For hosts of ‘LadyGang,’ no subject is off-limits
The team behind E!’s “LadyGang” talk series wants to be the confidante you never had.
Inspired by their podcast of the same name, hosts Keltie Knight, Becca Tobin and Jac Vanek will explore the “taboo” with frank discussions about womanhood, the female brain, vices and more. They’ll get candid with celebrity guests like Ed Sheeran, Jamie-Lynn Sigler and “Queer Eye’s” Karamo Brown. Variety spoke with the three hosts ahead of the half-hour series premiere this past Sunday.
The following is an edited transcript.
Q: How would you describe the format of “LadyGang”?
Keltie Knight: The first half of the show is we shoot it in my living room. Our celebrity guest comes. We have these awesome hilarious conversations, play a little game, have a little chat and then we go out into the world with other celebrities and we investigate all the things that it means to be a woman. All episodes have a theme, anything from fame to vices, to lying, to motherhood, to the female brain. On one of our episodes, the female brain episode, Becca and I went into the “LadyGang Olympics,” with Adam Rippon teaching us figure skating routines in full costume. And then we competed against each other and discussed why women are so competitive with other women. It’s kind of this weird hybrid show, but it really stays true to the authentic nature of what has made the podcast so successful.
Becca Tobin: This is all authentic, nothing is scripted or preplanned. We open up the topic, and the guests get as candid as possible, and we ourselves get really candid.
Q: Will you touch on more political topics like #MeToo?
Tobin: We love talking about real topics, and we find that the real topics are more along the lines of, “I feel like my marriage is falling apart, what am I supposed to do right now?” And just by sharing the struggles that we go through in our relationships, balancing our careers, whatever it is, the girls out there listening are feeling like, “This is so exciting because I feel less alone, I thought I was the only person going through this.” It’s more about just the journey of womanhood and less about all the noise of the outside world.
Jac Vanek: We are those girls that will talk about what everybody else is too scared to talk about. So any taboo subject, anything that is cringey. (We) have these conversations that you’re not going to get on a normal talk show and maybe there are things that you’re too scared to even ask the doctor or friend about.