November 20, 2025 • 28 mins
Today on “Happy Hour,” we’re sitting down with Cindy to discuss “After the Final Rose,” Antigua, and so much more. We kick off part one of our interview going right back to Antigua. From the moment Cindy stepped off the plane, it seemed there were signs coming to her left and right. She tells us how she navigated those final moments with Mel and we also dive into her departure and what led her to that decision; was there anything Mel could have said that would’ve made her stay? Cindy also gives us an emotional look back on her journey with Mel and what hindsight has taught her about their relationship; are there any what ifs? Tune in now to hear all this and more, and be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, everyone, welcome back to bet You're Happy Hour. I'm
Joe and I'm Serena and we are here today with Cindy.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Good job.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
That was good. Thank you from Golden Bachelor. Cindy. How
are you.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
I'm doing great, better than I deserve, probably, but I'm
doing great. Thanks for no such thing.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
No such thing.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
I mean. I'm good. I'm good. How are you? I'm great.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I'm happy to meet you. You've been on this podcast before,
but sadly you were on the one of the very
few weeks a year that Joe and I were not
on it. Yeah, there's only like one or two times
that ever happens, So we were sad to miss you,
but we're excited to chat with you today. We have
a nice two part interview coming out.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Well, I'm happy to meet with you too, and I'm
glad you had a great trip. You deserve it. You
take that time for yourselves.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Thank you. Yes, it's much needed.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
So you live. I want to you know, I know
some of our audience knows some of the stuff already,
but you live in Austin, Texas, right.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I live in Austin, Texas. I've been there for about
thirty years, but today many years. Uh Los Angeles. So
but yes, I've been in Austin for a long time.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yeah, that city's really changed. Tom.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Oh my gosh. I live in downtown and downtown. When
I moved, there was a ghost town. Nobody lived down there.
There was not even there wasn't any apartment complex or
high rise at all downtown. Really, that was it. We
had an ordinance that you couldn't build buildings taller than
the state capitol, right, okay, so everything was really short.
(01:30):
And when they removed that ordnance, boy it started dooming.
And now it's just an amazing downtown area. The whole
city is popping. You should come.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yeah, we went to I had my brother's bachelor party there.
We went to a hotel lobby that was actually great.
I think it was the proper hotel.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Yeah, it's two blocks for me, it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
So you live right there.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
We actually looked at that hotel as a potential wedding
venue when we first started. Oh look, we didn't go
see it, but when we were doing some research, we
thought it was really pretty.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Yeah. Austin is super fun. We get a lot of
people for bachelorette and bachelor parties and weekends. And I
was on a plane yesterday with a group of guys
who just got back. They just went down and ate
barbecue and that was their their weekend was just finding
all these great barbecue places.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, do you have a favorite barbecue place in Austin?
Speaker 3 (02:21):
They actually mentioned a couple of them that I haven't been.
But my favorite is actually in a gas station. It's
called Rudy's Barbecue off of three sixty. They have several
across the state of Texas, but that one in particular,
there's something extra special going on in there's smokehouse, so
I don't know what it is, but it suits me nice.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I went to I think it's called La Barbecue or
La Barbesae. That was a good spot. Katie. And do
you know Katie and Zach They live in Austin.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
I have not met them yet. I look forward to it.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Okay, I'm sure you are.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Kathy.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Oh yeah, I have you met Kathy?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Remember, I'm just I'm just out. No, I haven't been.
I've been kind of sequestered from the world until this
last week. So give me a minute, all right, give
me a minute. I'll track them down quickly.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
That's fair. That's fair. Yeah, you should hang out with Kathy.
She's she's a good time.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah, you have a good crew down in Austin. I
have to make my way down there at some point.
I've never been and I've always wanted to check it out.
So me really will treat it.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
We'll treat a great great hospital.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Brought you to Austin because you've only been there for
thirty years, So where did you no thirties one time?
I just mean like you didn't. You didn't You were
born and raised.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Thirty longer than you've been alone.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
So it's a fair question. It's a fair question.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I've been there for thirty years.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
I've moved to Austin to marry a man back in
the day. Yeah, I met him. I was living in Dallas,
living a great life. In Dallas, you talk about a
fun city for a single person, and especially back in
the day. But I met a man who was living
in Austin and we decided to get engaged and had
to pick where we moved, and Austin was it. I
(03:58):
hadn't looked back. It's been a fun place.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Did you watch the Dallas Cowboys documentary by any chance?
Speaker 3 (04:04):
I haven't. I haven't. And SMU has a new documentary
that I need to see as well about the death penalty,
which I lived through when I was cheeringder. Yeah, listen,
I've got to catch up on a lot of things.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah, you have to watch The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Series two,
America's Yes, I Love for Sure and.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
The Secret Life Mos. Okay, let's get into this. So
before we get into a FI and everything, let's go
back to Antigua. Where is Antigua?
Speaker 3 (04:32):
By the way, Antiga is into British West Indies. I
don't know this because I had my phone with me,
because you know they take our phones, but it's into
British British West Indies, and I've been to islands that
are about one hundred miles away, but it's a special
island if you haven't been on your short list. It
was amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
A girlfriend I just saw this morning for coffee. She
actually Bree Springs, who was also on The Bachelor. She
was just there on a trip and she said it
was exquisite, like so beautiful, something that somewhere I've never
thought about going, but I really want to check out.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
So the sand is like walking on a temper pedic Mattress.
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Okay, so you get the Antigua, it's Antiga, Antiga. You
get the Antigua. It should be called Antigua, by the way.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Pitch it.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Tell the name Sydney.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Yeah, it's beautiful. You know you're you're one of two
women left. What is going through your mind when you
first get there?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Uh? I was what was going through my mind. I
got to go back to that moment. Get off the plane,
You're in this beautiful city. I walked throught me tell
you what happened. I walked through customs and they handed
my passport and he's like, you're single. I go yeah,
he goes, well, maybe you'll meet your husband on the island.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
No way.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Did you feel like that was a sign?
