Nobody Wants This: The real story behind Netflix’s hit rom-com series

Netflix’s hit rom-com Nobody Wants This returns to screens on Thursday, with Kristen Bell and Adam Brody reprising their roles as agnostic sex podcaster Joanne and newly single rabbi Noah, who unexpectedly fall in love despite their wildly different lives. The series, which first premiered in September last year to rave reviews from both critics and viewers and currently boasts a Rotten Tomatoes score of 95 per cent, is created by writer and actress Erin Foster and executive produced by her sister Sara Foster. 

But did you know that the series is inspired by the real-life romance of creator Erin? The writer has described the series as a “love letter” to her husband, Simon Tikhman, a Jewish man whom she met back in 2018. Intrigued? Keep reading to find out more. 

The real life story behind Nobody Wants This 

The romance comedy is inspired by Erin Foster’s relationship with her husband, Simon Tikhman, the co-founder of a music management company. Simon is Jewish and told Erin that he was expected to marry a Jewish woman when they first met back in 2018. 

According to the LA Times, Simon had never considered himself particularly religious but felt obliged to continue the Jewish lineage because of his parents, who were persecuted for being Jewish and forced to flee the former Soviet Union in 1979.

© Charley Gallay

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. “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 and had a “complicated childhood”. “There was a lot of marriages, a lot of divorces, a lot of stepsiblings, a lot of half-siblings, a lot of people coming in and out,” Erin told Tudum. 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. 

Erin’s conversation to Judaism

After falling in love with Simon, Erin converted to Judaism and the couple tied the knot on New Year’s Eve in 2019. They now share a daughter, Noa Mimi, who was born in May 2024. 

In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Erin opened up about her early relationship with Simon’s parents. “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?'”

© Shutterstock

Erin went on to say that she and her in-laws are now like “best friends, and so close,” describing them as “an amazing family”. 

Erin and Simon’s wedding 

Erin and Simon’s wedding was held in Nashville on New Year’s Eve and incorporated plenty of Jewish traditions, including marrying underneath a wedding canopy, known as a chuppa, and taking part in the Hora, a dance typically performed at Jewish weddings. 

© Shutterstock

On converting to Judaism, Erin said: “When I went through the process and went to the converting classes at Wilshire Boulevard Temple, it was this really fascinating, expansive, cool world.”