June 29, 2021 • 63 mins
Ben and Ashley need some expert analysis for this week’s episode of The Bachelorette, so they head straight to the OG Bachelorette Trista Sutter.
Trista opens up about her husband Ryan’s fight with Lyme Disease and how she’s handling the uncertainty of a lifelong diagnosis.
And since Trista is the founding member of the Bachelorette group chat, we have to find out what advice she gave Katie!
Plus, our intern Lauren has a connection to a contestant.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with i R Radio. Hello everyone, welcome to the Almost
Nest podcast. It's great to be with you. Here recapping
episode four of Katie season. We have a very special guest.
Trista Sutter, is on recapping with us today to continue
the Bachelorette recap series. But first I want to ask Ben,
(00:26):
how's your week? Ben? How you doing? My friend holding
in there? Uh? Yeah, Trista is gonna be on I
actually at a later date here. I want to be
on Trista's podcast. I did an interview with her earlier
about just kind of the emotions and the mental state
of uh you know, of my life and of Trista's
life and so many other lives. So go listen to that.
(00:50):
But actually, I have a weird thing I want to
talk to you about. Now. I'm gonna get like my
weird motivational like speaker hat on, which I'm not good at,
but I was watching something to it. This one might
make sense. So if if it doesn't make sense, we
just laugh at me. Because I'm sitting at I'm back
(01:11):
in Indiana. I came to Indiana this weekend with Jessica
She's now back in Denver to work for a few
days before she comes back uh for the fourth of July.
But I came here for my cousin Charles wedding. He
got married to the love of his life. They've been
dating for years. It was a beautiful ceremony in Indianapolis, Indiana. Uh.
Just an incredible wedding where I realized I cried multiple times,
(01:36):
mostly because the father daughter dance, which I credit your
father daughter dance. Also. Um, they get me. I don't
know what it is, but those things really get me. Um,
wait till November. But I'm sitting on the lake today
doing this podcast, and there is a my parents really
don't like it when geese get in their yard. It's
(01:56):
something that they like despise because the geese poop everywhere
they eat, you know, the grass up. And so they
put these like streamers. It's like a very thin piece
of rope around the sea wall. It's like so thin
you can like if you can barely see it's like,
but it's like colorful, and they put it around the
whole sea wall. Uh. And they decorated like red, red, white,
(02:16):
and blue. I think, yeah, Um, but the geese I'm
watching the geese like try to come up, and they
like come up to the edge and all they have
to do is step over it, and they would have
this whole yard in front of them and they would
have like access to everything that my parents are keeping
them out of. But yet they get up to it
and they just get scared, like they don't step over it.
(02:39):
They could, they're they're they're tall enough. It's just one string,
and they just decided to stay on the other side.
And as I was talking to Trista today and maybe
somebody out there can hear this, I'm wondering in my
own life and on all of our lives, like what
is that thing that and that's standing in front of
us that like we just won't step through because like
we feel like it's thing, or we feel like it's impossible,
(03:01):
we feel like it's scary. And if we did it,
like maybe just maybe there's this whole new thing on
the other side. Um, and maybe it's just like a
little streamer that might not be fun to step over,
Like it might take a little bit more work. Uh,
it might be a little more difficult, but when we
do it, we're gonna realize it was it was worth it. Um.
So anyways, that's on my mind right now, is the internal.
(03:23):
I don't I don't think that's silly at all. I
think that's actually like a really great thing to think about. Yeah,
I can't think about what that thing would be for me,
but I'm sure there's something, and I'm sure almost everybody
has something. It's just interesting. Yeah, So anyways, that's my uh.
The other day on the podcast, I was asked, like,
what's my philosophy on life? So right now, step over
the streamer and with that, we're here at the Almost
(03:45):
Same As podcast super Pumped to talk to you all.
And yes, Trista Center is coming on the Original Bachelorette,
the possibly the greatest of all time. Would be hard
to argue that she's not considering she started this whole
thing out, also one of the catalyst and lead years
to the thing that we found out about that I
think is still supposed to be a secret, but we're
not going to allow it to be. On the Almost
(04:05):
Smith podcast the text thread with all of the past
Bachelorettes on one thread. She's coming on the Breakdown this
week's episode, but before we do, let's take a quick break.
We come back with the Almost Smith podcast. Hey, actually,
(04:29):
there is one story I forgot to tell you about
by my wedding weekend. You want to hear? It just
makes me smile, Just a sweet story before we bring
on Tris to setter about your wedding weekend. Oh this
weekend that you went to a wedding, as I said,
beautiful wedding. Awesome. Well, my grandmother who's eighty one years old. Um,
(04:50):
who so that's pretty young for a grandmother these days.
She is she looks good, looks good, just a beautiful human.
And uh she is now only um surviving grandparents, which
is super weird to say because for years of my
life I kind of had like the lucky one where
I was like I had all four Um, um, my
grandmother just turned by one surviving grandmother who has been
(05:14):
for a while now, uh just turned this week. Holy moly. Yeah,
so that's why I was young. Yeah. Well, um, she
she got the dance with all of her grand sons.
So there's the three of us that were there. Uh,
and she danced with my the one that was getting
married to a sweet song that was her He played
(05:36):
it because it was my grandmother and my grandfather's song
when they were married. My grandfather had written her a
letter back in the day moon River, which has been
covered by uh Frank Ocean recently. Um, but it used
to be singing by Andy Williams way back in the day.
And she so he knew that and he played it
because my grandfather had written her letter and said, hey, uh,
(05:56):
if you haven't heard moon River yet, I want you
to listen to it because that's a song about us.
And so she bought the record. And now since he's
passed away due to Parkinson's, um my cousin got to
dance with her two at his wedding, which is just
so special. And then my other cousin grabbed her for
a slow dance. Well at that point I wasn't really
paying attention. She comes up to me, she goes, I've
(06:16):
danced with all my grandsons except you, And I was like, Grandma,
we need to dance together. Then I said, let's dance
to the next song. So we get on the dance
floor when she puts her arms around my neck like
you know, like you just the sweetest thing, and we're dancing.
We're getting ready for the song to play. Guess what
song comes on like something totally inappropriate, wobble wobble, like
(06:39):
a wobble, you know that, like wabble song, and she
lets lose, her arms start flailing, her knees start going
back and forth, and all of a sudden, she hugs
me and she goes, I can't dance this fast for
too long. So that was our dance at the wedding.
But if there's a video of that out there, and
I know my name whose son got married, listen to
this podcast. So she has a video of us dancing
the wobble that she finds, please send it along because
(07:01):
that is a memory worth keeping forever. Well anyways, hey, uh,
storytime with Ben is over. We have a bachelor breakdown
of this week's episode to do with the one and
only Trista Center. Let's bring her own hate Trista. Hi, Hello,
where are you recording at now? In my bedroom? Nice
so Colorado? I mean it's the writings on my hat. Yes,
(07:26):
all right, Well, I don't want to like just like
cut through the pleasant trees. But this is like pretty
big news in your life. You guys recently found out
that Ryan, your husband of oh my gosh, almost twenty
years Huh, we're getting close. We're getting close. Um, you
guys found out that he had lyme disease after like
(07:49):
not knowing what he had for over a year that
was causing him bad health. So how how are you
guys dealing with us? How do you feel like? Is
it relieving or are you guys upset? Because you know,
lime disease is something that he'll probably always will always
be part of his life now, you know. It's kind
(08:11):
of um piggybacks on my conversation that I just have
been for my podcast, But um, I try to look
at the positive and there there is definitely it's definitely
a good thing to have answers. So I'm very thankful
that we have answers because not knowing is so so
(08:35):
so difficult, and through the process and kind of sharing
that he was going through something, so many people have
reached out to us and are in the exact same situation.
They have no idea what's going on with them a
loved one, you know, a friend, whatever, And it is
it honestly is a pandemic in this country. In my mind,
(08:59):
it's a huge pandemic that so many people don't know
what's going on and then to get a diagnosis like
lime and mold and eb V and and possibly covid
longhauler that diagnosis, those answers actually come with so many
(09:20):
more questions that even though we've found out part of it,
and yes, I am thankful and grateful for that, it's
it's actually difficult. I mean, he's not feeling great today, UM,
and he has his up days and down days. But
lime is so like out there still Western medicine doesn't
(09:44):
fully buy into it, I feel like, and there We've
talked to some people who have experienced it for years
and years and years, and there are so many different
treatments for it, and not everyone has the same success
with one certain treatment, so the treatments are different. It's
(10:07):
very um unique to every person how you find relief
from this, UM And yes it will be a lifetime
diagnosis that he'll have to UM deal with, but it
is it is difficult, and that there's not like one
medication that he can take. There's not surgery that he
(10:29):
can do. UM. So that's hard. I thank you for asking, UM.
It's it's been it's been hard UM to see him
struggle because he is such a strong human in general, um,
(10:51):
but he doesn't share that with everyone. And uh so
it's it's just hard to see the person that you
love most in the world on my crap. He Uh
we were, Tristan, I were able to talk, and actually
we've talked about in the podcast before because we thought
it was important. But you know, my best friend in Denver,
uh was diagnosed with lime seven months ago. My aunt
(11:14):
was diagnosed with lime two years ago. I have a
friend from my church that is now bedridden because of lime.
My aunt is still struggling with it. In fact, she
could really not have even a full glass of wine
and her son's wedding because it causes a flare up.
And then which is you know, a sigh, A small thing,
but a huge thing when you think about that controlling
your life. And then my my best friend, he's thirty
(11:35):
six years old, he's a incredibly healthy guy. He's lost
thirty pounds. He can no longer get a clear sentence spoken.
It sounds like he um, he can't process his words.
And his fiancee has openly reached out and I don't
think she'd mind me sharing this, but she said, I'm
really struggling because we don't know when this ends. We
(11:56):
don't know where this goes. Uh, and he's withering away,
and and so I think it's a great thing to
talk about because especially with Ryan. I mean I remember
when I first met Ryan Trista. I came to you
guys house in Vale, invited uh a group of us over,
and we came up and were hanging out, and Ryan
was getting ready for the time to run like a
bazillion miles up a mountain. I forget what it was.
(12:17):
It was like the stupidest amount. Yeah, it was a
hundred mile run up a mountain, down a mountain, and
around a mountain and then back up. It was the
most ridiculous thing. And then, um, you know he's a professional,
former professional football player, he's a fireman. And I mean
this is debilitating at times, like it can crush the
best of us. Yeah, yeah, it sucks. I mean, um,
(12:42):
we've talked about you know, your friend, and I do
I feel grateful that he is among kind of one
of the lucky ones with limeseas in that he hasn't
lost the ability to speak, he hasn't lost the ability
to walk, he hasn't lost the ability to use his arms.
I mean, we have a friend, Um, one of my
close friends here who got bit by by a tick
(13:07):
or or it actually can be transmitted by a spider
as well. UM, and she got bit. She saw the
target rash and immediately UM like they were on it,
called the doctor got her on antibiotics. But when she
first felt or saw the rash, UM, she remembers holding
her daughter, who I think was like a year old
(13:28):
at the time, and and all of a sudden she
was like, you have to take the baby, like to
her husband, and he took her daughter, and like immediately
her arms stopped working, like she couldn't use her arms.
So I feel lucky in the fact that he it's
(13:50):
it's in certain parts of his body. We know that
probably in his ankle, like he's got a bad knee.
It's probably residing in those but I don't know. I mean,
he has fog occasionally and the the fatigue is unbearable
sometimes for him. But I do, truly do. I do
feel lucky that it's not as severe as some people
(14:14):
that we're hearing. And and also that you know, people
who have been to looking for a diagnosis for fourteen ten,
fourteen years, you know, like it took us a year,
which was a long time and it's still is something
that he's he's dealing with. You know, once we figured
it out, it wasn't like it automatically went away, because
like I said, it's not like you just you take
(14:35):
one med um and it's gone. So anyway, Yeah, I
have a couple of questions, Um, okay, So they of
course usually come from tick bites. Does he remember ever
having the bite? So what our doctor, his doctor thinks happened,
was this happened a really long time ago or a
(14:56):
long time ago. So as you guys know, we live
in Colorado, he does, I mean his religions, as he said,
is the outdoors. He's always outdoors. He's always mountain biking.
