Ok, so I naively thought this day would never come, but I have been busted. I mistakenly believed that I could get through my adult life without this being brought up 13 years later, but people are smart and the internet is wide. So after more than a few “Who me? I don’t know what you’re talking about, haha” comment denials, I’m coming clean. My name is Sherry $herdog, and I was on MTV when I was 17. And it was easily the most embarrassing compilation of moments that could ever be edited together.
I’m an over-sharer, so some folks might wonder why I’d try to hide from this video. And to you I’d say: it’s one thing to invite people into your home and share a video that accidentally features your bra laying out on a bedroom chair or an interview where you flail around nervously or admit that you walk around covered in dog fur and cream cheese smears, but it’s a whole different ballgame to say “Let’s take a time machine back to my most awkward moments as a seventeen year old girl being surprised while life-guarding and told she’ll get to interview Eminem for a show called FANatic on MTV – oh look, I have the whole thing on video for you, let’s all sit down and watch it together.” Now excuse me while I giggle uncontrollably for ten minutes. I do that when I’m nervous.
Allow me to spill a few secrets: shows like this are a smidge set up. It’s not to say that I wasn’t completely Marshall Mathers obsessed (I was) but there are certain things you’re highly encouraged to mention so that you come across as the most deserving fan. Things like “I aspire to be a rapper someday.” I’ll pause while you snort whatever you’re drinking out of your nose. It’s true that my best friend Mariam at high school talent shows (we once donned orange puffy vests and belly shirts and parodied the Eminem/Dre duet Forgot About Dre) but it’s a Jersey thing. You had to be there to understand that it was not meant to be taken seriously. So no, I didn’t actually hope I’d be touring the country as a famous female rapper when I grew up.
Of course the show sets up situations too, like us going to the old burger joint where Eminem used to work before the interview…
… but it was pretty cool as a teenager to see some random restaurant and think “he really worked here just a few years ago flipping burgers?” Fun fact: the people I’m serving at that table in the restaurant are the limo driver and one of the production people who carted us around.
Another fun fact is that I hardly knew the girl who surprised me at the pool and came with me on the entire adventure. See, MTV required that the “friend” of the person being featured was 18 or a parent would have to accompany the fan and the friend (which I’m guessing cramped the crew’s style). So when I was going through the whole “you might be a finalist” phase of the process, they asked me about my friends and I gave a list of all my best 17 year old buddies and they sort of heavily suggested that I list someone over the age of 18. So the girl who worked at the front desk at the Marriott (where I was a lifeguard for years, represent) got listed – and she was the friend they picked to surprise me. And yes, it’s still really cool to be in a limo when you’re 17. Especially if you flash the peace sign with your sleeves rolled up.
Here’s where it gets extra embarrassing. At some point in the interview the word “phat” inexplicably slips out of my mouth. I never said that word before and have never said it since. I can only blame the loss of my whole damn mind at the thought of sitting next to a hip-hop star and somehow thinking $herdog could pull off a term like that. And I couldn’t. It rung in my ears for the rest of the interview while I continued to grin like a crazy person and giggle nervously. Although a lot of this experience is what I like to call “retroactively embarrassing” (since at the time it was really cool and I felt really lucky to be chosen), the moment I realized I said “phat” on national television was the moment that I wanted to punch myself in the face.
Then they asked me to rap. Repeatedly. It’s bad. Very very bad. Oh and about the pigtails, I wanted to wear a ponytail and an arm band (yes, an arm band) but the crew gently suggested the pigtails and no arm band. I’m thankful they nixed the arm band but still a little weirded out by the pigtails. So without further ado…
As for how I even got on the show, my friends dared me to send in a tape since I really was a hardcore fan and they thought I had a shot at being chosen. Meanwhile I believed I had zero chance, hence me doing all sorts of ridiculous things that I thought would never be on TV/YouTube (like sitting in a tub full of M&M’s) because I truly believed with every fiber of my being that I would never make the cut.
MTV does a really cruel thing to make you think you weren’t chosen (at least it felt cruel at the time) in order to get that completely surprised ‘surprise shot’ when they sneak up on you. They’re in pretty constant contact with you for a while to collect things like “what you would ask if you were chosen” and “who you would bring as a friend if you were chosen” and then they say you’re a semi-finalist but it’s not a done deal, and then they cut off communication for a few weeks. Total radio silence. So you go from being hopeful that you might get picked to completely and utterly bummed out that you didn’t make the cut after thinking “dude, I might actually get flown to Detroit to meet Eminem.” Which is a pretty cool concept as a 17 year old.
