July 30, 2024 • 40 mins
It’s another week of Jenn Tran’s season of The Bachelorette, and we’re getting into some awkward dates as she continues her search for love! Rachel Recchia is back with Ben to break down every detail, no matter how uncomfortable some of them might be!
Ben shares his reaction to the date with Sam M., and reveals why this episode is key to understanding who Sam really is.
Rachel reveals why she was afraid for Jenn to be alone in a room with Sam N.
And, we find out why Ben is UPSET at the news about Victoria Fuller’s new boyfriend!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
This is the almost Famous podcast, and we are back.
We are back with our wonderful guest co host Rachel.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Hello, Welcome, Hello, Ben, Hi everyone.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Ashley will be back next week, she is telling us,
so if all goes well, which we hope it does,
she will be.
Speaker 4 (00:25):
Back with us.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
But we have an incredible, filling guest with us today
and we're gonna start out, Rachel, We're talking about two
big things in Bachelor Nation before we get into the
breakdown of this episode.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
We are going to do both today.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Because there isn't a lot happening in Bachelor Nation, but
there's two pretty big stories that we thought we had
to talk about. The first one is this Jed Wyatt
got married. He got married this last weekend. The quote
is this the best day of our lives and the
beginning of this new chapter together. All right, Rachel, I
(00:59):
don't even know if you watched that season of The Bachelorette?
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Did you?
Speaker 3 (01:03):
I did. It's been a while though. All I know
is I had a lot of similarities to her ending,
but very happy for Jed. Of course, I've never met him,
do you know him?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
I have met Jed. He's been at a few of
our events. It is really good and great that he
found love. His wife's name is Ellen Decker. It's obvious
that Jed has moved far beyond his time on the show.
Ellen is a fitness coach, and the couple married in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
(01:37):
Among their guests were Bachelor Franchise alums Hannah Godwin and
Dylan Barber, along with NFL VET Bryce Treggs.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
It was a beautiful outdoor wedding. We're very excited for them.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
And obviously if you go back to his season, which
was Hannah Brown season, Hannah's engaged as well, so you
know what, they're both finding love.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
It all works out. Very happy for Gibe. Congratulations.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
It's very sweet, all right.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
The next headline is one that I don't want to
talk about. Uh, one that I'm pretty upset about. M
Victora Fuller has a new boyfriend. That's not the reason
I'm upset. Obviously, we were wondering. It was just recently
that we found out that Greg Grippo and Victoria Fuller
were no longer together. They were pretty public with their relationship, obviously,
kind of announcing it on a live show, so Bachelination
(02:30):
was very very much involved in their story.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
With the matching tattoo.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah, that's gonna be weird, now, tattoo, that's gonna that's
a That's one that you have to explain yourself. I
really like Victoria. Victoria Fuller is somebody I enjoy being around.
She is a lot of fun. She has always been
a lot of fun. So I say all of this
making sure everybody knows I like Victoria. I do not
(02:57):
like her boyfriend. Why because I'm Boltz fan.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Oh my god, isn't hew to the team.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
It doesn't matter.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
He is the quarterback for the Tennessee Titans, which are
division arrivals of the Indianapolis Colts. It also happens to
be the Titans are my in laws, my brother in law,
my wife. I think I've convinced to go to the
other direction. It's their favorite team. Will Levis is Victoria
Fuller's new announced boyfriend. They've been together now for a
(03:26):
few weeks at least, because speculation had already started to happen.
I just didn't want to believe it because I like
Victoria and and honestly her husband.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
He's a joke, like the.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
How dare she really she cannot she cannot go to
a rival team. Of mind, she could have dated anybody
else in the NFL other than the starting quarterback for
the Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
I think.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
I do too. No, I do.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
I think she thought in her mind, She's like, you
know what's be really funny is if I found this
six foot five, two hundred and forty pound ripped starting
quarterback for the Tennessee Titans somehow attractive and I started
dating him, knowing it would hurt Ben so much.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
I kind of love this for her and I heard
he's like twenty five. She's in her like cougar era.
I love it.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
We've always referenced Victoria Fuller here to have that like
on this podcast as like this like like sexy energy,
like Ashley has a name for it. I forget what
exactly is, but like she just kind of like exudes
this kind of like not cougar yet, because it's hard to.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
Be a cougar when you're like.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Just joking.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Yeah no, but I think you're right. I think now
she is. She's like, you know what, I still got it.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
I'm good for her. And she was like I saw
her TikTok and she was talking about like moving on,
and I was surprised too. I don't know if you
saw that she was talking about picking out brains with Greg.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Oh my gosh, she.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Was like going from that and then talking about moving
on and how it gets better and how she's met
someone that's like a stand up guy. I was like,
good for you, she's been through it. I'm happy for her.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Yeah, it's but I can't even say I'm happy for
I like her, but I'm not. I can't say I'm happy.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
For I hope. I hope the two of them.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Get married and somehow he decides to retire from football
way too early, and the two of them, you know,
skip off into the sunset, and then I'd be like, hey,
this is a great couple.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Maybe she'll distract him this season.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
That's right, Maybe that's why she's doing it. We have
a big show to talk about. Obviously.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
The most recent episode of The Bachelorette has now aired.
It is season or it is episode four of season
twenty one of the Bachelorette. They're moving on from Australia
and they're now going to New Zealand. I've never been
to New Zealand.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Have you I have not bucket letus now.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
It's always fun to watch a place I've never been
to on the show because it makes you go, hey,
I either want to go here or I don't. But
the men are now in New Zealand along with Jin.
This episode was really wasn't full of twists and turns,
I think, but it was full of some big moments.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
That we've kind of been waiting for.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Obviously, Jesse and Jen have a conversation at the beginning
of the episode. I want to hear from you. Jesse
was not the host of the show when I was
on the show. How is Jesse in these moments?
Speaker 4 (06:32):
How like?
Speaker 3 (06:34):
You know?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
I think one thing that made Chris really special was
in those moments. He made it seem and I think
because of who he is. It felt very genuine. It
felt like I was talking to a buddy. It felt
like he actually cared. It felt like he wasn't just
doing it because they called him up and took him
off the golf course to come and talk to me.
It actually felt like he had actually wanted to be
in that moment.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
How is Jesse?
Speaker 3 (06:55):
I was actually Jesse's first season of the Bachelor and Bachelor,
so we kind of learned this together. So I feel
like I have a really special relationship with Jesse, like
so many moments like he had with Jen, where I
was just crying. You're in like such a crazy environment
and to have someone who has done it before. I
(07:16):
think that's the thing that Jesse is really helpful with,
where he's kind of been through what you're going through.
I love them. I loved the lore of Jesse that
they were playing about why we couldn't eat on the dates.
I thought that was funny.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Remind me of that he.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Is the reason why as leads and when you're on
those one on ones that you can't eat because they
were showing the replay of him like eating on his
dates like mouth full, and it just looked so horrific,
And I didn't know that's why we couldn't do that.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Interesting. I didn't know that either.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I've always I always knew we It's one of the
most common questions you get r why don't they eat
on the dates? And I always used the excuse, well,
the food's been out for two hours, like I don't
want to eat lobster.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, it's on camera, and now we know because they
showed clips of Jesse doing it on his dates, So
thank you Jesse. No, I know.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Well, their conversation is just kind of a catch up
like we see on most seasons. The host is talking
to the lead. Then Jen meets up with the guys
in Auckland and she asked sam M that sam M
as in Mary, to go on a one on one date.
This is one on one date. I think every fan
(08:38):
has been anxious to see. The headlines this week were
full of kind of sam M and his family coming
out and commenting on how he feels like and they
feel like the show is portraying him in a bad light.
That's not who he is, they're saying.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
And so one of.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
The ways that I think the fans are waiting to see, well,
let's actually see you. You know, how this goes is
through a one on one? What are we going to
get out of Samm on this one on one?
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Rachel?