We camp a lot, um, he goes um backpacking with
the kids a lot. And he does remember a couple
instances in his life being bitten by a tick. So
(15:18):
it's happened before. But like I said, the doctor has said,
and I don't know that this is like common knowledge.
I mean I didn't know it. Um, but you can
get infected by a spider as well. And we live
in even though there are some doctors who don't think
that the ticks in Colorado carry line disease. Um, we
(15:41):
have deer roaming our neighborhood. I mean they're they're always
in our backyard and they carry the ticks. So I
don't know how you can say that, you know, oh,
well ticks aren't in Colorado, Like what does it cut
off right at the state line? You know, it doesn't
make any sense to me, So yes, answer to answer
(16:02):
your question. He has been bitten before, but never seem
like there's a target rash or bulls eye rash that
appears um with lime disease. So if you're one of
the lucky ones and you actually see that bulls eye
rash like our friend, like I just said, that's a
good thing because then you can immediately go and get antibiotics.
But for him, we don't know when that that happened.
(16:25):
Isn't it weird that like we go out in the
summer and we put bugs bray on to not get
mosquito bites, but we don't think about like ticks bray
or anything like that, and that we can really cause lifelong.
I know, it's really interesting and I really hope there
have been quite a few, uh pretty prominent names like
(16:46):
Justin Bieber, Alec Baldwin who have recently come out and
said that they have lime disease as well. And so
the hope is and we want to do anything we
can to spread the word about it that it it
is a true illness, you know, it's not something that
Western medicine can just brush under the rug. It is
something that people struggle with daily in this country, in
(17:08):
this world, and so we want to be able to
spread the word. But yeah, you're right, maybe hopefully soon, UM.
I know that it's all about research, and so we're
our hope is that we can get involved UM in
that way to help raise funds for research so that
(17:30):
more people can find UM really from their symptoms. Well, Trista, UM,
thank you for sharing all this, and I hope that
when you do find the avenues to donate and that
we can support that the whole almost Famous Listener group
would love to get behind you. UM. But there's always
something within this and then I'm learning a lot more
(17:51):
recently when a spouse or of loved one is going
through this, we focus on them, UM, But we're here
to focus on you today and the question is how
are you doing and how are you holding up? You
are awesome for asking that question. Um. When we found
out that he had lime, we were talking to a
friend who has a wife with lime, and he mentioned,
(18:17):
you know how it's always about her and she's been
struggling with it for a long time, and and we
so we work with an organization called First Assance. They
do UM outdoor adventure therapy for young adults with cancer,
and they actually started doing camps for UM, the caretakers
(18:38):
for the people who have cancer, and and I always
loved that. I loved that they that they focus their
energies as well on the people who UM who struggle.
I I it's been hard, UM, sorry, UM, And not
(19:05):
because I want any attention on me, because I want
him to be better. I want him to wake up
feeling great. I want him to be able to UM
spend time with our family and and make memories. And
when you don't feel good, it just takes away from life,
(19:26):
you know. And and so I'm not doing great and
not just about him. You know. We talked a lot
about it on my podcast. Been UM. I I've been
struggling for sure, and I don't know if it was
if it's been covid or UM all that Ryan has
(19:51):
been dealing with and dealing with insurance companies and doctors
and and then just life and trying to be happy
for my kids, you know, twelve and thirteen, and they're
relatively independent, but I want them to have a great
summer and for them to have a great school year,
so my focus has to be on them. Um, but
(20:15):
it's been a really weird year, you know, I know,
for pretty much the whole planet. But um, it's it's
it's been hard. Um. Sorry, thank you for being so vulnerable.
The podcast episode, and now's a great time to talk
about it. I don't know when it's gonna come out, Tristy,
you know better in April. It will come out next
(20:37):
week actually Tuesday, So Tuesday, yeah, yeah, So Tris and
I got to talk a lot about where we're at
in life, and actually knows a lot about where I'm
at in life. Actually I were able to speak just
through the phone, I don't know, two weeks ago kind
of about um, my transitions in life and things I'm
experiencing and feeling. And then it was you know, trist
(20:58):
had reached out, uh maybe a month ago and said, hey,
would you want to come on my podcast? And I
said yeah, let's do it, and then it finally just
worked out where this week was the week that we
were able to make it happen. And it was in
my opinion as I sat here for the last hour
since we recorded it, it was an incredible time because
you and I were able to just speak to each
(21:18):
other from a place of both just right now like
disorientation and confusion and a little um feel a little
sad and uh and and so I just recommend anybody
listening to it that just wants to maybe feel like
they're less alone, um during this season. So yeah, please
go listen to Trist's podcast next Tuesday. They'll be out
(21:38):
everywhere you listen to podcast and trust in. One little
moment of light is that Ryan did graduate from the
Fire Academy this week. Yeah, did well, it's actually it happened,
I want to say, in April. It's been a while,
(21:59):
but as of COVID, they weren't able to you know,
really celebrate it, so so they waited. But it was
still great to have a really a formal ceremony. They
got dressed up in their class a's as they're called,
um and they had the chief of the department speaking
and it was just really special. I mean, I love
(22:21):
a celebration. I'm all about birthdays and anniversaries and and
I I'm so happy that we finally got to celebrate
him in his class. I mean, obviously he's been a
firefighter for he was a firefighter for seventeen years with
BAIL and then took a year break and then went
back to BAIL and then got the chance to go
UM work with the Denver Fire Department, and he just
(22:43):
wanted more of a challenge. UM, And I'm really really
proud of him. So how does that work? You have
to get like re licensed and go through the courses
all over again. If you're going to a new city.
It depends on where you're going. So for him, he
just missed a ladder, a lateral transfer, which would have
(23:04):
meant like he was a lieutenant with the Veil Fire Department.
He just missed it by I think like a month,
so he could have laterally transferred and then a lieutenant
with the Denver Fire Department, But because of timing UM
and his certifications, he had to start over. So he
was basically in an academy with twenty thirty year olds. UM.
(23:27):
There were a couple older people. But one big reason
that I'm really proud of him is he finished second
in his class, which he's forty six years old, and
it it is really grueling. I talked to somebody who
said that the Denver Fire Department is um like harder
than the FBI or something like something crazy like that.
(23:47):
And I believe it because of, you know, the things
that he told me while he was going through it.
But yeah, he had to start over again, but he
was willing to do that just because he he wanted
more challenge. He wants to continuously, um, improve and better
himself and that happens through challenge. And so anyway, we're
really proud of him. So and I'm gonna miss this.
(24:09):
Are you guys moving? Yeah, I know you are going
to live in the same town. Yeah. So, UM, well,
now is kind of an exception. Um, he is battling
an injury on his ankle that happened at the department. Um.
But before he was battling this injury. So now he's
(24:30):
on light duty, which means that he's working um in
Denver during the week, which is hard to because I'm
like a single parent again. Um, but if if it
was like a month ago, he would be working at
one of the stations in Denver and he works out
a trade situation with one of the guys there, so
(24:52):
he ends up only working like seven days of month,
which is great. I mean they're twenty four hour days.
But Tris, so we'd love to have you in Denver.
Then verse calling your name. I mean, I'm not gonna lie.
We've been looking at houses, so I hear, I hear,
Golden is a terrific place, and there's free babysitting available
(25:15):
and Golden it's this really weird versa. So when the
babies come for you and then I'll have the babysitters
for you. Say at twelve and thirteen, do you have
babysitters anymore? It's like that weird time. Yeah. I mean,
like I think we started staying home alone around twelve
for parents, I think around ten or eleven we started
(25:38):
it just like short periods of time. But now they
can stay home alone and they're good. I mean they're
just like good kids, like you know, they're they're good kids. Well, uh, Trista,
before we dive into breaking down um this week's episode, Um,
what big projects do you have going on in your
life that you want to talk about here, I would
love for you to give one more shout out about
your podcast, because I do think it is something special.
(26:01):
Thank you. Um. Well, obviously the podcast is called Better etcetera.
And I wanted to do something you know, good, UM,
put out some positive energy into the world and also
into my life because of course, while I'm doing the interviews,
I get to learn lots and lots from my guests,
so Better etcetera. It's been really fun. As I shared
(26:25):
with Ben, I'm I don't know if this first season
is going to continue into a second. I'm going to
take the rest of the summer. After next week, I'm
going to actually interview Ryan for a little update on
his health, UM, and that will be in two weeks
on the podcast. So after that, I'm going to take
(26:47):
a little break. That will be the end of the
first season, and then, UM, I'm gonna just have a
little come to Jesus and see if if it's something
that I really want to dedicate my time to be.
As I know you guys know, it's a lot of work, UM,
and I just need to really figure out if I
(27:09):
want to continue it. I really have loved it and
I hope that people who listen have loved it, but um,
we'll see um. And that's really all I mean. I'm
on Instagram at Trista Center and I have oh like you, Ashley.
I don't know if you do them then, but I've
been doing the Amazon live streams, which I'm loving. They're
so fun. I love. I mean, I am an Amazon
(27:32):
freak because when you live where I live, you don't
have like a Target or a Macy's or whatever to
go to. You have Amazon. So I literally we buy
everything on Amazon. So I've been doing you know, the
live streams, so I have a storefront on Amazon. Is
there a a theme that you like talking about the most?
(27:55):
Do you know? I haven't done that many. The first
one I did was for Father's Day and that is
awesome of course. Um, I'm doing a beauty like skincare.
I get lots of questions, as I know you do too,
um your highs and lows with skincare, Ashley, but so
(28:16):
but beauty and skincare, and then like kids gifts, like
I always want to know what to get different ages
and between age is where I'm at with Blakesley especially
and Max. So I'm really enjoying just kind of researching
all of that stuff and giving people tips on you know,
what they can get for these different categories. I'm all
(28:39):
about organizations, so the organization part of it really is
fun for me, like just on the storefront itself. Yeah,
but yeah, it's been really fun. So tween gifts are hard,
right because it's so easier to shop for kids, but
then they get to be that age and you're like,
what are they into anymore? Laying with things? I know?
(29:00):
And I give gift gift cards to everybody because I
don't know and I don't want to get something that
they already have. So UM, this has been really fun
because I can kind of organize and research on Amazon
what you know, because they always do the like people
by this with this, you know, the recommended purchases you
(29:21):
know with UM. So that's been it's it's that's a
really fun little UM project for me. Trista, You're somebody special.
We cannot wait to break down this week's episode with you.
It is gonna be fantastic. We're going to dive into
all the hard questions like this, Trista, like Katie, does
she ever talk to Katie? Has she ever talked to
(29:42):
Katie and what does she think of this week's episode?
Right after the break? Do you love what a sarcasm?
And talking fast? And are you longing to return to
Stars Hall of for one more trip to can antiques?
Are just to pick up a few things at Dosie's Market?
Is an overnight stay? It's a dragon flame on your
(30:04):
list of plans for a getaway? Is a burger from
Luke's Diner on the menu for tonight? This is Scott Patterson.
I was Luke Danes for onifty three episodes and in
four Netflix movies I Am all In and I Heart
Radio podcast. Come hang with us. We're read watching together,
We're visiting with all our favorite cast and crew members.
We talked fast. We've got a lot to say. Listen
to I Am all In wherever you listen to podcasts. Well,
(30:40):
let's start with one of Ben's questions. Have you spoken
to Katie outside of the Bachelor at group chat? I
was just gonna say that was gonna be my go to. UM, So, yes,
we have our Bachelor at group chat, and yes, you know,
as a group we've talked to each other, which I love.
(31:00):
By the way, Um, part of my struggle is kind
of feeling, uh, trying to deal with the fact that
I feel like an old, washed up bachelorette, so nobody
ever thinks about you that way. Oh you're I mean,
thank you. But um so the bachelotte group chext you know,
kind of gives me life and I love I love
(31:22):
being able to add the you know anybody knew who
comes along, which we do every time, and it will
be exciting to be able to add Michelle, isn't Michelle? Yeah? Yeah,
um coming here up here soon? Um? I did. I
d m her. We haven't talked after outside of all
(31:45):
of this and my d M s, but I d
m her when everything went down on the last season
of The Bachelor when she stood up for Sarah, and
I just felt like, thank you for putting yourself thought
there and standing up for the person that you felt
like was being treated unfairly. I just I thought that
(32:08):
was really awesome of her to do and and and
I like supporting, you know, those kind of people. Um,
but that's the only connection that I've had to her.