Speaker 3 (06:01):
I did? I really did know, because that's what I
was thinking. Right here, I am We're going to discover
some more things about each other, move this relationship down
the road, and wow, this is incredible. I actually found
a guy, as crazy as it sounds on National TV,
and we're going to make this work. That's what I
was thinking.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Were you at all hesitant going into Antiga because you
were worrying Melvin? Maybe wasn't there yet. No, Okay, I.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Know, and after we know the ending of the show,
it's hard to remember, so I've got to put myself
back into that timeline. But at that moment, I believed
that he was putting one foot in front of the
other two.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Was any part of you at that point thinking about
his connection with Peg or the fact that there was
someone else there?
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Honestly, I wasn't. It's kind of a remarkable to think
based upon how I responded after the pool party, But
having Kathy and Susan come for the pajama party that
night was very helpful. Kathy said to me, you just
got to pay attention to your own relationship with him.
This is an unusual situation. Can you imagine in my
(07:19):
real life going to an island with a man who
was there with two women. That's just not going to happen.
Not going to happen. So suspend reality and play your game,
just like, be in your own mind, be in your
own relationship with mel and don't let what else is
happening when his relationship with other people interfere. And that
was such great advice at the perfect time, and I
(07:40):
curried it with me the rest of the episodes.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yeah, it is so interesting because we have seen the
way you were responding and feeling in the beginning of
the season every season, right, and it's just such a
normal way to feel. But rare is it that someone
kind of switches that mentality and is able to compartmentalize
the relationship. And I feel like you really did that
around that time where you stopped worrying about the other women,
(08:07):
or at least that's what it looked like as a viewer.
You really kind of locked in on just you and
Mel's relationship.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Yeah, for sure, for sure. Now let me go back
a little bit further, just give you a little tidbit
of insight the whole first episode when I said I'm
falling in love, what ended up on the editing floor
is But there's a lot of types of love. This
feels like puppy love, you know, those little puppies. You
just want to be around them all the time. They're
so cute, and you know, Mel can walk in and
Wagsdale and I'm right there. But early on I did
(08:35):
have strong feelings for him and was wondering how he
was doing with the other women. And after that conversation
with Kathy. It was. It was pretty clear that if
I was going to survive in my head and not
eat myself up, that I had to change a mindset.
Great advice.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Is MELI your typical type of men?
Speaker 3 (09:02):
There are a lot of things about Mel that I've
been looking for, So I don't think I have a
typical My daughter's kind of alluded this to this. At
the hometowns, I've dated a lot of great men. I've
dated a lot of handsome men, a lot of smart men,
a lot of wealthy men, a lot of athletic men.
What I like about Mel is different than what people
(09:22):
might have seen on his initial resume, so to speak.
You know, he's a professional athlete, professional football player. So
to the rest of the world that might mean glamour
and fame and money. To me, I'm a Division one
athlete myself, and I know the dedication it takes to
graduate from a school like Michigan playing football at the
level that he did, and then go on to play
(09:44):
for the pros for a single team, and then to
turn and become an attorney. So the characteristics that I
was reading from his resume, if you look at Mel,
were things that were a little different I looked at
his dedication. I looked at how curious he must see
life to make a change. I look at how one
of the things that I projected onto him that may
(10:07):
or may not be true, is how he was able
to make big, bold changes in his life going from
the NFL to becoming an attorney. And I love in
my life those moments at which I've just said, forget
what the world thinks, what do you want to do?
And shake it up. So Meil is my type for
those reasons, but not for the reasons that you would
automatically see.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Got it. What sport did you play?
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Doesn't make questions. I was on the palm team and
then I cheered, so both were letters. And so sadly
all those athletes are really you know, the football players
and basketball players who probably put in more hours. I
have better statistical credentials at the school because I got
two letters and they only got one. But nonetheless, I mean,
we've practiced, We've practiced a lot, We traveled with the team,
(10:53):
we had our own competitions, and it was it was
a lot of work, and I loved every minute. Best
seats in the house.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
If you ask me, what did you do what do
you do now.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
I'm retired, retired.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Last October prior to be retired.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
So I'll give you a whole history. So I graduated
with a degree in biomedical engineering, and I started selling semiconductors,
moved to La lived in LA for a very brief
period of time, missed, then moved back to Texas that
I missed the medical part of what I was doing,
and I sold diagnostic imaging equipment think mri CT scanners,
(11:29):
et cetera. And then I got married and we started
to have a family. So I got promoted with Sarah,
Emily and Caroline, and I was blessed to stay home
for twenty years with those babies and had a great time.
That's the best job I've ever had. Then I came
back to work when I found out, you know, I
was not going to remain married, and so there are
(11:52):
a lot of things that I had to put back
into place in my life. And I accidentally got a
job selling in the facial aesthetics market, which is highly coveted.
Every woman thinks that's the most clamorous. I like it
because it's where all the science is, and so I've
been I've been doing that for a while and decided
to retire. We'll see what happens.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
You have a favorite daughter, Joe, I do.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
It's Sarah, Emily and Caroline. And it's funny because I'll
tell people this, you know, like tonight I'll be with Caroline.
I'll say this is my favorite daughter. They'll all roll
their eyes. It's just kind of a family joke that
probably every family has.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
That's so funny.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
But we say, we say, what's your favorite colors? Because
colors is my last name.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Oh oh, I didn't know that that's your last name.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
You asked me during the show what his favorite colors?
He would say Cindy. Now I'm not so sure. I
think he's going to have to say peg as you
should as you should.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
As Yes, that's very funny.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
So going into the Stingray date overall, just going into
the day in general, what do you what is the goal?
What do you want to get out of.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Mel I think I said it on the show that
you know I wanted. I wanted to see if he
had started making plans in his mind for me and
for us. I also wanted to have a little fun.
