October 10, 2025 • 37 mins
We’re circling Lady Liberty on our Bachelor Nation dinner cruise around New York with Wells Adams and Chris Harrison! More secrets are spilled and nothing is off limits!
Hear why some “villains” make it farther in a season than you’d expect, Wells opens up about how a rouge butt grab can throw off a live broadcast, and Chris shares some hints about his next steps!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast with.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
On our radio.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Welcome back to the almost Famous podcast it's been here,
back with more of my great evening with Chris Harrison
and Wells Adams on City Cruises. We had an amazing
night in New York City. You Bachelor Nation fans have
the best questions, So let's dive back in to the
Q and A.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
I'm so happy that there's this panel because Ben Higgens,
you were my first introduction to the Bachelor of franchise
in general. Wells you are amazing to watch on Bachelor
in Paradise and you're probably the most magnetic character on
the show. And Chris Harrison, you are the best host ever.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I do not know why they replaced you.
Speaker 5 (00:45):
Thank you. Sam.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
All right, two questions if I don't mind, If you
don't mind.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Well I ask anything.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Now.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
You can stay up there all night. Just keep you going.
Speaker 5 (00:53):
Blatter, We get you everything.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Wells, I absolutely loved you on Traders. I hate how
they did any Darty and I wish you were able
to stay for longer because you had your nail right
on the button with several people, so amazing job. Question
to all of you will you ever crash over to
another franchise or do another show.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
I would do. I would do Traders in a second.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
You should do it.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
You should do Traders. Yeah.
Speaker 6 (01:21):
I was offered a gig this last year that was awesome,
but it was right at the birth of my child,
as I say no, the.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Navy Seal show Special Forces.
Speaker 6 (01:39):
Yeah, but I couldn't because my daughter was getting being
born in that time period. But I would one hundred
percent do Traders without a question.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Do do Traders over the Navy Seal things?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
You just hang out in a castle, the Navy Seal.
Speaker 5 (01:52):
Thing, you get hurt.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, yeah, like jumping off a helicopters.
Speaker 5 (01:55):
And for me, I've been asked. I was asked to
do Traders. I was asked to do the Navy Seal
thing Special Forces. You know, I love hosting and I
would host it and I would produce it. And that's
that's my jam. I love. I love producing and hosting.
I like being on that side of the camera.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Okay, hold on, I would do one, and I would
do with one of these guys, and that is the
amazing race.
Speaker 5 (02:25):
Can we do teams of three? Did they stop and
play golf? They're six hours behind. They're drinking at the bar.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
They show the map, We're still in Augusta and everyone
else's why are they.
Speaker 5 (02:38):
In Scotland at Saint Andrews. We're going But no. And
one thing I have done, I've done a few of them.
And I just went and did name that tune. I
think it's coming up maybe next week it's on. I
did Wheel of Fortune and stuff. I still all those
things that like the game show type stuff where you
can donate a lot of stuff to charity, and I
can talk about experience camps, which is really big to
(02:59):
my wife and I. Anytime I can kind of promote
that that stuff that's important to us, I'll do it
all the time.
Speaker 6 (03:05):
Well, and I think I'm gonna put you on the
spot because I think is there ever a chance that
we could watch you on television again as a host?
Speaker 5 (03:14):
Yes, for sure. Yes, there's a which goes back to
the other question of would you ever go back? I
would not go back, but I will go forward. Let's
go and hopefully between all of us. And I know
there's no content creators here, Okay, magazine's not here, there's
no podcasters here, there will be a fun announcement coming
(03:37):
very soon. Yay, maybe too, maybe too? Wait what yeah?
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (03:43):
And then sex, Thank you guys so much. And then
second question in the styling of Chris Harrison, what is
your most dramatic moment on the Bachelor franchise? Maybe off camera,
on camera and yeah, your thoughts about it?
Speaker 5 (03:58):
You know what, in honor of my friend say it.
She's nothing if not timely. There's so many moments, honestly,
over twenty years, there's so many moments that were on camera,
off camera that happened. Some my my favorite moments was
(04:19):
just getting to know and getting to hang with some
of these guys. You know, I remember beyond the Brownie
Man that we visited in Jamaica, going over to Ben's
house and just hanging out watching football one day when
I know he was spinning and we just got to
hang and talk. I relished those moments, and you know,
jogging on the beach with whether it was Nick val
or Jordan Rodgers or whoever. Those those moments I really
(04:41):
enjoy and getting to know these people. But there was
a moment with one Pablo and so it was after
the Claire incident, and I think we were in Vietnam
and they went I was they hooked up when skinny
dipping whatever did and he kind of shamed her for it.
(05:02):
Oh fuck, sister, you're telling me it was dark out.
Who knows what happened.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
I do.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
I was under the water with a snorkel part of
my job. But no, So he was shaming her, and
I'm like, oh, this is not gonna go. Well, you
should know what our demographic is. They're not gonna love
you shaming her for something you did. And so off camera,
we were going into the road ceremony that night, we're
(05:34):
about to have the cocktail party. We're all dressed up
and getting dressed and we're walking out. Say hey, Wan, Pablo,
come here, but my arm around himus. Hey, Bud. So
that incident that happened and the way it ended you
kind of and maybe you didn't mean to do this.
I know there's a kind of the translation barrier going
on here. Maybe you didn't mean to, but you made
her feel really bad in that moment. Being a gentleman,
(05:57):
I think maybe you should have a talk with her tonight,
maybe go straight to her and just say hey, I'm sorry.
I was just as much of that moment as you were.
It's not on you. It was not on you, and
it was just as much on me. I was a
consenting adult in that moment, and that might help. This
is when I knew that show went off the rails
(06:19):
because he went third person and he says, Chris, Chris,
if you want Juan Pablo, you get Juan Pablo. And
I said, oh boy, and I said, you know, third
person aside, this isn't going to go well for you.
(06:41):
And then I I this journey you're on, I cannot
go with you. And that was the first time we
ever kind of had to take a side with our
bachelor who was our hero, which usually we would just
defend to the end because you know, look, they all
make mistakes. We try and fix it because not everybody's perfect.
But when Juan Pablo is no, no, I stand by
that decision. I would like to guys, well I'm going
(07:03):
to go here and you go there. And that's the
way the show went. So was it the most dramatic.
The other most dramatic was probably the Jake Vienna interview.
Late at night we.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Talk about that we were at the mansion.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
It was really late. We'd been shooting some other stuff.
Sometimes we would shoot host wraps, you know, my little
stuff on camera. We wouldn't do it while everybody's there,
so they could light the mansion. We'd have the jib
camera and all that, so we'd be shooting. And we
did that one night till probably like twelve twelve thirty.
They said afterwards, about one in the morning, Jake and
Vienna are going to come here. We're going to shoot
with them. So from like one to three in the morning,
(07:41):
we would shoot that interview. So they come in and
what my goal was was to they were broken up.
That was done, but my and it had been kind
of contentious, but I wanted it to be kind of
an amicable breakup. Let's have this moment of my bad mind.
I own my partner this, you own your part in this.
(08:03):
Let's go our separate ways and we can all be adults.
And has everybody seen the movie The Perfect Storm. There's
a moment in The Perfect Storm when they make it
and all of a sudden, the sun comes out and
it's like they're gonna live. George Clooney and Marky Mark
are gonna make it. This is awesome. That's what happened
(08:25):
in that interview. I got them to a moment I
don't know if you guys remember it, maybe they didn't
even show it, where they kind of both bought into
what I was taking them too. I was kind of
leading them to this moment of Okay, we can all
just be adults and be friends and let's go our
separate ways. And I had it. And then you realize
that was just the eye of the storm and they
(08:46):
had to go through the other side and they were
all gonna die. That was that interview. There was a
moment and I had it, and the sun came out.
I'm like, damn, I'm a good host. This is great,
and then it wasn't. Yes, ma'am. That was the theme
song for that season. Thank you?
Speaker 2 (09:05):
What is happening right now?
