February 18, 2020 • 40 mins
Ben & Ashley break down what may be the most DRAMATIC hometown date in Bachelor history.
They have all the inside info, and all the behind the scenes dirt! Find out what happened with Victoria F on truly the wildest hometown date!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with i R Radio. It is a huge episode. We're
still in Tahoe at Squaw Valley hanging out. Ashley, thank
you so much for coming to Bachelor Live on Stage
last night. It was so much fun. It's pure two
hours of entertainment. I think the best part of the
(00:21):
show is if you love the Bachelor, when you come
to Bachelor Live on Stage, you've got to expect for
the whole season to be condensed down to two hours,
and so you hopefully see some type of connection made
from start to finish within a two hours show. We
talked a lot about Bachelor Live on Stage last episode.
Make sure you go check out our Valentine's Day special
where we ask some ridiculous questions to some of Bachelor
(00:44):
Nation's favorite couples, including Ashley and Jeared. So the part
of us being together on Tahoe meant that we got
to watch the episode together together this weekend, and it
was so much fun doing it as a group, and
I like love that I was able to look at
you in the middle of certain hearts and be like, oh,
(01:05):
we're talking about that. Oh, I can't believe that just
happened and watched as a group in a long time,
because when I do watch as a group, you can
barely hear anything, and we need to pick up all
these little nuances. But it was actually fun and somehow
we were able to really pick up on everything. I
actually think Ashley and I might be wrong. I'm just
gonna throw it out there and see what you think. Um.
(01:27):
In the two and a half years that we've done
this podcast, was last night that it was like, no,
was the last night with this weekend we watched the
episode was the very first time we've ever watched an
episode together. Yeah, I think it actually is something we
should why do more often? It was fun and it
was actually like I do get a little annoyed sometimes,
like in all events watching sports with people, or like
(01:49):
watching the Batcher because you need to hear it. But
when we watched together, people were screaming, yelling, like, I
see why people get so invested in the show now. Yeah,
it's it's fun, it's a team sport. It's a team sport. Well, Ashley,
this is a huge episode. Let's pause here, take one break.
When we come back, we're gonna dive into dissecting this episode.
(02:10):
From start to finish, and trust me, this episode had action,
had drama, had confusion from start to finish. We'll be
back with the Almost Fame podcast. We start out on
(02:30):
the very first hometown date with Hannah and somebody. Actually
at this point in the season, it's now a time
for us to pause to understand who's left and we
can really start to dissect their stories with the bachelor,
which in this case is Peter. Hannah Ann has I
would say been one at the beginning I thought had
a good chance, but yet kind of disappeared, kind of
(02:53):
gotten the fringe of like wait, is she gonna be
the villain, and then kind of was quiet for a
few weeks and now we still see her around. On
what's your thoughts on Hannah Anne? My thought is that, like,
I get why she why he likes her, but I
don't see him falling in love with her. And it
seemed like he was very anxious last night to say
I'm falling in love with you, And it was crazy
(03:14):
that he was like down to say that because her
dad clearly said, do not say this to my daughter
unless basically she's the one, Like unless you one no
doubt feel it, So like he likes her enough. You're
telling me that after that conversation with the dad, he
likes her enough to do it. He loves her enough.
(03:37):
That would be my That would be my take. If
I just had last night and a micro coos him
to review, I would have watched the dad's conversation with Peter.
How intentional the dad was by saying, Peter, I'm not
going to close this door on you, Like I'm not
totally against this, but just know, if this is not
pretty much what I took from this is, if this
(03:57):
is not a first sure thing, please don't tell my
daughter this. And I get this from my own experience.
I've been there, like those words matter. And then he just,
you know, closes the door. You know, he walks out
of the house, two steps, closes the door and says it. So,
in my take, Ashley, if I were to sit here
to today with you without knowing anything else, I would say,
(04:18):
Hannah and is the front runner? I guess so right
based on that, we would have to say the intentionality
of the conversation. And then how quickly he responded by saying, Hannah,
and your dad told me not to say this unless
you're the one, but I'm falling for you, but he
knows that his feelings for Madison are stronger. We don't
know that right now. Based on last week, I think
(04:43):
that the dude knows. I'm saying, just on that conversation
and how Peter responded, we have to say, Hanah AND's
the front unner. Just to preface this whole breakdown of
the episode, the dates on hometowns are great, They're fine.
I don't think we get to know a lot about
the person before we get to the house. The house, like,
we don't even talk about that. Yeah, the house is
what matters. So we start out hot. I know last
(05:05):
night when we were watching the episode, we're freaked out.
We both this is the first time we looked at
each other. We're like, holy cow, and I wonder and
we don't know this ship. This could either be. I
will say this, and and everybody's knows that I've been
a proponent of Peter all season. I think he's a
nice guy. I think the contestants overwhelmed him. I think
(05:27):
he really wants to see this work. I think we
need to still root for Peter. I will say this,
mark my words. The decision Peter made last night after
having the conversation with Handa, Anne will either go down
as the most beautiful moment of the season or his
worst mistake. His worst we already saw a worst mistake
later in the episode. We're not there yet. I will say,
(05:47):
I will say that when a dad looks at you,
or any family member looks at you and says, please
do not say this to my daughter unless it is
the real thing, and then you respond by saying it,
it either will be a beautiful moment for us to
celebrate and go that's when we recognized it, or if
he doesn't choose Hannah, and at the end, we'll say
(06:08):
that was a really terrible decision. And I and I
speak from this not in judgment, because I've been there.
I've made a similar mistake in my life on this experience,
and I know the emotions of how that feels. I'm
saying for my own mistakes and that I've learned from
and looking back on, it will either be a great
moment or a really really hard moment. Okay, So I'm
(06:30):
gonna just not agree with you here because I think
there's gonna be I think him you know, I know
I'm skipping ahead, but I think him keeping Victoria is like,
you're right, maybe not morally as much of a mistake
as it is just like talk to a girl's dad
and then say it. But I think that the drama ahead,
based on the scenes for the next episode, allude to
(06:51):
me that he makes a bigger mistake. We don't Actually
what I'm saying is we don't. I don't, we don't know.
I know you're talking about in this episode, what we
know so far leading up to this point without assuming anything,
we cannot assume anything of how this plays out assumptions
we at this point, that's where we're at. Moving on.
Then we get in the next home date, hometown date,
(07:12):
which was it was Kelsey Kelsey. I think at this
point we pretty much knew that unless at this point
we're watching the episode chronologically, it felt like Kelsey definitely
had the least amount of connection with Peter outside of
everybody else. In my opinion, yeah, I guess we're at
(07:35):
that point. I don't know. I don't know. I think
that based on me, you know, I don't know, because
watching them versus watching Hannah Ann and him, I feel
more of a connection between him and Kelsey than him
and Hannah and Why is that you felt like that
the whole season. You've been a Kelsey supporter. Really, Yeah,
(07:56):
because I get her because she's such a crier, she's
so expressive her emotion. She's so like shamelessly open about it.
So I like her because of that. But I also
feel like he's the kind of guy that really connects
to women who show emotion. And I just feel like,
like two weeks ago he was asking Hannah and to
show him more, and this in this episode, like he's
(08:18):
falling in love with her. Like, I just don't know
where this came about. I did, actually, and I don't
know if it will be a popular opinion or not.
I really did enjoy Kelsey and Peter's date at the wine.
I thought the wine thing was really fun. I thought
it was a good date. It was a fun idea.
I think it'd actually be a great group date on
the season if everybody stood inside and made some wine.
Maybe they've done it, I don't know. But the um
(08:39):
then we go to the home, which we've learned about
Kelsey's home life really throughout the season, and the bad
thing didn't come up. The dad thing didn't come up,
which was surprising to me. Because it was such a
powerful moment for their relationship early on in the season.