Speaker 2 (09:04):
I'll let you, as a lead, take us through this date,
sharing your opinions on how you feel like sam M
did so.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
I think that Week four in general is just a
week where you're starting to get like really tired as
the lead. And I feel like in each season, you
watch that week and you can kind of tell they're
exhausted and going into the state. I could just tell
that Jen was just kind of a little bit like overwhelmed,
(09:36):
a little tired. I think he was really excited. They're
going onto this date. They're going into this like tower,
I forget what it's called, like one of the tallest
towers in Auckland, and you know they're jumping off it
because they're already alluding to like that's what you do.
And they're sitting down right, they're having this conversation and
(09:58):
I don't know, the the whole thing felt a little
awkward to me. How did you feel?
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Yeah, I mean I think and I want to hear why.
I mean, it definitely was awkward. I think most people
will watch that and say it just felt it felt
like there was a gap kind of in how they
were communicating to each other. I want to hear your
ideas for why that was happening, because it wasn't like
either of them were necessarily messing up.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
I did. I will share this.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
I did feel like Jen at some point was kind
of like, hey, Sam, talk to me like a human,
don't use the lines, don't say the right thing. Stop
just saying this stuff, like talk to me like a
human being, and like that's this moment. I did feel
like that was one of the reasons. But what other
reasons did you feel like made for kind of the
awkwardness in there, you know, sit down talk.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
I think it was really obvious that Jen didn't want
to jump, and he was kind of making those decisions
for her. But I felt like when he was doing it,
it was more in like a oh, yeah, like we're here,
we're on the Bachelorette, let's jump, let's have these memories together.
But she took it as, oh, he's not listening to me,
(11:12):
and instead of I guess having that open communication and
being like, listen, I get that you're excited, but I
really don't want to do this. It felt like she
was almost like wanting him to read her mind a little.
But we've all been there. I've been there. You know
you want that person to read your energy, and I
just feel like he was not getting that up until
(11:33):
like the very last moment when she cried and then
he understood where she was coming from.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I think you're spot on, if I'm honest with you, Rachel,
I was watching Sam m in this moment, I was like,
that would be me, what he was doing would be
how I would treat that moment, because in my mind
it takes me a while to pick up on what's
not being said. If you want to communicate with me
and you want me to know how you feel, you
(12:00):
have to pretty much like yell it in my face.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
You have to tell me or I'm not picking up
on it.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I also get very excited and overwhelmed about memorable moments,
moments that I think will create a memory that will
last us a long time. I also have always liked
to see people out of their comfort zones because I
have a hard time getting out of my own my
own comfort zone, and so when I've mentally got myself
(12:26):
to say no, I'm going to do it, I'm going
to push myself here, I want whoever's with me to
also get to that place. And it's caused me a
lot of issues and friendships and relationships in my life
because I sometimes have to like check myself and be
like WHOA, yeah, you know what, I was being a
little bit too much there. I do think Sam was
too much. I don't think he was exactly what you
(12:47):
call supportive in that moment. I just don't have a
lot of criticism for him because I know that would
be me.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Also, yeah, it was just an awkward situation because I
also think about the men talking in the house and
Marcus coming back from his day and being like, we
were skydiving and we were this, and then you're assuming
like she loves this kind of stuff, she you know,
wants to do this activity with me, and then for
her to just be like, no, no, you're not understanding me.
(13:16):
He's kind of like, no, let's do this, Like come on,
come next to me. So I feel like I could
see both sides because I've also been there as a
lead and been so frustrated. I could have been on
any date and I would have been like just getting overwhelmed.
So maybe that's where she was coming from. I did,
you know, think that they made up for it in
(13:38):
the nighttime portion.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Definitely, this felt like an argument My wife and I
would have like, this felt like a moment that would
be two people that love each other very much, that
are very committed to each other. They have a lot
of fun together, and this feels like a moment that
could create an argument for the two of us. It
doesn't feel outrageous, it doesn't feel necessarily even unhealthy.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
It just feels like my wife.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
At some point, Wo'd be like, then you have to
start listening to me, like look in my eyes, I
don't want to do this, and I'd be like, oh,
oh yeah, you're right, Okay, sorry, my bad, my my
take on it was. I do think they made up
for it in the nighttime portion. I do think we
also saw Samm for the first time. I know every
you know, his family's very much in this camp of
(14:22):
the editing has been a problem. I've always said this
about the Bachelor and Bachelorette. Yes, there is editing, always editing,
But I have never been a part of a show
where the sentiment of the moment like isn't somewhat accurate.
So he is saying the things that they're showing he
is upset with Devon. They are now showing that he's
(14:43):
upset with Devon and also sam In. Yes he might
have said other things in between, you know, his mean comments,
but what they're getting across to the audience is Samm
is not enjoying his experience with Devon and sam In. However,
I think in this nighttime portion. I was able, and
(15:03):
I hope most fans were to put that away and say, Okay,
who is this guy?
Speaker 4 (15:07):
And I do think he was. He showed up well
in this moment.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
I was shocked that he's been engaged. Yes, he just
comes off to me and I think to Jen as
like a player, and to hear that he had almost
the same exact story as Spencer, that he is so
serious and something kind of tragic happened to him in
that relationship, I was very shocked. I felt like he
(15:44):
was opening up. Jen was crying. I thought they had
a really good moment. Not saying I'm fully on board
with sam M by any means, but I thought this
date went a lot better than I thought it was
going to.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
I would not say I'm fully on board with SAMM.
In fact, he still wouldn't make my top four. However,
I do think this date propelled him into the idea
in my head that he is going to be there
a while and he is a front runner in this experience,
even though I'm not convinced yet. And the reason I'm
(16:20):
not convinced yet is really because after their date, which
he does receive a rose on, we see him back
in the house while the group date is existing with
everybody but Devin. We'll get into the group date, but
the conversation with Samm and Devin really stands out to
me because it felt like Samm fell right back into
the Samm that everybody's.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
Like, what is this guy doing.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
He's a front runner, he has no need to step
in the murkiness of the drama, yet he cannot help
himself for some reason.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Yeah, I feel like he is being the aggressor, or
at least in the situation with Devin. He was the
one coming at Devin and he's like, you're wasting your
time thinking of me, And I was like, I don't
think about you at all, Like I don't want anything
to do with you. He's almost making Devin look better. Yeah,
like after this episode, I'm a Devin apologist. I'm like,
(17:13):
is it like Sam this whole time, I don't know.
Not not a good look.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
It isn't a good look.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
And into Sam M's credit, yes there are. That was
a long conversation where a brief portion of it was shown.
But Ashley and I have given up on the almost
famous podcast Rachel, just for your knowledge, the idea that
we can assume what was happening that was not shown,
because that's not why we exist here. We're here to
break down what we watched on television. That's all the
(17:42):
information we have at this point. And what we watched
on television is I one hundred percent agree with you.
Sam m felt like the aggressor here. He felt like
the one that continues to stir the pot to say
things that would definitely upset me. If I was Devin,
it would make me stand up for myself or at
least respond, probably in not the nicest of ways. Uh
(18:05):
you know, he calls him a little b he uh
you know again, says I don't want you to talk
to me, and Devin kind of goes, I wasn't gonna
talk to you anyways, Like that's cool, man, Like I'm
fine not talking to you. I don't want to talk
to you. Stop talking to me. And so it was
weird for me, Rachel, because I was hoping after the
date with Jim that Sam Man would come back with
(18:26):
a little confidence, a little piece and be like.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
You know what, I'm a front runner here.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
This other stuff it's it's not below me, but it's
not of my interest anymore yet there he is.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
I love that they had them both get a one
of one this week, so we had all this time
with them. I was like, this is the perfect opportunity
for a two on one. I was fingers crossed. But nevertheless,
I'm sure this is not the last you will see
of Sam and Devon arguing.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
No, it's a that was a beautiful, uh producer piece
to the puzzle where they said, you know, would be
really fun this week.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Yeah, as soon as I saw them sitting there, I'm like,
oh my god, it was great.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Beautiful, so good. But we do have the group date.
Every other guy is on this group date. It is
a rugby date. This is a really important sport to
New Zealand. I was really excited they were going to
play rugby. It's not the first time the show has
played rugby as a date, but this was a really
(19:30):
fun date because New Zealand is known for its rugby team,
and these guys aren't great, but they're taking it very serious.
