Bachelor Buzz

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Benn and Ashley I almost famous podcast
with her radio. Hey, everybody out there listening. An important
note that you should really consider as we start this
week's podcast, and this is a good one. Like a
lot of stuff in this podcast, you should go out
and follow the almost famous podcast that almost underscore famous podcasts.

(00:23):
And if you have any really strong opinions, especially the
good ones, like the really kind ones talking about how
amazing Ashley is and just how is yeah, how good
Ben is? It? Just like sidekicking this thing. UM, email
us at Benn and Ashley at I heart radio dot com. Okay,
that's a big announcement, Ashley, talk to me. It's been

(00:47):
a week since we last spoke. A lot has happened
in Bachelor Nation, and we're gonna touch on it, including
Chris Harrison's official resignation. UM, A lot of thoughts, a
lot of a pain ens on that. Mostly I know
you and I both kind of just texted back and forth.
We want to hear from the listeners on their thoughts
and opinions. I mean, I think that's really where we're

(01:09):
gonna understand, like what's going on. But also in your life,
I know there's some updates? What's going on? Is there? Really?
It's it's been a week. Sweetde to pretend like there's
been updates. Um, now I can't say there is. Ben,

(01:29):
has there been any updates in your life? Well, it's
been a big week. Uh, I see, I knew that
you would ask me not not nothing like that exciting.
It's just been a big week. Uh. Well, my my
dad and mom came out this last week to Denver, Colorado.
I also had a miniature board meeting out in Denver,

(01:51):
UH for Humanity and Hope United. So I had a
full week of people like and obviously having parents isn't
as stressful as maybe like having strangers, you know, come visit.
But the board meeting went great. We got on the
lake and then my dad came out for a father
son golf tournament. We got to play in that together
got fourth place, which I'm very proud of. I bet

(02:14):
there was like twenty five teams. Um, so overall great
showing there we had. We went to Red Rocks. If
anybody's listening and they haven't been to Red Rocks, I
know it's a it's a bucket list for a lot
of people. And if you have been to red Rocks.
You're going. That was one of the coolest things ever.
It was one of the first times I've been around
that many people in a long time, So that was

(02:35):
kind of fun to people watch again. And I'm I'm
the I mean, I've talked about it before. I am
the creepiest people watcher. Like I can literally just oh,
I could watch like just people walking and doing whatever
they for like an hour and not like really realize
that We've talked about it when it comes to the mall.
When I go shopping at the mall with Jessica or
my mom, especially as a kids, like I could sit

(02:56):
on those couches and just like kind of doze off
and just enjoy seeing so many humans functioning, which is
I find very creepy but also very enjoyable. Okay, so
you made me think about the things that I did
this week. I went to my first Red Sox game.
That was fun. Bachelor Nation was out in full force.
I was like, oh, no one's, no one's gonna know

(03:16):
who Jared and I are after this pandemic. We were wrong.
It was cool, but we talked a lot about Chris
with like all the fans that came up to US.
It seems like a lot of a lot of disappointed
people out there. And then I went to um Watch Hill,
Rhode Island twice in one week because everybody wants to

(03:38):
see where Taylor Swift lives when they come to visit us.
Is that where she lives? Is that her place? Um?
That's like one of her five houses. But apparently she
only stays in this house about one week out of
the year, which is like the ultimate disappointment that this
house sits unoccupied for that long. It is actually the
most expensive residents in Oliver Island. So is this one

(04:02):
of those celebrity houses? Because my my very first trip
to l A, all I want to do is do
one of those star tours where you drive around and you
you see where people live. Probably another creepy thing. I'm
I don't know, guys. I think I saved myself from
going on the show. People are like, Okay, he's not
that weird. But I really love like just seeing the
houses of where people like live. I just like looking

(04:23):
at houses in general, you know, like not even famous
popose houses. I just like like to drive around and
look at them. Yeah, I think because I like going
to open houses and like seeing like, Okay, well that
makes me feel better. Anyways, is this one of the
houses you could see from the road or is it
kind of like blocked off. You can see it very
well from not the road but from the ocean. Oh

(04:45):
so if you're on the beach, you look up and
you can see the whole backyard, the whole back of
the house. I mean, I feel bad like calling her out,
but like she wrote a song about this house, the
Great American Dynasty song on Folklore, and then she um,
I mean, like everybody knows if you just like type
in Taylor Swift House, Rhode Island comes up, I'm about
to do that. Well, hey, all of you out there listening,

(05:08):
thanks for joining us again for the Almost Famous Podcast.
We're about to dive in deep to the second episode
of Katie's season. We're gonna talk everything that came from
the episode. We're also again going to talk about Chris
Harrison's departure, and we're gonna sit down with Ali Fedotowski,
one of Bachelor Nation's favorite bachelorette's here in just a bit.
But before we do, let's take a break and we'll

(05:28):
come back with the Almost Famous podcast. Alright, guys, We've
got Ali Fatowski Mano on the show, and she and
I have something in common. We both moved to fresh

