No one blurs the lines between reality and fiction with quite as much finesse as 44 Chapters About 4 Men author BB Easton. Her comedic memoir, which chronicles her attempts to convince her otherwise perfect husband to be less vanilla in the bedroom, is the inspiration for Netflix's Sex/Life. But the show is far more intense than the hilarious book, with Easton's fictional stand-in Billie (Sarah Shahi) actually putting her marriage on the line for her smoking hot ex Brad (Adam Demos). Given the dangerous allure of the musically-inclined bad boy, it's only natural to wonder if Brad from Sex/Life is based on a real person. (And if he is, is he still single?)
The answer to that question is complicated. After all, even though 44 Chapters About 4 Men is categorized as a memoir, it's chock full of fictional elements. A large portion of the book details Easton filling her journal with wild — but totally fictional — sexual antics with her exes in hopes of inspiring her husband's competitive nature to kick in.
She then complicated matters further by releasing a series of mostly fictional books about each of the four men from her memoir. Among the most memorable men from her past is a sensitive bass player named Hansel "Hans" Oppenheimer, who shares plenty of Brad's best personality traits. But even Hans isn't a perfect match for Brad, who is a ridiculously wealthy music manager on top of being an unpredictable sex god.
In the book, Hans is described as a "sexy vampire" and "Mr. Tall, Dark, and Tattooed," so while Brad definitely possesses his edge, it's not a perfect match. However, Easton does write a pool sex scene between herself and Hans that's every bit as steamy as the one on the show. The only difference is, Hans definitely isn't the owner of the pool, and the duo are forced to make a quick exit when the real owners realize what's going on in their backyard.
For her part, Easton is candid about her love of embellishing her real life youthful adventures until she has turned them into something that's not quite fact or fiction. In a 2017 interview with The Huffington Post, the author lamented the fact that her books are basically uncategorizable. "Choosing a genre label to slap on my work is like trying to find my name on a souvenir shot glass in a Panama City Beach gift shop. It’s never there, so I have to choose the lesser of eight-five evils or leave empty-handed," she explained.
Interestingly, in the same interview, she revealed she's still in touch with Hans — although she hopes he never realizes he's a character in her books. "I actually had dinner a few weeks ago with one of my exes (the rock star I mentioned earlier) and the guys from his old band," she said. "When they asked me what I was up to these days I think I choked on my Jameson and ginger, then blushed and sputtered something about being a stay-at-home mom. I had to practically clamp my hands over my mouth the whole night to keep from blurting out, 'I lied! I wrote an Amazon bestseller and all of you are in it! I'm sorry! Please don’t sue me!'"
Given that same book is now the inspiration for a Netflix series, Hans may now have some idea of the role he's played in Easton's success. But come on, who could possibly be mad about inspiring even the tiniest part of the deeply alluring Brad? He's the dream bad guy boyfriend, and even though I'm pretty sure he's not based on any one person from Easton's past, there's definitely a dash of Hans lurking beneath his wicked grin.
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