And you definitely have some athletes in the group. You
don't have any of those, you know, kind of weenies
that aren't going to step up and try to play rugby.
(19:51):
So it's fun to watch and I'm sure it's fun
for gen to watch.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Yeah, and someone gave sam and a little bit too
much pain. I don't know who was in charge of
sam n on this date. I was so uncomfortable the
whole time. I mean, I was watching the rugby. It
was great, but at the end of the day, this
is like fun and if someone was tackling me like that,
(20:18):
I would be so mad. Like the way he was
just picking her up, tackling guys like I thought it
was so unnecessary.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
I think sam In is just learning a lot about
himself right now.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
It feels though that he's not. It feels like he's
listening to maybe people being like you gotta try harder
for her attention and just taking it way too far
every single time.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Well, I think he learned a lot once he got
back in that limo, or once he got in the
limo at the end of this when it never worked out.
I think he was at first feeling like he was
crushing it. And the truth is, he did not crush
any moment on this date from start to finish. Rachel
set though, I think sam in Is could have been
one of the most rememorable characters we've ever seen on
(21:08):
the show if he would have been here a little longer.
We only got to see him really come out of
his show at the end of last episode when he
admitted his love for her on a stage.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
In week three during a group date, and.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
We got to see him today on a rugby day
and a night portion pretty much make every wrong move
anybody can make when it comes to dating.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
I want to go over the nighttime portion, because go ahead.
There was a moment well, okay, first of all, the
walking in the trophy, the jersey walking ahead of everyone.
I just knew these guys were going to freak out.
She could never have one normal cocktail party, poor thing.
John just wants to talk to these men. Of course
(21:56):
they're in another argument. Thomas is involved again. The one
part that really stuck out to me was when he
went to pull her for the second time and he
is talking to the camera and he's like, what did
you say. He was like, I'm going to kiss her.
I'm going to be intimate with her, I he told her,
And my first thought was like, someone needs to be
(22:18):
in there with her. I forgot. I'm like, she can't
be alone with him, Like I was genuinely scared. I
thought that moment was way too much. It was definitely
his time to go after that comment.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
She handled herself so much better than I would have.
If somebody.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
I literally was like, I would have just made out
with him. Everyone if they were like, can I kiss you,
I'm like, yep.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Easier than talking, Yeah, so much easier, non confrontational. Let's
just do and then I'll say goodbye to you at
the row ceremony. But I'm not having this. She was
brilliant in that moment, just the way she collected herself.
She put her thoughts out there. That's what makes a
good lead is how they respond in the face of
adversity or any type of conflict, and she responded so well.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
He had a really funny comment to her. I think
he meant that.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
I think he was prepping for this time with her,
And what he came up with was he said, today
was the best group day of my life. And I
found that comment outrageous. One, how many group dates have
you actually ever been on?
Speaker 4 (23:23):
Two?
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Why is that what stands out to you in this
whole experience that it was the best group date you've
ever been on. It wasn't the best day with her.
Is this the best time with her? Did you enjoy
watching her? No, you just had a really great group date.
Because in his mind at this point, from the moment
he walked in, he said it. He put on his
denim jacket. He was feeling himself tonight, he felt himself
(23:47):
and he thought he was a rock star. I don't
know where he got that information from. I don't know
what signs he was picking up on that made him
feel this way. I don't know even who told him
that he was crushing it. But when he walked into
that room, I think he, in his mind thought jin
was going to just melt and be like it's over.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
You're the guy.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
The problem is Rachel. He's an attractive fella, Like, he's
a good looking guy. He could if he was just
normal for a few seconds here, if he didn't try
to go back and kiss her.
Speaker 4 (24:21):
I think he actually stays for the next week.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Agreed. Agreed, one hundred percent. He gives me the energy
of like have you ever heard this saying of like
that weird guy friend. It's like where's my hug? At? Like,
where's my hug? And she's like she sighed, hugs him
like it was so awkward to watch him. Like you said,
he came in with this confidence I think because he thought.
Speaker 4 (24:43):
He might hug at.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
The group day, and so he's like, oh, I'm getting
the rose like no questions. He's getting hyped up. But
then again there's Thomas again. Why is Thomas the leader
of every like group? Like what's even the word? They're
like mad at everyone. This is a mean group of guys.
(25:05):
But Thomas is always like leading the stampede.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Yeah, he well, I think that's about the I think
that's the only role he can play right now.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
He knows his place.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Yeah, he knows this is not the experience for him.
He knows he's not getting the into the final four.
He's like, well, I can What I can do now
is make sure I'm heard as much as possible.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Did you hear the part where he started saying Sam
Emm's lines. He was like doing an interview, and he's like,
we're just keeping the main thing, the main thing, Like
that's that's not even your own words? What are you
doing here? Like he is something else. But she did
have some great conversations I.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
Thought with who vacation with.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Jonathan they were doing the lacrosse game Grant. You could
tell with her body language, the way she sits on
the couch with grit, she's like super close to him.
I think we're going to see more of him hopefully
coming up. Yeah, oh yeah. And then I just wrote
down Austin calling Sam emotionally unintelligent in front of everyone, like,
(26:11):
why are they all doing this time and time again?
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Well, I think what was happening. I don't think these
guys are handling this well. I will say that I
do think with this Sam in moment, they were all
so frustrated and confused, and they were trying to convince Sam, hey, man, like,
check yourself a little bit, take a step back. You're fine,
(26:35):
We're not even that mad at you yet. But you're
being weird man, Like, you're being really weird, and we
just want to let you know that this weirdness is
making everything else here weird. Like you're just being very
odd and it. As he continued to defend himself and
not probably take the kind advice early.
Speaker 4 (26:54):
There's probably a better way to do it.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Somebody could have done it one on one with him,
But since he didn't take the advice early, I think
everybody was getting frustrated like, dude, you're a wild man,
Like I'm mad at you, like I'm getting angry. Just
listen to you defend yourself and thinking that you're crushing
it because you're not, and it's very clear to everybody.
So Jin kind of finalizes the thought that he's not
(27:19):
crushing it. She sends him home. Now, she did have
some great conversations. I think Marcus and the Jonathans, the
Grants of the world really stood out during this whole day.
I think they are continuing to be kind of like
foundational pieces to Jin's story. We're seeing them often. There's
still some other guys we're not seeing as often, but
(27:42):
they're those guys are really always popping up. And that's
why I have high expectations for kind of that group,
specifically some other guys we don't really see at all
on this day because Samon takes up a lot of it.
He does end up going home early, and then the
next scene is kind of a It's.
Speaker 4 (28:04):
One I just don't like Rachel.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
I don't like that the show allows an ex boyfriend
to come into this experience.
Speaker 4 (28:14):
Now I know.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
This is set up to be that he flew to
New Zealand to meet up with joke.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
I thought that was so unseerious, the way that they
had the whole He flew here on his time and
he's honest right now, I'm like, be so for real.
I mean, what are your thoughts on it? I think
it was just so obvious what he's doing, like he's
doing this for attention and for like his five seconds,
(28:43):
like what are you doing here?
Speaker 2 (28:46):
It reminds me of when Nick Vile came to Caitlin
season that I was on about five weeks in. We
are in New York City, and I do know that
he was in New York City, and I do know
that Caitlyn and Nick had hung out previous to her
becoming the Bachelor at and then they hung out as
she you know, was kind of on the show like
she found a way to kind of Caitlein was really
(29:07):
good at sneaking out. She was fantastic finding her way
out of.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Her n I don't know how she did it. I
never left my room. I was so scared.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
She had some courage.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
He comes in and you know, she asks him to
then be a part of the season, which obviously he
makes a long run on the season. It made all
of us feel like, Hey, we're not enough, Like she's
looking for something else here. So that that is the
concern for me as Jin starts to entertain the idea
of bringing this guy onto her season, is that it
(29:48):
will make all the other guys probably question where exactly
they're in the relationship.
Speaker 4 (29:53):
I think the show should never.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Portray this as that he is showing up on his
own dime, because nobody knows where they're at in the world.
