One on One with Mike Johnson

Mike sits down with Rachel to talk about not being named the next Bachelor, being a black man in the franchise, and — of course — his relationship with Demi Lovato.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
What's up, guys, and welcome to Bachelor Happy Hour. I'm Rachel.
Ali is off today, but we had the opportunity to
do an extra podcast for you guys, and we didn't
want to wait. Well, the truth is, I didn't want
to wait because you guys, if you follow me, if
you listen to me, if you dare to do that,
you know that I have a favorite, a clear favorite

(00:23):
from Hannah Bey's season, and I'm not shy about him.
It is none other than Mike Johnson. And I've been
waiting for this day to have Mike Johnson on the
Bachelor Happy Hour podcast, and I am so excited that
he's here. You all know I've been pushing hard for
him to be the Bachelor, and while fortunately that's not
going to happen, he's still my bachelor and I'm going

(00:45):
to talk to him about that and so much more today. Mike,
Welcome to the podcast. Are you ready? Well, let's go.
I've been waiting a whole season to talk to you.
Mike Ready, I'm ready? Okay, So I guess I just
want to start from the beginning because I feel like
when I watched Hannah season, we didn't get to really
know you. We didn't get in depth. You know, we

(01:07):
saw you. There was a lot of drama that was
involved with your season and I don't even want to
talk about that because we saw that enough. But I
feel like that's when we saw you most. Even on
your one on one we didn't get to know Mike,
but you are a fan favorite. The audience knew that
there was something there. You were even a fan favorite
of Hannah. I've heard Hannah talk very positively about you
since the show's been over. So let's just from the beginning.

(01:30):
Who is Mike Johnson? If you could describe yourself in
three words? What would you say? My friends would call
me since say bushy brow because I have thick eyebrows.
You do have thick eyebrows? Do you do you tame
your eyebrows? Are they natural? Just natural? Just black? And
I'm rocking it. I'm blessed to be here with you, sir,

(01:52):
and I'm blessed to have you on the show. Okay,
three words, and I know you already talked to me
about one word. Three words. If you had to describe yourself,
three words, had to describe myself? Goofy, ambitious leader? All right,
goofy ambitious leader. I like that you sound like a
good time. I'm a great time. And then and then
at the same time that somebody could learn something from you.

(02:14):
All right, So let's dive into it a bit. How
do you feel like your life has changed since this
whole Bachelor experience? You know, a crazy thing. It's like
when I'm in the airport and I didn't brush my
hair and somebody wants to take a picture or something.
That's crazy because I want to. I'm grateful to take
a picture with you. But then bro, like my breath staying,
my hair is not dead yet, you know those are

(02:37):
That's the weird part. That's the weird part right there.
These are things you will have to learn. I had
to start getting eyelash extensions because too many times people
ask for a picture and I was bald eyed. Ye
stop balhead and bald eye. I never heard that before.
I'm learning it off on the spot. Serious, it's just crazy,
like I'm not looking at my best and people want
to picture. That's when it's crazy. Do you feel like

(03:00):
you've been able to go back to your normal life
since this whole experience. When I'm back home in Texas,
all my closest homies and cousins treat me like regular
and if not already even more on top of me now,
and I respect him, I love them and I need it.
Do you feel like that's kept you grounded through this
whole experience, because I see people get caught up, you

(03:21):
don't seem to be that person. I don't think I'm
caught up. What's I don't think I ever get caught up.
But I mean, I was just texting my little sister,
one of my best homies, a minute ago before being
out here, and they just, yeah, they do help me,
they stay, they keep me grounded. I think that's key,
and I wish more people did that. Um, you see
this world change a lot of people, and I don't
feel like that's happened to you. I don't think it will. Yeah, see,

(03:42):
I don't think it will either. Okay, So I want
to know. I don't know. I'm sure the viewers are.
The listeners want to know this as well, But I
want to know how you How did you get on
the show. So that's a really good question. My homeboy,
I was working as a financial advisor and say it.
You're in a safe place. No, I'm good I'm gonna
say I told you already. I was at work in

(04:06):
my office and I threw my phone across the across
the room and my homeboy, my coworker, was like, what's
wrong with you? And I said, man, all these girls
just want to have sexual relations and I really want
to be in a relationship. And he bust out laughing
for like twenty minutes. She was like, what guy says that?
And I was like, bro, I'm serious. And after forever
of him laughing at me, he knew I was extremely serious.

(04:29):
I wanted to be in a relationship. My last relationship
probably going on the show, was twenty fifteen and crazy,
it's got my heart broke, all that stuff, and so
I really wanted to be in a relationship again. And
you know, get married. I'm mightna be thirty two. I
got like little gray hairs, my beard now rocket and
you know I'm trying to have kids one day. You know,
my ultimate going life has built a treehouse for my kids.

(04:49):
And so who are you? It's unicorn? A horn just
popped up on your head. And so like six months
after I I had like a bitch fit, I guess
you would say, because I wanted to be in a relationship,
and I am picky. My homeboy send me a Facebook wing.
He said, hey, you should go try out for this.
And I was off work that day, so I drove

(05:10):
down to Houston, went to the aquarium where they had auditions.
And the crazy thing is they thought it was like
nine ladies to every one guy. It might have been
every It might have been forty nine ladies and one guy.
It was crazy, right, And then I think I was
only black guy there, sood out sounds like the sounds

(05:31):
like the Bachelor. I wore a full suit. I actually
got on the Houston news that night because they thought
I was a bachelor, which is crazy, Like legit, girls,
girls and their mom and dads were coming up to me,
like introducing their daughters to me while I was auditioning
for the show. You didn't even need the show, not
like that at all. But it was just a really
crazy experience. I mean, I had my book with me.

