Okay, let’s be honest. Life can’t all be high-fiber diets and PBS specials. Sometimes you have to just listen to your id and dance like no one’s watching. So what are our favorite guilty pleasures? Read on for the full scoop (of full-calorie, non-organic ice cream). We know you’ll never tell.
Cynthia Kuhn
My guilty pleasure is Real Housewives. Have watched them all, in every location, since the beginning. While we’re at it, I also love Million Dollar Listing. Both of the shows are entertaining for similar reasons: part drama, part humor, part fantasy (in that I could never afford the lifestyle). And if there happens to be any show about house flipping/renovating/hunting on in the background, I won’t complain. But here’s the thing: I always have my laptop out and work while I listen, so I don’t feel guilty because I’m multitasking the whole time. So it’s productive too! Unless (oops) I wander onto social media. But that’s a topic for another day.
Vickie Fee
My husband thinks I would get bonus points for saying liver and onions (which I love). But lots of people like liver and onions, don’t they? I could say cozy mysteries are my guilty pleasure, but in this space I’m just part of the crowd on that one. Old movies are my guilty pleasure, if you will, when I’m feeling bad. I watch Fred and Ginger movies when I’m throwing myself a pity party, Andy Hardy movies (especially the ones featuring Judy Garland) when I’m under the weather, and Alfred Hitchcock movies when I’m sad. My favorites are Swing Time, Love Finds Andy Hardy, and The Birds, respectively.
Ellen Byron
My guilty pleasure is See’s Candy. It’s my favorite chocolate in the world. I’m that person who can tell you exactly what’s in every one of them. Coconut Special, Butterscotch Square, Scotchmallow, Bordeaux… I could go on, but I’m making myself crave See’s. Gross confession: I don’t love nuts, but when it comes to See’s, I love the chocolate around theirs. So sometimes I’ll do this: I’ll get a scoop of Bridge Mix, which has little versions of some of my favorite chocolates but is also loaded with almonds and pecans. I’ll eat the chocolate off the nuts and give the nuts to my husband, who loves them. Guilty and gross — it’s a double whammy post.
Lisa Q. Mathews
I think I have too many guilty pleasures to list. As I type this, I am bummed to have just discovered that Bachelor in Paradise isn’t on again until Monday (they intro’d all the loser contestants last night). The fun part is following along on Twitter, of course. I spend more time reading tweets than watching the show. But one of my weirder guilty pastimes is lurking in office supply and home organization specialty stores (looking at you, Staples and Container Store). I can spend hours drifting around, fantasizing about being actually organized for once in my life. Notebooks, calendars, rainbow sticky notes, shelving, closet dividers, wacky hangers and shoe holders, whatever. I am always mystified when I edit everything in my basket or cart down to the Bare Essentials and then I mortify myself by still having to put stuff back at the checkout counter anyway, lest my bank account become cassé. It’s a nice fantasy, though, being organized.
Marla Cooper
We have a definite theme here: food and TV shows. I’ll give you one of each. I don’t know how much it’s “guilty” versus just “pleasure” but I am OBSESSED with Talenti Chocolate Peanut Butter Gelato and Tates Chocolate Chip Cookies. Again, there is only the mildest amount of guilty intermingled with these pleasures. But when I asked my husband what my guilty pleasure was, he didn’t miss a beat: “Dateline.” Okay, I admit I’m a sucker for the true crime series, especially segments hosted by the ever-ghoulish Keith Morrison, whose dramatic intonations and macabre turns of phrase have been honed to an art form. My only complaint? They do way too many stories about husbands killing their wives while hiking, to the point where I’ve repeatedly told my husband (when we’re hiking) that if he wants to leave me, please just ask for a divorce.
Readers, what’s your guilty pleasure? ‘Fess up in the comments below!
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Chicks on the Case 
It’s hard to say I have a guilty pleasure since I review just about everything in my life. 🙂
I do have a love of the old Wonder Woman TV show as well as The Greatest American Hero. Both are so cheesy and so fun.
