When it comes to love and relationships, radio host Delilah has learned more than just a thing or two thanks to her loyal late-night callers.
“If you look at love as reciprocity, you will never be satisfied. But when you look at love as a gift that you give — no strings attached, no expectations — your life will be so filled with joy that it’ll bubble out of you,” Delilah, 65, exclusively shared with Us Weekly while celebrating the Sonos Holiday Party Prep Talk. “It’ll spill out of you like having a hose filling up a kiddie pool that just overflows and overflows and overflows.”
According to the best-selling author, when people share love, kindness and compassion, true magic happens.
“Time is [also] the best gift we can give somebody. Time to listen, time to validate somebody to say, ‘I hear you. I see you. I see who you are, not what you’re projecting. I see inside of you,’” she explained. “I heard a listener say years ago, ‘Intimacy means into-me-see. If you break down the word intimacy and you think of it as into-me-see? See into me. See who I am. You’ll have so much joy.’”
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For more than 35 years, Delilah has spent her evenings on the radio taking music requests from listeners across the country.
Many callers share heartfelt dedications to the ones they admire before the love song is played for all to hear.
“When I get calls from listeners who are miserable in their relationships, 90 percent of the time it’s because they see love as a reciprocity thing,” Delilah explained. “If I do A, then you have to do B. That’s not what love is. That doesn’t mean you should stay in a relationship that is hurtful or where none of your needs are being met. That’s not what I’m saying. But when you can love freely, without any expectations, life is a joy.”
For many years, Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings” was the top-requested love song from listeners. These days, Delilah said “Faithfully” by Journey is requested “at least once a night.”
While there is still so much love to celebrate, Delilah also acknowledged that she has seen much more loneliness in recent years.
“Loneliness has grown exponentially, which is so sad that we have all this technology to help us stay connected, and people feel alone,” she said. “Especially after COVID, more than ever, that’s been the biggest shift the last 10, 15, years. It is just crushing.”
As the holiday season approaches, Delilah is hoping to provide some comfort, encouragement and fun to families as she partners with Sonos for a “Holiday Party Prep Talk.”
The 60-minute pre-party pep talk is filled with smooth affirmations, merry melodies and cheeky reminders designed to bring presence, comfort and joy back to the holiday season.
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“What Sonos wanted to do is create a space specifically for the holidays for people who are entertaining, to help take away the stress, lessen the stress and accentuate the joy,” Delilah said. “I’m all in.”
Before the hustle and bustle of the holiday season officially begins, Delilah has one wish for her listeners. Spoiler alert: It has something to do with love.
“I am here to love and to be loved. That is my highest calling, my highest goal,” she said. “That’s my wish for everybody this year: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
