*Thursday May 13, 2021

The Ellen DeGeneres intro music comes on and everyone in the audience cheers. Looking around, the majority of the audience is teen girls. After a few moments, we hear the announcer say “And here she is now: Ellen DeGeneres!” Ellen comes out and the audience gets louder and rises. After they quiet down enough she says “Thank you very much! Thanks for being here, everybody.” Everyone sits down.

“Now as all of you know, this is not a normal episode of this show that we’re doing today. The whole hour long we are going to be talking with a very young New York Times best-selling author, fresh out of college, whose book called Lemons: The Pivotal Year has been blowing up all over the country! That’s right we are spending our whole show with the one and only Sammie Winters!” The audience erupts with cheers.

“This audience is extra special as well because we’ve only invited people who have read Sammie’s book, so give yourselves a hand!” Again, the audience cheers. “I am going to sit down and have a chat with Sammie about her book and answer the big question everyone has been asking since the book’s publishing: Why the heck is the story’s main title, Lemons?!” That receives laughs from the crowd.

“There will be surprises thrown in along the way and I’m sure we’ll all have a great time. Now let’s get this thing started. Here she is, the lovely, young, and talented Sammie Winters!” Ellen goes to the seats and Sammie enters receiving an uproar of cheering from the audience. She goes to Ellen and they hug before sitting down. “Hi, Sammie! How are you doing today?” she asks her. “Hi, Ellen. I’m doing great, thank you.” she says smiling.

“Good. So how does it feel to be a best-selling author when you’re only 23 years young?” Ellen asks. “It feels unbelievable. I never thought that this book would end up being so successful. I mean all I did was write about what happened in me and my friends’ lives from May 2015 to May 2016.” Sammie answers.

“Yeah well an awful lot happened to you and your friends during that time and a few of them are famous now so it’s interesting to hear their stories of how they got there from their points of view.” Ellen comments. “Yeah I wanted to tell the different stories from their own perspectives because I knew they would seem more real than if I tried to write from what they told me.” she replies.

“That makes a lot of sense. Okay so how did you get started writing? Did you go to school for it?” Ellen questions. “Yes I did, I went to Knox College in my hometown of Chicago and majored in creative writing. For my big final project I wrote a rough, more condensed version of Lemons and my teachers loved it so much that they wanted me to write a more detailed version and have it proofread before sending it off to some publishers.” she says.

“Wow, well obviously that ended up working out for you. So are you still dating Luke from high school?” Ellen asks curiously. “No, we were together for a whole 6 months, but broke up before we went our separate ways to college. He went to school in California and he said that long distance would be too hard. Seeing what Hannah and Susan went through, I didn’t object so now he and I just good friends.” Sammie says.

“Okay, fair enough. Now, your book is popular mostly with teenagers. Is that the demographic you intended to appeal to?” Ellen asks. “Absolutely, that was my target from the beginning. Throughout the book, there are multiple lessons to be learned and I think that people who are the age we were in that year or younger can place themselves in one or more of our situations; long distance relationships, receiving hate online, or simply just being brave and taking chances when opportunities present themselves.” Sammie answers.

“Yeah I saw those themes in here when I read it. There also seemed to be a classic love story theme thrown in with Mackenzie O’Brien and Niall Horan’s (forgive me for using this cliché) ‘forbidden love.’” The crowd shouts and hollers at the mention of their names.

“Yes, but oddly enough everything is true about their relationship, as cliché as it sounds. I think what people might forget along the way through reading this book is that it is a nonfiction work. Everything that happens in it is 100% true and all of the characters are real people who I personally know. Harry and Hannah are a real life example of a rare long distance relationship that worked in the end, despite what people say about that part being false.” Sammie defends.

“Yes! That is something I had to keep telling myself when I would say out loud ‘Wait, that didn’t really happen!’ But it really did, all of it. Okay, we’re going to take a short break, but when we come back, we have a surprise for our audience as well as Sammie, so stay tuned.” The audience applauds as Sammie gets a very confused look on her face.

After commercial…

“Welcome back everyone, I’m here with author Sammie Winters talking about her book Lemons: The Pivotal Year. As for the surprise I mentioned before break, Sammie knows this already but all of you and thousands of other readers have been very curious as to what happened to all the girls/couples after the book ended. So as a treat for you, I’m going to do a Q & A to get all your questions answered!” The audience applauds and cheers.