Yeah wait, thinking about that, that's so crazy. You would
think that they would have had some play on the
dad during Hometowns after she did big reveal to him
(09:01):
last week about how she's in touch with him but
her mom doesn't know yet. So that part was intrigued
to me. Not because I need to get into their
family business and as a viewer I don't, but like,
if I was Peter and if I'm Kelsey, I'm walking
into that house going what is the dynamic? Like I
want to ask some of the questions to understand how
the mom feels. Well, we don't know. Was it it
(09:24):
was a stepdad, Yeah, it's a stepdad. So I think
Kelsey's hometown date was done beautifully, but it felt like
it fell short compared to the others. Okay, fair enough, yes,
fair enough, fair enough. So at this point in the episode, UM,
(09:45):
just to make this as simple as possible for everybody
listening and for ourselves, we have a hometown date with
Hannah Ann and a hometown date with Kelsey. Hannah Ann's
hometown date, I thought felt emotional. It felt like it
pulled at the heartstrings. It felt like Hannah An maybe
for the first time all season, was authentically looking at
(10:07):
Peter and going, I don't want to lose you. I
think the rest of the time was kind of this confusion,
like I really am falling for you. I like you
a lot. I think I think I might love you,
but I don't know. I thought at the hometowns it
maybe hit her that this guy is somebody she doesn't
want to lose. Okay, I really wish that I could
feel this. I don't feel it. I don't feel Hannah
(10:28):
and this connection to him at all. Tori, I think
I need another girl's perspective. Are you feeling are you?
Are you feeling at all about Peter and any connection?
And this is not me like mean girling her because
at the beginning of the season I didn't love her.
Producer Tori, who is kindly engineering and editing this podcast
(10:52):
here in Tahoe, is sitting here with a response, I
haven't felt a connection from the beginning. That's just me.
I also will say, though I don't know if the
person to ask, because I don't feel connection with any
of these girls, i'd feel a connection. I feel like
he has a connection obviously with Victoria f and then
which is weird, which is weird about one and then
we I obviously feel like he has a connection with Madison.
(11:15):
I think Hannah, and it's like he loves his little
Alabama girls, you know, and she's endearing and she's sweet
and she's beautiful. But I don't think he really I
don't interpret it as like he sees her as his wife.
He sees her as like she's just really cute girl
and like we're doing this together. Yeah, he's she's a
really cute girl like he'd like to date. But like,
I don't think that he has like this overwhelming emotion
(11:37):
for her. But I guess I'm wrong considering he's saying
I'm falling in love with it. Well yeah. And I
will say though his his letter, the list of things
he loves about her was sweet of him to do. Yes,
it was sweet, and it's a gesture that like he
didn't need to do. I will say that from personal
experience on the show is that had to be his choice.
He had to be sitting there going I want to
offer Hannah and something and this was his choice to do,
(11:59):
which is a very very good moment. Moving on then
from the hannah An and Kelty we get into really
the pivotal moments of this episode. We've all been interested
in madison storyline. We felt, like a lot of us
that Madison had the most genuine relationship with Peter and
(12:19):
probably the best potential to be with Peter long term
after this experience. We felt like that for really weeks
since week one. It's a lot of times our listeners
have been writing us like crazy saying that she is
the only one that they have felt any connection with,
that any type of like rooting for in this whole thing.
(12:40):
So this was a big moment for Peter to go
to her hometown. Uh. We pick it up in at
Auburn University, where Madison's father is an assistant basketball coach there,
and then we go to a beautiful home wherever. That
was their beautiful home there in Auburn, which I thought
was like the coolest thing I've ever seen. I love
that style very um And there is some underlying things
(13:05):
with the relationship with Madison and Peter that I don't
feel like either of them are doing a great job
talking about. And I think it came to the surface
during Hometowns when the family asked Madison, Madison pretty much,
how much does Peter know about you and your choices
and your morals and your values in life, the faith
that you hold and why you hold to this faith.
(13:27):
And it felt like at that moment she froze and like,
I'm assuming what we saw she wanted to say is
he doesn't know a lot about it, which is obviously,
to the people that know and love Madison best, the
most foundational important thing about who she is and what
makes her tick. Yeah. I feel like when we're watching
(13:51):
that part, I kind of feel for Madison because her
parents are like, have you had these serious conversations? And
she's like, well, I've broached the topic. We definitely discussed it.
But I think in her head she's probably like, you
guys don't understand this process. I've had to one on
ones with them, Like that's two dates, Like would you
be bringing this stuff up on your third day in
(14:12):
real life? Like it's not you really want to like
create a camaraderie before you start getting that serious. I
do agree. I think there's an intentionality to it all.
I think, and I've said this before, I think it's
the part that Peter has missed on the most all
season is digging in and asking important Okay, so that's
that's definitely I think he did is when she brings
(14:34):
up to him in the last episode, like to talk
about any of those things is not easy, you know.
Jessica and I, I'd say it took us a few
dates when we really started to talk about, Hey, these
are my expectations, these who this is who I want
to be. This is how I need you to respect
me and like honor me as a person. We both
shared that to each other early on, so that I
(14:55):
could be the man that she needed me to be
to her, and she could be the woman that I
needed her to be to me. That wasn't too far
into our relationship that we started to have those kind
of conversations. Just say, as we progressed forward, just know
these are my boundaries, these are my standards, these are
this is how I need to be treated, and this
is what I know I want in a relationship. That
wasn't too far along in our relationship. So so here's
(15:16):
the problem. And again let me preface this was saying
I am a Peter fan. I like this guy. I
think he got a rough go at it when Madison
brings up to him the topic of faith yes last
week and why faith was so important to her. I
(15:38):
will tell you this, in any dating relationship show or
not dig in, ask why be curious, be be incredible,
be so non apologetically curious that at the end of it,
even if you disagree, and even if you have to
part ways, at least you understand. And I felt like
after that conversation we glossed over it, and last week
(16:01):
you were saying last week that you felt like, but
I think it's now becoming an issue. It's coming to
the surface this week because of the lack of communication
last week. I guess I would say to play Devil's advocate, like,
perhaps that stuff was edited out. We're not going to
see like this in depth religious Actually, I'm gonna interrupt
you there. Though I would agree with you that could
(16:23):
think I'm just I playing Devil's advocate. I agree with
you that it could have been edited out. If at
hometowns when her family asked her how much about this
Peter knows and she doesn't know how to receive, she
wouldn't stuttered. She would have said, oh, we had a
great conversation about it last week. And this is how
he responded to me, this is what we talked about. Instead,
she was like, well, not a lot. Well, I think
in that moment with her mom, she was directly referring
(16:45):
to saving herself her marriage, and I think Madison was like,
I talked about faith with him, but I didn't spell
that part out yet, Okay. And I don't think it's
wrong of her to wait to fantasy Suites to really
have that conversation. Becca did. Becca waited until fantasy Suites
for Christals. I think it's a fair time. I think
(17:09):
because there's a connotation around fantasy suites, you're going to
be spending the night together. What do you expect? What
do you want? Like, I think expectations have to get
set on both sides. We don't know what happens next
week with any of this, but what we do know
is that it has to be talked about now like
it has this. We have to see both of those
(17:29):
Madison and Peter step up and start sharing who they
are as people if we're going to root for them
to be an actual couple afterwards. Well, we see at
the end of the episode she pulls him aside. She's
obviously about to go tell him that fair, I hope.
So yeah, I mean I assume, but again, can we
really assume anything on this show. So I think we
see her pulling him aside, and I think that's where
(17:50):
she's first going to tell him that she's gonna wait
till marriage. And then we see them on in a
date setting where she goes where she says something along
the lines of I'm not going to be okay. She said,
I'm not going to be okay with you sleeping with
anybody else, or I would consider leaving if I knew
that you sleep with anybody else. Yes, we do see that.
(18:13):
So here Ashley is where which we may come up
with some parallels to the Luke situation, but I don't
think we should approach that until next week when we
actually see the conversation go down. But here's the thing
that we'll be watching for. How Madison presents the topic.
Is it the meaning is? Does it feel like she
is putting Peter in a corner? Does it feel like
(18:34):
she is diminishing who what he feels is right and wrong?
Or is she open to having a conversation so that
she can share who she is so Peter can share
who he is, and they can come to some type
of agreement and understanding in the middle. I think that
will be the difference between Luke p and Madison. Okay,
so the crux of the argument last Okay, there was
so many problems with Luke P. But a lot of
(18:56):
people had the problem with him that he said that
he was trying to tell Hannah what to do with
her body, and in this case it might be Madison
telling Peter the same. Is there gonna be a double standard?
I think listeners, Please write us in at the Ben
and Ashley I at my Please write us at Ben
(19:17):
and Ashley at iHeart media dot com. Let us know
your thoughts. Will there be a double standard? Again, we
are assuming we're predicting, But write us in and say,
what is it that you're looking for in that conversation
with Madison? Because here's the other problem, Ashley, I want
and I believe that these conversations need to exist in relationships.
