Jordan Rodgers stopped by The Bobby Bones Show to talk about his show The Big D, what it’s like being a sports analyst on ESPN, why he joined The Bachelorette and what marriage is like after reality TV.
Rodgers unexpectedly joined The Bachelorette in 2016 where he met his now wife, JoJo Fletcher. Becoming part of The Bachelorette franchise was not something he ever thought he’d do. Before he joined, he had never even watched a season and he was only told about the opportunity a week before joining the cast. He said when he walked into the mansion, there were a bunch of good-looking dudes who were panicking for time and attention. So, he went in with the strategy that he was just going to sit back and wait for his time. The strategy backfired on him a little in the beginning, because it made Fletcher mad and think he was not interested in her, but it ended up working out in his favor in the end. The two got married six years after their engagement in May of 2022. Rodgers thinks most people know him from his time on The Bachelorette, but he has many other jobs as well.
Like his new show that he co-hosts with Fletcher called The Big D, where they venture to Costa Rica with six divorced couples and hope to guide recent divorcees on their journey for a second chance at romance. Some of them are hopeful to rekindle their ex-flame while others are ready to move on and find a new relationship. The participants also receive help from resident relationship expert Dr. Jada Jackson. Rodgers described it as, “All the islands of reality TV coming together.” He and Fletcher got pitched the idea for the show while they were engaged, and neither of them had been divorced before, so he wasn’t sure if it was a good fit. But he said they are both reality TV show junkies who love the craziness of it, and they found true love on TV, so it wasn’t that crazy of an idea.
Rodgers said the interesting part with some of the couples was some of them wanted nothing to do with their ex at first. But once they started talking again, they realized their issues weren’t that big, they just didn’t know how to communicate, and that maybe it wasn’t over. They filmed the show in late 2021 in Costa Rica where they were confined due to Covid restrictions. During that time, Rodgers and Fletcher were getting ready to get married soon and were able to get a lot of free therapy and advice from Dr. Jackson, that he said really helped their relationship.
When Rodgers is not doing reality TV, he is an analyst for ESPN’s SEC Nation. He was the former quarterback at Vanderbilt University, so he enjoys still being able to participate in his love for football. When he’s calling the games, he goes in with a lot of knowledge, but he likes the rush he gets from not knowing what is going to happen and having to react to it live. There is a bunch of prep work he does too, like learning the players’ names and backstory, but he likes to approach it like a coach would when watching game film. He’ll watch the games and take note of certain plays teams do and mention what the opposing team would need to do to stop it. He hopes to teach a little bit of football while calling it on TV, so people realize why certain things in the game happen.
Rodgers is happy he does not have to get up on Sunday’s sore anymore, but he’ll sometimes say stupid stuff on TV that people will make fun of him for on Twitter, which he is fine with. One moment is still making its rounds on social media from when he called the South Carolina game last year. They were showing b-roll shots from a local fair, and when they panned to a bunch of giant corndogs there, he said “Talk to me dirty corndogs,” on live TV. Then they brought some of the corndogs to the booth for them to eat, and there is no graceful way to bite into one, so those videos of him doing that live forever on social media.
Rodgers and Fletcher have been married for over a year now, and he shared some insight on how they have a successful relationship that is so public. He admitted their first year off the reality show was bad. Up until that point, their whole relationship had been in front of cameras, so when they went back to real life, they did not know how to communicate. They would fight but then pretend everything was okay to have a happy face for the public. They leaned into working through their issues and addressed them head on. They were open that a relationship is not easy after a reality show, and they weren’t scared to admit it. During the pandemic, they were living in Dallas and a bunch of their friends moved away, so they decided to move to Puerto Rico which is where they currently live. Fletcher’s brothers live there so they are close to family and really enjoy their time there. One day when they choose to have kids, they will move to Nashville where they have some property and start a family. Rodgers said when he moves to Nashville in a few years, if the opportunity presents itself for him to be a position coach at his alma mater, Vanderbilt University, he’d love to do it.
You can watch The Big D Wednesday’s at 9 p.m. CT on USA Network and streaming the next day on Peacock.
