‘Million Dollar Nannies’ Stars Share Tense Interview Moment After Learning Sydney Siegel Accepted A Full-Time Job: “We’re All Finding Out With The World”

Hulu’s latest masterpiece, Million Dollar Nannies, is bringing attention to NannyTok, a group of young nannies who travel to Ibiza for the summer to launch their new agency for the top 1%. Founder Leah Barrs, who famously worked for Kourtney Kardashian, along with nannies Sydney Siegel, Tamaya Denae, and Jack McCann recently stopped by DECIDER’s studio to unpack the show’s debut season — though the conversation took an awkward turn when unresolved tensions from their time in Spain resurfaced.

To recap, Barrs got fired from her job with the Guiribitey family (otherwise known as “The Gs”) after they found out she had once slept with the father of one of the kids she was babysitting. While the dad was single and a longtime friend of Barrs, The Gs took the matter very seriously, vowing never to recommend Barrs or her agency. However, they did invite Siegel to watch their kids as they attended Paris Fashion Week, and later offered her a full-time job, which she accepted.

“I think it was hard because Leah and I obviously went into this past summer being best friends,” Siegel told DECIDER. “It wasn’t necessarily that I was going against our friendship. I was doing what was best for me at the moment, knowing that I had to make the money I had to make.”

A tense vibe came over the room as Barrs shared that they had only recently learned that Siegel took on the full-time job, explaining that she needed more “time” to process her friend’s betrayal.

“It was just unfortunate, and I tried to stick up for her as much as I could,” Siegel chimed in, to which Barrs fired back, “But did whatever she wanted anyway.”

When the four nannies sat down with DECIDER, they also talked about the craziest rules they’ve ever had to follow, their experiences with untrusting wives, and whether they’d ever want to work for MomTok. Check out the full interview below.

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DECIDER: I want to start with a little bit of an icebreaker with you guys. What is the most insane rule you’ve ever been given as a nanny? 

LEAH BARRS: I think mine was on the show. The text every 20 minutes. I think that’s a little excessive for me. I’m like, “How many updates can I really give you?” 

SYDNEY SIEGEL: I think for me, it was probably taking one picture with a Polaroid. We only had one chance to take a picture, and I failed every single time. It was so weird. I was like, “Really? 

LEAH: [We took a Polaroid] of their designer outfits. Every day. 

SYDNEY: No, it was crazy. 

JACK MCCANN: I had to wear all white scrubs. I looked like a nurse. That was crazy. I’ve never had a dress code as a nanny. Usually we can wear athleisure or whatever, but we looked like nurses walking around Ibiza. 

TAMAYA DENAE: I don’t know if this is insane, but I nannied for a major almond mom at one point, and it was so hard to feed the child. She’s like, “No Cheez-Its,” for one. That’s kind of crazy. Playdates, the kid would have Cheez it, and [she’d] be like “Don’t give that to him.” 

JACK: Depriving that child. 

TAMAYA: There were many things he could not eat, like certain soups. If you want something quick, no quesadillas, no cheese. It was like nut cheeses. It was weird. But that was hard, not being able to feed the kid easy stuff. I was cheffing it up every single day. That didn’t last long. 

Photo: Disney

Leah, you started this agency with the goal of being your own boss. You’ve nannied for some very high profile clients in the past. You guys talked about it on the show. Kourtney Kardashian was one of them. How did watching them film their reality show inspire you to take this career into your own? 

LEAH: Yeah. Honestly, I feel like I’ve always wanted to shine light on nannies. I feel like we’re such underdogs. People don’t take us seriously. They don’t think of us as a real job. So, seeing them in the light eye and following their life and being a part of their life, I wanted that to be my own reality. So, what better way to showcase it than on TV? 

I know the NDAs are water tight, but Kourtney and Kim Kardashian did have an infamous fight over the way Kourtney treats her nannies. As someone who once worked for her, what was it like watching that conversation in their show? Was Kim right? 

LEAH: I can’t really speak on that, but [from] my own personal experience with the family, I love them dearly. 

Getting into the show, Sydney, you and Leah were the first nannies chosen for a job, and Camila definitely had a lot of concerns about you guys being around her husband. In your experience, do you often find that this worry is misdirected at nannies? 

SYDNEY: Yes, I do. I think it happens often. Being in the household so much, I think the wives to the husbands are always worried about what their husbands may do when we’re in the house, especially when they’re not there. 

LEAH: I think it’s unfortunate that we have to have that take on us because I’ve missed out on opportunities, specifically for athletes, actually. Someone was like, “Oh, you don’t fit the criteria. They want someone older. They want this, they want that.” I’m like, “But I could crush this job.” 

Has anyone else ever had any experiences like that where you’re like, “Come on, be mad at the husband,”?