(05:52):
I got to tell the story. It was gonna be
a great day that day. Right, So I can't tell
the story. Yeah, okay, so I have. I think I
told you guys, I have a disabled veteran license plates, right,
so I can park in disabled spots, and I parked
in one of the zoo is. The aquarium was quite busy,
and I'm parked there. I'm there pretty early and I
see a guy drive buy in a van. He's like, hey,

(06:14):
if someone are you like sitting there. I'm like, nah, bro,
you can have it. So I move out of this
spot so the other guy can get the parking spot, right.
Good karma. People have good karma. And so we're doing
that or whatever. I go upstairs and this dude in
the wheelchair he's trying out for the show as well.
It was a second time trying out, so me and
him made a really cool bond together. We stayed there
the whole time, just talking crap about the girls and

(06:37):
the guys there and just you know, doing what people do.
And he became my best friend. So shout out to you, bro,
if you hear this. I completely forgot your name. I
love you, that homie. But yeah, long story short, I
got mad because I wanted to be in a relationship
and my homeboy six months later took me then apply
for the show. Oh gott I see this. I used

(06:57):
to live downtown in San Antonio and I work my
butt off as a financial advisor. I was Rookie of
the Year. I worked crazy hard. I'm super ambitious. And
this girl in my department complace used to have her
name's Ashley. She used to have like Bachelor parties every Monday.
And I had never watched the show prior to that,
me too, you know, being honest, and so she like,

(07:19):
maybe me go watch one, and she said I was
gonna be the be on the show. She said I
was gonna be the Bachelor, which is so crazy. I
was two years. Shout out to Ashley who saw what
we we see now. We see now and still see
and still are rooting for UM. I think it's a
cool story. I love hearing how people got to the show.
You know, some people submitted a video, some people tried

(07:39):
out four or five times. I remember my experience when
I went actually went to an audition to my co
workers signed me up. There were people who had been
there five six times. It's like American Idol had traveled
to different cities. And it's like you know with athletes,
when you're like hang up the cleats, it's almost like
turn like let the application go. You know, it's it's
a rat for you. Well, good thing. You went through

(08:00):
the Houston audition, Yeah, definitely. They liked you. They sent
you on through, you went to Hollywood, then you came
on our TV screens. Um, did you have any You
didn't watch the show and I didn't either, And I
love talking to people who didn't watch the show because
I feel like your expectations are different than the super
fan who comes on the show, and there are a

(08:21):
lot of them. So what were your expecting? Who'd you say?
He Cam dead? Was Cam? Isn't Cam from Oh Austin?
Was he at your audition? No? He wasn't. I mean,
I'm sure you would have seen him. He was probably
standing up on a ledge rapping. You'd have been talking
to everybody. He would have known everyone's bio. They're social,
he'd have known everything. Poor Cam. Just to digress a bit,

(08:43):
the way that that Anyeka called out Cam at the finale,
I felt sorry for him. I thought, geez, like, this
guy can't win. Um, okay, So what were your expectations
when you came on to the show, Because you didn't
watch it before, so I know what you were. Well.
I remember stepping out of the limo and I saw Hannah.

(09:05):
I was like, Oh, you're really cute, and so I
was like a plus right to me. I didn't watch
Colton season, so I wasn't I was unsure of who
would be the bachelrette. But you didn't watch Colton season,
no comic because I don't watch. My expectations were just, honestly,
to be myself and have a good time and if
I find love, and then I find love. Okay, So

(09:28):
you did you know Hannah was going to be the bachelorette.
I did the night before because that was when she
had the five guys come out on stage with Chris
Chris Harrison and that's when Cam did his little rap
thing and got the row. So I knew her literally
twenty four hours prior. Um, that's I see. I'm shocked
that you knew her or you didn't know her until

(09:49):
right before. That's interesting. So you really were open and
just ready to meet someone, which is refreshing. You were
I guess I have to say use a bachelor term here.
You were there for the right reasons, and I think
that I saw on my Instagram. When you're there for
the right reasons, things happened differently. Oh, I don't know
if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I

(10:11):
can take that two different ways. Okay, moving on, what
was your experience like on the show away from Luke?
Because we saw that, we saw that play out all
on the camera, so it's like, I want to know
what the other side was like for you. Well I
want to speak on that, but one shout out to Luke.
I love you, bro, I hope you getting better. But

(10:31):
things outside of Luke, honestly were great. It was It
was a great group of guys outside of Luke. And
Hannah is goofy as hell and I love it. She
just speaks her mind. I love everything about her. In
that regard, it was boring, Like when you're not going
on a date, it's hella boring. You're just in a
mansion with a bunch of dudes. What did y'all do

(10:52):
for fun on your off days? Because you're right, what
a lot of people don't see is that you see
the dates rights as a viewer, you see two hours
of filming when we've been filming an entire week, and
you only get out of the house on rose ceremonies
or if you have a date, So there's a lot
of downtime you're in these great countries, these beautiful cities
you've never been in before, and you don't really get

(11:14):
to go out and see it. So what did y'all
do for fun? Then I'll tell you what we did.
Telling what y'all did. You know what y'all did, y'all
probably y'all more buck way than we did. I just uh,
I feel like y'all did drink. You know, stupid guy stuff,
push ups, pull ups, all that stuff. Okay, that's definitely

(11:35):
not what we did. Yeah, somewing around the pool, talk
shit to each other, do a lot of interviews. There's
a lot of that going on. We did. You know.
The crazy thing is you do all these what is
it called guy talk or a girl talking? On your season?
None of that crab gets aired? I know, I'm like,
why you got me doing all these? It mean it's tough.
Tyler and I Tyler seeing I did a great one

(11:56):
making fun of Garrett and Hannah because like they live
like thirty minutes from each other. It was epic. That
should have made the credits. It was. Although the church
scene that y'all did at the piano was amazing. I'm
glad that that made the credits and I could tell
the camaraderie that you guys had on the season. Who
were you close to. I'm close to a lot of guys. Uh.
Like I mentioned Tyler, he did homie Dustin. I spold

(12:19):
him earlier today, he's a homie. Dylan's my little brother, Connor.
I'm those are the ones that I hang out with
and talk to the most. Matteo. I want to go
see him in Atlanta. Yeah, I'm pretty cool with everybody.
Is the infamous group chat popping because I know y'all
have it. Of course we got a group chat, and
I'm the one that pisses everybody off of my Android.

