As the bodegahive still reels from the Desus & Mero split, more details are surfacing about the end of the comedy duo’s partnership.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Kid Mero, real name Joel Martinez, did an interview with the Basic! podcast where he shed some light on the end of the twosome’s Showtime talk show, as well as their popular Bodega Boys podcast.
He indicated that the pair had been working toward a separation for more than a year and have been pitching individual projects.
“Desus and I had a discussion, and we had been pursuing separate interests for over a year before the show came to an end,” Mero said. “That conversation solidified for us in signing overall agreements that recognized our intent to [break out] independent of one another. So as far back as June of last year, we were both pitching or looking to join existing projects as individuals. … It was a strategy.”
In explaining the situation, Mero has relationship advice that applies to all aspects of life. He also hints that the split was amicable and the duo could find their way back to one another at some point.
“If you have to force a partnership that’s coming to a natural end, it’s not going to be the same,” he said. “Knowing that, we had a conversation. We had a sit-down and we were talking about it more than a year ago. The intent was to go our separate ways in a way that was supportive of each other.”
Even though Mero says this split was in the making for more than a year, fans were still shocked when Showtime announced the show wouldn’t return for a new season. Among the sad reactions to the news was Refinery 29’s Kathleen Newman-Bremang tweeting a video of the subway flooding with the message, “streets* weeping for desus & mero, it’s me, I am streets.”
While I’m happy this is what they both wanted, I still have a giant hole in my late-night TV schedule, as there’s no replacing the special energy Desus & Mero bring.