Speaker 5 (09:09):
I want what she's on? Yes. So in that interview
went really poorly, and so here's the thing. Honestly, the
real story is that interview was never gonna be aired.
We were never gonna I walked into the control room
after it all melted down. You all saw what happened,
and my executive producers were like, no, this is never
going to see the light of day. Don't worry about it.
(09:31):
I'm driving home at two thirty three in the morning,
I get a call from what I see as an
ABC executive, and this executive says, Chris, did something happen
that night? Did Jake make a fist or was he
physically imposing? And I said absolutely not.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
No.
Speaker 5 (09:51):
I'm like, if I wouldn't have punched him in the
face and killed him, Big Polly was right there, who
was an army ranger, he would have ended his life.
Zero chance it got physical, There was no any of that,
but she stormed off. That did happen, and somehow that
got leaked. There was only us. How that got leaked.
(10:14):
I don't know. It was not me, but somebody at
ABC wanted that out there so we would have to
show that interview, which we did because it was good TV,
but that was never meant to air. But we once
we realized that story got out, we felt like we
had to own it. We wanted everybody to see for themselves, unedited,
this is what happened, and I agreed with that decision.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Thank you so much, guys. You guys are all amazing.
Speaker 5 (10:38):
Thank you.
Speaker 7 (10:49):
I want to start by saying, thank you guys so
much for doing this.
Speaker 5 (10:53):
This has been incredible.
Speaker 7 (10:54):
Sure so thank you.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Thank you.
Speaker 8 (10:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (10:59):
So, first of all, Wells, I really would love a
handshaken margarita made by yours truly in just a couple
of minutes. That would be great.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
I can do that, but I'm going to direct terrible
by the way.
Speaker 7 (11:12):
No, I'm sure they're awesome. I like them spicy though,
as long as that's okay.
Speaker 5 (11:16):
That's the only way Wells comes okay. Perfect.
Speaker 7 (11:20):
So my questions were Chris Harrison, and.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
I think you for using my full proper name. Yes,
my wife still says it's my full name sometimes, which
is really weird. I'm not your but also sexy. No
you're not. But most people when they just see me,
they do use my full name. And I think it's
just because you know what they do with me too.
Speaker 7 (11:39):
Maybe we're sole me.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
It's maybe have you ever thought about it? Though?
Speaker 1 (11:42):
It's always very interesting on the show, it's always Ben
or it's Lauren, Ah, it's Chris Harrison.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
He's the one who gets and even.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
For me, it's when you see me on the titles,
se it's just Wells, but the host it is always
by your name.
Speaker 5 (11:58):
But yeah, sorry, we digress.
Speaker 7 (12:00):
Yes, so my question is besides being at the TCU
tailgates and doing lots and lots of shotguns.
Speaker 5 (12:11):
What the heck is next for you?
Speaker 2 (12:13):
I'm ready for the next show.
Speaker 8 (12:15):
What's going on?
Speaker 5 (12:16):
First of all, go frogs. Both my kids went to TCU.
My daughter's a senior there and all my money goes there.
So now I root for TCU. But what's next for
me and for my beautiful wife Lauren. So we have
a production company in Austin, Texas, where we're living out
our life and loving life in Austin, and also where
(12:37):
we got married and where these two gentlemen spoke at
our wedding, which is how much I love them, is
that there was two people out of this show and
we had a lot of friends there and that was Oh,
I will get back to your question. But one of
my favorite nights of my wedding beyond the wedding night,
but there was the night before we invited. Thank you
(12:58):
for getting that. The night before I had all of
my bachelor family that I had loved and gotten to
know throughout the years. They came to our house and
Laura and I had them because Lauren, if you guys
don't know, my beautiful wife was in entertainment tonight, Roses
and Rose shout out seriously the talent of our family
by far. But she covered the show and that's how
(13:21):
we met. So again, I have a lot to be
grateful for, including the love of my life from this show,
because we met while she was interviewing. She actually she
met these guys first passed on them. Thank god. No,
but and that's that's when. That's when we met. But
we have a production company. I love television. I truly
love hosting. I love producing TV, and that will be
(13:44):
my future.
Speaker 7 (13:46):
I will what it will be.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
What it will be, You'll have to wait to find out.
Speaker 7 (13:51):
I will say that the show has not been the
same since you left.
Speaker 5 (13:55):
Thank you very much. I do appreciate it. I I
really do. The love and the and then the love
I get online is not lost on me. I very
much appreciate it very much.
Speaker 9 (14:05):
Yes, ma'am, Hi, my name is Mary Beth. Then I
just wanted to say that this is the first time.
This isn't the first time we've met. Because for my
thirtieth birthday four years ago, your it is about to
get weird. My sister got me a cameo, Oh my god,
and it really touched my heart and thank you so
(14:26):
much for this video that I have saved forever.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
Is this one that Ben's where they like he shoots
just like up, he like just was it? Was it
a cameo?
Speaker 4 (14:34):
Right?
Speaker 9 (14:35):
It was?
Speaker 2 (14:35):
I did a yeah like a foot thing. It's not
only fans it's cameo. It's different.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
His only fan site is amazing.
Speaker 10 (14:45):
From the message that I got, I heard that you
were the most thoughtful and kind hearted person.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Anybody knows.
Speaker 10 (14:51):
You deserve so much love and happiness on this special day.
That's something special. So Mary bad know your loved know
you're a character. From the message that I got, I.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
Hear it's impossible not to love Ben. This is impossible,
so annoying.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
She was very great and so I just want to
tell her she's great.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 9 (15:17):
But my question to the three of you is, since
you guys went through the process of the show, I
want to know one lesson that you took with you
into this next chapter in your lives as husband's, as fathers.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
What did you take from the show. It's easy for me, Okay,
go for it.
Speaker 6 (15:34):
Please, Yeah, I mean I I'll say it every time,
and if you've heard me talk ever. I mean even
in the keynotes I do now this guy's mentioned. He
said one of the things uh for me and Chris,
he mentioned like us watching.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Football and all this. I think as.
Speaker 6 (15:52):
Good as he was of a host, he was when
I was the lead, even better at making me feel
comfortable in a very uncommemfortable environment. And after I got
kicked off the Bachelorette, I was sitting at the bar
and he comes up. He I think had requested, Hey,
I want to have a drink with Ben. Were having
drinks in Ireland, and he said something till still to
(16:14):
this day that goes through my life at most decision points.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
He said, Ben, this thing was awesome.
Speaker 6 (16:22):
Use this to enhance the life you've already have, not
changed your life completely. And that kept me humble, It
kept me strategic, It kept me looking forward. It also,
I think what he did in that moment, it gave
me a lot of confidence in the life I already
had before this whole, wild, weird experience that is the Bachelor.
(16:43):
I think he knew personally that I was going to
be asked to be the bachelor.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I didn't know that yet.
Speaker 6 (16:48):
And so I was sitting there in this limbo of like,
I don't know what's next for me. I'm going back
to a cubicle and that might be my life. I
think he knew that bigger things are on the horizon.
He at that moment took the time not to tell
me anything more than to settle me down and make
me really proud of the person already was. And I
think that was the biggest, one of the biggest moments
(17:10):
in my life.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Helloo, oh, Ben, I got a cameo later.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
I mean, it is special, It is.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Very nice, and to be honest with you, as much
as I like rib him, that is totally Ben, Like
it's so genuine, it's annoying, but like he is like
the best guy all the time.
Speaker 9 (17:34):
And I'm like, oh, I'm like he knows me though
he's talking to me.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
For me, Like, going on the show was a risk, right,
Like I had a career, I was hosting the three
radio shows, I lived in a studio, I had a
lot going for me, and going on the show was
like this big risk, but I thought it would be
a fun adventure. And when I look back, I think
(18:01):
to myself, thank god I took that risk, even though
I could have looked bad. They could have edited me poorly.
