Addicted To Marriage's Amy Opens Up About Filming & Getting Married - Exclusive Interview
If you love reality shows all about romance, then TLC's newest series certainly won't disappoint. "Addicted to Marriage" follows four women who claim to fall so hard in love that they can't wait to tie the knot. In fact, all of them have been married several times before.
Amy, for example, was swept off her feet the moment she met Geno. Like many women who are bitten by the love bug, she soon hopes to be able to call him her husband. However, she's recently had to reveal a big secret to her sweetie first: She's been married four times before.
While we anxiously await the series premiere to see how her story unfolds, we got the chance to sit down with the reality star herself for the inside scoop on "Addicted to Marriage." In an exclusive interview with The List, Amy opened up about the hardest part of shooting the show, why she doesn't stay in contact with her exes, and everything she's learned about herself amongst all the wedding bells.
Here's how Amy landed a starring role on Addicted to Marriage
How did you initially get connected with TLC to be a part of "Addicted to Marriage"?
I got connected with just a casting director that had posted something online, and I just happened across it, and it was [something that] said: "Have you been married and divorced numerous times?" And I was like, oh my gosh, that's me. And I didn't [click] on to it. I just kind of chuckled a little bit and thought, "I can't believe that's my life," real quick, and, "Oh, my gosh. They're doing a show on it. I must not be the only one out there."
And then I saw it, like, two or three more times, came across an email or something, so I went ahead and submitted for it, thinking that, "You know what? This might be such a, you know, good way for me to grow from this, and be able to, I don't know, be vulnerable and find some other ladies that I can relate to that have been through what I've been through." And just put myself out there, because if I feel alone in all of it, then I'm sure there's other women out there that kind of feel like, oh my gosh, I can't believe I've been through this many failed marriages. Because it's not very common. I mean, I don't have any girlfriends that I can really talk to that can relate to my situations, who've been through what I've been through as many times as I've been through it. So I just thought it could be a great outlet for me in order to share and relate to other people.
I know you're a personal trainer, but have you always wanted to be on TV?
No, I haven't. Well, let me say this. I have, like, I'm not against it, and I just — I've never really tried to pursue it. I did some — I've always done some, like, local commercial work where I'm from, and it was honestly because I've been asked to do it, not because I really put myself out there and was looking for it.
So I've done it in the past [for] small local commercials and things like that, but it's never been, no, it's not necessarily been a dream of mine, but I've, you know — It's also something that I wouldn't turn away from, because I'm definitely not a shy person. I feel like I have a lot to say and share with other people.
Was your boyfriend Geno on board with being on the show, too, at first?
Yes. Yeah, he was fine with it.
Amy explains what it's like having cameras constantly around
How did it feel when you saw yourself in the trailer for the show for the first time?
Definitely for me personally, kind of mixed emotions. Excited for the experience, excited to finally see something that we've been working on for so long finally come to fruition and see the finished product and see how our story is told. So excited, nervous, all of those normal things, I think.
Doing commercials is one thing, but for a reality show you have cameras around all of the time. Was there anything you made off-limits for them?
No. We had cameras set up in our house 24/7.
Wow. What was it like getting used to that?
You know what? I think — I think after you've been doing it for a little bit, you forget that they're there, and you just hope that there's not anything that's, you know, that's worth a total — Hopefully your blooper reel isn't that long, let's just say, of things that they see or hear. [Laughs] You know what? It was fine. It actually wasn't as intrusive as we thought that it was going to be. So, that was nice.
What was the hardest part about shooting the show?
Definitely being vulnerable. I think that's something that's really hard for all of us to be. At least most people. I know there's other ladies on the show that aren't — that are super just proud of their past, and I think that's amazing.
For me, personally, I do struggle with it, and it's not something that I'm always proud of, you know? I didn't go into any of my marriages thinking I would get divorced. For me — and I'm not perfect, I'm going to make mistakes in life — for me, some of them were mistakes and things that I wish that I would've put more thought into before I moved forward and taken more time.
But I think it's just being vulnerable and putting yourself out there to show the world, you know, that you do make mistakes, and sometimes they're big ones, and how do you recover from that and move on? Especially when you kind of made the same mistake more than once, so that's the hard part of it.
Why Amy considers herself addicted to marriage
Why do you feel you have an "addiction" to marriage?
I think it's definitely more — I think it's true to say I have an addiction to love. I mean, who doesn't love being in love, right? ... I love to share my life with somebody, even though I like my alone time at this point in my life, we all kind of want to have our sidekick for life and someone that we can talk to and share things with and experiences with.