(12:41):
Oh yeah, yeah, you're one of those. It's I mean, honestly,
they should kick you out. It's very annoying when someone
goes green chat. I might get the eleven because all
my dms, like Mike, can you please get an iPhone
so I might listen to the fans? Yeah, you need
to pay attention to that. Um okay on your one

(13:03):
on one, I want to talk about that. Because I
said this earlier, I felt like we didn't see a
lot of you. Were you really nervous? Did we? Did
we miss out on some conversation because I know you expressed, hey,
I'm nervous, but it just seemed like a lot of
nervous energy. Nah, So I definitely wasn't nervous. It was
more of when I watched The Bachelorette back, all I

(13:24):
did with smile, and I have so much more than
a smile. I like, really do converse with people, have
a great conversation. I feel I think the show just
wanted me to. They just want to show my smile.
They didn't want you to look like the angry black man,
and they damn sure in portray me that light. So
I'm appreciative, even though I definitely was going off on
some people that deserved it. Sure I did too. You

(13:47):
know it's good, he said it did. It's good? Oh
did not ery good? Hannah. I definitely had conversations. There
was no pauses in our dates at all. On both
of our dates. It was great conversation throughout his fluid.
They just want to show me a smile for some reason.
Well it's better than a frown, right, Not definitely, I'm
not a frowning. You know, it takes more. It takes

(14:07):
more muscles to frown than it does a smile, exactly.
So therefore to smile. I'm a frowner. I you'r a frowner.
Are your rbfer? I'm definitely you can say bitch. I
definitely have a resting bitch face boat show everybody. Everybody
knows that. But I try to work on smiling because
people tell me that I look angry. So it's nice
that even Okay, maybe they didn't show your full personality,

(14:29):
but at least they showed you smiling. Yeah, that's a
good thing. Definitely have a full personality. I'm extremely loud
and hilarious and I want to scream right now just
out of pure excitement and enjoy I'm glad that's the
energy you're bringing into the podcast. Who screamed with you? Um? Okay,
so you get sent home. We all saw that, and

(14:52):
it was really hard to watch because you were like
dressed to impressed. Y'all had had the day date before.
You know, you'd poured your heart out to Hannah. And
I remember even in the itms, you were saying, I
see her as my wife. Did you see it coming
at all? No? Zero percent one did not know that
I was gonna be sent home because and I asked,

(15:14):
because and I want you to expand on that. I asked,
because when I got sent home, I knew it. I
was actually hugging sound and hugging audio and the cameraman
before the rose ceremony, saying this was it, Like I knew,
I felt it in my bones, and so I guess
I assume other people have that same experience. So I'm

(15:36):
curious where you were coming from. Oh, let's speak on it.
It's juice. You ready for the juice? Time can be like, yes, yeah,
I bet so. No, I one hundred percent thought that
Hannah was gonna give me a rose. What had a
shout out of doubt. But for those crazy, crazy extreme fanatics,

(15:56):
the suit I wore was the exact same suit that
I got out of the limo in. We didn't know,
and for me and myself, that was like symbolism. And
I did that prior to No one knows that, none
of the producers know that, and so, and that was
from my end because I wanted to make sure and
this is real. I don't want Hannah to take this
no way, nor anybody I was hearing this. I haven't

(16:20):
brought a woman home to my mom in forever, and
there's been one woman in over a decade, and I
take that very seriously, whether on TV or not being
on TV. And I wasn't sure if I was ready
to take Hannah home, that's fair, and I didn't thought
I was gonna stay. I thought she was gonna give
me a rose. But I wasn't sure if I wanted
to be like, hey, mom, this is you know, the

(16:41):
beautiful Hannah. What's up? Say hi? Yeah, Hannah can play
spaces by the way too, so I like that. I
don't know she could play bones. So I thought that
I was gonna stay. I thought Hannah wasn't leave me
a rose. But for me, myself and I shout to
be honest, I thought we would have needed to have

(17:04):
a longer conversation for me to decide for myself, because well,
people don't realize that this is a two way street.
Like just Rachel, you are at the bachelorette, but your husband,
now he was a contestant, but at the same time,
he had an opportunity to leave as well, and obviously
he wanted you as you wanted him. And so for me,
I looked at it like that. That's why I was
never nervous. It's a two way street. From me my

(17:25):
heart has feelings as well. I think it's interesting that
you say, and thank you for being honest and sharing that.
I think it's fair fair for you to say you
didn't know if you were ready to bring her home,
because that's the other side of it. People don't talk about.
You know, you watch this play out, you assume everybody
wants a rose every single week, But it is such
a pivotal time when you have to take the lead

(17:48):
to your home because it's a reality check. You're in
this bubble, this bachelor bubble. You are caught up in
these feelings and these emotions because you have to talk
about them all damn day, every day. And then you're
gonna step outside of that bubble and take them home
where you know, we talked about this earlier. Your family,
your friends are gonna check you and bring you back

(18:10):
to reality. And that's a scary thought. And so I'm
glad that you speak on that because I think a
lot of people need to realize how nerve wracking it
is for the person to accept the rose to bring
them home. You got to make sure that you're ready
for that. And I think over that, I know you
didn't watch Colton season but there was a girl who
did that on Colton season. She just felt like their
relationship hadn't progressed enough for her to bring him home.
That's a serious thing. So I like that you set that. Yeah,

