December 29, 2025 • 9 mins
It’s the 2nd most shocking moment of 2025 for Bachelor Nation, and this secret life is about to take the main spotlight!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
It's the Almost Famous Podcast. It's Ashley and We're counting
down the top five most shocking moments that happened in
Bachelor Nation this year. We've made it to the number
two moment of the year. This one was everywhere this year.
It really shook up Bachelor Nation. The number two most
shocking moment in Bachelor history was Taylor Freaky Paul being
named the next Bachelorette. This is the first time the
(00:28):
Bachelor Nation lead has really gone for a mini celebrity,
a reality star as the lead.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
She is very popular. Secret Lives is very popular. It's
a Hulu show, so it makes sense that she is,
you know, coming over to Bachelorette World. They've never had
somebody who's famous right from ever as a lead, have they.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
I mean they used to do. They used to do
like you know, back in your day. They're picking people
kind of.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Out of the firestone. Yeah, a prince a prince true,
but she's like pop culture famous, you know, like they've
never had someone who's not already been on the show.
A change. Who is this is definitely a big change.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
We are really excited, and I speak for myself, I
think ben Is is happy. I speak for myself as
I think this is a wonderful move for the Bachelor franchise.
I think they needed something to jazz it up. I
think they needed somebody else's fandom to get involved. And
I think it's great for the whole Hulu ABC Disney
family to get some like Avengers like action here or
(01:41):
with the crossover stars.
Speaker 5 (01:43):
It's gonna be really great.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I think they're gonna have some people who have watched
the show in a while come.
Speaker 5 (01:47):
Back because of this selection.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
They're gonna have a whole new audience who's ever watched
The Bachelor before, who watch Secret Lives and Mormon wise,
they're gonna come on over.
Speaker 5 (01:57):
It's gonna give it a.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Great little boost. And Taylor is undeniably a great lead.
We know that she basically leads the Mormon Wive show,
and I think she's gonna do a great job leading
this show as well.
Speaker 5 (02:10):
She has the personality.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
It does seem to me Trista people are fans of
her because I don't know how else to say it.
I'll say it and get in trouble for it. She's messy,
She's messy. That's how people know her from her show
and her current time is. People have falled along because
of the storylines that have existed around her, right soft swinging,
(02:35):
the arrest, the probation, the pause in filming, to the
chaos that's caused with other people on her show. It's messy,
I think, is the way I'm gonna say it. Get
mad at me for it. If you don't feel that way.
I don't know enough to make a strong statement on this.
I have never known The Bachelorette to be cheered for
(02:55):
and watched because of messiness. I think that changes the
franchise drastically. The franchise has always been about a pursuit
of love, even if people that are watching really don't
believe you can fall in love, and the amount of
time that it takes to film The Bachelor at it
has always been at the core of it. People have
tuned in as a family with their moms, as a
(03:17):
sister group, whatever, because it's the romanticized idea that possibly
something could work from this show. Messiness has never been
the core driver. It might be this season. I'm not
saying it's not going to pick up attention. It's one
hundred percent going to pick up attention. Is that what
we want? And so my question for the audience for Taylor,
(03:40):
for whoever great Taylor, I'm welcoming you into this thing.
I hope you find love from this thing, if that's
what you're really after here. I don't want anybody to
come on this show and their lives become worse for it.
That is not the hope, That is not the dream.
That is not why we've done what we've done on
this show for the last ten years. So I'm getting
behind you, kid, But where does the franchise go from here?
(04:06):
If this is this launching pad for this new era
of The Bachelor and Bachelorette to bring in a whole
new audience of viewers that they need to do, I'm
not mad at them for changing this up. They had
to change it up. They have to try to hit
a home run here, because if they don't, I don't
think we're talking about the Bachelor in a year.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
I don't.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
I think they're already showing warning signs of that. But
where does the franchise go from here? How do they
top a Taylor Frankie Paul? How do they have a
season that is going to be more polarizing than any
season we've probably seen before. That's why people are going
to watch it. That's why people are going to tune in.