That's far. What's your overall vibe of this season? Ben?
And I really like it. I do too, I do too. Um.
I love that she's kind of like the girl next door, Um,
(32:32):
the uh real raw person who who ended up I
mean share the part where she shared about her sexual assault. Um.
I feel like so many people can relate to her,
including me, And that's why I'm really loving her. She's
(32:53):
she's been incredibly You're right, like the girl next door
in the best of ways to like, she's she's like relatable.
You watch her and you're like, Okay, if my best
girlfriend who I know, goes on the show, like I
believe she would handle stuff this way. Um, she's and
she's allowing us into the relationships, like she's asking the
(33:14):
right questions. Um, she's digging in a bit with these guys,
which I think has allowed us to get to know
the guys better. She and I think that's also a
sign that she's ready for a relationship. Like for years,
you know, even on The Bachelor, we had like leads
who are like, you really ready for a relationship, Like
this is really something that you're into because you're not
(33:35):
yeah yeah, Like you're not asking any questions and you're
not digging in, and you're not even like entering into
the hard stuff. You're just kind of like there and
with her, you're just kissing, and like with Katie, it's
like no, you you we can tell, but you're into this,
like this is this, You're committed this, which which I've enjoyed.
There's a there's a lot of substance, you know, there's
(33:55):
a lot of emotion and we're only four weeks in.
I will say that this episode is probably my least
favorite of the eisodes, but that's just because I felt
like there was so much unnecessarily unnecessary, overblown drama with Thomas.
But let's let's get to that after because I want
to go in chronological order, even though there's not much
(34:16):
besides the like finished the episode and I'm like, wait
a second, what happened? There was one group date and
then Thomas drama. There wasn't a one on one, there
wasn't a second group date. So group date real fun,
a continuation of like the theme that I think that
they've been doing such a good job with this season,
and that is group dates that tell us about the
(34:38):
guy's personality. It's like silly, you know, scat whatever you
wanna call a scavenger hunt or like truth or dare,
and they're they're just getting along really well, the guys
are like paired off, but to see them eat speak
little dirty nothings to that big ear with the speaker attached,
it's just fun. We're getting to know them. Anything that
(35:00):
stood out to you there, because the only thing that's
standing out to me here is that, like I'm I'm
a little bizarred out as to why Andrew keeps speaking
in the British accent. It's like, it sounds great, it
sounds really good, but like I'm like, wait a second,
is it real? Oh no, it's not real. And he's
(35:21):
used it twice already in the scene. I literally did
the same thing. I was like, wait, who's that guy?
Is there another guy? Like? Is that a true or
is that another guy? And I'm forgetting about him? Um?
I I thought it was. It's really fun. I love
the the depth of the conversations that have been in
(35:44):
the past, and you know, especially the in the scene
with Nick, the group date with Nick. Um, I really
loved the depth. I do like that this season. I
What stood out about this episode to me, even though
I don't think this spent well, they didn't spend a
lot of time on it, is Blake coming back and
(36:04):
and I really like him. I agree with you wholeheartedly
about the Thomas drama. I just it just drives me
crazy when they focus on that kind of drama, because
I really do want to see the development of the
relationships over every over anything. I know that they have
to we all know this from being on the show.
(36:26):
They have to input the drama and continue to ride
that wave. But I just I just can't stand it
in some instances, and this is one of them. This
is one of them, because it just see, it's so forced.
There was no other drama apparently going on, so they
just really clung onto this. So it's so it gets
(36:49):
brought up again at the group date the cocktail party. Um,
and that was the argument between Trey and Andrew and
I honest I saw both sides of this. I wanted
to just be on Andrew's side. Andrew was like, you guys,
like focus on your own relationship, let her figure everything out.
(37:10):
And then Trey was like, are you kidding? I have
to protect her from like bad people, And when he
said that, I was like, I was like yes, and no.
I was like, I guess, but I but I want
to be fully on Andrew's side here. And then Trey
was like, what if she found out that you knew
and you didn't say anything? And I'm like, Andrew just
(37:32):
seems like the kind of person who's seen this show
before and knows that tattling doesn't always go over well
or doesn't benefit your own relationship. Um, but then look
at look at Trey got the rose for for talking
about it. Um. Katie seems to be a bachelorette that
really does appreciate being told about what's going on in
the house. But I think just we talked about this
(37:54):
a lot last week. These guys like really think it's
Survivor or something and they can vote, they vote the
guy they don't like out every week, no kiding, Like
where did that ever come from? And the whole like
game mentality with Carl and I'm just okay, I'm in
the game or whatever. I'm like, No, Like, I get
(38:14):
it that people we have called it a game, you know,
over the years, but to me, it really isn't a game.
I want them to be able to, like, you know,
fight hard for love. But that really turned me off.
And I have to say, actually, I totally agree with you.
I was drawn between both of them because I do
(38:37):
I do think that telling I've all whenever I watched
the show, I'm like, just tell her. But in the
same regard, I think Andrew has a great point that
if you tell her, something's going to happen and time
is going to be taken away from us. And it
was like at the Rose ceremony, he was like, this
is exactly what I was worried about. I didn't want
to miss out on time with her, and that's exactly
(38:59):
what's happening because of all this drama with Thomas. You
guys are right, like there's very little amount of strategy
involved in this show. Like you can't go into it
going this is my strategy to win one that's manipulative.
It's weird, it's awkward, Like, yes, you can have strategy
and when you talk and what you say and don't
say and how you present, like that's fine, you know,
(39:22):
but ultimately, like if you're gonna win this thing based
on how you've planned to win it, that's messed up
from a lot of different reasons. I I want to
ask the question to the listeners in this moment because
we're going to share our opinions, but your opinion always
matters to us. And always gives us a different perspective,
like were you angry at Thomas here? Did you find
(39:43):
what he did to be incredibly wrong? Or was this
an overplayed dramatic event that was just the highlight of
the episode and they needed, like everybody wanted to make
it something because all the contestants, they were like, hey,
everybody here gets along and these guys are great, and
we need to figure out which one can go. I
have I I don't love that he was pushed aside
(40:05):
because he had thoughts of being the Bachelor. I think,
you know, all three of us have done this show.
If I would say when I went on the Bachelor
at not only was I just excited for the opportunity,
I was excited for what it was gonna mean for
my life, like that I had a story to tell
that I had maybe love and was involved in that
(40:25):
maybe it wasn't, And if it wasn't, then like maybe
I'm just gonna meet cool people and you know, tell
my friends and family house on the show at one
point in my life. Um and and I wonder I
just think also though, to give a little criticism Thomas,
I think it was really bad at explaining himself I
think his biggest mistake here was that he continued to
fall back into this sales pitchy like response to things,
(40:49):
and it never came off genuine when all he had
to say was like something authentic. It just never felt
like he was really explain himself. It felt like he
was just missing the mark there, which might be the
reason I finally just kind of blew up in his face. Yeah,
I think you're totally dead on with that, and that
she would they would ask him a question where whether
it was the guys or Katie. I mean, she at
(41:11):
one point said, Um, I need an answer, you know.
Didn't she say, like, no, that's not what I asked you. Um, like,
give me clarification. I'm asking you, did you want to
be the Bachelor? And I get it in in terms
of like the mentality, Like it seems like she's saying,
(41:32):
if you aren't coming here for love and that's it,
then you can leave. Um. What I think is what
what I think I would love to have kind of
counseled her on is there are going to be people here.
Let's be realistic that come here and think, yeah, I
would love to fall in love, but if that doesn't
(41:54):
happen and I have this platform that I can use
for good or you know whatever that can be a
good thing. I don't personally like the people who go
on the show just to be famous, you know, like
you can smell that, um, and I don't like it.
But let's be honest, Like there are people who come
on the show and they're like, I'm gonna have this
(42:15):
platform and I want to be able to use it
and if it's for something good, great, Um, if they
want to just you know, become more famous, I just
I don't like it, and I think that Katie doesn't.
She thought it's like a black and white thing. If
if he's coming on the show thinking that he wants
(42:37):
to be the next Bachelor, then that's telling me that
he is not here for love. But I think that
there can be both. You know, you can come on
the show and be realistic and think, you know, if
it doesn't happen for us, then it would be fun
to be the Bachelor. I'm going to be honest, But um,
I think she was thinking very black and white about it,
(42:58):
and I think the guys were too. I think that
was so perfectly put You took the words out of
my mouth. Uh. Like I say all the time, broken
record here, you should always you shouldn't be signing up
for the show unless like your marriage oriented, relationship ready
and wanting to find it fall in love, But that
doesn't have to be the only reason you signed up
(43:18):
for the show. Um. And I just think it's so
crazy to think that this guy last week, in a
moment in which he was supposed to be vulnerable and
talk about his own red flags, he admitted that he
was there. He signed up initially for like a platform,
and he was being super honest, and then he's totally
(43:41):
plummeted because of that honesty. And it's just like everyone
who's been on the show before you me been, We're thinking,
like these thoughts have crossed everyone's mind. So that's why
it's super infuriating. Okay, fine, maybe I'm a little bit
too heated over it, but I think it's it's very
frustrating to watch these guys gang up on Thomas for
(44:06):
something that you just know has been in their head
as well. And it's I almost wish that like Caitlin
and Tatia would have like made a joke about it,
because I could see Caitlin making a joke about it
right about like she was like, well, there was a
certain point where I started to think, you know, I mean,
(44:26):
and also like just going on the show to have fun,
because that's what I feel like a lot of people do.
They think this is a cool experience. It's a once
in a lifetime thing. And if I fall in love bonus,
you know, Um, I don't know. I think there's something
to be said for just looking at it realistically instead
(44:47):
of you know, coming after him. If that was his
m O and that's the only reason he came on
the show and he's not open to love, then that's
one thing. But I think that he's open to he
just like you said, Ben, he had a horrible way
of expressing that. I wonder if there's more behind the
scenes to like there, because a lot of the guys
(45:08):
when he would talk or saying things like oh, you know,
of course, this is what Thomas would say, and oh yeah,
here here, here he goes again. Like I just wonder
if they knew more than what we are seeing. And
that's why they were also up in arms about it,
because I would have a hard time believing that if
all of them are honest with themselves, and not one
other person in that room would have set up and
(45:28):
been like, yeah, you know what, Like I thought that too,
Like I was like feeling the same way, So like
maybe we should be like there had to be more
and if so, we just never saw it because he
obviously got let go it can in the midst of
all of this, I need to bring out, um, somebody
that is now going to take the trophy as the
best of something of all time on this show. And
(45:49):
I'm gonna give it. I'm gonna give it out and
everybody's gonna agree with me because they have to. And
I hold the mike. We have a name. I don't
know his name. We have a guy this season who
makes the best facial expressions of all time on the franchise.
I don't know his name. He does the guy with
the guy that opens up his eyes, who rolls his
(46:10):
eyes justin yeah, okay, it's good, justin his facial expressions.
It just watch and I'm sure memes are going to
be put out. Like that guy he my dad does
this thing where like when he like wants to be funny,
he opens his eyes real big and it's just like
it doesn't fit. It's just like a little awkward and
you're like, why your eyes so like, why your eyes
(46:31):
open so big? Justin does the same thing, like the
exact same thing, and uh, and I'm gonna give him
the reward award. I know we've had some little ones,
but I'm gonna give it to him. Okay, I have
a more thing to say about Thomas before we move on. Okay,
actually have a couple more things. One, all the guys
kept saying he was like manipulative, and I'm like, was
(46:54):
he manipulative or he's is he a sweet talking guy
who's like a little too suave for his own good
and he like he speaks like a lot of both.
You know, it's like it's like a lot of the
flowery talk. Yeah, politician right, who also said he wanted
to be the Bachelor because I didn't see anything where
(47:14):
he was like trying to manipulate. The other men they
were like he manipulated me, and like, yeah, it's a
it's a fine line because you sit down with a
guy and he's like honest with you, and you feel
like you have a good connection with him, and you
feel like you can be vulnerable around him and all
this stuff and then maybe. I mean, like I said,
maybe there's more than we're not seeing here, because he
obviously burned some bridges, and like he had a whole
(47:37):
group of good dudes like angry at him. Like not
one dude in that house stood up for him, not
one other than other, you know, other than kind of
saying hey, like why are you telling Katie this is
just gonna take time away from me? It wasn't really
standing up for for him at all. So there had
to be more to it. That's my assumption at this point,
um that we just didn't see. Yeah, I think you
(47:57):
can always assume that because you know that the show
or whatever it is, ends up on the cutting room floor.
