It's a pretty big day for Normal Gossip and Defector! We know everyone loves treats, and today you’re getting three big ones: unhinged cruise ship gossip, our own Kelsey McKinney in the role of guest, and Rachelle Hampton as your brand-new host! What does this all mean? What exactly is changing? Well, you should probably go ahead and listen to the episode. But just to be super helpful, we thought we would answer a few more questions about this peaceful transfer of power!
[Editor's note: We mistakenly published an earlier version of this episode that contained errors. Thank you to the sharp listeners who brought this to our attention. The episode has been updated.]
Kelsey McKinney: Hello Rachelle!
Rachelle Hampton: Hi Kelsey!
Kelsey: Today is a big day! Today is the day that we announce our big scheming plan, our peaceful transfer of power! As of today, you are the host of the hit podcast Normal Gossip. How do you feel?
Rachelle: It's an honor to even be nominated. No, but seriously I'm full of excitement and gratitude and happiness! Today would definitely go down in my memory as one of the best days of my life if this peaceful transition of power hadn't been playing out behind the scenes for a few months now. At this point, I lowkey keep forgetting it's happening until moments like this. But it is happening! It's here!
Kelsey: We keep saying peaceful transition of power as a joke, but it really has been! I am so excited for you and Se'era Spragley-Ricks (Normal Gossip's new lead producer) to take over. It's been honestly thrilling watching you step into this role. I think your first episode is phenomenal, and I know you'll only improve! I'm feeling like a big ol' sap.
Rachelle: I also think my first episode is phenomenal, and a lot of that is down to you being both a great guest and an even better host emeritus.
Kelsey: I prefer dowager queen, thank you.
Rachelle: Your Highness.
HELLO! IT IS ME, THE READER OF THIS BLOG!
Kelsey: Whoa, hello. How can we help you?
Yes! I have some questions about all of this. First, why are you doing this?
Rachelle: I mean, I think the real question for me would be why wouldn't I do this? This is a dream come true! There's no world in which I'd turn down the opportunity to step into the host chair of my favorite podcast.
Kelsey: I think there's a temptation to assume that a transfer of power—a new person on the throne, if you will—is because of some dire cause. But no one has died and no one is miserable and there is nothing lurking here. Sometimes, with a creative project, you have to listen to what the project wants, and give it that. Normal Gossip wants new minds and new voices, and there is no question in my mind that this is the right decision.
How do I know you're not lying? What if I'm SCARED?
Rachelle: I think it’s important to honor the emotions you’re feeling. Change is scary!
Kelsey: Rachelle is a water sign. Speaking as a Virgo, let me say: You’ll live!! I think when you listen to Rachelle's first episode, you'll see that everything you love about the show is still there! It's just a different voice and a different story and the beginning of a different journey. You've trusted us this long to make this podcast good; why not trust us a little more?
So nothing is changing and everything will stay the same forever?
Rachelle: OK, I wouldn't go that far! The only constant part of life is change. I'll stop talking in aphorisms now.
Kelsey: Very brave of you.
Rachelle: As a huge fan of Normal Gossip with the beat-up keychain to prove it, I want to maintain the incredible foundation that Kelsey and Alex and the rest of the team have built. This isn't a gut renovation; I'm not coming in and ripping out the beautiful teal-green bathroom tile and painting the walls gray. But Se'era and I are both really excited to leave our mark on this incredible show. We're both Black women with roots in the South, and we're excited to bake those perspectives, with their rich histories of oral storytelling (Reesa Teesa, hello!), into the foundation of the show. Can foundations be baked? I'm not a Property Brother.
Kelsey: The Normal Gossip promise: no Millennial Gray. But really, Alex and I are not dying. We are going to be around, and here to help with the transition as much as we are needed! We love this show. Everyone loves the show! We want it to stay good and exciting for all of you for a long time to come!
Wait. What is happening to Alex? Who is this "Se'era?"
Rachelle: Se'era Spragley Ricks is my incredible creative partner and the new producer of Normal Gossip. We worked together previously on In Case You Missed It, and we're both so excited to get to work together again.
Kelsey: Alex will remain in her supervising producer role for Defector! Hopefully now that she is not making sure that Normal Gossip stays afloat, she will actually be able to do that job and get to work on more exciting and beautiful projects for your earholes.
What is happening to Kelsey? Is she OK?
Kelsey: I'm stepping down as host, but I will still be around! I'm going to help Rachelle as much as I can, and I am going to write more. I loved writing all of these scripts so much, but it is time for me to return to writing other things! I will still be with you always in your hearts, but also on your screens and sometimes in your ears! I'm OK, I promise! I'm excited to make new stories to share with you!
Rachelle: More Kelsey writing! More Kelsey writing!
Now I would like to ask some questions about this new episode that came out today, if that is OK.
Kelsey: When has that stopped you before?
OK, no need to be rude, Dowager Queen! Just for that, is it true that everyone cried in the recording?
Rachelle: It's true! It was beautiful, one of my most cherished memories.
Kelsey: To be honest, I very rarely cry in any form in public, so I feel very vulnerable about crying on this recording! That's OK. Vulnerability can be good, I've been told. But I did know I was going to cry going in, because I cried writing the script lol! I am just really proud of myself, and of Alex, and of Rachelle and Se'era. And if anything will make me cry, it is feelings of pride.
Rachelle, how did you approach your first episode? How did it feel to make it?