TAMAYA: I personally haven’t had any experiences like that. I just feel I kind of know better in a sense of how to show up to work. I’m very covered up. Not like a nun or anything, but just wearing something that’s not showing any of my areas. Yes, you shouldn’t be dressing like that in front of someone’s husband, let alone children. Sometimes you’re nannying for young boys. It’s just inappropriate. But I’ve never had an experience where I’ve been told anything. 

JACK: I feel like on the show, Hannah kind of shares an experience where the problem was with the husband and it’s not her. She had a conflict, and I think kind of what she was asking is like, the blame gets put on the nanny, but it’s usually on the husband. The mom and the family should not be worried about the nanny, they should be worried about their man because they fuck up. 

SYDNEY: I did talk to you about that. I don’t know if you saw that in the show, but I was in the basement one day cleaning it up, and the father came downstairs and was like, “You want to have a talking contest with me?” And I’m like, “No, get out of my face.” It’s not on the nanny, it’s on the husband. We’re doing our jobs to watch your kids, not to watch you. 

JACK: No one wants to see that.

TAMAYA: And who says “twerking” anymore? 

Photo: Disney

It’s a good thing you guys have thick skin.

TAMAYA: Working with kids, you need thick skin. You won’t make it. 

JACK: They will make you feel insecure about everything.

LEAH: “You have a pimple in the middle of your forehead.” I’m like, “Yeah, I know. I saw it this morning, thank you.” 

TAMAYA: They’re like, “What are those marks on you?” I’m like, “Stretch marks.” 

LEAH: “You have a chin hair.” I’m like, “Yeah, I’ll pluck it later.”

JACK: Hairline, double chin, love handles, everything! 

LEAH: So, actually the hate comments can’t hurt me because the kids already have. 

I do want to get into some of the drama we saw this season. A lot of it surrounded Taylor [Hayward]. Tamaya, you were there for the first crack in her story, which was when she left the kids with you and went on the beach to talk to Mitchell. Did you know at that moment that that would become as big of a deal as it did? 

TAMAYA: I thought it was stupid, so I immediately knew. That’s the best way to put it. I was like, “This is stupid, but I’m going to do it. Who else is going to watch the kids? I have to do this.” From the jump, Taylor made it very known how obsessed she was with the girls and Nicola. So, I was surprised that she even asked me that. But I think her brain is just like “Mitchell, Mitchell, Mitchell, Mitchell, Mitchell.” 

LEAH: Where’s my ring? Mitchell.

JACK: She wants to be a princess. 

TAMAYA: Princess for an hour?

JACK: For like 30 minutes. 

TAMAYA: Not even an hour. Sorry to that girl. 

She also kind of tried to get between you and Hannah. Tamaya, why do you think she was being so messy this season? 

TAMAYA: She just naturally has messy tendencies. But, I want to make this very clear, and I know that how this is going to come across on the show, y’all are going to start to feel like, “Oh, wait, Taylor.” Don’t let that trick you because she is specifically doing certain things. She’s doing certain things. She’ll add to the fire, and then hide after. So then you feel bad for her because she’s starting to cry and all this. I’m like, “I should be the one crying.” 

LEAH: I think I said that, “Why are you crying? I think I should be the one crying.” 

JACK: With the Hannah moment, I think there was a lot of heat on Taylor at the time, so I feel like it was kind of her attempt to divert the attention to somebody else, and it just made it worse for her.

TAMAYA: You might not see all of it on the show, too. She did a lot of things where the heat was on her and she would divert and try to change [the] situation. I think a lot of things got left out. 

LEAH: We’re just happy some things didn’t make it. Let’s just put it that way. 

Well shifting gears a little bit. Jack, one of the funniest parts this season was when you had to spray tan the three dads. Walk me through that experience. Was that the craziest thing you’ve ever had to do for a job? 

JACK: Yes, I have said that many times. I’ve never had a request like that in my life. I know as a nanny, we wear a lot of different hats, so we do a lot of different kinds of jobs in the house. It’s never been spray tanning. I’m going up against somebody for a job, I’m desperate for a job, I want to make money while I’m there, this family’s pretty successful, but having to spray tan three 50-plus-year-old men in the Speedos… You guys didn’t even see it all. You know when you do spray tan, you have to pat them with the mitt? You have to mitt them. There was no mitt in the show. I had to mitt them. Inner thigh mitt. I never want to do that again. And the spray tan itself just smells bad in general, too. And I really am sensitive to smell. 

In Episode 6, you ended up getting voted as the new leader of NannyTok. By the end, you and Leah came together and decided that two are better than one. How are things going now? 

LEAH: We’re besties. 

JACK: I feel like we have to address this because in the moment, there’s a lot of tension in the house. Eight people living together. They’ve never lived together before. There’s bound to be drama. We all had these high hopes going into the summer. Big promises were made. So we get there and things are not going as planned. I’m a bit of a control freak, as you probably saw. I like to know what’s going on. I felt like things were not going as planned. 

LEAH: Things were falling apart, let’s be real. 