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Yes! I think those are excellent guilty pleasures. And now I’m going to go hum the theme song from GAH for the rest of the day. 🙂
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Aaaghh!!! Now it’s stuck in MY head. Thanks ever so much, Marla.
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I love cheesy! I have two cheesy guilty pleasures. Beach movies from the 60s with Annette Funicello and The Spice Girls. I actually have Spice Girls action figures. Well, more like poseur figures.
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Ooh, Ellen, I love Annette and Frankie — and also Gidget!
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Enjoyed those shows too! And those shows make me think of ISIS: “O Mighty Isis (is is is is)” < that's an echo effect.
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I’m with Ellen on See’s Candy being the BEST guilty pleasure ever! I love their free samples while I browse the candy case to pick out a treat or two to take home. Did you know if you don’t like the flavor they offer you can ask for something else?!?! And they’re very nice if you request something different.
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Ooh, Kim! The only thing better than candy is free candy!
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Vickie, you have to come to CA! I’ll take you to See’s every day to get free samples. BTW, Warren Buffett bought the company and has had the great good sense to leave it alone. Unlike Godiva, which tanked in quality after Carnation bought it.
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Wait, Vickie gets See’s candy when she visits and I got tofu???
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I know!! Kim, this is how crazy I am. When someone occasionally leaves their sample behind – I take that, too. But I ALWAYS buy something.
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I’ve never know anyone to leave their sample behind, lol! But, it has happened when I only want to buy 1 piece of candy they tell me to consider it my sample and don’t charge me at all! I am truly impressed by the company, their customer service and their products!
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I love reading all my fellow Chicks’ guilty pleasures. Cynthia, I had to go cold turkey on HGTV. Lisa, I adore office supplies – can’t get enough of them. Vickie, I grew up on old movies. I’m actually obsessed with super old ones – silents. And M, LOL re: that FOHWH – Fear of Hiking With Husband!
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FOHWH — Love it!
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I think my husband may develop fear of hiking (let’s be honest: short walks) with me! We were walking through some woods and mystery writer me mused aloud: There’s lots of spots to bury a body out here. Hubs: You’re so romantic! 🙂
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I am giggling my way through these comments…
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My guilty pleasure food wise is Blue Bell Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. I only buy it occasionally…but it’s so good. Another guilty pleasure — watching all the Hallmark Channel Christmas movies. There are some that I watch over and over.
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And the Garage Sale mysteries start Sunday I think. With the actress from Full House, of course.
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The latest round of Garage Sale Mysteries actually started this last Sunday.
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Oh Christi, I hear you on those Christmas movies! I always watch a few in a row right after I turn in final grades to catapult into the holiday mood. 🌲
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Marla, I have 4 containers of Talenti Mediterranean Mint in my freezer. You know, cuz it was on sale and all.
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I’ll be right over. (You’ve got spoons, right?)
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On the subject of things cheesy, my biggest guilty pleasure is definitely Cheetos–both the crunchy and puffy varieties. But since they’re about as fattening as a serving of poutine, I generally only allow myself to indulge on my birthday–when I often have both Cheetos AND French fries!
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Mmmm — I’m with you on Cheetos love, Leslie! My sister and I bought a bag of Puffy Cheetos for my three teenage nieces and nephews last week at my mom’s. They devoured an entire party-size bag in like half an hour! My only real complaint is that I didn’t get any. 🙂
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Oh Cheetos are so addictive. We only buy them occasionally, like when we’re having guests. (Yeah, we’re fancy like that.)
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Food Network (especially Chopped!) and HGTV. My father doesn’t understand how I can watch it, but those shows suck me in every time.
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Me, too, Liz! I love watching cooking shows about recipes I’ll probably never try, and remodeling shows about projects I’ll never take on!
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For TV it’s Lt. Kenda, Homicide Hunter. But my real guilty pleasure is reading author blogs and newsletters, and book reviews..my hope to read list is now a book!
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Gram, you never need to feel guilty about reading author blogs! 🙂
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