From competition to couple: 'Destination X' stars come out, announce they're dating
Destination X, hosted by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, features a group of contestants who are transported around Europe while blindfolded. They have to use clues to guess where they are, and the person whose guess is farthest from the correct answer is eliminated.
Even though the game was every person for themself, Bross and Fitzgerald teamed up on the show's first challenge after bonding over both living in Texas.
However, when Fitzgerald won an advantage and almost saved fellow contestant Biggy instead of Bross, the two lost trust in each other. By the time Fitzgerald was eliminated last week and Bross this week, they were back in an alliance, but were nothing more than friends.
Destination X stars Ally Bross and Mack Fitzgerald smiling at each other on the show.Michael Krosny/NBC
In her intro on the show, Bross says she came into the game hoping to find Mr. Right. She was always looking for a husband, but she never got past a certain point when dating men.
She had gone on dates with two girls she "kind of had crushes on," but when they weren't compatible, she assumed she must be straight.
"But then I had so many relationships with guys where I just didn't feel that we could relate on an intellectual or emotional level. It almost was like, something's off here," she says. "And I only ever really wanted to be in relationships with men who I constantly needed to get approval from. It was like I was constantly working to be their idea of what a good girlfriend should be."
"And yeah, every guy I met I did think was my husband," she says. "And maybe it was so easy to let go of all my husbands because I was going to have a wife."
For a while, Ally did think she might've found Mr. Right when she began a showmance with contestant Shayne Cureton, and the two even continued dating for a short time after the show.
Destination X stars Ally Bross and Shayne Cureton.Andrea Pattaro/NBC
After being on Destination X, Bross and Fitzgerald started hanging out simply because they lived eight minutes from each other in Austin, Texas.
"I had found her Destination X water bottle on the bus, and I nabbed it. And I was like, 'I'm going to bring it back to her.' So I brought it back to her, and then we started hanging out a lot," Bross says.
That first hangout included spending time eating crab rangoon and watching lesbian singer Chappell Roan's performances. Fitzgerald jokes that the sapphic pop "kind of put the seeds in" for their blossoming romance.
Bross didn't fully realize her feelings for Fitzgerald until the two went on a trip together for a YouTube series they started together called Where the F Are We?. The series, like Destination X, features the pair taking each other on blindfolded journeys where they must guess their location.
Ally Bross and Mack Fitzgerald on dates.Ally Bross and Mack Fitzgerald (PROVIDED)
On a trip to Finland, Bross says, her feelings for Fitzgerald solidified.
"While we were in Finland, we were staying in this tiny little cabin that had just these two little twin beds. And I don't know if it's in the Finnish air or something, but I just suddenly had such a big crush on Mack," she says. "I was feeling like, 'Wait, this is way bigger than what it was before.' Before I knew I really wanted Mack to like me, I really wanted her around all the time. I was sad when she would leave my house. But it was really in Finland where I realized I had feelings for her."
Bross reveals that it was a drunk airplane ride where those feelings were revealed.
The two were separately filming content for their YouTube videos when she filmed herself "basically admitting my feelings for her" on camera.
Bross had planned not to say anything, but when the pair started going through their videos together, her confession came up."I was so exposed," Bross says. "She watched it, and I was like, 'Oh my God, it's so embarrassing."
Before dating Bross, Fitzgerald always identified as asexual and didn't believe in love. It wasn't until she thought about her feelings for Bross that she changed her mind.
Ally Bross and Mack Fitzgerald kissing and at a state fair.[Ally Bross and Mack Fitzgerald] (PROVIDED)
"Once that was put on my radar, then I kind of had to ask myself what all of those little butterfly feelings were and kind of confront that," Fitzgerald says. "Then it was like, 'Oh, this is what people are talking about, this is the butterflies.'"
"And then it was all of a sudden all I could think about was Ally and all I wanted to do was talk to Ally," she says.
However, before they did anything, Bross had to break up with Cureton. She flew to Indiana to break up with him, then went to her grandparents' for Thanksgiving before returning to Austin and Fitzgerald.
As soon as she did, Fitzgerald kissed her ("it was very smooth, I'll say," she brags).
"And then I felt like everything inside of me exploded in a way that had never happened when I'd ever kissed anybody," Fitzgerald says. "And so then I was just like, 'Holy shit, this is what people are talking about. Fireworks and butterflies and... I don't know.' I still can't stop thinking about it even though we're together."
Fitzgerald says that for most of her life, she thought everybody was "making up being in love." She even said that "coming home and having somebody be there" was her "absolute worst nightmare."
