An overnight sensation, Nobody Wants This is climbing up the charts on Netflix. Created by Erin Foster, the ten-part series follows the unlikely relationship between Joanne, a sex podcaster and Noah, a charming rabbi.
Thanks to the electric chemistry between leads Kristen Bell and Adam Brody, not to mention the witty writing, Nobody Wants This has been hailed as one of the best rom-coms in recent years. But, did you know it's based on a real-life love story?
Inspired by Erin Foster's relationship with Simon Tikhman, the co-founder of a music management company who was expected to marry a Jewish woman; Erin has called the series a "love letter" to her husband.
© NetflixAccording to the LA Times, Simon had never considered himself particularly religious but felt compelled to continue the Jewish lineage. His parents were persecuted for being Jewish and forced to flee the former Soviet Union in 1979.
Erin and Simon, who first crossed paths at an LA gym, came from totally different worlds. "We didn't come from similar backgrounds," Erin explained on an episode of The World's First Podcast, which she hosts with her sister, Sara Foster.
© Shutterstock"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?'"
The daughter of music producer, David Foster, and his second wife – model Rebecca Dyer – Erin and her sister Sara were raised without religion. Their parents divorced in 1986, and their father went on to marry a further three times. In 2019, he tied the knot with his fifth wife, singer and actress Katherine McPhee.
When Erin and Simon began hanging out in 2018, he'd told her, "Whoever I marry, she has to be Jewish," which later prompted her conversion to Judaism.
A year after Simon had asked Erin to be his girlfriend, Sara confirmed her sister's engagement. Sharing a photo of Erin in August 2019, she quipped: "Ladies, I guess the moral of the story is stay crazy because apparently it gets you a ring."
© ShutterstockSpeaking to Harper's Bazaar, Erin explained that Simon's parents took time to adjust to their relationship. "His parents weren't really used to someone being so unfiltered, and uncensored, and saying how I feel all the time," she recalled.
"That was not something that they were used to, and I wasn't really used to being with parents where you have to be careful what you say and not swear around them. There was an adjustment period where they were like, 'This is the person you chose to bring into our family? Are you okay, Simon? What are you thinking?'"
Nowadays, however, Erin says they're like "best friends, and so close." She describes Simon's family as "amazing" and feels incredibly lucky to have them.
Ahead of their wedding, Erin converted to Judaism. "When I went through the process and went to the converting classes at Wilshire Boulevard Temple, it was this really fascinating, expansive, cool world," she explained.
They tied the knot in Nashville on New Year's Eve, and incorporated plenty of Jewish traditions, marrying underneath a wedding canopy, known as a chuppa, that symbolizes the home that the couple will build together. They also took part in the Hora, a dance typically performed at Jewish weddings.
In May 2024, Erin and Simon welcomed their first child together – a daughter named Noa.
For Erin, Nobody Wants This has given her the opportunity to pay tribute to Simon and the life they've built together. "I'm obsessed with Simon; he's my muse. And this show is like a love letter to him," she told the LA Times.