Nobody knows where to meet Jesse at. The show had
to have contacted him and helped set this up. There
had to be a knowledge that they had dated fairly
recently to her becoming the bachelorette. They had convinced this
guy to fly all the way to New Zealand, probably
(30:19):
telling him that, yeah, like, there's not a lot of
great guys here, I think you're the one. It'd be
great if you come now. I don't hate that she would,
even I'm not going to get mad age gen if
she says, yeah, you know what, come on this experience
and do it like everybody else. I do think that
adds a weird dynamic within the guys. I don't think
this guy is going to like his experience on the show.
I don't think the guys are going to welcome him
into their brotherhood, nor should we expect them to. But
(30:43):
I won't blame her for saying, yeah, let's give it
a shot.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
I just think it's weird because this isn't like someone
that she was, like the one that got away. It
was a three month situationship three years ago that she
still kind of keeps in contact with. He had how
many years he watched her go on The Bachelor. That
was his first shot to be like, hey, I love you.
(31:08):
It's so inauthentic to me. Obviously, I don't know, like
you said, it's Jen's decision, but to me, it just
seems like so sketchy.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Well, something weird happened in the midst of their conversation.
He kind of tells Jen his true feelings for her,
and she says, why wouldn't you have told me this
three months ago or whatever the timeline was, and he goes, Jin,
I did, and then she kind of.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Just stops, Oh, I didn't catch that.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
She like doesn't have a great response for it. She
just says, Matthew, I thought.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
She said or he said I tried to, or.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Did he say I did or I tried to, whatever
it was if he tried to.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
If he did, he obviously.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
Was communicating deeper feelings for Jin than what she's either
remembering or wanting to remember. So I do have a
feeling that this guy was interested before she left. I
don't know if his ideal plan would be showing up
on national television into a very hostile environment and trying
to sweep her off her feet. I don't know if
(32:12):
that was his plan. That's outrageously wild and not smart.
He should have never agreed to that, But I do
wonder if it threw her off so much that he
was there, that she was in a sense, and I
get it trying to protect herself to be like Matthew,
what are you doing? Like you're making me look like
I had a boyfriend up until I came on the show.
(32:33):
You're now telling me that you told me these things
up until I came on the show. You need to
stop this. If you care about me, look in my eyes,
watch yourself. I'm not against bringing you on the show,
but obviously our relationship didn't work out. I'm not personally
claiming that Jen had a boyfriend before the show, but
I do think she was probably talking to a guy,
which I've always said is fine.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
Like, you know, they broke up.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
She wasn't interested him, she moved on, but I do
think she for a set I felt very much like, goodness, gracious, Matthew,
you are going to destroy me by doing.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
This, and the situation, if you think about it, there's
no way I feel like it could be smooth, especially
with someone who's outside of the franchise. Because this guy
comes in, all the guys are mad at Jen, so
then she's mad at them for questioning her, and this
just cannot go well because then what happens if she
(33:24):
picks him at the end, Everyone's like, why do you
even come on? So there's no way that this can
end well, and I think Jen knows that, and she's
trying to find the best scenario for this, the best
way to deal with it.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Navigate it, Yeah, the best way to navigate this there was.
Speaker 4 (33:43):
I don't know if they ever did this to you.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Rachel, but I walked in the Mexico City fashion show
during my time as the Bachelor on a date. I
was on a date and one of the models during
the fashion show they had convinced to come on my
seasons like this is probably five weeks in and the
producers come up and they said, hey, would you want
(34:06):
her on the show? And I was like, no, that
sounds terrible. That sounds like an awful idea, Like no
matter if she is the perfect person for me, not
worth it, like not doing that here. But they had
this whole thing where it never got aired because she
never ended up coming on where like she and they
asked if she could start the experience in week five
(34:28):
And it wasn't that I again, I'm not going to
be upset with jin as a lead to bring him on.
It was more of I don't know how I would
communicate this to everybody else that's already here, Like I
feel like it would just be a massive shot to
their confidence, and their confidence is probably already waning, and
I already felt like I was holding on by a
(34:48):
thread to keep their attention for another week. I did
not ever feel like I was sitting in the driver's
seat being like, yeah, they're going to stick around because
obviously they want to date me. It's like no, they're
always looking for an excuse to leave. They just don't
to win, say, but then look at Blake points, yeah, Yeah,
good point.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
So the only reason I think this just could be
a little different is that he is not a part
of the franchise. I think people might welcome people a
little bit more when they kind of know them and
it's this whole like, oh, I didn't know she was
gonna be the Bachelrette. Anyways, we shall see. Me and
Gaby never had that problem. We couldn't even get the
(35:27):
guys on our own season to want to date us.
So I mean that would have probably been welcomed in
my situation if I someone that wants to dat us.
Speaker 4 (35:35):
Yeah, another friend.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
Yeah you're gonna accept my roses? Make amazing, You're hired.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
Yeah you're here, all right, Rachel break down.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Really, the final piece of this episode is the Gin
and Devin dat, another date that fans were excited to
see kind of play out for the first time.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
So going into this, you know, I was not a
Devon fan, but there is something with Devin watching his
date with Jen. They got to have this spiritual experience
with the Malori people. I know Jen was saying that
she's Buddhists and it's important to learn about different cultures,
and I think Devin embraced the date so well, he
(36:18):
shared so much about himself. I was like, Wow, I
was impressed. He has a lot of depth to him.
But I think the main thing for me was watching
Jen on this date. I felt like, that's the most
she's been herself this entire time.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
She felt very comfortable in Unlike maybe the sam M date.
It did feel like most of their conversation flowed from
a very natural and comfortable place. I didn't know if
that would actually happen with Devn. I've always kind of
had this idea that Jen, in the back of her
head is like, this guy is going to be going
home as soon as possible, but for right now, like
(36:56):
he's making the effort, so I'm going to keep him around.
I will admit I think I was wrong on that thought.
I actually think she is interested in Devin, which is
interesting because he hasn't exactly portrayed himself that much differently
than some of the other guys. He's made some stupid decisions,
he says some really stupid stuff. He's been hostile at times,
(37:20):
Yet somehow he's continued to kind of connect with Jin
in a way that others haven't yet.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
She said something exactly like that at the end of
the day, and she was just like, we have this connection.
I can't explain, and I mean I saw it all
throughout the date. But I think as a lead sometimes
I'll watch these conversations that they have at the nighttime
portion and you can tell when she's just kind of
like and tell me more about that, and how did
(37:47):
that make you feel? Oh, that's so tough, which you're
genuinely like concerned. But with Devin, she was sharing like
stories about her dad and feeling abandoned, and I was like, whoa,
she trusts him. She's really showing a completely different side
to just Devin, and I was shocked, but I loved it.
(38:08):
I think they have a great connection. And now, like
you said, I am interested to see how far he's
going to go.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
I'm very intrigued to see how far he is now
going to go. Well that is all the main points
and the main storylines from episode for Rachel. Anything that
stot out to you this episode that we did not cover, think.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
So besides me becoming a devon apologist.
Speaker 4 (38:30):
There you go, got it.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Maybe that would be the title of this podcast, Rachel Apologist.
All right, your top three after this week changed it
all from last week.
Speaker 3 (38:40):
So no, I still have Dylan, Jonathan Marcus number one,
but I did. I put Devin number four because I
think that is her number four, So yeah, he made
it onto the list.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
I would still agree Marcus and Jonathan though, feel in
my mind, even though maybe we don't see as much
of them as we expect, they still feel like to
me based on years of watching the show and years
of experiences of seeing people go on dates, they still
feel far and beyond the front runners to me. I
know they want Sam m to be that person. I'm
(39:16):
just not there yet. I just don't. I'm having a
hard time believing it. Well, next week we're going to
watch to see if Matthew is actually invited back on
this show. We are probably going to see a Row
ceremony since we did it this episode, so we'll have
a lot to break down and talk about. Next week,
Rachel will not be here. Rachel, thank you so much
for joining us for being a part of the Almost
(39:37):
Famous podcast these last two weeks. You have been an
incredible guest host, an awesome fell in and I cannot
wait to have you back at some point to help
us out and to continue to update us on all
the cool things happening in your life. So with this,
we're going to take a moment of appreciation for Rachel.