(19:39):
So how are they done correctly? And then how are
they also done poorly? So that's gonna be really interesting
to see how how Madison handles it. Next week, huge storyline,
and we can't cannot neglect the final hometown date. When
we come back, we are gonna finish breaking down this episode.
We're gonna talk Victoria F. And then we might just
(20:02):
have to come back around and close out this episode
by talking about the roast ceremony. We'll be back with
the almost famous podcast Victoria F's Hometown Ish. It felt
so good for not very long, actually all season. I
(20:25):
mean honestly, it was brought up to me with Becca
and Jesse when they came into the podcast is when
I first recognized that Victoria F has this tendency to
run away to kind of like flip the conversation a
little bit, but also just that her and Peters really
ship felt so unhealthy. It starts out great, but actually
it's actually wacky when you think about the fact that
(20:46):
he kept her after all this, It's really like, what
the hell does she do to him? Producer Amy thinks
that she has like a voodood all and like she's
doing some sort of spells on him, which actually at
this point doesn't even seem like that wacky. Um. Okay,
So they're out on a date. Hunter Hayes shows up,
which is funny because you know another country star. I
would ask her right away, you haven't dated Hunter Hayes. Right,
(21:09):
did you hear the you know the lyrics of that song.
It's like this, it's a crazy um is it? Um?
I don't need crazy? What is it? I don't want easy,
I want crazy? Like I wonder if they were playing
into that. I think the show always has some undertones
to it. I believe that fully. So. Then his ex
(21:30):
Marissa comes up, and it seems like they have a
very friendly, trusting relationship. They maybe ex is, but it
seems like they ended on good terms, or they ended
up very long time ago and they just don't care
what happened anymore. But she seems like a resource um
that he would trust. And she comes up to him
and says, I'm really worried about you pursuing this stuff
(21:50):
further with Victorias. She has a really bad reputation around
here in the Virginia Beach area. And then, you know,
if I were Peter, this is one of those times
been where he doesn't dig, I'd be like, what what
do you mean? Like tell me everything? I'd like, tell
me everything. He's shocked. He is, He's shocked and thrown off.
And I think Ashley, in this moment two he had
(22:11):
had such a good day with the woman. He's obviously
into that. It just felt defeating. I think he was
just defeated. Yeah, he was like again, more drama with
her again. So Marissa says that Victoria f has broken
up relationships in the past, has meddled, and those relationships
have gone after her involvement, So he doesn't, you know,
(22:36):
he doesn't dig further than that, And I would be like,
tell me everything you know. But then again, okay, and
then from our sources that we hear that are close
to the situation, who have known Victoria in the past
in Virginia Beach, and we hope to have one of
these sources on the podcast by the end of the season.
But right now I can just say that allegedly they
(23:00):
say that she has broken up marriages, her friends marriages.
We don't have confirmation of this. All we're saying is
that our source is telling us that that is their
opinion of what has gone down between Victoria and some
other men in the Virginia Beach area. This is obviously
(23:24):
just something we've heard. It is not confirmed by any means.
But no matter what, this is a heavy situation for
Peter to process. I cannot imagine being in his footsteps
going on a great date with somebody he cares about,
having somebody come up to you randomly who you've dated.
(23:47):
In saying, Peter, I think you're a great guy and
as a result, I need you to know this that
is I mean, watching this again is one of those
moments that we talked about every season. It's like one
of those moments where like this becomes very real, very quickly,
and I feel for Peter because you see it in
his eyes where it's just like I don't like, I
don't even understand, Like I don't get what you're saying.
(24:10):
And let's cut it there, because I think the most
important piece of this is Marissa is sharing something with Peter.
He ends it with going, I don't understand. I just
feel defeated. I'm confused. We pick it up again with
Peter showing up at the doorsteps sharing that only Hey, Victoria,
I don't understand. I feel defeated. I'm confused. This is
(24:33):
what was said to me, and I need to ask
you about it because I just need to get it
out there. I I can't I care about you too
much to let this hang over us. And I thought
her response was wildly unfair Todahim. Okay, So first let's
just say that she does address the relationship breaking and
like the first line she says, like did she say
(24:55):
like I and we need I wish I could have
the quote, but she said something like I absolutely have
not that not the truth, right, something along the lines
of like denial. There was denial. There was one sentence
of denial before she flips the entire conversation and makes
it about how he came here to see her family
(25:15):
and how she can't believe that he's bringing something like
that up. And it was just like a whole thing
where she flipped the conversation and made herself the victim
in it. What do we call that? What is that called?
There's I'm sure there's some like millennials lighting. This is
like a new expression that I'm not really sure it's
(25:36):
such a millennial thing. I'm trying to learn what it means.
But it basically means like taking a situation and like
making the other person feel bad about even bringing it
up in the first place. Yeah, exactly makes it's trying
to make the other person feel crazy in the situation,
and that's exactly what we were feeling here, let's take it.
(25:56):
Definitely was trying to make him feel crazy. I thought
it was so unfair, because I really do. Everybody's given
Peter so much heat this season, like so much, so
much heat, and they've also given the ladies a lot
of heat as well. I'm saying that it's not like
they haven't got off Scott Tree. But I thought he
handled this really well. I thought he went into it,
took a deep breath, he wasn't angry, he didn't come
out with emotion. He just said, Victoria, I need to
(26:18):
know this, And all of a sudden he had to
get defensive because she's going, you came all the way here,
and I was so excited for you mean my family,
and you have to bring this up, and he's like, Victory,
That's not what I'm saying. I just I need to
talk to my partner right now. So many things. He
does handle these situations really well. Like he does he
does not have a temper, like, he does not flare up.
(26:39):
He really is able to stay even keeled, and I
think it's super impressive. But I can't believe that he's
actually saying so even keeled when she's slipping this conversation
on him like at this point he should probably say
something like you stop doing this, back stop, I need
to know about what Marissa said, And he never stopped
(27:01):
her and never readdressed the actual crux of the situation.
It's actually the truth of all this too, is there's
an interesting moment where he's standing there in the uh
like driveway or in the road with Victoria, and she
started saying some stuff to him, and and as we
watched together, everybody was like, what, like, what is she saying?
(27:23):
In Peter's first response was what are you saying? Like?
This isn't making any sense to me, and it wasn't
making any sense to any of us. And we leave
this conversation, all of us really frustrated, feeling really bad
for Peter and also I mean in a sense just
that this conversation had to exist in general, and also
(27:44):
really confused if it was true or not, because Victoria
never completed a sentence. Oh no, no, I was not
confused because if anything, her silence and her not denying
the allegations was was her telling him exactly what happened,
and that was that what Marissa said was true. If
(28:05):
if some I'm trying to put myself into her shoes.
So if there was something that was asked of me
that was not true, like if somebody sat down and said, been,
i've heard this about you, and this is what I've heard,
I need to know. I think defense being defensive right
away is a a natural response. I think you could
be like, well, well, this is like but then all
(28:26):
of a sudden, I think there's a calmness to it
and go, I need you to know that this is
not true, and I don't know how to prove it
to you, but please like understand that what was ever
said is not the case, or like there's a confirmation.
They're just saying, like, I know right now this feels heavy.
I know it feels weird, but like we're like, I'm
willing to work with you for you to understand that
(28:48):
this these allegations aren't true, and like I just need
you to stick with me as we try to figure
this out. I think that's the fair response. Instead, we
got a lot of like open ended thoughts of like
why don't you want to meet my family? This is
so sad, moving us into then the next morning, which
I didn't even know I thought that he I thought
I broke up with her. I was like, what is this?
He just left in the car. There was no conclusion
(29:09):
there exactly, So moving is in the next morning, everybody
pretty much assumed that Victoria f was gone, that she
and that Peter had broken up with her. He's in
some hotel room. I can't believe they couldn't have found
him a nicer hotel. That thing looks it looks it
looks like something that I've I've never I haven't stayed
in a long time. Um, But Victoria knocks the door
(29:35):
and Ashley we pick it up here with a conversation
that still didn't feel conclusive. Conclusive. It felt like a
very similar conversation tonight before, except there was no blaming
and no shaming that. Yeah, it was like a better
conversation as far as like tonality goes, but there's still
was no there was no selbstance to it. Here's what
I don't like about it, though. The conversation only got
(29:57):
to a place of substance because Peter started out right
away by apologizing. Why exactly why is he apologizing? First?
He does have a voodoo doll. Mean, moving us into
the Rose ceremony, where expectations are that probably Victoria f
is going home, but nobody really knows that he decides
(30:18):
to take her, he just has to take her to
the Rose ceremony. He does, which is shocking, shocking, but
also as a viewer, you're sitting there going, Okay, let's
see how this plays out. We have so much information now.