This is of course when you forget about the footage of yourself in a tub of M&Ms and it sounds like it could be The Coolest Thing You’ve Ever Done and not The Most Embarrassing Thing Ever a decade or so later. But I have to admit that as a teenager it was an amazingly fun time. I got to fly somewhere with a camera crew and without my parents, they put us up in a cool hotel, and Marshall was actually a really nice genuine guy (now I’m going to get weird and tell you that he had the best looking hands I’ve ever seen in my life). And he did kiss my neck, which at the time made me believe we would soon be married and we’d go on to have three bouncing babies named Slim, Shady, and Stan (kidding). Dude, I took a picture of my neck after it happened. I’m that girl (can you believe I managed to bag a guy like John? I still can’t).
So I’m extremely grateful for the experience. It just felt like… let’s not all watch it together on video and relive my teenage awkwardness together. But I guess now my “secret past” is out. In summary: it was pretty amazing (it made “the morning announcements” at my high school – haha), but the fact that the footage from a defunct show from over 13 years ago is now somehow on YouTube is something I never imagined. Oh well. The cat phat is out of the bag.
Now you tell me your most embarrassing secrets so we’re even. Go.
The real Chris Tina says
Oh my goooooooodnesssssss. That was a trip down memory lane! What a Jersey accent you had. Too funny!
Jessica says
Hilarious! I would have been the person on the other end of the TV thinking, “THIS GIRL IS SO LUCKY!” And you definitely shouldn’t be embarrassed about the hand thing. I was totally obsessed with his nose! Lucky for me, I married a fellow Eminem obsessed person, and we were able to see him in concert last summer. Not quite as awesome as sitting across a table from him and getting your neck kissed (I totally would have taken a picture too), but it was the best we could do. Love it!
Willow wright says
You’re a great sport. I’d be dying, too. But unlike you never had the nerve to enter contest for fear I might be chosen! My stomach was nervously awaiting the ‘phat’ use. You’re so cute!
Iris says
WOW!!! I watched this during my prep period at school (I am a school teacher). No worries, no students were in the room. Soooo,I am a little embarrassed for myself, for watching the entire clip!!
Hilarious!!
ahbma says
I definitely saw this episode and was pretty jealous of you! Crazy that I didn’t put two and two together!!
Maria says
I can’t bring myself to believe this story. Even if it did happen, it’s pretty friggin’ cool. I mean, really, who gets to meet Eminem? He is an amazing rapper.
Angie says
Please tell me you still have that apron!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Heck yeah I do!
xo,
s
Elyse says
This made my day. Awesome. :)
I was a library aide for three years in high school. The librarian loved me, she had seen my art and wanted to talk about it all the time. For three years.. My very last day, senior year, she wouldn’t let me leave early. I ended up sitting at the front desk and decided to write a quick note to the library assistant to say goodbye. I could only find crayons. It was a long hour. I ended up drawing, quite terribly, the library. Over a year later…I googled my name…to find my terrible drawing posted on the front page of the library website with “Drawing by My Name”. It was horrible, I was so embarrassed! They didn’t take it down for years and all my friends new about it and made jokes all the time!
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahahahahahhaha, that’s hilarious and mortifying. I love you for sharing it and I love that they scanned it and put it up with your name online. haha.
xo,
s
Thais Bessa says
CAN’T.STOP.LAUGHING.
My big question is: at what point in your relationship with John did you share this? :)
My most embarrassing? I was president of the Brazilian Hanson fan club when I was 13/14. I was SO SURE we would get married. My husband makes sure to use this information to embarrass me in public whenever possible, lol.
But seriously, at 17 you are already you: cute and lovely!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I waited about three months and then shared it before we got in too deep. Didn’t want to get attached and send him running. Miraculously he laughed his head off and married me anyway!
xo,
s
bria s. says
O.M.G.
Carly says
In high school I was in the running to meet Jenna Von Oy of Blossom fame for one of the Mickey Mouse Club’s “Guest Day” segments.