Speaker 3 (39:57):
Thank you so honored to be. We are so honored
to fill in for Ashley. Ben, It's always a great time.
Speaker 4 (40:05):
We're doing that a lot more. Uh until next week.
I've been Ben and I'm Rachel. We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast on
iHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
This is the almost Famous podcast, and we are back.
We are back with our wonderful guest co host Rachel.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Hello, Welcome, Hello, Ben, Hi everyone.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Ashley will be back next week, she is telling us,
so if all goes well, which we hope it does,
she will be.
Speaker 4 (00:25):
Back with us.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
But we have an incredible, filling guest with us today
and we're gonna start out, Rachel, We're talking about two
big things in Bachelor Nation before we get into the
breakdown of this episode.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
We are going to do both today.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Because there isn't a lot happening in Bachelor Nation, but
there's two pretty big stories that we thought we had
to talk about. The first one is this Jed Wyatt
got married. He got married this last weekend. The quote
is this the best day of our lives and the
beginning of this new chapter together. All right, Rachel, I
(00:59):
don't even know if you watched that season of The Bachelorette?
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Did you?
Speaker 3 (01:03):
I did. It's been a while though. All I know
is I had a lot of similarities to her ending,
but very happy for Jed. Of course, I've never met him,
do you know him?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
I have met Jed. He's been at a few of
our events. It is really good and great that he
found love. His wife's name is Ellen Decker. It's obvious
that Jed has moved far beyond his time on the show.
Ellen is a fitness coach, and the couple married in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
(01:37):
Among their guests were Bachelor Franchise alums Hannah Godwin and
Dylan Barber, along with NFL VET Bryce Treggs.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
It was a beautiful outdoor wedding. We're very excited for them.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
And obviously if you go back to his season, which
was Hannah Brown season, Hannah's engaged as well, so you
know what, they're both finding love.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
It all works out. Very happy for Gibe. Congratulations.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
It's very sweet, all right.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
The next headline is one that I don't want to
talk about. Uh, one that I'm pretty upset about. M
Victora Fuller has a new boyfriend. That's not the reason
I'm upset. Obviously, we were wondering. It was just recently
that we found out that Greg Grippo and Victoria Fuller
were no longer together. They were pretty public with their relationship, obviously,
kind of announcing it on a live show, so Bachelination
(02:30):
was very very much involved in their story.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
With the matching tattoo.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah, that's gonna be weird, now, tattoo, that's gonna that's
a That's one that you have to explain yourself. I
really like Victoria. Victoria Fuller is somebody I enjoy being around.
She is a lot of fun. She has always been
a lot of fun. So I say all of this
making sure everybody knows I like Victoria. I do not
(02:57):
like her boyfriend. Why because I'm Boltz fan.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Oh my god, isn't hew to the team.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
It doesn't matter.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
He is the quarterback for the Tennessee Titans, which are
division arrivals of the Indianapolis Colts. It also happens to
be the Titans are my in laws, my brother in law,
my wife. I think I've convinced to go to the
other direction. It's their favorite team. Will Levis is Victoria
Fuller's new announced boyfriend. They've been together now for a
(03:26):
few weeks at least, because speculation had already started to happen.
I just didn't want to believe it because I like
Victoria and and honestly her husband.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
He's a joke, like the.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
How dare she really she cannot she cannot go to
a rival team. Of mind, she could have dated anybody
else in the NFL other than the starting quarterback for
the Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
I think.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
I do too. No, I do.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
I think she thought in her mind, She's like, you
know what's be really funny is if I found this
six foot five, two hundred and forty pound ripped starting
quarterback for the Tennessee Titans somehow attractive and I started
dating him, knowing it would hurt Ben so much.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
I kind of love this for her and I heard
he's like twenty five. She's in her like cougar era.
I love it.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
We've always referenced Victoria Fuller here to have that like
on this podcast as like this like like sexy energy,
like Ashley has a name for it. I forget what
exactly is, but like she just kind of like exudes
this kind of like not cougar yet, because it's hard to.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
Be a cougar when you're like.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Just joking.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Yeah no, but I think you're right. I think now
she is. She's like, you know what, I still got it.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
I'm good for her. And she was like I saw
her TikTok and she was talking about like moving on,
and I was surprised too. I don't know if you
saw that she was talking about picking out brains with Greg.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Oh my gosh, she.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Was like going from that and then talking about moving
on and how it gets better and how she's met
someone that's like a stand up guy. I was like,
good for you, she's been through it. I'm happy for her.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Yeah, it's but I can't even say I'm happy for
I like her, but I'm not. I can't say I'm happy.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
For I hope. I hope the two of them.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Get married and somehow he decides to retire from football
way too early, and the two of them, you know,
skip off into the sunset, and then I'd be like, hey,
this is a great couple.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Maybe she'll distract him this season.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
That's right, Maybe that's why she's doing it. We have
a big show to talk about. Obviously.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
The most recent episode of The Bachelorette has now aired.
It is season or it is episode four of season
twenty one of the Bachelorette. They're moving on from Australia
and they're now going to New Zealand. I've never been
to New Zealand.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Have you I have not bucket letus now.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
It's always fun to watch a place I've never been
to on the show because it makes you go, hey,
I either want to go here or I don't. But
the men are now in New Zealand along with Jin.
This episode was really wasn't full of twists and turns,
I think, but it was full of some big moments.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
That we've kind of been waiting for.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Obviously, Jesse and Jen have a conversation at the beginning
of the episode. I want to hear from you. Jesse
was not the host of the show when I was
on the show. How is Jesse in these moments?
Speaker 4 (06:32):
How like?
Speaker 3 (06:34):
You know?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
I think one thing that made Chris really special was
in those moments. He made it seem and I think
because of who he is. It felt very genuine. It
felt like I was talking to a buddy. It felt
like he actually cared. It felt like he wasn't just
doing it because they called him up and took him
off the golf course to come and talk to me.
It actually felt like he had actually wanted to be
in that moment.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
How is Jesse?
Speaker 3 (06:55):
I was actually Jesse's first season of the Bachelor and Bachelor,
so we kind of learned this together. So I feel
like I have a really special relationship with Jesse, like
so many moments like he had with Jen, where I
was just crying. You're in like such a crazy environment
and to have someone who has done it before. I
(07:16):
think that's the thing that Jesse is really helpful with,
where he's kind of been through what you're going through.
I love them. I loved the lore of Jesse that
they were playing about why we couldn't eat on the dates.
I thought that was funny.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Remind me of that he.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Is the reason why as leads and when you're on
those one on ones that you can't eat because they
were showing the replay of him like eating on his
dates like mouth full, and it just looked so horrific,
And I didn't know that's why we couldn't do that.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Interesting. I didn't know that either.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I've always I always knew we It's one of the
most common questions you get r why don't they eat
on the dates? And I always used the excuse, well,
the food's been out for two hours, like I don't
want to eat lobster.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, it's on camera, and now we know because they
showed clips of Jesse doing it on his dates, So
thank you Jesse. No, I know.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Well, their conversation is just kind of a catch up
like we see on most seasons. The host is talking
to the lead. Then Jen meets up with the guys
in Auckland and she asked sam M that sam M
as in Mary, to go on a one on one date.
This is one on one date. I think every fan
(08:38):
has been anxious to see. The headlines this week were
full of kind of sam M and his family coming
out and commenting on how he feels like and they
feel like the show is portraying him in a bad light.
That's not who he is, they're saying.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
And so one of.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
The ways that I think the fans are waiting to see, well,
let's actually see you. You know, how this goes is
through a one on one? What are we going to
get out of Samm on this one on one?
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Rachel?
Speaker 2 (09:04):
I'll let you, as a lead, take us through this date,
sharing your opinions on how you feel like sam M
did so.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
I think that Week four in general is just a
week where you're starting to get like really tired as
the lead. And I feel like in each season, you
watch that week and you can kind of tell they're
exhausted and going into the state. I could just tell
that Jen was just kind of a little bit like overwhelmed,
(09:36):
a little tired. I think he was really excited. They're
going onto this date. They're going into this like tower,
I forget what it's called, like one of the tallest
towers in Auckland, and you know they're jumping off it
because they're already alluding to like that's what you do.
