July 8, 2025 • 42 mins
We’ve made it to the beach of the *new* version of Bachelor in Paradise, but things aren’t as magical as they seem… Ben and Ashley break down all the changes in the new season, from the good to the bad.
So far, it feels more like “Love Island” than Bachelor in Paradise, but can the two shows coexist??
Ben and Ashley hold nothing back when discussing the couples in the new resort, including another look at Justin and Susie’s relationship timeline, and an early prediction on Jess and Spencer.
Plus, will the addition of “life changing money” be the shot in the arm the franchise needs??
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Ben and Ashley I almost Famous podcast
with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Hey, y'all, welcome to the almost Famous podcast. We're back
of Paradise is back. It feels like it's been a
long time since I've seen Ben. I told him to
save all his thoughts on this new season of Paradise,
which to remind everyone if it didn't, if it wasn't
latantly obvious to you when you're watching this episode, this
(00:27):
is a whole new production team.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Well, I think it brings in a few things. One,
I didn't feel like your intros was representing the excited
energy that you and I have towards the start of
a new season of something. But I think the main
point that you just made is super important. It showed
you know, we've talked for months now about Hey, the
(00:52):
production team has gotten fired and nobody that we know
still works there. And I think people maybe from the
outside heard that as a playing as a concern or whatever.
But I think watching this episode represents how much a
production team actually has when it comes to how the
show is seen. Like they have a lot of influence.
(01:13):
It is incredibly important, and different productions teams will have
different aspects and this New One took a totally different
route when it comes to Bachelor in Paradise.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
It was so stylized and modernized. And I am not
somebody who watches Love Island. I know it is the
biggest show out there right now, so I can't even compare.
Although now I feel like, for research sake, I feel
like I have to watch Love Island because it's their
main competition. It's come and it's swooped up what they
(01:48):
had maybe like originated in some sense, and I just
felt like when I watched the first fifteen minutes especially,
I was like, oh my god, they're trying to be
Love Island. Now, I say this not know and Love
Island very well right, but it's just stylized edited so
much differently. One of the big things that stood out
(02:09):
to me was that we're talking to the barrel the
lens of the camera. We are not talking to a producer,
our eyes are. They're talking directly to the audience.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
And we can't be hypocritical. We wanted the aspect of
less production. However, watching this episode, I think we need
to start this episode with some of our complaints and
then end with some of the things that we were
really in favor of and we really enjoyed because there
(02:40):
were those elements as well. For sure, I think personally,
Bachelor in Paradise's secret sauce was that old style kind
of TV. You watched it and it made you feel
like it hasn't changed in ten years. It was the
Bachelor type TV. It was less produced in a lot
(03:06):
of ways because it was hidden cameras. It wasn't the
highest quality camera. There wasn't like the clip art snapshots
coming in. This did take the Love Island vibe, which
I think is an attempt to modernize Bachelor in Paradise. However,
I don't know if Bachelor in Paradise is at a
place to compete with Love Island. I think Bachelor in
(03:27):
Paradise had its own special sauce that Love Island could
never have, and that's why Love Island didn't go with
the Bachelor in Paradise vibe. They went with their own vibe,
and I think the two can coexist. However, now Bachelor
of Paradise is throwing themselves in that Love Island bucket,
and you and I both said we want this less produced.
(03:47):
I don't know if this was less produced. I actually
think it was more produced, even with the in camera
talking than previous seasons.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
They wanted to come across is like slick and to me,
so Love Island is trashy, right, Like, It's like it's
got a lot more edge, it has a lot more
raunch to it, and I think with Paradise, it was
still that Bachelor foundational show where it was like love
(04:19):
and it wasn't supposed to be shocking. It was supposed
to be a little grittier than Paradise, right, but there
was supposed to be like a much shock value to it.
And while there weren't a ton of raunchy comments, they
definitely wanted to come across as like it felt like
more of like an MTV dating show where it's like
(04:39):
I'm so and so, and like I'm a bit dip
dipper with my face, like flashing different angles in my face,
like in front of the description of myself. It just
it didn't feel as comfy and warm as Paradise usually feels.
And yeah, holy moly, with the HD camera, right, it
looks gorgeous.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
It looks gorgeous.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yeah, It's just it's just not homey feeling. And a
lot of that has to do with location change too.
The resort vibe is going to give more of that sleek,
modern feel than glamping.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Okay, so the first comment is out of the way.
When it comes to not a criticism, I think, you know,
old school transition. I think what the transition. My concern is,
can Love Island and Bachelor in Paradise coexist with the
same kind of vibe. I feel like Bachelor Paradise should
have never taken on Love Island, and Love Island should
(05:31):
have never taken on Bachelor in Paradise. They would have
better co existed with the original format. That's my take.
I might be wrong. The second thing actually that I
want to talk to you about that could turn into
a criticism could not. But you've been there, you found love.
There is the resort and the venue change. To me,
(05:54):
it was harder to follow where people were at on
the premises and where people were intermingling and not intermingling
because of this new you know venue. However, I understand
that I need to get used to the new venue.
I will learn it over time, and so this could
just be me not understanding it yet. However, this episode
(06:18):
was harder for me to follow, not harder for me
to watch harder for me to follow because of the
new venue.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
It was harder, how so was it harder for you
to follow or where you just felt like, to me,
the venue feels like a date venue. And yes, this
is all because we're comparing it to nine previous years.
But like when Justin was like, Wow, I'm really glad
that we're on a date now. You know it took
a while, but I'm glad that we can have this time.
(06:46):
And then even there was another conversation where Alex was
saying to Jonathan, so, how would being on a date
with me be different than what we're doing right now?
And that's kind of what it felt like during Bachelor
in Paradise. Previously, getting out of play Escandida was like
a treat, and now right now they just feel like
(07:06):
they're already on kind of like a day, like there's
no there's there's not much to be had. Different.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Yeah, I think it was just hard because of it
felt like a cocktail party where there was different like
seat segments and so unlike before where you'd have to
have a couple sitting on a sunbed next to another
couple on a sunbed, now it felt like everybody could
spread out, yeah, in a very comfortable setting. I haven't
(07:37):
seen the places where people can lounge I loved. I
don't know why. I just noticed this during like this
episode during Bachelor and Paradise previously, I've loved those sunbeds
where people can like almost lay out and nap. It
felt like this was very RESORTI where it's like we're
gonna sit in two separate chairs side by side, or
on a couch sitting straight up.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Because they could nap in their own rooms. It was
even jarring to hear when there was a thunderstorm that
people had to go to their separate rooms because I'm
assuming that there's no cameras in the bedroom, so if
they can't be outside in the common area, then they
just have to go be alone.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
What would happen in bachelom Paradise previously when there was
a thunderstorm.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
We would go to the treehouse, which was the lounge
room in the bedroom area. There was like a common
area over on that side, and I always thought it
was weird that they usually didn't use the cameras during
that time. It was like low key shelter together time.
(08:38):
But I don't know. There must be some reason for
them not to have the camera equipment out.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
The final thing that got brought up via our social
media when it comes to criticisms of this episode before
we get into the breakdown of the episode, which we'll
run through for everybody. This won't be a four hour
podcast like this episode was. Was the Dale Moss love.
There's a lot of Dale Moss love, especially on his entrance.
(09:08):
Ashley thoughts on the Dale Moss love warranted, unwarranted? How
will Bachelor Nation in a sense the majority respond?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
So I put myself into the girl's shoes because as
an outsider and as a fan, I was like, maybe
I'm speaking without really knowing Dale, but I've been very
team Claire and all of that, and I always thought
that Dale gave off this ultra polished here for the
(09:38):
fame type vibe, and it was strange to see him
regarded as some sort of fan favorite, which I don't
think he's ever been. And then I put myself in
the girl's shoes and I did feel what Kat felt,
which it was like, Holy, an adult male just showed up,
because a lot of the guys do give off boyish entergy,
(10:01):
but his reputation, if I were there, would have been
more so what I was thinking about. But I totally
understand how dashing he is.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
He's a very handsome man. Yeah, perfect smile. But it
felt like the show really played it up more than
they did with even like Justin, who could have easily
had that same kind of edit. It felt like the
show was really playing up that Dale was there.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Well, that's because he was their all star. He was
their A lister. He's the one that people will remember
even if they haven't watched the show in a few years.
