Is “Nobody Wants This” Based on a True Story? Inside Creator Erin Foster’s Real-Life Love Story That Inspired the Hit Netflix Show

Nobody Wants This creator Erin Foster turned her real-life love story into television gold.

The Emmy-nominated romance series follows the sparks between rabbi Noah (Adam Brody) and sex podcaster Joanne (Kristen Bell), as friends and family doubt their unlikely pairing. The Netflix show’s concept was inspired by Foster’s romance with now-husband Simon Tikhman, who first met at a Los Angeles gym in 2018 and got engaged the following year. The couple wed during a New Year’s Eve celebration in 2019 and welcomed their first child, a daughter, in May 2024.

Although Tikhman isn’t a rabbi and the dramatic conflicts Noah and Joanne face on the show didn’t happen in real life, Foster has called the series a “love letter” to her marriage. Season 2 of Nobody Wants This premiered on Oct. 23, 2025, and Foster told Deadline that the new episodes continue 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 very different lives.

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

In Nobody Wants This, Joanne and Noah meet at a dinner party. Foster and Tikhman’s meet-cute, however, happened at a Los Angeles gym. And 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 explained on an episode of her and her sister Sara Foster’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 Noah and Joanne encounter many naysayers about their love — particularly Noah’s overbearing mother — that wasn’t true for the real-life couple.

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

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 New York Magazine 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

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

In Nobody Wants This, the juxtaposition between Noah and Joanne’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. (Foster is currently married to American Idol star Katharine McPhee, with whom he shares a son, Rennie.)

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 Sara. “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,” Erin reiterated on the podcast. “That was intentional, too. I wanted to create a fun sister dynamic.”