Part 2
So if he's this obvious — if he's buying other women candy with her gift card, if he's kissing coworkers a month after she gave birth, if he's been with 40 or 50 women — why is she still here? Why is she on Maury, asking for a lie detector test instead of walking away? The answer is messier than you think. It's not just about love. It's about history. It's about the baby. It's about the fact that she wants to believe he can change. And it's about the fact that when you've been with someone who makes you feel crazy, you start to wonder if you are. She says he calls her paranoid. He says she's crazy. And maybe, just maybe, she needs Maury to tell her she's not. She needs the lie detector to confirm what she already knows. But the truth? The truth is going to be a lot more complicated than a simple yes or no. And that's why I couldn't look away.
Josh's Defense: Emotional Affairs, Grooming, and the Luther Vandross of the Break Room
So Josh finally sits down with Maury, and within seconds he's already lying. Maury asks point-blank if he's cheating, and Josh says no. But then Maury brings up the past, and Josh admits to 'emotional affairs.' His excuse? 'She made me feel one type of way about myself.' That's it. That's the whole defense. Not 'I was lonely' or 'we were having problems' — just 'she made me feel a certain way.' As if feelings are a free pass to kiss coworkers in hallways.
Let's break this down, because if you've never seen this episode, you need to understand the level of audacity we're dealing with. Tara, his fiancée and the mother of his 8-month-old son, says Josh came clean about three emotional affairs. He admitted to kissing one woman from work. But Tara thinks it's way more than that. She believes he's been with 40 or 50 women. Josh says Lacy is just his best friend. Tara says Lacy is giving him 'benefits.' And Josh? He thinks he's Luther Vandross.
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Yeah, you read that right. Tara says Josh goes to the smoking area at work, sits at the picnic table, and sings to women 12 years younger than her. The same songs he used to sing to her. She calls it grooming. And honestly, when you hear the details, it's hard to argue. He kissed one woman in the hallway between breaks and lunch. He bought her a package of peanut M&M's for her birthday — with Tara's Target gift card. That's not romance. That's a sitcom plot gone wrong.
Now, if you're sitting there thinking, 'This sounds like every other reality TV cheating scandal,' you're not wrong. This is the same playbook we've seen on Jersey Shore, where Ronnie and Sammi's toxic cycle ran for seasons, or on Love Island, where 'cracking on' with someone new is practically a national pastime. And let's not forget 90 Day Fiancé, where emotional affairs are basically a rite of passage. But what makes Josh's defense so infuriating is how generic it is. 'She made me feel a certain way' is the same excuse every guy uses when he gets caught. It's not about the other woman — it's about him feeling validated. And that's the part that stings.
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Tara isn't having it. She calls bull. She says he just wants to have sex and make out. And when you look at the pattern — the singing, the kissing, the gifts — it's hard to see it as anything else. But here's where it gets even messier: Lacy. Josh claims Lacy is just a friend. Tara thinks Lacy is giving him 'benefits.' So Maury brings out Lacy, and she tells her side. She says Josh is a friend, nothing more. Her boyfriend Justin is always there when Josh comes over. She says she'd rather hang out with Tara. She's tired of being accused. And that's the tension — Tara believes Lacy is lying, but Lacy seems genuinely exhausted by the drama.
You might be asking: why doesn't Tara just leave? And that's the question everyone screams at their TV during episodes like this. But it's not that simple. She just had his baby. She's financially dependent on him. And emotionally, she's been manipulated for so long that she doesn't know which way is up. We've seen this dynamic play out on Maury episodes from 2015 to 2019 — the same cycle of accusations, denials, and tearful confessions. It's a trap, and Tara is stuck in it.
But here's the twist: Josh says he called the show himself. He wants to prove he's not lying. He's willing to take a lie detector test. And that's where we're headed next. Because if Josh is telling the truth, then Tara is wrong about everything. But if he's lying? Well, let's just say the results are going to be explosive.
The Lie Detector Results and the Aftermath: When 'Telling the Truth' Isn't the Same as Innocent
So here we are. The moment we all sat through the screaming, the crying, the peanut M&M's, and the Target gift card for. The lie detector. In the Maury universe, this is the closest thing to a religious experience. The polygraph is the burning bush. And Josh is about to stand in front of it.