It had been several days since I'd seen him you know,
I just wanted to go back to some of the
playful part of our relationship that you know, just I
(13:23):
don't want to get that heavy all the time. So
I wanted to see us play and I wanted to
find out if he had begun to think about what
life might look like with me.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Was that playfulness between you two there most of the
season because we don't you know, we only we only
get to see so much, and I don't really think
as viewers for the most part, we didn't really see
like the fun mel, which I believe he is because
we've had him on this podcast and he is a
lot more. He has a much bigger personality than the show.
(13:56):
I think let On.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
I would agree with that for sure. Yes, it was
like just a horseback riding for example, first, just even
him getting on the horse, and he's self deprecating and
he's also very supportive, and he was so fun to
watch him literally coach his horse up that mountain, up
that trail and kind of be in a moment. And
(14:18):
the couches that we sat on outside the observatory were
so low that he looked at the producer and said,
tell me what you need to get from us, because
once I go down, I'm not getting back up again,
you know, because it was just a lower couch for him,
A tall guy. Yeah, he's very playful, and I thought
it was interesting that he wanted to see me outside
(14:38):
of my comfort zone and we go swim with sting rays.
He's definitely not interested in doing that.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Yeah, tell us about that activity. We see you kind
of dive in. He's more hesitant, and it feels like
you kind of coaxed him to come and try it.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
I was a little surprised by how timid he was,
because on the boat, he's like, wow, those are those
are big, like they're prehistoric monsters. I thought they would
be smaller, but that's an observation. I didn't realize that.
He just did not want to interact with them. So
we got into the pool and he wouldn't leave the
ladder area and I couldn't stay in the ladder area
(15:20):
because I'm underwater. Literally, I would be up to my
eyeballs on my tippy toes. So I had to I
had to go in. I had to go out a
little bit further to where the handlers had disting rays
and they were all starting the usting rays just you know,
it's feeding time. They all know to come out and
to swim around. So and I had done it before
and it was new for mel So yeah, I look
(15:42):
back and he's not following me. Check it like we
do in here. You cut me? Should I come back? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (15:50):
So you go to the ninth portion of your date, Well,
a wait, before we go to the night portion, how
does the sting ray date end? Like where are you
guys before we even get to the night portion at
the end of that Stingray date, like.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Emotionally, yeah, yeah, how are you feeling? Okay? So there
was a moment at the end of the date where
we are he's having to hold me and it's just
easier so I don't have to tread water and you
can't kick the sting ray so if I had to
go to him. So he's holding me, we're kissing and
we're snuggling and we have a moment and I said,
(16:29):
I just want you to know this is real for me,
like I have real feelings for you. This is not
for show. This is truly how I'm feeling. And I
think you're a great guy and I could see a
life together and I don't need it tomorrow, but I
could start seeing it and I'm kind of surprised myself,
and he at that moment says, this is just really
(16:52):
fast for him. And I got back on the boat
and I thought, have I been misreading this? You know,
I kind of thought this is the direction we were going.
And you know, he had talked early on about, you know,
wanting to go to Austin to see my kids, and
he met my kids, and I don't. I just I
was just a little confused getting back on the boat,
(17:13):
but also wanting to still continue to have a good time.
But listen, I I could have a good time and
not put myself out there as the way I did
on this show to come home with a boyfriend. You know,
I could stay in Austin and go have a boyfriend.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Well, I also get how that that would be kind
of jarring to where it's like you have this nice
little moment and then it's like that that's tough, and
like I understand, Like you know, I've I get where
Mel's coming from with like with a lot of the
but you know, in the same breath, this is kind
of what you signed up for. Like it is like
(17:53):
the show produces engagements so like, there has to be
a part of you that needs to be willing to
take that leap of faith, even though if you're not
that person. If you commit to the show, you are
kind of committing to taking that risk. And I feel
like he I don't think he was able to do that.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Once he's but he's allowed to. He's allowed to have
his own views and to be hesitant at that moment too.
I recognize that Mel. I've been dating, you know, I've
had lots of experiences. And Mel told me on at
the Limo night that he was using this experience to
kind of the date to look at a different and
(18:36):
a lot of different type of women, to kind of
try on a bunch of shoes, to use a Cinderella analogy,
I guess. But he was using this process to do
something that I had already done in real life. So
it's fair for him to get to this point and
to say, Wow, I hadn't even thought about finding a girlfriend.
(18:56):
It's a little much for me to think about finding
a fiance, right, So I get it. I guess that's
a great point.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
I didn't even think about that. Like if you're in
your shoes thinking like, well, I've tried on all these
different men, and I've figured out kind of exactly what
I'm looking for, So like when I find that person,
I know, like, hey, I'm ready to commit. Whereas Mel,
he did say on the podcast, I think as well,
like he hasn't been dating, like this is his time
(19:23):
to date. So then to jump from like I just
started dating to I fail my wife has got to
feel like a huge leap for him.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
I think about that. I agree.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Do you think, Cindy it would be different if Mel
had done the experience the way you guys did, where
if he was a contestant vying for the Bachelorette and
then became the lead because he technically never did the show.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
I just got goosebumps everywhere. That's such a good question.
That's a really good question.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
A lot of them, you know, Yeah, that's a really good.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
Way because you know, I thought about like production wise,
you know, would he have been a little less reticent
in front of the camera if he had gone through
it as a contestant. But I think you're right. I
think that's a really good point that he may have
emotionally been more open to it and more more vulnerable
to it having gone through as a contestant. But very
(20:26):
good question, and yeah, I agree.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Yeah, we were wondering as well about he seems to
have this strong feeling of like you're in the game,
you finish the game. If you're in the game, you
finish the game. And I think that is such a
lead focused mentality because their game goes from night one
all the way to the very end.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Finish.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
They have to finish. They don't have a choice, like
their game is. They walk into night one knowing that
they have a job to do till the very end,
whereas the contestants, you're kind of like, I don't know
my game's gonna end, Like my game is up to you,
or like I say, I think I have everything I
need to know I'm leaving. There's no certainty of like
(21:11):
start to finish.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Also very good point. But if he is going to
require people to be in it to the end, he'd
better keep his eye on the ball. I think he
took his eye off of their relationships. And I can't
really put my finger on what really happened. I think
it like it just kind of got too too real
for him, and I felt him pulling away, And maybe
(21:35):
it was that it was Peg all along, but I
could tell you it was. If it was Peg, he
wouldn't have been kissing me like he did in the water.