Rachelle: So something we haven't mentioned here yet is that I've been involved with Normal Gossip basically since I started working at Defector in late July. I'm pretty sure my very first meeting was a Normal Gossip meeting?
Kelsey: Wow. Lore drop!!
Rachelle: Gotta give the girls what they want (gossip!).
Kelsey: Yeah, the true gossip is that Rachelle came in with her eyes on gossip. She wanted to come to meetings! Who wants that?
Rachelle: Who wouldn't want to come to a Normal Gossip meeting? They're so fun! I've said this so much in real life but getting to watch Kelsey and Alex make this season felt like all the fun parts of school with none of the differential equations.
You didn't answer my question about how the first episode felt to make.
Kelsey: God, you're nosy. I love you so much. You're just like us. She's getting there!
Rachelle: You'll learn that I can take a while to get to the point. But it's all important information! Basically, I first heard the gossip you'll hear in the finale of Season 7 way back in August. So the story has kind of been rattling around in my brain for the past few months, along with everything I learned from watching Kelsey and Alex in writers' rooms and run-throughs. By the time I sat down to write the script, it felt so natural. I felt prepared and supported and most importantly, I had so much fun!
Kelsey: You didn't ask me, but I felt very good about the episode! Rachelle made me feel comfortable as the guest, even though I was nervous to start. And the story is such a damn whirlwind. I loved it!
Rachelle: I can't wait to hear the reaction to the story, because it really does take some turns.
Well, it's already out. I loved it, actually. But I do have an important question for both of you, based on it: Imagine you're going to be stuck on a cruise ship with your coworkers for the next nine months. You can only smuggle one (1) kind of contraband on board. What's your pleasure? Hot plate, fairy lights, sword, edibles, Xanax?
Rachelle: GREAT QUESTION, edibles. Didn't even have to think about it.
Kelsey: This is a hard question for me because I think my answer is mezcal, but theoretically that would already be on the cruise ship and I would just steal it even though it was against the rules. I think I would smuggle on a heating pad. I love heating pad.
Thank you for your honesty. I'm feeling a lot better now that I know there will be more gossip in the future. I'm not as scared anymore. Is there anything I can do to help the transition or the new season?
Rachelle: Please be nice to me! I'll be vulnerable here since Kelsey cried in the recording, but my primary fear is the audience not giving me a chance. Obviously I understand that a lot of y'all will miss Kelsey's era of Normal Gossip. I will, too! But more than anything, I want to continue making a show that y'all all love and adore, hopefully with all of the support and grace you'd want extended to you if you were to take over your favorite podcast!
Kelsey: It is my time to go. Throughout my tenure on this show, y'all have all been so open and accepting of our efforts to make the show sustainable and good (even when it meant you got fewer episodes). I really hope that you will be excited for this new era and give Rachelle the same kind of grace and support that you gave me.
Also, I want to be very fucking clear that anyone who is mean to Rachelle is immediately added to my personal shit list, which is not a game. I am very good at holding a grudge.
Rachelle: Hot.
Kelsey: Another thing you could do to help would be to send your gossip stories to normalgossip@defector.com, so that Rachelle and Se'era have good options for their next season to sort through. Rachelle, is there anything in particular you're hoping to get?
Hey! I'm asking the questions here! But yes, what kind of gossip do you crave?
Rachelle: OK, I love family history gossip, like secret second families and people written out of wills. I'm a Real Housewives and Selling Sunset girlie, so real estate gossip or rich people gossip or rich people real estate gossip would be a real joy. Also, internet gossip! Tell me your fandom gossip; I know you all have it.
Kelsey: I will say that my WHITE WHALE while hosting this show was restaurant gossip. I want restaurant gossip so badly, but the problem is most restaurant gossip is extremely depressing or toxic. My (dowager) kingdom for a beautiful little rom-com story about … idk … competing bakeries.
Rachelle: Oh my GOD, I'd die of happiness. Gossip that's secretly a romance novel is also very welcome.
Wow, that all sounds so good. I also wish to hear this gossip!
Rachelle, when will there be another season? I am desperate for gossip and my family is starving for stories.
Rachelle: Do not fear! There will be another season, in fact many more seasons. You can expect the next season to start airing in the spring of 2025.
Kelsey: Please don't panic! There will be a couple bonus episodes before then on the main feed, and we will continue to release monthly subscriber-only episodes, so your family will not starve to death.
Thank you both so much. Will you do anything to celebrate this big and exciting news that I am now very excited about, too?
Rachelle: Well, tonight we're partying hard with Defector staff.
Kelsey: Yeah, we are gearing up to party so hard that we will have to take a long and extended break from partying over the holiday season. Pray for us.
Rachelle: ALSO Kelsey will begin her Dowager Queen era with a bang, a.k.a. publishing AN INCREDIBLE BOOK all about gossip that comes out next year.
Kelsey: Oh, right! Good point! I will be going on book tour for my big gossip book in February! You can get tickets for that at kelseymckinneybook.com, and Rachelle is even going to join me for at least one event!
Rachelle: See you there!
You can support the show by subscribing on Pocket Casts, Overcast, or wherever else you listen! You can also follow Normal Gossip on Instagram. The transcript of this week's episode can be found here. You can sign up for the Normal Gossip newsletter here.
That's a wrap on Season 7! We'll spend the end of the year cozying up with some tea a.k.a. searching for a good batch of stories for season eight. Please send all your mess to normalgossip@defector.com, or leave a voice message on our hotline at 26-79-GOSSIP.
