Is “Nobody Wants This” Based on a True Story? Inside the Creator’s Real-Life Romance That Inspired the Netflix Show
Is “Nobody Wants This” Based on a True Story? Inside the Creator’s Real-Life Romance That Inspired the Netflix Show
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Maggie Kreienberg, Samantha Stutsman, Emily BlackwoodFri, October 23, 2026 at 11:00 AM UTC
Erin Foster and Simon Tikham on January 26, 2026 in Los Angeles, California; Adam Brody and Kristen Bell on ‘Nobody Wants This’Credit: Jon Kopaloff/Getty; Adam Rose/Netflix -
Nobody Wants This creator Erin Foster based the show on her relationship with husband Simon Tikhman
Foster converted to Judaism before their 2019 wedding, reflecting the couple’s different backgrounds
A sunflower-filled first meeting with Foster’s mother inspired Noah’s awkward introduction to Joanne’s parents
Kristen Bell and Adam Brody’s romance in Nobody Wants This may be cinematic, but it’s rooted in a real-life love.
Series creator Erin Foster based the Emmy-nominated Netflix show on her relationship with now-husband Simon Tikhman, who she met at a Los Angeles gym in 2018. The couple married during a New Year’s Eve celebration in 2019 and welcomed their first child, a daughter, in May 2024.
Although Foster isn’t a sex podcaster like Bell’s Joanne — though she eventually launched one with her sister, Sara Foster, in 2021, per Deadline — and Tikhman isn’t a rabbi like Brody’s Noah, the creator has called the series a love letter to her marriage. When season 2 of Nobody Wants This premiered in 2025, she told Deadline that the episodes continued to weave in elements from her own real-life experiences.
“I don’t feel like season 1 was more true to my life, and season 2 is more fiction. They both are really a mix,” she said in June 2025, adding that the second installment reflects how she and Tikhman navigated blending their different lives.
Bell alluded to more of this real-life inspiration while promoting the third installment, which premieres on Oct. 22. “In season 3, Noah and Joanne have already made the commitment to each other,” the actress told Elle in August 2026. “Erin Foster, our creator, did a really great job of pulling from her real life from when she married her husband — and the families didn’t have the same traditions or upbringing — and using those for comedic intersections of the show.”
Here’s everything to know about how Nobody Wants This creator Erin Foster’s real life inspired the show.
Warning: Nobody Wants This spoilers ahead!
Foster converted to Judaism after meeting her husband — but he’s not a rabbi
Erin Foster and Simon Tikhman on January 29, 2024 in West Hollywood, CaliforniaCredit: Anna Webber/Getty
In Nobody Wants This, Joanne and Noah meet at a dinner party, while Foster and Tikhman’s meet-cute happened at a Los Angeles gym.
Although Tikhman isn’t a rabbi — he is a record label owner and talent manager — he was still very much Foster’s muse when developing Noah.
Using her husband as inspiration, Foster set out to create a character who was “emotionally available, chivalrous, old-fashioned ... but also really funny and confident,” she said on an episode of her and her sister’s podcast, The World’s First Podcast.
Most importantly, she said, Noah needed to have “rizz.”
Noah’s family history also mirrors Tikhman’s own upbringing, who is the son of Jewish Russian immigrants.
“We didn’t come from similar backgrounds,” Foster added. “He came from a much more traditional place. I came from a more unconventional place. When we got together we were like, ‘How’s this gonna work?’ ”
Like Joanne and Noah, Foster and Tikhman found a way, with the Favorite Daughter founder converting to Judaism ahead of their New Year’s Eve wedding in 2019.
However, while Joanne and Noah encounter many naysayers about their love — particularly his overbearing mother — that wasn’t true for the real-life couple.
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Foster explained on her podcast, “You have to have conflict for a TV show so you have to create people pushing back against the relationship.”
That sunflower scene really did happen — sort of
Kristen Bell and Adam Brody on ‘Nobody Wants This’Credit: Netflix
In episode 6, aptly titled “The Ick,” an unprepared Noah meets Joanne’s parents for the first time.
In an attempt to make a good impression, he shows up wearing a sport coat over his gym attire and a giant bunch of sunflowers in hand. The situation immediately gives Joanne the ick — meaning, her attraction to Noah turns into disgust — and she’s ready to call it quits right there.
The scene, with Noah’s “giant flower-holding hands and all,” was plucked from Foster and her husband’s own history. When the two started dating in 2018, Tikhman brought an oversized bouquet of sunflowers to meet Foster’s mother, Rebecca, for the first time, which subsequently freaked Foster out.
“The flowers were so long, and they kept falling over,” Foster recalled to Vulture in September 2024. “Sitting there, I was like, ‘Well, if someone cares this much, then that feels like a weakness.’ ”
“I personally don’t remember the sunflowers being that big,” Tikhman added. “But I do remember driving home and thinking, ‘It’s not about the flowers.’ ”
There are several other Easter eggs from Foster’s life
Erin Foster and Sara Foster on September 17, 2022 in Newport Beach, CaliforniaCredit: Netflix
Aside from Foster’s true romance with her husband, other aspects of her life trickled into the series.
In one episode, Joanne and her sister Morgan (Justine Lupe) discuss the many things a potential romantic partner can do that give them an immediate “ick,” including running with a backpack on and chasing after a ping pong ball.
Both comments were drawn from the Foster sisters’ real-life icks. The sisters discussed the subject and offered the same visuals during a live taping of their podcast in February 2024 with guest Tinx.
Other Easter eggs come through Joanne’s wardrobe, which includes pieces from the Fosters’ clothing brand Favorite Daughter, and Morgan’s “Fatigue Sisters” comment — a nickname Foster and sister Sara have given themselves as well as the title of a 2021 podcast episode.
Joanne’s sister Morgan isn’t like Foster’s sister Sara
Kristen Bell and Justin Lupe on ‘Nobody Wants This’Credit: Hopper Stone/Netflix
In Nobody Wants This, the juxtaposition between Joanne and Noah’s families is stark. While Joanne’s family isn’t an exact match of Foster’s, there are parallels.
Foster’s parents divorced when she was young, and have since moved on to different relationships. Her dad, music legend David Foster has been married to American Idol star Katharine McPhee, with whom he shares a son, Rennie, since 2019.
Then there’s Morgan, Joanne’s younger sister, podcast co-host and best friend. Yet, Morgan is not based on Foster’s real sister, podcast co-host and business partner. “Morgan is definitely not me, but she is such a fun character,” Sara shared on The World’s First Podcast.
“The sister character is not like Sara at all,” Foster reiterated on the podcast. “That was intentional, too. I wanted to create a fun sister dynamic.”
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