(05:49):
New States after living in l A for years. So Ali, Ali,
how's the transition been? Um? You know, I try to
keep obviously, always things in perspective of like my uncle says,
and I love this thing that he says. He always says, like,
just by being born in this country, you hit the lottery.
And I'm like, you know what, that's so true. So
every time I'm like getting down to myself, I always

(06:10):
remember him saying that. Um. But honestly, it's been a
little bit tough. So that's why when you posted recently about,
you know, the move to Rhode Island, I was so
curious how it's been going for you, because for me,
it's been a tough transition. Like I thought, a moving
to Nashville, the country, it's gonna be amazing, and it
hasn't been as amazing as I thought it could be. No,

(06:30):
I get that you you said that it takes two
years to fully adjust to a place. I definitely had
a freak out moment when I first got here. We
were living with my sister in law for like six
weeks and honestly liked living with her, but it was
just I could feel a slower pace of life compared
to l A. And that was even l A under

(06:52):
covid um, thinking like, am I gonna have foma? What
am I doing here? And I could be able to
have like all the outlets for like creative juices and
energy and like just events in l A, Like am
I going to miss going to those? Then when summer
came around, when Jared got Jared, I got a new
got our own place. It started to feel way more right.

(07:14):
This is an easy place to be in the summer um.
But I and for me, it was weird because it's
the first time I'm ever considering someplace to be like
my forever home, like for thirty three years. You know,
you go to school, you start your career, and you're
like you never know where it's gonna take you, And
I'm like, no, this is like where we're gonna like
build a house and put down roots. Friends. I do

(07:35):
have friends, but this is the set. This is the
kind of like sad thing is that all my friends
here are Jared's friends and Jared's friends from like life,
you know what I mean. Um will like go to
family get togethers and he'll he'll be so energetic and
so happy, and then he like, isn't this this the greatest?
I'm like, no, I love your friends. They're like some

(07:57):
of my best friends too, but like sometimes it makes
me sad that like it's always going to be like his,
his circle is going to be like the primary circle.
You know, Well, this is what I'll say to that.
Like one thing I've done since we've moved to Nashville's
like I go on friend dates and actually, Ben, I
have you to think for one of those friend dates
d D, which is one of Ben's friends M Ben

(08:19):
and just friends um D. Yeah, he been just Sony
texts one day it was like, Hey, I have friends
in the neighborhood that saw you at the farmers market
and I want to connect you. And then we went
to dinner with them the other night and like talk
for hours and it was the best ever. Today I'm
going to her son's birthday party with my family. How
is that? I mean? They are the best? Yeah? He uh,

(08:40):
they take Justin out the dinner. I don't know if
you've experienced this with them yet, but they know Nashville
food better than any other people in the city. And
I can almost promise you that, oh my god, you
have to go to Jack Browns Burgers is my favorite
burgers in the entire world. Well, I am vegetarians, so
I don't know. Yeah, but they know their food alley uh.
And I'm glad I could do that because yes, she

(09:00):
reached out to me. It was super sweet and I
was like, hey, I just saw Ali. I know this
is weird, and I know probably a lot of people
know where, but like she's in my neighborhood and I
feel like I would like to reach out there. And
I was like, I think Ali would really appreciate that.
I appreciate it so much because we really have been
like putting ourselves out there, like this is what I'll
say to you, actually being in a new place, and
so that you don't feel sort of being an outsider

(09:21):
to Jared's life friends lifelong friends is like go on
friend dates, like whether it's somebody who knows you, knows
you like the way Ben set me up with d
D or whatever it may be like, And I call
them friend dates because look, at the end of the day,
do you want to like it's so much easier to
hang out with Jared's friends, right, Like that's the easier
thing to do. It's comfortable, it's easy. But you have

(09:42):
to put yourself out there like your single, think about
that print single, and you have to go out on dates.
You have to force yourself to date friends, to find
the right to find the one, you know, the best year.
I get it, I get it. I think that definitely
when we have kids and like you start like having
like mommy hangs, that's when things will probably be really easy.
Have you felt like that's helped you, like with the

(10:04):
kids in school and stuff. So my kids are only
in preschool. Um, And what's been hard about COVID is
that there's no social gatherings at the school. Like I've
only met my child's teachers, like for three seconds when
they came outside to drop them off in the lobby.
Like I haven't seen the school. I don't know what
it looks like besides like pictures and you know, the

(10:25):
security cameras they have up Because of COVID, things have
been really straight to the school. I think they're gonna
start opening things up soon. But like I don't know
any of the other parents. I think that kind of
will open up even more when they get in kindergarten,
like really primary school. Um, but I do think I
am going to start meeting more people that way for sure.
Would you say that that is the hardest thing that

(10:46):
you've had with the move friends, like not having yeah, yeah,
like I you know, when we were in l A.
It was the reason we moved out of l as.
I always know I didn't want to raise my kids.
They're like, you know, I love Los Angeles for what
it has to offer, but and if you grew up
in l A, maybe you want to raise your kids
in l A because that's what you know. But that's
not what I know. Like I know, small town, small school,

(11:08):
you know, the kids you go to kindergarten with or
the kids you graduate high school with. And that's just
not what l A is. And so I knew we
didn't want to raise our kids there, So I'm happy
that we left. But I had this like they went
to the best preschool, and all my girlfriends and I
in l A just happened to have kids at the
same time and they all went to in the same preschool,
or most of them did. And you know, my girlfriend
lived two blocks away and every night came over for wine.