So I just think that maybe he just lost track
of the ball and was looking at the timeline to
your point, Serena, that he's looking at completing all those steps,
but he forgot to carry the ball with him in
(21:58):
those steps, and he wasn't really progressing in a relationship
with me or you know, trying to figure out like
what life would look like with me? What how you know?
What is really what struck me? And I haven't really
brought this out anywhere yet, but we were in my
in my condo for hometowns and he's shaking a cosmo
(22:19):
for me. I may cry this, It's.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Okay, it's really emotional, like you're doing a lot of reflection.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Yeah, thank you. So on our one on one day,
he said that he had a special cosmo that he liked,
and cosmos were like one of my top drinks, and
so he had the ingredients set to my condo and
he's shaking me this condo. It's literally the shakers spilling everywhere,
and I don't care. I'm just watching this amazing man
(22:47):
in my place, and I thought, wow, I could this
is what I want to be doing on Tuesday, you know,
on the everyday. Yeah. And I think Mel was just
going through to process part of it and maybe took
us off the ball and stopped thinking about what Tuesdays
might be.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
And that's so hard to have that visual of knowing
what you could have in front of your face and
then having it taken away from you.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Well, now you could go out and have Cosmos on Tuesday,
you know, I bet, I bet somebody's got a happy
hour in Austin. You can go have a good time
and have a have a Cosmo at the bar, at
the proper. That's where you should go.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
I go, I go out all the time. Don't you worry?
Don't you worry?
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Okay, so let's let's go. So now we enter the
night portion of the date. And now it's all making
sense into like kind of why you went in there
somewhat hesitant and questioning him more and kind of just
like walk us through that moment.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
I needed answers you to going to the fantasy suite
for me, And I love the idea of going off camera,
no MIC's and having that time, and Mel and I
had already had some conversations that we were both like, okay,
those are We're gonna talk about this when there are
no cameras around, because we don't want to share this
with the world. But going to the fantasy suite also
(24:13):
from a from my perspective, maybe I'm old fashioned, but
even if nothing happens in the fantasy suite, you're gonna
have to answer questions to that the rest of your life.
Speaking of bars, I came home from LA and I
go to the bar, meeting a friend there and a
man comes up to me, A very hot man comes
up to me and says, I saw you on the show.
I recognize you. I loved watching you, and I'm going
(24:35):
to buy you a drink because you didn't go to
the fantasy suite. Oh, it's from a guy's perspective, that's awesome.
And so I knew that if he was not going
to commit in the end, I'm not here for a boyfriend.
I'm just not. I'm simply not and I don't want
to continue to put my life on pause. Were the
(25:00):
hope of a boyfriend, it just wasn't enough for me,
And I knew that Mel was worthy of more. He's
he definitely had, you know, my attention and my interest,
and if I didn't have it for him, that's fine.
But I just you know, I didn't need to go
to fantasy suite, so I needed some answers in order
to accept the card, and I honestly didn't want to
(25:22):
embarrass him if he gave me the card and then
I said no, So yeah, that's where I was.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Anything that's honest as I could be in LA Did
you go to his fantasy suite?
Speaker 3 (25:35):
This was an auto and my answer is no to that,
do you go to his sweet I'm dead?
Speaker 2 (25:43):
So when you're going into that conversation, obviously you did
not get the answers that you were hoping for or
looking for in order to continue the process with Mel.
What could have Mel said or done in that conversation
that would have made you feel comfortable to continue forward.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
I did not expect him to make a commitment to me,
or to pick me over Peg, or even to say
it's going to be you in the end. But I
feel like a man in this position, if you're going
to spend this amount of time, you're down to two women,
and if you haven't started to think about how your
life is going to integrate. And PEG and I are
completely different women too. So if you're thinking about if
(26:26):
I'm Meil and I'm thinking about my life and I
haven't thought about my life with Cindy and how that
might be, how that might work for him, how that
might be different for him, what the challenges might be,
what questions he might have for me about those challenges.
If he's not on that level and he's not really
in the same place that I am, and you know
(26:48):
clearly we're so far away from an engagement if he's
not there.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Yeah, did any part of you wonder if he, in
that moment had already made his decision and was feeling
like you know, I already know it's Peg.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
No interesting now. I mean, if if it was PEG
all along, he wouldn't have behaved with me the way
he did. Yeah, Yeah, trolls me on the dock. And
you know, if you if you know you're going to
be with someone else, you refrained from those things. I mean,
you have niceties and you're gracious, but I think a
(27:25):
man or a woman, if you already made your mind up,
you behave differently. You're not continuing to kiss and hold
and hug and have those those intimate moments if you've
already made your decision up.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Yeah, and I feel like the word that's been used
a lot with malice, he has a lot of integrity.