(18:34):
nothing is Hannah. I definitely like her, liked her, but
I just want to make sure that is when we
write for my family as well. I think that shows
how much you liked her. You weren't just gonna it
wasn't a game to you, and you aren't going to
take her. Yeah, you aren't going to set her up
for failure. You wanted it to be right, and that
shows your sincerity. Another good characteristic of the Bachelor, of
why he should be the Bachelor. I'm just telling y'all

(18:56):
another good characteristic. All Right, I have so many more
questions for you. We're gonna take a quick break. I'm
gonna let you have a breather because I feel like
I've been grilling you for a moment and we're gonna
come right back. All right, you guys, I'm back talking
to the Mike Johnson and we've been talking about his
time on the Bachelorette and how he got here and

(19:17):
just this journey through this whole bachelorette journey. But one
question I want to ask you because the way Hannah
season ended, we've never seen anything like it before, and
I don't want to get too into it because it's
we've talked about it so much, but I am curious
as to first I'll ask you this. Are you cool
with Jed? Yes? Okay, So I'm not going to get

(19:39):
a lot out of you. No, you probably will you.
I was just gonna say, did you see this coming? Oh,
that's fair to ask. I'm just because I can be cool.
Someone domo be not honest about the situation, right, So, No,
none of us knew that Jed had someone back home,
like at all. It was. I mean, you can see
my eyes right now. I was like, I was flowergasted
by it. Had no idea I knew that hand I

(20:00):
was gonna choose Jet though, um even for the moment.
I got even furthermore when I got sent home because
I know Ellen. Hannah had one on Ellen and she
was Ellen was playing that game with her, like who
she likes? And she chose, uh, what's my man's name?
From the stars born Radley Cooper? She chose. Hannah chose
Bradley Cooper. She likes guys that look like they haven't
showered in a few days, and that's Jet, and so

(20:22):
is that Jet. Jed looks like he has a shower
or does he smell like he has a Jet? Smells good?
He smells good. See to me, he doesn't look rough
around the edges like that. No, it's just his style.
He wears a tight jeans with the boots, you know,
the nice little leather jacket thing, got a little beer going.
It's just his style. He wears a ring. I'm not

(20:43):
I'm not. Yeah, he wears a ring that really stood
out to me. I'm not. I'm not into I did. Okay,
but no, none of us knew that Jed had a
woman back home. He seemed like a great guy to me.
He's hilarious, He is super funny, he's these are things
you don't get to see. I mean, we had Jet
on the show, and of course it was more of
a serious conversation, so we didn't get to talk to

(21:04):
him about that. But it's interesting to know there's this
other side of him now. Although it's sad to say
that you will not make history being currently being the
first black bachelor. I'm sorry. Oh no, we'll get into that,
but I want to say you did make history because
to my knowledge, and again I didn't watch the show
before I was on it, you are the first contestant

(21:26):
to wear a do rag and itms, oh, we have
to talk about that, Hey, do rag king, let's go.
I think I stood up and clapped when I said,
this is the realist shit I've ever seen on the show.
I'm always be me, always be a hunted to myself,
and they always have us. You know, we're at home
all day in the mansion. Why am I gonna take

(21:48):
off my dud rag? Why am I gonna take out
my bajamas that I have one? Like? Yeah, I wanted
to be reality TV, so I'm gonna show you reality TV.
I appreciated it because and what you guys don't know
a little behind the scenes information is we're not allowed
to wear sunglasses, we aren't allowed to wear hats, we're
not allowed to wear things really on our head. So
when I saw that you were able to wear the
d rag, I said, way to make a statement, Mike.

(22:08):
You know I couldn't do this podcast without talking about
the doo rack. I almost posted it on social media
when it happened, but I didn't. It was it was,
It was great. I was a fan of it. I
want to get into paradise, but before I get there,
I do want to ask you a question because I
felt like this was a question that was posed to me.

(22:29):
And it's sad to say, I don't get a lot
of opportunities to talk with other people in the franchise
about it, just because there aren't a lot of people
in the franchise that look like us. But being a
person of color in this franchise, do you feel like, Oh,
I guess I should just ask you. What did it
feel like to be a person of color in this franchise?
Did you always feel that similar to the way you

(22:51):
said when you went to the audition and you were
the only blackmail there. Do you feel like your race
was an issue on hand a season? Do you feel
like it's something that you had to talk about constantly?
I'm very curious, let's do it. So when I found
out there's a southern white girl from Alabama as a bachelorette,

(23:15):
I was like, whoa, I'm even sending home? Now you want?
I would have said the same thing, now you want?
What I'm saying home. Damn that sucks. But when Hannah
and I kissed for the first time, I was like, Okay,
you know, she might like the big lips, and then
from there it would be in the back of my

(23:35):
mind I would say, you know, could have Hannah, I
see herself bringing African American guy home to her parents.
And now I know her parents love and adore me,
and so I respect them as well. But that was
something that was my mind. Not gonna deny it. You know,
I was concerned about that. But as far as the
cast member goes the cast members go, I was like,

(23:59):
I don't really here. I didn't care about none of
them in that regard. I just cared about Handa and
how she would feel. And that sounds like I'm trying
to be a good guy, but that's just not the truth.
I didn't know. I didn't care about none of the
guys and how they felt. My connection was with Hannah
and if she didn't if she could see pass raced
and I was cool with that. No, I I'm very

(24:19):
curious and I love to talk about it, mainly because
I can. Yeah, But when I was on The Bachelor,
I didn't feel that way either. When I got the
first impression Rose to be Frank. I didn't know what
that was because I didn't I didn't, I didn't watch
the show like that before. But there were girls that
came to me that said, oh, a black person has

