Most Revealing Episodes of 2021

Here are some of the most revealing stories from “Armchair Expert” this year…

1.  Ashton Kutcher & Mila Kunis Admit They Rarely Bathe Their Children

Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis completely divided the internet when they revealed that they don’t really bathe their children that often. The couple explained that they both share a lax approach to bathing and have imparted that on their two children, who they only bathe when it’s very necessary.

“If you can see dirt on them. Clean them. Otherwise, there’s no point,” Ashton said on the show.

While Mila explained her opinion stems from largely growing up without hot water, Ashton shared that he does bathe daily but primarily focuses on “armpits and crotch.” Even after a workout, Ashton admitted he just wets his face with water “to get all the salts out.” Meanwhile, Mila is a little more traditional when it comes to washing her face, which she says she does twice a day to prevent her acne from returning.

2. Salma Hayek Couldn’t Stop Crying While Filming The Sex Scene In “Desperado”

Salma Hayek doesn’t have fond memories of filming her breakthrough movie “Desperado,” particularly due to the sex scene in the film. She explained that the scene she shared with her co-star Antonio Banderas wasn’t originally in the script but was actually “demanded by the studio when they saw the chemistry.” Despite having a “really, really hard time” with the scene, Salma explained that she pushed on because she was just happy to be working.

“They closed the set…That’s nice. Except that I had never done anything like that. When we were going to start shooting, I started to sob. I said, ‘I don’t know that I can do it, I’m afraid.’…I started crying, like they’re making me feel terrible. Antonio was the most free person and I was so embarrassed, I was crying. They were great, but I was not letting go of the towel. They would try to make me laugh and take it away for two seconds, I started crying again but we got through it,” Salma said.

Salma went on to share that she feels no ill will towards Antonio or the movie’s director Robert Rodriguez. In fact, they tried to make the situation easier for her. Robert even offered to edit together the small moments that Salma felt comfortable to create the larger scene. In the end, the scene came together but Salma admits she can’t watch it to this day.

3. Julianna Margulies Says She Had “Traumatic” Incident With Steven Seagal In His Hotel Room

Julianna Margulies was auditioning for her first movie role ever when she says she found herself in an uncomfortable situation with Steven Seagal. She claims that the night before her second audition for 1991’s “Out For Justice,” Steven invited her and a female casting director into his bedroom to talk more about Julianna’s character, a “hooker with a heart of gold.”

“He asked me to come to his hotel room — at 10 o’clock at night. And then read my palm and told me that he was a healer and that I had ‘weak kidneys.’ I think that was his schtick with women. He would tell them he is a healer,” Julianna said on the show.

And not only did the casting director not show up, but Julianna says that she discovered a gun underneath one of the cushions of the couch, which Steven proceeded to hold for the majority of their conversation. While several actresses have now accused Steven of sexual harassment and assault, Julianna noted that she was not hurt and got the “courage” to leave after Steven’s healer “shtick.”

“Listen, I’m fine. I got out of the room unscathed. And I wrote about it [in my book] because — well, for several reasons. One, it’s a very funny story. I don’t mean to belittle it in that it wasn’t traumatic because it was. But nothing happened to me. I did not get sexually assaulted,” Julianna said.

4. Elijah Wood Reveals The Secret Dig At Harvey Weinstein Hidden In “Lord of the Rings”

Harvey Weinstein didn’t make it easy to create the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy — and the team behind the film made sure to give the disgraced producer a particularly unflattering nod in film. Harvey’s company Miramax acquired the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece in the mid ’90s and invested a few million dollars into the project, but after a while it became clear that the film was not going to be made the way Peter Jackson envisioned. When he asked Miramax for permission to shop it elsewhere, the company gave him only a weekend to talk to other studios and he had to get whoever wanted it to also agree to make all three films at once.

Thankfully, New Line Cinema agreed to take the risk and when it was finally filmed, Peter and his team decided to give one final F.U. to Miramax by way of modeling an evil orc after Harvey.

“It’s funny, this was recently spoken about because Dom [Monaghan, who played Merry] and Bill [Boyd, who played Pippin] have a podcast, ‘The Friendship Onion.’ They were talking to Sean Astin [who played Samwise] about his first memory of getting to New Zealand. He had seen these orc masks. And one of the orc masks — and I remember this vividly — was designed to look like Harvey Weinstein as a sort of a f— you,” Elijah revealed.

5. Gwyneth Paltrow Almost Died Giving Birth To Apple

Gwyneth Paltrow had a near death experience during her first pregnancy. While discussing the expectations surrounding women’s bodies before and after birth, Gwyneth revealed that she almost died while giving birth to her daughter Apple. Although she didn’t go into detail about the experience, it was clearly difficult to deal with.

“I had two caesareans [C-sections]. My daughter was an emergency [C-section], it was crazy, we almost died. It was, like, not good. Anyway, there’s a big scar across your body and you’re like, ‘Oh wow, that didn’t use to be there.’ And it’s not that it’s bad or you want to judge it but you’re just like, ‘Oh my God,’” Gwyneth said on the podcast.

6. Bradley Cooper Was Held at Knifepoint While On The Subway In New York City

Bradley Cooper had a close encounter with an armed assailant while riding the subway in New York City. The actor explained that he was on his way to pick up his daughter in the middle of the day when he was approached by a man with a knife.

“I used to walk around New York City all the time with these on,” he said referencing his AirPods. “I realized I had gotten way, way too comfortable in the city. My guard was down…I felt somebody coming up. I thought, ‘Oh they want to take a photo,’ or something. As I turned, I’m up against the post like it’s ‘The French Connection’ or some s—, and I turned. I looked down and I see a knife.”

He added that the man, who was holding a 3-inch blade with a wooden handle, appeared to be surprisingly young. Despite knowing the best move would have been to stay put, he decided to make a run for it and was even able to get a picture of the man when he turned a corner.

“I just started booking. Just started running. Jumped over the turnstile, hid around the white, tiled foyer entrance to the subway, took my phone out. He jumped over, running away and I took a photo of him. Then I chased him up the stairs. He started running up 7th Avenue. I took two more photographs of him,” Bradley shared.

When he reached street level, he found two police officers who made sure he was okay and viewed the photos Bradley had taken. He didn’t note if anything happened to the criminal but Bradley did end up getting back on the subway to pick up his daughter.

7. Brooke Shields Says Her Teenage Interview With Barbara Walters Was “Practically Criminal”

Brooke Shields was only 15-years-old when she sat down with Barbara Walters for an in depth interview amid the controversy surrounding her Calvin Klein campaign. In the infamous ad, Brooke modeled the brand’s jeans while reciting various catchphrases, including the line, “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” During the interview, Brooke was invasively questioned about not only the advertisement, but also her sexual history, her “measurements” and how her mother “took her childhood.”

Looking back on the interview, Brooke condemned the media for over-sexualizing her and called out Barbara for her inappropriate line of questioning.

“It’s practically criminal. It’s not journalism,” Brooke said on the podcast.