It would surprise me if he would keep you if
he had known it with someone else, like if he
was like, I'm one hundred percent sure it's Peg. I
assume that he would likely be upfront with that with you.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
And I knew that if I asked him questions, like
you know, I'd gone too the fantasy suite and asked
him what happened with Peg, he would be honest with me.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
He was.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
He really was very upfront with me, and I felt
I could I felt I could trust him for sure.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Yeah, he strikes me as an honest, like blunt person
like he wouldn't. I don't think he's the type of
guy that would just like lead you on no or.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Like sugar cuts something to make you feel better.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
All right. I think this is a good place to
take a break with Cindy and we will be back
for part two.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Thanks so much for listening. We will have a new
and assisive interviews every single week. Stay tuned for Part
two with Cindy Bye,
Hey, everyone, welcome back to bet You're Happy Hour. I'm
Joe and I'm Serena and we are here today with Cindy.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Good job.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
That was good. Thank you from Golden Bachelor. Cindy. How
are you.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
I'm doing great, better than I deserve, probably, but I'm
doing great. Thanks for no such thing.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
No such thing.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
I mean. I'm good. I'm good. How are you? I'm great.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I'm happy to meet you. You've been on this podcast before,
but sadly you were on the one of the very
few weeks a year that Joe and I were not
on it. Yeah, there's only like one or two times
that ever happens, So we were sad to miss you,
but we're excited to chat with you today. We have
a nice two part interview coming out.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Well, I'm happy to meet with you too, and I'm
glad you had a great trip. You deserve it. You
take that time for yourselves.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Thank you. Yes, it's much needed.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
So you live. I want to you know, I know
some of our audience knows some of the stuff already,
but you live in Austin, Texas, right.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I live in Austin, Texas. I've been there for about
thirty years, but today many years. Uh Los Angeles. So
but yes, I've been in Austin for a long time.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yeah, that city's really changed. Tom.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Oh my gosh. I live in downtown and downtown. When
I moved, there was a ghost town. Nobody lived down there.
There was not even there wasn't any apartment complex or
high rise at all downtown. Really, that was it. We
had an ordinance that you couldn't build buildings taller than
the state capitol, right, okay, so everything was really short.
(01:30):
And when they removed that ordnance, boy it started dooming.
And now it's just an amazing downtown area. The whole
city is popping. You should come.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yeah, we went to I had my brother's bachelor party there.
We went to a hotel lobby that was actually great.
I think it was the proper hotel.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Yeah, it's two blocks for me, it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
So you live right there.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
We actually looked at that hotel as a potential wedding
venue when we first started. Oh look, we didn't go
see it, but when we were doing some research, we
thought it was really pretty.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Yeah. Austin is super fun. We get a lot of
people for bachelorette and bachelor parties and weekends. And I
was on a plane yesterday with a group of guys
who just got back. They just went down and ate
barbecue and that was their their weekend was just finding
all these great barbecue places.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, do you have a favorite barbecue place in Austin?
Speaker 3 (02:21):
They actually mentioned a couple of them that I haven't been.
But my favorite is actually in a gas station. It's
called Rudy's Barbecue off of three sixty. They have several
across the state of Texas, but that one in particular,
there's something extra special going on in there's smokehouse, so
I don't know what it is, but it suits me nice.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I went to I think it's called La Barbecue or
La Barbesae. That was a good spot. Katie. And do
you know Katie and Zach They live in Austin.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
I have not met them yet. I look forward to it.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Okay, I'm sure you are.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Kathy.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Oh yeah, I have you met Kathy?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Remember, I'm just I'm just out. No, I haven't been.
I've been kind of sequestered from the world until this
last week. So give me a minute, all right, give
me a minute. I'll track them down quickly.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
That's fair. That's fair. Yeah, you should hang out with Kathy.
She's she's a good time.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah, you have a good crew down in Austin. I
have to make my way down there at some point.
I've never been and I've always wanted to check it out.
So me really will treat it.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
We'll treat a great great hospital.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Brought you to Austin because you've only been there for
thirty years, So where did you no thirties one time?
I just mean like you didn't. You didn't You were
born and raised.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Thirty longer than you've been alone.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
So it's a fair question. It's a fair question.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I've been there for thirty years.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
I've moved to Austin to marry a man back in
the day. Yeah, I met him. I was living in Dallas,
living a great life. In Dallas, you talk about a
fun city for a single person, and especially back in
the day. But I met a man who was living
in Austin and we decided to get engaged and had
to pick where we moved, and Austin was it. I
(03:58):
hadn't looked back. It's been a fun place.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Did you watch the Dallas Cowboys documentary by any chance?
Speaker 3 (04:04):
I haven't. I haven't. And SMU has a new documentary
that I need to see as well about the death penalty,
which I lived through when I was cheeringder. Yeah, listen,
I've got to catch up on a lot of things.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah, you have to watch The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Series two,
America's Yes, I Love for Sure and.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
The Secret Life Mos. Okay, let's get into this. So
before we get into a FI and everything, let's go
back to Antigua. Where is Antigua?
Speaker 3 (04:32):
By the way, Antiga is into British West Indies. I
don't know this because I had my phone with me,
because you know they take our phones, but it's into
British British West Indies, and I've been to islands that
are about one hundred miles away, but it's a special
island if you haven't been on your short list. It
was amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
A girlfriend I just saw this morning for coffee. She
actually Bree Springs, who was also on The Bachelor. She
was just there on a trip and she said it
was exquisite, like so beautiful, something that somewhere I've never
thought about going, but I really want to check out.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
So the sand is like walking on a temper pedic Mattress.
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Okay, so you get the Antigua, it's Antiga, Antiga. You
get the Antigua. It should be called Antigua, by the way.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Pitch it.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Tell the name Sydney.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Yeah, it's beautiful. You know you're you're one of two
women left. What is going through your mind when you
first get there?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Uh? I was what was going through my mind. I
got to go back to that moment. Get off the plane,
You're in this beautiful city. I walked throught me tell
you what happened. I walked through customs and they handed
my passport and he's like, you're single. I go yeah,
he goes, well, maybe you'll meet your husband on the island.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
No way.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Did you feel like that was a sign?