I think most people were like, not, let's see how
this plays out. Most people were cursing at him through
the TV. Well, I have a feeling that people are.
(30:39):
I have a feeling that this will not be a
great episode for Peter, and that is so sad to
me because I really wanted to see these next few
episodes be really good for him, so that he came
out of this on top. And I still believe you
will again. I still believe there's time and I still
believe that will in this by going, Hey, he might
have not been the best Bachelor ever that we would
(30:59):
have expected, but he's been good, and he tried so
hard and he cared so much, and I and I
know Bachelor Nation will root for him. Can we can
we say that like some people can be fantastic, good charactered,
kind hearted people and do not make a good Bachelor like,
just because you don't handle the process that well doesn't
mean that you're not a great person. You're just not
(31:21):
a great bachelor. Let's not hate. I don't think anybody
out there hates Peter. I think a lot of people
are upset with this season. I don't think they're going, oh,
Peter is awful, and I've never heard that people are
saying Peter isn't what we're hoping for. Maybe um, but
we don't. We and we just don't love this season
because it's hard to root for anybody, and it's a
(31:41):
little bit of a disappointment because we expected big things
from him. Like I think expectations were so high for
Peter that I felt like he was set up to fail.
So many people are just saying he should have just
been from handed with Hannaby from the start. I mean,
at this point, I'm not shocked if that still happens,
and I but that's a whole another conversation. Hey, So
(32:02):
we get to the Rose ceremony. Long story short, Kelsey
goes home, Victoria f stays, Madison stays, Hannah Ann stays, Ashley.
I will let you have your moment here because I
think you, along with a lot of other people at
that moment, we're yelling at the screen. So I knew
(32:25):
that once he I mean I knew in my soul,
not like as a fact, that when he brought Victoria
f to that Rose ceremony, she was going to stay.
So I immediately in my head eliminated Kelsey because if
he was going to eliminate Victoria, he would have just
done it in Virginia Beach. So I was not shocked
come the Rose ceremony were, but I also was shocked,
(32:48):
like I was just shocked that it actually happened. And
I just can't believe that he led a girl through
after those allegations were presented, and he didn't dig to
find out the truth about them. That is what's mind
boggling to me, is that for some reason he doesn't
even want to know if it was true, or he
(33:09):
wants to ignore it for as long as he possibly can.
I think a lot of viewers watched this week's episode
with frustration at the end. I think they were frustrated.
I think they felt like there's a lot of like
anger and just confusion. I think a lot of people
are on the edge of their seat for next week,
not because they're looking forward to it, but because they
just want to see some type of conclusion. And I
(33:30):
also think Batchelor nation out there is really wanting some
type of beauty from the season, and there's been very
few beautiful moments, very few moments to celebrate. But what
a cliffhanger between Victoria getting through, which is just like
a cliffhanger, and it's in itself because it's just so
mind boggling, and then with Madison pulling Peter aside, I
(33:51):
can't wait to see how that conversation goes. I was like, Ben,
we gotta get the screener right now. I can't wait
another week. I cannot wait another week. I think this.
I'm glad Madison did it. Then I was sitting there
and I was trying to think about do I like
this decision by her to pull him Now? I think
it was a good decision. I think it gives him
some time to think about it. It gives her some
(34:11):
time to think about it about long flight to Australia.
It gets it off her chest, it gets it out there,
you know what, I hope and the one thing we
have to give. I don't know if we've seen a
bachelor console and work through really difficult conversations as well
as Peter has just by keeping his temper down, I
think he's done a great job that. I don't think
(34:32):
he asked a lot of questions in return, but I
think he keeps it very even Keel and I believe
he is. This is the thing. Peter might be the
most approachable bachelor we've ever seen, and so like I.
I bet Madison feels comfortable, which is so important relationships
to go up to Peter at any moment and say, Peter,
this is on my mind, this is hurting me, this
(34:54):
is something I need to get off my chest. Were
you talk to me about it? And I bet Peter
is happy to talk about it. I think he looked
we'll look at Madison go I'm so glad you told me.
But all right, we don't know yet, Ladies and gentlemen.
This has been a season of up and downs. It
has been a controversial season. It has been a season
that very few people are celebrating, but a lot of
people are watching. I'm hoping for beauty in the following weeks, Ashley.
(35:18):
As we've done every week, we've graded Peter after this
week in your final thoughts in the episode. What's your
grade with Peter and what's your final thoughts on this episode?
For this episode, I think that Peter gets a D. There, Okay,
what's the other one final thoughts in the episode? My
(35:40):
final thoughts in the episode about the teaser? I need
to know we need to talk about the teaser because
I think Victoria f comes through as a villain because
I think she's like Madison is telling him that he's
not allowed to sleep with other girls, and she gets
really sassy about that. Also very interesting are the teasers.
(36:00):
It shows that these three final girls are living together
in the same suite. Normally, once you do you get
top four, you're separated completely throughout the entire process except
at Rose ceremonies. So I think to enhance the drama
and any tension between Madison and Victoria, they've put all
the girls together in the one suite. It's an interesting episode.
(36:23):
It's gonna be wild. You have the three women living together. Ashley,
You're wrong, very very little from the show. We'll be
excited to watch the next episode. Let's cheer for some beauty,
Let's cheer for some love. Let's cheer that all of
these women in this process, Um glad that they did it.
(36:43):
We've said it every year that at the end of
all of this, all we ask is that the women
look at this whole thing say at least I'm glad
I did it, And right now it feels like a
few of the women might not be glad they did it.
Can't imagine Victoria f comes out of this pride And
I'm rooting for Peter Uh. My grade on Peter would
(37:04):
be low this week, but it's also just because I
feel like he needs to ask more questions. But my
grade of him overall is high. I'm a Peter fan.
I like the guy. I really want to see him
find somebody from this, and if he doesn't from this,
then I know he's gonna be just fine. On the
other side, you should probably just go ahead and be now,
let's root for Peter Uh. In the coming months Everybody
(37:26):
Wild episode the Almost Famous podcast and of The Bachelor,
we have breaking news that we need to discuss a
difficult topic to talk about. Friends of this podcast, friends
of ours. We've attended the weddings UM, They've attended Ashley's wedding. UM.
(37:46):
Crystal and Chris have announced publicly a split. Actually, what
do we know about it? So they're calling it a separation.
They both need time to develop, you know, their own
selves more. We don't really have much information. I saw
Crystal last week. I'm gonna be honest, I knew that
there were rumors flying, but I truly did not know
(38:09):
how to approach the situation, the topic when it was
out of live podcast and it just wasn't very private,
and we reached out. We haven't heard anything from them yet,
and it's just really it's really sad, but I'm gonna
keep hope and thinking that it is a separation. They
have not announced a divorce, and if anyone can come
(38:33):
back together, these two wild people can do it, because
you know, they've even gone through situations like this before
last December they kind of broke up or they were
really on the rocks and they made a decision to
stay together. And well, now a year later, it seems
like they're not making the decision to stay together. But
(38:55):
they're also not filing for divorce papers. So I wouldn't
be surprised to see in a couple of months these
two rekindle things. There isn't a lot of information out
there yet, but The statement reads this from Crystal and Chris.
It hurts announced that at this moment, we have mutually
decided to separate. They send in a statement to Bachelor
Nation dot com. This is the official website of Bachelor
(39:18):
Show producers. Never did we imagine the scenario, but we've
come to a point where we both need to work
on ourselves. We are best friends that love and care
for each other so deeply. We've appreciated everyone's love and
support so far throughout our journey, and we just ask
that you please respect our privacy as we navigate through
(39:38):
this process. That's all we know at this point. We're
rooting for them. Um, they just recently got married in May.
Uh so it's a new relationship and we all know
that relationships aren't easy. And as Ashley can attest marriage, uh,
it's fun, it's it's enjoyable, but it is not easy.
All this time, not rainbows and butterflies and and and
(40:00):
so Hey, we're sending up our best wishes to Crystal
and Chris, and we hope to hear from one of
them soon on this podcast to give all of us
a little more info when they're ready. When they're ready, Hey,
Bachelor nation uh go to Bachelor live on stage dot Com.
We'll be coming to an area near you very soon.
With that, I've been guys, and I cannot wait to
talk to you next week because it's gonna be so good.