I'm sure there's more to it. And then going off
that the way that Katie dumps him at the end
during the rose ceremony, thinking that he's getting the vinal
rose and then she's just like, you're disgusting leave and
(48:19):
I'm like, oh my god, I feel bad for this guy.
I can't believe this is happening. That was a big moment,
that moment. Can I ask you a question, though she
had that final rose, she never gave it out. I
wanted it to go to Christian. I think Christians so cute.
I don't know where he's been. I don't know why
(48:40):
she didn't like him. How can we give you to Thomas?
But what the hell give it to somebody? I think
she figuratively gives it to Blake, which is why she
goes to his room afterwards. Yeah, yeah, Ashley, you're so
good at this show. Wow at this that makes sense?
Well the funny not not the funny part. I don't
(49:01):
know if this sad or funny. The show ends after
the final rows and the guys get released. There's two
dudes there I had never seen before. Is that just me?
I thought I've watched every episode, But the one guy
says goodbye to us, like I have not seen your
face one time in four episodes. That happens to me
all the time. And then I have to say, as
(49:21):
you get older, it will happen to you more and
more that I'm aging good. Well that's cool, Okay, I
guess let's talk about Blake now before we let Trista go.
After she's been on with us for so long and
we are so grateful for you, how do we feel
Blake's getting? Like? How far is he going? Is this
connection real. I think that possibly because I think if
(49:45):
you had asked me a couple of weeks ago, I
would have thought that Thomas is gonna get far. And
now I'm like having to fill in a blank where
Thomas stood and could be blake. I think he gets far. Actually, um,
you know, of course in all the previews, I'm always
kind of um investigative in terms of the previews when
the part you know, such the best part, so you know,
(50:09):
we haven't been able to see him because of course
they're not going to put him in previews because they
didn't want to give up the secret beforehand. But I
would think he goes far. I mean they seem like
they have a lot of things in common, just off
off that um in terms of humor and I think humility,
(50:31):
and I really like them together. I don't know. I'm
I'm bad at choosing though, so I'm probably wrong. I
feel him, I feel him. I think it was far.
I will say this, Uh, the worst thing these dudes
can do is be super against him coming into the
house now, because I was on a season with Caitlin
when Nick came back, and like half the guys kind
(50:54):
of put their foot down, like we're going to be
against this for a really good reason, like that they
didn't really affect that much, right, Like they still were
able to date Caitlin, they were still able to go
like on one on ones, they were still to get
to know where, But instead they change their focus to
being like anti Nick, which totally destroyed They're a lot
(51:14):
of them. So like, at this point, is it ideal
that another guy's joining? No, can you be a little
upset about and be like that's that kind of bums
me out because that kind of sends the message that
she's not sold yet on you. Maybe a little bit
like I can see where you take a little personal
offense that, but then just like be okay with it
because it's not worth your time and it's gonna end
out how you want to end out anyways. Um, but
(51:36):
Blake's coming on. I think he's around a while, and
I think the guys from what we see, get really
upset and I bet they ruined themselves in the process.
They need somebody new because we had Cody Carl and
then we had Thomas and now they're looking for the
next guy to vote off what they call it and
what they call it the Island you don't get you
(51:57):
don't get the little peace pipe or whatever thing is.
I have a more thing to say. I know, I know,
I'm so horrible. One more thing. You guys, how cute
is Michael great? Oh? I love him? A lot of masterpieces.
He's like, he got so emotional talking to her. He's
such a cutey pets. Now he should be the next bachelor.
(52:20):
I think he is. If he's not with her, I
think it's a shoe in I think, and I think
it's like a massive home run for the show if
they make him. Yeah, right, he's the bachelor we need. Oh,
I love him. He has to bring his kid on
the show, although like logistically I'm like, I don't see
that happening with a child, but um, yeah he is.
(52:41):
I love him. We've never had a widowed or widower.
Believe you're right. I thought we did. Jason Mesnick had
brought right on it. But he wasn't a widow. I guess, Emily,
Yeah they weren't married. But yes, very sweet you girls,
But we haven't had a widow. Yeah, we got a
(53:02):
guy in there. I think he's great. I think I'm
a huge Michael fan. If he becomes the Bachelor, Michael,
if you listen to this podcast or if it gets
passed on to you, there's only one request I have selfishly.
I want to talk to you. I want to meet you.
I want you to give me all of your life wisdom. Uh.
Speaking of life wisdom again, trist Iss Sutter is the
(53:23):
very first bachelor at uh, the the goat, the O
G uh the O G in the best of ways. Uh.
We have a podcast coming out next week to everybody
listening here should go over and tune into. It was
just something incredible for me to be able to talk
to Trista for so long about something so personal. Tristas Sutter,
thank you for coming on the Almost Famous podcast. Thank
(53:44):
you for being ridiculous with us and breaking down this
week's episode. You are incredible. Thank you. I love it
with you guys. Any time I've loved my time with
you always, always, so thank you so much for having
so fun. Thank you this week. We're very thankful for
Trisia Center for joining us for the breakdown of the episode.
(54:05):
But now it's time for one of your favorites. Uh.
It's Bachelor headlines and we're gonna run through these quickly.
There's a lot of them. Ashley is prepared and ready
to go with him. The first one is Bachelor. Katie
Thurston likes shady meme about front runner Greg Grippo. This
according to us uh Now, Ashley, this is a big,
(54:28):
big article because this is my favorite hot topic this week. Yeah, so,
like it's hinting at a bunch of things. What do
we know? What do you think? Like we have to
make some assumptions here. Okay, so we know that Greg, Well,
in the headline it states he's a front runner. I
would say he's the number one front runner right now,
right Well. Becka Martinez, she shared a she shared a
(54:51):
meme of Greg from I guess it was last week
and it says, when the guy next to you is
getting interrograded about wanting to be the Bachelor aka Thomas,
and you've got to pretend to be disgusted while hiding
your acting career aspirations. And that's in reference to Greg
(55:13):
having acting career aspirations. Now, what's juicy about this is
that Katie liked this, like the meme on Instagram on
I think on Instagram social media, and then she unliked it. Oh,
like she was like, oh can't be too obvious, can't
(55:35):
have fancy this unlike so to me, that means that
Greg doesn't win. This is a big deal and big
deal you don't like a meme of somebody you care about,
especially a one like this. So what it's hinting at,
we don't know. I'm assuming we'll find out as the
season progresses. And uh huh, a little frustrating because I thought,
(55:58):
you know what, Greg seemed it seems perfect in a
lot of ways, right, they seemed like that bachelor. Like
I was like, Oh, Greg and Katie they're going to
be They're a good one thing Katie. Well, we'll see
if it happens. Uh. Speaking of past bachelor's though, this
is I thought this was hilarious. I'm gonna share this
headline just because I watched it, and I hope Claire
(56:21):
doesn't take offense to because I don't think it was
meant in this. It was just kind of funny. Wan
Pablo Uh and daughter Camilla Uh re enact his Bachelor
breakup with Claire Crawley. Watch this, Yeah, it's like it's
it's I thought it was cute. Yeah, I mean that's
totally that's nothing. You know, that's I hope she's not
(56:43):
annoyed by that either. It's funny. It's like father daughter playtime. Yeah,
super cute. Anyways, go out and check it out. It's
pretty funny. Well. Uh, big headline this week is, according
to Okay, which you know, give her take a little bit. Uh,
newly out bachelor Colton Underwood spotted cozing up to I
(57:04):
don't is this posse pose pose star Johnny uh Sibilly
on vacation in Mexico, so Colton. I mean, I guess
from this article it seems like he's moving on in
out there dating. That's what they're trying to make it
seem like. But I'm not really sure that there's anything here.
(57:27):
I mean, this is truly on Instagram post guys, um
from I think Johnny did Johnny even post one? Okay,
so Johnny posted a picture, take Colton post a picture.
I'm sure they did. They're on vacation in Mexico, so yeah.
But like they're in a big group. Oh no, uh yeah,
(57:49):
but like it's a big group and he's like next
to another reality star. So they're trying to make something
out of it. We have nothing beyond that. They like
they said they're close in the photo, they're like not kissing.
They don't like have any romantic body language. Uh, but
(58:10):
apparently they also are snapping picks of them sipping Bargarita's
and enjoying some chicken nuggets. So if you want to
call that romance, I mean I do find chicken nuggets
to be something in a way in my heart, you know.
But Johnny, you guys, is from Yeah Pose and he
(58:31):
has a close to two Instagram followers. Hey, there you go.
He's out there. They're out there there in Mexico obviously
having a good time. Well. Final headline. Oh, he's in Hacks. Okay, okay,
So he's an actor. He's in that new show Hacks
on HBO Max. It's actually really cute. I like that show,
(58:53):
and he he plays um. I think he's the water guy.
You'd have to watch the show. But it's cute. Well,
final headline. I bet it's cute. I bet it's awesome.
Go watch it. Who knows what's happening in Mexico. We
can't really make assumptions, but it's nice to him having
a good time. Well. Final headline this week is Shan
low is boycotting the franchise over Chris Harrison's exit, wife
(59:17):
Catherine reveals this. According to us, she just says that, um,
I'm watching the show. My husband is kind of boycotting
it because of Chris Harrison stuff, but I'm watching it
to support the girls. It's been interesting. It's been interesting season.
It's just the beginning. I'm excited for Katie h Not
much there. It's not like Shawn's commenting on it. But
(59:39):
he's stepping away. I can you know, I can see
him being doing Yeah, I can I can see I
can see him making this decision. Yeah. Well he's stepping
away for a bit. Well, that's all the headlines we
got this week. Quiet week in Bachelor Nation, which is
always something we should celebrate because it means that all
of us Wholigans aren't doing anything too crazy. Well, before
(01:00:00):
we say goodbye to you this week, we do have
a really special guest. One of our interns, Lauren, is
on the line right now to tell us about her
connection with one of the current cast members on this
season of The Bachelorette. Lauren, you with us. Oh, yes,
I am hello, Lauren. So we heard that Andrew, who
I would say as a front runner one of my favorites.
(01:00:25):
Was an instructor of yours. What did he teach you?
Andrew and was my water polo coach when I was twelve? Well, wait,
how old are you now? Now? I'm nineteen almost twenty. Okay,
so wait, what is water polo? What is water pool?
Actually it's only really a big thing in California. So. Um,
(01:00:47):
but it's a water sport with the ball where you
just like swim and you score goals into a net. Okay,
so what do you know about Andrew? Um? So, Andrew. Actually,
we didn't know who our coach was going to be
when we were twelve. Uh, and then when we found
out that it was him, we were all super excited
(01:01:07):
because we thought that he was so cute and he
was so nice. One of the things that I remember
about him is after our first practice, he knew every
single girl on my team's name, so he was like,
very caring, very sweet. Um. We had the Junior Olympics
also we call it j O's And after j O's
(01:01:29):
he had all of the players and our parents over
to his house and he, um, yeah, he said nice
things about all of us. Uh. He was just such
a great guy. I really love him, so definitely reading
for him on the Bachelor head Do you feel like
he is husband material? I do. He was always so
(01:01:51):
good to um, all the kids on the team. He
we even like since we were so young. After every
game we came up with cheers and chants and dances,
and he would get in the middle of the cheer
with us, dance with us. He was so funny. I
loved him so sweet. Yeah, he's such a sweet guy.
(01:02:12):
So we're shipping Andrew and Katie, or we're shipping Andrew
with somebody at some point in this franchise, we're on
his team. Okay. I like that. It doesn't change doesn't
change my perspective the guy. I kind of liked him already,
but now now I'm all in. Well. Hey, Lauren, thank
you for joining us on your first appearance in the
Almost Famous podcast. I know this is such a nerve
racking experience to come on here and have to talk
(01:02:33):
to Ashley. I do it every day, I get it,
but we're thankful for you. Uh. Well, with all of that,
we want to thank you once again to Trista Sutter,
Thank you Lauren for joining us, uh and as always,
thank you Ashley for jumping on Oh that's sweet. Hey.