Speaker 3 (06:01):
I did? I really did know, because that's what I
was thinking. Right here, I am We're going to discover
some more things about each other, move this relationship down
the road, and wow, this is incredible. I actually found
a guy, as crazy as it sounds on National TV,
and we're going to make this work. That's what I
was thinking.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Were you at all hesitant going into Antiga because you
were worrying Melvin? Maybe wasn't there yet. No, Okay, I.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Know, and after we know the ending of the show,
it's hard to remember, so I've got to put myself
back into that timeline. But at that moment, I believed
that he was putting one foot in front of the
other two.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Was any part of you at that point thinking about
his connection with Peg or the fact that there was
someone else there?
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Honestly, I wasn't. It's kind of a remarkable to think
based upon how I responded after the pool party, But
having Kathy and Susan come for the pajama party that
night was very helpful. Kathy said to me, you just
got to pay attention to your own relationship with him.
This is an unusual situation. Can you imagine in my
(07:19):
real life going to an island with a man who
was there with two women. That's just not going to happen.
Not going to happen. So suspend reality and play your game,
just like, be in your own mind, be in your
own relationship with mel and don't let what else is
happening when his relationship with other people interfere. And that
was such great advice at the perfect time, and I
(07:40):
curried it with me the rest of the episodes.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yeah, it is so interesting because we have seen the
way you were responding and feeling in the beginning of
the season every season, right, and it's just such a
normal way to feel. But rare is it that someone
kind of switches that mentality and is able to compartmentalize
the relationship. And I feel like you really did that
around that time where you stopped worrying about the other women,
(08:07):
or at least that's what it looked like as a viewer.
You really kind of locked in on just you and
Mel's relationship.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Yeah, for sure, for sure. Now let me go back
a little bit further, just give you a little tidbit
of insight the whole first episode when I said I'm
falling in love, what ended up on the editing floor
is But there's a lot of types of love. This
feels like puppy love, you know, those little puppies. You
just want to be around them all the time. They're
so cute, and you know, Mel can walk in and
Wagsdale and I'm right there. But early on I did
(08:35):
have strong feelings for him and was wondering how he
was doing with the other women. And after that conversation
with Kathy. It was. It was pretty clear that if
I was going to survive in my head and not
eat myself up, that I had to change a mindset.
Great advice.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Is MELI your typical type of men?
Speaker 3 (09:02):
There are a lot of things about Mel that I've
been looking for, So I don't think I have a
typical My daughter's kind of alluded this to this. At
the hometowns, I've dated a lot of great men. I've
dated a lot of handsome men, a lot of smart men,
a lot of wealthy men, a lot of athletic men.
What I like about Mel is different than what people
(09:22):
might have seen on his initial resume, so to speak.
You know, he's a professional athlete, professional football player. So
to the rest of the world that might mean glamour
and fame and money. To me, I'm a Division one
athlete myself, and I know the dedication it takes to
graduate from a school like Michigan playing football at the
level that he did, and then go on to play
(09:44):
for the pros for a single team, and then to
turn and become an attorney. So the characteristics that I
was reading from his resume, if you look at Mel,
were things that were a little different I looked at
his dedication. I looked at how curious he must see
life to make a change. I look at how one
of the things that I projected onto him that may
(10:07):
or may not be true, is how he was able
to make big, bold changes in his life going from
the NFL to becoming an attorney. And I love in
my life those moments at which I've just said, forget
what the world thinks, what do you want to do?
And shake it up. So Meil is my type for
those reasons, but not for the reasons that you would
automatically see.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Got it. What sport did you play?
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Doesn't make questions. I was on the palm team and
then I cheered, so both were letters. And so sadly
all those athletes are really you know, the football players
and basketball players who probably put in more hours. I
have better statistical credentials at the school because I got
two letters and they only got one. But nonetheless, I mean,
we've practiced, We've practiced a lot, We traveled with the team,
(10:53):
we had our own competitions, and it was it was
a lot of work, and I loved every minute. Best
seats in the house.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
If you ask me, what did you do what do
you do now.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
I'm retired, retired.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Last October prior to be retired.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
So I'll give you a whole history. So I graduated
with a degree in biomedical engineering, and I started selling semiconductors,
moved to La lived in LA for a very brief
period of time, missed, then moved back to Texas that
I missed the medical part of what I was doing,
and I sold diagnostic imaging equipment think mri CT scanners,
(11:29):
et cetera. And then I got married and we started
to have a family. So I got promoted with Sarah,
Emily and Caroline, and I was blessed to stay home
for twenty years with those babies and had a great time.
That's the best job I've ever had. Then I came
back to work when I found out, you know, I
was not going to remain married, and so there are
(11:52):
a lot of things that I had to put back
into place in my life. And I accidentally got a
job selling in the facial aesthetics market, which is highly coveted.
Every woman thinks that's the most clamorous. I like it
because it's where all the science is, and so I've
been I've been doing that for a while and decided
to retire. We'll see what happens.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
You have a favorite daughter, Joe, I do.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
It's Sarah, Emily and Caroline. And it's funny because I'll
tell people this, you know, like tonight I'll be with Caroline.
I'll say this is my favorite daughter. They'll all roll
their eyes. It's just kind of a family joke that
probably every family has.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
That's so funny.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
But we say, we say, what's your favorite colors? Because
colors is my last name.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Oh oh, I didn't know that that's your last name.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
You asked me during the show what his favorite colors?
He would say Cindy. Now I'm not so sure. I
think he's going to have to say peg as you
should as you should.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
As Yes, that's very funny.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
So going into the Stingray date overall, just going into
the day in general, what do you what is the goal?
What do you want to get out of.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Mel I think I said it on the show that
you know I wanted. I wanted to see if he
had started making plans in his mind for me and
for us. I also wanted to have a little fun.
It had been several days since I'd seen him you know,
I just wanted to go back to some of the
playful part of our relationship that you know, just I
(13:23):
don't want to get that heavy all the time. So
I wanted to see us play and I wanted to
find out if he had begun to think about what
life might look like with me.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Was that playfulness between you two there most of the
season because we don't you know, we only we only
get to see so much, and I don't really think
as viewers for the most part, we didn't really see
like the fun mel, which I believe he is because
we've had him on this podcast and he is a
lot more. He has a much bigger personality than the show.
