finally out, we extracted everything you need to be caught up on this ‘YUGE piece of internet lore… plus it’s one hour long, so yeah. You’re welcome.
Here are the 11 biggest takeaways from Ned Fulmer’s podcast episode with Ariel Fulmer.
Are Ariel and Ned still together?
The first thing that Ariel and Ned confirmed on the podcast was that they’re no longer together following the cheating scandal. However, because they do share two kids, the pair have maintained a friendship.
“There’s a spectrum of being together or not together, like there’s ways in which we are together, but it’s like the way everyone wants to know, like ‘Are you guys still an item? Are you guys still a couple?’, like no,” Ned shared.
“We really haven’t been at all, these last three years.”
Ariel has not forgiven Ned for the cheating scandal
Following that confirmation, Ariel admits that she still gets asked if she’s forgiven Ned, to which she bluntly said no.
“The answer is no. Absolutely not. How can you forgive somebody for lying to you, for cheating on you? No, fuck no,” Ariel said and ATE.
“You know, sorry, I saw red for a minute,” Ariel added.
“It’s like no. The answer is no. But also, I feel like forgiveness isn’t the goal at this point. We’ve been together for a long time, and you are the father of my two beautiful children, and we know each other really well, and I — we worked through a lot of stuff and the fact I can be around you and still like have a good time and enjoy spending time with you and spending time with my kids, like I think that’s a win.”
In response, Ned said it was “hard for [him] to hear” that he hasn’t been forgiven.
“Of course I’m still angry, we lost a lot,” Ariel responded.
How Ariel found out about Ned and Alex’s affair
In a devastating revelation, Ariel admitted that she found out about his affair from what fans had dug up online. To give you a quick recap (but if you want an in-depth timeline of the scandal, check out our article here), the cheating rumours first surfaced when fans noticed Ned hadn’t been in any recent Try Guys videos at the time.
Then a BTS photo with the Try Guys and Alex went viral on social media, followed by a sneaky photo of Alex and Ned making out in New York City.
“I found out about your affair from the fans,” Ariel shared.
“I mean, I was so blinsided that somebody sent me a picture and I like, I couldn’t, it was like my brain couldn’t compute, and I, it’s like for some reason I didn’t see what was actually there in the picture.
“I thought it was your sister, and I remember sending it to you and being like, ‘What’s your sister doing in New York?’. It was, and I think back on that and I think like ‘How did I not see what was going on?’.”
Ned felt a sense of relief when Ariel found out about the affair
Reflecting on how Ariel found out about the affair, Ned admitted that he felt some kind of relief from not lying and hiding a secret from his partner, who is the mother of his two kids.
“I did want to tell you,” Ned said.
“And there was probably a small part of me that was sort of relieved to not be keeping a secret, I guess.”
Ariel admits looking back at the relationship feels like a “fantasy”
Looking back on their marriage prior to the big scandal, she admits that everything felt like a “fantasy”.
“I thought we had this love that transcended — I don’t know — but it was a fantasy,” Ariel shared.
“It was like, you know, I trusted you so completely. And I mean, we grew up together. We got married when we were in our early 20s. We were babies. We had nothing.
“We moved out to LA with our car just full of stuff. I mean, I’m just taring up thinking about it. We were just kid and it’s like. It really was a fantasy, and I think, how could you do that to me? Like, who are you?”
The reason why Ned cheated
In response to Ariel’s heartfelt admission, where she looked back at their marriage as a “fantasy”, Ned briefly touched on the reason behind his affair.
“Well, the dream started to break apart for me and rather than being able to talk about it or confront those feelings, I wanted to , I guess I was too afraid to say how I was actually eeling and it seemed — I don’t know — I chose to deal with it, with like feelings I was experiencing that was really self-destructive and hurtful to you,” Ned shared.
“Like it wasn’t anything you did or like we had a bad marriage. It was about me and the choices I made and just actions that I’ll always regret. I’ll always regret how much pain I caused you and other people.
“I’m deeply, deeply sorry, and I’ll spend the whole rest of my life trying to make amends to you and to, you know, show up differently to lead a life of integrity and to be a father that our children can learn from.”
Ned says he “understands” why the cheating scandal was a big deal
Reflecting on how the cheating scandal blew up on the internet, Ned acknowledged what he did was “one of the most devestating” things he’s done to Ariel.
“I understand why, broadly speaking, these scandals are such ignition points because a lot of people can relate to it and a lot of people feel so much, so much, pain around it,” he shared.
Ned said he felt “pigeon-holed” into being the “Wife Guy” of the Try Guys
Looking back on how public the cheating scandal was and how it affected his image, Ned admitted that he felt like he was “pigeon-holed” into being the “Wife Guy” who posted family content with Ariel.
“I think what the internet wants from you is to be a one-dimensional character,” Ned shared.
“If you make TikToks as if a certain persona or doing a certain joke, if you deviate from that joke, oftentimes your engagement will plummet. Like people kind of want to see it’s like, oh, this is it’s like you’re stereotype.
“I guess I noticed that in my own work. It’s like the things that consistently drew people in were adorable family posts or talking about my wife, and then producers lean into that and like craft situations for me, and I don’t know, over time it felt super pigeon-holed and just I had to fulfil this one like quadrant in a foursome to just be this kind of caricature.”
Why Ned returned to the internet with his podcast
Off the heels of the scandal, Ned said he didn’t return to the internet because he didn’t “feel creative” and that he couldn’t be his authentic self.
“I’ve always been drawn to things that make people curious and finding ways of connecting people with their interests,” he said, revealing why he returned to the internet after two years.
“I see myself more as a host and more as just a vehicle for other people’s stories.”
He then went on to say that the idea of the Rock Bottom podcast was to “tell stories of other people’s challenging times and how they overcame them”.
“People seem to really care about the train wreck that I caused,” Ned said.
What was Ned’s rock bottom?
Of course, Ned admitted he hit rock bottom with the cheating scandal. However, it was when Ariel texted him that “they couldn’t get past” the affair that truly solidified that he fucked up.
“I think the moment for me is you sent me a text that night that was like, ‘I don’t think we can get past this,’ and it’s sort of like my whole world crashed,” Ned shared.
“I don’t think I slept that night.”
Ariel is starting up a pottery business
Looking into the future, Ariel shut down the idea of becoming an influencer, but was keen on kicking off her pottery business!!!
As someone who’s been in Ariel’s place before, I truly wish her peace and everything good in the world. IT’S WHAT SHE DESERVES.
You can peep the full podcast episode below:
The post 11 Takeaways From Ned & Ariel Fulmer’s Podcast Episode On His Huge Cheating Scandal appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