He more than Justin I think. So. Yeah, I think
Justin is really fun TV, but I don't think that
he's I'm sorry, Justin, I love you, But like I
think he's more of like a B lister when it
(10:49):
comes to Bachelor Nation, and I think Dale Teeter's on
the A list.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Well, that's the breakdown of anything sort of a criticism, Ashley.
Let's run through this episode. I am going to kind
of lead it because I want to hear your thoughts
and opinions because you have been there. I haven't, and
so my opinions come from strictly a viewer's standpoint. We've
got to change. At the opening of the show, we've
(11:16):
kind of mentioned it. I actually personally really enjoyed how
this show opened and how the cast was announced. I
don't think it gave a great background for us in
terms of knowing this cast, because I don't think we
know a lot of these people from this cast well.
But I did like the visual effects, the kind of
(11:37):
new arrivals. But I do fully miss the host of
the show. That was like their only job when it
comes to paradise. Why is there a host outside of
Wells if they're not going to introduce people to the beach.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah, we missed the whole long walk down to the sand.
That arrival moment was missed.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Do you miss it? Yeah, when you say you miss it,
you actually miss it? Or is it good to have gone?
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I don't know. It's just like it's classic. I miss it,
but it's not like but it wasn't one of the
things that I thought of. I thought, Oh, this is
a weird, cheesy opening that seems try hard and doesn't
seem like us. I actually didn't think, oh, wow, I
missed the walk down the paradise until you just said it.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Yeah, it's a different vibe. I didn't hate it. I
didn't hate it. I do miss the host of the show,
welcoming people to the beach, catching up with him for
a second, Where have you been? What's love been like?
All right, get down there and that awkward walk down
the steps that isn't sexy, that isn't easy, Yes, but
(12:50):
I do. I've always appreciated it. You don't have it now.
That has changed. Like a lot of things on this
show has changed, the thing hasn't changed is the contestants
have came from previous seasons of The Bachelor and Bachelorette.
We won't run through all the names that were announced
on the Beach just because you've probably watched the show
(13:12):
already you don't need it. But in short, some of
the standouts were Alex from Grant season, Lexi from Joey's season.
We have Bailey from Grant season, Hakeem from Gen season
that was a big one. As we mentioned, we have
Dale Moss from Clear season coming on, Zoe from Grant season,
(13:34):
and then some of the other big standouts were Justin
who was from Katie Thurston season but recently dated, Susie Evans.
Those are the big standouts, Those are the ones that
make up most of the storylines during this episode, including
which Kat and Jonathan also should be included in that
list because they were seen a lot.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Kat was the superstar of this episode. Whenever Kat was
on the screen, I was smiling, I was laughing such
she was born to be a reality TV star, and
I felt like.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
And I think you and I said this, I think
she had a bad rap coming out of Paradise last season.
I think she got mixed up a little bit. She
started out strong and ended kind of in this like
love triangle where she got very upset often, and it
made her seem like she was getting upset for the
most ridiculous reasons. I'm happy to see her back on
(14:25):
the beach because I do think this could be a
redemption story for her and one that we get to
understand her a little bit better. Obviously, she ended up
with somebody from the last season of Paradise, but it
just never was pretty last season for her.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
She had like that meltdown, that shout fest, and a
lot of people got her on her for that. I
think that a lot of people didn't see the humor
that she has. I think a lot of it, she
says is tongue in cheek. She was hilarious in this episode,
and when she wasn't on the screen, I would sometimes
get bored.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
I'm with you, she will be one of those people
when she pops on, my attention will be right.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Actually, before we get in the date card number one,
which happened during this episode, anything stand out to you
from kind of the intros and initial conversations.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I guess the initial conversation that jumps out is the
automatic connection between Jess and Spencer. I just throughout the
episode and yeah, three hours, three hours was too long.
You and I with our screener, you know, we see it.
We don't see a condensed version. We see it without
the commercials. So when I saw that it was almost
(15:50):
it was two hours and ten minutes of actual airtime,
I was like, oh, this is reserved for finales. This
is usually paired, is chopped up into two days, right,
so you have your your two hour night than your
hour night. And this felt far too long. I was
in and out of it. It was like kind of
(16:11):
a rollercoaster where I was like, Oh, I love Paradise,
It's so much fun, and then I was like, oh,
I'm I'm done. Oh I'm back in and again. But
it did have its good moments, and I know that
at the beginning of the episode it was like we
were like, oh girl, But actually there was a lot
of foundational bachelor moments I would not call Justin Spencer's
(16:33):
Justin Spencer were they were the couple that you think
is gonna make it, and they're just they're not going
to That's what I guess. Oh, I don't. I don't.
I find that I think he's She's gonna get annoyed
with him, and I think that I think he can be.
I think he might be annoying.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
And you think, I mean, out of anybody, I feel
like Jess would appreciate the annoyance more than anybody right now.
Why he's kind of quirky herself.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Totally, and I think he takes it too. I think
she's quirky and cue and I think that he like
might have like a little bit.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Of a side like a whoa, this is too much? Yeah,
who's the other guy that I didn't even recognize dark
hair Military School that also had that vibe to me?
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Oh, you think that he had had a vibe to
that was Kyle also from Katie's season. I was he
got eliminated at the end of this episode, and I
was rooting for him over Jeremy in that loved triangle.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Okay, well, I mean I think Kyle had that similar
feel to me. Let's start now with this day card,
because that's really where the episode, to me begins. We
have a huge storm come in, so Justin cannot take Lexi.
Justin gets the date card, cannot take Lexi on this date. However,
when I'm watching in this moment, at this period of time,
(17:57):
I say, Justin, Lexi have a shot. Lexi is very
similar to Susie Evans to me in a lot of ways.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
I agree, Do you agree? I do?
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
When I saw the two of them talking, I thought, yeah,
that she can give Susie vibes. Both of them have
a sense of composure, immaturity. Now, there was one thing
that made my alarm clock go off, my little alarm here,
and that was that Lexi wanted to for a moment
(18:31):
not explore things with Justin because the Susie breakup was
so recent and that he was with her for two years.
So that doesn't match up with our public timeline. Our
public timeline says that Susie and Justin were together solidly
for about seven months, seven eight months, because when you
(18:52):
and I hosted that thing at the Bachelor Mansion, we
that was October twenty three or December twenty twenty three,
and then they had later admitted that they were together,
and they had actually been together for a month at
that point. Then they broke up last summer, early summer,
(19:14):
I think, like June twenty twenty four, which means at
the time of filming, he was broken up with Susie
for a year. Now were they secretly dating and we
don't know? Or was that a little whatever they call
it a franken bite, because it did sound a little
bit like a franken bite when I heard the two twode.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Seems like an extended period past what you and I
would know. I mean behind the scenes, we got to
hang out them personally, I don't know them together for
two years.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Yeah, I think that perhaps they were friends with flirtation
for a long time and they're actually together for a
far shorter amount of time than two years. And I
just feel like, oh, come on, Like I understand girl
code not wanting to date somebody in bachelornation who's had
a long relationship if you respect the girl and whatnot,
(20:08):
but like to be in paradise and be like, oh,
I just don't know if he's ready for this just
makes it feel like, oh no, no, no, let's not bring
that up.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Yeah, it's it's hard to tell, but I do think
Justin wants to find love outset of anything else. I
don't know how Susie feels, but if they're broken up,
I think she's aware and Justin's aware that he is
ready to have a serious relationship. And so for me,
we have to have this conversation all the time on
(20:35):
this podcast, especially when we talk about a bachelor, is
how soon is too soon to move on? And our
consensus has always been as soon as you find the
next right person perfect. It could be two days, three days,
it could be three years. But for him to put
himself back out there and go on paradise again, I
have no problem with. Even if he still does have
(20:58):
sadness over the loss of Susie, that's okay because I
bet that next person will help him forget about it
or make him forget about it so quickly.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
And you know what, I bet what I bet that
Susie comes in next week and we can all see
where they stand.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
I hope they're fine. I hope they're fine for it
both their sakes. If not, this really awkward. We do
get a little breakdown at this point in the episode
of relationships that already exist, which makes me giggle and laugh.