It wasn’t until reading your post that I realized that if I had been picked, there would be a video of me on YouTube right now wearing one of those ridiculous Blossom-style hats with the floppy rims and plastic flowers… Maybe someone was looking out for my future self :) Hahaha!
Sara says
CANNOT. TAKE. IT. As Giuliana Rancic would say, this is AMAZEBALLS. Still snorting diet coke out of my nose. I mean, maybe “PHAT” will make a comeback??! Haha… (I too was obsessed with rap and in 8th grade let my bestie shave the bottom half of my head so I looked tough- why? I have no idea! – and wore a Michael Jordan jersey and pleather hightops to my first day of highschool in a new, preppy boarding school. Not my best moment.
D says
hahaha, love it! Do you still have the apron?
I farted in chorus class on the second day of 6th grade…the room was silent and someone was telling me a joke and I laughed, then farted loudly for everyone to hear. The person telling me the joke didn’t do a good job of hiding the fact that it came from me. Funny little side note, the boy that was sitting behind me in that class is now my husband. I guess we never had that ‘we don’t fart in front of one another’ period :)
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahaha, that’s hilarious. He was teasing you because he liiiiiiked you. Haha. As for the apron, yup, still totally have it!
xo,
s
Amber V. says
This post is exactly what I needed on a Friday afternoon.
Just earlier this week I emailed a screenshot of a work problem (to someone much more important than I am) and later noticed that it included a google chat message with my fiance that included, “Are you mad at me for washing our poopy dog in the bath tub?” Sooooo many things to be embarrassed about there.
For the record, he wasn’t mad that I washed my 85 lb dog (covered in poo after escpaing the yard and rolling in it)in our newly renovated bathroom. He’s a keeper.
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahahahahahahaha, I am so sorry to laugh, but that is hilarious and I love you for sharing it!
xo,
s
Steph says
I’m literally crying at this one, hahahaha! “our poopy dog” hah!
YoungHouseLove says
Hahaha, it’s such a good one. I’m still laughing too.
xo,
s
Amber V. says
It was not my finest hour. Just for context, I work for a very stuffy fortune 500 company in Richmond. The person I sent it to hasn’t mentioned it and I am not yet prepared to bring it up without turning crimson.
YoungHouseLove says
I told John about this too and he was dying.
xo,
s
Meghan says
can’t. stop. laughing!
Laura says
Sherry! You are absolutely hilarious and I love it!
Kirstin says
This is amazing! I do remember the show from back in the day, but I don’t think I ever saw this episode.
Do you still listen to Eminem?
YoungHouseLove says
I buy all his albums and am still a fan, just not as obsessed as I once was. Haha. He was really nice though. Very genuine.
xo,
s
Kristin says
What a “phat” video $herdog! :) Mad props goes to you for putting that out there. Too funny!
Lani says
Hilarity!!!
Gilli says
So, this may be my most favorite post ever! What I am really wondering is why is the stolen, autographed apron not framed and on your hallway gallery. Embrace the inner rapper that you are :) really cool
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, it’s tucked away in a drawer to keep me from remembering all the embarrassing things that go with it! Haha.
xo,
s
Jo @ Jo In the Kitchen says
This is hilariously awesome! Don’t worry $herdog, you have totally phat street cred…or something ;)
Jo @ Jo In the Kitchen says
Oh, I forgot to add that I used to do a pretty sweet Steve Erkul impression. For show and tell. I was that kid.
Sara says
O.M.G. :D
That was AWESOME!
SOOO happy you put that on the blog.
OMG, OMG, OMG!!!!
Brooke says
Oh my goodness this MADE my day! As horribly uncool and awkward as we were (all the while thinking we ROCKED) – wouldn’t you love to be 17 again for just one day!
Sheryl J says
I’m so jealous! I love Eminem! I know you may be a little embarrassed about your akwardness but I think we all see past that and notice how awesome the whole experience was for you. No one’s perfect anyway…
meghan says
Hilarious! ! Everyone has their embarrassing moments, but yours is actually cool! I wish I could say I got a famous autograph and a kiss on the neck after I peed during an MRI from drinking too much water and being too scared to move In that thing.. But nothing…!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw man, I know someone who peed in the middle of a hospital room after being forced to drink a ton of liquid! I think it’s a thing, so docs probably see it all the time. Haha. Hope that makes you feel better!
xo,
s
Dagny says
Oh my gosh, Sherry! This is the best ever, I’m so glad you posted this!! Who knew you had a secret this big!! Thank you for sharing, this made my day. :-D
Courtney says
the BEST YHL post ever… I’m dyinggg!
