May 19, 2025 • 11 mins
Ben and Ashley are breaking down the latest in Bachelor Nation headlines, and the future of the Bachelor could be at stake!
Do we think that Paradise will bring the fans back?? And who is really to blame for a "bad" season... the leads or the producers?
Plus, Luke Pell tied the knot, and we get into all the details of the Grant and Juliana break up rumors!
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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 (00:05):
Welcome to the Almost Fais podcast. We are here today
to break down all the headlines happening in Bachelor Nation.
Ashley has read, up, studied, investigated, and is an expert
at all of these headlines, and so she joins us
today to answer any questions I may have. The first
headline is this Jen Tran I saw this actually reacts
to Bachelor franchise being in shambles because of her and
(00:28):
Grant Ellis. Now I want to say, Ashley, before you
break this down, that headline is hinting at something. It's
that fans are blaming Jen and Grant for the downfall
of the show, and so Jen is coming to react
to that.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Yeah, exactly why are you blaming Jen? She had been
screwed over by a guy that they didn't vet and
he was a fraud. Honestly, so Grant, well, Grant, I
just don't think it was the greatest lead.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
But anyway, people are blaming them for the fall of
the franchise.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
That's just that's that's ridiculous, ridiculous, yah yah, And she
is kind of joking back by saying no, no, no,
you guys are looking at it all wrong. I was
actually such an amazing bachelorette and my relationship ended in
such success. They could simply never find anyone to replace me,
because my season will forever be ingrained in your little
(01:26):
brains and you're never going to get it out of
your head. Thank you say it with me, Long Live
Jen Tran. That's what she captioned it.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I mean, it's kind of funny, it's it also takes
some confidence.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Ye Hey, her season was incredibly memorable.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Oh, I think her season was great. I don't think
we can blame jan for the downfall of this show.
I think the show was on kind of a ratings
like some ratings momentum coming off a Joey's season. I
think they had every opportunity to bring this kind of
momentum in through the Golden Shows and The Bachelorette and
(02:06):
The Bachelor. And I do think fans reacted to the
fact that Jin had such a precast and had some
guys on there that obviously should never have been on
national television. And I think the show definitely felt the
repercussions from fans saying I'm done watching this show. If
I can't even watch it and know that these dudes
(02:27):
are decent dudes, and then I do I think Grant
season struggled. It struggled to find a storyline, It struggled
to find any like buy in from the audiences. It
felt disconnected, and as a result, I think all those
things kind of compiled on for the show to be
where it's at today now Ashlely, we're hearing rumors because
(02:49):
it's it means out there the Bachelor has not been
picked up for another season at this point, which at
this point in time usually it is, and we're hearing
rumors that Paradise's ratings will have a massive on if
The Bachelor gets picked up or not for another season.
So the waight now on Paradise is incredible, and it's
(03:11):
a whole new production team coming in to do it.
I guess my simple question to you is it's not simple,
but do you think Paradise will deliver?
Speaker 3 (03:22):
I'm so loyal to the past group of producers that like,
I'm going to just say that they have a lot
to live up to, But I do think people are
really excited for Paradise to be back after the break year.
I said, the break year is probably in the favor
of a new production crew because people have been you know,
they just missing it, so they're eager to press play
(03:44):
on the first or second episode.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
It'll be whether they can grasp them.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
In that to continue people to continue to have people
watch it throughout.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
It's going to be a big question looming over Paradise
all season. Are people watching or not? And here is
my take, They're gonna have a hard time with people
watching because a lot of these cast members fans have
never bought into.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
We shall see.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Our next headline actually has to do with the state
of the franchise.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Disney TV boss talks future of Bachelor franchise, says new
leads must meet the bar of excellence.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
So there's shade.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Now, Jen, I understand you being annoyed at that comment,
but I still don't think that's aimed at Jen. I
think that's aimed at Grant.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I read this headline with complete shade, like they're definitely
blaming leads for the downfall of.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
The show, which isn't it on them to pick the lead?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
That was my question is then whose job is to
pick the lead? Because I know the extensive process by
which this goes through. It used to kind of just
be a Mike Fleiss decision, I know, and then he
would kind of pass it off. But now I'm imagining
that it did go through a bunch of different lanes
to actually say, yeah, you can be our lead. So
(05:03):
I'm hoping and I'll get in trouble for this at
some point in time. Now, you and I both have
a lot of respect for the teams that put on
this show. We have a lot of admiration for the
executives who have cultivated this show for so many seasons.