“Here’s the part that not even Sammie knows about: Hannah Spencer, Emily Taylor, Mackenzie O’Brien, and Susan Carter are all here today to answer the questions personally!!” The audience goes crazy and Sammie looks utterly stunned. “Oh my gosh you’re not serious!” Sammie says covering her mouth. “Oh yes I am, let’s bring ‘em out. Ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome Sammie’s best friends Hannah, Emily, Mackenzie, and Susan!”

The four girls come out and run to Sammie. They all get in a group hug and the audiences goes “Aw” as they see that Sammie is crying. They all sit down in this order: Mackenzie, Emily, Hannah, Susan, Sammie. Once the audience calms down again Ellen speaks up. “So Sammie, you’re crying. …How long has it been since you’ve seen these ladies?” Sammie wipes her eyes and says “Months. That’s all I can say. It feels like forever and I can’t believe we’re all together again.” Susan hugs her and the other girls reach over to try and touch her in some way.

“Okay, let’s jump right into it. We’ll start with Miss Hannah Spencer. Now for those of you who don’t know, Hannah is now a famous actor in New York on Broadway.” That receives some applause. “Did you start on Broadway right after college?” Hannah says “I did not start on Broadway actually. After college I did audition for Broadway shows but didn’t have much luck so I did some Off-Broadway productions first, and then eventually got cast on Broadway.”

“Okay so you started smaller and worked your way up to the big time. I like it. All right the main question about you that came up is how you and Harry are doing and what happened with you after you two got back together.” Hannah smiles and blushes a little.

“Harry and I are doing great. After my senior year at AMDA Harry ended up surprising me by telling me he had changed his field of study to play direction from film direction and that he was going to go to NYU for two years. So once he moved here, he and I looked around and bought a place together and today we’re still living together in New York.” There is applause and Ellen says “Yes and I believe Harry is here today in the audience, right?” The audience gets louder and Harry stands up and waves to everyone.

Before sitting down he motions for a crew member with a microphone to him and says into it, “Hannah conveniently left this part out because she wanted me to announce it but you all should be the first to know that just last week, she and I got ourselves engaged.” The audience roars and the girls all hug Hannah as she shows off her ring for the first time. “Wow, what a rock!” Ellen says. Everyone laughs.

“Okay, thanks for that exclusive, Harry. Wow…have you made any plans for when the wedding will be?” “We’re not sure on an exact date yet but we’re planning on it being a year or two from now.” Hannah says. “Awesome, congratulations. Now there’s no other surprises right? You’re not pregnant or anything?” Ellen jokes. “No, no kids yet. One day though.” Hannah says glancing at Harry. He gives her a reassuring smile.

“All right last question. In the beginning of your relationship no one in your family knew that you even met someone in London when you studied abroad. When did you finally tell your family about you and Harry? I mean was it like ‘Hey Mom, hey Dad, so I got this part on Broadway and oh by the way I’ve had a boyfriend for years now and we’re engaged!’” The audience laughs and so does Hannah.

“No, it wasn’t that recent. I told them a few years ago when Harry moved to New York. I figured since he was gonna be living in the same country and state as me, it was safe to tell them about him and they would be more likely to approve.” she says again sneaking a glance at Harry. “Okay, okay. How did they react?” “They were shocked at first that I didn’t tell them a lot sooner but they ultimately were very supportive and they met him when they flew out to see me in a show.”

“Aw that’s so sweet. Okay, that’s about all for Hannah so now moving on to Emily! Everyone here knows that you and Zayn Malik are still together because you two are two of the most famous young adults in not just the country but the world right now. Now, you’re still in Zayn’s band as the pianist and his songwriter, correct?” Ellen asks.

“Yep, nothing at all has changed in that sense. We’re still together and going strong and our group has gained a couple more members since May 2016 as all of you must know.” Emily says indicating the audience.

“That’s right, I’ll get to that in a little bit. Wonderful. I did love reading about you two. It was great to see you get through every obstacle together as a team from the pregnancy thing to the last minute recording, and then hate you received on Twitter. It’s very admirable and I’ll bet it’s a story that many readers look up to.” Ellen comments.

“Exactly. I think our relationship showed that it’s better to have someone to help you through the hard times instead of trying to do it on your own.” Emily says. “Right. Now obviously people have known for a while that ZM stands for Zayn Malik but do you know what made him change his mind and let people know his name finally?” Ellen inquires.

“It became a huge demand from the fans. They were tired of always referring to him by letters instead of a real name and I think Zayn kinda grew out of the whole mysterious phase and just let it be known.” Emily clarifies. “Ah okay, cool. So since May 2016, you and the rest of the band did that California tour mentioned in the book and then after that you went on to do a U.S. tour?”