So we too much time on them, But it seems
like Akeem at this point has already started and we
love Akeem. We're really excited he was going to be
(21:39):
there this season. He's I think he's a big name
to be in Paradise, but a Keem and Bailey seem
to be chiming it up now you know, Daleen, Zoey,
Dale and Alex are also mentioned together. I see Dale
(21:59):
and Alex more than I see Dale and Zoe at
this point, and just because he is in this weird,
kind of very early on love triangle that shouldn't really
even be a thing. He does get the second date card.
He pulls Kat, Zoe, and Alex all chooses Kat to
(22:19):
go on this date. It's a big moment because Dale
has obviously been one that has been fought over. During
this episode, he shows his interest in Kat. This couple
does make sense to me, Ashley. I don't think they're
long term, and he is the opposite of whatever the
guy's name was, who was awesome and I love him
(22:41):
and he's super nice. Last Henry, Yeah, John Henry. But
she seems intrigued.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Well, I wanted Kat to get this date just because
she was so hilarious when he walked in. She was
just just falling all over him, and I'm like, I
need him to ask her, just for the entertainment sake
of it. He did seem to have a little I
felt the heat between him and Zoe and Alex was
funny because Alex was like, I never get nervous around guys,
(23:10):
but I'm getting so nervous around him. I am the
most awkward thing ever. Jumble into my words and I
was like, you know what, I respect that moment, Alex,
because every girl has that moment, and I'm glad that
you just admitted to it. But at the end of
the day, glad that Cat won the boat with him.
They I think that Cat actually truly did not feel
good when the boat started rocking, like she was like, no, no, no,
(23:31):
I'm nauseous, because I felt like she actually wasn't even
though she said, you know, ten out of ten kiss her.
I think that she was actually like not into that
moment because she was gonna barf in his mouth.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
That's awful.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Can you imagine. Yeah, he like went in for it
when she was like, I'm feeling nauseous, and then he
was like, oh, I'm going to kiss you now, and
I think she was like, that's very delightful, but not
the time.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Maybe I'm overanalyzing it, but that's how I felt, well,
and I think that they will be good for now.
I think that Dale definitely can date around. I wonder Dale,
for his sake of his reputation, is going to be
the kind of guy that even talks to anyone else,
because I think he's just going to want to look
really good and loyal in this.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Dal does give off like some vibes to me where
he wants to say.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
The right thing exactly, yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Which I'm always very cautious of when it comes to
this show. You know, you say all the right things
and it's hard to fact check on reality television. But
I am always a little more drawn into the characters
or the contestants who can make fun of themselves a
(24:48):
little bit, who can laugh at themselves, laugh at the situation.
Wells does a great job at it as the bartender.
It just it does feel like, Hey, I want to
say all the right things and make everybody think I'm
the perfect man, and your actions don't always match up
to that, and so who are we or what are
(25:10):
we to believe?
Speaker 2 (25:13):
A side note, this is the beginning of some of
these montages that they put together versus him putting on sunscreens. Secondly,
is somebody imagining what's going on on another date, and
they like kind of purposely put together these silly like
daydream stories, which I don't know I was actually I
(25:35):
wasn't against that. I thought it was kind of funny.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
I'm not against it at all. Yeah, but to me
a little bit actually, like they need to choose who
they want to be. Do they want to be a
serious dating show with this new modern look, or do
they just want this to be the corny, goofy paradise
that's always been. I don't know if you can have both.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
This is like their version of talking to the parrot
talking to the raccoon.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Yeah, but I felt like the old paradise was all
kind of tongue in cheek, corny goofy until the fast
last week when Romance was represented through engagement.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
I mean from the intros to the sweaty moments, to
the people snoring on the sun beds to people making
on the pool. A lot of it was tongue in
cheek until that last few weeks that got serious. It
feels like, right now the vibe is can we do
(26:33):
both in this in the course of an episode? And
it's hard for me because I either want to invest
or I just simply want to enjoy. And if you're
going to ask me to enjoy, you got to make
like as Well said, these idiots make out in a
pool for like the next ten weeks and make fools
of themselves. You cannot do both to me.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
I think you can do both to me, because that
was silly. But I thought there was some really neat
conversations too. The conversation I'll go through them if you should.
I is that how we should handle this and me
go through them, go through them? Yeah, okay. There was
the conversation about timeline between Justin and Alexi, especially because
(27:18):
she has talked about her possible fertility issues down the
road that I thought that that was really natural and
made me feel something. I also felt the conversation between
Jess and Sam talk about their fears on that date.
That felt old fashioned bachelor. I liked that. And then yeah,
(27:44):
so Alex had a good conversation with Jonathan. I felt
that was pretty real too.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
I don't discredit the realness. I just think as a fan,
you got to give me one of the other, and
sometimes in these great moments you can't mix into silly.
I either got to feel it. I don't. I don't
have the emotional capacity to go back and forth too often,
and I thought this episode, maybe because it was three
(28:13):
hours long, made me go back and forth emotionally too much. Ashley,
As we close here talking about Paradise, I do want
to kind of talk about some of the life love
triangles that always exist early on in a season of Paradise, Ashlely,
some of the lot love triangles that stood out to
(28:34):
me personally were the ones with Sam, or with Bailey,
Jeremy and Kyle. Alex's love triangle. I think Alex is
gonna have a really hard time on Paradise because I
think she's very open, very fun, very flirtatious, and very
(28:58):
willing to just have a good time, which is gonna
invite a lot of people in to be interested in her,
which is going to find her to be interested in
a lot of people. It's how paradise works. It's the
beauty of it. Date around and see what works. Also,
obviously we see Dale. I think we have to consider
him not in a triangle as much, but in a
(29:19):
place of being of interest to a lot of people.
I think any of those girls would have willingly and
excitedly said yes to his date. Cap was the one
that got asked Ashley, do any of these love triangles
still exist in the next couple of weeks? Do they
die off? Do any of them actually become a thing?
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Okay, here's a triangle. Here's not a triangle, but a
couple that I see. Probably I don't know what the
heck's gonna happen with them, Bailey and Jeremy. Can I
just say that I'm not into Bailey and Jeremy because
that makeout scene was like gross, that was like way
too much for us to see. I didn't need to see,
(29:59):
like the the tongue in action so much. That was
like a bedroom makeout, not the first time makeout. And
there's something about Jeremy that I'm sorry, something about that
guy don' I'm really sure. And also, Wells was epic
when he described it. He was like just me, or
was like, Bailey out of Jeremy's league. I was like,
(30:21):
thank you for saying it out loud.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Well is good at that. You got to give him
credit for saying that as a host of this show.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
I know.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
It's pretty wild that he can or it does. But yeah,
I'm with you, and Bailey is out of Jeremy's league,
and that's okay. Maybe that's how I mean. We know
a lot of people who's significant others, and typically it's
the male who bats way out of his league and
we don't understand why, and we're like, good for you, buddy,
(30:51):
Like I don't know how you did it, but you
pulled it off, and that maybe is how this works.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Yeah, Brian and Zoe there are who the heck knows
what's gonna happen to them because they don't feel firm
right now. And Zoe is definitely somebody who's hot, and
I can see being a hot commodity amongst the men
when they come in next week.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
Yeah, the men are going to come in next week.