I could have lost my job because of it. But
I took a risk and now look like I'm married
to like this absolutely amazing, beautiful, talented woman.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
I live in Los Angeles. I'm getting to like hang
out in.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
A boat with you guys, like all these things that
came from like taking a risk, and so like my
thing to you is the thing that I learned about
doing the show is that, like, sometimes you have to
bet on yourself, and when you do that, usually you win.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
And so that's what I learned.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
I love it.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
So many things I learned over two decades of hosting
and producing the show and watching people come through my
life and be a part of my life. I think
one of the most indelible marks is that life and
people are not so black and white. I think we,
especially now, if you look at our world, we're all
so quick to judge. And when we're watching reality TV.
(19:05):
I noticed very early on when I started the show
back in two thousand and one, two thousand and two,
we were very quick to say, oh, she's the villain,
Oh he's a bad guy. And I quickly learned to
be curious as to why what is it that makes
this person tick, what's behind this, what is the defense mechanism?
What is the thing in their life that made them
(19:27):
this way? And that I think is what made me
pull for sound, made me a better host, a better producer.
Is how to listen and how to look deeper. And
so when I would go into these interviews for after
the final rows of the tell alls and stuff, that's
why I tried to give people the benefit of the
doubt and try to dig a little deeper as deposed
(19:47):
to just like you're bad, you were terrible and that
you know. And so, yeah, life's not so black and white.
There's a lot of gray area.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
There's definitely a lot of nuance when it comes to
the people that you meet on these shows. And just
to brag on the show that I work on, Paradise,
what I love about it is it's always a redemptive story.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Right. It's a bunch of people who were all rejected.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
No one really comes there if they won the show, right,
And a lot of times the villain comes and then
they turn into the hero. It happened this last season
with Brian right, he was the bad guy and then
turned into the good guy. And that's What I like
about the show too, is that you can flip your
story really really quickly. And yeah, it's it's more. People
(20:31):
are so much more nuanced than I think we give
them credit for Mary Beth.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
You're great.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
That guy.
Speaker 5 (20:39):
Thanks Immy. Yes, Hi, my name is Dawn.
Speaker 7 (20:44):
This question is for Wells. Me and my twin sister
are a big fan of Your Favorite Things podcast.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Oh yeah, have tre.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
Yes.
Speaker 7 (20:56):
My question for you, Wells is what's the most funniest,
strangest thing a fan has ever said to you?
Speaker 11 (21:04):
Trying to lighten things up a little bit.
Speaker 5 (21:09):
Why you think my thing is because and I love
this that most people answer. Most people feel like they
know me really well because I was in your house
for so long and the show the job I did,
and I do love that I liked it because we
all know actors like Sarah Hyland. For example, when you
see Sarah, you see the modern family daughter, right, and
so you when you see an actress or an actor
(21:31):
often you see their character. For me, it was like
I was the guy that just hosted the show. So
often I'll be sitting at it like an airport bar,
and then someone will sit next to me just start
telling me their sex life and their story and we
really get deep really quick, which I love because it
makes me feel cool. But I'm also maybe I shouldn't
hear everything, so I hear some really intimate stories.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Okay, I'll tell a story. We did a did a
live hit. I don't know if you remember this. It
was a live like audience hit and I had to
like walk through a crowd of like ravid Bachelor fans
and there was like a boom camera that came down
and I had to be like, and now we're going
out to Jojo and Toronto or something like that.
Speaker 5 (22:19):
Oh that was that big the retrospective store there, Yes.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
You remember it? Yeah, I was in Park City. Okay, yeah,
maybe I was throwing to you. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Anyways, I was walking through it, and I just remember
I was walking. I had like a microphone and like
I had had a mark that I had to hit,
but there was like hundreds of people around me. So
I'm walking to my mark and while I'm walking to
my mark, someone just like grabs grabs my ass and
I'm right before I'm going on TV, and I'm like,
(22:47):
so it's like me going, WHOA.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Out to you?
Speaker 1 (22:51):
In Toronto Jojo and it wasn't something that was something
that was said to me. But I feel like I
was violated a little bit in that moment, and that
was very weird.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
I had.
Speaker 6 (23:03):
I had a girl, very kind hearted human, I'm sure,
did something really weird. She wrote a letter, but she
wrote it from me to her and then she.
Speaker 5 (23:15):
Read it to me.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
It was yeah.
Speaker 6 (23:21):
Yeah, so she read it like she read it out
loud to me in person at like an event I
was doing, and it was like high honey pie.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
And it got really weird.
Speaker 6 (23:35):
And I still have the letter because the restraining order.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
Yeah, good call, that's evidence. That's what we call evidence.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yeah, so that's it.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 7 (23:56):
Hi.
Speaker 8 (23:57):
I'm Talia. I have a question, but for I just
wanted to share a quick, funny thing that my friends
and I over there. We were in high school, Ben,
you were on the show, and we had a kid
in our grade also named Ben Higgins, and he looked
just like you, and it was really funny time out.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
The girls like him.
Speaker 8 (24:16):
Because of you wait, hold on, time out a big
nerve time out?
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Was he unlovable me? I'm six four and so handsome.
Speaker 5 (24:30):
Ever, I'm the best athlete here. No one's gonna love me.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
I like Ben Higgins, thank you, it was great.
Speaker 8 (24:39):
I just wanted to share that. But my question is,
you guys were talking about going on the show for
the right reasons, and I was curious how you know
people actually go on the show for the right reasons,
because I find that some of the time, like that
i'm watching, I feel like people go on for a
social media following, So how can you really tell the difference.
Speaker 5 (24:57):
I'll actually speak on behalf of the show in this regard.
The show was never predicated on the fact that it works,
and it was never predicated on the fact that you
are there for the right reasons. That's life. If we
all go out in New York tonight and you go
to a bar, you go wherever wherever you want to
meet somebody, go to the library, you meet somebody, And
that's part of dating is you got to figure out
(25:18):
is this person using me because of your looks, your
money or whatever. Are they just here for a good time.
And so that's one of the things I loved about
the show is it was just a microcosm of life
and no reference to Chad. But it's on steroids, so yes,
it's bigger, it's grander, and we're on hot air balloons
and we're in Argentina and these extravagant, extreme situations. But
(25:43):
the actual situation, the literal situation, is just normal. It's
just been trying to figure out does this person really
like me? Or do they just want to be on TV?
And those things have changed. When we started in two
thousand and one, two thousand and two, it was a blogger.
Now it's instant you know. Now it's social media, So
(26:03):
the questions have changed a little bit, but the answers
are still the same. At the end of the show,
what I've always loved is that there's a boy and
a girl and not to go you know, you know,
I'm just a girl standing in front of a boy.
But uh one of Thank You, my favorite movie. But
it really is that moment of nothing else matters is
do we love each other? And can we make this work?
(26:26):
That sincerity is what I've always loved.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Okay, I can answer your question for when people are
there for the right reasons because I see it every
season in Paradise and you do too, but you don't
realize it because they get cut out of the show.
You see it on the first couple days, a couple
fall in love. It happened this season with jessin Spencer,
(26:50):
It's happened with Joe and Serena, it happened with Dylan
and Hannah. And when that happens, it's beautiful and for
me to experience it and witness it, it's lovely.
Speaker 5 (27:03):
You're left out Jade and Tanner. The best love story
that was before.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
I wasn't bartending that.
Speaker 5 (27:09):
Were you not there for that season?
Speaker 2 (27:10):
No, that was season two. I came in season three anyway.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
So but they get cut out because they are not
interesting at all because they're in love, right, So you
know the people who are there for the right reasons
by them being cut out because they are not concerned
with the drama. They're only concerned with the one thing
that's in front of them, which is love.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Don't be alarmed by these Ye are we in trouble?
Speaker 5 (27:33):
Yes, the ship is lowering, it's not sinking. It's okay.
Speaker 6 (27:37):
I would also I would close just add from a
lead Sae, I also think it. I think the most
beautiful fun part of the show is when it comes
to like watching the lead and cheering for the lead
is not how likable they are because the show can
make them likable. It's watching how they adapt and how
they converse in difficult situations and how they navigate those situations.