(24:40):
never received the first impression Rose. So those things were
in my mind when I made it as far as
I did. I was told a black person's never made
it this far. So I didn't really feel it until
those monumental to monaments and then of course being the Bachelorrettes.
So I'm just very curious as to how it was
for you. All Right, let's get into Paradise. Why the
hell did you decide to go to Paradise? I still

(25:03):
was single and still wanted to be in a relationship,
So why the hell not? So they twist your arm,
you finally decide to go. You got a day card
when you first arrived, right, I did. Okay, So you
have a day card and you decided to take Kaylin.
I did. It was so what the America doesn't see

(25:24):
is that I was. It was a toss up between
Sydney and Kaylyn, and then Katie was my second option
of who I wanted to go on a day with.
But it was like dead even between Sydney and Kaylin
and then Katie. I chose Kaylin or Sidney just because
Sydney is quiet and I felt like at the end
of the day, I at least have a fun time
with Kaylin. Yeah, And did you guys have a good

(25:45):
time now? We had a great time after your date.
Did you know that it wasn't gonna go anywhere after that?
I knew I wanted to tell to Sydney because I
told Sydney even before going on the day with Kaylin.
I told Sydney, I'm gonna go on to this day
with her, but I still want to talk to you.
And so as soon as I got back the next day,
I was talking to Sydney and I wanted to be
with Sydney. And I think Kaylen had one on a
day with Dean that same day. Yeah, so it worked

(26:07):
out kind of perfect. What happened to Sydney, I mean,
you guys seem to be having fun and playful on
the beach. We really didn't get the end of your stories.
What happened? First off, they not first off to you,
that's disrespectful, but first off to the show, Like, bro,
come on, you gotta like show what happened to the
end of Sydney and I, yeah, weird, So tell us

(26:29):
what happened. I broke it off with Sydney. I just
felt as if I thought a couple of things. One,
I feel like she didn't find me sexually attractive too.
I felt like our connection just was not there whatsoever.
I think that we both were trying. And I think

(26:50):
that Sydney is a diamond. When I say a diamond,
I mean that she is absolutely spectacular and very very
hard to crack, and that what I mean by diamond,
and so I called it ruby as well. But that
diamond wasn't for me, and so I broke things off
with her. And then I went to the to the wedding.

(27:13):
Oh okay, so it was before the wedding. Gosh, we
really didn't see well, we don't know, so, I mean,
you can kind of set the timeline for us. But
I'm glad you cleared that up because I remember watching
thinking what happened to Mike and Sydney. They just all
of a sudden, they just weren't. Yeah, that was weird.
I broke it off with Sydney. It was it was
respectful on both sides. It was mutual. And I went

(27:36):
to the wedding, and that's what y'all don't get to see.
I was in my zone. I was Mike Johnson to
a T Mike and Dallas was up representing San anton
I was just heavyes can be. I was just so
just thrilled to be there. I literally forgot I was
wearing a microphone. I forgot its cameras was on. I
just was having a wonderful time. I were free. I

(27:57):
was free. Yeah. I spoke to Angela, I spot to Danielle,
I spoke to Bibiana, and I just had a wonderful time,
Like it was. First of all, I love going to
weddings because the reception and because you get the dance
and oh yeah, I just have a fun time. Do
the bunny hobbit. Listen when people ask me about my wedding,
I'm like, let me tell about the reception. I had

(28:21):
a fantastic time at Chris and Chris's wedding. Shout out
to them their beautiful love birds. And then I went
on to day with Angela. So I got a question
for you, got a answer for you. What do you say?
And I'm asking you this because people said it to
me too. What do you say to the critics that
say you don't like to day black women? Yeah, that's crazy, Um,

(28:45):
I would say, literally my ex girlfriend prior to being
in on America's face as a black woman, I come
from a black woman who's a strong and beautiful. My
sister and my grandmother. Don't make me go all on y'all,
off on y'allum. First of all, I was on to
show that the league was a white girl, So therefore,
who cares my homies always telling me to follow your heart?

(29:09):
And then my aunt's you know my aunts, they're they're
the ones that want a date a black woman. And
then my uncle's like, she find what's up? And that's
just me being transparent. But my homeboys and my sister
and my grandma always tell me to follow my heart
and wasn't near and dear to me. The craziest thing

(29:29):
is like when I if I were a data white
girl and I take her back to where I'm from
in Dallas and we got to certain places we will
get looked at in Texas. That is true, But also
true is I don't care. I absolutely love my black woman.
When I auditioned to be the bachelor. I had a
Microsoft word spreadsheet that I had printed out financial advising.

(29:53):
Yeah you know, I'm weird like that. And I had
three different categories of women, and the first was the
black woman that I am attracted to and I'm not
gonna say their names. And the second, the second one
was like mixed chicks or whatever or other category Pacific

(30:16):
islander type category. And the third chick. The third category
is the white girls. And I mean, I'm a man
that has lived around the world, living in Europe for
five years, and I love all people, and I am
attracted to who I'm attracted to. I have always said
I would marry a black woman, but I'm not going

(30:37):
to hold my breath. I love you being honest about this,
and I ask you because, again, as as prefaced this
whole conversation, I can talk to you about things that
I can't really talk to every guest that comes through
here because we have shared experiences. And I got the
same criticism because you come on TV and you're on
the season of somebney who's white. Yes, And then as

(31:01):
the bachelorette, I have a whole shlew of men to
choose from, and the one I ended up with is Colombian.
So people automatically think you don't like your your last race,
and you are last race, people automatically think you don't
like your own race. And you know how it is.
You're judged by America and then you're judged by Black America,
and they're the ones, and they're the ones that usually