"And then it's just like after even just one kiss, really, I was like, 'Oh, I was wrong.' Love is real. It's really good. It feels amazing. I don't want her to ever leave." Once they started dating, they immersed themselves in sapphic culture, watching things like The L Word, Blue is the Warmest Color, and The Ultimatum: Queer Love. They bought carabiners in every color and love to share clothes.
They also took part in another long-held lesbian tradition: Uhauling.
"I kissed her and never left her apartment," Fitzgerald jokes.
"Yes, she never left. And now I live in her house," Bross adds.
Ally Bross and Mack Fitzgerald kissing and hugging in front of a forest.[Amanda Kioko] (PROVIDED)
Bross says that coming out to her family and friends was "emotional," but happened quickly for her.
She has a gay great uncle who has been with his husband since before she was born, so Bross knew her extended family would be accepting, but she was still nervous.
"I'm the only granddaughter, and I didn't really know what everyone was going to say," she reveals. "My family has met a plethora of boyfriends that I said were going to be my husband. And they would always be so shocked when I would break up with a really nice one."
Bross came out to her family over a long text. Her father said he knew how open-minded she is, and he wasn't surprised. Her mother was more surprised, but "not in a negative way," Bross says.
"All of my friends were like, 'This makes sense. Duh, you're bi or queer or pan or whatever. We've all known this about you.' I was like, 'Really? Because I didn't know that. This is news to me!"
"Coming out in general, no matter how you think people are going to react to it, it's scary. It feels so personal," Bross says. "And I was still coming to terms with the reality of it myself and facing a lot of comphet and things that I didn't really know how to explain until I did a bunch of research. Like, why am I feeling like this, you know? So it was even scary just internally. Once I say this to my family, this is real, right? And the whole world tells you to be one way. And yeah, it's scary to think that maybe you're a different way. But now it's the most beautiful thing in the world."
Fitzgerald says that before this relationship, she never felt like she "was really attracted to anybody else." She'd get crushes on guys, but when they started dating, she'd just want to be best friends.
"And then girls, I never felt attracted to, which is why I landed on asexual, somewhere around that spectrum," she says. "But then this is obviously not asexual, and so I understand that there's a spectrum."
"I don't really care to figure it out because I know how I feel currently," she adds. "And hopefully this is forever, so it's not like I'm going to need to figure that out. But yeah, I'm happy with just being in love with Ally and that being the whole story."
While Bross and Fitzgerald haven't publicly discussed their relationship before, some fans online have begun to suspect they might be more than just friends.
Ally Bross and Mack Fitzgerald looking lovingly at each other.[Ally Bross and Mack Fitzgerald] (PROVIDED)
Fitzgerald says it feels "cool" to see people rooting for them, even if it's just "12 people on Reddit." It encourages her to see that the fans "are already accepting and supportive and excited about this."
Bross understands where the fans are coming from. As soon as she realized her feelings for Fitzgerald, she was starving for sapphic representation, including "real-life examples of people who have maybe experienced what I feel like I'm experiencing."
"So when we have young girls who are in high school DMing us on Instagram like, 'Is it true? Are you a girl kisser? Are you and Mack together?' It does make me really happy. Because even just the last eight months, anytime there's any mention of a queer couple, we're like, 'We got to watch that. We're watching that. I'm tuned in."
Bross says that being part of the queer community has "been really liberating."
Next up, the couple is going on a trip to Europe. When they get back, they're looking forward to attending Austin Pride and visiting some of their Destination X friends. They also have trips to Canada, Tokyo, and all around Asia planned.
They'd love to go on another reality show, this time as a couple.
"I have this fantasy pipe dream in my head that we could both go on Traitors at the same time," Bross says. "There was a couple (Marcus Jordan and Larsa Pippen on Season 2), so come on, NBC, I know you're listening!"