(28:01):
And I think during that as a lead, you can
really find out who's there for the right reasons or not.
Maybe the leads that leave somebody there for too long
that the audience is like, you're.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Not there for the right reasons. You can probably pick
up on that.
Speaker 6 (28:12):
Then maybe they're not asking the right questions, maybe not
digging in for far enough.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
Okay, thank you, thank you. This is the final question tonight,
when you're.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Ready, thank you.
Speaker 11 (28:27):
I'm Caroline.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Hey Caroline, Caroline.
Speaker 11 (28:30):
I want to know what behind the scenes. I have
a behind the scenes question. It seems like there's some
contestants or what do they call candidates contestants that unless
it's editing, you just know that they're not going to progress.
But they're great television. They're great. They're either a villain
(28:53):
or there's somebody who's given the other they're giving the
other women a problem, but they progress, And I wonder,
like I'll think to myself, Oh, the producers must say
to the bachelors, why don'd you keep that girl on.
Why don't you keep that girl on for another week?
For another week? Because they're great television, and I'm wondering,
(29:13):
is there any truth?
Speaker 5 (29:14):
What do they do?
Speaker 6 (29:15):
Yeah, it's brilliant and I get this question a lot,
and I think it's one of the most like brilliant
things of the show. So here's what happens. You're in
a mansion. Let's picture this, and every room is being
filmed by multiple cameras.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
I am in this room.
Speaker 6 (29:31):
Back behind us here you are out here fighting with
every person in the room. They don't let me out
of this room, right. They bring a girl to me.
I'm hanging out with her back there. They bring a new.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Girl to me.
Speaker 6 (29:45):
And then as soon as soon as everything calms down,
then they say, hey, Ben, you can go out to
that room. You don't know, as the lead, what's happening.
They're not scripting it, they're not telling you what to do.
But they I always say, like this, they are playing
like they have the eyes of God, so they see.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
What's happening every room.
Speaker 6 (30:03):
If they don't want me to walk into that room
at that moment, they don't have me do that. And
then I come out and she's great she's awesome, she's
so fun, she's so enjoyable, and I keep her. Now
it's still up to me to keep her or not. Again,
it's still up to me to ask right questions or not.
It's still up to me to like really dig in.
But especially in the first few weeks, it's really hard
(30:26):
to figure out who the villain is. And that's not
even the question that you really want the lead asking
is being like, all right, who hears bad? They want
the lead asking who hears? Maybe for me, And so
from my perspective as the lead, I was oblivious to
any like mean girl behavior that was going on the
house because I never saw it and nobody ever told
(30:49):
me about it.
Speaker 5 (30:49):
Well, I was very careful to walk that line of
never telling them something that they didn't see for themselves.
And that's it's very difficult because I love this guy
and I liked them immediately. We were good friends, so
it's hard not to say, hey, man, But what I
would try to do is lead him to the right conclusion.
And what I also said is you know Ben or
any other bachelor baucher, I would say, I don't want
(31:10):
to look stupid, I don't want to feel and I said, look,
when you get to that decision, as long as you
get there, it doesn't matter when if it's week one,
week three, week four. As long as you know you
get to the right call, that's all that matters. And
if it takes you a little longer than what the
world gets to see, because you guys get to see everything.
And so we're very careful not to tell them anything
(31:32):
that they didn't know or else. I'm leading them and
I'm telling them what to do, and it's not my journey,
it's it's his. So thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Yeah, just to put a pin on it, I'm that
person that you're talking about. I got so far on
that television show and I was like, I haven't spent
any time with this girl, Like this is amazing. I'm
still I remember every Roads sermon. I was like, this
is wild. I'm still on this TV show.
Speaker 5 (31:58):
Guys, we honestly just for you were there right now.
But my director's like, who is there?
Speaker 1 (32:03):
But I do think that there was like they were
like Jojo, who do you like? It was like I
like Jordan, I like Robbie, I like Chase And they
were like what about Wells?
Speaker 2 (32:10):
And she was like who and they're like, he.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Seems nice, he's good at interview, Let's keep him around.
And every week I was blown away that I was
still there so much so that I remember at some
point they come and they go, we're gonna do We're
doing hometowns next week.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
What do you want to do? Who do you want
to invite? And I was sitting down with the producer.
I remember it vividly. His name was Louie, and he said,
what do you want to do? And I was like,
we don't need to do this. What are you talking about.
We're not going to my house.
Speaker 5 (32:38):
There's no way.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
I spent seventeen.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Minutes with the squirrel and he's like, no, no, no, no,
we gotta do it.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
And I'm like, do you have to do it?
Speaker 1 (32:46):
Because if I find out everyone else got to talk
to you about what they want to do in her
hometown and I didn't get to say that, and I
know I'm going.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
Home and he was like no. I was like, I'm
going home with a sweek car high.
Speaker 5 (33:00):
Thank you very much, thank.
Speaker 9 (33:02):
You, and uh.
Speaker 5 (33:05):
Final thoughts as we say goodbye tonight.
Speaker 6 (33:07):
I mean, it's so fun to reminisce and talk about
and I mean they've said it like these dudes mean
the world to me, and and like good friendships have
been built from this show. But it's really fun to
come up here and talk about a show that has
affected our lives in so many great ways. I looked
back on my time as the Bachelor with nothing but
(33:29):
just excitement and joy and memories and more memories are
being made. So thank you for coming out, I guess
is my final thought, Like, thank you for being here.
It's fun for us to do this together again.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
Wells, yeah, thank you guys so much for coming I'm
sorry I started with the poop story, but like whatever, it.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Was a real thing that happened.
Speaker 5 (33:52):
We got we got a lot closer, a lot quicker.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Yeah, no, this was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
It's really it's weird because you see batster Nation on
social media and you and you talk to them or
tweet to them or whatever. But it's really really lovely
to actually meet you guys. And I've had so much
fun sitting down with these guys, but I've had more
(34:17):
fun getting to meet you guys these two nights, and
we do on more in San Diego, and I just
want to say thank you guys for being such awesome
fans of the dumbest TV show in the room.
Speaker 5 (34:31):
I'll tell you, it's always an honor to be sitting
before you, and you know it's It's never lost on
me the amazing relationships that I have gained my two
decades on this show. But more importantly, it was such
an honor to always be the conduit, to be the
(34:52):
connection between you and what was going on in the show.
And I never took that lightly. I cared about these
people on the show, but I also cared about you.
I cared about the ride that you were on, and
I tried to make it special. I tried to make
it interesting, tried to make it fun, but I tried
to make it sincere and meaningful. And I love my
continued connection with all of you Bachelor Nation, and you
(35:14):
know this is my Bachelor family. But when I kind
of coined the phrase bachel Nation, it got kind of
bastardized and it started meeting everyone that was on the show.
It was always about you. It was always the people
that watched the show. We wouldn't be doing this, we
wouldn't be on this silly ship. We wouldn't have done
this silly show if it weren't for you, and it
moved a generation. When people come and tell me I
(35:36):
watched it with my daughter, or I watched it with
my mom our sisters. We all get together and we
watched this. That means the world to me. Say nothing
else of this silly show. It connected people and I
love that and so I love being here with my
friends tonight to talk to all of you. Thank you
for sharing your Sunday night. It was a tremendous ride. Unfortunately,
(36:05):
it's time to take a moment and say y're goodbyes. No,
you're all going home crying in the back of a limo.
Speaker 6 (36:15):
Hey, can we give it up though, real quick to
the captains of the ship who brought us past.
Speaker 5 (36:20):
We didn't wreck once. Yeah, y'all get home safe. Thank
you for being here. God bless y'all. Take care.
Speaker 2 (36:27):
Thank you guys. We love you.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
Hey, it's been here jumping back in such a fun night,
and we're doing it again. If you want to see myself,
Chris Harrison and Wells Adams, come check us out in
San Diego on December sixth, and you can get tickets
at Cityexperiences dot Com. Again, that's City Experiences dot Com.