How do you top it year over year over year?
Speaker 5 (04:51):
I do think this was shocking to me.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I saw it a rumored or maybe not, it's not
even so rumor, but like people hoping that it could
be Taylor Franks Paul like a week leading up to
it was the first time I started thinking that they
could do a stunt casting like this, and I was
definitely on board. I know that I had maybe a
moment where I was like, oh, was it the greatest decision?
(05:14):
Being that she does have a messy past, and I
think that she has been given enough time to kind
of explain that on her show, and a lot of
people have, you know, forgiven her for what she did there,
hopefully like you know, she she admittedly is like a
sloppier person, which makes her a great reality TV personality.
(05:37):
I also think she seems to have a good heart
and to be a loving mom, and that is going
to get us to be more compelled into this show
as well. We've seen that she hasn't had the best
relationship past which she doesn't have the greatest picker, which
may not be great for her picking. In the end,
hopefully she's grown past out of that phase, but we
(06:00):
all know that even if she hasn't, it will be
delivering entertainment for us all.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
And that's a.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Little selfish to say, but you know what I'm saying.
Sometimes people who don't necessarily make the best decisions in
their romantic life give us great seasons of the Bachelor,
at least ones that we can talk about in are
very memorable. Anyway, I do think it's going to work
out well for Taylor, at least for some time.
Speaker 5 (06:29):
Anyway, let's get into it.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
This is the first time that Bachelor Nation has really
gone for a mini celebrity as a lead. Back in September,
the news broke and to me, not only was Taylor
TikTok famous part of a soft swinging scandal, but she's
also been arrested for domestic violence.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
Bachelor Nation.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
The fandom seem to be very divided by this announcement,
but overall, a lot of us, especially cast I feel,
think that Taylor will as a lead help inject some
new life into the franchise. Since she was announced, I
got to interview her mom, Leanne and get some more
insight on Taylor and what she hopes the single men
are going to be like on her daughter season. So
(07:11):
what kind of guys do you hope that ABC has
cast for her?
Speaker 6 (07:15):
Well, I have talked to the casting director all the time.
I mean we're on the phone all the time. She's
probably thinks I'm crazy, but and I might be a
little bit every now and then, but I just want
somebody who's like that believes in God kind of you know,
like believes in God or has some kind of like
(07:37):
belief other than you know, something like higher power.
Speaker 5 (07:42):
Okay, So it does not need to be more.
Speaker 6 (07:44):
It doesn't have to be Mormon. No, I mean, obviously
I would like that, but it's not. That's not something
I guess. There's so many great people that aren't Mormon.
Like my father wasn't an LDS guy, and he couldvert
like years later, but he was a great guy and
so and probably one of the best people.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
You know.
Speaker 6 (08:02):
So a lot of the people that I meet are
outside the religion. So she's like, I'm down to go,
you know, go to some other religion or whatever, or
just just a good guy, just somebody who's like, obviously
you still want them to be like decent looking, you know,
because you want that I feel, and I'm sure she
does too, but just somebody who's like really humble and
(08:25):
caring and puts her like in front of them.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Taylor has been tiktoking through her filming process, another first.
We've been covering it all week to week on the podcast,
and it's been interesting to get real time updates and
teases and see her out on dates and.
Speaker 5 (08:43):
Kisses and all that.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Taylor's season of The Bachelor of premieers in March twenty
twenty six, and will be breaking it all down, of course.
Speaker 5 (08:50):
And while we were excited to see where this.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Goes, I have a little homework to do and I'll
be using this holiday break watching a lot of secret
lives of Mormon Wives. I am almost on with season one.
I do enjoy it, and I know people tell me
that just gets so much better in season two. So
I'm looking forward to getting to know Taylor more through
the TV screen.
Speaker 5 (09:09):
Until next time, I've been Ashley.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
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 (00:06):
It's the Almost Famous Podcast. It's Ashley and We're counting
down the top five most shocking moments that happened in
Bachelor Nation this year. We've made it to the number
two moment of the year. This one was everywhere this year.