We don't necessarily know who we're gonna get but to
close this whole thing up, are our thoughts on my
thoughts on Paradise or this I still don't know these
contestants at all. I've watched every season for ten years,
haven't missed an episode. We've broke them down here on
the Almost Famous podcast. I feel very disconnected from this
(31:38):
group so far. It doesn't say anything about the individuals
as much of past seasons. Up until this season, there's
been familiar faces to me, and there's a few here,
but not many that I really know rooting for, understand
or remember their storyline up. I don't know what that
(31:59):
says about me. Maybe it's that I'm not as big
of a fan of the show as I think I am.
But I want to see more character development, or I
want to see more stories get displayed, or I want
to see some familiar faces of the past even come
back on the beach. And I think we might get
that with the Goldens. The Golden still are an element
(32:20):
of the show that have been promised to us that
we didn't see, that we should see at some point
here coming out. I think that will help. Paradise is
weird for me to watch, honestly, this first episode because
it's all unfamiliar to me. We have a new venue
with a new look, like with new production company, filming
(32:42):
this in a whole new way. I am trying to
catch up. I am trying to adjust and evolve and
grow my understanding of what this show is going to
look like. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm not giving up,
and I hope it does. I think we need to
end this podcast. We're talking about two things. One is
who got to eliminade this week. Obviously we know Hakim,
(33:04):
one of our favorites, was eliminated.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Hakim was hilarious. The The part about him is he's
got no romantic energy, and I can relate. I didn't
really exude romantic sexy energy either, and so I knew
that he wasn't really going to make a connection this
early on. But his lines are so funny, his facial
(33:28):
expressions are so funny. I'm gonna miss him. I was
really hoping they somehow figure out a way to keep him.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
But I don't think he's like a lost cause. If
he listens to this. It's not that Hikimi, you don't
exude any type of like sex appeal, well, partner energy.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Totally partner energy, yes, sex appeal no.
Speaker 3 (33:54):
Sure, and that's okay. I don't think either of us do.
I don't think either of us are.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
Like, think you good man, You're far more slow than I.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Look at me like you'll want to sit with me
and talk to me, Like I don't think you and
I either like do that. But I think the right
person comes into her life and they go, that's the
person I'm looking for. And I think k Keem is
the type of person where the right person would be like,
that's the guy. If I'm really into this thing to
find love, I could envision myself falling in love with
(34:25):
that guy. I think he does exude that, but he's gone. Also,
we see Ricky leave, we see Sam leave, and then
who's the fourth.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
The guy that nobody remembered Kyle, So nobody really remembered
Ricky or Kyle from the past. So to be honest,
I don't really feel like we've lost anyone there. I
did want to see more of Sam because he went
up against the one that we shall not name on
GEN season. I literally forget his name, Bet and I
(34:58):
always joke about how we forget her winner's name, and
it's for good reason, right, So the one who we
shall not name, he went up against him, and we
at times thought that Sam was the villain, but like
knowing who one who shall not be named, it truly
is now like he may not have been the villain.
(35:19):
Sam may have not had any villain energy at all.
So I really wanted to see more of him. I
think that he has an appealing suave to him, and
I think he could have done better. It's unfortunate that
he picked somebody to go on a date with that
was kind of wiped up.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
Yeah, well, it also seems he's gonna bat for home
runs and he tried to hit one. It didn't work
out for him there. Actually, as we look forward to
the rest of the season, what are you excited to
(35:59):
be watched?
Speaker 2 (36:00):
We want to see Susie come in. I'm really interested
to know where their relationship stands. We haven't really had
that many bachelor couples who've had like a previous relationship
and then go into paradise. It can be absolutely heart wrenching.
And I've said that I relate to Justin and Susie's
(36:20):
story in many ways. With Jared and I just feel
like going to Paradise seems like the move, but it's
gonna be heart wrenching either way for them. I believe
we saw this again with Joe and Kendall. That was hard.
It's a hard time, but it's good. It's also great TV.
(36:42):
I want to see Kat. I just want to see
more Kat too, Just Kat entertain me.
Speaker 3 (36:46):
Are you excited to see Dale Moss take a shot
off of April?
Speaker 1 (36:50):
No?
Speaker 2 (36:51):
I don't really care.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
Thenkay, what do you think outside of Dale Moss taking
a shot off v April which feels like a lot
for somebody to watch. In closing your last thoughts, what
do you think about the challenges that seem to be
promised to us throughout this season? Are you excited to
(37:15):
watch those? Does that seem like the opposite of what
you want? And this obviously all leads up to the
financial benefits that are being promised from the season of Paradise.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
Oh yeah, we forgot about talking about that upfront because
Jesse did tease that there would be some sort of
major prize that doesn't have to do with romance. They're
trying to combine Bachelor Pad with Bachelor and Paradise. They
call this life changing money. I don't like money involved
(37:50):
in what in places that it's supposed to be love.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
I think Bachelor Nation is going to absolutely reject this idea.
I think they're going to be so angry at this
idea that they stop watching. They're like, this ruins everything
that I've ever hoped this show would be.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
And apparently this is what Love Island does, So why
does Bachelor just want to copycat them completely? That's kind
of embarrassing.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
I agree. I think you and I could have got
through this whole episode and been like, hey, it's different,
not something we reject, it's different. I think the money
aspect of this now changes everything, even the challenges I
would could get behind. I think when you add money
into it, I think Bacher Nation is going to freak
(38:34):
out and say, yeah, not for me anymore. We watch
this show because even with all that's happened, we still
thought this show was the one show that could find
true love for no other reason other than true love.
You add money into it changes everything, especially when the
money that they're promising is life changing.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
It's half a million dollars that is actually life changing money. Yeah,
and that is really very annoying because with that on
people's minds. That's going to be the number one motivator here,
not love. Yeah that This is a whole different show now.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
And I think Bachrination as a fan base is going
to be very upset about this. I do. I think
it changes everything, and I think it's going to change
now how the Big Show is viewed. Well, you know,
you go on the Big Show now to go to
Paradise to potentially be in the running for half a
million dollars.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Ben, this is actually insane because truly, if you felt
a connection with somebody and you think that, say you
feel that you love them at the end of this,
don't you try to get off camera for a second
with them and be like, listen, this could be life
changing money for both of us. We will go get
the money. One of us will choose the money or
(40:03):
or whatever.
Speaker 3 (40:04):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
People are gonna be like I can just DM text
this person a few months later and be like, Hey,
of course I had to take the money, wouldn't you
understand that?
Speaker 3 (40:14):
Yeah? Or yeah, put it in escrow the two of
you and kind of figured out later on. I mean,
there's a thousand things you would decide to do.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
They've been cheap their whole life. This show has been
cheaped their whole life. Now they make it a half
a million dollars.
Speaker 3 (40:31):
You and you and Jared could be half a million
dollars richer right now, Ashley.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Yeah, because we didn't leave together.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
Yeah, you just split it fifty fifty. Never talk to
each other again.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
No, But like that's not what I'm referring to. You
know that. It's like, look, we we actually you know,
I love blah blah blah blah. I this is mind boggling.
This is super crazy.
Speaker 3 (40:52):
It's really messing with Ashley right now for a lot
of reasons.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
But I like the challenges.
Speaker 3 (40:58):
Yeah, I do too. Bachelor and Parodie will never be
the same. It's not going to be the same. The
promise of a financial incentive changes everything when it comes
to this show. Are we in for a batch? Do nation?
That's the question we have this week for you. Are
you into it? Are you not? If you're into it, awesome.
If you're not into it, please let us know by
(41:20):
commenting on the social media because we want to know
how you feel. It's a way that we keep in
touch with the viewership and understand what the viewership is feeling.
As hosts of Almost in this podcast, I will say
I don't love the financial incentive. I don't see the point.
I think people would have signed up for it even
(41:42):
without it. I think people would have been more likely
to go and invest into relationships and love without it.
I think it is so much. This first episode was
trying to fall into the bucket of the modern reality
television show, and I think they're one too late. Two,
I don't think they can compete. And three, I don't
know why they would try to compete. They had their
(42:03):
own good thing going. But that's my feelings, my thoughts.