(36:51):
We all really hope to see you there.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast on
iHeartRadio or subscribe ever you listen to podcasts.
This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast with.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
On our radio.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Welcome back to the almost Famous podcast it's been here,
back with more of my great evening with Chris Harrison
and Wells Adams on City Cruises. We had an amazing
night in New York City. You Bachelor Nation fans have
the best questions, So let's dive back in to the
Q and A.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
I'm so happy that there's this panel because Ben Higgens,
you were my first introduction to the Bachelor of franchise
in general. Wells you are amazing to watch on Bachelor
in Paradise and you're probably the most magnetic character on
the show. And Chris Harrison, you are the best host ever.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I do not know why they replaced you.
Speaker 5 (00:45):
Thank you. Sam.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
All right, two questions if I don't mind, If you
don't mind.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Well I ask anything.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Now.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
You can stay up there all night. Just keep you going.
Speaker 5 (00:53):
Blatter, We get you everything.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Wells, I absolutely loved you on Traders. I hate how
they did any Darty and I wish you were able
to stay for longer because you had your nail right
on the button with several people, so amazing job. Question
to all of you will you ever crash over to
another franchise or do another show.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
I would do. I would do Traders in a second.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
You should do it.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
You should do Traders. Yeah.
Speaker 6 (01:21):
I was offered a gig this last year that was awesome,
but it was right at the birth of my child,
as I say no, the.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Navy Seal show Special Forces.
Speaker 6 (01:39):
Yeah, but I couldn't because my daughter was getting being
born in that time period. But I would one hundred
percent do Traders without a question.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Do do Traders over the Navy Seal things?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
You just hang out in a castle, the Navy Seal.
Speaker 5 (01:52):
Thing, you get hurt.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, yeah, like jumping off a helicopters.
Speaker 5 (01:55):
And for me, I've been asked. I was asked to
do Traders. I was asked to do the Navy Seal
thing Special Forces. You know, I love hosting and I
would host it and I would produce it. And that's
that's my jam. I love. I love producing and hosting.
I like being on that side of the camera.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Okay, hold on, I would do one, and I would
do with one of these guys, and that is the
amazing race.
Speaker 5 (02:25):
Can we do teams of three? Did they stop and
play golf? They're six hours behind. They're drinking at the bar.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
They show the map, We're still in Augusta and everyone
else's why are they.
Speaker 5 (02:38):
In Scotland at Saint Andrews. We're going But no. And
one thing I have done, I've done a few of them.
And I just went and did name that tune. I
think it's coming up maybe next week it's on. I
did Wheel of Fortune and stuff. I still all those
things that like the game show type stuff where you
can donate a lot of stuff to charity, and I
can talk about experience camps, which is really big to
(02:59):
my wife and I. Anytime I can kind of promote
that that stuff that's important to us, I'll do it
all the time.
Speaker 6 (03:05):
Well, and I think I'm gonna put you on the
spot because I think is there ever a chance that
we could watch you on television again as a host?
Speaker 5 (03:14):
Yes, for sure. Yes, there's a which goes back to
the other question of would you ever go back? I
would not go back, but I will go forward. Let's
go and hopefully between all of us. And I know
there's no content creators here, Okay, magazine's not here, there's
no podcasters here, there will be a fun announcement coming
(03:37):
very soon. Yay, maybe too, maybe too? Wait what yeah?
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (03:43):
And then sex, Thank you guys so much. And then
second question in the styling of Chris Harrison, what is
your most dramatic moment on the Bachelor franchise? Maybe off camera,
on camera and yeah, your thoughts about it?
Speaker 5 (03:58):
You know what, in honor of my friend say it.
She's nothing if not timely. There's so many moments, honestly,
over twenty years, there's so many moments that were on camera,
off camera that happened. Some my my favorite moments was
(04:19):
just getting to know and getting to hang with some
of these guys. You know, I remember beyond the Brownie
Man that we visited in Jamaica, going over to Ben's
house and just hanging out watching football one day when
I know he was spinning and we just got to
hang and talk. I relished those moments, and you know,
jogging on the beach with whether it was Nick val
or Jordan Rodgers or whoever. Those those moments I really
(04:41):
enjoy and getting to know these people. But there was
a moment with one Pablo and so it was after
the Claire incident, and I think we were in Vietnam
and they went I was they hooked up when skinny
dipping whatever did and he kind of shamed her for it.
(05:02):
Oh fuck, sister, you're telling me it was dark out.
Who knows what happened.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
I do.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
I was under the water with a snorkel part of
my job. But no, So he was shaming her, and
I'm like, oh, this is not gonna go. Well, you
should know what our demographic is. They're not gonna love
you shaming her for something you did. And so off camera,
we were going into the road ceremony that night, we're
(05:34):
about to have the cocktail party. We're all dressed up
and getting dressed and we're walking out. Say hey, Wan, Pablo,
come here, but my arm around himus. Hey, Bud. So
that incident that happened and the way it ended you
kind of and maybe you didn't mean to do this.
I know there's a kind of the translation barrier going
on here. Maybe you didn't mean to, but you made
her feel really bad in that moment. Being a gentleman,
(05:57):
I think maybe you should have a talk with her tonight,
maybe go straight to her and just say hey, I'm sorry.
I was just as much of that moment as you were.
It's not on you. It was not on you, and
it was just as much on me. I was a
consenting adult in that moment, and that might help. This
is when I knew that show went off the rails
(06:19):
because he went third person and he says, Chris, Chris,
if you want Juan Pablo, you get Juan Pablo. And
I said, oh boy, and I said, you know, third
person aside, this isn't going to go well for you.
(06:41):
And then I I this journey you're on, I cannot
go with you. And that was the first time we
ever kind of had to take a side with our
bachelor who was our hero, which usually we would just
defend to the end because you know, look, they all
make mistakes. We try and fix it because not everybody's perfect.
But when Juan Pablo is no, no, I stand by
that decision. I would like to guys, well I'm going
(07:03):
to go here and you go there. And that's the
way the show went. So was it the most dramatic.
The other most dramatic was probably the Jake Vienna interview.
Late at night we.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Talk about that we were at the mansion.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
It was really late. We'd been shooting some other stuff.
Sometimes we would shoot host wraps, you know, my little
stuff on camera. We wouldn't do it while everybody's there,
so they could light the mansion. We'd have the jib
camera and all that, so we'd be shooting. And we
did that one night till probably like twelve twelve thirty.
They said afterwards, about one in the morning, Jake and
Vienna are going to come here. We're going to shoot
with them. So from like one to three in the morning,
(07:41):
we would shoot that interview. So they come in and
what my goal was was to they were broken up.
That was done, but my and it had been kind
of contentious, but I wanted it to be kind of
an amicable breakup. Let's have this moment of my bad mind.
I own my partner this, you own your part in this.
(08:03):
Let's go our separate ways and we can all be adults.
And has everybody seen the movie The Perfect Storm. There's
a moment in The Perfect Storm when they make it
and all of a sudden, the sun comes out and
it's like they're gonna live. George Clooney and Marky Mark
are gonna make it. This is awesome. That's what happened
(08:25):
in that interview. I got them to a moment I
don't know if you guys remember it, maybe they didn't
even show it, where they kind of both bought into
what I was taking them too. I was kind of
leading them to this moment of Okay, we can all
just be adults and be friends and let's go our
separate ways. And I had it. And then you realize
that was just the eye of the storm and they
(08:46):
had to go through the other side and they were
all gonna die. That was that interview. There was a
moment and I had it, and the sun came out.
I'm like, damn, I'm a good host. This is great,
and then it wasn't. Yes, ma'am. That was the theme
song for that season. Thank you?
Speaker 2 (09:05):
What is happening right now?
Speaker 5 (09:09):
I want what she's on? Yes. So in that interview
went really poorly, and so here's the thing. Honestly, the
real story is that interview was never gonna be aired.