And they're sitting down right, they're having this conversation and
(09:58):
I don't know, the the whole thing felt a little
awkward to me. How did you feel?
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Yeah, I mean I think and I want to hear why.
I mean, it definitely was awkward. I think most people
will watch that and say it just felt it felt
like there was a gap kind of in how they
were communicating to each other. I want to hear your
ideas for why that was happening, because it wasn't like
either of them were necessarily messing up.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
I did. I will share this.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
I did feel like Jen at some point was kind
of like, hey, Sam, talk to me like a human,
don't use the lines, don't say the right thing. Stop
just saying this stuff, like talk to me like a
human being, and like that's this moment. I did feel
like that was one of the reasons. But what other
reasons did you feel like made for kind of the
awkwardness in there, you know, sit down talk.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
I think it was really obvious that Jen didn't want
to jump, and he was kind of making those decisions
for her. But I felt like when he was doing it,
it was more in like a oh, yeah, like we're here,
we're on the Bachelorette, let's jump, let's have these memories together.
But she took it as, oh, he's not listening to me,
(11:12):
and instead of I guess having that open communication and
being like, listen, I get that you're excited, but I
really don't want to do this. It felt like she
was almost like wanting him to read her mind a little.
But we've all been there. I've been there. You know
you want that person to read your energy, and I
just feel like he was not getting that up until
(11:33):
like the very last moment when she cried and then
he understood where she was coming from.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I think you're spot on, if I'm honest with you, Rachel,
I was watching Sam m in this moment, I was like,
that would be me, what he was doing would be
how I would treat that moment, because in my mind
it takes me a while to pick up on what's
not being said. If you want to communicate with me
and you want me to know how you feel, you
(12:00):
have to pretty much like yell it in my face.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
You have to tell me or I'm not picking up
on it.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I also get very excited and overwhelmed about memorable moments,
moments that I think will create a memory that will
last us a long time. I also have always liked
to see people out of their comfort zones because I
have a hard time getting out of my own my
own comfort zone, and so when I've mentally got myself
(12:26):
to say no, I'm going to do it, I'm going
to push myself here, I want whoever's with me to
also get to that place. And it's caused me a
lot of issues and friendships and relationships in my life
because I sometimes have to like check myself and be
like WHOA, yeah, you know what, I was being a
little bit too much there. I do think Sam was
too much. I don't think he was exactly what you
(12:47):
call supportive in that moment. I just don't have a
lot of criticism for him because I know that would
be me.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Also, yeah, it was just an awkward situation because I
also think about the men talking in the house and
Marcus coming back from his day and being like, we
were skydiving and we were this, and then you're assuming
like she loves this kind of stuff, she you know,
wants to do this activity with me, and then for
her to just be like, no, no, you're not understanding me.
(13:16):
He's kind of like, no, let's do this, Like come on,
come next to me. So I feel like I could
see both sides because I've also been there as a
lead and been so frustrated. I could have been on
any date and I would have been like just getting overwhelmed.
So maybe that's where she was coming from. I did,
you know, think that they made up for it in
(13:38):
the nighttime portion.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Definitely, this felt like an argument My wife and I
would have like, this felt like a moment that would
be two people that love each other very much, that
are very committed to each other. They have a lot
of fun together, and this feels like a moment that
could create an argument for the two of us. It
doesn't feel outrageous, it doesn't feel necessarily even unhealthy.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
It just feels like my wife.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
At some point, Wo'd be like, then you have to
start listening to me, like look in my eyes, I
don't want to do this, and I'd be like, oh,
oh yeah, you're right, Okay, sorry, my bad, my my
take on it was. I do think they made up
for it in the nighttime portion. I do think we
also saw Samm for the first time. I know every
you know, his family's very much in this camp of
(14:22):
the editing has been a problem. I've always said this
about the Bachelor and Bachelorette. Yes, there is editing, always editing,
But I have never been a part of a show
where the sentiment of the moment like isn't somewhat accurate.
So he is saying the things that they're showing he
is upset with Devon. They are now showing that he's
(14:43):
upset with Devon and also sam In. Yes he might
have said other things in between, you know, his mean comments,
but what they're getting across to the audience is Samm
is not enjoying his experience with Devon and sam In. However,
I think in this nighttime portion. I was able, and
(15:03):
I hope most fans were to put that away and say, Okay,
who is this guy?
Speaker 4 (15:07):
And I do think he was. He showed up well
in this moment.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
I was shocked that he's been engaged. Yes, he just
comes off to me and I think to Jen as
like a player, and to hear that he had almost
the same exact story as Spencer, that he is so
serious and something kind of tragic happened to him in
that relationship, I was very shocked. I felt like he
(15:44):
was opening up. Jen was crying. I thought they had
a really good moment. Not saying I'm fully on board
with sam M by any means, but I thought this
date went a lot better than I thought it was
going to.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
I would not say I'm fully on board with SAMM.
In fact, he still wouldn't make my top four. However,
I do think this date propelled him into the idea
in my head that he is going to be there
a while and he is a front runner in this experience,
even though I'm not convinced yet. And the reason I'm
(16:20):
not convinced yet is really because after their date, which
he does receive a rose on, we see him back
in the house while the group date is existing with
everybody but Devin. We'll get into the group date, but
the conversation with Samm and Devin really stands out to
me because it felt like Samm fell right back into
the Samm that everybody's.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
Like, what is this guy doing.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
He's a front runner, he has no need to step
in the murkiness of the drama, yet he cannot help
himself for some reason.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Yeah, I feel like he is being the aggressor, or
at least in the situation with Devin. He was the
one coming at Devin and he's like, you're wasting your
time thinking of me, And I was like, I don't
think about you at all, Like I don't want anything
to do with you. He's almost making Devin look better. Yeah,
like after this episode, I'm a Devin apologist. I'm like,
(17:13):
is it like Sam this whole time, I don't know.
Not not a good look.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
It isn't a good look.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
And into Sam M's credit, yes there are. That was
a long conversation where a brief portion of it was shown.
But Ashley and I have given up on the almost
famous podcast Rachel, just for your knowledge, the idea that
we can assume what was happening that was not shown,
because that's not why we exist here. We're here to
break down what we watched on television. That's all the
(17:42):
information we have at this point. And what we watched
on television is I one hundred percent agree with you.
Sam m felt like the aggressor here. He felt like
the one that continues to stir the pot to say
things that would definitely upset me. If I was Devin,
it would make me stand up for myself or at
least respond, probably in not the nicest of ways. Uh
(18:05):
you know, he calls him a little b he uh
you know again, says I don't want you to talk
to me, and Devin kind of goes, I wasn't gonna
talk to you anyways, Like that's cool, man, Like I'm
fine not talking to you. I don't want to talk
to you. Stop talking to me. And so it was
weird for me, Rachel, because I was hoping after the
date with Jim that Sam Man would come back with
(18:26):
a little confidence, a little piece and be like.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
You know what, I'm a front runner here.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
This other stuff it's it's not below me, but it's
not of my interest anymore yet there he is.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
I love that they had them both get a one
of one this week, so we had all this time
with them. I was like, this is the perfect opportunity
for a two on one. I was fingers crossed. But nevertheless,
I'm sure this is not the last you will see
of Sam and Devon arguing.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
No, it's a that was a beautiful, uh producer piece
to the puzzle where they said, you know, would be
really fun this week.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Yeah, as soon as I saw them sitting there, I'm like,
oh my god, it was great.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Beautiful, so good. But we do have the group date.
Every other guy is on this group date. It is
a rugby date. This is a really important sport to
New Zealand. I was really excited they were going to
play rugby. It's not the first time the show has
played rugby as a date, but this was a really
(19:30):
fun date because New Zealand is known for its rugby team,
and these guys aren't great, but they're taking it very serious.
And you definitely have some athletes in the group. You
don't have any of those, you know, kind of weenies
that aren't going to step up and try to play rugby.
