The holiday season has officially been served with a massive dose of candid confessions, exclusive revelations, and deeply relatable parenting woes, thanks to the special anniversary episode of Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce. In a spirited, off-the-rails conversation marking the podcast’s one-year “NGLversary,” host Kylie Kelce welcomed the global icon and undisputed King of Christmas, Michael Bublé, for a holiday special that peeled back the layers on both their lives, exposing everything from the chaos of managing four children to a shocking addiction that trumps multiple Grammy Awards.

Kylie Kelce, never one to mince words, anchored the episode by grounding the high-profile interview with unfiltered takes on the true, often messy, realities of family life. Her opening segments quickly established why her show has resonated with “The Real Ones” for a full year, moving effortlessly from celebrations of the Eagles’ Super Bowl win and a growing family to reflections on the show serving as her personal “mom diary.”

The Chaos of the Deadbeat Elf: A Holiday Stress Nightmare

No topic was too sacred, least of all the holiday tradition that brings modern parents to their knees: the Elf on the Shelf. Kelce didn’t just lament the task—she outright declared their family’s elf, Emmy Nemi, a certified “deadbeat.”

“She barely ever moves,” Kelce admitted, describing the sheer exhaustion of trying to keep the myth alive for her children. The Kelce household operates under “bogey condition,” a term coined by her father, where one parent must sneak out in the morning to hastily move the elf because both forgot. The stress of maintaining the charade is palpable, leading to ridiculous on-the-spot lies, such as the famous “Emmy Nemi can’t fly back to the North Pole when it’s raining” excuse.

Kelce’s frustration peaked as she condemned the pressure perpetuated by social media, particularly the elaborate setups seen on TikTok. “I’m so proud of you, but I then have to clean that up,” she quipped, dismissing the idea of having multiple elves, even with four children. Her strong advice to listeners who haven’t started the tradition? “Fucking don’t.” The candor here is deeply refreshing, offering solidarity to every parent struggling to keep up with the relentless, 25-day performance that the “deadbeat elf” demands.

The Cravings Confession: Of Mean Pregnant Ladies and Dumpsters of Whipped Cream

The conversation took a sharp turn into the hormonal trenches of pregnancy with Kelce’s reaction to a viral post detailing a husband’s frantic, insane pizza order for his “very pregnant wife.” The order was a culinary catastrophe—pepperoni, extra cheese, banana peppers, jalapenos, and a half-and-half mix of chicken, mushrooms, onions, and olives—accompanied by a customer note that simply read: “I’m a dude who has a very pregnant wife. I’m done questioning what she wants. I’m scared of her, and honestly, you should be too.”

Kylie’s response was immediate and hysterical solidarity. “Hell yeah, a million times hell yeah,” she exclaimed, admitting that while she was an “aversions person” rather than a “cravings person,” she was a self-confessed “mean pregnant lady.” She looked back with horror at her own behavior while pregnant, noting that she would be mean “just for sport,” and it was a miracle her husband, Jason Kelce, put up with it.

The most visceral detail, however, was her own extreme pregnancy diet. She wasn’t eating bizarre combinations; she was eating an insane quantity of a seemingly innocuous snack: Granny Smith apples and whipped cream. “If we tried to fill a dumpster with the number of apples and cans of whipped cream that I went through, we’d need six dumpsters,” she confessed, detailing a 55-minute round-trip drive just to acquire specific spinach and artichoke dips and a baguette while pregnant with her third daughter, Finn. The raw, funny honesty of these parenting and marriage confessions sets the stage perfectly for the celebrity guest who would soon reveal his own humanizing obsessions.

Michael Bublé’s World: Singing for the Pope and the Secret Country Album

When five-time Grammy winner Michael Bublé finally joined the show, the tone shifted but the candidness remained. He immediately confessed his deep love for all things Christmas, which he finds even more magical now, viewing it “through the eyes of them” (his four children). He spoke about the profound joy of building core memories—making cookies, setting up the tree, and the surreal excitement of heading to Rome to sing Christmas songs for the Pope after his finale on The Voice.

Amidst the festive chatter, Bublé dropped a major, exclusive music bombshell. He revealed that he has secretly recorded a new album that is a “love letter to country music.”

“I have loved country music my whole life,” he confessed, explaining he had never seen it as separate from the Great American Songbook. Working with producer Dan Huff in Nashville, Bublé has created an “old school” interpretation of the genre that is completely authentic to him. He expressed an excitement about this project he’s never felt before, declaring that he doesn’t care if only ten people love it; he feels he has earned the right to make a beautiful record. This pivot to country, a genre so close to his heart, is a significant artistic shift for the world-renowned crooner, promising a deeply personal and heartfelt collection for fans.

The Confession: Trading Five Grammys for a Fantasy Football Trophy

The biggest revelation, however, was not about music, but about sport. When asked about his fantasy football obsession, Bublé’s composure completely cracked, revealing a frantic, competitive, and utterly hilarious level of dedication.

He plays in a staggering nine leagues and, with sincere earnestness, joked he would trade his five Grammy Awards for a fantasy football trophy. Kelce was incredulous, but Bublé stood by it, saying he was “getting emotional” because he had just become the champion of the Larkinada Guillotine League. He thanked his wife, his players, and “God for having my back,” for the victory that was so significant he was having a commemorative t-shirt made with his friends’ heads “cut off” (a guillotine league tradition).

This obsession dictates his family life. Bublé shared that his wife “hates it,” joking that her distaste is an understatement. To free up his Sunday mornings for the 10:00 AM game start times—a necessity for a manager who needs to “bring the good vibes” to his team—they now go to church on Saturday evenings. His self-perception as a “manager of a very, very successful sports franchise” while Kylie Kelce laughed hysterically underscored the absolute, consuming nature of the obsession. The entire segment was a masterclass in the humanizing absurdity of celebrity life, offering a shocking, relatable truth beneath the polished veneer of the global star.

Fatherhood, Fame, and the Power of the Moment

Moving from the ridiculous to the profound, the conversation turned to fatherhood, with both parents of four commiserating over the transition from “man-to-man coverage” with one child to the “chaos” of “zone coverage” with three and four.

Bublé shared the best piece of fatherhood advice he ever received from his dad: “Partner, the days are long and the years are short.” He reflected on the profound truth of this, realizing how fast the time goes and the importance of creating those memories.

He closed the interview by recounting the true story behind one of his most viral concert moments. On stage in front of 25,000 people, a mother was aggressively screaming at him to bring her son up to sing. Bublé, caught in the middle of a huge, choreographed show, felt a full-blown panic attack: he was terrified the kid would “suck” and be ruined by the moment. The profound relief that washed over him when the boy, indeed, sang beautifully was caught on camera, an authentic moment of human empathy and anxiety that resonated worldwide.

The anniversary episode of Not Gonna Lie succeeded by delivering a perfect blend of high-profile entertainment and intensely grounded reality. From the hilarious stress of a “deadbeat elf” and pregnant rage to the stunning reveal of a country music pivot and a Grammy-trading, church-skipping fantasy football obsession, Kylie Kelce and Michael Bublé proved that being a “real one” means being unafraid to expose the beautifully messy truth. This is the kind of deeply emotional, wildly shareable content that will keep the Not Gonna Lie conversation sparking for another year.