We were never gonna I walked into the control room
after it all melted down. You all saw what happened,
and my executive producers were like, no, this is never
going to see the light of day. Don't worry about it.
(09:31):
I'm driving home at two thirty three in the morning,
I get a call from what I see as an
ABC executive, and this executive says, Chris, did something happen
that night? Did Jake make a fist or was he
physically imposing? And I said absolutely not.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
No.
Speaker 5 (09:51):
I'm like, if I wouldn't have punched him in the
face and killed him, Big Polly was right there, who
was an army ranger, he would have ended his life.
Zero chance it got physical, There was no any of that,
but she stormed off. That did happen, and somehow that
got leaked. There was only us. How that got leaked.
(10:14):
I don't know. It was not me, but somebody at
ABC wanted that out there so we would have to
show that interview, which we did because it was good TV,
but that was never meant to air. But we once
we realized that story got out, we felt like we
had to own it. We wanted everybody to see for themselves, unedited,
this is what happened, and I agreed with that decision.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Thank you so much, guys. You guys are all amazing.
Speaker 5 (10:38):
Thank you.
Speaker 7 (10:49):
I want to start by saying, thank you guys so
much for doing this.
Speaker 5 (10:53):
This has been incredible.
Speaker 7 (10:54):
Sure so thank you.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Thank you.
Speaker 8 (10:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (10:59):
So, first of all, Wells, I really would love a
handshaken margarita made by yours truly in just a couple
of minutes. That would be great.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
I can do that, but I'm going to direct terrible
by the way.
Speaker 7 (11:12):
No, I'm sure they're awesome. I like them spicy though,
as long as that's okay.
Speaker 5 (11:16):
That's the only way Wells comes okay. Perfect.
Speaker 7 (11:20):
So my questions were Chris Harrison, and.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
I think you for using my full proper name. Yes,
my wife still says it's my full name sometimes, which
is really weird. I'm not your but also sexy. No
you're not. But most people when they just see me,
they do use my full name. And I think it's
just because you know what they do with me too.
Speaker 7 (11:39):
Maybe we're sole me.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
It's maybe have you ever thought about it? Though?
Speaker 1 (11:42):
It's always very interesting on the show, it's always Ben
or it's Lauren, Ah, it's Chris Harrison.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
He's the one who gets and even.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
For me, it's when you see me on the titles,
se it's just Wells, but the host it is always
by your name.
Speaker 5 (11:58):
But yeah, sorry, we digress.
Speaker 7 (12:00):
Yes, so my question is besides being at the TCU
tailgates and doing lots and lots of shotguns.
Speaker 5 (12:11):
What the heck is next for you?
Speaker 2 (12:13):
I'm ready for the next show.
Speaker 8 (12:15):
What's going on?
Speaker 5 (12:16):
First of all, go frogs. Both my kids went to TCU.
My daughter's a senior there and all my money goes there.
So now I root for TCU. But what's next for
me and for my beautiful wife Lauren. So we have
a production company in Austin, Texas, where we're living out
our life and loving life in Austin, and also where
(12:37):
we got married and where these two gentlemen spoke at
our wedding, which is how much I love them, is
that there was two people out of this show and
we had a lot of friends there and that was Oh,
I will get back to your question. But one of
my favorite nights of my wedding beyond the wedding night,
but there was the night before we invited. Thank you
(12:58):
for getting that. The night before I had all of
my bachelor family that I had loved and gotten to
know throughout the years. They came to our house and
Laura and I had them because Lauren, if you guys
don't know, my beautiful wife was in entertainment tonight, Roses
and Rose shout out seriously the talent of our family
by far. But she covered the show and that's how
(13:21):
we met. So again, I have a lot to be
grateful for, including the love of my life from this show,
because we met while she was interviewing. She actually she
met these guys first passed on them. Thank god. No,
but and that's that's when. That's when we met. But
we have a production company. I love television. I truly
love hosting. I love producing TV, and that will be
(13:44):
my future.
Speaker 7 (13:46):
I will what it will be.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
What it will be, You'll have to wait to find out.
Speaker 7 (13:51):
I will say that the show has not been the
same since you left.
Speaker 5 (13:55):
Thank you very much. I do appreciate it. I I
really do. The love and the and then the love
I get online is not lost on me. I very
much appreciate it very much.
Speaker 9 (14:05):
Yes, ma'am, Hi, my name is Mary Beth. Then I
just wanted to say that this is the first time.
This isn't the first time we've met. Because for my
thirtieth birthday four years ago, your it is about to
get weird. My sister got me a cameo, Oh my god,
and it really touched my heart and thank you so
(14:26):
much for this video that I have saved forever.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
Is this one that Ben's where they like he shoots
just like up, he like just was it? Was it
a cameo?
Speaker 4 (14:34):
Right?
Speaker 9 (14:35):
It was?
Speaker 2 (14:35):
I did a yeah like a foot thing. It's not
only fans it's cameo. It's different.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
His only fan site is amazing.
Speaker 10 (14:45):
From the message that I got, I heard that you
were the most thoughtful and kind hearted person.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Anybody knows.
Speaker 10 (14:51):
You deserve so much love and happiness on this special day.
That's something special. So Mary bad know your loved know
you're a character. From the message that I got, I.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
Hear it's impossible not to love Ben. This is impossible,
so annoying.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
She was very great and so I just want to
tell her she's great.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 9 (15:17):
But my question to the three of you is, since
you guys went through the process of the show, I
want to know one lesson that you took with you
into this next chapter in your lives as husband's, as fathers.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
What did you take from the show. It's easy for me, Okay,
go for it.
Speaker 6 (15:34):
Please, Yeah, I mean I I'll say it every time,
and if you've heard me talk ever. I mean even
in the keynotes I do now this guy's mentioned. He
said one of the things uh for me and Chris,
he mentioned like us watching.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Football and all this. I think as.
Speaker 6 (15:52):
Good as he was of a host, he was when
I was the lead, even better at making me feel
comfortable in a very uncommemfortable environment. And after I got
kicked off the Bachelorette, I was sitting at the bar
and he comes up. He I think had requested, Hey,
I want to have a drink with Ben. Were having
drinks in Ireland, and he said something till still to
(16:14):
this day that goes through my life at most decision points.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
He said, Ben, this thing was awesome.
Speaker 6 (16:22):
Use this to enhance the life you've already have, not
changed your life completely. And that kept me humble, It
kept me strategic, It kept me looking forward. It also,
I think what he did in that moment, it gave
me a lot of confidence in the life I already
had before this whole, wild, weird experience that is the Bachelor.
(16:43):
I think he knew personally that I was going to
be asked to be the bachelor.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I didn't know that yet.
Speaker 6 (16:48):
And so I was sitting there in this limbo of like,
I don't know what's next for me. I'm going back
to a cubicle and that might be my life. I
think he knew that bigger things are on the horizon.
He at that moment took the time not to tell
me anything more than to settle me down and make
me really proud of the person already was. And I
think that was the biggest, one of the biggest moments
(17:10):
in my life.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Helloo, oh, Ben, I got a cameo later.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
I mean, it is special, It is.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Very nice, and to be honest with you, as much
as I like rib him, that is totally Ben, Like
it's so genuine, it's annoying, but like he is like
the best guy all the time.
Speaker 9 (17:34):
And I'm like, oh, I'm like he knows me though
he's talking to me.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
For me, Like, going on the show was a risk, right,
Like I had a career, I was hosting the three
radio shows, I lived in a studio, I had a
lot going for me, and going on the show was
like this big risk, but I thought it would be
a fun adventure. And when I look back, I think
(18:01):
to myself, thank god I took that risk, even though
I could have looked bad. They could have edited me poorly.
I could have lost my job because of it. But
I took a risk and now look like I'm married
to like this absolutely amazing, beautiful, talented woman.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
I live in Los Angeles. I'm getting to like hang
out in.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
A boat with you guys, like all these things that
came from like taking a risk, and so like my
thing to you is the thing that I learned about
doing the show is that, like, sometimes you have to
bet on yourself, and when you do that, usually you win.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
And so that's what I learned.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
I love it.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
So many things I learned over two decades of hosting
and producing the show and watching people come through my
life and be a part of my life. I think
one of the most indelible marks is that life and
people are not so black and white. I think we,
especially now, if you look at our world, we're all
so quick to judge. And when we're watching reality TV.