I don't promise to be right. I just promised to
have an opinion. We'll be back next week and even
more this week, breaking down more that's happening in Bachelor Nation.
But until next time, I've been Ben, I've.
Speaker 2 (42:17):
Been Ashley, and I am stunned
Speaker 1 (42:19):
By Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcasts
on iHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
This is the Ben and Ashley I almost Famous podcast
with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Hey, y'all, welcome to the almost Famous podcast. We're back
of Paradise is back. It feels like it's been a
long time since I've seen Ben. I told him to
save all his thoughts on this new season of Paradise,
which to remind everyone if it didn't, if it wasn't
latantly obvious to you when you're watching this episode, this
(00:27):
is a whole new production team.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Well, I think it brings in a few things. One,
I didn't feel like your intros was representing the excited
energy that you and I have towards the start of
a new season of something. But I think the main
point that you just made is super important. It showed
you know, we've talked for months now about Hey, the
(00:52):
production team has gotten fired and nobody that we know
still works there. And I think people maybe from the
outside heard that as a playing as a concern or whatever.
But I think watching this episode represents how much a
production team actually has when it comes to how the
show is seen. Like they have a lot of influence.
(01:13):
It is incredibly important, and different productions teams will have
different aspects and this New One took a totally different
route when it comes to Bachelor in Paradise.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
It was so stylized and modernized. And I am not
somebody who watches Love Island. I know it is the
biggest show out there right now, so I can't even compare.
Although now I feel like, for research sake, I feel
like I have to watch Love Island because it's their
main competition. It's come and it's swooped up what they
(01:48):
had maybe like originated in some sense, and I just
felt like when I watched the first fifteen minutes especially,
I was like, oh my god, they're trying to be
Love Island. Now, I say this not know and Love
Island very well right, but it's just stylized edited so
much differently. One of the big things that stood out
(02:09):
to me was that we're talking to the barrel the
lens of the camera. We are not talking to a producer,
our eyes are. They're talking directly to the audience.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
And we can't be hypocritical. We wanted the aspect of
less production. However, watching this episode, I think we need
to start this episode with some of our complaints and
then end with some of the things that we were
really in favor of and we really enjoyed because there
(02:40):
were those elements as well. For sure, I think personally,
Bachelor in Paradise's secret sauce was that old style kind
of TV. You watched it and it made you feel
like it hasn't changed in ten years. It was the
Bachelor type TV. It was less produced in a lot
(03:06):
of ways because it was hidden cameras. It wasn't the
highest quality camera. There wasn't like the clip art snapshots
coming in. This did take the Love Island vibe, which
I think is an attempt to modernize Bachelor in Paradise. However,
I don't know if Bachelor in Paradise is at a
place to compete with Love Island. I think Bachelor in
(03:27):
Paradise had its own special sauce that Love Island could
never have, and that's why Love Island didn't go with
the Bachelor in Paradise vibe. They went with their own vibe,
and I think the two can coexist. However, now Bachelor
of Paradise is throwing themselves in that Love Island bucket,
and you and I both said we want this less produced.
(03:47):
I don't know if this was less produced. I actually
think it was more produced, even with the in camera
talking than previous seasons.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
They wanted to come across is like slick and to me,
so Love Island is trashy, right, Like, It's like it's
got a lot more edge, it has a lot more
raunch to it, and I think with Paradise, it was
still that Bachelor foundational show where it was like love
(04:19):
and it wasn't supposed to be shocking. It was supposed
to be a little grittier than Paradise, right, but there
was supposed to be like a much shock value to it.
And while there weren't a ton of raunchy comments, they
definitely wanted to come across as like it felt like
more of like an MTV dating show where it's like
(04:39):
I'm so and so, and like I'm a bit dip
dipper with my face, like flashing different angles in my face,
like in front of the description of myself. It just
it didn't feel as comfy and warm as Paradise usually feels.
And yeah, holy moly, with the HD camera, right, it
looks gorgeous.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
It looks gorgeous.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yeah, It's just it's just not homey feeling. And a
lot of that has to do with location change too.
The resort vibe is going to give more of that sleek,
modern feel than glamping.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Okay, so the first comment is out of the way.
When it comes to not a criticism, I think, you know,
old school transition. I think what the transition. My concern is,
can Love Island and Bachelor in Paradise coexist with the
same kind of vibe. I feel like Bachelor Paradise should
have never taken on Love Island, and Love Island should
(05:31):
have never taken on Bachelor in Paradise. They would have
better co existed with the original format. That's my take.
I might be wrong. The second thing actually that I
want to talk to you about that could turn into
a criticism could not. But you've been there, you found love.
There is the resort and the venue change. To me,
(05:54):
it was harder to follow where people were at on
the premises and where people were intermingling and not intermingling
because of this new you know venue. However, I understand
that I need to get used to the new venue.
I will learn it over time, and so this could
just be me not understanding it yet. However, this episode
(06:18):
was harder for me to follow, not harder for me
to watch harder for me to follow because of the
new venue.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
It was harder, how so was it harder for you
to follow or where you just felt like, to me,
the venue feels like a date venue. And yes, this
is all because we're comparing it to nine previous years.
But like when Justin was like, Wow, I'm really glad
that we're on a date now. You know it took
a while, but I'm glad that we can have this time.
(06:46):
And then even there was another conversation where Alex was
saying to Jonathan, so, how would being on a date
with me be different than what we're doing right now?
And that's kind of what it felt like during Bachelor
in Paradise. Previously, getting out of play Escandida was like
a treat, and now right now they just feel like
(07:06):
they're already on kind of like a day, like there's
no there's there's not much to be had. Different.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Yeah, I think it was just hard because of it
felt like a cocktail party where there was different like
seat segments and so unlike before where you'd have to
have a couple sitting on a sunbed next to another
couple on a sunbed, now it felt like everybody could
spread out, yeah, in a very comfortable setting. I haven't
(07:37):
seen the places where people can lounge I loved. I
don't know why. I just noticed this during like this
episode during Bachelor and Paradise previously, I've loved those sunbeds
where people can like almost lay out and nap. It
felt like this was very RESORTI where it's like we're
gonna sit in two separate chairs side by side, or
on a couch sitting straight up.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Because they could nap in their own rooms. It was
even jarring to hear when there was a thunderstorm that
people had to go to their separate rooms because I'm
assuming that there's no cameras in the bedroom, so if
they can't be outside in the common area, then they
just have to go be alone.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
What would happen in bachelom Paradise previously when there was
a thunderstorm.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
We would go to the treehouse, which was the lounge
room in the bedroom area. There was like a common
area over on that side, and I always thought it
was weird that they usually didn't use the cameras during
that time. It was like low key shelter together time.
(08:38):
But I don't know. There must be some reason for
them not to have the camera equipment out.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
The final thing that got brought up via our social
media when it comes to criticisms of this episode before
we get into the breakdown of the episode, which we'll
run through for everybody. This won't be a four hour
podcast like this episode was. Was the Dale Moss love.
There's a lot of Dale Moss love, especially on his entrance.
(09:08):
Ashley thoughts on the Dale Moss love warranted, unwarranted? How
will Bachelor Nation in a sense the majority respond?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
So I put myself into the girl's shoes because as
an outsider and as a fan, I was like, maybe
I'm speaking without really knowing Dale, but I've been very
team Claire and all of that, and I always thought
that Dale gave off this ultra polished here for the
(09:38):
fame type vibe, and it was strange to see him
regarded as some sort of fan favorite, which I don't
think he's ever been. And then I put myself in
the girl's shoes and I did feel what Kat felt,
which it was like, Holy, an adult male just showed up,
because a lot of the guys do give off boyish entergy,
(10:01):
but his reputation, if I were there, would have been
more so what I was thinking about. But I totally
understand how dashing he is.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
He's a very handsome man. Yeah, perfect smile. But it
felt like the show really played it up more than
they did with even like Justin, who could have easily
had that same kind of edit. It felt like the
show was really playing up that Dale was there.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Well, that's because he was their all star. He was
their A lister. He's the one that people will remember
even if they haven't watched the show in a few years.