At some point, though, in any leadership role, big or small,
when failure happens, you have to start looking internally too,
(05:27):
at yourself. You cannot just continue to blame external factors
or decision makings that somebody else did. Because ultimately, this
headline says a TV boss talks future of Bachelor franchise.
They are they have the ability to speak into this
if this is something they actually care about, and so
if anybody listens from the franchise, this might reve you
(05:50):
the wrong way. And I'm not telling anybody specifically, but
if you feel convicted by the statement that I just made,
maybe that's a sign that you should start looking internally
and also blaming yourself for some of the downfalls that
have existed over the last few years.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
But well put okay, So this is his quote. He says,
the Bachelor universe continues to be very important to us.
The Bachelor installments are no different than any other show.
You have to have the right cast and the right
people in front of the camera who have an amazing
story to tell, but also who are willing to share
their story and reveal themselves. We're only going to roll
(06:29):
out these as they come together and meet the bar
of excellence that the tradition of the show has set.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Okay, so it sounds like it could take off seasons.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Yeah, that is what it sounds like, because he's like, oh,
if there aren't people willing to do that, we don't
find these people, then we're only going to put it.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
We're only going to put out good people, is what
they're saying.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Tyler Norris, former Bachelorette contestant and Bachelor and Paradise contestant,
is engaged to his fiancee Alyssa.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yes congratulations you q on Instagram where he announced he said, well, well,
I've been dreaming of this day since I first met you.
You're everything I could have asked for and more. How
to get so lucky to meet you still doesn't make
sense to me. I love you more than I can
explain less. And now let's do this damn thing future,
Missus Norris, love your fiance.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
He wasn't on BECA season?
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Was he? He was on? He was on Tues Seasons
of Paradise. He was on. No, he was definitely not
on BECA season. He was on.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
He's quoting a bachelorette during his.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Let's see this damn thing?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yeah. Ugh, he wasn't the Bachelor. Okay, the Bachelor along
Luke pell mayor is Haley James and western formal wedding
at his family's Texas ranch.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yes, you and I were friends with Luke back at
Bachelor Winter Games.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Congrats.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yes, we're very happy for him. He and Haley have
been together for quite some time and they got married
over this past weekend. It was on his family's ranch
that we saw back when he was on Jojo season.
They had one hundred and seventy guests. They had street
tacos and barbecue and roast chicken and waffles, and they
had what a burger as a late night stack and
(08:32):
instead of one and kick, they had peach cobbler and
banana pudding. They are looking forward to starting a family together.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Congrats Luke, Congratulations to Haley. Congratulations also to Tyler Norris
and his fiancee Alyssa. Love is in the air in
Bachelor Nation and the final headline is this where people
are questioning if love still is in the air. Juliana
and Grant discuss breakup rumors that fans have been wondering
(09:03):
about and if they're still going to Italy.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
So they did a Q and A on their Instagram stories.
We saw them get proposed just two months ago, and
right now they're talking about, you know, they're a dressing
the rumors, and Grant says, we have just been getting
ready for the move and everything, but we are together.
They're moving in together in Boston, or at least that
(09:26):
was the plan when they announced their relationship two months ago,
and he said that when the move happens, we're about
to be everywhere. Juliana also responded to the rumors, saying
it was just a bad rumor, lol, and she hung
up her ring in the video with Grant in the background,
and she said that they have booked flights to Italy
for the trip that the show gets.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
I'm sweet. We hope they're still together.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
We're glad, but you know what, can I just be
a little bit of a drama queen right now, a
little bit of a gossip queen. Always it seems like
there might be some trouble in paradise. I mean, this
is not like the most definitive sounding response to these rumors.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
We've had a lot of bachelor and bachelorette couples tell
us they're doing great, uh, when in fact they're not.
So it's I'm always a little hesitant until like the
day they get married that you know there is trouble
in paradise. I just don't. I don't know what the
two of them.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Then it's the way that he worded this, okay, because
I could break this down instead of saying we are together,
we're excited to move in together in our new apartment
in Boston in so and so months or like next
month or next week or whatever. Instead he started by responding,
we have just I also feel like the word just
is like, Okay, we have just been getting ready for
(10:50):
the move and everything, what's and everything? But we are together,
but we are together, just the way that that's worded,
is not worded with.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
A sense of confidence or clarity. No details.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Yeah, we'll watch, we'll pay attention. So much happening in
Bachelor Nation, so much love in the air. Until next time.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
I've been, Ben, I've been, Ashley Grant and Juliana are
probably never coming on our podcast.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
See you next time. Bye.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcasts on
iHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Welcome to the Almost Fais podcast. We are here today
to break down all the headlines happening in Bachelor Nation.