(19:05):
I noticed very early on when I started the show
back in two thousand and one, two thousand and two,
we were very quick to say, oh, she's the villain,
Oh he's a bad guy. And I quickly learned to
be curious as to why what is it that makes
this person tick, what's behind this, what is the defense mechanism?
What is the thing in their life that made them
(19:27):
this way? And that I think is what made me
pull for sound, made me a better host, a better producer.
Is how to listen and how to look deeper. And
so when I would go into these interviews for after
the final rows of the tell alls and stuff, that's
why I tried to give people the benefit of the
doubt and try to dig a little deeper as deposed
(19:47):
to just like you're bad, you were terrible and that
you know. And so, yeah, life's not so black and white.
There's a lot of gray area.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
There's definitely a lot of nuance when it comes to
the people that you meet on these shows. And just
to brag on the show that I work on, Paradise,
what I love about it is it's always a redemptive story.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Right. It's a bunch of people who were all rejected.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
No one really comes there if they won the show, right,
And a lot of times the villain comes and then
they turn into the hero. It happened this last season
with Brian right, he was the bad guy and then
turned into the good guy. And that's What I like
about the show too, is that you can flip your
story really really quickly. And yeah, it's it's more. People
(20:31):
are so much more nuanced than I think we give
them credit for Mary Beth.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
You're great.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
That guy.
Speaker 5 (20:39):
Thanks Immy. Yes, Hi, my name is Dawn.
Speaker 7 (20:44):
This question is for Wells. Me and my twin sister
are a big fan of Your Favorite Things podcast.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Oh yeah, have tre.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
Yes.
Speaker 7 (20:56):
My question for you, Wells is what's the most funniest,
strangest thing a fan has ever said to you?
Speaker 11 (21:04):
Trying to lighten things up a little bit.
Speaker 5 (21:09):
Why you think my thing is because and I love
this that most people answer. Most people feel like they
know me really well because I was in your house
for so long and the show the job I did,
and I do love that I liked it because we
all know actors like Sarah Hyland. For example, when you
see Sarah, you see the modern family daughter, right, and
so you when you see an actress or an actor
(21:31):
often you see their character. For me, it was like
I was the guy that just hosted the show. So
often I'll be sitting at it like an airport bar,
and then someone will sit next to me just start
telling me their sex life and their story and we
really get deep really quick, which I love because it
makes me feel cool. But I'm also maybe I shouldn't
hear everything, so I hear some really intimate stories.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Okay, I'll tell a story. We did a did a
live hit. I don't know if you remember this. It
was a live like audience hit and I had to
like walk through a crowd of like ravid Bachelor fans
and there was like a boom camera that came down
and I had to be like, and now we're going
out to Jojo and Toronto or something like that.
Speaker 5 (22:19):
Oh that was that big the retrospective store there, Yes.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
You remember it? Yeah, I was in Park City. Okay, yeah,
maybe I was throwing to you. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Anyways, I was walking through it, and I just remember
I was walking. I had like a microphone and like
I had had a mark that I had to hit,
but there was like hundreds of people around me. So
I'm walking to my mark and while I'm walking to
my mark, someone just like grabs grabs my ass and
I'm right before I'm going on TV, and I'm like,
(22:47):
so it's like me going, WHOA.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Out to you?
Speaker 1 (22:51):
In Toronto Jojo and it wasn't something that was something
that was said to me. But I feel like I
was violated a little bit in that moment, and that
was very weird.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
I had.
Speaker 6 (23:03):
I had a girl, very kind hearted human, I'm sure,
did something really weird. She wrote a letter, but she
wrote it from me to her and then she.
Speaker 5 (23:15):
Read it to me.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
It was yeah.
Speaker 6 (23:21):
Yeah, so she read it like she read it out
loud to me in person at like an event I
was doing, and it was like high honey pie.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
And it got really weird.
Speaker 6 (23:35):
And I still have the letter because the restraining order.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
Yeah, good call, that's evidence. That's what we call evidence.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yeah, so that's it.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 7 (23:56):
Hi.
Speaker 8 (23:57):
I'm Talia. I have a question, but for I just
wanted to share a quick, funny thing that my friends
and I over there. We were in high school, Ben,
you were on the show, and we had a kid
in our grade also named Ben Higgins, and he looked
just like you, and it was really funny time out.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
The girls like him.
Speaker 8 (24:16):
Because of you wait, hold on, time out a big
nerve time out?
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Was he unlovable me? I'm six four and so handsome.
Speaker 5 (24:30):
Ever, I'm the best athlete here. No one's gonna love me.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
I like Ben Higgins, thank you, it was great.
Speaker 8 (24:39):
I just wanted to share that. But my question is,
you guys were talking about going on the show for
the right reasons, and I was curious how you know
people actually go on the show for the right reasons,
because I find that some of the time, like that
i'm watching, I feel like people go on for a
social media following, So how can you really tell the difference.
Speaker 5 (24:57):
I'll actually speak on behalf of the show in this regard.
The show was never predicated on the fact that it works,
and it was never predicated on the fact that you
are there for the right reasons. That's life. If we
all go out in New York tonight and you go
to a bar, you go wherever wherever you want to
meet somebody, go to the library, you meet somebody, And
that's part of dating is you got to figure out
(25:18):
is this person using me because of your looks, your
money or whatever. Are they just here for a good time.
And so that's one of the things I loved about
the show is it was just a microcosm of life
and no reference to Chad. But it's on steroids, so yes,
it's bigger, it's grander, and we're on hot air balloons
and we're in Argentina and these extravagant, extreme situations. But
(25:43):
the actual situation, the literal situation, is just normal. It's
just been trying to figure out does this person really
like me? Or do they just want to be on TV?
And those things have changed. When we started in two
thousand and one, two thousand and two, it was a blogger.
Now it's instant you know. Now it's social media, So
(26:03):
the questions have changed a little bit, but the answers
are still the same. At the end of the show,
what I've always loved is that there's a boy and
a girl and not to go you know, you know,
I'm just a girl standing in front of a boy.
But uh one of Thank You, my favorite movie. But
it really is that moment of nothing else matters is
do we love each other? And can we make this work?
(26:26):
That sincerity is what I've always loved.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Okay, I can answer your question for when people are
there for the right reasons because I see it every
season in Paradise and you do too, but you don't
realize it because they get cut out of the show.
You see it on the first couple days, a couple
fall in love. It happened this season with jessin Spencer,
(26:50):
It's happened with Joe and Serena, it happened with Dylan
and Hannah. And when that happens, it's beautiful and for
me to experience it and witness it, it's lovely.
Speaker 5 (27:03):
You're left out Jade and Tanner. The best love story
that was before.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
I wasn't bartending that.
Speaker 5 (27:09):
Were you not there for that season?
Speaker 2 (27:10):
No, that was season two. I came in season three anyway.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
So but they get cut out because they are not
interesting at all because they're in love, right, So you
know the people who are there for the right reasons
by them being cut out because they are not concerned
with the drama. They're only concerned with the one thing
that's in front of them, which is love.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
Don't be alarmed by these Ye are we in trouble?
Speaker 5 (27:33):
Yes, the ship is lowering, it's not sinking. It's okay.
Speaker 6 (27:37):
I would also I would close just add from a
lead Sae, I also think it. I think the most
beautiful fun part of the show is when it comes
to like watching the lead and cheering for the lead
is not how likable they are because the show can
make them likable. It's watching how they adapt and how
they converse in difficult situations and how they navigate those situations.
(28:01):
And I think during that as a lead, you can
really find out who's there for the right reasons or not.
Maybe the leads that leave somebody there for too long
that the audience is like, you're.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Not there for the right reasons. You can probably pick
up on that.