He more than Justin I think. So. Yeah, I think
Justin is really fun TV, but I don't think that
he's I'm sorry, Justin, I love you, But like I
think he's more of like a B lister when it
(10:49):
comes to Bachelor Nation, and I think Dale Teeter's on
the A list.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Well, that's the breakdown of anything sort of a criticism, Ashley.
Let's run through this episode. I am going to kind
of lead it because I want to hear your thoughts
and opinions because you have been there. I haven't, and
so my opinions come from strictly a viewer's standpoint. We've
got to change. At the opening of the show, we've
(11:16):
kind of mentioned it. I actually personally really enjoyed how
this show opened and how the cast was announced. I
don't think it gave a great background for us in
terms of knowing this cast, because I don't think we
know a lot of these people from this cast well.
But I did like the visual effects, the kind of
(11:37):
new arrivals. But I do fully miss the host of
the show. That was like their only job when it
comes to paradise. Why is there a host outside of
Wells if they're not going to introduce people to the beach.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah, we missed the whole long walk down to the sand.
That arrival moment was missed.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Do you miss it? Yeah, when you say you miss it,
you actually miss it? Or is it good to have gone?
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I don't know. It's just like it's classic. I miss it,
but it's not like but it wasn't one of the
things that I thought of. I thought, Oh, this is
a weird, cheesy opening that seems try hard and doesn't
seem like us. I actually didn't think, oh, wow, I
missed the walk down the paradise until you just said it.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Yeah, it's a different vibe. I didn't hate it. I
didn't hate it. I do miss the host of the show,
welcoming people to the beach, catching up with him for
a second, Where have you been? What's love been like?
All right, get down there and that awkward walk down
the steps that isn't sexy, that isn't easy, Yes, but
(12:50):
I do. I've always appreciated it. You don't have it now.
That has changed. Like a lot of things on this
show has changed, the thing hasn't changed is the contestants
have came from previous seasons of The Bachelor and Bachelorette.
We won't run through all the names that were announced
on the Beach just because you've probably watched the show
(13:12):
already you don't need it. But in short, some of
the standouts were Alex from Grant season, Lexi from Joey's season.
We have Bailey from Grant season, Hakeem from Gen season
that was a big one. As we mentioned, we have
Dale Moss from Clear season coming on, Zoe from Grant season,
(13:34):
and then some of the other big standouts were Justin
who was from Katie Thurston season but recently dated, Susie Evans.
Those are the big standouts, Those are the ones that
make up most of the storylines during this episode, including
which Kat and Jonathan also should be included in that
list because they were seen a lot.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Kat was the superstar of this episode. Whenever Kat was
on the screen, I was smiling, I was laughing such
she was born to be a reality TV star, and
I felt like.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
And I think you and I said this, I think
she had a bad rap coming out of Paradise last season.
I think she got mixed up a little bit. She
started out strong and ended kind of in this like
love triangle where she got very upset often, and it
made her seem like she was getting upset for the
most ridiculous reasons. I'm happy to see her back on
(14:25):
the beach because I do think this could be a
redemption story for her and one that we get to
understand her a little bit better. Obviously, she ended up
with somebody from the last season of Paradise, but it
just never was pretty last season for her.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
She had like that meltdown, that shout fest, and a
lot of people got her on her for that. I
think that a lot of people didn't see the humor
that she has. I think a lot of it, she
says is tongue in cheek. She was hilarious in this episode,
and when she wasn't on the screen, I would sometimes
get bored.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
I'm with you, she will be one of those people
when she pops on, my attention will be right.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Actually, before we get in the date card number one,
which happened during this episode, anything stand out to you
from kind of the intros and initial conversations.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I guess the initial conversation that jumps out is the
automatic connection between Jess and Spencer. I just throughout the
episode and yeah, three hours, three hours was too long.
You and I with our screener, you know, we see it.
We don't see a condensed version. We see it without
the commercials. So when I saw that it was almost
(15:50):
it was two hours and ten minutes of actual airtime,
I was like, oh, this is reserved for finales. This
is usually paired, is chopped up into two days, right,
so you have your your two hour night than your
hour night. And this felt far too long. I was
in and out of it. It was like kind of
(16:11):
a rollercoaster where I was like, Oh, I love Paradise,
It's so much fun, and then I was like, oh,
I'm I'm done. Oh I'm back in and again. But
it did have its good moments, and I know that
at the beginning of the episode it was like we
were like, oh girl, But actually there was a lot
of foundational bachelor moments I would not call Justin Spencer's
(16:33):
Justin Spencer were they were the couple that you think
is gonna make it, and they're just they're not going
to That's what I guess. Oh, I don't. I don't.
I find that I think he's She's gonna get annoyed
with him, and I think that I think he can be.
I think he might be annoying.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
And you think, I mean, out of anybody, I feel
like Jess would appreciate the annoyance more than anybody right now.
Why he's kind of quirky herself.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Totally, and I think he takes it too. I think
she's quirky and cue and I think that he like
might have like a little bit.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Of a side like a whoa, this is too much? Yeah,
who's the other guy that I didn't even recognize dark
hair Military School that also had that vibe to me?
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Oh, you think that he had had a vibe to
that was Kyle also from Katie's season. I was he
got eliminated at the end of this episode, and I
was rooting for him over Jeremy in that loved triangle.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Okay, well, I mean I think Kyle had that similar
feel to me. Let's start now with this day card,
because that's really where the episode, to me begins. We
have a huge storm come in, so Justin cannot take Lexi.
Justin gets the date card, cannot take Lexi on this date. However,
when I'm watching in this moment, at this period of time,
(17:57):
I say, Justin, Lexi have a shot. Lexi is very
similar to Susie Evans to me in a lot of ways.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
I agree, Do you agree? I do?
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
When I saw the two of them talking, I thought, yeah,
that she can give Susie vibes. Both of them have
a sense of composure, immaturity. Now, there was one thing
that made my alarm clock go off, my little alarm here,
and that was that Lexi wanted to for a moment
(18:31):
not explore things with Justin because the Susie breakup was
so recent and that he was with her for two years.
So that doesn't match up with our public timeline. Our
public timeline says that Susie and Justin were together solidly
for about seven months, seven eight months, because when you
(18:52):
and I hosted that thing at the Bachelor Mansion, we
that was October twenty three or December twenty twenty three,
and then they had later admitted that they were together,
and they had actually been together for a month at
that point. Then they broke up last summer, early summer,
(19:14):
I think, like June twenty twenty four, which means at
the time of filming, he was broken up with Susie
for a year. Now were they secretly dating and we
don't know? Or was that a little whatever they call
it a franken bite, because it did sound a little
bit like a franken bite when I heard the two twode.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Seems like an extended period past what you and I
would know. I mean behind the scenes, we got to
hang out them personally, I don't know them together for
two years.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Yeah, I think that perhaps they were friends with flirtation
for a long time and they're actually together for a
far shorter amount of time than two years. And I
just feel like, oh, come on, Like I understand girl
code not wanting to date somebody in bachelornation who's had
a long relationship if you respect the girl and whatnot,
(20:08):
but like to be in paradise and be like, oh,
I just don't know if he's ready for this just
makes it feel like, oh no, no, no, let's not bring
that up.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Yeah, it's it's hard to tell, but I do think
Justin wants to find love outset of anything else. I
don't know how Susie feels, but if they're broken up,
I think she's aware and Justin's aware that he is
ready to have a serious relationship. And so for me,
we have to have this conversation all the time on
(20:35):
this podcast, especially when we talk about a bachelor, is
how soon is too soon to move on? And our
consensus has always been as soon as you find the
next right person perfect. It could be two days, three days,
it could be three years. But for him to put
himself back out there and go on paradise again, I
have no problem with. Even if he still does have
(20:58):
sadness over the loss of Susie, that's okay because I
bet that next person will help him forget about it
or make him forget about it so quickly.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
And you know what, I bet what I bet that
Susie comes in next week and we can all see
where they stand.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
I hope they're fine. I hope they're fine for it
both their sakes. If not, this really awkward. We do
get a little breakdown at this point in the episode
of relationships that already exist, which makes me giggle and laugh.
