DETROIT — Longtime friends Michelle Baumann and Kaye Lani Rae Rafko-Wilson admittedly can't keep a secret. Rafko-Wilson once told the audience of their Monroe County public access show what she had bought her kids for Christmas well before Christmas morning.

So when Stephen Colbert's team asked in February if the famous comedian and late night host could guest host their local television show "Only in Monroe," they faced the challenge of a lifetime: don't tell a soul.

"Boy, when you do those agreements, they're like 'you can't say anything,'" Baumann said. "We had to be very, very careful. We wanted it to be special."

Mission accomplished.

The May 22 "Only in Monroe" episode hosted by Colbert has garnered at least 1.6 million YouTube views (That's about 1,599,988 more views than a normal episode, Baumann and Rafko-Wilson joked.) Friends are blowing up Baumann and Rafko-Wilson's phones with questions about their famous friend, and people are making special donations to Gabby's Grief Center, where Rafko-Wilson serves as development director, because of the show.

"It's been so amazing because there's been nothing negative," Rafko-Wilson said. "For me, it's all been positive, (people saying) how fun our part of the show was, and the entire show was so funny."

Rafko-Wilson and Baumann, both nurses, started "Only in Monroe" in 2010. Baumann had been helping a physician produce a local show, and she thought she and her friend Rafko Wilson, famously Miss America 1988, should give it a try.

Baumann and Rafko-Wilson are "soul sisters," Rafko-Wilson said. Baumann said they are Monroe-area regulars, "like salt and pepper." That made it easy to line up three guests per show for a decade until the COVID-19 pandemic derailed filming.

Colbert first hosted "Only in Monroe" in 2015 when he was gearing up to begin his time hosting "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on CBS. A decade ago, he wanted to do a test run with local platforms to see if he could garner a grassroots audience, Baumann said. She said he chose "Only in Monroe" in part because he could land a local celebrity guest, Eminem.

Colbert returned at the end of his stint at "The Late Show," which was canceled last month. CBS parent company Paramount Global said the cancellation was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night," but critics, including other late-night TV hosts, say the company was bending to political pressure from President Donald Trump.

Colbert made plenty of cracks about that from the Monroe Community Media studio in May, saying he was grateful to be there "before they also get acquired by Paramount."

Colbert is raising funds for Monroe Community Media by auctioning off items from the May show. One of the items is an autographed script that as of Wednesday afternoon had been bid above $1,700 with a day left to go before the auction closed.

In a YouTube clip about the auction, Colbert thanked the Monroe station employees "who have kindly put up with my nonsense both this week and also back in July of 2015."

Colbert host gig features helium voice, fire, 'Monroe dogs'

Colbert's off-screen presence is much like his onscreen one, Rafko-Wilson and Baumann said. He's funny, generous and warm.

Speaking of warm, that's how the pair said they felt after two double-shots of Monroe's finest spirits and some hearty sucks of helium, which they imbibed alongside Colbert as he interviewed them about everything from their grandchildren to Baumann's recovery from cancer.

Both Baumann and Rafko-Wilson said that was their first time hitting a voice-altering helium balloon. They were pretty sure it was the first time either had had two double-shots.

"They brought out the tank and I thought 'oh my god, I'm not going to make it,'" Rafko-Wilson said.

Baumann and Rafko-Wilson reminisced Wednesday about some of their favorite parts of the show, like Jack White and Colbert gazing into each other's eyes while sharing a hot dog and Monroe Community Media Creative Director Genevieve Benson telling Colbert to "waterfall" if he took a drink from her water bottle.

They also shared some behind-the-scenes intel: The local fire and police departments were on-site in case the dumpster fire went awry and they didn't try Jeff Daniels' viral sandwich. There will be more episodes of "Only in Monroe," which they are filming from a "she shed" in Baumann's yard.

Neither would share whether they prefer a Monroe dog from Monroe's Original Hot Dog or Vince's West End Drive-In.

Turns out, they can keep some secrets.

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