Speaker 6 (28:12):
Then maybe they're not asking the right questions, maybe not
digging in for far enough.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
Okay, thank you, thank you. This is the final question tonight,
when you're.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Ready, thank you.
Speaker 11 (28:27):
I'm Caroline.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Hey Caroline, Caroline.
Speaker 11 (28:30):
I want to know what behind the scenes. I have
a behind the scenes question. It seems like there's some
contestants or what do they call candidates contestants that unless
it's editing, you just know that they're not going to progress.
But they're great television. They're great. They're either a villain
(28:53):
or there's somebody who's given the other they're giving the
other women a problem, but they progress, And I wonder,
like I'll think to myself, Oh, the producers must say
to the bachelors, why don'd you keep that girl on.
Why don't you keep that girl on for another week?
For another week? Because they're great television, and I'm wondering,
(29:13):
is there any truth?
Speaker 5 (29:14):
What do they do?
Speaker 6 (29:15):
Yeah, it's brilliant and I get this question a lot,
and I think it's one of the most like brilliant
things of the show. So here's what happens. You're in
a mansion. Let's picture this, and every room is being
filmed by multiple cameras.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
I am in this room.
Speaker 6 (29:31):
Back behind us here you are out here fighting with
every person in the room. They don't let me out
of this room, right. They bring a girl to me.
I'm hanging out with her back there. They bring a new.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Girl to me.
Speaker 6 (29:45):
And then as soon as soon as everything calms down,
then they say, hey, Ben, you can go out to
that room. You don't know, as the lead, what's happening.
They're not scripting it, they're not telling you what to do.
But they I always say, like this, they are playing
like they have the eyes of God, so they see.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
What's happening every room.
Speaker 6 (30:03):
If they don't want me to walk into that room
at that moment, they don't have me do that. And
then I come out and she's great she's awesome, she's
so fun, she's so enjoyable, and I keep her. Now
it's still up to me to keep her or not. Again,
it's still up to me to ask right questions or not.
It's still up to me to like really dig in.
But especially in the first few weeks, it's really hard
(30:26):
to figure out who the villain is. And that's not
even the question that you really want the lead asking
is being like, all right, who hears bad? They want
the lead asking who hears? Maybe for me, And so
from my perspective as the lead, I was oblivious to
any like mean girl behavior that was going on the
house because I never saw it and nobody ever told
(30:49):
me about it.
Speaker 5 (30:49):
Well, I was very careful to walk that line of
never telling them something that they didn't see for themselves.
And that's it's very difficult because I love this guy
and I liked them immediately. We were good friends, so
it's hard not to say, hey, man, But what I
would try to do is lead him to the right conclusion.
And what I also said is you know Ben or
any other bachelor baucher, I would say, I don't want
(31:10):
to look stupid, I don't want to feel and I said, look,
when you get to that decision, as long as you
get there, it doesn't matter when if it's week one,
week three, week four. As long as you know you
get to the right call, that's all that matters. And
if it takes you a little longer than what the
world gets to see, because you guys get to see everything.
And so we're very careful not to tell them anything
(31:32):
that they didn't know or else. I'm leading them and
I'm telling them what to do, and it's not my journey,
it's it's his. So thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Yeah, just to put a pin on it, I'm that
person that you're talking about. I got so far on
that television show and I was like, I haven't spent
any time with this girl, Like this is amazing. I'm
still I remember every Roads sermon. I was like, this
is wild. I'm still on this TV show.
Speaker 5 (31:58):
Guys, we honestly just for you were there right now.
But my director's like, who is there?
Speaker 1 (32:03):
But I do think that there was like they were
like Jojo, who do you like? It was like I
like Jordan, I like Robbie, I like Chase And they
were like what about Wells?
Speaker 2 (32:10):
And she was like who and they're like, he.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Seems nice, he's good at interview, Let's keep him around.
And every week I was blown away that I was
still there so much so that I remember at some
point they come and they go, we're gonna do We're
doing hometowns next week.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
What do you want to do? Who do you want
to invite? And I was sitting down with the producer.
I remember it vividly. His name was Louie, and he said,
what do you want to do? And I was like,
we don't need to do this. What are you talking about.
We're not going to my house.
Speaker 5 (32:38):
There's no way.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
I spent seventeen.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Minutes with the squirrel and he's like, no, no, no, no,
we gotta do it.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
And I'm like, do you have to do it?
Speaker 1 (32:46):
Because if I find out everyone else got to talk
to you about what they want to do in her
hometown and I didn't get to say that, and I
know I'm going.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
Home and he was like no. I was like, I'm
going home with a sweek car high.
Speaker 5 (33:00):
Thank you very much, thank.
Speaker 9 (33:02):
You, and uh.
Speaker 5 (33:05):
Final thoughts as we say goodbye tonight.
Speaker 6 (33:07):
I mean, it's so fun to reminisce and talk about
and I mean they've said it like these dudes mean
the world to me, and and like good friendships have
been built from this show. But it's really fun to
come up here and talk about a show that has
affected our lives in so many great ways. I looked
back on my time as the Bachelor with nothing but
(33:29):
just excitement and joy and memories and more memories are
being made. So thank you for coming out, I guess
is my final thought, Like, thank you for being here.
It's fun for us to do this together again.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
Wells, yeah, thank you guys so much for coming I'm
sorry I started with the poop story, but like whatever, it.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Was a real thing that happened.
Speaker 5 (33:52):
We got we got a lot closer, a lot quicker.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Yeah, no, this was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
It's really it's weird because you see batster Nation on
social media and you and you talk to them or
tweet to them or whatever. But it's really really lovely
to actually meet you guys. And I've had so much
fun sitting down with these guys, but I've had more
(34:17):
fun getting to meet you guys these two nights, and
we do on more in San Diego, and I just
want to say thank you guys for being such awesome
fans of the dumbest TV show in the room.
Speaker 5 (34:31):
I'll tell you, it's always an honor to be sitting
before you, and you know it's It's never lost on
me the amazing relationships that I have gained my two
decades on this show. But more importantly, it was such
an honor to always be the conduit, to be the
(34:52):
connection between you and what was going on in the show.
And I never took that lightly. I cared about these
people on the show, but I also cared about you.
I cared about the ride that you were on, and
I tried to make it special. I tried to make
it interesting, tried to make it fun, but I tried
to make it sincere and meaningful. And I love my
continued connection with all of you Bachelor Nation, and you
(35:14):
know this is my Bachelor family. But when I kind
of coined the phrase bachel Nation, it got kind of
bastardized and it started meeting everyone that was on the show.
It was always about you. It was always the people
that watched the show. We wouldn't be doing this, we
wouldn't be on this silly ship. We wouldn't have done
this silly show if it weren't for you, and it
moved a generation. When people come and tell me I
(35:36):
watched it with my daughter, or I watched it with
my mom our sisters. We all get together and we
watched this. That means the world to me. Say nothing
else of this silly show. It connected people and I
love that and so I love being here with my
friends tonight to talk to all of you. Thank you
for sharing your Sunday night. It was a tremendous ride. Unfortunately,
(36:05):
it's time to take a moment and say y're goodbyes. No,
you're all going home crying in the back of a limo.
Speaker 6 (36:15):
Hey, can we give it up though, real quick to
the captains of the ship who brought us past.
Speaker 5 (36:20):
We didn't wreck once. Yeah, y'all get home safe. Thank
you for being here. God bless y'all. Take care.
Speaker 2 (36:27):
Thank you guys. We love you.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
Hey, it's been here jumping back in such a fun night,
and we're doing it again. If you want to see myself,
Chris Harrison and Wells Adams, come check us out in
San Diego on December sixth, and you can get tickets
at Cityexperiences dot Com. Again, that's City Experiences dot Com.
(36:51):
We all really hope to see you there.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast on
iHeartRadio or subscribe ever you listen to podcasts.
Hosts And Creators
Ben Higgins
Ashley Iaconetti
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