Ashley has read, up, studied, investigated, and is an expert
at all of these headlines, and so she joins us
today to answer any questions I may have. The first
headline is this Jen Tran I saw this actually reacts
to Bachelor franchise being in shambles because of her and
(00:28):
Grant Ellis. Now I want to say, Ashley, before you
break this down, that headline is hinting at something. It's
that fans are blaming Jen and Grant for the downfall
of the show, and so Jen is coming to react
to that.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Yeah, exactly why are you blaming Jen? She had been
screwed over by a guy that they didn't vet and
he was a fraud. Honestly, so Grant, well, Grant, I
just don't think it was the greatest lead.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
But anyway, people are blaming them for the fall of
the franchise.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
That's just that's that's ridiculous, ridiculous, yah yah, And she
is kind of joking back by saying no, no, no,
you guys are looking at it all wrong. I was
actually such an amazing bachelorette and my relationship ended in
such success. They could simply never find anyone to replace me,
because my season will forever be ingrained in your little
(01:26):
brains and you're never going to get it out of
your head. Thank you say it with me, Long Live
Jen Tran. That's what she captioned it.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I mean, it's kind of funny, it's it also takes
some confidence.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Ye Hey, her season was incredibly memorable.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Oh, I think her season was great. I don't think
we can blame jan for the downfall of this show.
I think the show was on kind of a ratings
like some ratings momentum coming off a Joey's season. I
think they had every opportunity to bring this kind of
momentum in through the Golden Shows and The Bachelorette and
(02:06):
The Bachelor. And I do think fans reacted to the
fact that Jin had such a precast and had some
guys on there that obviously should never have been on
national television. And I think the show definitely felt the
repercussions from fans saying I'm done watching this show. If
I can't even watch it and know that these dudes
(02:27):
are decent dudes, and then I do I think Grant
season struggled. It struggled to find a storyline, It struggled
to find any like buy in from the audiences. It
felt disconnected, and as a result, I think all those
things kind of compiled on for the show to be
where it's at today now Ashlely, we're hearing rumors because
(02:49):
it's it means out there the Bachelor has not been
picked up for another season at this point, which at
this point in time usually it is, and we're hearing
rumors that Paradise's ratings will have a massive on if
The Bachelor gets picked up or not for another season.
So the waight now on Paradise is incredible, and it's
(03:11):
a whole new production team coming in to do it.
I guess my simple question to you is it's not simple,
but do you think Paradise will deliver?
Speaker 3 (03:22):
I'm so loyal to the past group of producers that like,
I'm going to just say that they have a lot
to live up to, But I do think people are
really excited for Paradise to be back after the break year.
I said, the break year is probably in the favor
of a new production crew because people have been you know,
they just missing it, so they're eager to press play
(03:44):
on the first or second episode.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
It'll be whether they can grasp them.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
In that to continue people to continue to have people
watch it throughout.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
It's going to be a big question looming over Paradise
all season. Are people watching or not? And here is
my take, They're gonna have a hard time with people
watching because a lot of these cast members fans have
never bought into.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
We shall see.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Our next headline actually has to do with the state
of the franchise.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Disney TV boss talks future of Bachelor franchise, says new
leads must meet the bar of excellence.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
So there's shade.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Now, Jen, I understand you being annoyed at that comment,
but I still don't think that's aimed at Jen. I
think that's aimed at Grant.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I read this headline with complete shade, like they're definitely
blaming leads for the downfall of.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
The show, which isn't it on them to pick the lead?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
That was my question is then whose job is to
pick the lead? Because I know the extensive process by
which this goes through. It used to kind of just
be a Mike Fleiss decision, I know, and then he
would kind of pass it off. But now I'm imagining
that it did go through a bunch of different lanes
to actually say, yeah, you can be our lead. So
(05:03):
I'm hoping and I'll get in trouble for this at
some point in time. Now, you and I both have
a lot of respect for the teams that put on
this show. We have a lot of admiration for the
executives who have cultivated this show for so many seasons.
At some point, though, in any leadership role, big or small,
when failure happens, you have to start looking internally too,
(05:27):
at yourself. You cannot just continue to blame external factors
or decision makings that somebody else did. Because ultimately, this
headline says a TV boss talks future of Bachelor franchise.