But it all seriousness you were so confident, I would have been 1000x more awkward and embarassing, go $herdog! The phat comment is the best!
mariela says
I used to watch that show growing up! And you look the same!!! so jealous! I was an awkard teen with pimples and braces haha
Ashley M says
omgee wow. thanks for sharing that was uniquely awesome and awful all at the same time haha! Please please record clara’s reaction when she sees that one day! I can only imagine what she’ll think hahaha! next house video I expect some rappage from the $herdog now that we know you got skillz holla
YoungHouseLove says
There is going to be some serious eye rolling and outbursts of “ew, mom- this is so embarrassing for me – how could you be so uncool? what if my friends see this?” Haha.
xo,
s
Cassie says
Oh. Em. Gee.
I freaking love you, Sherry. And you are a really good sport for sharing. I am pretty sure this is the funniest YHL post I’ve ever seen. Any chance that apron will show up in the gallery wall someday? :-D
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I think I’ll keep it tucked away.
xo,
s
ashley b says
I knew you were cool! LOL I am so sorry you are completely mortified over sharing this, but glad you were able to share it with your readers anyway. GO $HERDOG!!
Candice says
Sherry, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. You were so cute and full of life, just like you are now. Has Clara seen the video yet? Have you been keeping this deep, dark secret from John as well as the rest of us?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, John knows. I told him a few months into dating because I was sure it would be a deal breaker and I didn’t want to get any more attached but he laughed his head off and stuck around to marry me anyway! Haha. I think I’ll wait to show it to Clara until she’s a teen so I can get the full “oh my gosh you’re so embarrassing” reaction from her. Haha.
xo,
s
Sara says
So you’ve never mentioned watching “How I Met Your Mother,” but I can’t get over that you have a real life “Robin Sparkles” story. This is fantastic! :) I haven’t gotten to watch the You Tube thing yet but I’m so looking forward to it, as soon as I get home from work! Heehee.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I don’t watch that show, but now I have to in order to find out about Robin Sparkles. haha.
xo,
s
Beth W. says
Ha! That’s first thing I thought about Sara, while I was reading this. Sherry, the character Robin is supposed to have a secret past as a Canadian teen pop star/idol, but her friends find one of her music videos and tease her mercilessly about it. Then, in a later episode, a second video surfaces. They are called “Sandcastles in the Sand” and “Let’s Go to the Mall” if you want to youtube them. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- we found it and laughed our heads off. So funny.
xo,
s
Alyssa says
Awesome! I was laughing so hard:) thanks for the laugh $herdog!! I can’t believe how different, yet still the same you are/were! What I want to know is how you found this or what made you share it! Way to come clean though and I bet you sat there laughing the whole time you wrote the post, that or crying… Either way, We still love you.
YoungHouseLove says
Some of my high school friends told me it was online a few years ago so I cringed and figured “eh, no one will know it’s me – how many Sherry’s can be from Jersey.” But apparently a few folks found it recently and made the connection so it was on message boards and on Facebook or something? I was mortified and thought “I’ll just deny it and it’ll blow over” but I’m no good at lying so I just thought “whatevs, I’ll fess up.” Hah. I mean, people can relate to a little teenage awkwardness (or a lot of it), right?!
xo,
s
Steph says
Okay so I saw someone post this in the comments yesterday but I didn’t think you’d want attention drawn towards it! I honestly don’t know why, I LOVE it! Seriously, embrace that awkward 17 year old girl! Who wasn’t like that at 17?! You were so natural sounding on camera! Besides, you have to feel a little bit better now that the secret is officially out, right?! Someone should tell Eminem about YHL :) This must be my favorite YHL post ever, including the hilarious comments!
Bridget says
I was once in a film for some class that I hope never surfaces. It was about a girl (me) who has a wimpy boyfriend, who gets beat up, and then gets dumped because I dump him for the strong guy who beat him up. Seriously? Whose idea was this plot line?? I just hope it never makes it to YouTube. It’s humiliating enough to just think about it, much less watch it.
