Butler grad appears on reality TV show
Megan Zappa, a former Butler girl, says she thought her life with Grammy award-winning guitarist hubby Dweezil Zappa was “too boring” to attract attention from the makers of “Celebrity Wife Swap.”
“There’s just no drama in our lives,” says the Butler High graduate and former Megan Hewis.
But the ABC reality show, which documents a one-week trade of wives from two households, likes to match up couples with contrasting lifestyles and personalities. And so it paired the Zappas with the family of former Major League Baseball outfielder David Justice for an episode to air at 10 p.m. Tuesday.
The Zappas like to garden, rarely go out, and they walk to the market, restaurants and neighbors’ homes.
The Justices have eight cars and a mansion so big they sometimes need intercoms to chat.
“But we have a similar belief in family. Common ground,” Megan Zappa says. “They’re really nice people.”
Megan’s family story begins on Boyd Avenue in Butler, and she sometimes walked to school as a child. At Butler High School, Megan participated in the Spanish Club and the Environmental Club. She was a candy striper at Butler Memorial Hospital.
After graduating in 1992, Megan earned a bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Pittsburgh. She pursued that career for about a year, before becoming a flight attendant with US Airways.
That job, which she still has, not only has taken Megan to all corners of the world, it also facilitated her first brush with Dweezil in 2008.
Dweezil was a passenger on a flight from Los Angeles to Philadelphia, where the couple now has a second home. A crew member put Dweezil’s guitar under the plane. Megan helped him get it into the passenger area, where its safe travel was assured.
“I felt like I’ve always known him, or maybe I knew him in a past life,” says Megan.
After chatting during the flight and walking to the next terminal together, the pair corresponded daily for years, then dated until their marriage in 2012.
Dweezil said Megan has a thoughtfulness and an ease with people that makes her attractive.
He has two daughters from a previous marriage: Zola, 7, and Ceylon, who just turned 6.
And Megan has a 12-year-old daughter, Mia, from her first marriage to a pilot who still is a friend and an integral part of the family’s life.
“Megan and I both are on our second marriages,” Dweezil says.
“We learned a lot about what we didn’t like in those first go rounds. We are very happy we found each other at this point in our lives. We’re well suited to handle our challenging balancing act schedules ... This is definitely the best time of my life.”
Megan and Dweezil agree the couple is private and rarely dine at photo-op caliber restaurants.
Megan describes the couple as “homebodies ... It’s either the Grammys or some other red carpet event or Chipotle for us.”
Dweezil says “we like simple things.”
Megan is a gardener. She tries to put as much of her effort on the table as possible. She’s also interested in composting and yoga.
She notes that it’s funny for her to sit next to people she’s only seen on television when Dweezil’s sister, Moon Unit, hosts a party.
Dweezil is a guitarist, a one-time VJ on MTV and son of the late legendary rock star Frank Zappa. He spends about four months a year touring worldwide.
But Megan’s job as a flight attendant allows her the comfort of visiting her husband while he is in another state or country.
“It’s a balancing act,” Dweezil says of the couple’s two-career, two-city home lifestyle.
So why did they agree to the “Celebrity Wife Swap” television show?
“I’ve seen the show and it’s usually a pretty entertaining process,” Dweezil says. “I thought it might be interesting, so I said, “Why not? It turned out to be pretty fun for us.”
Dweezil says he is aware some people are skeptical about celebrity-based reality shows.
“But that isn’t our concern,” he says. “We did it for fun.”
The couple says the show was a learning experience for them. But Megan hopes the audience also gets a chance to learn about them.
“What people don’t know about Dweezil is that he’s so sweet and kind and puts thought into everything,” Megan says. “I think they’ll see that on the show.”
One person sure to tune in is Megan’s mother, Jane Rekich of Clay Township.
Rekich says she’s had only fleeting brushes with Megan because of the couple’s busy schedule. She said Dweezil has never been to Butler.
“I love her to death though,” Rekich said.