‘Bob Hearts Abishola’ Stars Billy Gardell and Folake Olowofoyeku Talk Guilty Pleasures, Hidden Talents

As CBS prepares to debut its latest Chuck Lorre sitcom, Bob Hearts Abishola, stars Billy Gardell and Folake Olowofoyeku opened up about their guilty pleasures and hidden talents. The new series stars Gardell as a heart attack patient who falls in love with a nurse from Nigeria, played by Olowofoyeku. The series was co-created by The Big Bang Theory‘s Lorre with Eddie Gorodetsky, Al Higgins and Gina Yashere.

Gardell said his guilty pleasure is “watching football for 10 hours at a time,” while Olowofoyeku’s is “watching mindless television while eating and playing Candy Crush at the same time.”

As for their side hustles, Gardell reminded his fans that he does stand-up on the side. Olowofoyeku joked that her side hustle is “acting.”

While on CBS This Morning Thursday, Gardell said he was “proud” to be a part of a show that focuses on kindness instead of real-world negativity.

“I’m humbled by it, I really am,” Gardell, who previously starred on CBS’ Mike and Molly, said. “I go home very proud every day. We’ve been finding moments of connection that I think are very important right now.”

Gardell explained that Abishola is the first person his character sees when he wakes up from his heart attack.

“He finds something very striking and special about her, and he decides in that moment, ‘You know what, I’m going to see if I can get her to just give me a chance even though we’re very different,’” Gardell explained.

Olowofoyeku’s character has “tunnel vision” when it comes to her life, the actress said.

“She has come to this country and her goal is to create a better life for herself and her son. Specifically, [to] send her son to an Ivy League school to become a doctor,” Olowofoyeku explained. “And that’s been her mission and that’s all she’s been focused on. So this comes as a surprise to her. So it takes a while for her to notice and realize what is going on.”

Olowofoyeku said she felt like the part of Abishola was written just for her.

“She was my mom, she was a lot of my aunties I grew up with back home in Nigeria,” she explained on CBS This Morning. “It just was seamless.”

Bob Hearts Abishola also stars Christine Ebersole as Dottie, Bob’s mother; Matt Jones as Douglas, Bob’s brother; Maribeth Monroe as Christina, Bob’s sister; Vernee Watson as Glora, the hotel receptionist; Shola Adewusi as Olu, Abishola’s aunt; Barry Shabaka Henley as Tunde, Abishola’s uncle; and Travis Wolfe Jr. as Dele, Abishola’s son.

Bob Hearts Abishola debuts on CBS Monday, Sept. 23 at 8:30 p.m. ET.