We'll be back next week to break down another episode
of Katie season of the Bachelor. We'll be back right here,
(01:02:54):
same time, same place. But before we do, I've been
been Hypernashley Hie. Guys followed the Benn and Ashley I
Almost Famous podcast on iHeart Radio or subscribe wherever you
listen to podcasts.
This is the Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with i R Radio. Hello everyone, welcome to the Almost
Nest podcast. It's great to be with you. Here recapping
episode four of Katie season. We have a very special guest.
Trista Sutter, is on recapping with us today to continue
the Bachelorette recap series. But first I want to ask Ben,
(00:26):
how's your week? Ben? How you doing? My friend holding
in there? Uh? Yeah, Trista is gonna be on I
actually at a later date here. I want to be
on Trista's podcast. I did an interview with her earlier
about just kind of the emotions and the mental state
of uh you know, of my life and of Trista's
life and so many other lives. So go listen to that.
(00:50):
But actually, I have a weird thing I want to
talk to you about. Now. I'm gonna get like my
weird motivational like speaker hat on, which I'm not good at,
but I was watching something to it. This one might
make sense. So if if it doesn't make sense, we
just laugh at me. Because I'm sitting at I'm back
(01:11):
in Indiana. I came to Indiana this weekend with Jessica
She's now back in Denver to work for a few
days before she comes back uh for the fourth of July.
But I came here for my cousin Charles wedding. He
got married to the love of his life. They've been
dating for years. It was a beautiful ceremony in Indianapolis, Indiana. Uh.
Just an incredible wedding where I realized I cried multiple times,
(01:36):
mostly because the father daughter dance, which I credit your
father daughter dance. Also. Um, they get me. I don't
know what it is, but those things really get me. Um,
wait till November. But I'm sitting on the lake today
doing this podcast, and there is a my parents really
don't like it when geese get in their yard. It's
(01:56):
something that they like despise because the geese poop everywhere
they eat, you know, the grass up. And so they
put these like streamers. It's like a very thin piece
of rope around the sea wall. It's like so thin
you can like if you can barely see it's like,
but it's like colorful, and they put it around the
whole sea wall. Uh. And they decorated like red, red, white,
(02:16):
and blue. I think, yeah, Um, but the geese I'm
watching the geese like try to come up, and they
like come up to the edge and all they have
to do is step over it, and they would have
this whole yard in front of them and they would
have like access to everything that my parents are keeping
them out of. But yet they get up to it
and they just get scared, like they don't step over it.
(02:39):
They could, they're they're they're tall enough. It's just one string,
and they just decided to stay on the other side.
And as I was talking to Trista today and maybe
somebody out there can hear this, I'm wondering in my
own life and on all of our lives, like what
is that thing that and that's standing in front of
us that like we just won't step through because like
we feel like it's thing, or we feel like it's impossible,
(03:01):
we feel like it's scary. And if we did it,
like maybe just maybe there's this whole new thing on
the other side. Um, and maybe it's just like a
little streamer that might not be fun to step over,
Like it might take a little bit more work. Uh,
it might be a little more difficult, but when we
do it, we're gonna realize it was it was worth it. Um.
So anyways, that's on my mind right now, is the internal.
(03:23):
I don't I don't think that's silly at all. I
think that's actually like a really great thing to think about. Yeah,
I can't think about what that thing would be for me,
but I'm sure there's something, and I'm sure almost everybody
has something. It's just interesting. Yeah, So anyways, that's my uh.
The other day on the podcast, I was asked, like,
what's my philosophy on life? So right now, step over
the streamer and with that, we're here at the Almost
(03:45):
Same As podcast super Pumped to talk to you all.
And yes, Trista Center is coming on the Original Bachelorette,
the possibly the greatest of all time. Would be hard
to argue that she's not considering she started this whole
thing out, also one of the catalyst and lead years
to the thing that we found out about that I
think is still supposed to be a secret, but we're
not going to allow it to be. On the Almost
(04:05):
Smith podcast the text thread with all of the past
Bachelorettes on one thread. She's coming on the Breakdown this
week's episode, but before we do, let's take a quick break.
We come back with the Almost Smith podcast. Hey, actually,
(04:29):
there is one story I forgot to tell you about
by my wedding weekend. You want to hear? It just
makes me smile, Just a sweet story before we bring
on Tris to setter about your wedding weekend. Oh this
weekend that you went to a wedding, as I said,
beautiful wedding. Awesome. Well, my grandmother who's eighty one years old. Um,
(04:50):
who so that's pretty young for a grandmother these days.
She is she looks good, looks good, just a beautiful human.
And uh she is now only um surviving grandparents, which
is super weird to say because for years of my
life I kind of had like the lucky one where
I was like I had all four Um, um, my
grandmother just turned by one surviving grandmother who has been
(05:14):
for a while now, uh just turned this week. Holy moly. Yeah,
so that's why I was young. Yeah. Well, um, she
she got the dance with all of her grand sons.
So there's the three of us that were there. Uh,
and she danced with my the one that was getting
married to a sweet song that was her He played
(05:36):
it because it was my grandmother and my grandfather's song
when they were married. My grandfather had written her a
letter back in the day moon River, which has been
covered by uh Frank Ocean recently. Um, but it used
to be singing by Andy Williams way back in the day.
And she so he knew that and he played it
because my grandfather had written her letter and said, hey, uh,
(05:56):
if you haven't heard moon River yet, I want you
to listen to it because that's a song about us.
And so she bought the record. And now since he's
passed away due to Parkinson's, um my cousin got to
dance with her two at his wedding, which is just
so special. And then my other cousin grabbed her for
a slow dance. Well at that point I wasn't really
paying attention. She comes up to me, she goes, I've
(06:16):
danced with all my grandsons except you, And I was like, Grandma,
we need to dance together. Then I said, let's dance
to the next song. So we get on the dance
floor when she puts her arms around my neck like
you know, like you just the sweetest thing, and we're dancing.
We're getting ready for the song to play. Guess what
song comes on like something totally inappropriate, wobble wobble, like
(06:39):
a wobble, you know that, like wabble song, and she
lets lose, her arms start flailing, her knees start going
back and forth, and all of a sudden, she hugs
me and she goes, I can't dance this fast for
too long. So that was our dance at the wedding.
But if there's a video of that out there, and
I know my name whose son got married, listen to
this podcast. So she has a video of us dancing
the wobble that she finds, please send it along because
(07:01):
that is a memory worth keeping forever. Well anyways, hey, uh,
storytime with Ben is over. We have a bachelor breakdown
of this week's episode to do with the one and
only Trista Center. Let's bring her own hate Trista. Hi, Hello,
where are you recording at now? In my bedroom? Nice
so Colorado? I mean it's the writings on my hat. Yes,
(07:26):
all right, Well, I don't want to like just like
cut through the pleasant trees. But this is like pretty
big news in your life. You guys recently found out
that Ryan, your husband of oh my gosh, almost twenty
years Huh, we're getting close. We're getting close. Um, you
guys found out that he had lyme disease after like
(07:49):
not knowing what he had for over a year that
was causing him bad health. So how how are you
guys dealing with us? How do you feel like? Is
it relieving or are you guys upset? Because you know,
lime disease is something that he'll probably always will always
be part of his life now, you know. It's kind
(08:11):
of um piggybacks on my conversation that I just have
been for my podcast, But um, I try to look
at the positive and there there is definitely it's definitely
a good thing to have answers. So I'm very thankful
that we have answers because not knowing is so so
(08:35):
so difficult, and through the process and kind of sharing
that he was going through something, so many people have
reached out to us and are in the exact same situation.
They have no idea what's going on with them a
loved one, you know, a friend, whatever, And it is
it honestly is a pandemic in this country. In my mind,
(08:59):
it's a huge pandemic that so many people don't know
what's going on and then to get a diagnosis like
lime and mold and eb V and and possibly covid
longhauler that diagnosis, those answers actually come with so many
(09:20):
more questions that even though we've found out part of it,
and yes, I am thankful and grateful for that, it's
it's actually difficult. I mean, he's not feeling great today, UM,
and he has his up days and down days. But
lime is so like out there still Western medicine doesn't
(09:44):
fully buy into it, I feel like, and there We've
talked to some people who have experienced it for years
and years and years, and there are so many different
treatments for it, and not everyone has the same success
with one certain treatment, so the treatments are different. It's
(10:07):
very um unique to every person how you find relief
from this, UM And yes it will be a lifetime
diagnosis that he'll have to UM deal with, but it
is it is difficult, and that there's not like one
medication that he can take. There's not surgery that he
(10:29):
can do. UM. So that's hard. I thank you for asking, UM.
It's it's been it's been hard UM to see him
struggle because he is such a strong human in general, um,
(10:51):
but he doesn't share that with everyone. And uh so
it's it's just hard to see the person that you
love most in the world on my crap. He Uh
we were, Tristan, I were able to talk, and actually
we've talked about in the podcast before because we thought
it was important. But you know, my best friend in Denver,
uh was diagnosed with lime seven months ago. My aunt
(11:14):
was diagnosed with lime two years ago. I have a
friend from my church that is now bedridden because of lime.
My aunt is still struggling with it. In fact, she
could really not have even a full glass of wine
and her son's wedding because it causes a flare up.
And then which is you know, a sigh, A small thing,
but a huge thing when you think about that controlling
your life. And then my my best friend, he's thirty
(11:35):
six years old, he's a incredibly healthy guy. He's lost
thirty pounds. He can no longer get a clear sentence spoken.
It sounds like he um, he can't process his words.
And his fiancee has openly reached out and I don't
think she'd mind me sharing this, but she said, I'm
really struggling because we don't know when this ends. We
(11:56):
don't know where this goes. Uh, and he's withering away,
and and so I think it's a great thing to
talk about because especially with Ryan. I mean I remember
when I first met Ryan Trista. I came to you
guys house in Vale, invited uh a group of us over,
and we came up and were hanging out, and Ryan
was getting ready for the time to run like a
bazillion miles up a mountain. I forget what it was.
(12:17):
It was like the stupidest amount. Yeah, it was a
hundred mile run up a mountain, down a mountain, and
around a mountain and then back up. It was the
most ridiculous thing. And then, um, you know he's a professional,
former professional football player, he's a fireman. And I mean
this is debilitating at times, like it can crush the
best of us. Yeah, yeah, it sucks. I mean, um,
(12:42):
we've talked about you know, your friend, and I do
I feel grateful that he is among kind of one
of the lucky ones with limeseas in that he hasn't
lost the ability to speak, he hasn't lost the ability
to walk, he hasn't lost the ability to use his arms.
I mean, we have a friend, Um, one of my
close friends here who got bit by by a tick
(13:07):
or or it actually can be transmitted by a spider
as well. UM, and she got bit. She saw the
target rash and immediately UM like they were on it,
called the doctor got her on antibiotics. But when she
first felt or saw the rash, UM, she remembers holding
her daughter, who I think was like a year old
(13:28):
at the time, and and all of a sudden she
was like, you have to take the baby, like to
her husband, and he took her daughter, and like immediately
her arms stopped working, like she couldn't use her arms.
So I feel lucky in the fact that he it's
(13:50):
it's in certain parts of his body. We know that
probably in his ankle, like he's got a bad knee.
It's probably residing in those but I don't know. I mean,
he has fog occasionally and the the fatigue is unbearable
sometimes for him. But I do, truly do. I do
feel lucky that it's not as severe as some people
(14:14):
that we're hearing. And and also that you know, people
who have been to looking for a diagnosis for fourteen ten,
fourteen years, you know, like it took us a year,
which was a long time and it's still is something
that he's he's dealing with. You know, once we figured
it out, it wasn't like it automatically went away, because
like I said, it's not like you just you take
(14:35):
one med um and it's gone. So anyway, Yeah, I
have a couple of questions, Um, okay, So they of
course usually come from tick bites. Does he remember ever
having the bite? So what our doctor, his doctor thinks happened,
was this happened a really long time ago or a
(14:56):
long time ago. So as you guys know, we live
in Colorado, he does, I mean his religions, as he said,
is the outdoors. He's always outdoors. He's always mountain biking.
We camp a lot, um, he goes um backpacking with
the kids a lot. And he does remember a couple
instances in his life being bitten by a tick. So
(15:18):
it's happened before. But like I said, the doctor has said,
and I don't know that this is like common knowledge.