So we too much time on them, But it seems
like Akeem at this point has already started and we
love Akeem. We're really excited he was going to be
(21:39):
there this season. He's I think he's a big name
to be in Paradise, but a Keem and Bailey seem
to be chiming it up now you know, Daleen, Zoey,
Dale and Alex are also mentioned together. I see Dale
(21:59):
and Alex more than I see Dale and Zoe at
this point, and just because he is in this weird,
kind of very early on love triangle that shouldn't really
even be a thing. He does get the second date card.
He pulls Kat, Zoe, and Alex all chooses Kat to
(22:19):
go on this date. It's a big moment because Dale
has obviously been one that has been fought over. During
this episode, he shows his interest in Kat. This couple
does make sense to me, Ashley. I don't think they're
long term, and he is the opposite of whatever the
guy's name was, who was awesome and I love him
(22:41):
and he's super nice. Last Henry, Yeah, John Henry. But
she seems intrigued.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Well, I wanted Kat to get this date just because
she was so hilarious when he walked in. She was
just just falling all over him, and I'm like, I
need him to ask her, just for the entertainment sake
of it. He did seem to have a little I
felt the heat between him and Zoe and Alex was
funny because Alex was like, I never get nervous around guys,
(23:10):
but I'm getting so nervous around him. I am the
most awkward thing ever. Jumble into my words and I
was like, you know what, I respect that moment, Alex,
because every girl has that moment, and I'm glad that
you just admitted to it. But at the end of
the day, glad that Cat won the boat with him.
They I think that Cat actually truly did not feel
good when the boat started rocking, like she was like, no, no, no,
(23:31):
I'm nauseous, because I felt like she actually wasn't even
though she said, you know, ten out of ten kiss her.
I think that she was actually like not into that
moment because she was gonna barf in his mouth.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
That's awful.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Can you imagine. Yeah, he like went in for it
when she was like, I'm feeling nauseous, and then he
was like, oh, I'm going to kiss you now, and
I think she was like, that's very delightful, but not
the time.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Maybe I'm overanalyzing it, but that's how I felt, well,
and I think that they will be good for now.
I think that Dale definitely can date around. I wonder Dale,
for his sake of his reputation, is going to be
the kind of guy that even talks to anyone else,
because I think he's just going to want to look
really good and loyal in this.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Dal does give off like some vibes to me where
he wants to say.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
The right thing exactly, yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Which I'm always very cautious of when it comes to
this show. You know, you say all the right things
and it's hard to fact check on reality television. But
I am always a little more drawn into the characters
or the contestants who can make fun of themselves a
(24:48):
little bit, who can laugh at themselves, laugh at the situation.
Wells does a great job at it as the bartender.
It just it does feel like, Hey, I want to
say all the right things and make everybody think I'm
the perfect man, and your actions don't always match up
to that, and so who are we or what are
(25:10):
we to believe?
Speaker 2 (25:13):
A side note, this is the beginning of some of
these montages that they put together versus him putting on sunscreens. Secondly,
is somebody imagining what's going on on another date, and
they like kind of purposely put together these silly like
daydream stories, which I don't know I was actually I
(25:35):
wasn't against that. I thought it was kind of funny.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
I'm not against it at all. Yeah, but to me
a little bit actually, like they need to choose who
they want to be. Do they want to be a
serious dating show with this new modern look, or do
they just want this to be the corny, goofy paradise
that's always been. I don't know if you can have both.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
This is like their version of talking to the parrot
talking to the raccoon.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Yeah, but I felt like the old paradise was all
kind of tongue in cheek, corny goofy until the fast
last week when Romance was represented through engagement.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
I mean from the intros to the sweaty moments, to
the people snoring on the sun beds to people making
on the pool. A lot of it was tongue in
cheek until that last few weeks that got serious. It
feels like, right now the vibe is can we do
(26:33):
both in this in the course of an episode? And
it's hard for me because I either want to invest
or I just simply want to enjoy. And if you're
going to ask me to enjoy, you got to make
like as Well said, these idiots make out in a
pool for like the next ten weeks and make fools
of themselves. You cannot do both to me.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
I think you can do both to me, because that
was silly. But I thought there was some really neat
conversations too. The conversation I'll go through them if you should.
I is that how we should handle this and me
go through them, go through them? Yeah, okay. There was
the conversation about timeline between Justin and Alexi, especially because
(27:18):
she has talked about her possible fertility issues down the
road that I thought that that was really natural and
made me feel something. I also felt the conversation between
Jess and Sam talk about their fears on that date.
That felt old fashioned bachelor. I liked that. And then yeah,
(27:44):
so Alex had a good conversation with Jonathan. I felt
that was pretty real too.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
I don't discredit the realness. I just think as a fan,
you got to give me one of the other, and
sometimes in these great moments you can't mix into silly.
I either got to feel it. I don't. I don't
have the emotional capacity to go back and forth too often,
and I thought this episode, maybe because it was three
(28:13):
hours long, made me go back and forth emotionally too much. Ashley,
As we close here talking about Paradise, I do want
to kind of talk about some of the life love
triangles that always exist early on in a season of Paradise, Ashlely,
some of the lot love triangles that stood out to
(28:34):
me personally were the ones with Sam, or with Bailey,
Jeremy and Kyle. Alex's love triangle. I think Alex is
gonna have a really hard time on Paradise because I
think she's very open, very fun, very flirtatious, and very
(28:58):
willing to just have a good time, which is gonna
invite a lot of people in to be interested in her,
which is going to find her to be interested in
a lot of people. It's how paradise works. It's the
beauty of it. Date around and see what works. Also,
obviously we see Dale. I think we have to consider
him not in a triangle as much, but in a
(29:19):
place of being of interest to a lot of people.
I think any of those girls would have willingly and
excitedly said yes to his date. Cap was the one
that got asked Ashley, do any of these love triangles
still exist in the next couple of weeks? Do they
die off? Do any of them actually become a thing?
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Okay, here's a triangle. Here's not a triangle, but a
couple that I see. Probably I don't know what the
heck's gonna happen with them, Bailey and Jeremy. Can I
just say that I'm not into Bailey and Jeremy because
that makeout scene was like gross, that was like way
too much for us to see. I didn't need to see,
(29:59):
like the the tongue in action so much. That was
like a bedroom makeout, not the first time makeout. And
there's something about Jeremy that I'm sorry, something about that
guy don' I'm really sure. And also, Wells was epic
when he described it. He was like just me, or
was like, Bailey out of Jeremy's league. I was like,
(30:21):
thank you for saying it out loud.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Well is good at that. You got to give him
credit for saying that as a host of this show.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
I know.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
It's pretty wild that he can or it does. But yeah,
I'm with you, and Bailey is out of Jeremy's league,
and that's okay. Maybe that's how I mean. We know
a lot of people who's significant others, and typically it's
the male who bats way out of his league and
we don't understand why, and we're like, good for you, buddy,
(30:51):
Like I don't know how you did it, but you
pulled it off, and that maybe is how this works.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Yeah, Brian and Zoe there are who the heck knows
what's gonna happen to them because they don't feel firm
right now. And Zoe is definitely somebody who's hot, and
I can see being a hot commodity amongst the men
when they come in next week.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
Yeah, the men are going to come in next week.
We don't necessarily know who we're gonna get but to
close this whole thing up, are our thoughts on my
thoughts on Paradise or this I still don't know these
contestants at all. I've watched every season for ten years,
haven't missed an episode. We've broke them down here on
the Almost Famous podcast. I feel very disconnected from this
(31:38):
group so far. It doesn't say anything about the individuals
as much of past seasons. Up until this season, there's
been familiar faces to me, and there's a few here,
but not many that I really know rooting for, understand
or remember their storyline up. I don't know what that
(31:59):
says about me. Maybe it's that I'm not as big
of a fan of the show as I think I am.