(40:21):
I can't wait for the next episode. She's very excited.
Follow the Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast on
iHeart Radio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
This is the Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with i R Radio. It is a huge episode. We're
still in Tahoe at Squaw Valley hanging out. Ashley, thank
you so much for coming to Bachelor Live on Stage
last night. It was so much fun. It's pure two
hours of entertainment. I think the best part of the
(00:21):
show is if you love the Bachelor, when you come
to Bachelor Live on Stage, you've got to expect for
the whole season to be condensed down to two hours,
and so you hopefully see some type of connection made
from start to finish within a two hours show. We
talked a lot about Bachelor Live on Stage last episode.
Make sure you go check out our Valentine's Day special
where we ask some ridiculous questions to some of Bachelor
(00:44):
Nation's favorite couples, including Ashley and Jeared. So the part
of us being together on Tahoe meant that we got
to watch the episode together together this weekend, and it
was so much fun doing it as a group, and
I like love that I was able to look at
you in the middle of certain hearts and be like, oh,
(01:05):
we're talking about that. Oh, I can't believe that just
happened and watched as a group in a long time,
because when I do watch as a group, you can
barely hear anything, and we need to pick up all
these little nuances. But it was actually fun and somehow
we were able to really pick up on everything. I
actually think Ashley and I might be wrong. I'm just
gonna throw it out there and see what you think. Um.
(01:27):
In the two and a half years that we've done
this podcast, was last night that it was like, no,
was the last night with this weekend we watched the
episode was the very first time we've ever watched an
episode together. Yeah, I think it actually is something we
should why do more often? It was fun and it
was actually like I do get a little annoyed sometimes,
like in all events watching sports with people, or like
(01:49):
watching the Batcher because you need to hear it. But
when we watched together, people were screaming, yelling, like, I
see why people get so invested in the show now. Yeah,
it's it's fun, it's a team sport. It's a team sport. Well, Ashley,
this is a huge episode. Let's pause here, take one break.
When we come back, we're gonna dive into dissecting this episode.
(02:10):
From start to finish, and trust me, this episode had action,
had drama, had confusion from start to finish. We'll be
back with the Almost Fame podcast. We start out on
(02:30):
the very first hometown date with Hannah and somebody. Actually
at this point in the season, it's now a time
for us to pause to understand who's left and we
can really start to dissect their stories with the bachelor,
which in this case is Peter. Hannah Ann has I
would say been one at the beginning I thought had
a good chance, but yet kind of disappeared, kind of
(02:53):
gotten the fringe of like wait, is she gonna be
the villain, and then kind of was quiet for a
few weeks and now we still see her around. On
what's your thoughts on Hannah Anne? My thought is that, like,
I get why she why he likes her, but I
don't see him falling in love with her. And it
seemed like he was very anxious last night to say
I'm falling in love with you, And it was crazy
(03:14):
that he was like down to say that because her
dad clearly said, do not say this to my daughter
unless basically she's the one, Like unless you one no
doubt feel it, So like he likes her enough. You're
telling me that after that conversation with the dad, he
likes her enough to do it. He loves her enough.
(03:37):
That would be my That would be my take. If
I just had last night and a micro coos him
to review, I would have watched the dad's conversation with Peter.
How intentional the dad was by saying, Peter, I'm not
going to close this door on you, Like I'm not
totally against this, but just know, if this is not
pretty much what I took from this is, if this
(03:57):
is not a first sure thing, please don't tell my
daughter this. And I get this from my own experience.
I've been there, like those words matter. And then he just,
you know, closes the door. You know, he walks out
of the house, two steps, closes the door and says it. So,
in my take, Ashley, if I were to sit here
to today with you without knowing anything else, I would say,
(04:18):
Hannah and is the front runner? I guess so right
based on that, we would have to say the intentionality
of the conversation. And then how quickly he responded by saying, Hannah,
and your dad told me not to say this unless
you're the one, but I'm falling for you, but he
knows that his feelings for Madison are stronger. We don't
know that right now. Based on last week, I think
(04:43):
that the dude knows. I'm saying, just on that conversation
and how Peter responded, we have to say, Hanah AND's
the front unner. Just to preface this whole breakdown of
the episode, the dates on hometowns are great, They're fine.
I don't think we get to know a lot about
the person before we get to the house. The house, like,
we don't even talk about that. Yeah, the house is
what matters. So we start out hot. I know last
(05:05):
night when we were watching the episode, we're freaked out.
We both this is the first time we looked at
each other. We're like, holy cow, and I wonder and
we don't know this ship. This could either be. I
will say this, and and everybody's knows that I've been
a proponent of Peter all season. I think he's a
nice guy. I think the contestants overwhelmed him. I think
(05:27):
he really wants to see this work. I think we
need to still root for Peter. I will say this,
mark my words. The decision Peter made last night after
having the conversation with Handa, Anne will either go down
as the most beautiful moment of the season or his
worst mistake. His worst we already saw a worst mistake
later in the episode. We're not there yet. I will say,
(05:47):
I will say that when a dad looks at you,
or any family member looks at you and says, please
do not say this to my daughter unless it is
the real thing, and then you respond by saying it,
it either will be a beautiful moment for us to
celebrate and go that's when we recognized it, or if
he doesn't choose Hannah, and at the end, we'll say
(06:08):
that was a really terrible decision. And I and I
speak from this not in judgment, because I've been there.
I've made a similar mistake in my life on this experience,
and I know the emotions of how that feels. I'm
saying for my own mistakes and that I've learned from
and looking back on, it will either be a great
moment or a really really hard moment. Okay, So I'm
(06:30):
gonna just not agree with you here because I think
there's gonna be I think him you know, I know
I'm skipping ahead, but I think him keeping Victoria is like,
you're right, maybe not morally as much of a mistake
as it is just like talk to a girl's dad
and then say it. But I think that the drama ahead,
based on the scenes for the next episode, allude to
(06:51):
me that he makes a bigger mistake. We don't Actually
what I'm saying is we don't. I don't, we don't know.
I know you're talking about in this episode, what we
know so far leading up to this point without assuming anything,
we cannot assume anything of how this plays out assumptions
we at this point, that's where we're at. Moving on.
Then we get in the next home date, hometown date,
(07:12):
which was it was Kelsey Kelsey. I think at this
point we pretty much knew that unless at this point
we're watching the episode chronologically, it felt like Kelsey definitely
had the least amount of connection with Peter outside of
everybody else. In my opinion, yeah, I guess we're at
(07:35):
that point. I don't know. I don't know. I think
that based on me, you know, I don't know, because
watching them versus watching Hannah Ann and him, I feel
more of a connection between him and Kelsey than him
and Hannah and Why is that you felt like that
the whole season. You've been a Kelsey supporter. Really, Yeah,
(07:56):
because I get her because she's such a crier, she's
so expressive her emotion. She's so like shamelessly open about it.
So I like her because of that. But I also
feel like he's the kind of guy that really connects
to women who show emotion. And I just feel like,
like two weeks ago he was asking Hannah and to
show him more, and this in this episode, like he's
(08:18):
falling in love with her. Like, I just don't know
where this came about. I did, actually, and I don't
know if it will be a popular opinion or not.
I really did enjoy Kelsey and Peter's date at the wine.
I thought the wine thing was really fun. I thought
it was a good date. It was a fun idea.
I think it'd actually be a great group date on
the season if everybody stood inside and made some wine.
Maybe they've done it, I don't know. But the um
(08:39):
then we go to the home, which we've learned about
Kelsey's home life really throughout the season, and the bad
thing didn't come up. The dad thing didn't come up,
which was surprising to me. Because it was such a
powerful moment for their relationship early on in the season.
Yeah wait, thinking about that, that's so crazy. You would
think that they would have had some play on the
dad during Hometowns after she did big reveal to him
(09:01):
last week about how she's in touch with him but
her mom doesn't know yet. So that part was intrigued
to me. Not because I need to get into their
family business and as a viewer I don't, but like,
if I was Peter and if I'm Kelsey, I'm walking
into that house going what is the dynamic? Like I
want to ask some of the questions to understand how
the mom feels. Well, we don't know. Was it it
(09:24):
was a stepdad, Yeah, it's a stepdad. So I think
Kelsey's hometown date was done beautifully, but it felt like
it fell short compared to the others. Okay, fair enough, yes,
fair enough, fair enough. So at this point in the episode, UM,
(09:45):
just to make this as simple as possible for everybody
listening and for ourselves, we have a hometown date with
Hannah Ann and a hometown date with Kelsey. Hannah Ann's
hometown date, I thought felt emotional. It felt like it
pulled at the heartstrings. It felt like Hannah An maybe
for the first time all season, was authentically looking at
(10:07):
Peter and going, I don't want to lose you. I
think the rest of the time was kind of this confusion,
like I really am falling for you. I like you
a lot. I think I think I might love you,
but I don't know. I thought at the hometowns it
maybe hit her that this guy is somebody she doesn't
want to lose. Okay, I really wish that I could
feel this. I don't feel it. I don't feel Hannah
(10:28):
and this connection to him at all. Tori, I think
I need another girl's perspective. Are you feeling are you?
