She's Baaack!
Amy Bruni Returns to Ghost Hunters
Written by Christiane Elin
June 10, 2013 - Amy Bruni returns from maternity leave to kick-off Ghost Hunters Season 9.5. While Amy was out on leave, the TAPS team added investigator-in-training, Michelle Tate. Now with the mid-season premiere there are shifts on the TAPS team. Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango are reassigned. Watch to see what adjustments the TAPS team has in store. A favorite moment about the mid-season premiere was TAPS Lead Investigator, Jason Hawes, reintroducing Amy back onto the team.
I spoke with Amy regarding her return to the TAPS team. Amy embarks on her 5th season of Ghost Hunters. See the transcript below as we covered motherhood, fashion, oh and paranormal investigating, of course. Ghost Hunters airs on Syfy, Wednesdays at 9/8c.
Red Glean: You had some time off and now you’ve jumped back into Ghost Hunting, was that a hard time jumping back into it because you have a pull at home?
Amy Bruni: Yeah, that was probably the hardest thing but luckily my schedule was heavily altered for motherhood. I’m only away from Charlotte a couple nights at the most and then I’m back home for a few weeks at a time. But still that first trip without her was kind of terrifying. I trust everyone at home. I have a great babysitter and my boyfriend and stuff. I knew everything was handled but it was still very scary because I’m still like the hands-on kind of mom. But then I realized I was able to sleep in. So that was kind of cool.
June 10, 2013 - Amy Bruni returns from maternity leave to kick-off Ghost Hunters Season 9.5. While Amy was out on leave, the TAPS team added investigator-in-training, Michelle Tate. Now with the mid-season premiere there are shifts on the TAPS team. Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango are reassigned. Watch to see what adjustments the TAPS team has in store. A favorite moment about the mid-season premiere was TAPS Lead Investigator, Jason Hawes, reintroducing Amy back onto the team.
I spoke with Amy regarding her return to the TAPS team. Amy embarks on her 5th season of Ghost Hunters. See the transcript below as we covered motherhood, fashion, oh and paranormal investigating, of course. Ghost Hunters airs on Syfy, Wednesdays at 9/8c.
Red Glean: You had some time off and now you’ve jumped back into Ghost Hunting, was that a hard time jumping back into it because you have a pull at home?
Amy Bruni: Yeah, that was probably the hardest thing but luckily my schedule was heavily altered for motherhood. I’m only away from Charlotte a couple nights at the most and then I’m back home for a few weeks at a time. But still that first trip without her was kind of terrifying. I trust everyone at home. I have a great babysitter and my boyfriend and stuff. I knew everything was handled but it was still very scary because I’m still like the hands-on kind of mom. But then I realized I was able to sleep in. So that was kind of cool.
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Red Glean: You’ve decided to share with the public pictures of Charlotte. How is it sharing more of your personal life with the public?
Amy Bruni: Even before she was born people were like you better show us pictures. We want to see pictures and once word got out that she was born I was getting so many messages and emails about seeing pictures of her. So for me she is a baby right now and I can share her picture and I can know in a year or two she won’t look anything like this. Not be recognizable. I kind of, for now, share them with that in mind knowing that if I ever want to stop for whatever reason. It’s not like she’s always going to be this bubbly 8-month old baby. People won’t recognize her. That’s what I keep in the back of my brain right now. She’s just a vibrant, amazing little girl. It’s hard to not want to show her to the world. She’s just this crazy little fairy creature. We are very proud of her. For now I share but if anything weird happens, that’s it. Red Glean: Thank you for sharing her with all of us. It’s the joys of parenthood. Amy Bruni: It’s amazing. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done. I waited a really long time to have a baby. So I was like the time is right. I’ve travelled the world and hunted ghosts, done my share of doing all kinds of different things. Time to be a mom. |
Amy & Charlotte, Via twitter @amybruni
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Red Glean: What year are you on in investigating with TAPS and filming Ghost Hunters?
Amy Bruni: Year 5. This will be my 5th year. Clearly, I’ve been doing it {ghosthunting} for a lot longer. I’ve been on the show for five years. It’s crazy to me.
Red Glean: TAPS does EVP sessions. I hear the normal questions, Is anyone hear with us? What’s your name? But are there any unusual questions that you ever ask?