It really shook up Bachelor Nation. The number two most
shocking moment in Bachelor history was Taylor Freaky Paul being
named the next Bachelorette. This is the first time the
(00:28):
Bachelor Nation lead has really gone for a mini celebrity,
a reality star as the lead.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
She is very popular. Secret Lives is very popular. It's
a Hulu show, so it makes sense that she is,
you know, coming over to Bachelorette World. They've never had
somebody who's famous right from ever as a lead, have they.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
I mean they used to do. They used to do
like you know, back in your day. They're picking people
kind of.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Out of the firestone. Yeah, a prince a prince true,
but she's like pop culture famous, you know, like they've
never had someone who's not already been on the show.
A change. Who is this is definitely a big change.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
We are really excited, and I speak for myself, I
think ben Is is happy. I speak for myself as
I think this is a wonderful move for the Bachelor franchise.
I think they needed something to jazz it up. I
think they needed somebody else's fandom to get involved. And
I think it's great for the whole Hulu ABC Disney
family to get some like Avengers like action here or
(01:41):
with the crossover stars.
Speaker 5 (01:43):
It's gonna be really great.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I think they're gonna have some people who have watched
the show in a while come.
Speaker 5 (01:47):
Back because of this selection.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
They're gonna have a whole new audience who's ever watched
The Bachelor before, who watch Secret Lives and Mormon wise,
they're gonna come on over.
Speaker 5 (01:57):
It's gonna give it a.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Great little boost. And Taylor is undeniably a great lead.
We know that she basically leads the Mormon Wive show,
and I think she's gonna do a great job leading
this show as well.
Speaker 5 (02:10):
She has the personality.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
It does seem to me Trista people are fans of
her because I don't know how else to say it.
I'll say it and get in trouble for it. She's messy,
She's messy. That's how people know her from her show
and her current time is. People have falled along because
of the storylines that have existed around her, right soft swinging,
(02:35):
the arrest, the probation, the pause in filming, to the
chaos that's caused with other people on her show. It's messy,
I think, is the way I'm gonna say it. Get
mad at me for it. If you don't feel that way.
I don't know enough to make a strong statement on this.
I have never known The Bachelorette to be cheered for
(02:55):
and watched because of messiness. I think that changes the
franchise drastically. The franchise has always been about a pursuit
of love, even if people that are watching really don't
believe you can fall in love, and the amount of
time that it takes to film The Bachelor at it
has always been at the core of it. People have
tuned in as a family with their moms, as a
(03:17):
sister group, whatever, because it's the romanticized idea that possibly
something could work from this show. Messiness has never been
the core driver. It might be this season. I'm not
saying it's not going to pick up attention. It's one
hundred percent going to pick up attention. Is that what
we want? And so my question for the audience for Taylor,
(03:40):
for whoever great Taylor, I'm welcoming you into this thing.
I hope you find love from this thing, if that's
what you're really after here. I don't want anybody to
come on this show and their lives become worse for it.
That is not the hope, That is not the dream.
That is not why we've done what we've done on
this show for the last ten years. So I'm getting
behind you, kid, But where does the franchise go from here?
(04:06):
If this is this launching pad for this new era
of The Bachelor and Bachelorette to bring in a whole
new audience of viewers that they need to do, I'm
not mad at them for changing this up. They had
to change it up. They have to try to hit
a home run here, because if they don't, I don't
think we're talking about the Bachelor in a year.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
I don't.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
I think they're already showing warning signs of that. But
where does the franchise go from here? How do they
top a Taylor Frankie Paul? How do they have a
season that is going to be more polarizing than any
season we've probably seen before. That's why people are going
to watch it. That's why people are going to tune in.
How do you top it year over year over year?
Speaker 5 (04:51):
I do think this was shocking to me.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I saw it a rumored or maybe not, it's not
even so rumor, but like people hoping that it could
be Taylor Franks Paul like a week leading up to
it was the first time I started thinking that they
could do a stunt casting like this, and I was
definitely on board. I know that I had maybe a
moment where I was like, oh, was it the greatest decision?