Are you feeling at all about Peter and any connection?
And this is not me like mean girling her because
at the beginning of the season I didn't love her.
Producer Tori, who is kindly engineering and editing this podcast
(10:52):
here in Tahoe, is sitting here with a response, I
haven't felt a connection from the beginning. That's just me.
I also will say, though I don't know if the
person to ask, because I don't feel connection with any
of these girls, i'd feel a connection. I feel like
he has a connection obviously with Victoria f and then
which is weird, which is weird about one and then
we I obviously feel like he has a connection with Madison.
(11:15):
I think Hannah, and it's like he loves his little
Alabama girls, you know, and she's endearing and she's sweet
and she's beautiful. But I don't think he really I
don't interpret it as like he sees her as his wife.
He sees her as like she's just really cute girl
and like we're doing this together. Yeah, he's she's a
really cute girl like he'd like to date. But like,
I don't think that he has like this overwhelming emotion
(11:37):
for her. But I guess I'm wrong considering he's saying
I'm falling in love with it. Well yeah. And I
will say though his his letter, the list of things
he loves about her was sweet of him to do. Yes,
it was sweet, and it's a gesture that like he
didn't need to do. I will say that from personal
experience on the show is that had to be his choice.
He had to be sitting there going I want to
offer Hannah and something and this was his choice to do,
(11:59):
which is a very very good moment. Moving on then
from the hannah An and Kelty we get into really
the pivotal moments of this episode. We've all been interested
in madison storyline. We felt, like a lot of us
that Madison had the most genuine relationship with Peter and
(12:19):
probably the best potential to be with Peter long term
after this experience. We felt like that for really weeks
since week one. It's a lot of times our listeners
have been writing us like crazy saying that she is
the only one that they have felt any connection with,
that any type of like rooting for in this whole thing.
(12:40):
So this was a big moment for Peter to go
to her hometown. Uh. We pick it up in at
Auburn University, where Madison's father is an assistant basketball coach there,
and then we go to a beautiful home wherever. That
was their beautiful home there in Auburn, which I thought
was like the coolest thing I've ever seen. I love
that style very um And there is some underlying things
(13:05):
with the relationship with Madison and Peter that I don't
feel like either of them are doing a great job
talking about. And I think it came to the surface
during Hometowns when the family asked Madison, Madison pretty much,
how much does Peter know about you and your choices
and your morals and your values in life, the faith
that you hold and why you hold to this faith.
(13:27):
And it felt like at that moment she froze and like,
I'm assuming what we saw she wanted to say is
he doesn't know a lot about it, which is obviously,
to the people that know and love Madison best, the
most foundational important thing about who she is and what
makes her tick. Yeah. I feel like when we're watching
(13:51):
that part, I kind of feel for Madison because her
parents are like, have you had these serious conversations? And
she's like, well, I've broached the topic. We definitely discussed it.
But I think in her head she's probably like, you
guys don't understand this process. I've had to one on
ones with them, Like that's two dates, Like would you
be bringing this stuff up on your third day in
(14:12):
real life? Like it's not you really want to like
create a camaraderie before you start getting that serious. I
do agree. I think there's an intentionality to it all.
I think, and I've said this before, I think it's
the part that Peter has missed on the most all
season is digging in and asking important Okay, so that's
that's definitely I think he did is when she brings
(14:34):
up to him in the last episode, like to talk
about any of those things is not easy, you know.
Jessica and I, I'd say it took us a few
dates when we really started to talk about, Hey, these
are my expectations, these who this is who I want
to be. This is how I need you to respect
me and like honor me as a person. We both
shared that to each other early on, so that I
(14:55):
could be the man that she needed me to be
to her, and she could be the woman that I
needed her to be to me. That wasn't too far
into our relationship that we started to have those kind
of conversations. Just say, as we progressed forward, just know
these are my boundaries, these are my standards, these are
this is how I need to be treated, and this
is what I know I want in a relationship. That
wasn't too far along in our relationship. So so here's
(15:16):
the problem. And again let me preface this was saying
I am a Peter fan. I like this guy. I
think he got a rough go at it when Madison
brings up to him the topic of faith yes last
week and why faith was so important to her. I
(15:38):
will tell you this, in any dating relationship show or
not dig in, ask why be curious, be be incredible,
be so non apologetically curious that at the end of it,
even if you disagree, and even if you have to
part ways, at least you understand. And I felt like
after that conversation we glossed over it, and last week
(16:01):
you were saying last week that you felt like, but
I think it's now becoming an issue. It's coming to
the surface this week because of the lack of communication
last week. I guess I would say to play Devil's advocate, like,
perhaps that stuff was edited out. We're not going to
see like this in depth religious Actually, I'm gonna interrupt
you there. Though I would agree with you that could
(16:23):
think I'm just I playing Devil's advocate. I agree with
you that it could have been edited out. If at
hometowns when her family asked her how much about this
Peter knows and she doesn't know how to receive, she
wouldn't stuttered. She would have said, oh, we had a
great conversation about it last week. And this is how
he responded to me, this is what we talked about. Instead,
she was like, well, not a lot. Well, I think
in that moment with her mom, she was directly referring
(16:45):
to saving herself her marriage, and I think Madison was like,
I talked about faith with him, but I didn't spell
that part out yet, Okay. And I don't think it's
wrong of her to wait to fantasy Suites to really
have that conversation. Becca did. Becca waited until fantasy Suites
for Christals. I think it's a fair time. I think
(17:09):
because there's a connotation around fantasy suites, you're going to
be spending the night together. What do you expect? What
do you want? Like, I think expectations have to get
set on both sides. We don't know what happens next
week with any of this, but what we do know
is that it has to be talked about now like
it has this. We have to see both of those
(17:29):
Madison and Peter step up and start sharing who they
are as people if we're going to root for them
to be an actual couple afterwards. Well, we see at
the end of the episode she pulls him aside. She's
obviously about to go tell him that fair, I hope.
So yeah, I mean I assume, but again, can we
really assume anything on this show. So I think we
see her pulling him aside, and I think that's where
(17:50):
she's first going to tell him that she's gonna wait
till marriage. And then we see them on in a
date setting where she goes where she says something along
the lines of I'm not going to be okay. She said,
I'm not going to be okay with you sleeping with
anybody else, or I would consider leaving if I knew
that you sleep with anybody else. Yes, we do see that.
(18:13):
So here Ashley is where which we may come up
with some parallels to the Luke situation, but I don't
think we should approach that until next week when we
actually see the conversation go down. But here's the thing
that we'll be watching for. How Madison presents the topic.
Is it the meaning is? Does it feel like she
is putting Peter in a corner? Does it feel like
(18:34):
she is diminishing who what he feels is right and wrong?
Or is she open to having a conversation so that
she can share who she is so Peter can share
who he is, and they can come to some type
of agreement and understanding in the middle. I think that
will be the difference between Luke p and Madison. Okay,
so the crux of the argument last Okay, there was
so many problems with Luke P. But a lot of
(18:56):
people had the problem with him that he said that
he was trying to tell Hannah what to do with
her body, and in this case it might be Madison
telling Peter the same. Is there gonna be a double standard?
I think listeners, Please write us in at the Ben
and Ashley I at my Please write us at Ben
(19:17):
and Ashley at iHeart media dot com. Let us know
your thoughts. Will there be a double standard? Again, we
are assuming we're predicting, But write us in and say,
what is it that you're looking for in that conversation
with Madison? Because here's the other problem, Ashley, I want
and I believe that these conversations need to exist in relationships.
(19:39):
So how are they done correctly? And then how are
they also done poorly? So that's gonna be really interesting
to see how how Madison handles it. Next week, huge storyline,
and we can't cannot neglect the final hometown date. When
we come back, we are gonna finish breaking down this episode.