Amy Bruni: Oh, all the time. I don’t know if they always get aired. Sometimes we get into religion because regardless if you’re a religious person or not when people are faced with something like that people sort of question their religious identity. So we bring that up. I’ll ask silly questions. Like what’s your favorite flavor of ice cream? Or what’s your favorite song? Things that people don’t ask everyday. I always look at it like walking into a party where I don’t know anybody and I’m trying to make friends. That’s how I approach EVP sessions. You have to realize if they are there, we are walking into their place and you are a stranger. You kind of have to identify with them and make yourself a personality that they would want to talk to. That’s the way I approach those things.
Red Glean: That’s a good idea. I hadn’t thought about that type of approach. I know sometimes there might be a swear word thrown out there while investigating, has there ever been a time where you caught something but maybe because of what was being said you didn’t air it?
Amy Bruni: There has been very close calls. There have been times when we showed things to clients and we were like sorry about the swearing. I think that’s even made air before where they have to bleep out part of the evidence because one of us was cussing or swearing. It definitely happens. Sometimes something crazy happens like a door slams or something that catches you off guard and you accidentally swear and then it’s right there next to the evidence. I remember one time we were on the U.S.S. Yorktown and Adam and I caught this crazy apparition on camera and I know while we were in pursuit trying to figure out what it was and at the same time seeing it happening there were definitely some f-bombs dropped and I remember showing that evidence to the client and hanging my head in shame like I’m so sorry. It happens.
Red Glean: Ghost Hunters is back to having two female investigators on the TAPS team with the addition of Michelle Tate while you were out on maternity leave. Is she sticking around for the entire season? Is there room for two female investigators?
Amy Bruni: She was there for most of the season. I know the last couple cases she missed just because she had some stuff going on at home. She was there the whole time, I was filming. It seems like she is staying on or at least staying on for the rest of this season that we have filmed so far.
Red Glean: How about other TAPS team members? We will see Hailey or Maddie return this season?
Amy Bruni: Yes, Hailey did come out with us. Maddie, I think Jay can speak of this more than I can but it was tough for her and the travel was tough on her. She had to ride in the car and everything. She started putting on so much weight on the road. She was just so spoiled. She was around eighteen different people and everybody thinks they are giving her one little treat but you have to multiply one little treat by eighteen with the cast and crew. She was getting a little tubby.
Red Glean: Josh joined one of the investigations in the first part of Season 9. When you bring in a guest investigator, is that something TAPS decides? Or the network asks? Or is it a little of both?
Amy Bruni: I think it’s a little bit of both. It depends. When Meat Loaf came out with us, Meat Loaf contacted Jay directly. Josh lives in LA and they were filming in LA so it just worked out. I don’t think we’ve done that this season but when there is some sort of cross promotion like when Eddie McClintock came out with us. We know all of those guys because we do Syfy events with them. We go back and forth on twitter with them. Or we do a lot of appearances on the side like DragonCon and things like that where we get to know everybody. It’s kind of like bringing a friend out to investigate at that point.
Red Glean: Speaking of Meat Loaf, did you hear about Meat Loaf Rocks the Paranormal, his show with Syfy that’s in development?
Amy Bruni: I did. I was saying to someone if there was one celebrity out there that legitimately deserves a paranormal show it’s Meat Loaf. He’s really genuinely into it. I definitely support him in that endeavor. He’s interesting to watch and he’s quite the character. He’s legitimately way into the paranormal so much so that he was very overzealous when we worked with him. It’s pretty crazy.
Red Glean: You’re probably thinking he needs a redhead investigator to help him out on the show?
Amy Bruni: Of course. It’s only fair. He came and investigated with us so I clearly get to investigate with him.
Red Glean: In October it’s been sad missing out on the Ghost Hunters Halloween Live specials. Will we see Ghost Hunters Halloween Live return ever?
Amy Bruni: I don’t know. I hope so. I’m all for it. I know last year, Jay really wanted to be home with his family and kids. I just had a baby. There was something else going on. There was so much going on that it didn’t make sense. But I love doing a live show. It would be great to be back this year. It’s really up to the powers that be. Maybe I’ll just have my own live show on my YouTube channel.
Red Glean: That’s a good idea. Now Grant has moved on to new things. Do you think you guys could ever coax him back into doing a guest appearance?
Amy Bruni: I doubt it. Actually, Jimmy and I, my boyfriend, had dinner with Grant and his wife last night. They are definitely into their gaming thing big time. The gaming company and everything. I’m really proud of him. It’s one of the ventures kind of like paranormal investigating. It was something that he was really into and he’s turned it into a business venture. The gaming, this is huge to him. He’s just as passionate if not more so about that as he was with the paranormal investigating. I don’t know if he’ll ever come back to the show but he definitely does like appearances with us. He’s coming to The Stanley Hotel with us next year. We do like different cons so we will definitely see him out and about but just not on the show.