(31:23):
come at you for not liking your own race. And
it's so I love that you said my girlfriend prior
to the show was black. They don't know your dating
history before coming on the show, and so I wanted
to talk about that because I know you got that
same criticism as well. Know I absolutely adore my black
woman and my black skin. Am I Melanin and I'll

(31:45):
kiss all over you if you're my lady. You love women,
and there's and there's nothing there's but there's nothing. But
there's nothing wrong with that, all shapes, sizes, personalities, You
love for women, you're a lover of women. There's nothing
wrong with that. You're single. I think we'll get into
that later, but yeah, there's there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.
And I think that your friends are right and telling

(32:06):
you love who you love there or you said you
always thought that you would marry a black woman. I
truly always thought that I would marry a black man.
Has to say that either, but no, and I and
I put that to the side and just said I'm
gonna love who I love, and it turned out to
be Brian. So you know, I think that if you
put those lists to the side and those you know,
I have to do this and just open your heart

(32:28):
to whatever, you'd be surprised at what comes through. Yeah,
you know that. There's a little um ig story that's
going biba right now. It's the little white kid and
a litt black kid and they run up to each other.
They're on the side. Oh yeah, I've seen that. Yeah.
When I was a child and one of my best
friends growing up, his name is Colt Simons, so cold
if you hear this, what's up? Hold me? He was
a white kid that lived in like our neighborhood, but

(32:50):
he was like the white kid that had money and
he was the only white kid in our neighborhood. And
his parents had his driveway was some minute and they
had basketball goal and it was really cool and all
the black guys who come over there and it was
never about race until he went to high school and
those little kids I was talking about with a little

(33:11):
white and a little black kid running up to each other.
They don't think about race. I think about love and
friendship and happiness, right, and then when we get older,
we it just it happens. It comes about. You know,
when I was in Europe, and I lived in Europe
and I go on a day with a white girl,
you no big deal. I got on a day with
a white girl in Texas, go to Aha or something, which,
by the way, I'm way better in my days in
But if I were to go someone with a white

(33:33):
girl in Texas will be looked at differently versus if
me and you go out. Yeah everybody, I know she
has a husband. Okay, No, but I get what you mean.
It's yes, yes, people think that you're supposed to. I
just pulled up what I told you all about them
the document here. Look I got and can I give
some back some inside knowledge. Now you said that this
is when you were in talk to the bathroom. We're

(33:54):
going to get into that. But some behind the scenes
things that people don't know, and that's what we promise
to give you on this podcast, is that when you
are in talks. They do ask you who are you
interested in? What are you attracted to? What type of
women or men would you like to see on the season.
So that's why I want people to realize you weren't
just sitting at home and pulled out this this word

(34:15):
document because you just got it saved no production ask
you who you're interested in? Definitely, So I was prepared.
I mean I was taking this stuff seriously, like we
talked about earlier, I was there for the right reasons. Yeah,
and so yeah, um I was. I was going to
ask him. I was good, we'll have to. Can we

(34:38):
put up his document on one Bachelor Nation dot com? Um?
You should? You should? You should put that up yourself
if you're if you're comfortable with that, because that's very interesting.
I was going to ask you about the Bachelor in
Paradise reunion. Okay, I don't really you can, I be honest.
You look like you did not want to be there.

(34:58):
I didn't want to be there, very annoyed. Is that
does that pretty much wrap up how you felt about Paradise?
I just felt that I had nothing to contribute. I
didn't when I watched the show back. I wasn't in
any scenes. I wasn't about the drama. I would walk
away off camera when they were having drama situations. And
so I didn't fall in love on Bachelor in Paradise.

(35:20):
So I just felt like there was no need for
me to be there. And then right before going on stage,
they told me that I wasn't going to be the Bachelor,
and so you got me out here, you know, flew
me to La I'm working to Ascot, which I don't think.
No one has rocked to Ascot on the show before.
I don't think so either, And I did notice it,
and I just there was no need for me to

(35:42):
be there, and you just tell me that I'm not
gonna be the Bachelor, So I just didn't want to
be there at all. All Right, Mike, that's a really
good place to stop, because that conversation is going to
take another turn and I really want to get in
depth with that. So coming up next, we're gonna talk
to Mike about how he felt about not being the
next Bachelor. Stay tuned. Okay, welcome back to Bachelor Happy Hour,

(36:07):
and I'm talking to Mike Johnson and Mike, we're just
gonna go straight to it. We're gonna get into it.
At this point, we know that you weren't chosen to
be the next Bachelor. I'm still not over it, but
I want to know how you feel about it. So,
were you in talks to be the next Bachelor? Percent

(36:27):
talks to be the next Bachelor? I think a lot
of people want to know because people are upset, right,
you're not You're not the Bachelor. People are rioting and
I'm leading it. Okay, I appreciate it, but a lot
of people don't even think that you were considered to
be the Bachelor. So that's why I wanted to lead
off with that question. And people probably didn't think I
was considering be the Bachelor because I was trying to

(36:48):
be so respectful of the crew at Bachelor World, and
I don't want to speak about it even when I
went on TV. I thought that was being extremely respectful
and a gentleman of me to the Bachelor World, and
Peter didn't. I don't think Peter did those interviews, and
so he didn't have to go through that. I wanted
to be the Bachelor reasons being because one, I do

(37:13):
want to find a wife. Two it was bigger than me,
and I wanted to represent for all people of color,
and then also talking about people of color, they need
to have an Asian bachelor, they need to have an
Indian bachelor, they need to have other people outside just
black and white, and so I want to speak on
that as well. But I did audition to be the Bachelor,
and one percent did want to be the Bachelor. I

