Braun Strowman was the first guest on a brand new season of Lilian Garcia's Chasing Glory podcast, available on the free version of the WWE Network every Monday. However, don't expect Strowman to talk about who he wants to wrestle or what his favorite matches were throughout his career. Chasing Glory is a different kind of podcast, and in an exclusive interview with CBR, Garcia revealed how she gets her WWE guests to spill their secrets.
"Monday's guest is Braun Strowman, and I'm very excited that he's kicking this off on the WWE Network," Garcia told CBR. "I really want to dive in deeper. And that's exactly what we did. And he said, 'I carried that story for so many years. And it weighed on me like this family secret or something.' And he goes, 'God, it was so good to get it out and then get the response from people.' That's what the show has been."
Since 2017, Garcia has interviewed everyone from Mickie James and Brie Bella to Paige. She said these women told her things she never knew, things that shocked her and they opened up completely. That isn't easy, but Garcia noted that her guests trust her. With Paige, the interview came after the former WWE superstar went through severe turmoil in her personal life that almost ended her career. Paige told Garcia there were several requests for interviews, but she trusted Garcia.
"I think that they're very open with me because they do know that I'm not there to exploit them. I'm not trying to get clickbait. I'm not trying to just get downloads," Garcia said. "This is really trying to use their stories as a way to impact the world so that people can know they are not alone."
Garcia said she understands people who have problems they encounter over their lives, and she knows it is important to tell their stories. She mentioned how she suffered from bulimia for years and was also bullied. Garcia got through all that, and she said it still impacts her to this day.
"I mean, we've literally gotten letters of this episode saved my life. And so that's been very rewarding for me," Garcia concluded. "It's incredible when you get these letters and the tears that you can just feel through the comments, and people coming out at my signings that would step up to me and that have tears in their eyes, they're like, 'You have no idea. You have no idea what your show is done for me.' That's what keeps me going."
Lilian Garcia hosts her Chasing Glory podcast every Monday on WWE Network, which is available on all major podcast platforms.