(19:51):
So it's fun to watch and I'm sure it's fun
for gen to watch.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Yeah, and someone gave sam and a little bit too
much pain. I don't know who was in charge of
sam n on this date. I was so uncomfortable the
whole time. I mean, I was watching the rugby. It
was great, but at the end of the day, this
is like fun and if someone was tackling me like that,
(20:18):
I would be so mad. Like the way he was
just picking her up, tackling guys like I thought it
was so unnecessary.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
I think sam In is just learning a lot about
himself right now.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
It feels though that he's not. It feels like he's
listening to maybe people being like you gotta try harder
for her attention and just taking it way too far
every single time.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Well, I think he learned a lot once he got
back in that limo, or once he got in the
limo at the end of this when it never worked out.
I think he was at first feeling like he was
crushing it. And the truth is, he did not crush
any moment on this date from start to finish. Rachel
set though, I think sam in Is could have been
one of the most rememorable characters we've ever seen on
(21:08):
the show if he would have been here a little longer.
We only got to see him really come out of
his show at the end of last episode when he
admitted his love for her on a stage.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
In week three during a group date, and.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
We got to see him today on a rugby day
and a night portion pretty much make every wrong move
anybody can make when it comes to dating.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
I want to go over the nighttime portion, because go ahead.
There was a moment well, okay, first of all, the
walking in the trophy, the jersey walking ahead of everyone.
I just knew these guys were going to freak out.
She could never have one normal cocktail party, poor thing.
John just wants to talk to these men. Of course
(21:56):
they're in another argument. Thomas is involved again. The one
part that really stuck out to me was when he
went to pull her for the second time and he
is talking to the camera and he's like, what did
you say. He was like, I'm going to kiss her.
I'm going to be intimate with her, I he told her,
And my first thought was like, someone needs to be
(22:18):
in there with her. I forgot. I'm like, she can't
be alone with him, Like I was genuinely scared. I
thought that moment was way too much. It was definitely
his time to go after that comment.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
She handled herself so much better than I would have.
If somebody.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
I literally was like, I would have just made out
with him. Everyone if they were like, can I kiss you,
I'm like, yep.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Easier than talking, Yeah, so much easier, non confrontational. Let's
just do and then I'll say goodbye to you at
the row ceremony. But I'm not having this. She was
brilliant in that moment, just the way she collected herself.
She put her thoughts out there. That's what makes a
good lead is how they respond in the face of
adversity or any type of conflict, and she responded so well.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
He had a really funny comment to her. I think
he meant that.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
I think he was prepping for this time with her,
And what he came up with was he said, today
was the best group day of my life. And I
found that comment outrageous. One, how many group dates have
you actually ever been on?
Speaker 4 (23:23):
Two?
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Why is that what stands out to you in this
whole experience that it was the best group date you've
ever been on. It wasn't the best day with her.
Is this the best time with her? Did you enjoy
watching her? No, you just had a really great group date.
Because in his mind at this point, from the moment
he walked in, he said it. He put on his
denim jacket. He was feeling himself tonight, he felt himself
(23:47):
and he thought he was a rock star. I don't
know where he got that information from. I don't know
what signs he was picking up on that made him
feel this way. I don't know even who told him
that he was crushing it. But when he walked into
that room, I think he, in his mind thought jin
was going to just melt and be like it's over.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
You're the guy.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
The problem is Rachel. He's an attractive fella, Like, he's
a good looking guy. He could if he was just
normal for a few seconds here, if he didn't try
to go back and kiss her.
Speaker 4 (24:21):
I think he actually stays for the next week.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Agreed. Agreed, one hundred percent. He gives me the energy
of like have you ever heard this saying of like
that weird guy friend. It's like where's my hug? At? Like,
where's my hug? And she's like she sighed, hugs him
like it was so awkward to watch him. Like you said,
he came in with this confidence I think because he thought.
Speaker 4 (24:43):
He might hug at.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
The group day, and so he's like, oh, I'm getting
the rose like no questions. He's getting hyped up. But
then again there's Thomas again. Why is Thomas the leader
of every like group? Like what's even the word? They're
like mad at everyone. This is a mean group of guys.
(25:05):
But Thomas is always like leading the stampede.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Yeah, he well, I think that's about the I think
that's the only role he can play right now.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
He knows his place.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Yeah, he knows this is not the experience for him.
He knows he's not getting the into the final four.
He's like, well, I can What I can do now
is make sure I'm heard as much as possible.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Did you hear the part where he started saying Sam
Emm's lines. He was like doing an interview, and he's like,
we're just keeping the main thing, the main thing, Like
that's that's not even your own words? What are you
doing here? Like he is something else. But she did
have some great conversations I.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
Thought with who vacation with.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Jonathan they were doing the lacrosse game Grant. You could
tell with her body language, the way she sits on
the couch with grit, she's like super close to him.
I think we're going to see more of him hopefully
coming up. Yeah, oh yeah. And then I just wrote
down Austin calling Sam emotionally unintelligent in front of everyone, like,
(26:11):
why are they all doing this time and time again?
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Well, I think what was happening. I don't think these
guys are handling this well. I will say that I
do think with this Sam in moment, they were all
so frustrated and confused, and they were trying to convince Sam, hey, man, like,
check yourself a little bit, take a step back. You're fine,
(26:35):
We're not even that mad at you yet. But you're
being weird man, Like, you're being really weird, and we
just want to let you know that this weirdness is
making everything else here weird. Like you're just being very
odd and it. As he continued to defend himself and
not probably take the kind advice early.
Speaker 4 (26:54):
There's probably a better way to do it.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Somebody could have done it one on one with him,
But since he didn't take the advice early, I think
everybody was getting frustrated like, dude, you're a wild man,
Like I'm mad at you, like I'm getting angry. Just
listen to you defend yourself and thinking that you're crushing
it because you're not, and it's very clear to everybody.
So Jin kind of finalizes the thought that he's not
(27:19):
crushing it. She sends him home. Now, she did have
some great conversations. I think Marcus and the Jonathans, the
Grants of the world really stood out during this whole day.
I think they are continuing to be kind of like
foundational pieces to Jin's story. We're seeing them often. There's
still some other guys we're not seeing as often, but
(27:42):
they're those guys are really always popping up. And that's
why I have high expectations for kind of that group,
specifically some other guys we don't really see at all
on this day because Samon takes up a lot of it.
He does end up going home early, and then the
next scene is kind of a It's.
Speaker 4 (28:04):
One I just don't like Rachel.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
I don't like that the show allows an ex boyfriend
to come into this experience.
Speaker 4 (28:14):
Now I know.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
This is set up to be that he flew to
New Zealand to meet up with joke.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
I thought that was so unseerious, the way that they
had the whole He flew here on his time and
he's honest right now, I'm like, be so for real.
I mean, what are your thoughts on it? I think
it was just so obvious what he's doing, like he's
doing this for attention and for like his five seconds,
(28:43):
like what are you doing here?
Speaker 2 (28:46):
It reminds me of when Nick Vile came to Caitlin
season that I was on about five weeks in. We
are in New York City, and I do know that
he was in New York City, and I do know
that Caitlyn and Nick had hung out previous to her
becoming the Bachelor at and then they hung out as
she you know, was kind of on the show like
she found a way to kind of Caitlein was really
(29:07):
good at sneaking out. She was fantastic finding her way
out of.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Her n I don't know how she did it. I
never left my room. I was so scared.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
She had some courage.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
He comes in and you know, she asks him to
then be a part of the season, which obviously he
makes a long run on the season. It made all
of us feel like, Hey, we're not enough, Like she's
looking for something else here. So that that is the
concern for me as Jin starts to entertain the idea
of bringing this guy onto her season, is that it
(29:48):
will make all the other guys probably question where exactly
they're in the relationship.
Speaker 4 (29:53):
I think the show should never.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Portray this as that he is showing up on his
own dime, because nobody knows where they're at in the world.
Nobody knows where to meet Jesse at. The show had
to have contacted him and helped set this up. There
had to be a knowledge that they had dated fairly
recently to her becoming the bachelorette. They had convinced this
guy to fly all the way to New Zealand, probably
(30:19):
telling him that, yeah, like, there's not a lot of
great guys here, I think you're the one. It'd be
great if you come now. I don't hate that she would,
even I'm not going to get mad age gen if
she says, yeah, you know what, come on this experience
and do it like everybody else. I do think that
adds a weird dynamic within the guys. I don't think
this guy is going to like his experience on the show.