This article originally appeared on Out: From competition to couple: 'Destination X' stars come out, announce they're dating
RELATED
Top 10 LGBTQ+ beach towns perfect for Pride and summer fun
This LGBTQ+ Family Went Swimming with Whale Sharks
Solve the daily Crossword
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC Sports
7 hours ago
- NBC Sports
PFT Live returns for another season on Monday
We're back. baby. On Monday, the six-week hiatus is over. PFT Live returns. Yeah, I did 28 episodes of #PFTPM during the 'break.' But that was solo. Chris Simms returns for the full, two-hour adventure. We'll be in our usual habitats on Monday and Tuesday. For Wednesday and Thursday, we'll be in Canton, in advance of NBC's coverage of the Hall of Fame game. PFT Live has been around, in one form or another, since January 2011. The two-hour, Simms-as-the-primary-co-host version enters its ninth season. Our primary locations are Peacock (live and on-demand) and SiriusXM 85. Also, the show will be televised on SkySports Mix on Monday at 6:00 p.m. UK/Ireland time. (I'm not sue how long that will last. I am sure I'll be asked that question many times in the coming days and weeks via email.) Beyond the primary channels for consuming the show, every episode is available as a podcast, and select clips land on YouTube and/or as videos tied to PFT posts. Thanks for reading the content here. Thanks for taking in the #PFTPM non-vacation vacation content. And thanks for checking us out as we return with PFT Live on Monday morning.
Los Angeles Times
8 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Tom Lehrer, musical satirist, dies at 97
Tom Lehrer, an acerbic songwriter and Harvard-trained mathematician who rose to fame in the 1950s and '60s by pillorying the sensibilities of the day, has died at age 97. Lehrer died at his home in Cambridge, Mass., on Saturday. His death was confirmed by friends on Facebook. No cause of death was given. The bespectacled Lehrer began performing on college campuses and clubs across the country in the 1950s, playing the piano and singing darkly comedic numbers that he penned on topics such as racial conflict, the Catholic Church and militarism, earning him the sobriquet of 'musical nerd god.' In 'National Brotherhood Week,' which lampooned the brief interlude of imposed tolerance celebrated annually from the 1930s through the early 2000s he wrote: Oh, the white folks hate the black folksand the black folks hate the white folks,to hate all but the right folks is an old established rule …But during National Brotherhood Week (National Brotherhood Week),Lena Horne and Sheriff Clark are dancing cheek to fun to eulogizeThe people you despise,As long as you don't let 'em into your school. Lehrer's songs also took aim at then-taboo subjects such as sexuality, pornography and addiction. In 1953, his self-released album 'Songs of Tom Lehrer' became an underground hit. Produced for $40 and promoted by word of mouth, the cover image was of Lehrer in hell playing piano as the devil. It eventually sold an estimated 500,000 copies and sparked demand for concert performances around the world. During the mid-1960s, Lehrer contributed several songs to the satirical NBC news show 'That Was the Week That Was,' hosted by David Frost. The show inspired Lehrer's third album, 'That Was the Year That Was.' Released in 1965, it reached the 18th spot on American music charts. On the occasion of his 90th birthday in 2018, Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik wrote that Lehrer's lyrics were written 'with the facility of William S. Gilbert and tunes that evoked the felicity of Sir Arthur Sullivan. Lehrer's work bounced the absurdities and paranoias of that period back at us, in rhymed couplets and a bouncy piano beat.' Thomas Andrew Lehrer was born in New York City on April 9, 1928, to a middle-class family. His father James Lehrer was a successful necktie manufacturer. As a child he took piano lessons but preferred Broadway show tunes — with a particular affection for the works of Gilbert and Sullivan — to the classics. After entering Harvard University at age 15, his penchant for sardonic humor surfaced in his parody song 'Fight Fiercely Harvard,' which challenged the football team's reputation for toughness and earned him a measure of renown on campus. For a time he followed a dual track, music and academia, though he never completed the PhD thesis he began while pursuing doctoral studies at Harvard and Columbia University. After a two-year break between 1955 and 1957 when he served in the Army, Lehrer once again performed concerts across the U.S., Canada and Europe. In a 1959 Time article, the magazine described Lehrer and fellow comedians Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl as the symbols of a new 'sick' comedy. 'What the sickniks dispense is partly social criticism liberally laced with cyanide, partly a Charles Addams kind of jolly ghoulishness, and partly a personal and highly disturbing hostility toward all the world.' Lehrer's work opened the door for generations of musical satirists including Randy Newman and 'Weird Al' Yankovic and exerted an influence on everything from the musical skits of 'Saturday Night Live' to the mockumentary 'This Is Spinal Tap.' 'He set the bar for me — and provided an example of how a nerdy kid with a weird sense of humor could find his way in the world,' Yankovic once said of Lehrer. 