(13:56):
I think let On.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
I would agree with that for sure. Yes, it was
like just a horseback riding for example, first, just even
him getting on the horse, and he's self deprecating and
he's also very supportive, and he was so fun to
watch him literally coach his horse up that mountain, up
that trail and kind of be in a moment. And
(14:18):
the couches that we sat on outside the observatory were
so low that he looked at the producer and said,
tell me what you need to get from us, because
once I go down, I'm not getting back up again,
you know, because it was just a lower couch for him,
A tall guy. Yeah, he's very playful, and I thought
it was interesting that he wanted to see me outside
(14:38):
of my comfort zone and we go swim with sting rays.
He's definitely not interested in doing that.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Yeah, tell us about that activity. We see you kind
of dive in. He's more hesitant, and it feels like
you kind of coaxed him to come and try it.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
I was a little surprised by how timid he was,
because on the boat, he's like, wow, those are those
are big, like they're prehistoric monsters. I thought they would
be smaller, but that's an observation. I didn't realize that.
He just did not want to interact with them. So
we got into the pool and he wouldn't leave the
ladder area and I couldn't stay in the ladder area
(15:20):
because I'm underwater. Literally, I would be up to my
eyeballs on my tippy toes. So I had to I
had to go in. I had to go out a
little bit further to where the handlers had disting rays
and they were all starting the usting rays just you know,
it's feeding time. They all know to come out and
to swim around. So and I had done it before
and it was new for mel So yeah, I look
(15:42):
back and he's not following me. Check it like we
do in here. You cut me? Should I come back? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (15:50):
So you go to the ninth portion of your date, Well,
a wait, before we go to the night portion, how
does the sting ray date end? Like where are you
guys before we even get to the night portion at
the end of that Stingray date, like.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Emotionally, yeah, yeah, how are you feeling? Okay? So there
was a moment at the end of the date where
we are he's having to hold me and it's just
easier so I don't have to tread water and you
can't kick the sting ray so if I had to
go to him. So he's holding me, we're kissing and
we're snuggling and we have a moment and I said,
(16:29):
I just want you to know this is real for me,
like I have real feelings for you. This is not
for show. This is truly how I'm feeling. And I
think you're a great guy and I could see a
life together and I don't need it tomorrow, but I
could start seeing it and I'm kind of surprised myself,
and he at that moment says, this is just really
(16:52):
fast for him. And I got back on the boat
and I thought, have I been misreading this? You know,
I kind of thought this is the direction we were going.
And you know, he had talked early on about, you know,
wanting to go to Austin to see my kids, and
he met my kids, and I don't. I just I
was just a little confused getting back on the boat,
(17:13):
but also wanting to still continue to have a good time.
But listen, I I could have a good time and
not put myself out there as the way I did
on this show to come home with a boyfriend. You know,
I could stay in Austin and go have a boyfriend.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Well, I also get how that that would be kind
of jarring to where it's like you have this nice
little moment and then it's like that that's tough, and
like I understand, Like you know, I've I get where
Mel's coming from with like with a lot of the
but you know, in the same breath, this is kind
of what you signed up for. Like it is like
(17:53):
the show produces engagements so like, there has to be
a part of you that needs to be willing to
take that leap of faith, even though if you're not
that person. If you commit to the show, you are
kind of committing to taking that risk. And I feel
like he I don't think he was able to do that.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Once he's but he's allowed to. He's allowed to have
his own views and to be hesitant at that moment too.
I recognize that Mel. I've been dating, you know, I've
had lots of experiences. And Mel told me on at
the Limo night that he was using this experience to
kind of the date to look at a different and
(18:36):
a lot of different type of women, to kind of
try on a bunch of shoes, to use a Cinderella analogy,
I guess. But he was using this process to do
something that I had already done in real life. So
it's fair for him to get to this point and
to say, Wow, I hadn't even thought about finding a girlfriend.
(18:56):
It's a little much for me to think about finding
a fiance, right, So I get it. I guess that's
a great point.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
I didn't even think about that. Like if you're in
your shoes thinking like, well, I've tried on all these
different men, and I've figured out kind of exactly what
I'm looking for, So like when I find that person,
I know, like, hey, I'm ready to commit. Whereas Mel,
he did say on the podcast, I think as well,
like he hasn't been dating, like this is his time
(19:23):
to date. So then to jump from like I just
started dating to I fail my wife has got to
feel like a huge leap for him.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
I think about that. I agree.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Do you think, Cindy it would be different if Mel
had done the experience the way you guys did, where
if he was a contestant vying for the Bachelorette and
then became the lead because he technically never did the show.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
I just got goosebumps everywhere. That's such a good question.
That's a really good question.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
A lot of them, you know, Yeah, that's a really good.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
Way because you know, I thought about like production wise,
you know, would he have been a little less reticent
in front of the camera if he had gone through
it as a contestant. But I think you're right. I
think that's a really good point that he may have
emotionally been more open to it and more more vulnerable
to it having gone through as a contestant. But very
(20:26):
good question, and yeah, I agree.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Yeah, we were wondering as well about he seems to
have this strong feeling of like you're in the game,
you finish the game. If you're in the game, you
finish the game. And I think that is such a
lead focused mentality because their game goes from night one
all the way to the very end.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Finish.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
They have to finish. They don't have a choice, like
their game is. They walk into night one knowing that
they have a job to do till the very end,
whereas the contestants, you're kind of like, I don't know
my game's gonna end, Like my game is up to you,
or like I say, I think I have everything I
need to know I'm leaving. There's no certainty of like
(21:11):
start to finish.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Also very good point. But if he is going to
require people to be in it to the end, he'd
better keep his eye on the ball. I think he
took his eye off of their relationships. And I can't
really put my finger on what really happened. I think
it like it just kind of got too too real
for him, and I felt him pulling away, And maybe
(21:35):
it was that it was Peg all along, but I
could tell you it was. If it was Peg, he
wouldn't have been kissing me like he did in the water.