JACK: It was falling apart. It was a dumpster fire. I thought what was best was I step up and handle shit. It just created more tension in the house at the end of the day. I definitely don’t love the way I went about a lot of things. But since then, Leah and I have spent a lot of time together. I’ve gone to LA a bunch of times to stay with her and Liv. We were really good friends before that moment happened. I think that was a rift in our friendship for about a couple of weeks of the summer. I think we both now understand where we were coming from. I understand why she was being defensive and that was kind of my main thing that was bothering me – when she was not taking accountability. But it makes sense. I understand how much passion was put into this, so I get it. 

LEAH: We should have had that conversation way earlier on. 

JACK: Yeah, we’ve had a lot of conversations since. I love her. 

LEAH: We promised next time, if there’s any type of animosity, let’s just have the conversation. 

JACK: I can’t promise there won’t be any more disagreements because we’re obviously two strong personalities.  

LEAH: We’re very opinionated. 

Photo: Disney

JACK: But I love her. 

LEAH: Every time we start fighting. I’m like, “No, please, please, please, please.” 

TAMAYA: I feel like Leah gets scared when she fights with Jack, because Jack [doesn’t] play, lowkey. 

LEAH: What about me? I don’t play either. I don’t know, I guess. 

TAMAYA: No, no, but it’s Jack’s vocabulary that will clock the hell out of you. 

LEAH: He said a word one time, and I go, “What did you just say?” And then he said the word again and I went, “Right.” And he goes, “Do you know what that means?” And I go, “No.”

Leah, you confess to having a little bit of a relationship with a dad in the past. Personally, it felt like a non-issue. He was single, he was your friend. 

JACK: We all feel that way. 

Do you think that G’s were overreacting when they called you dangerous?

LEAH: I understand where the G’s are coming from, honestly. To hear that is a family’s biggest fear, right? They don’t know me. We had known them for a week going into that, two weeks going into that. I get it. But I feel like they should have seen the way I was with the family. They were talking so highly of me all before that. I feel like they should have given me a chance and they didn’t, which is unfortunate, but what can you do? Not every family is for you. 

Sydney, you did end up taking the full time job with them in the end. How did that affect your friendship with Leah? Are you still working with them? 

SYDNEY: I think it was hard because Leah and I obviously went into this past summer being best friends. It wasn’t necessarily that I was going against our friendship. I was doing what was best for me at the moment, knowing that I had to make the money I had to make. I felt like I had such a good connection with them that I just felt right working with them and going back to Paris with them. I love the kids, and Leah loved the kids too. It was just unfortunate, and I tried to stick up for her as much as I could. 

LEAH: But did whatever she wanted anyway. 

SYDNEY: I did, and I still love you. We did have a talk and I hope she does forgive me. 

LEAH: I just found out about this recently, so it is all very new to me.

SYDNEY: She did. She just did. 

JACK: We all did, actually. 

LEAH: We’re all finding out with the world. 

JACK: We just watched the episodes today. 

SYDNEY: Also, I had good intentions. I wanted to go there to try to rebuild and rebrand and everything and hope that maybe they’d come back next season and Leah would take them with open arms. 

LEAH: If she’s coming back next season. 

JACK: It wasn’t for Fashion Week?

SYDNEY: I love fashion, I’m not going to lie. But also, I needed the money. Everybody went to Ibiza to make money. So, was I going to find another family? I don’t know. I guess I was selfish in that moment, but I knew I wasn’t trying to disrupt our friendship. I was just trying to do what was best for me at the moment. 

Time heals all wounds. Everyone’s looking at me with daggers now [laughs]. 

SYDNEY: I know everybody hates me for it.

JACK: There’s no hate. 

LEAH: There’s no hate. I need time. It’s just a new, fresh thing to me and I am processing. We had a whole summer of talking and catching up. 

SYDNEY: I’m not working with them right now. I finished my contract. I love them and I’ll continue to love them. 

LEAH: And she got her bag, her Valentino. 

Photo: Disney

First there was MomTok. Now there’s NannyTok. After everybody watches the show. Which Tok do you think will reign supreme? 

JACK: I feel like NannyTok has been around. I think there are a lot of nannies active on NannyTok that don’t even know the show exists. I think some of the ones that I’ve found out about this show have a lot to say. They have a lot of assumptions before even seeing anything. They assumed we are just influencers-turned-nannies. We were all career nannies before the show. I think MomTok’s pretty broad. I think Momtok kind of spans a greater audience. I feel like NannyTok is a specific career. 

I do feel like there’s potential for a crossover there. Would you guys ever want a nanny for the Mormon Wives? 

TAMAYA: Yeah. 

JACK: We met some of them. The ones I met were really nice. 

Who did you meet? 

JACK: I met Layla [Taylor] and Miranda. 

LEAH: We were at the bars with them. I was like, “Where are your kids at?” Do you need a nanny? Here’s my business card.” 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Million Dollar Nannies is currently streaming on Hulu.