Comedian Chelsea Handler explains the underlying factors that prevent her from conducting interviews with high-profile celebrities
Rewritten Article:
Chelsea Handler spills the beans on why she ditched the celeb interviews on her late-night talk show, switching gears for something more real.
At the 2025 PHM Healthfront Conference in NYC on May 1, the comic queen dropped the bomb. "I was like, yeah, I know, but everyone has a podcast," she quipped about venturing into podcasting.
Chatting casually with the crowd, she reminisced about those early podcast days when she was in her forties. "After a two-year therapy deep dive, I figured, 'Why keep talking to celebs when I can chat with real folks?'" she shared.
Evidently tapped out on chit-chatting with the A-listers, she yearned for authentic conversations. "I needed to connect with real people," she stated, adding, "God, I've learned so much from my shrink, Dan Siegel."
Response from Dan, her former therapist, came in 2022 when he appeared on her podcast, "Dear Chelsea." He was exorbitantly priced, she disclosed, but therapy was her grad school, her obsession to study and unravel the mysteries of the mind.
As for her podcast's new format, expect more unsolicited advice and life problem-solving. "I can't help but dish out advice, so why not make a podcast out of it?" she mused.
With Chelsea, it's always been about connecting, learning, and offering a helping hand. Her updated podcast style aligns perfectly with these values, unleashing a more intimate and engaging approach to storytelling.
Her shift towards speaking with everyday people could be fueled by several factors:
- A taste for diverse opinions: Handler's love for exploring diverse stories and perspectives, as seen in her Netflix series "Chelsea Does," could have driven her to seek out authentic conversations with real people.
- Frustration with traditional formats: Frustrated by the predictable nature of traditional late-night TV, Handler's quest for innovation could have led her to experiment with new content formats, opting for real people over celebrities.
In short, Handler's move to connect with real people and share life advice on her podcast reflects her commitment to staying fresh, relevant, and relatable. With a more personal and raw approach, she's back in action, ready to inspire, entertain, and empower her audience.
- Chelsea Handler, during the 2025 PHM Healthfront Conference in NYC, revealed her switch from celebrities to real people in her podcast, citing the abundance of podcasts featuring celebrities as a reason.
- After two years of intense therapy, Handler decided that instead of interviewing celebrities, she would prefer to engage in genuine conversations with everyday people.
- Instead of dishing out unsolicited advice privately, Handler chose to make a podcast out of it, offering life problem-solving and advice to a wider audience.
- Dan Siegel, Handler's former therapist, appeared on her podcast "Dear Chelsea" in 2022, and according to Handler, his insights were instrumental in her understanding of mental health and the human mind.
- Handler's decision to focus on real people might be rooted in her passion for diverse stories and perspectives, as she showcased in her Netflix series "Chelsea Does."
- Frustrated by the monotony of traditional late-night TV, Handler may have been driven to innovate by experimenting with new content formats, favoring real people over celebrities.
- By adopting a more personal and raw approach in her podcast, Handler aims to stay fresh, relevant, and relatable, inspiring, entertaining, and empowering her audience with her newfound focus on mental health, health-and-wellness, and everyday people.