So I just think that maybe he just lost track
of the ball and was looking at the timeline to
your point, Serena, that he's looking at completing all those steps,
but he forgot to carry the ball with him in
(21:58):
those steps, and he wasn't really progressing in a relationship
with me or you know, trying to figure out like
what life would look like with me? What how you know?
What is really what struck me? And I haven't really
brought this out anywhere yet, but we were in my
in my condo for hometowns and he's shaking a cosmo
(22:19):
for me. I may cry this, It's.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Okay, it's really emotional, like you're doing a lot of reflection.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Yeah, thank you. So on our one on one day,
he said that he had a special cosmo that he liked,
and cosmos were like one of my top drinks, and
so he had the ingredients set to my condo and
he's shaking me this condo. It's literally the shakers spilling everywhere,
and I don't care. I'm just watching this amazing man
(22:47):
in my place, and I thought, wow, I could this
is what I want to be doing on Tuesday, you know,
on the everyday. Yeah. And I think Mel was just
going through to process part of it and maybe took
us off the ball and stopped thinking about what Tuesdays
might be.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
And that's so hard to have that visual of knowing
what you could have in front of your face and
then having it taken away from you.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Well, now you could go out and have Cosmos on Tuesday,
you know, I bet, I bet somebody's got a happy
hour in Austin. You can go have a good time
and have a have a Cosmo at the bar, at
the proper. That's where you should go.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
I go, I go out all the time. Don't you worry?
Don't you worry?
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Okay, so let's let's go. So now we enter the
night portion of the date. And now it's all making
sense into like kind of why you went in there
somewhat hesitant and questioning him more and kind of just
like walk us through that moment.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
I needed answers you to going to the fantasy suite
for me, And I love the idea of going off camera,
no MIC's and having that time, and Mel and I
had already had some conversations that we were both like, okay,
those are We're gonna talk about this when there are
no cameras around, because we don't want to share this
with the world. But going to the fantasy suite also
(24:13):
from a from my perspective, maybe I'm old fashioned, but
even if nothing happens in the fantasy suite, you're gonna
have to answer questions to that the rest of your life.
Speaking of bars, I came home from LA and I
go to the bar, meeting a friend there and a
man comes up to me, A very hot man comes
up to me and says, I saw you on the show.
I recognize you. I loved watching you, and I'm going
(24:35):
to buy you a drink because you didn't go to
the fantasy suite. Oh, it's from a guy's perspective, that's awesome.
And so I knew that if he was not going
to commit in the end, I'm not here for a boyfriend.
I'm just not. I'm simply not and I don't want
to continue to put my life on pause. Were the
(25:00):
hope of a boyfriend, it just wasn't enough for me,
And I knew that Mel was worthy of more. He's
he definitely had, you know, my attention and my interest,
and if I didn't have it for him, that's fine.
But I just you know, I didn't need to go
to fantasy suite, so I needed some answers in order
to accept the card, and I honestly didn't want to
(25:22):
embarrass him if he gave me the card and then
I said no, So yeah, that's where I was.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Anything that's honest as I could be in LA Did
you go to his fantasy suite?
Speaker 3 (25:35):
This was an auto and my answer is no to that,
do you go to his sweet I'm dead?
Speaker 2 (25:43):
So when you're going into that conversation, obviously you did
not get the answers that you were hoping for or
looking for in order to continue the process with Mel.
What could have Mel said or done in that conversation
that would have made you feel comfortable to continue forward.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
I did not expect him to make a commitment to me,
or to pick me over Peg, or even to say
it's going to be you in the end. But I
feel like a man in this position, if you're going
to spend this amount of time, you're down to two women,
and if you haven't started to think about how your
life is going to integrate. And PEG and I are
completely different women too. So if you're thinking about if
(26:26):
I'm Meil and I'm thinking about my life and I
haven't thought about my life with Cindy and how that
might be, how that might work for him, how that
might be different for him, what the challenges might be,
what questions he might have for me about those challenges.
If he's not on that level and he's not really
in the same place that I am, and you know
(26:48):
clearly we're so far away from an engagement if he's
not there.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Yeah, did any part of you wonder if he, in
that moment had already made his decision and was feeling
like you know, I already know it's Peg.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
No interesting now. I mean, if if it was PEG
all along, he wouldn't have behaved with me the way
he did. Yeah, Yeah, trolls me on the dock. And
you know, if you if you know you're going to
be with someone else, you refrained from those things. I mean,
you have niceties and you're gracious, but I think a
(27:25):
man or a woman, if you already made your mind up,
you behave differently. You're not continuing to kiss and hold
and hug and have those those intimate moments if you've
already made your decision up.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Yeah, and I feel like the word that's been used
a lot with malice, he has a lot of integrity.
It would surprise me if he would keep you if
he had known it with someone else, like if he
was like, I'm one hundred percent sure it's Peg. I
assume that he would likely be upfront with that with you.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
And I knew that if I asked him questions, like
you know, I'd gone too the fantasy suite and asked
him what happened with Peg, he would be honest with me.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
He was.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
He really was very upfront with me, and I felt
I could I felt I could trust him for sure.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Yeah, he strikes me as an honest, like blunt person
like he wouldn't. I don't think he's the type of
guy that would just like lead you on no or.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Like sugar cuts something to make you feel better.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
All right. I think this is a good place to
take a break with Cindy and we will be back
for part two.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Thanks so much for listening. We will have a new
and assisive interviews every single week. Stay tuned for Part
two with Cindy Bye,
Hosts And Creators
Joe Amabile
Susan Noles
Serena Pitt
Kathy Swarts
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