(37:35):
think that's important for people to know too. This isn't
an instance where you were offered and you turned it down.
You wanted it and you didn't get it. So how
did you feel when you found out you were not
chosen to be the Bachelor. I found out in the
trailers you know before you go on Bachelor and Paradise Reunion,

(37:56):
and I knew it all. You knew in my head.
Yes I wanted to be the Bachelor. Yes, I auditioned
to be the Bachelor. I went in there with the
right intentions of I wanted to find love, want to
be true to myself. You might have seen do rad
Keene come back. I had a list of a word
document of the type of women I wanted, what I

(38:16):
was scared of, what I wasn't scared of, And I
think ultimately it just came down to they chose the
right person for what they want, and there's nothing wrong
with that at all. When I first found out, I
was I'm not gonna lie. I was sad. I was
annoyed when I very first found out, But then I
think by the end of the night, I wasn't annoyed

(38:37):
nomore because I was appreciative and thankful that they told
me no right then and there, because now I can
focus on myself. And I'm just blessed because I know
i'mna find my wife and find my queen. You know, Mike,
this is that's really really big of you, and it
makes me still want you to be the Bachelor even more.
I'm more upset this podcast. I'm telling you, don't you

(39:01):
edit this out. I'm upset, and I just I hadn't
even met you. You know most people don't know is
that we have a mutual friend. Yes, my mentee from
college is one of your best friends, so I could
speak to your character outside of what I saw on
the show. And now I'm sitting here in front of you,
and I'm just so I might shut a tear. I'm

(39:21):
just so upset that you're not the Bachelor, and this
is what I have to say, and I'll ask you
this too, because you've just been so open and honest
and really respectful and how you're handling this whole process.
This is nothing against Peter. We had Peter on the show,
and a lot of times people will confuse that we've
had Peter on the show. Peter seems lovely, straight lined,

(39:44):
vanilla but lovely. And I and it's not that I
don't think he'll make a great bachelor. I think that,
you know, he's very Ben Higgins esque. I think they'll
surround him with an entertaining cast to mask his u
his magoonness. I I I again. So I'm saying all

(40:08):
that to say it is not a knock against people,
nothing against Peter. What do you think about Peter being
the Bachelor? Do you think he'll make a good one.
I think Peter is a good looking to do with
his five o'clock shadow, He has a fun, super fun job.
His family's amazing, his little brother. I know personally he's
dope kid. And I said, oh, when I say, called
somebody else a kid, right, I'm only thirty one, But

(40:31):
I think I would have been more entertaining. I said it,
and I'm gonna stick by my word. Yeah, I think
you'd more entertaining too. Um. Oh, you said Peter has
a has a fun job. I don't think he's gonna
have that job after doing The Bachelor. I disagree Peter
is in love with being a pilot. No, I don't
think it's up to him. Oh not correct, you know

(40:52):
what I mean. I'm sure he'd get another job. He'll
be a private father or something. I'm just saying I
could just have his own plane. He might. Maybe they'll
let him take a sabbatical. I don't know. It's hard.
I think that's why a lot of times you see
people on the show who have jobs or lack thereof
of jobs, because it's hard to ask your employer for
time off. So I'm not saying that as a knock
to Peter. I'm just saying it's gonna be hard for

(41:14):
him to be able to do both, is what I'm saying.
And I was a financial levisor so therefore I didn't
have a boss to tell me what I can and
can do. Say it again, have you really answered my
Bachelor questions very well? I mean not that I was
trying to get MESSI or anything, but you are a
very matter of fact, and I think it is what
it is. I will ask you this, are you Are

(41:36):
you disappointed with the lack of diversity on the show.
So that's one of the things I spoke about to
the producers if I were to be the Bachelor, and
I said that I wanted to be representative of America
as far as the women that would be on the
show if I were to be cast as a bachelor, like,
I also feel that more people of color. And I
know Peter mom is of Latin descent, but come on,

(42:00):
Peter's white, right, Let's be honest. And so I'm not
talking about things of that nature. I'm talking about I
want to full on Indian guy or a full on
Asian girl. For some reason, I like Asian girls. I
like Sydney's Asian. I didn't know that. I didn't know
that about myself until going on Paradise, open to all
these different experience. Really does love women? You love women,

(42:21):
It's what you feel, And I think that's great. Do
you think that not getting the Bachelor is the best
thing you never had? Right now? I'm about to say
right now because I don't focused on is in the moment,
and so I know that if I were to be
the Bachelor, it would come with a lot more scrutiny

(42:42):
into my personal life, into my family's personal life, and too,
my sister and things of that nature. And maybe that's
God's what I'm saying. It's not the right time for
you to be in that spotlight. And the whole point
of going on the show is a finer person, and
so I want to make sure that that's the presidents.
I wanted to find my wife, I wanted to find

(43:03):
my queen, and so if I'm not on a Bachelor,
you know, I've been blessed to be open up to
a plethora of people that know my face, and so
I may find my woman. Still, yeah, let's talk about that.
Let's talk about God's plan and the women that you've
been opened up to meet. A ka Demi Lavado. Oh,
we got to talk about it, okay, because Demi Lavado
is a fan of the show, and I have not

(43:23):
seen her this involved ever, So spilled the tea. Spill
the tea. Before I spill the tea, you said two
Drake lines. By the way you said one, I'm upset.
I mean you said I'm a fan. Just so you know, Um,
spilled the tea on Demi. Okay, I'll ask you more
pointed places, ask you questions because I will always answer it.

