Listen up, darlings—Ms. Rizzlerina is here to spill the tea and shine bright like that disco ball in your dreams! And today, we’re twirling back in time—way back to 1996, where we find none other than the über-dashing Don Draper-to-be, Jon Hamm, not brooding in a smoky ad agency, but nervously giggling on a low-budget dating show set. Oh yes, sugarplums—it happened. And it’s everything.
Long before he won our hearts as the slick, emotionally-complicated heartthrob in Mad Men, Jon Hamm was just a 25-year-old dreamboat with a floppy haircut and a high hope for romance. Dressed in a denim-on-denim fantasy straight out of a mall catalogue and serving up “Midwestern boy-next-door who orders extra ranch” energy, Hamm appeared on a short-lived dating show called The Big Date. And let me tell you, the footage is like a time capsule buried at the bottom of your Lisa Frank locker—equal parts awkward and iconic.
Now here’s the tea, sweet cheeks—the man who would one day smolder at the Emmys was out-sizzled and out-flirted by a guy named…wait for it… Marc. Yes, MARC. While one might assume Jon had this in the bag with his 6’2” of future-Hollywood glory, he served up a date pitch that will go down in cheesy game show history: a night of “fabulous food, fabulous conversation, and a fabulous foot massage.” Darling, *fabulous* must’ve been his word of the week, because he dropped it like it was hot—three times in one sentence. My glittery heart!
But the real party? The girl—Mary Carter—chose someone else. That’s right. Hamm? Swerved. Ghosted. Benched before ghosting was even a buzzword. And I—your humble gossip goddess—have to ask: Miss Mary, girl, HOW are you doing?! Because imagine turning down Jon Hamm before he became JON. HAMM. You could’ve been holding hands on premiere carpets, sipping martinis lakeside in Lake Como. But hey, hindsight is 20/20, and acrylic nails are forever.
What’s truly iconic is how unbothered Hamm seems in the clip—charmingly awkward, working it like a future star and giving zero cares that his proposal for love and massage oils went unaccepted. We love a resilient king! And let’s be honest, babes—who among us hasn’t tanked a date or two? It’s the comeback that counts, and Jon came back on a chariot of charisma (and an army of ad execs).
Thanks to the beautiful chaotic magic of the internet, this vintage gem is making the viral rounds once more, with fans swooning, memeing, and LOL-ing over the ‘Hamm before the Ham-meal.’ And we, my dazzling gossip fam, are eating it UP.
So here’s your call to glittery action: watch the clip, grab a friend, and toast to the glow-up of the decade. Have your own bad-date-gone-wrong story? Drop it in the comments and let’s build each other up like the queens (and kings) we are.
Until next time—keep your nails shiny, your shade sharp, and your gossip game strong. As always…
Stay fabulous, and let the gossip roll!
—Ms. Rizzlerina 💋✨
