The world doesn’t need another podcast, but Ned Fulmer has one, so let’s talk. The former Try Guy has returned to the internet after three years of radio silence with his new podcast, Rock Bottom. After his widely publicized affair, both he and his wife, Ariel, have remained offline, but for the premiere episode, Ned decided to interview Ariel on their personal rock-bottom moment.
In September 2022, the famous “wife guy” of the Try Guys broke the internet with his now-infamous cheating scandal with his employee, Alexandria Herring. The scandal reached far beyond their audience of 7 million followers, landing at #6 on Time Magazine’s most viral moments of 2022, inspiring a controversial SNL parody, and even prompting Seth Rogen to ask, ‘What’s a try guy?‘
The Try Guys, Eugene Lee Yang, Keith Habersberger, Zach Kornfeld, and Ned Fulmer, first rose to fame in 2014 as BuzzFeed employees. At BuzzFeed, they created videos where they tried everything from lingerie to labor pain simulators, accumulating over 100 million views over the years. After about four years, during the “Why I Left Buzzfeed” era of 2018, the group moved on from Buzzfeed and formed their own company, 2nd Try LLC.
After speculation from fans online, it was confirmed that Ned had had an extramarital relationship with Herring, an associate producer at the company. All parties involved, including Ariel, Herring’s fiancé, and the Try Guys, were informed of this affair through fan messages. The team quickly confirmed the rumors and announced Ned’s removal, stating, “As a result of a thorough internal review, we do not see a path forward together.” Though now deleted, Ned also decided to make a statement on the matter, referring to the situation as a “consensual workplace relationship,” and apologizing to fans, his team, and, of course, to his wife.
Three years later, with the internet’s curiosity (and hatred) still intact, Ned returned with an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, in which he announced his new podcast. What he didn’t mention was that instead of starting fresh, he dropped Rock Bottom onto the same podcast feed as his old show with Ariel, Baby Steps, meaning all those past positive reviews carried over to the “new” project. The next day, the first episode dropped, pulling in over a million views on YouTube, but only about 7.7k likes. If you weren’t among those million, here’s the rundown.
Cold Open
On camera for the first time since the scandal, Ned opens the show with a direct apology. Staying true to his YouTube roots, he delivers this full opening speech in the classic, possibly rehearsed, YouTuber apology voice. For the most part, the cold open serves as both an apology for betraying everyone and an explanation of why he’s making the podcast. He apologizes for “betraying” everyone, especially considering he chose to brand himself as “the wife guy.” At one point, he even says directly to the camera, “I hurt you, and I hope to make amends.”
According to Ned, this podcast is a step toward that process, a space where the audience can “publicly witness the pain [he caused] Ariel.” He insists Ariel couldn’t publicly move on without addressing the scandal, and pitches the show as a podcast built on “curiosity and empathy.” Nothing says empathy quite like putting your spouse’s pain on full display for the internet.
General Vibe
From the moment they sit down, both Ned and Ariel immediately address that this interview feels awkward. They’re both visibly nervous, but Ariel expresses her hesitation, even saying she could get up and walk out at any second. While they admit they’ve had similar conversations in therapy together, broadcasting it to the entire world certainly makes the conversation much more daunting.
Most of the episode is Ariel being completely real and raw: she’s angry, sad, and even manages to joke at points. Ned, meanwhile, looks uncomfortable and remains a bit quieter throughout, often defaulting to PR-friendly answers instead of getting honest with Ariel and the audience. The energy is… tense, to say the least—but let’s break down exactly what went down.
So…what have they been up to since we last saw them?
Both Ned and Ariel admit that the scandal has loomed over them for so long, they’re not quite sure how to exist outside of it. Normal life feels complicated when the world defines you by your worst moment. Ariel jokes (kind of) that when she talks to people, she feels like she has to start with, “My personal life is a dumpster fire, as I’m sure you know.” Ned, meanwhile, says he often has to preface introductions with, “Don’t Google me.”
Long story short: they have kids together and still go on trips together—but no, they are not a couple. Ariel makes it clear their relationship is strictly platonic, even though Ned seems a little hesitant. Fans got confused during their break, assuming they were back together after a fan took a photo with the two at a concert. Ned clarifies, “Just because you go to a Taylor Swift concert together doesn’t mean that all was forgiven.” Ariel explains that Ned is the father of her children; they were together for years, and they know each other inside and out, so after a lot of work, she’s just happy that she’s able to enjoy being around him.
When talking about forgiveness, Ariel doesn’t sugarcoat it. She absolutely has not forgiven Ned—literally repeating “no” over and over. She emphasizes that forgiveness isn’t the goal right now, and honestly, it doesn’t sound like it will be anytime soon.
How Did Ariel Find Out?
Ariel says she was completely blindsided by the cheating scandal. As suspected, a fan first sent her a photo of Ned and Herring together. But in a strange twist of denial (or maybe self-protection), she didn’t process what she was seeing. Instead, she convinced herself the woman in the picture was Ned’s sister, and even texted Ned asking what his sister was doing with him. More photos started rolling in, and “the pieces just kept falling and falling,” as she put it. In the end, it wasn’t the photos that made it click. She found out the truth in New York, where Ned had been on a trip with the Try Guys—and where he’d cheated on her with Herring.
Ariel describes the moment as surreal. Ned picked her up from the airport and was driving her into the city when she naively asked, again, why his sister was in New York. She says she knew instantly what had really happened when she saw the guilty look on his face, which she described as “the veil dropping.” “Take me back to the airport,” was all she said.
Ned claims that was the moment he realized he’d been hurting someone he truly loved. Ariel emotionally and sharply responded, “You didn’t realize until then?”
Afterward, Ariel began to get more emotional, explaining that while admitting the affair may have lifted some burden from Ned, it dumped all of his guilt and shame onto her. She explained, “Not only did you having an affair shatter our marriage, but it also, like, all of that guilt and shame. You, like, hoisted that on me.”
As Ariel revealed her extremely vulnerable perspective on the situation, Ned responded with possibly the most absurd comment of the entire podcast: “I don’t think it’s fair that as a society you’re put in that position.” Ariel just stared at him, likely stunned that he had found a way to blame her justified anger about the affair on a critique of society.
Ariel admits it’s hard to even think back to life before the affair because it now feels like a fantasy. She recounts how they had grown up together and completely trusted one another. At one point, she breaks down in tears, repeating, “We had so much life left.” Ned’s response to this? Quiet silence, followed by his explanation that he cheated because “the dream started to break apart for me.”
What’s Next For Them?
At the end of the podcast, Ariel and Ned confirm that they are living separately, co-parenting, and seeing other people. Ariel has no plans to return to You Can Sit With Us, a podcast in which she was a co-host with fellow Try Guys wives. She rediscovered pottery as a way to center herself and is now launching her own business, intentionally keeping a lower profile and stepping back from the influencer world.
Ned acknowledged his destroyed “wife guy” reputation, framing the podcast as a chance for the internet to see he’s more than one-dimensional. He described how he wants to connect with people and tell stories, to which Ariel shot back with, “You think you’re interesting enough?”
Ariel sums it up perfectly: they’re not trying to rebuild their old relationship—they’re creating an entirely new one. Both of them are focused on moving on with their lives, focusing on their kids, spending more time on their passions, and, hopefully, having a little less internet drama.