But I want to see more character development, or I
want to see more stories get displayed, or I want
to see some familiar faces of the past even come
back on the beach. And I think we might get
that with the Goldens. The Golden still are an element
(32:20):
of the show that have been promised to us that
we didn't see, that we should see at some point
here coming out. I think that will help. Paradise is
weird for me to watch, honestly, this first episode because
it's all unfamiliar to me. We have a new venue
with a new look, like with new production company, filming
(32:42):
this in a whole new way. I am trying to
catch up. I am trying to adjust and evolve and
grow my understanding of what this show is going to
look like. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm not giving up,
and I hope it does. I think we need to
end this podcast. We're talking about two things. One is
who got to eliminade this week. Obviously we know Hakim,
(33:04):
one of our favorites, was eliminated.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Hakim was hilarious. The The part about him is he's
got no romantic energy, and I can relate. I didn't
really exude romantic sexy energy either, and so I knew
that he wasn't really going to make a connection this
early on. But his lines are so funny, his facial
(33:28):
expressions are so funny. I'm gonna miss him. I was
really hoping they somehow figure out a way to keep him.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
But I don't think he's like a lost cause. If
he listens to this. It's not that Hikimi, you don't
exude any type of like sex appeal, well, partner energy.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Totally partner energy, yes, sex appeal no.
Speaker 3 (33:54):
Sure, and that's okay. I don't think either of us do.
I don't think either of us are.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
Like, think you good man, You're far more slow than I.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Look at me like you'll want to sit with me
and talk to me, Like I don't think you and
I either like do that. But I think the right
person comes into her life and they go, that's the
person I'm looking for. And I think k Keem is
the type of person where the right person would be like,
that's the guy. If I'm really into this thing to
find love, I could envision myself falling in love with
(34:25):
that guy. I think he does exude that, but he's gone. Also,
we see Ricky leave, we see Sam leave, and then
who's the fourth.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
The guy that nobody remembered Kyle, So nobody really remembered
Ricky or Kyle from the past. So to be honest,
I don't really feel like we've lost anyone there. I
did want to see more of Sam because he went
up against the one that we shall not name on
GEN season. I literally forget his name, Bet and I
(34:58):
always joke about how we forget her winner's name, and
it's for good reason, right, So the one who we
shall not name, he went up against him, and we
at times thought that Sam was the villain, but like
knowing who one who shall not be named, it truly
is now like he may not have been the villain.
(35:19):
Sam may have not had any villain energy at all.
So I really wanted to see more of him. I
think that he has an appealing suave to him, and
I think he could have done better. It's unfortunate that
he picked somebody to go on a date with that
was kind of wiped up.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
Yeah, well, it also seems he's gonna bat for home
runs and he tried to hit one. It didn't work
out for him there. Actually, as we look forward to
the rest of the season, what are you excited to
(35:59):
be watched?
Speaker 2 (36:00):
We want to see Susie come in. I'm really interested
to know where their relationship stands. We haven't really had
that many bachelor couples who've had like a previous relationship
and then go into paradise. It can be absolutely heart wrenching.
And I've said that I relate to Justin and Susie's
(36:20):
story in many ways. With Jared and I just feel
like going to Paradise seems like the move, but it's
gonna be heart wrenching either way for them. I believe
we saw this again with Joe and Kendall. That was hard.
It's a hard time, but it's good. It's also great TV.
(36:42):
I want to see Kat. I just want to see
more Kat too, Just Kat entertain me.
Speaker 3 (36:46):
Are you excited to see Dale Moss take a shot
off of April?
Speaker 1 (36:50):
No?
Speaker 2 (36:51):
I don't really care.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
Thenkay, what do you think outside of Dale Moss taking
a shot off v April which feels like a lot
for somebody to watch. In closing your last thoughts, what
do you think about the challenges that seem to be
promised to us throughout this season? Are you excited to
(37:15):
watch those? Does that seem like the opposite of what
you want? And this obviously all leads up to the
financial benefits that are being promised from the season of Paradise.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
Oh yeah, we forgot about talking about that upfront because
Jesse did tease that there would be some sort of
major prize that doesn't have to do with romance. They're
trying to combine Bachelor Pad with Bachelor and Paradise. They
call this life changing money. I don't like money involved
(37:50):
in what in places that it's supposed to be love.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
I think Bachelor Nation is going to absolutely reject this idea.
I think they're going to be so angry at this
idea that they stop watching. They're like, this ruins everything
that I've ever hoped this show would be.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
And apparently this is what Love Island does, So why
does Bachelor just want to copycat them completely? That's kind
of embarrassing.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
I agree. I think you and I could have got
through this whole episode and been like, hey, it's different,
not something we reject, it's different. I think the money
aspect of this now changes everything, even the challenges I
would could get behind. I think when you add money
into it, I think Bacher Nation is going to freak
(38:34):
out and say, yeah, not for me anymore. We watch
this show because even with all that's happened, we still
thought this show was the one show that could find
true love for no other reason other than true love.
You add money into it changes everything, especially when the
money that they're promising is life changing.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
It's half a million dollars that is actually life changing money. Yeah,
and that is really very annoying because with that on
people's minds. That's going to be the number one motivator here,
not love. Yeah that This is a whole different show now.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
And I think Bachrination as a fan base is going
to be very upset about this. I do. I think
it changes everything, and I think it's going to change
now how the Big Show is viewed. Well, you know,
you go on the Big Show now to go to
Paradise to potentially be in the running for half a
million dollars.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Ben, this is actually insane because truly, if you felt
a connection with somebody and you think that, say you
feel that you love them at the end of this,
don't you try to get off camera for a second
with them and be like, listen, this could be life
changing money for both of us. We will go get
the money. One of us will choose the money or
(40:03):
or whatever.
Speaker 3 (40:04):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
People are gonna be like I can just DM text
this person a few months later and be like, Hey,
of course I had to take the money, wouldn't you
understand that?
Speaker 3 (40:14):
Yeah? Or yeah, put it in escrow the two of
you and kind of figured out later on. I mean,
there's a thousand things you would decide to do.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
They've been cheap their whole life. This show has been
cheaped their whole life. Now they make it a half
a million dollars.
Speaker 3 (40:31):
You and you and Jared could be half a million
dollars richer right now, Ashley.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Yeah, because we didn't leave together.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
Yeah, you just split it fifty fifty. Never talk to
each other again.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
No, But like that's not what I'm referring to. You
know that. It's like, look, we we actually you know,
I love blah blah blah blah. I this is mind boggling.
This is super crazy.
Speaker 3 (40:52):
It's really messing with Ashley right now for a lot
of reasons.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
But I like the challenges.
Speaker 3 (40:58):
Yeah, I do too. Bachelor and Parodie will never be
the same. It's not going to be the same. The
promise of a financial incentive changes everything when it comes
to this show. Are we in for a batch? Do nation?
That's the question we have this week for you. Are
you into it? Are you not? If you're into it, awesome.
If you're not into it, please let us know by
(41:20):
commenting on the social media because we want to know
how you feel. It's a way that we keep in
touch with the viewership and understand what the viewership is feeling.
As hosts of Almost in this podcast, I will say
I don't love the financial incentive. I don't see the point.
I think people would have signed up for it even
(41:42):
without it. I think people would have been more likely
to go and invest into relationships and love without it.
I think it is so much. This first episode was
trying to fall into the bucket of the modern reality
television show, and I think they're one too late. Two,
I don't think they can compete. And three, I don't
know why they would try to compete. They had their
(42:03):
own good thing going. But that's my feelings, my thoughts.
I don't promise to be right. I just promised to
have an opinion. We'll be back next week and even
more this week, breaking down more that's happening in Bachelor Nation.
But until next time, I've been Ben, I've.
Speaker 2 (42:17):
Been Ashley, and I am stunned
Speaker 1 (42:19):
By Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcasts
on iHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
Hosts And Creators
Ben Higgins
Ashley Iaconetti
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