I mean I didn't know it. Um, but you can
get infected by a spider as well. And we live
in even though there are some doctors who don't think
that the ticks in Colorado carry line disease. Um, we
(15:41):
have deer roaming our neighborhood. I mean they're they're always
in our backyard and they carry the ticks. So I
don't know how you can say that, you know, oh,
well ticks aren't in Colorado, Like what does it cut
off right at the state line? You know, it doesn't
make any sense to me, So yes, answer to answer
(16:02):
your question. He has been bitten before, but never seem
like there's a target rash or bulls eye rash that
appears um with lime disease. So if you're one of
the lucky ones and you actually see that bulls eye
rash like our friend, like I just said, that's a
good thing because then you can immediately go and get antibiotics.
But for him, we don't know when that that happened.
(16:25):
Isn't it weird that like we go out in the
summer and we put bugs bray on to not get
mosquito bites, but we don't think about like ticks bray
or anything like that, and that we can really cause lifelong.
I know, it's really interesting and I really hope there
have been quite a few, uh pretty prominent names like
(16:46):
Justin Bieber, Alec Baldwin who have recently come out and
said that they have lime disease as well. And so
the hope is and we want to do anything we
can to spread the word about it that it it
is a true illness, you know, it's not something that
Western medicine can just brush under the rug. It is
something that people struggle with daily in this country, in
(17:08):
this world, and so we want to be able to
spread the word. But yeah, you're right, maybe hopefully soon, UM.
I know that it's all about research, and so we're
our hope is that we can get involved UM in
that way to help raise funds for research so that
(17:30):
more people can find UM really from their symptoms. Well, Trista, UM,
thank you for sharing all this, and I hope that
when you do find the avenues to donate and that
we can support that the whole almost Famous Listener group
would love to get behind you. UM. But there's always
something within this and then I'm learning a lot more
(17:51):
recently when a spouse or of loved one is going
through this, we focus on them, UM, But we're here
to focus on you today and the question is how
are you doing and how are you holding up? You
are awesome for asking that question. Um. When we found
out that he had lime, we were talking to a
friend who has a wife with lime, and he mentioned,
(18:17):
you know how it's always about her and she's been
struggling with it for a long time, and and we
so we work with an organization called First Assance. They
do UM outdoor adventure therapy for young adults with cancer,
and they actually started doing camps for UM, the caretakers
(18:38):
for the people who have cancer, and and I always
loved that. I loved that they that they focus their
energies as well on the people who UM who struggle.
I I it's been hard, UM, sorry, UM, And not
(19:05):
because I want any attention on me, because I want
him to be better. I want him to wake up
feeling great. I want him to be able to UM
spend time with our family and and make memories. And
when you don't feel good, it just takes away from life,
(19:26):
you know. And and so I'm not doing great and
not just about him. You know. We talked a lot
about it on my podcast. Been UM. I I've been
struggling for sure, and I don't know if it was
if it's been covid or UM all that Ryan has
(19:51):
been dealing with and dealing with insurance companies and doctors
and and then just life and trying to be happy
for my kids, you know, twelve and thirteen, and they're
relatively independent, but I want them to have a great
summer and for them to have a great school year,
so my focus has to be on them. Um, but
(20:15):
it's been a really weird year, you know, I know,
for pretty much the whole planet. But um, it's it's
it's been hard. Um. Sorry, thank you for being so vulnerable.
The podcast episode, and now's a great time to talk
about it. I don't know when it's gonna come out, Tristy,
you know better in April. It will come out next
(20:37):
week actually Tuesday, So Tuesday, yeah, yeah, So Tris and
I got to talk a lot about where we're at
in life, and actually knows a lot about where I'm
at in life. Actually I were able to speak just
through the phone, I don't know, two weeks ago kind
of about um, my transitions in life and things I'm
experiencing and feeling. And then it was you know, trist
(20:58):
had reached out, uh maybe a month ago and said, hey,
would you want to come on my podcast? And I
said yeah, let's do it, and then it finally just
worked out where this week was the week that we
were able to make it happen. And it was in
my opinion as I sat here for the last hour
since we recorded it, it was an incredible time because
you and I were able to just speak to each
(21:18):
other from a place of both just right now like
disorientation and confusion and a little um feel a little
sad and uh and and so I just recommend anybody
listening to it that just wants to maybe feel like
they're less alone, um during this season. So yeah, please
go listen to Trist's podcast next Tuesday. They'll be out
(21:38):
everywhere you listen to podcast and trust in. One little
moment of light is that Ryan did graduate from the
Fire Academy this week. Yeah, did well, it's actually it happened,
I want to say, in April. It's been a while,
(21:59):
but as of COVID, they weren't able to you know,
really celebrate it, so so they waited. But it was
still great to have a really a formal ceremony. They
got dressed up in their class a's as they're called,
um and they had the chief of the department speaking
and it was just really special. I mean, I love
(22:21):
a celebration. I'm all about birthdays and anniversaries and and
I I'm so happy that we finally got to celebrate
him in his class. I mean, obviously he's been a
firefighter for he was a firefighter for seventeen years with
BAIL and then took a year break and then went
back to BAIL and then got the chance to go
UM work with the Denver Fire Department, and he just
(22:43):
wanted more of a challenge. UM, And I'm really really
proud of him. So how does that work? You have
to get like re licensed and go through the courses
all over again. If you're going to a new city.
It depends on where you're going. So for him, he
just missed a ladder, a lateral transfer, which would have
(23:04):
meant like he was a lieutenant with the Veil Fire Department.
He just missed it by I think like a month,
so he could have laterally transferred and then a lieutenant
with the Denver Fire Department, But because of timing UM
and his certifications, he had to start over. So he
was basically in an academy with twenty thirty year olds. UM.
(23:27):
There were a couple older people. But one big reason
that I'm really proud of him is he finished second
in his class, which he's forty six years old, and
it it is really grueling. I talked to somebody who
said that the Denver Fire Department is um like harder
than the FBI or something like something crazy like that.
(23:47):
And I believe it because of, you know, the things
that he told me while he was going through it.
But yeah, he had to start over again, but he
was willing to do that just because he he wanted
more challenge. He wants to continuously, um, improve and better
himself and that happens through challenge. And so anyway, we're
really proud of him. So and I'm gonna miss this.
(24:09):
Are you guys moving? Yeah, I know you are going
to live in the same town. Yeah. So, UM, well,
now is kind of an exception. Um, he is battling
an injury on his ankle that happened at the department. Um.
But before he was battling this injury. So now he's
(24:30):
on light duty, which means that he's working um in
Denver during the week, which is hard to because I'm
like a single parent again. Um, but if if it
was like a month ago, he would be working at
one of the stations in Denver and he works out
a trade situation with one of the guys there, so
(24:52):
he ends up only working like seven days of month,
which is great. I mean they're twenty four hour days.
But Tris, so we'd love to have you in Denver.
Then verse calling your name. I mean, I'm not gonna lie.
We've been looking at houses, so I hear, I hear,
Golden is a terrific place, and there's free babysitting available
(25:15):
and Golden it's this really weird versa. So when the
babies come for you and then I'll have the babysitters
for you. Say at twelve and thirteen, do you have
babysitters anymore? It's like that weird time. Yeah. I mean,
like I think we started staying home alone around twelve
for parents, I think around ten or eleven we started
(25:38):
it just like short periods of time. But now they
can stay home alone and they're good. I mean they're
just like good kids, like you know, they're they're good kids. Well, uh, Trista,
before we dive into breaking down um this week's episode, Um,
what big projects do you have going on in your
life that you want to talk about here, I would
love for you to give one more shout out about
your podcast, because I do think it is something special.
(26:01):
Thank you. Um. Well, obviously the podcast is called Better etcetera.
And I wanted to do something you know, good, UM,
put out some positive energy into the world and also
into my life because of course, while I'm doing the interviews,
I get to learn lots and lots from my guests,
so Better etcetera. It's been really fun. As I shared
(26:25):
with Ben, I'm I don't know if this first season
is going to continue into a second. I'm going to
take the rest of the summer. After next week, I'm
going to actually interview Ryan for a little update on
his health, UM, and that will be in two weeks
on the podcast. So after that, I'm going to take
(26:47):
a little break. That will be the end of the
first season, and then, UM, I'm gonna just have a
little come to Jesus and see if if it's something
that I really want to dedicate my time to be.
As I know you guys know, it's a lot of work, UM,
and I just need to really figure out if I
(27:09):
want to continue it. I really have loved it and
I hope that people who listen have loved it, but um,
we'll see um. And that's really all I mean. I'm
on Instagram at Trista Center and I have oh like you, Ashley.
I don't know if you do them then, but I've
been doing the Amazon live streams, which I'm loving. They're
so fun. I love. I mean, I am an Amazon
(27:32):
freak because when you live where I live, you don't
have like a Target or a Macy's or whatever to
go to. You have Amazon. So I literally we buy
everything on Amazon. So I've been doing you know, the
live streams, so I have a storefront on Amazon. Is
there a a theme that you like talking about the most?
(27:55):
Do you know? I haven't done that many. The first
one I did was for Father's Day and that is
awesome of course. Um, I'm doing a beauty like skincare.
I get lots of questions, as I know you do too,
um your highs and lows with skincare, Ashley, but so
(28:16):
but beauty and skincare, and then like kids gifts, like
I always want to know what to get different ages
and between age is where I'm at with Blakesley especially
and Max. So I'm really enjoying just kind of researching
all of that stuff and giving people tips on you know,
what they can get for these different categories. I'm all
(28:39):
about organizations, so the organization part of it really is
fun for me, like just on the storefront itself. Yeah,
but yeah, it's been really fun. So tween gifts are hard,
right because it's so easier to shop for kids, but
then they get to be that age and you're like,
what are they into anymore? Laying with things? I know?
(29:00):
And I give gift gift cards to everybody because I
don't know and I don't want to get something that
they already have. So UM, this has been really fun
because I can kind of organize and research on Amazon
what you know, because they always do the like people
by this with this, you know, the recommended purchases you
(29:21):
know with UM. So that's been it's it's that's a
really fun little UM project for me. Trista, You're somebody special.
We cannot wait to break down this week's episode with you.
It is gonna be fantastic. We're going to dive into
all the hard questions like this, Trista, like Katie, does
she ever talk to Katie? Has she ever talked to
(29:42):
Katie and what does she think of this week's episode?
Right after the break? Do you love what a sarcasm?
And talking fast? And are you longing to return to
Stars Hall of for one more trip to can antiques?
Are just to pick up a few things at Dosie's Market?
Is an overnight stay? It's a dragon flame on your
(30:04):
list of plans for a getaway? Is a burger from
Luke's Diner on the menu for tonight? This is Scott Patterson.
I was Luke Danes for onifty three episodes and in
four Netflix movies I Am all In and I Heart
Radio podcast. Come hang with us. We're read watching together,
We're visiting with all our favorite cast and crew members.
We talked fast. We've got a lot to say. Listen
to I Am all In wherever you listen to podcasts. Well,
(30:40):
let's start with one of Ben's questions. Have you spoken
to Katie outside of the Bachelor at group chat? I
was just gonna say that was gonna be my go to. UM, So, yes,
we have our Bachelor at group chat, and yes, you know,
as a group we've talked to each other, which I love.
(31:00):
By the way, Um, part of my struggle is kind
of feeling, uh, trying to deal with the fact that
I feel like an old, washed up bachelorette, so nobody
ever thinks about you that way. Oh you're I mean,
thank you. But um so the bachelotte group chext you know,
kind of gives me life and I love I love
(31:22):
being able to add the you know anybody knew who
comes along, which we do every time, and it will
be exciting to be able to add Michelle, isn't Michelle? Yeah? Yeah,
um coming here up here soon? Um? I did. I
d m her. We haven't talked after outside of all
(31:45):
of this and my d M s, but I d
m her when everything went down on the last season
of The Bachelor when she stood up for Sarah, and
I just felt like, thank you for putting yourself thought
there and standing up for the person that you felt
like was being treated unfairly. I just I thought that
(32:08):
was really awesome of her to do and and and
I like supporting, you know, those kind of people. Um,
but that's the only connection that I've had to her.
That's far. What's your overall vibe of this season? Ben?
And I really like it. I do too, I do too. Um.
I love that she's kind of like the girl next door, Um,
(32:32):
the uh real raw person who who ended up I
mean share the part where she shared about her sexual assault. Um.