'Done right, social criticism set to a catchy tune always makes politics easier to digest,' Lizz Winstead, co-creator of 'The Daily Show,' told Buzzfeed in an article examining Lehrer's influence on modern satirical comedy. But Lehrer was first and foremost an academic, over the course of his career teaching math and musical theater at Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and UC Santa Cruz and working for a time at the Atomic Energy Commission. He viewed entertainment largely as a sideline, and by the late 1960s had grown weary of life in the public eye. After several pauses to focus on his academic pursuits, he stepped off the stage in 1967 following a concert in Copenhagen. In 1971, he wrote songs for the PBS children's series 'The Electric Company.' His last turn in the spotlight was a year later. After performing at a presidential campaign rally for the Democratic nominee, South Dakota Sen. George S. McGovern, he gave up performing for good. Lehrer explained his retreat from the stage by saying that 'political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.' In an interview with the New York Times, he elaborated: 'The Vietnam War is what changed it. Everybody got earnest. My purpose was to make people laugh and not applaud. If the audience applauds, they're just showing they agree with me.' But audiences were not through with Lehrer. After nearly a decade in self-imposed exile, Lehrer became a hit once again in the early 1980s when Cameron Mackintosh, the British theatrical producer, created 'Tomfoolery,' a revue of Lehrer's songs that opened in London's West End before going to to play New York, Washington, Dublin and other cities. Despite the public acclaim, Lehrer maintained a fiercely private life. He never married nor did he have children. In 2020, Lehrer announced through his website that he was making all of the lyrics he wrote available to download for free without further permission, whether or not they were published or retained a copyright. Two years later he went further in relinquishing his rights, saying: 'In short, I no longer retain any rights to any of my songs. So help yourselves, and don't send me any money.'
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
British Comic Nish Kumar on How YouTube Helped Him Achieve Success Outside of the U.K.
British comic and podcast host Nish Kumar knows the value of Netflix specials for A-listers like Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle. But he sees emerging comedians like himself with slow-burn careers often getting their biggest boost globally from YouTube after years playing clubs big and small back home. 'I'm primarily known in North America because of a British show called Taskmaster, which people outside the UK watch on YouTube,' Kumar told The Hollywood Reporter while performing at the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'In the Land of Arto': Camille Cottin, Zar Amir Ebrahimi Journey Into Armenia and Its Past (Exclusive Clips) Why Stand-up Legend George Wallace Can't Get Off the Stage After 49 Years in Comedy: "I'm Living My Dream" Former Obama Speechwriter Jon Lovett on How Trump Is Funny Like a "Clown With a Gun" Re-runs of Taskmaster, a British comedy panel game show that included Kumar, have been viewed on YouTube as creator-driven online platforms increasingly disrupt the traditional media landscape, and podcasts like Crooked Media's Pod Save the UK, which Kumar co-hosts with cultural journalist Coco Khan, transform the audio space. The podcast gig followed Kumar appearing on stage at a live London comedy show produced by Crooked Media, which was followed by that proverbial chance call from Hollywood. Soon after he walked off stage, he got a call from Los Angeles asking if he could be at a meeting in London in 20 minutes. 'And I was like, I'm already there. I'm literally in the audience. So I got pulled out of the crowd like Courteney Cox in the 'Dancing in the Dark' video,' Kumar recalled. Later, Crooked Media asked if he'd be interested in launching and hosting a British show, which he did. Kumar's Pod Save the UK offers a weekly fix on U.K. politics. That means Kumar and co-host Khan got to cover the downfall of British prime minister Boris Johnson over his rule-breaking parties in No. 10 during the COVID-19 pandemic. 'In terms of historic failures of leadership, I think Johnson's conduct in the pandemic is one of those things that people will study for years,' Kumar says. But while the U.K.'s Conservative Party sent Johnson packing, Kumar has a take on why Donald Trump, also judged by many as a political buffoon whose erratic style endears him to followers, was restored to the White House for a second term. 'Trump has killed the broad church in the Republican Party. It's no longer a political party. It's a delivery system for a single man and that's a huge problem,' he insists. As Nigel Farage, a protégé of Trump, challenges Britain's current Labor government in the polls, Kumar doesn't look forward to his Reform UK party coming to power to reinvigorate his political comedy. 'The thing with (Farage) and Trump is there is a shamelessness. It actually makes it harder to make fun of them. Politicians in theory are supposed to conduct themselves with a level of dignity that means there's something to prick for principles. Farage and Trump are congenitally shameless men,' Kumar said. The Just For Laughs comedy festival continues through Sunday. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Harvey Weinstein's "Jane Doe 1" Victim Reveals Identity: "I'm Tired of Hiding" 'Awards Chatter' Podcast: 'Sopranos' Creator David Chase Finally Reveals What Happened to Tony (Exclusive) Solve the daily Crossword