Red Glean: Okay. How is Amy going to bring her love of fashion to Ghost Hunters this season?
Amy Bruni: It’s pretty much impossible. I’ve always tried. The thing is no matter what I wear it all looks the same under IR light. It’s one of those things where I try to wear something kind of cute. I have my little online store and stuff and all of the jewelry I love and everything. That’s my side venture. I’ve always dressed a little funky on the show but it’s hard. When it comes down to it, I’m crawling around dirty, dark places and the last thing I want to do is wear some crazy couture outfit so it can get ruined.
Red Glean: I know you have a special photo collection. Are there any recent new additions? The Mummlers.
Amy Bruni: I collect Mummler photos and they are incredibly hard to come by. I own three. I have yet to even meet another person who owns one. Obviously they are like in private collections. I don’t think they are in collections of people who are even into the paranormal. They are with art collectors and stuff. The ones I got all came from the same source, somebody who got them from estate sales, auctions, and stuff. I always just wait for anyone out there to find one. I put the word out there and hope someone will find one in an antique shop which will never happen. I have three but I would like to have more but I collect all kinds of weird things. I collect like old vintage tarot decks, Bigfoot casts, Voodoo dolls like I have crazy things which are all in storage because I’ve been banned from putting them up in the house except for the Mummlers.
Red Glean: Now the first investigation back from your leave, you might have run into the ghost of Elvis Presley?
Amy Bruni: Possibly. I mean you’ll have to watch. It was really funny because when I heard we were looking for Elvis, I was assuming we were going to Graceland. But it made sense going to Shreveport Auditorium why he might go back there. This is a place where he really got his start. It’s probably very nostalgic for him. It was probably one of those places for him that was there before everything got too crazy. It was exciting and he was starting to have fans but it wasn’t like walk in public without being mobbed. So I could see why he might want to revisit that. The other idea was that hey that if we find the ghost of Elvis then we finally have proof that he is dead. Mystery solved.
Red Glean: I’m guessing that he’s probably somewhere with his Momma.
Amy Bruni: Yes, hopefully. Have you ever read the True Blood books?
Red Glean: No, I haven't
Amy Bruni: In the books, not on the show, Elvis is a vampire. It’s pretty funny.
Red Glean: Speaking of a dream location to investigate. Everyone says the White House. Graceland would be the one for me. I’ve been there a couple of times. I think that place is amazing. I’m personally a big Elvis fan. What’s your ultimate place you’d like to investigate?
Amy Bruni: I’m like you, Graceland. I always tell people, I want to investigate Graceland so bad between that and the White House it’s neck and neck. There was kind of a glimmer of hope because the President had the Mythbusters in the White House. So at that point we thought obviously we are the next logical step. But he hasn’t called.
Red Glean: What a shame. I think for history reasons, it would be beneficial.
Amy Bruni: It would be amazing. Just think Mary Todd Lincoln had séances in the White House and stuff. It has a pretty interesting history when it comes to spiritualism. We’d love to go there.
Red Glean: A question ,via @ShippinOut31 on twitter, Is there anything we don’t see on Ghost Hunters that happens behind the scenes that you’d like us to know about?
Amy Bruni: I wish people would realize that we are not investigating a location for just one night. We are usually there for at least two. There’s just not enough time in the show to really dig into that too much the way that it is edited and cut like it’s tough for them. They would have to use at least one or two minutes of footage time to show that we were going back and setting up again and so instead they just choose to not show it which makes sense. But at the same time we get so many emails saying that, “You were only there for one night.” But actually we had been there for three or four. That’s probably the biggest thing I’d love to be able to tell people and let them know.
Red Glean: Thank you for taking time to talk with me today. And I’m sure I’ll see you soon somewhere if not just on my TV.
Amy Bruni: Thank you.
Ghost Hunters airs on Syfy, Wednesdays at 9/8c.
How to officially keep up with Amy Bruni:
Twitter: @amybruni
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmyBruniGhostHunter
Instagram: amybruni
Website: http://www.amybruni.net/
Amy Bruni: Year 5. This will be my 5th year. Clearly, I’ve been doing it {ghosthunting} for a lot longer. I’ve been on the show for five years. It’s crazy to me.
Red Glean: TAPS does EVP sessions. I hear the normal questions, Is anyone hear with us? What’s your name? But are there any unusual questions that you ever ask?