We're gonna talk Victoria F. And then we might just
(20:02):
have to come back around and close out this episode
by talking about the roast ceremony. We'll be back with
the almost famous podcast Victoria F's Hometown Ish. It felt
so good for not very long, actually all season. I
(20:25):
mean honestly, it was brought up to me with Becca
and Jesse when they came into the podcast is when
I first recognized that Victoria F has this tendency to
run away to kind of like flip the conversation a
little bit, but also just that her and Peters really
ship felt so unhealthy. It starts out great, but actually
it's actually wacky when you think about the fact that
(20:46):
he kept her after all this, It's really like, what
the hell does she do to him? Producer Amy thinks
that she has like a voodood all and like she's
doing some sort of spells on him, which actually at
this point doesn't even seem like that wacky. Um. Okay,
So they're out on a date. Hunter Hayes shows up,
which is funny because you know another country star. I
would ask her right away, you haven't dated Hunter Hayes. Right,
(21:09):
did you hear the you know the lyrics of that song.
It's like this, it's a crazy um is it? Um?
I don't need crazy? What is it? I don't want easy,
I want crazy? Like I wonder if they were playing
into that. I think the show always has some undertones
to it. I believe that fully. So. Then his ex
(21:30):
Marissa comes up, and it seems like they have a
very friendly, trusting relationship. They maybe ex is, but it
seems like they ended on good terms, or they ended
up very long time ago and they just don't care
what happened anymore. But she seems like a resource um
that he would trust. And she comes up to him
and says, I'm really worried about you pursuing this stuff
(21:50):
further with Victorias. She has a really bad reputation around
here in the Virginia Beach area. And then, you know,
if I were Peter, this is one of those times
been where he doesn't dig, I'd be like, what what
do you mean? Like tell me everything? I'd like, tell
me everything. He's shocked. He is, He's shocked and thrown off.
And I think Ashley, in this moment two he had
(22:11):
had such a good day with the woman. He's obviously
into that. It just felt defeating. I think he was
just defeated. Yeah, he was like again, more drama with
her again. So Marissa says that Victoria f has broken
up relationships in the past, has meddled, and those relationships
have gone after her involvement, So he doesn't, you know,
(22:36):
he doesn't dig further than that, And I would be like,
tell me everything you know. But then again, okay, and
then from our sources that we hear that are close
to the situation, who have known Victoria in the past
in Virginia Beach, and we hope to have one of
these sources on the podcast by the end of the season.
But right now I can just say that allegedly they
(23:00):
say that she has broken up marriages, her friends marriages.
We don't have confirmation of this. All we're saying is
that our source is telling us that that is their
opinion of what has gone down between Victoria and some
other men in the Virginia Beach area. This is obviously
(23:24):
just something we've heard. It is not confirmed by any means.
But no matter what, this is a heavy situation for
Peter to process. I cannot imagine being in his footsteps
going on a great date with somebody he cares about,
having somebody come up to you randomly who you've dated.
(23:47):
In saying, Peter, I think you're a great guy and
as a result, I need you to know this that
is I mean, watching this again is one of those
moments that we talked about every season. It's like one
of those moments where like this becomes very real, very quickly,
and I feel for Peter because you see it in
his eyes where it's just like I don't like, I
don't even understand, Like I don't get what you're saying.
(24:10):
And let's cut it there, because I think the most
important piece of this is Marissa is sharing something with Peter.
He ends it with going, I don't understand. I just
feel defeated. I'm confused. We pick it up again with
Peter showing up at the doorsteps sharing that only Hey, Victoria,
I don't understand. I feel defeated. I'm confused. This is
(24:33):
what was said to me, and I need to ask
you about it because I just need to get it
out there. I I can't I care about you too
much to let this hang over us. And I thought
her response was wildly unfair Todahim. Okay, So first let's
just say that she does address the relationship breaking and
like the first line she says, like did she say
(24:55):
like I and we need I wish I could have
the quote, but she said something like I absolutely have
not that not the truth, right, something along the lines
of like denial. There was denial. There was one sentence
of denial before she flips the entire conversation and makes
it about how he came here to see her family
(25:15):
and how she can't believe that he's bringing something like
that up. And it was just like a whole thing
where she flipped the conversation and made herself the victim
in it. What do we call that? What is that called?
There's I'm sure there's some like millennials lighting. This is
like a new expression that I'm not really sure it's
(25:36):
such a millennial thing. I'm trying to learn what it means.
But it basically means like taking a situation and like
making the other person feel bad about even bringing it
up in the first place. Yeah, exactly makes it's trying
to make the other person feel crazy in the situation,
and that's exactly what we were feeling here, let's take it.
(25:56):
Definitely was trying to make him feel crazy. I thought
it was so unfair, because I really do. Everybody's given
Peter so much heat this season, like so much, so
much heat, and they've also given the ladies a lot
of heat as well. I'm saying that it's not like
they haven't got off Scott Tree. But I thought he
handled this really well. I thought he went into it,
took a deep breath, he wasn't angry, he didn't come
out with emotion. He just said, Victoria, I need to
(26:18):
know this, And all of a sudden he had to
get defensive because she's going, you came all the way here,
and I was so excited for you mean my family,
and you have to bring this up, and he's like, Victory,
That's not what I'm saying. I just I need to
talk to my partner right now. So many things. He
does handle these situations really well. Like he does he
does not have a temper, like, he does not flare up.
(26:39):
He really is able to stay even keeled, and I
think it's super impressive. But I can't believe that he's
actually saying so even keeled when she's slipping this conversation
on him like at this point he should probably say
something like you stop doing this, back stop, I need
to know about what Marissa said, And he never stopped
(27:01):
her and never readdressed the actual crux of the situation.
It's actually the truth of all this too, is there's
an interesting moment where he's standing there in the uh
like driveway or in the road with Victoria, and she
started saying some stuff to him, and and as we
watched together, everybody was like, what, like, what is she saying?
(27:23):
In Peter's first response was what are you saying? Like?
This isn't making any sense to me, and it wasn't
making any sense to any of us. And we leave
this conversation, all of us really frustrated, feeling really bad
for Peter and also I mean in a sense just
that this conversation had to exist in general, and also
(27:44):
really confused if it was true or not, because Victoria
never completed a sentence. Oh no, no, I was not
confused because if anything, her silence and her not denying
the allegations was was her telling him exactly what happened,
and that was that what Marissa said was true. If
(28:05):
if some I'm trying to put myself into her shoes.
So if there was something that was asked of me
that was not true, like if somebody sat down and said, been,
i've heard this about you, and this is what I've heard,
I need to know. I think defense being defensive right
away is a a natural response. I think you could
be like, well, well, this is like but then all
(28:26):
of a sudden, I think there's a calmness to it
and go, I need you to know that this is
not true, and I don't know how to prove it
to you, but please like understand that what was ever
said is not the case, or like there's a confirmation.
They're just saying, like, I know right now this feels heavy.
I know it feels weird, but like we're like, I'm
willing to work with you for you to understand that
(28:48):
this these allegations aren't true, and like I just need
you to stick with me as we try to figure
this out. I think that's the fair response. Instead, we
got a lot of like open ended thoughts of like
why don't you want to meet my family? This is
so sad, moving us into then the next morning, which
I didn't even know I thought that he I thought
I broke up with her. I was like, what is this?
He just left in the car. There was no conclusion
(29:09):
there exactly, So moving is in the next morning, everybody
pretty much assumed that Victoria f was gone, that she
and that Peter had broken up with her. He's in
some hotel room. I can't believe they couldn't have found
him a nicer hotel. That thing looks it looks it
looks like something that I've I've never I haven't stayed
in a long time. Um, But Victoria knocks the door
(29:35):
and Ashley we pick it up here with a conversation
that still didn't feel conclusive. Conclusive. It felt like a
very similar conversation tonight before, except there was no blaming
and no shaming that. Yeah, it was like a better
conversation as far as like tonality goes, but there's still
was no there was no selbstance to it. Here's what
I don't like about it, though. The conversation only got
(29:57):
to a place of substance because Peter started out right
away by apologizing. Why exactly why is he apologizing? First?
He does have a voodoo doll. Mean, moving us into
the Rose ceremony, where expectations are that probably Victoria f
is going home, but nobody really knows that he decides
(30:18):
to take her, he just has to take her to
the Rose ceremony. He does, which is shocking, shocking, but
also as a viewer, you're sitting there going, Okay, let's
see how this plays out. We have so much information now.