They are they have the ability to speak into this
if this is something they actually care about, and so
if anybody listens from the franchise, this might reve you
(05:50):
the wrong way. And I'm not telling anybody specifically, but
if you feel convicted by the statement that I just made,
maybe that's a sign that you should start looking internally
and also blaming yourself for some of the downfalls that
have existed over the last few years.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
But well put okay, So this is his quote. He says,
the Bachelor universe continues to be very important to us.
The Bachelor installments are no different than any other show.
You have to have the right cast and the right
people in front of the camera who have an amazing
story to tell, but also who are willing to share
their story and reveal themselves. We're only going to roll
(06:29):
out these as they come together and meet the bar
of excellence that the tradition of the show has set.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Okay, so it sounds like it could take off seasons.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Yeah, that is what it sounds like, because he's like, oh,
if there aren't people willing to do that, we don't
find these people, then we're only going to put it.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
We're only going to put out good people, is what
they're saying.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Tyler Norris, former Bachelorette contestant and Bachelor and Paradise contestant,
is engaged to his fiancee Alyssa.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yes congratulations you q on Instagram where he announced he said, well, well,
I've been dreaming of this day since I first met you.
You're everything I could have asked for and more. How
to get so lucky to meet you still doesn't make
sense to me. I love you more than I can
explain less. And now let's do this damn thing future,
Missus Norris, love your fiance.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
He wasn't on BECA season?
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Was he? He was on? He was on Tues Seasons
of Paradise. He was on. No, he was definitely not
on BECA season. He was on.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
He's quoting a bachelorette during his.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Let's see this damn thing?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yeah. Ugh, he wasn't the Bachelor. Okay, the Bachelor along
Luke pell mayor is Haley James and western formal wedding
at his family's Texas ranch.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yes, you and I were friends with Luke back at
Bachelor Winter Games.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Congrats.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yes, we're very happy for him. He and Haley have
been together for quite some time and they got married
over this past weekend. It was on his family's ranch
that we saw back when he was on Jojo season.
They had one hundred and seventy guests. They had street
tacos and barbecue and roast chicken and waffles, and they
had what a burger as a late night stack and
(08:32):
instead of one and kick, they had peach cobbler and
banana pudding. They are looking forward to starting a family together.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Congrats Luke, Congratulations to Haley. Congratulations also to Tyler Norris
and his fiancee Alyssa. Love is in the air in
Bachelor Nation and the final headline is this where people
are questioning if love still is in the air. Juliana
and Grant discuss breakup rumors that fans have been wondering
(09:03):
about and if they're still going to Italy.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
So they did a Q and A on their Instagram stories.
We saw them get proposed just two months ago, and
right now they're talking about, you know, they're a dressing
the rumors, and Grant says, we have just been getting
ready for the move and everything, but we are together.
They're moving in together in Boston, or at least that
(09:26):
was the plan when they announced their relationship two months ago,
and he said that when the move happens, we're about
to be everywhere. Juliana also responded to the rumors, saying
it was just a bad rumor, lol, and she hung
up her ring in the video with Grant in the background,
and she said that they have booked flights to Italy
for the trip that the show gets.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
I'm sweet. We hope they're still together.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
We're glad, but you know what, can I just be
a little bit of a drama queen right now, a
little bit of a gossip queen. Always it seems like
there might be some trouble in paradise. I mean, this
is not like the most definitive sounding response to these rumors.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
We've had a lot of bachelor and bachelorette couples tell
us they're doing great, uh, when in fact they're not.
So it's I'm always a little hesitant until like the
day they get married that you know there is trouble
in paradise. I just don't. I don't know what the
two of them.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Then it's the way that he worded this, okay, because
I could break this down instead of saying we are together,
we're excited to move in together in our new apartment
in Boston in so and so months or like next
month or next week or whatever. Instead he started by responding,
we have just I also feel like the word just
is like, Okay, we have just been getting ready for
(10:50):
the move and everything, what's and everything? But we are together,
but we are together, just the way that that's worded,
is not worded with.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
A sense of confidence or clarity. No details.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Yeah, we'll watch, we'll pay attention. So much happening in
Bachelor Nation, so much love in the air. Until next time.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
I've been, Ben, I've been, Ashley Grant and Juliana are
probably never coming on our podcast.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
See you next time. Bye.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcasts on
iHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
Hosts And Creators
Ben Higgins
Ashley Iaconetti
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