So, and with marriage, I mean, I guess you could say in a sense, it's fair to say addicted to marriage, because I obviously didn't give up. I wasn't jaded from the first one, the second one, the third one, or even the fourth one. [Laughs] I love the idea of that level of commitment. I'm a super loyal person who is, you know, very committed to one person, and that's how I like it. So I've never been scared of that. I prefer it, so I was never apprehensive to make that sort of a promise to someone.
And I didn't bring my baggage from the prior relationships into my next one. Ever. I think one of my strengths is "well, this didn't go the way it was supposed to go, so we're going to move on," and that's why it was always sort of easier — easy for me to move on and go into another relationship or marriage — is that, this isn't the same person I was with before, you know? Hopefully, [a] clean slate for both of us. I just — when you're super happy, you're just kind of, I don't know, I'm the type I just kind of go with whatever my heart's telling me to do. And I never forced it on anyone. It was always just super natural to go into that phase of the relationship.
Amy opens up about her previous marriages
Have you planned out weddings for all of your marriages? Do you enjoy the wedding planning process, too?
Sort of. Now, I think I'm kind of, like — [Laughs] I was like, let's just do a destination wedding.
I really am, kind of in all honesty — I did have a ton of fun with my second marriage. We had an awesome, big wedding, and that was really fun.
Smaller wedding — the two after that they were smaller, more intimate, but super fun. I mean, because it's exciting when you're planning something like that. So I always made the best of it, but I am kind of over that, actually. At this point, I'm cool with just a bikini and some sand.
Do you still stay connected with any of your four ex-husbands today?
One, just because we have two daughters together, since the girls are out of the house.
Honestly, no. I don't believe in keeping connected with your exes, especially when you've moved on to another relationship. I just feel like you sort of need to cut those ties and move forward, because it wouldn't be fair to the next person you're with, if you carry it on in any kind of relationship with another man when you're with someone else. That kind of goes back to what a loyal, committed person I am. I never want to instill those securities in another human being.
So when I ended — and I did end all four marriages. They were all my decision. When I make that decision, I'm also the type that's like, if I'm done, I'm done, and I'm moving on completely.
In the trailer, you talk about how you were hesitant to tell Geno about your past four marriages, because you say "that's a huge red flag." Is that something that would be a red flag for you if you were on the other side of it? Is that something you've worried about?
Yeah. I think that, you know, we circle around back to being vulnerable in the show when part of that is that — Yeah, if it were me sitting across the table on a date with a guy, and he were to tell me, you know, early on, "Hey." [Laughs] "I just, I just wanted to tell you. Full disclosure: I've been divorced four times." Then yeah, something, I think, would be wrong with me if these red flags didn't go off, and I didn't question whether I should actually move forward with this person, you know?
Because you don't know their stories or what they've been through. You don't know why they had four failed marriages. Was it them? Was it the kind of people that they choose to be with, right? But yeah, I think it's normal for that to be a red flag for anybody. I respect that, and that's why I think I'm just apprehensive sometimes just to run around and tell everybody I've been in four failed marriages because, you know, that's a big deal.
The lesson Amy learned about love after shooting Addicted to Marriage
What have you learned about love and about marriage since shooting this season?
Take your damn time. [Laughs] The biggest thing I've learned from my divorces is just, especially since I'm older — like the last time I was married was — it's been like eight years or longer. Yeah, about eight years. Longer than that, so I've changed a lot in eight years, and Geno and I have been together over four, and that's the longest I've been in a relationship without getting married. By a long shot. I mean, by a long time, so I do finally feel like I'm at the point in my life where I've learned from my four mistakes. Finally. It took me a while because I just, I love so openly and freely that I finally started realizing it's okay to slow down and take your time.
What was your favorite part about doing this show and about having this experience?
My favorite part? I guess my favorite part — I keep going back to this, because it's the whole reason I did this show, which is accepting my past, and, you know, putting myself out there the way that I am with this whole platform and this whole outlet of putting myself out there. Not only to Geno. [Laughs] But to the millions of people, I'm kind of laying it all out there. I think it's my favorite part.
It was fun actually! Being vulnerable, becoming stronger through the process but then also just sharing the experience with Geno and our daughter Ronan. It was just different and fun and a good way for all of us to just kind of, you know, lay our lives just kind of out there and be open.
Do you have plans to watch the premiere?
I'm just having a few girlfriends over to my house to watch it. Some really supportive girlfriends. [Laughs] To watch the show with me. We're going to — all of us will watch it together, and then Geno will be watching, too.
Do you like reality shows in general? What's your favorite one to watch?
Oh, "Housewives" is my favorite, and also "Million Dollar Listing," because I'm in real estate. I love watching "Million Dollar Listing," "Selling Sunset," and then I love the "Housewives." I mean, who doesn't?
"Addicted to Marriage" premieres Tuesday, November 16 at 10 p.m. EST/PST on TLC.