"...it's the holidays. A little sweetness goes a long way. So give somebody a kiss, girl."
For Justin Sylvester, that "kiss" can go one of two ways (or honestly, both): an actual smooch or a Hershey's chocolate Kiss — the kind we all grew up seeing in the "Holiday Bells" commercial.
Now, 35 years after the iconic ad first debuted, Hershey's Kisses is celebrating its milestone season with a fresh spin, and Justin is front and center. The TV host teamed up with the No. 1 holiday candy to help usher in the festivities, bringing his signature charm to a tradition that's practically baked into American holiday culture.
And while he's bringing a little extra sweetness to the holidays, Justin is also stepping into something with a whole lot more spice. His newest venture, Reality Hot Seat (now streaming on Peacock), blends NFL drama with reality-TV messiness — a mix that feels oddly symbiotic these days, with sports and pop culture feeding each other in real-time. See: Ciara and Russell, Taylor and Travis, Simone and Jonathan.
"So, Peacock, NBC Sports, and the NFL had this great idea to merge the two [worlds], and that's Reality Hot Seat," the podcaster told iHeartRadio in an exclusive interview. "We're gonna talk about the drama, both on the field and off."
But if Reality Hot Seat taps into the real-time drama, Yestergays (Justin's podcast) taps into the "juiciest pop culture moments that defined a generation." It's where Justin and his co-host, Blakely Thornton, dive into the culture — past and present — with humor, chaos, and the kind of realness that triggers a serious case of FOMO.
"First of all, every day I go to work with [Blake], he scares me," Syvlester said, half-joking but fully serious, "because I never know what's gonna come out of his mouth. But I think that's what makes it fun for me, because we have come from two different worlds. We have two different perspectives. And I think sometimes people really need to hear that."
He added, "I think right now there are some things going on in the world that we need to talk about, but also some things that happened in the past that we need to talk about too. So Yestergays is the blend of all those things. It's a fun time."
And because Justin stays booked and busy, he's also quietly working on something with his bestie — Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards.
"We have something up our sleeves," he confessed after a little nudging. "We can't tell you what it is yet. But there's something coming [in] 2026."
While Justin wouldn't give much more away, he did offer this: "You'll definitely hear about it. I will say it's very juicy and very dramatic. And, it'll be on a small screen."
And if his latest moves are any indication, the next drop will be something worth savoring — Hershey's Kiss or not.