(05:14):
Being that she does have a messy past, and I
think that she has been given enough time to kind
of explain that on her show, and a lot of
people have, you know, forgiven her for what she did there,
hopefully like you know, she she admittedly is like a
sloppier person, which makes her a great reality TV personality.
(05:37):
I also think she seems to have a good heart
and to be a loving mom, and that is going
to get us to be more compelled into this show
as well. We've seen that she hasn't had the best
relationship past which she doesn't have the greatest picker, which
may not be great for her picking. In the end,
hopefully she's grown past out of that phase, but we
(06:00):
all know that even if she hasn't, it will be
delivering entertainment for us all.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
And that's a.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Little selfish to say, but you know what I'm saying.
Sometimes people who don't necessarily make the best decisions in
their romantic life give us great seasons of the Bachelor,
at least ones that we can talk about in are
very memorable. Anyway, I do think it's going to work
out well for Taylor, at least for some time.
Speaker 5 (06:29):
Anyway, let's get into it.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
This is the first time that Bachelor Nation has really
gone for a mini celebrity as a lead. Back in September,
the news broke and to me, not only was Taylor
TikTok famous part of a soft swinging scandal, but she's
also been arrested for domestic violence.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
Bachelor Nation.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
The fandom seem to be very divided by this announcement,
but overall, a lot of us, especially cast I feel,
think that Taylor will as a lead help inject some
new life into the franchise. Since she was announced, I
got to interview her mom, Leanne and get some more
insight on Taylor and what she hopes the single men
are going to be like on her daughter season. So
(07:11):
what kind of guys do you hope that ABC has
cast for her?
Speaker 6 (07:15):
Well, I have talked to the casting director all the time.
I mean we're on the phone all the time. She's
probably thinks I'm crazy, but and I might be a
little bit every now and then, but I just want
somebody who's like that believes in God kind of you know,
like believes in God or has some kind of like
(07:37):
belief other than you know, something like higher power.
Speaker 5 (07:42):
Okay, So it does not need to be more.
Speaker 6 (07:44):
It doesn't have to be Mormon. No, I mean, obviously
I would like that, but it's not. That's not something
I guess. There's so many great people that aren't Mormon.
Like my father wasn't an LDS guy, and he couldvert
like years later, but he was a great guy and
so and probably one of the best people.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
You know.
Speaker 6 (08:02):
So a lot of the people that I meet are
outside the religion. So she's like, I'm down to go,
you know, go to some other religion or whatever, or
just just a good guy, just somebody who's like, obviously
you still want them to be like decent looking, you know,
because you want that I feel, and I'm sure she
does too, but just somebody who's like really humble and
(08:25):
caring and puts her like in front of them.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Taylor has been tiktoking through her filming process, another first.
We've been covering it all week to week on the podcast,
and it's been interesting to get real time updates and
teases and see her out on dates and.
Speaker 5 (08:43):
Kisses and all that.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Taylor's season of The Bachelor of premieers in March twenty
twenty six, and will be breaking it all down, of course.
Speaker 5 (08:50):
And while we were excited to see where this.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Goes, I have a little homework to do and I'll
be using this holiday break watching a lot of secret
lives of Mormon Wives. I am almost on with season one.
I do enjoy it, and I know people tell me
that just gets so much better in season two. So
I'm looking forward to getting to know Taylor more through
the TV screen.
Speaker 5 (09:09):
Until next time, I've been Ashley.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
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
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Two Guys, Five Rings: Matt, Bowen & The Olympics
Two Guys (Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers). Five Rings (you know, from the Olympics logo). One essential podcast for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Bowen Yang (SNL, Wicked) and Matt Rogers (Palm Royale, No Good Deed) of Las Culturistas are back for a second season of Two Guys, Five Rings, a collaboration with NBC Sports and iHeartRadio. In this 15-episode event, Bowen and Matt discuss the top storylines, obsess over Italian culture, and find out what really goes on in the Olympic Village.