I feel like so many people can relate to her,
including me, And that's why I'm really loving her. She's
(32:53):
she's been incredibly You're right, like the girl next door
in the best of ways to like, she's she's like relatable.
You watch her and you're like, Okay, if my best
girlfriend who I know, goes on the show, like I
believe she would handle stuff this way. Um, she's and
she's allowing us into the relationships, like she's asking the
(33:14):
right questions. Um, she's digging in a bit with these guys,
which I think has allowed us to get to know
the guys better. She and I think that's also a
sign that she's ready for a relationship. Like for years,
you know, even on The Bachelor, we had like leads
who are like, you really ready for a relationship, Like
this is really something that you're into because you're not
(33:35):
yeah yeah, Like you're not asking any questions and you're
not digging in, and you're not even like entering into
the hard stuff. You're just kind of like there and
with her, you're just kissing, and like with Katie, it's
like no, you you we can tell, but you're into this,
like this is this, You're committed this, which which I've enjoyed.
There's a there's a lot of substance, you know, there's
(33:55):
a lot of emotion and we're only four weeks in.
I will say that this episode is probably my least
favorite of the eisodes, but that's just because I felt
like there was so much unnecessarily unnecessary, overblown drama with Thomas.
But let's let's get to that after because I want
to go in chronological order, even though there's not much
(34:16):
besides the like finished the episode and I'm like, wait
a second, what happened? There was one group date and
then Thomas drama. There wasn't a one on one, there
wasn't a second group date. So group date real fun,
a continuation of like the theme that I think that
they've been doing such a good job with this season,
and that is group dates that tell us about the
(34:38):
guy's personality. It's like silly, you know, scat whatever you
wanna call a scavenger hunt or like truth or dare,
and they're they're just getting along really well, the guys
are like paired off, but to see them eat speak
little dirty nothings to that big ear with the speaker attached,
it's just fun. We're getting to know them. Anything that
(35:00):
stood out to you there, because the only thing that's
standing out to me here is that, like I'm I'm
a little bizarred out as to why Andrew keeps speaking
in the British accent. It's like, it sounds great, it
sounds really good, but like I'm like, wait a second,
is it real? Oh no, it's not real. And he's
(35:21):
used it twice already in the scene. I literally did
the same thing. I was like, wait, who's that guy?
Is there another guy? Like? Is that a true or
is that another guy? And I'm forgetting about him? Um?
I I thought it was. It's really fun. I love
the the depth of the conversations that have been in
(35:44):
the past, and you know, especially the in the scene
with Nick, the group date with Nick. Um, I really
loved the depth. I do like that this season. I
What stood out about this episode to me, even though
I don't think this spent well, they didn't spend a
lot of time on it, is Blake coming back and
(36:04):
and I really like him. I agree with you wholeheartedly
about the Thomas drama. I just it just drives me
crazy when they focus on that kind of drama, because
I really do want to see the development of the
relationships over every over anything. I know that they have
to we all know this from being on the show.
(36:26):
They have to input the drama and continue to ride
that wave. But I just I just can't stand it
in some instances, and this is one of them. This
is one of them, because it just see, it's so forced.
There was no other drama apparently going on, so they
just really clung onto this. So it's so it gets
(36:49):
brought up again at the group date the cocktail party. Um,
and that was the argument between Trey and Andrew and
I honest I saw both sides of this. I wanted
to just be on Andrew's side. Andrew was like, you guys,
like focus on your own relationship, let her figure everything out.
(37:10):
And then Trey was like, are you kidding? I have
to protect her from like bad people, And when he
said that, I was like, I was like yes, and no.
I was like, I guess, but I but I want
to be fully on Andrew's side here. And then Trey
was like, what if she found out that you knew
and you didn't say anything? And I'm like, Andrew just
(37:32):
seems like the kind of person who's seen this show
before and knows that tattling doesn't always go over well
or doesn't benefit your own relationship. Um, but then look
at look at Trey got the rose for for talking
about it. Um. Katie seems to be a bachelorette that
really does appreciate being told about what's going on in
the house. But I think just we talked about this
(37:54):
a lot last week. These guys like really think it's
Survivor or something and they can vote, they vote the
guy they don't like out every week, no kiding, Like
where did that ever come from? And the whole like
game mentality with Carl and I'm just okay, I'm in
the game or whatever. I'm like, No, Like, I get
(38:14):
it that people we have called it a game, you know,
over the years, but to me, it really isn't a game.
I want them to be able to, like, you know,
fight hard for love. But that really turned me off.
And I have to say, actually, I totally agree with you.
I was drawn between both of them because I do
(38:37):
I do think that telling I've all whenever I watched
the show, I'm like, just tell her. But in the
same regard, I think Andrew has a great point that
if you tell her, something's going to happen and time
is going to be taken away from us. And it
was like at the Rose ceremony, he was like, this
is exactly what I was worried about. I didn't want
to miss out on time with her, and that's exactly
(38:59):
what's happening because of all this drama with Thomas. You
guys are right, like there's very little amount of strategy
involved in this show. Like you can't go into it
going this is my strategy to win one that's manipulative.
It's weird, it's awkward, Like, yes, you can have strategy
and when you talk and what you say and don't
say and how you present, like that's fine, you know,
(39:22):
but ultimately, like if you're gonna win this thing based
on how you've planned to win it, that's messed up
from a lot of different reasons. I I want to
ask the question to the listeners in this moment because
we're going to share our opinions, but your opinion always
matters to us. And always gives us a different perspective,
like were you angry at Thomas here? Did you find
(39:43):
what he did to be incredibly wrong? Or was this
an overplayed dramatic event that was just the highlight of
the episode and they needed, like everybody wanted to make
it something because all the contestants, they were like, hey,
everybody here gets along and these guys are great, and
we need to figure out which one can go. I
have I I don't love that he was pushed aside
(40:05):
because he had thoughts of being the Bachelor. I think,
you know, all three of us have done this show.
If I would say when I went on the Bachelor
at not only was I just excited for the opportunity,
I was excited for what it was gonna mean for
my life, like that I had a story to tell
that I had maybe love and was involved in that
(40:25):
maybe it wasn't, And if it wasn't, then like maybe
I'm just gonna meet cool people and you know, tell
my friends and family house on the show at one
point in my life. Um and and I wonder I
just think also though, to give a little criticism Thomas,
I think it was really bad at explaining himself I
think his biggest mistake here was that he continued to
fall back into this sales pitchy like response to things,
(40:49):
and it never came off genuine when all he had
to say was like something authentic. It just never felt
like he was really explain himself. It felt like he
was just missing the mark there, which might be the
reason I finally just kind of blew up in his face. Yeah,
I think you're totally dead on with that, and that
she would they would ask him a question where whether
it was the guys or Katie. I mean, she at
(41:11):
one point said, Um, I need an answer, you know.
Didn't she say, like, no, that's not what I asked you. Um, like,
give me clarification. I'm asking you, did you want to
be the Bachelor? And I get it in in terms
of like the mentality, Like it seems like she's saying,
(41:32):
if you aren't coming here for love and that's it,
then you can leave. Um. What I think is what
what I think I would love to have kind of
counseled her on is there are going to be people here.
Let's be realistic that come here and think, yeah, I
would love to fall in love, but if that doesn't
(41:54):
happen and I have this platform that I can use
for good or you know whatever that can be a
good thing. I don't personally like the people who go
on the show just to be famous, you know, like
you can smell that, um, and I don't like it.
But let's be honest, Like there are people who come
on the show and they're like, I'm gonna have this
(42:15):
platform and I want to be able to use it
and if it's for something good, great, Um, if they
want to just you know, become more famous, I just
I don't like it, and I think that Katie doesn't.
She thought it's like a black and white thing. If
if he's coming on the show thinking that he wants
(42:37):
to be the next Bachelor, then that's telling me that
he is not here for love. But I think that
there can be both. You know, you can come on
the show and be realistic and think, you know, if
it doesn't happen for us, then it would be fun
to be the Bachelor. I'm going to be honest, But um,
I think she was thinking very black and white about it,
(42:58):
and I think the guys were too. I think that
was so perfectly put You took the words out of
my mouth. Uh. Like I say all the time, broken
record here, you should always you shouldn't be signing up
for the show unless like your marriage oriented, relationship ready
and wanting to find it fall in love, But that
doesn't have to be the only reason you signed up
(43:18):
for the show. Um. And I just think it's so
crazy to think that this guy last week, in a
moment in which he was supposed to be vulnerable and
talk about his own red flags, he admitted that he
was there. He signed up initially for like a platform,
and he was being super honest, and then he's totally
(43:41):
plummeted because of that honesty. And it's just like everyone
who's been on the show before you me been, We're thinking,
like these thoughts have crossed everyone's mind. So that's why
it's super infuriating. Okay, fine, maybe I'm a little bit
too heated over it, but I think it's it's very
frustrating to watch these guys gang up on Thomas for
(44:06):
something that you just know has been in their head
as well. And it's I almost wish that like Caitlin
and Tatia would have like made a joke about it,
because I could see Caitlin making a joke about it
right about like she was like, well, there was a
certain point where I started to think, you know, I mean,
(44:26):
and also like just going on the show to have fun,
because that's what I feel like a lot of people do.
They think this is a cool experience. It's a once
in a lifetime thing. And if I fall in love bonus,
you know, Um, I don't know. I think there's something
to be said for just looking at it realistically instead
(44:47):
of you know, coming after him. If that was his
m O and that's the only reason he came on
the show and he's not open to love, then that's
one thing. But I think that he's open to he
just like you said, Ben, he had a horrible way
of expressing that. I wonder if there's more behind the
scenes to like there, because a lot of the guys
(45:08):
when he would talk or saying things like oh, you know,
of course, this is what Thomas would say, and oh yeah,
here here, here he goes again. Like I just wonder
if they knew more than what we are seeing. And
that's why they were also up in arms about it,
because I would have a hard time believing that if
all of them are honest with themselves, and not one
other person in that room would have set up and
(45:28):
been like, yeah, you know what, Like I thought that too,
Like I was like feeling the same way, So like
maybe we should be like there had to be more
and if so, we just never saw it because he
obviously got let go it can in the midst of
all of this, I need to bring out, um, somebody
that is now going to take the trophy as the
best of something of all time on this show. And
(45:49):
I'm gonna give it. I'm gonna give it out and
everybody's gonna agree with me because they have to. And
I hold the mike. We have a name. I don't
know his name. We have a guy this season who
makes the best facial expressions of all time on the franchise.
I don't know his name. He does the guy with
the guy that opens up his eyes, who rolls his
(46:10):
eyes justin yeah, okay, it's good, justin his facial expressions.
It just watch and I'm sure memes are going to
be put out. Like that guy he my dad does
this thing where like when he like wants to be funny,
he opens his eyes real big and it's just like
it doesn't fit. It's just like a little awkward and
you're like, why your eyes so like, why your eyes
(46:31):
open so big? Justin does the same thing, like the
exact same thing, and uh, and I'm gonna give him
the reward award. I know we've had some little ones,
but I'm gonna give it to him. Okay, I have
a more thing to say about Thomas before we move on. Okay,
actually have a couple more things. One, all the guys
kept saying he was like manipulative, and I'm like, was
(46:54):
he manipulative or he's is he a sweet talking guy
who's like a little too suave for his own good
and he like he speaks like a lot of both.
You know, it's like it's like a lot of the
flowery talk. Yeah, politician right, who also said he wanted
to be the Bachelor because I didn't see anything where
(47:14):
he was like trying to manipulate. The other men they
were like he manipulated me, and like, yeah, it's a
it's a fine line because you sit down with a
guy and he's like honest with you, and you feel
like you have a good connection with him, and you
feel like you can be vulnerable around him and all
this stuff and then maybe. I mean, like I said,
maybe there's more than we're not seeing here, because he
obviously burned some bridges, and like he had a whole
(47:37):
group of good dudes like angry at him. Like not
one dude in that house stood up for him, not
one other than other, you know, other than kind of
saying hey, like why are you telling Katie this is
just gonna take time away from me? It wasn't really
standing up for for him at all. So there had
to be more to it. That's my assumption at this point,
um that we just didn't see. Yeah, I think you
(47:57):
can always assume that because you know that the show
or whatever it is, ends up on the cutting room floor.