Amy Bruni: Oh, all the time. I don’t know if they always get aired. Sometimes we get into religion because regardless if you’re a religious person or not when people are faced with something like that people sort of question their religious identity. So we bring that up. I’ll ask silly questions. Like what’s your favorite flavor of ice cream? Or what’s your favorite song? Things that people don’t ask everyday. I always look at it like walking into a party where I don’t know anybody and I’m trying to make friends. That’s how I approach EVP sessions. You have to realize if they are there, we are walking into their place and you are a stranger. You kind of have to identify with them and make yourself a personality that they would want to talk to. That’s the way I approach those things.
Red Glean: That’s a good idea. I hadn’t thought about that type of approach. I know sometimes there might be a swear word thrown out there while investigating, has there ever been a time where you caught something but maybe because of what was being said you didn’t air it?
Amy Bruni: There has been very close calls. There have been times when we showed things to clients and we were like sorry about the swearing. I think that’s even made air before where they have to bleep out part of the evidence because one of us was cussing or swearing. It definitely happens. Sometimes something crazy happens like a door slams or something that catches you off guard and you accidentally swear and then it’s right there next to the evidence. I remember one time we were on the U.S.S. Yorktown and Adam and I caught this crazy apparition on camera and I know while we were in pursuit trying to figure out what it was and at the same time seeing it happening there were definitely some f-bombs dropped and I remember showing that evidence to the client and hanging my head in shame like I’m so sorry. It happens.
Red Glean: Ghost Hunters is back to having two female investigators on the TAPS team with the addition of Michelle Tate while you were out on maternity leave. Is she sticking around for the entire season? Is there room for two female investigators?
Amy Bruni: She was there for most of the season. I know the last couple cases she missed just because she had some stuff going on at home. She was there the whole time, I was filming. It seems like she is staying on or at least staying on for the rest of this season that we have filmed so far.
Red Glean: How about other TAPS team members? We will see Hailey or Maddie return this season?
Amy Bruni: Yes, Hailey did come out with us. Maddie, I think Jay can speak of this more than I can but it was tough for her and the travel was tough on her. She had to ride in the car and everything. She started putting on so much weight on the road. She was just so spoiled. She was around eighteen different people and everybody thinks they are giving her one little treat but you have to multiply one little treat by eighteen with the cast and crew. She was getting a little tubby.
Red Glean: Josh joined one of the investigations in the first part of Season 9. When you bring in a guest investigator, is that something TAPS decides? Or the network asks? Or is it a little of both?
Amy Bruni: I think it’s a little bit of both. It depends. When Meat Loaf came out with us, Meat Loaf contacted Jay directly. Josh lives in LA and they were filming in LA so it just worked out. I don’t think we’ve done that this season but when there is some sort of cross promotion like when Eddie McClintock came out with us. We know all of those guys because we do Syfy events with them. We go back and forth on twitter with them. Or we do a lot of appearances on the side like DragonCon and things like that where we get to know everybody. It’s kind of like bringing a friend out to investigate at that point.
Red Glean: Speaking of Meat Loaf, did you hear about Meat Loaf Rocks the Paranormal, his show with Syfy that’s in development?
Amy Bruni: I did. I was saying to someone if there was one celebrity out there that legitimately deserves a paranormal show it’s Meat Loaf. He’s really genuinely into it. I definitely support him in that endeavor. He’s interesting to watch and he’s quite the character. He’s legitimately way into the paranormal so much so that he was very overzealous when we worked with him. It’s pretty crazy.
Red Glean: You’re probably thinking he needs a redhead investigator to help him out on the show?
Amy Bruni: Of course. It’s only fair. He came and investigated with us so I clearly get to investigate with him.
Red Glean: In October it’s been sad missing out on the Ghost Hunters Halloween Live specials. Will we see Ghost Hunters Halloween Live return ever?
Amy Bruni: I don’t know. I hope so. I’m all for it. I know last year, Jay really wanted to be home with his family and kids. I just had a baby. There was something else going on. There was so much going on that it didn’t make sense. But I love doing a live show. It would be great to be back this year. It’s really up to the powers that be. Maybe I’ll just have my own live show on my YouTube channel.
Red Glean: That’s a good idea. Now Grant has moved on to new things. Do you think you guys could ever coax him back into doing a guest appearance?