“Yeah that was really nerve wracking at first but after a while it just became fun to play arenas and have thousands of people singing the lyrics Zayn and I wrote right back to us.” Emily smiles. “I bet that’s a surreal feeling. Now I’m gonna add Mackenzie into this, because now all of you and Zayn’s fans know that you didn’t always used to be a duo especially if they got their hands on this book. So I wanna know the story of how that all came about.” Ellen says to Mackenzie, crossing her legs and leaning in.

Mackenzie laughs and says “I swear every day of my life I’ll have Zayn to thank for my career being so amazing. As you know from the book, Niall and I had to break up otherwise I would lose my label. But after that happened, my career still wasn’t really taking off as fast as it should’ve been and Zayn knew that I really wanted my dream career and Niall so he came up with a foolproof plan.”

“Okay, everybody listen closely, this is where it gets good!” Ellen says comically. Mackenzie laughs again and says “Zayn got the idea of me being in a vocal duo with him and therefore being signed to Columbia Records instead of Capitol. That would also make it possible for Niall and I to date again and being in a duo with Zayn was definitely going to secure my career.”

“I love that story every time you tell it.” Ellen says, “But I believe there’s one piece missing…” “Yes, Niall thought the plan was great but he still wanted to be involved with my career so he asked Zayn and Emily if he could join the band. They agreed and that’s how mine and Zayn’s 5-piece band came to be.” Everyone applauds.

“Fantastic. So besides Niall and Emily, the band is made up of Michael Clifford, Calum Hood, and Ashton Irwin, right?” The sound of screaming teenage girls fills the room. “Yes it is. They’re such talented musicians and now that the 7 of us have been together for a few years we’ve become like a little family.” Emily says. “Now I can tell from the reaction of our audience that those three are probably just as popular as the four of you.” Ellen remarks.

“Definitely. Each of them practically has their own fan club too!” Mackenzie says. “Yeah I can tell!” Ellen says before the audience cheers and screams again. The screens behind the girls show Michael, Calum, and Ashton backstage laughing and the audience gets louder. “In fact, it was a year or two ago when Em and I figured out that they could all sing as well so we started adding them in singing some harmonies in the songs we already wrote and in all of the songs we’ve done since then.” Mackenzie adds.

“I did not know that part. That’s amazing. Okay well when you all aren’t touring or creating songs or interviewing, where do you all live?” Ellen asks. “Kenzie, Zayn, Niall, and I all live in a house together in LA. The boys have a house together too.” Emily says. “Okay sounds fun. Do you guys ever have big parties?” Emily and Mackenzie chuckle. “Not often, and when we do it’s the 7 of us goofing around.” Emily says.

“Oh okay, not too wild then. Mackenzie, how have things been with Niall’s dad since you and his own son left Capitol?” Ellen asks cautiously. “He wasn’t very happy at first but after a while he ended up accepting me into his family and I even went back to Mullingar with Niall and his parents to meet the rest of his family. I guess he finally figured out that I’m not going anywhere.” The audience says “Aw” and applauds.

“So since you and Niall, and Emily and Zayn have been together for years now, do you couples see any engagements in the near future?” Emily and Mackenzie look at each other. “We’ve talked about it once or twice but if we do get engaged it won’t be for a few more years.” Emily says. There is applause and cheers after that news and it gets louder when the screens behind the girls’ seats show Zayn and Niall backstage smiling.

“Okay there’s one last thing that seems to be a mystery to me still. What happened to your album you wrote with Emily in the book that was on iTunes, once you basically hopped aboard the ZM train?” Ellen asks Mackenzie. “It’s still there actually. You can still buy it on iTunes and people have actually requested a few of those songs during a show so we’ll throw a couple into our set sometimes. It kind of forced the boys to learn how to play them as well.” The audience laughs.

“Yeah totally. That’s funny. Okay last question for you two I promise. How often do you get to go back home and see the other girls?” Ellen says apologetically. “If we have a long enough break, we’ll go back home to see our families. Zayn took me to England for…the third time I think a few months ago so he could see his family. He hasn’t seen them often since he moved to the U.S. to start his singing career. But yeah, sometimes we even get to go to New York to see Hannah, Harry, and basically everyone else!” Emily says.

“That’s great. Now that brings me to Susan, but unfortunately we have to go to commercial again so when we come back I’ll be talking to Susan about her career and what’s happened with her since May 2016 along with how she is connected to Zayn and Mackenzie’s band, as well as going back to Sammie to have all of your “Loummie” questions answered and finally, why the title Lemons? Stay with us.” Ellen’s music comes on and the audience applauds as the show goes to commercial.

Notes