Ashley says
NO. WAY. !!!!!!!!!!!!
Emily says
Sherry, I was crying and laughing. How awesome are you for putting this out there?!
I can’t even think of my most embarrassing moment right now because all I can think about is yours.
ps – love that Eminem song where he featured Dido. See? I’m a fan too :-p
Amber McGinnis says
Oh. My. Gah. That was the most amazing and awkward thing I’ve ever watched. I think after seeing that we could be best friends. Ser-us. I thought I really liked you before but now it’s on a whole new level. For the record, I just converted all of my parents home vids to DVD for my mom’s birthday and there is definitely some incriminating videos of me in old dance costumes dancing to my Barbie workout tape… I was 16.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, nice! I showed you mine, now you show me yours.
xo,
s
Kristen says
Aww! That was adorable and you shouldn’t feel embarrassed at all! You were so bubbly and cute! I was on “say yes to the dress” and they edited things I said together so it sounded like I said sentences I never did, staged a disagreement between my mother and mother in law, they ask you the same questions worded slightly differently to try and get you to give the reactions they want and it was so unbelievably embarrassing afterwards so I totally get how you feel though. (This made me so nostalgic for the late 90’s btw!).
YoungHouseLove says
No way! I always wondered how they got every dress fitting to look so dramatic. That explains it!
xo,
s
Kristin H. says
Yes! I was on Say Yes to the Dress also!! They totally edited things for mine too making it look like my mom didn’t like the dress that I chose when it was really a different dress she was talking about!! But still a fun experience :)
And Sherry, you were so NOT awkward/embarrassing.. like.. at all. If I had my 17yr old self on video to compare you’d see that you were actually SO cool. You were totally the most popular girl in school I just know it :)
YoungHouseLove says
So interesting about that show! Who knew!
xo,
s
Jess says
This is adorable! So cute and confident – love it!
One of my most embarrassing moments caught on tape is from junior year of high school at a sleepover I hosted. I made all of the girls dress up in 80s spandex to record a music video to La Bouche… I still have no idea why I wanted to do this, but MAN did I seriously get into it. Thank you for the reminder to find and destroy the tape :)
Alondra says
Haha, you are too much Sherry! How has this gone under the radar for this long?? Kudos for putting this online for everyonw to see! I still think you’re cool.
Erin says
I. Can’t. Watch.
Veronica says
I love this!! I’m from Detroit and actually live only a few miles from Gilbert’s Lodge so it was cool to see you go there! The only publicity in my past is a sock ad that I did for a JC Penney catalog one time (you can only see my feet) and a picture of me when I was 4 years old sitting on one of the Red Wing’s players laps to help promote hockey. I was supposed to be holding up my pointer finger to say #1 but I held up my pinky finger!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, that’s cute!
xo,
s
Amanda says
On the list of most surprising things I’ve learned this month this is #1. And it’s AWESOME. Glad to know you were an eminem superfan just like me!
Jimmy says
So where are you going to hang the autographed apron in your house? That would make for an excellent DIY post.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, it’s tucked safely away in a drawer.
xo,
s
Kathryn says
This is amazing, I am so glad you shared. I would have KILLED to have been on *NSYNC FANatic back in the day, but in retrospect am very glad that the crazy things I did for *NSYNC (like bake birthday cakes for each member’s birthday and feed them to posters hanging on my bedroom wall with my best friend) are not on camera for posterity.
You were adorable though, and I’m sure it was an awesome experience!!
Sarah says
Sherry – too cute! You were way cooler than me at 17…and I think Eminem was smitten by you…look out John! ;)
kellie larsen says
Shut uuuuupppppppp!!! Get out of here! That was so funny! I love you for posting that.
Alison says
Man! If Eminem could see you now!! He’d be impressed $herdog!!
Alicia says
Ha! Too funny. When I was in college (at TCNJ), I was chosen to be on MTV’s Mission Makeover w/Molly Sims. It was quite a similar adventure with multiple re-takes on the initial “surprise”, re-scripted lines of what I said the first take, surprises with not-really friends playing friends (I worked at Chili’s and they surprised me there. One of our bartenders was the “friend” who was in on it). It was a lot of fun, though, and I did get a fancy haircut and clothes to take home with me!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so funny! I can’t believe they refilmed the surprise!
xo,
s