I'm sure there's more to it. And then going off
that the way that Katie dumps him at the end
during the rose ceremony, thinking that he's getting the vinal
rose and then she's just like, you're disgusting leave and
(48:19):
I'm like, oh my god, I feel bad for this guy.
I can't believe this is happening. That was a big moment,
that moment. Can I ask you a question, though she
had that final rose, she never gave it out. I
wanted it to go to Christian. I think Christians so cute.
I don't know where he's been. I don't know why
(48:40):
she didn't like him. How can we give you to Thomas?
But what the hell give it to somebody? I think
she figuratively gives it to Blake, which is why she
goes to his room afterwards. Yeah, yeah, Ashley, you're so
good at this show. Wow at this that makes sense?
Well the funny not not the funny part. I don't
(49:01):
know if this sad or funny. The show ends after
the final rows and the guys get released. There's two
dudes there I had never seen before. Is that just me?
I thought I've watched every episode, But the one guy
says goodbye to us, like I have not seen your
face one time in four episodes. That happens to me
all the time. And then I have to say, as
(49:21):
you get older, it will happen to you more and
more that I'm aging good. Well that's cool, Okay, I
guess let's talk about Blake now before we let Trista go.
After she's been on with us for so long and
we are so grateful for you, how do we feel
Blake's getting? Like? How far is he going? Is this
connection real. I think that possibly because I think if
(49:45):
you had asked me a couple of weeks ago, I
would have thought that Thomas is gonna get far. And
now I'm like having to fill in a blank where
Thomas stood and could be blake. I think he gets far. Actually, um,
you know, of course in all the previews, I'm always
kind of um investigative in terms of the previews when
the part you know, such the best part, so you know,
(50:09):
we haven't been able to see him because of course
they're not going to put him in previews because they
didn't want to give up the secret beforehand. But I
would think he goes far. I mean they seem like
they have a lot of things in common, just off
off that um in terms of humor and I think humility,
(50:31):
and I really like them together. I don't know. I'm
I'm bad at choosing though, so I'm probably wrong. I
feel him, I feel him. I think it was far.
I will say this, Uh, the worst thing these dudes
can do is be super against him coming into the
house now, because I was on a season with Caitlin
when Nick came back, and like half the guys kind
(50:54):
of put their foot down, like we're going to be
against this for a really good reason, like that they
didn't really affect that much, right, Like they still were
able to date Caitlin, they were still able to go
like on one on ones, they were still to get
to know where, But instead they change their focus to
being like anti Nick, which totally destroyed They're a lot
(51:14):
of them. So like, at this point, is it ideal
that another guy's joining? No, can you be a little
upset about and be like that's that kind of bums
me out because that kind of sends the message that
she's not sold yet on you. Maybe a little bit
like I can see where you take a little personal
offense that, but then just like be okay with it
because it's not worth your time and it's gonna end
out how you want to end out anyways. Um, but
(51:36):
Blake's coming on. I think he's around a while, and
I think the guys from what we see, get really
upset and I bet they ruined themselves in the process.
They need somebody new because we had Cody Carl and
then we had Thomas and now they're looking for the
next guy to vote off what they call it and
what they call it the Island you don't get you
(51:57):
don't get the little peace pipe or whatever thing is.
I have a more thing to say. I know, I know,
I'm so horrible. One more thing. You guys, how cute
is Michael great? Oh? I love him? A lot of masterpieces.
He's like, he got so emotional talking to her. He's
such a cutey pets. Now he should be the next bachelor.
(52:20):
I think he is. If he's not with her, I
think it's a shoe in I think, and I think
it's like a massive home run for the show if
they make him. Yeah, right, he's the bachelor we need. Oh,
I love him. He has to bring his kid on
the show, although like logistically I'm like, I don't see
that happening with a child, but um, yeah he is.
(52:41):
I love him. We've never had a widowed or widower.
Believe you're right. I thought we did. Jason Mesnick had
brought right on it. But he wasn't a widow. I guess, Emily,
Yeah they weren't married. But yes, very sweet you girls,
But we haven't had a widow. Yeah, we got a
(53:02):
guy in there. I think he's great. I think I'm
a huge Michael fan. If he becomes the Bachelor, Michael,
if you listen to this podcast or if it gets
passed on to you, there's only one request I have selfishly.
I want to talk to you. I want to meet you.
I want you to give me all of your life wisdom. Uh.
Speaking of life wisdom again, trist Iss Sutter is the
(53:23):
very first bachelor at uh, the the goat, the O
G uh the O G in the best of ways. Uh.
We have a podcast coming out next week to everybody
listening here should go over and tune into. It was
just something incredible for me to be able to talk
to Trista for so long about something so personal. Tristas Sutter,
thank you for coming on the Almost Famous podcast. Thank
(53:44):
you for being ridiculous with us and breaking down this
week's episode. You are incredible. Thank you. I love it
with you guys. Any time I've loved my time with
you always, always, so thank you so much for having
so fun. Thank you this week. We're very thankful for
Trisia Center for joining us for the breakdown of the episode.
(54:05):
But now it's time for one of your favorites. Uh.
It's Bachelor headlines and we're gonna run through these quickly.
There's a lot of them. Ashley is prepared and ready
to go with him. The first one is Bachelor. Katie
Thurston likes shady meme about front runner Greg Grippo. This
according to us uh Now, Ashley, this is a big,
(54:28):
big article because this is my favorite hot topic this week. Yeah, so,
like it's hinting at a bunch of things. What do
we know? What do you think? Like we have to
make some assumptions here. Okay, so we know that Greg, Well,
in the headline it states he's a front runner. I
would say he's the number one front runner right now,
right Well. Becka Martinez, she shared a she shared a
(54:51):
meme of Greg from I guess it was last week
and it says, when the guy next to you is
getting interrograded about wanting to be the Bachelor aka Thomas,
and you've got to pretend to be disgusted while hiding
your acting career aspirations. And that's in reference to Greg
(55:13):
having acting career aspirations. Now, what's juicy about this is
that Katie liked this, like the meme on Instagram on
I think on Instagram social media, and then she unliked it. Oh,
like she was like, oh can't be too obvious, can't
(55:35):
have fancy this unlike so to me, that means that
Greg doesn't win. This is a big deal and big
deal you don't like a meme of somebody you care about,
especially a one like this. So what it's hinting at,
we don't know. I'm assuming we'll find out as the
season progresses. And uh huh, a little frustrating because I thought,
(55:58):
you know what, Greg seemed it seems perfect in a
lot of ways, right, they seemed like that bachelor. Like
I was like, Oh, Greg and Katie they're going to
be They're a good one thing Katie. Well, we'll see
if it happens. Uh. Speaking of past bachelor's though, this
is I thought this was hilarious. I'm gonna share this
headline just because I watched it, and I hope Claire
(56:21):
doesn't take offense to because I don't think it was
meant in this. It was just kind of funny. Wan
Pablo Uh and daughter Camilla Uh re enact his Bachelor
breakup with Claire Crawley. Watch this, Yeah, it's like it's
it's I thought it was cute. Yeah, I mean that's
totally that's nothing. You know, that's I hope she's not
(56:43):
annoyed by that either. It's funny. It's like father daughter playtime. Yeah,
super cute. Anyways, go out and check it out. It's
pretty funny. Well. Uh, big headline this week is, according
to Okay, which you know, give her take a little bit. Uh,
newly out bachelor Colton Underwood spotted cozing up to I
(57:04):
don't is this posse pose pose star Johnny uh Sibilly
on vacation in Mexico, so Colton. I mean, I guess
from this article it seems like he's moving on in
out there dating. That's what they're trying to make it
seem like. But I'm not really sure that there's anything here.
(57:27):
I mean, this is truly on Instagram post guys, um
from I think Johnny did Johnny even post one? Okay,
so Johnny posted a picture, take Colton post a picture.
I'm sure they did. They're on vacation in Mexico, so yeah.
But like they're in a big group. Oh no, uh yeah,
(57:49):
but like it's a big group and he's like next
to another reality star. So they're trying to make something
out of it. We have nothing beyond that. They like
they said they're close in the photo, they're like not kissing.
They don't like have any romantic body language. Uh, but
(58:10):
apparently they also are snapping picks of them sipping Bargarita's
and enjoying some chicken nuggets. So if you want to
call that romance, I mean I do find chicken nuggets
to be something in a way in my heart, you know.
But Johnny, you guys, is from Yeah Pose and he
(58:31):
has a close to two Instagram followers. Hey, there you go.
He's out there. They're out there there in Mexico obviously
having a good time. Well. Final headline. Oh, he's in Hacks. Okay, okay,
So he's an actor. He's in that new show Hacks
on HBO Max. It's actually really cute. I like that show,
(58:53):
and he he plays um. I think he's the water guy.
You'd have to watch the show. But it's cute. Well,
final headline. I bet it's cute. I bet it's awesome.
Go watch it. Who knows what's happening in Mexico. We
can't really make assumptions, but it's nice to him having
a good time. Well. Final headline this week is Shan
low is boycotting the franchise over Chris Harrison's exit, wife
(59:17):
Catherine reveals this. According to us, she just says that, um,
I'm watching the show. My husband is kind of boycotting
it because of Chris Harrison stuff, but I'm watching it
to support the girls. It's been interesting. It's been interesting season.
It's just the beginning. I'm excited for Katie h Not
much there. It's not like Shawn's commenting on it. But
(59:39):
he's stepping away. I can you know, I can see
him being doing Yeah, I can I can see I
can see him making this decision. Yeah. Well he's stepping
away for a bit. Well, that's all the headlines we
got this week. Quiet week in Bachelor Nation, which is
always something we should celebrate because it means that all
of us Wholigans aren't doing anything too crazy. Well, before
(01:00:00):
we say goodbye to you this week, we do have
a really special guest. One of our interns, Lauren, is
on the line right now to tell us about her
connection with one of the current cast members on this
season of The Bachelorette. Lauren, you with us. Oh, yes,
I am hello, Lauren. So we heard that Andrew, who
I would say as a front runner one of my favorites.
(01:00:25):
Was an instructor of yours. What did he teach you?
Andrew and was my water polo coach when I was twelve? Well, wait,
how old are you now? Now? I'm nineteen almost twenty. Okay,
so wait, what is water polo? What is water pool?
Actually it's only really a big thing in California. So. Um,
(01:00:47):
but it's a water sport with the ball where you
just like swim and you score goals into a net. Okay,
so what do you know about Andrew? Um? So, Andrew. Actually,
we didn't know who our coach was going to be
when we were twelve. Uh, and then when we found
out that it was him, we were all super excited
(01:01:07):
because we thought that he was so cute and he
was so nice. One of the things that I remember
about him is after our first practice, he knew every
single girl on my team's name, so he was like,
very caring, very sweet. Um. We had the Junior Olympics
also we call it j O's And after j O's
(01:01:29):
he had all of the players and our parents over
to his house and he, um, yeah, he said nice
things about all of us. Uh. He was just such
a great guy. I really love him, so definitely reading
for him on the Bachelor head Do you feel like
he is husband material? I do. He was always so
(01:01:51):
good to um, all the kids on the team. He
we even like since we were so young. After every
game we came up with cheers and chants and dances,
and he would get in the middle of the cheer
with us, dance with us. He was so funny. I
loved him so sweet. Yeah, he's such a sweet guy.
(01:02:12):
So we're shipping Andrew and Katie, or we're shipping Andrew
with somebody at some point in this franchise, we're on
his team. Okay. I like that. It doesn't change doesn't
change my perspective the guy. I kind of liked him already,
but now now I'm all in. Well. Hey, Lauren, thank
you for joining us on your first appearance in the
Almost Famous podcast. I know this is such a nerve
racking experience to come on here and have to talk
(01:02:33):
to Ashley. I do it every day, I get it,
but we're thankful for you. Uh. Well, with all of that,
we want to thank you once again to Trista Sutter,
Thank you Lauren for joining us, uh and as always,
thank you Ashley for jumping on Oh that's sweet. Hey.
We'll be back next week to break down another episode
of Katie season of the Bachelor. We'll be back right here,
(01:02:54):
same time, same place. But before we do, I've been
been Hypernashley Hie. Guys followed the Benn and Ashley I
Almost Famous podcast on iHeart Radio or subscribe wherever you
listen to podcasts.
Hosts And Creators
Ben Higgins
Ashley Iaconetti
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