(43:46):
I will always answer the question. You just got to
ask them. Okay, have you met? Yes, Demi and I
have met in person. How many times we met? We've
met more than one time. Let me just tell you
who is not going to be on Peter season. Demie Lavado. Okay.
None of those girls can even stand in the same

(44:08):
room with Demmi Levado, so you are already winning. Let
me just tell you this, Mike Johnson your middle name, no,
no middle name, okay, Mike Johnson. Um, how is she?
I think she's amazing. She's incredibly humble when she and
when her and I are together or have Oh my god,
I'm saying this now. Don't say anything that's gonna mess

(44:29):
up the relationship because I'm shipping this. No, not at all.
I'm extremely respectful. When Demi and I are together, it's
laughter and we talk about real shit, like she's a
down to earth woman and I respect it so much.
And she's just really humble, really cool, really fun, down
to earth person. And she's from Texas and she's from

(44:50):
Texas that in common her bodyguard from Texas too, So
that's cool. Look, okay, you sound well acquainted. Oh god,
I'm just saying it's my job to see through this.
I will say that I have met Demi Levado and
she did not have this reaction to me. She treated
me like I don't even know if she knew I
was on the Bachelor. She took a picture with me
and walked away. She's an extremely sweet woman. No, no,

(45:13):
she seems really sweet. And is there anything else that
maybe you want to tell us? What is the status
of your relationship with Demi Levado? My status of the
relationship with Demi and I are that we are two
people exploring each other. I like it. I like it.
So what's next for you? Mike Johnson? What's next for me? So?
I am really big and I really care about self

(45:37):
love and insecurities, and so I am working on something
right now to help raise people's self love and lower
their insecurities through a media platform. I love this, and
I'm going to tell you why this is so necessary.
So we just did a podcast with Blake and it
went so deep it had to be two parts. And
what I loved about that podcast is he was so

(45:59):
open vulnerable. I mean, you met Blake, you saw the drama,
but he talked about the darker side of being a
Bachelor Nation, which a lot of people don't. I hit
him up about it, and I really think that you
guys should team up together and really help people through this,
because everybody wants to see they were on TV and
you know people they're shilling or they're going to all

(46:19):
these events. But you know that lasts for most people
six months and then the whole new crop of Bachelor
contestants come in and you're lucky if you can sustain
it longer than that. And when you don't, it's the
dark side of things. Or if you have a bad
experience and it plays out on a public platform like
Blakes did, it's a darker side of things. So I'm

(46:40):
excited to hear that you're doing something positive and I
think it can really reach and help a lot of people.
I agree completely. I've had family members and friends commit
suicide and you know, become hurt really bad by mental health.
And I know people that are in the public eye

(47:01):
that were once in the start now they're down at
the bottom, and so that plays a real toll on you,
and so you asked earlier about me and my personality.
Have I let things to go to my head. I
try to be even killers always because I am super
grateful to be sitting here with you right now, and
I know that tomorrow could be gone, and so therefore,

(47:23):
my day ones, I want to make sure that they
know that I love them care about them. And that's
the strongest thing that you can have is just your
family and friends that are near and dear to you.
But I understand that everyone goes through something and my
DMS people say, how do you smile? You know, through
a diversity, and so I just want to use my
platform for the good, for the greater good while still
having fun and still being do rat you know, Mike

(47:44):
very powerful. Gosh, Mike Johnson. I have to say it
is our loss that we don't have you as the
Bachelor for season twenty four, but I am glad that
you have graced us with your presence on hand a season,
even on Paradise, though I know you weren't a huge
fan of that, but you are a part of this
Bachelor family. You're a part of this franchise, and I

(48:06):
think that you're a really positive figure within it. I
appreciate that, and so I just want to thank you
so much for coming on the podcast. And I'm also
excited because I feel like this is a question I
wanted to ask you too. I feel like a lot
of people haven't had the opportunity to know you, and
you've really gone deep on this podcast. And I think
one of the things people would say about why you
wouldn't make a good bachelor is because you didn't open

(48:29):
up or you didn't cry in certain instances. And for
all those people out there who said that, take I
hope you're listening to this podcast because you have opened
up in a way and put yourself out there and
been very vulnerable, very honest, and really shown who you are.
And so I mean, like to all the haters out there, bye,

(48:50):
I want to speak on that light. Think thank you
for bringing that up. That's ridiculous when I'm not going
to call her name, said that I'm not going to
be a good continent for the Bachelor because I wasn't
vulnerable enough or didn't cry. For one. Where I come from,
when we talk about tears, we let those tears out.
But I'm not gonna let tears out for the most
frivolous of things. I do cry. I am an emotional person.

(49:13):
I am in touch with my emotional side. But I'm
not gonna cry for something that you've seen fifteen other
dudes cry for, and so that's just ridiculous to me.
I am extremely You can ask ask anybody to know me.
Oh my god, I don't need to ask. I already
know what's up. And I'll tell you this. There are
plenty of people who cry on that show, and there's
nothing behind those tears. It means nothing, nothing. It doesn't

(49:36):
mean that they'd be a good lead. Okay, And I'm
not going to name any names, Okay, Okay, all right.
I just want to say thank you so much for
coming on the podcast. Really do appreciate it. It was
a long time coming, and I wish you all the best.
I'm excited to see what happens for you. I know,
for one, I'm not going to be here for six
months or less. I know that's right me neither. Good.

(49:57):
Mike Johnson, thank you so much for coming in today.
I know you had to stay in La an extra
couple of days to make this work, so we definitely
appreciate it. But I feel like you kind of wanted
to do it anyway, because this was a long time coming.
I see it on your face now. So next week,
you guys, do not forget. We will have part two
of the Blake Interview. I promise this is one that
you don't want to miss. It'll go up Wednesday morning

(50:20):
and it's worth the way. In the meantime, you can
get all the latest Batchter news on batternation dot com
right now. And you, guys, as we say every week,
we want to hear from you, So make sure you
tell us what you like, what you don't like about
the show, and tell us what you want to hear
more of we need to hear that. You can email
us at happy hour at batchelnation dot com or visit

(50:40):
Bachelor nation dot com and click podcast