I think most people were like, not, let's see how
this plays out. Most people were cursing at him through
the TV. Well, I have a feeling that people are.
(30:39):
I have a feeling that this will not be a
great episode for Peter, and that is so sad to
me because I really wanted to see these next few
episodes be really good for him, so that he came
out of this on top. And I still believe you
will again. I still believe there's time and I still
believe that will in this by going, Hey, he might
have not been the best Bachelor ever that we would
(30:59):
have expected, but he's been good, and he tried so
hard and he cared so much, and I and I
know Bachelor Nation will root for him. Can we can
we say that like some people can be fantastic, good charactered,
kind hearted people and do not make a good Bachelor like,
just because you don't handle the process that well doesn't
mean that you're not a great person. You're just not
(31:21):
a great bachelor. Let's not hate. I don't think anybody
out there hates Peter. I think a lot of people
are upset with this season. I don't think they're going, oh,
Peter is awful, and I've never heard that people are
saying Peter isn't what we're hoping for. Maybe um, but
we don't. We and we just don't love this season
because it's hard to root for anybody, and it's a
(31:41):
little bit of a disappointment because we expected big things
from him. Like I think expectations were so high for
Peter that I felt like he was set up to fail.
So many people are just saying he should have just
been from handed with Hannaby from the start. I mean,
at this point, I'm not shocked if that still happens,
and I but that's a whole another conversation. Hey, So
(32:02):
we get to the Rose ceremony. Long story short, Kelsey
goes home, Victoria f stays, Madison stays, Hannah Ann stays, Ashley.
I will let you have your moment here because I
think you, along with a lot of other people at
that moment, we're yelling at the screen. So I knew
(32:25):
that once he I mean I knew in my soul,
not like as a fact, that when he brought Victoria
f to that Rose ceremony, she was going to stay.
So I immediately in my head eliminated Kelsey because if
he was going to eliminate Victoria, he would have just
done it in Virginia Beach. So I was not shocked
come the Rose ceremony were, but I also was shocked,
(32:48):
like I was just shocked that it actually happened. And
I just can't believe that he led a girl through
after those allegations were presented, and he didn't dig to
find out the truth about them. That is what's mind
boggling to me, is that for some reason he doesn't
even want to know if it was true, or he
(33:09):
wants to ignore it for as long as he possibly can.
I think a lot of viewers watched this week's episode
with frustration at the end. I think they were frustrated.
I think they felt like there's a lot of like
anger and just confusion. I think a lot of people
are on the edge of their seat for next week,
not because they're looking forward to it, but because they
just want to see some type of conclusion. And I
(33:30):
also think Batchelor nation out there is really wanting some
type of beauty from the season, and there's been very
few beautiful moments, very few moments to celebrate. But what
a cliffhanger between Victoria getting through, which is just like
a cliffhanger, and it's in itself because it's just so
mind boggling, and then with Madison pulling Peter aside, I
(33:51):
can't wait to see how that conversation goes. I was like, Ben,
we gotta get the screener right now. I can't wait
another week. I cannot wait another week. I think this.
I'm glad Madison did it. Then I was sitting there
and I was trying to think about do I like
this decision by her to pull him Now? I think
it was a good decision. I think it gives him
some time to think about it. It gives her some
(34:11):
time to think about it about long flight to Australia.
It gets it off her chest, it gets it out there,
you know what, I hope and the one thing we
have to give. I don't know if we've seen a
bachelor console and work through really difficult conversations as well
as Peter has just by keeping his temper down, I
think he's done a great job that. I don't think
(34:32):
he asked a lot of questions in return, but I
think he keeps it very even Keel and I believe
he is. This is the thing. Peter might be the
most approachable bachelor we've ever seen, and so like I.
I bet Madison feels comfortable, which is so important relationships
to go up to Peter at any moment and say, Peter,
this is on my mind, this is hurting me, this
(34:54):
is something I need to get off my chest. Were
you talk to me about it? And I bet Peter
is happy to talk about it. I think he looked
we'll look at Madison go I'm so glad you told me.
But all right, we don't know yet, Ladies and gentlemen.
This has been a season of up and downs. It
has been a controversial season. It has been a season
that very few people are celebrating, but a lot of
people are watching. I'm hoping for beauty in the following weeks, Ashley.
(35:18):
As we've done every week, we've graded Peter after this
week in your final thoughts in the episode. What's your
grade with Peter and what's your final thoughts on this episode?
For this episode, I think that Peter gets a D. There, Okay,
what's the other one final thoughts in the episode? My
(35:40):
final thoughts in the episode about the teaser? I need
to know we need to talk about the teaser because
I think Victoria f comes through as a villain because
I think she's like Madison is telling him that he's
not allowed to sleep with other girls, and she gets
really sassy about that. Also very interesting are the teasers.
(36:00):
It shows that these three final girls are living together
in the same suite. Normally, once you do you get
top four, you're separated completely throughout the entire process except
at Rose ceremonies. So I think to enhance the drama
and any tension between Madison and Victoria, they've put all
the girls together in the one suite. It's an interesting episode.
(36:23):
It's gonna be wild. You have the three women living together. Ashley,
You're wrong, very very little from the show. We'll be
excited to watch the next episode. Let's cheer for some beauty,
Let's cheer for some love. Let's cheer that all of
these women in this process, Um glad that they did it.
(36:43):
We've said it every year that at the end of
all of this, all we ask is that the women
look at this whole thing say at least I'm glad
I did it, And right now it feels like a
few of the women might not be glad they did it.
Can't imagine Victoria f comes out of this pride And
I'm rooting for Peter Uh. My grade on Peter would
(37:04):
be low this week, but it's also just because I
feel like he needs to ask more questions. But my
grade of him overall is high. I'm a Peter fan.
I like the guy. I really want to see him
find somebody from this, and if he doesn't from this,
then I know he's gonna be just fine. On the
other side, you should probably just go ahead and be now,
let's root for Peter Uh. In the coming months Everybody
(37:26):
Wild episode the Almost Famous podcast and of The Bachelor,
we have breaking news that we need to discuss a
difficult topic to talk about. Friends of this podcast, friends
of ours. We've attended the weddings UM, They've attended Ashley's wedding. UM.
(37:46):
Crystal and Chris have announced publicly a split. Actually, what
do we know about it? So they're calling it a separation.
They both need time to develop, you know, their own
selves more. We don't really have much information. I saw
Crystal last week. I'm gonna be honest, I knew that
there were rumors flying, but I truly did not know
(38:09):
how to approach the situation, the topic when it was
out of live podcast and it just wasn't very private,
and we reached out. We haven't heard anything from them yet,
and it's just really it's really sad, but I'm gonna
keep hope and thinking that it is a separation. They
have not announced a divorce, and if anyone can come
(38:33):
back together, these two wild people can do it, because
you know, they've even gone through situations like this before
last December they kind of broke up or they were
really on the rocks and they made a decision to
stay together. And well, now a year later, it seems
like they're not making the decision to stay together. But
(38:55):
they're also not filing for divorce papers. So I wouldn't
be surprised to see in a couple of months these
two rekindle things. There isn't a lot of information out
there yet, but The statement reads this from Crystal and Chris.
It hurts announced that at this moment, we have mutually
decided to separate. They send in a statement to Bachelor
Nation dot com. This is the official website of Bachelor
(39:18):
Show producers. Never did we imagine the scenario, but we've
come to a point where we both need to work
on ourselves. We are best friends that love and care
for each other so deeply. We've appreciated everyone's love and
support so far throughout our journey, and we just ask
that you please respect our privacy as we navigate through
(39:38):
this process. That's all we know at this point. We're
rooting for them. Um, they just recently got married in May.
Uh so it's a new relationship and we all know
that relationships aren't easy. And as Ashley can attest marriage, uh,
it's fun, it's it's enjoyable, but it is not easy.
All this time, not rainbows and butterflies and and and
(40:00):
so Hey, we're sending up our best wishes to Crystal
and Chris, and we hope to hear from one of
them soon on this podcast to give all of us
a little more info when they're ready. When they're ready, Hey,
Bachelor nation uh go to Bachelor live on stage dot Com.
We'll be coming to an area near you very soon.
With that, I've been guys, and I cannot wait to
talk to you next week because it's gonna be so good.
(40:21):
I can't wait for the next episode. She's very excited.
Follow the Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast on
iHeart Radio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
Hosts And Creators
Ben Higgins
Ashley Iaconetti
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