Amy Bruni: I doubt it. Actually, Jimmy and I, my boyfriend, had dinner with Grant and his wife last night. They are definitely into their gaming thing big time. The gaming company and everything. I’m really proud of him. It’s one of the ventures kind of like paranormal investigating. It was something that he was really into and he’s turned it into a business venture. The gaming, this is huge to him. He’s just as passionate if not more so about that as he was with the paranormal investigating. I don’t know if he’ll ever come back to the show but he definitely does like appearances with us. He’s coming to The Stanley Hotel with us next year. We do like different cons so we will definitely see him out and about but just not on the show.
Red Glean: Okay. How is Amy going to bring her love of fashion to Ghost Hunters this season?
Amy Bruni: It’s pretty much impossible. I’ve always tried. The thing is no matter what I wear it all looks the same under IR light. It’s one of those things where I try to wear something kind of cute. I have my little online store and stuff and all of the jewelry I love and everything. That’s my side venture. I’ve always dressed a little funky on the show but it’s hard. When it comes down to it, I’m crawling around dirty, dark places and the last thing I want to do is wear some crazy couture outfit so it can get ruined.
Red Glean: I know you have a special photo collection. Are there any recent new additions? The Mummlers.
Amy Bruni: I collect Mummler photos and they are incredibly hard to come by. I own three. I have yet to even meet another person who owns one. Obviously they are like in private collections. I don’t think they are in collections of people who are even into the paranormal. They are with art collectors and stuff. The ones I got all came from the same source, somebody who got them from estate sales, auctions, and stuff. I always just wait for anyone out there to find one. I put the word out there and hope someone will find one in an antique shop which will never happen. I have three but I would like to have more but I collect all kinds of weird things. I collect like old vintage tarot decks, Bigfoot casts, Voodoo dolls like I have crazy things which are all in storage because I’ve been banned from putting them up in the house except for the Mummlers.
Red Glean: Now the first investigation back from your leave, you might have run into the ghost of Elvis Presley?
Amy Bruni: Possibly. I mean you’ll have to watch. It was really funny because when I heard we were looking for Elvis, I was assuming we were going to Graceland. But it made sense going to Shreveport Auditorium why he might go back there. This is a place where he really got his start. It’s probably very nostalgic for him. It was probably one of those places for him that was there before everything got too crazy. It was exciting and he was starting to have fans but it wasn’t like walk in public without being mobbed. So I could see why he might want to revisit that. The other idea was that hey that if we find the ghost of Elvis then we finally have proof that he is dead. Mystery solved.
Red Glean: I’m guessing that he’s probably somewhere with his Momma.
Amy Bruni: Yes, hopefully. Have you ever read the True Blood books?
Red Glean: No, I haven't
Amy Bruni: In the books, not on the show, Elvis is a vampire. It’s pretty funny.
Red Glean: Speaking of a dream location to investigate. Everyone says the White House. Graceland would be the one for me. I’ve been there a couple of times. I think that place is amazing. I’m personally a big Elvis fan. What’s your ultimate place you’d like to investigate?
Amy Bruni: I’m like you, Graceland. I always tell people, I want to investigate Graceland so bad between that and the White House it’s neck and neck. There was kind of a glimmer of hope because the President had the Mythbusters in the White House. So at that point we thought obviously we are the next logical step. But he hasn’t called.
Red Glean: What a shame. I think for history reasons, it would be beneficial.
Amy Bruni: It would be amazing. Just think Mary Todd Lincoln had séances in the White House and stuff. It has a pretty interesting history when it comes to spiritualism. We’d love to go there.
Red Glean: A question ,via @ShippinOut31 on twitter, Is there anything we don’t see on Ghost Hunters that happens behind the scenes that you’d like us to know about?
Amy Bruni: I wish people would realize that we are not investigating a location for just one night. We are usually there for at least two. There’s just not enough time in the show to really dig into that too much the way that it is edited and cut like it’s tough for them. They would have to use at least one or two minutes of footage time to show that we were going back and setting up again and so instead they just choose to not show it which makes sense. But at the same time we get so many emails saying that, “You were only there for one night.” But actually we had been there for three or four. That’s probably the biggest thing I’d love to be able to tell people and let them know.
Red Glean: Thank you for taking time to talk with me today. And I’m sure I’ll see you soon somewhere if not just on my TV.
Amy Bruni: Thank you.
Ghost Hunters airs on Syfy, Wednesdays at 9/8c.
How to officially keep up with Amy Bruni:
Twitter: @amybruni
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmyBruniGhostHunter
Instagram: amybruni
Website: http://www.amybruni.net/