I don't think the guys are going to welcome him
into their brotherhood, nor should we expect them to. But
(30:43):
I won't blame her for saying, yeah, let's give it
a shot.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
I just think it's weird because this isn't like someone
that she was, like the one that got away. It
was a three month situationship three years ago that she
still kind of keeps in contact with. He had how
many years he watched her go on The Bachelor. That
was his first shot to be like, hey, I love you.
(31:08):
It's so inauthentic to me. Obviously, I don't know, like
you said, it's Jen's decision, but to me, it just
seems like so sketchy.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Well, something weird happened in the midst of their conversation.
He kind of tells Jen his true feelings for her,
and she says, why wouldn't you have told me this
three months ago or whatever the timeline was, and he goes, Jin,
I did, and then she kind of.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Just stops, Oh, I didn't catch that.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
She like doesn't have a great response for it. She
just says, Matthew, I thought.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
She said or he said I tried to, or.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Did he say I did or I tried to, whatever
it was if he tried to.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
If he did, he obviously.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
Was communicating deeper feelings for Jin than what she's either
remembering or wanting to remember. So I do have a
feeling that this guy was interested before she left. I
don't know if his ideal plan would be showing up
on national television into a very hostile environment and trying
to sweep her off her feet. I don't know if
(32:12):
that was his plan. That's outrageously wild and not smart.
He should have never agreed to that, But I do
wonder if it threw her off so much that he
was there, that she was in a sense, and I
get it trying to protect herself to be like Matthew,
what are you doing? Like you're making me look like
I had a boyfriend up until I came on the show.
(32:33):
You're now telling me that you told me these things
up until I came on the show. You need to
stop this. If you care about me, look in my eyes,
watch yourself. I'm not against bringing you on the show,
but obviously our relationship didn't work out. I'm not personally
claiming that Jen had a boyfriend before the show, but
I do think she was probably talking to a guy,
which I've always said is fine.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
Like, you know, they broke up.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
She wasn't interested him, she moved on, but I do
think she for a set I felt very much like, goodness, gracious, Matthew,
you are going to destroy me by doing.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
This, and the situation, if you think about it, there's
no way I feel like it could be smooth, especially
with someone who's outside of the franchise. Because this guy
comes in, all the guys are mad at Jen, so
then she's mad at them for questioning her, and this
just cannot go well because then what happens if she
(33:24):
picks him at the end, Everyone's like, why do you
even come on? So there's no way that this can
end well, and I think Jen knows that, and she's
trying to find the best scenario for this, the best
way to deal with it.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Navigate it, Yeah, the best way to navigate this there was.
Speaker 4 (33:43):
I don't know if they ever did this to you.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Rachel, but I walked in the Mexico City fashion show
during my time as the Bachelor on a date. I
was on a date and one of the models during
the fashion show they had convinced to come on my
seasons like this is probably five weeks in and the
producers come up and they said, hey, would you want
(34:06):
her on the show? And I was like, no, that
sounds terrible. That sounds like an awful idea, Like no
matter if she is the perfect person for me, not
worth it, like not doing that here. But they had
this whole thing where it never got aired because she
never ended up coming on where like she and they
asked if she could start the experience in week five
(34:28):
And it wasn't that I again, I'm not going to
be upset with jin as a lead to bring him on.
It was more of I don't know how I would
communicate this to everybody else that's already here, Like I
feel like it would just be a massive shot to
their confidence, and their confidence is probably already waning, and
I already felt like I was holding on by a
(34:48):
thread to keep their attention for another week. I did
not ever feel like I was sitting in the driver's
seat being like, yeah, they're going to stick around because
obviously they want to date me. It's like no, they're
always looking for an excuse to leave. They just don't
to win, say, but then look at Blake points, yeah, Yeah,
good point.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
So the only reason I think this just could be
a little different is that he is not a part
of the franchise. I think people might welcome people a
little bit more when they kind of know them and
it's this whole like, oh, I didn't know she was
gonna be the Bachelrette. Anyways, we shall see. Me and
Gaby never had that problem. We couldn't even get the
(35:27):
guys on our own season to want to date us.
So I mean that would have probably been welcomed in
my situation if I someone that wants to dat us.
Speaker 4 (35:35):
Yeah, another friend.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
Yeah you're gonna accept my roses? Make amazing, You're hired.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
Yeah you're here, all right, Rachel break down.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Really, the final piece of this episode is the Gin
and Devin dat, another date that fans were excited to
see kind of play out for the first time.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
So going into this, you know, I was not a
Devon fan, but there is something with Devin watching his
date with Jen. They got to have this spiritual experience
with the Malori people. I know Jen was saying that
she's Buddhists and it's important to learn about different cultures,
and I think Devin embraced the date so well, he
(36:18):
shared so much about himself. I was like, Wow, I
was impressed. He has a lot of depth to him.
But I think the main thing for me was watching
Jen on this date. I felt like, that's the most
she's been herself this entire time.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
She felt very comfortable in Unlike maybe the sam M date.
It did feel like most of their conversation flowed from
a very natural and comfortable place. I didn't know if
that would actually happen with Devn. I've always kind of
had this idea that Jen, in the back of her
head is like, this guy is going to be going
home as soon as possible, but for right now, like
(36:56):
he's making the effort, so I'm going to keep him around.
I will admit I think I was wrong on that thought.
I actually think she is interested in Devin, which is
interesting because he hasn't exactly portrayed himself that much differently
than some of the other guys. He's made some stupid decisions,
he says some really stupid stuff. He's been hostile at times,
(37:20):
Yet somehow he's continued to kind of connect with Jin
in a way that others haven't yet.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
She said something exactly like that at the end of
the day, and she was just like, we have this connection.
I can't explain, and I mean I saw it all
throughout the date. But I think as a lead sometimes
I'll watch these conversations that they have at the nighttime
portion and you can tell when she's just kind of
like and tell me more about that, and how did
(37:47):
that make you feel? Oh, that's so tough, which you're
genuinely like concerned. But with Devin, she was sharing like
stories about her dad and feeling abandoned, and I was like, whoa,
she trusts him. She's really showing a completely different side
to just Devin, and I was shocked, but I loved it.
(38:08):
I think they have a great connection. And now, like
you said, I am interested to see how far he's
going to go.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
I'm very intrigued to see how far he is now
going to go. Well that is all the main points
and the main storylines from episode for Rachel. Anything that
stot out to you this episode that we did not cover, think.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
So besides me becoming a devon apologist.
Speaker 4 (38:30):
There you go, got it.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Maybe that would be the title of this podcast, Rachel Apologist.
All right, your top three after this week changed it
all from last week.
Speaker 3 (38:40):
So no, I still have Dylan, Jonathan Marcus number one,
but I did. I put Devin number four because I
think that is her number four, So yeah, he made
it onto the list.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
I would still agree Marcus and Jonathan though, feel in
my mind, even though maybe we don't see as much
of them as we expect, they still feel like to
me based on years of watching the show and years
of experiences of seeing people go on dates, they still
feel far and beyond the front runners to me. I
know they want Sam m to be that person. I'm
(39:16):
just not there yet. I just don't. I'm having a
hard time believing it. Well, next week we're going to
watch to see if Matthew is actually invited back on
this show. We are probably going to see a Row
ceremony since we did it this episode, so we'll have
a lot to break down and talk about. Next week,
Rachel will not be here. Rachel, thank you so much
for joining us for being a part of the Almost
(39:37):
Famous podcast these last two weeks. You have been an
incredible guest host, an awesome fell in and I cannot
wait to have you back at some point to help
us out and to continue to update us on all
the cool things happening in your life. So with this,
we're going to take a moment of appreciation for Rachel.
Speaker 3 (39:57):
Thank you so honored to be. We are so honored
to fill in for Ashley. Ben, It's always a great time.
Speaker 4 (40:05):
We're doing that a lot more. Uh until next week.
I've been Ben and I'm Rachel. We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast on
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Hosts And Creators
Ben Higgins
Ashley Iaconetti
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