(11:29):
So I think I'm just like adjusting to like the
COVID transition and then like the transition of just not
knowing that many people. But again, I'm like putting myself
out there. I'm going on a lot of friends dates.
Is the birthday party that we're going to with d
D that Ben introduced me to is today, and that's
our first birthday party. So I definitely see it like
headed in the right direction. Oh good. You know two

(11:52):
things I want to touch on with you, Alex. I
think this is a really interesting topic for people listening. Also,
one of the things that you know, Jessica moved to
Denver from me and it's a big deal, and we
kind of took this strategy where obviously we're gonna have
some time with my friends, like that's gonna happen. I
hang out with them a lot, but it was always
encouraged that like, she doesn't need to be around for that,

(12:12):
and that like for a bit, it was kind of
like that, hey, you're off on your own, go find
what you're looking for, and if it happens, they come
back full circle with friends of you know, of the
wives or girlfriends and my buddies. Great. If not, that's
fine too. It's been a really interesting process for her though,
because she's she has a lot of social gatherings. She's
dating friends a lot right now. But I think that's

(12:35):
such great advice because it's kind of been that, hey,
I'm not going to force you into this, like you
have to hang out these five people and their wives thing.
It's kind of opened her up, I think, and she
encouraged it, like to explore. So it brings me my question.
I say all that, just say thanks for that advice,
because I think it is great advice. Ally, Um, you've moved,
actually you've moved as well, so maybe the question be

(12:56):
for both of you, what have you found that's important
in the city now? I mean you you've gotten comfortable
in l A. Now you're in a new city. What
is it when because a lot of people have moved
during COVID, a lot of people have switched around. What
is it that you're like, what's important to you there?
Outside of friendships that we've already talked about. Food, Um, honestly, food,

(13:16):
Like when Kevin and I my husband, when we were
trying to figure out where we wanted to live, in Nashville.
We we picked a restaurant that one let me cavey
at this with I'm vegetarian and my husband's vegan. And
we moved to the South where barbecue. So we knew
that there was this one restaurant true food that we
really like to go to. There's a bunch of l

(13:37):
a so you guys might have been, um, they're good,
But so we knew that where that restaurant was, and
we kept saying to our realtor, how far is this
from true food? How far is this from true food? Like,
we just wanted to live near a restaurant where we
knew we could get food that we could eat and enjoy.
But honestly, the food has been one of the hardest
transitions for me because I'm so used to l a

(13:58):
food where everything it's like pretty healthy, Like you can
order like the unhealthiest thing on the menu and like
it's still kind of healthy. Like it's kind of crazy,
And I didn't really realize that until I move somewhere
where that's not the case. That's so funny. I feel
the same way. They have no organic fruits and vegetables

(14:19):
here at the grocery store, like even Trader Joe's, Like
you can't necessarily find like every every food, like every
piece of produce, like they don't always have an organic
version of it, and just just Rhode Island in general,
they're not health conscious whatsoever. Like here, you know, it's
all about like barbecue and biscuits and gravy and butter,

(14:43):
and so I will go and order, like and I
went to this restaurant the other day and it was
like a new American restaurant, you know, really nice. And
we ordered because again, we're vegetarian, and there isn't a
lot for us to choose and a lot of the
menus here, so a lot of times we just order
a bunch of sides because that's the only thing we
can eat. So we like order like the broccolini, the
Brussels sprouts, the roasted carrots, and they were all so

(15:05):
drenched and sauce and butter and like even the vegetables
are healthy. So I've gained like ten bounds as you
moved here, which isn't the end of the world. I'm
not like uba focused on that, but like I am like,
oh my gosh, like I have to pay attention to that.
So I'd say friends is the most important thing when
you move. You know friends like you know people that
you see yourself being friends with. Um. And then the

(15:26):
second thing for me is food. Food. It's great. Well, Ali,
I hope this birthday party goes so fantastically. They are
great people. You're great people. Even if it doesn't work out,
even if this friendship date doesn't uh continue to happen,
it's just nice, you know what's happening. Nice to know
you're hanging uh. Well, you even just said that they

(15:46):
know their food better than anybody and obsessed with food too,
So it's like a match made in heaven. You gave
me the thank you for setting me up on the
perfect blind date. I love it, Alic Ali, you've watched
Katie's episode second episode? Right? Yeah? Okay? Is it okay
if we break down the second episode with you here
on the podcast. Yes, let's do it all right, Let's

(16:08):
take a break, and when we come back, we're gonna
break down Katie Thurston's second episode of her Bachelor at
season with the one and only Ali Fittowski. Summer just
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(17:16):
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(18:00):
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for summer. So great. All right, before we get into
the nitty gritty of the episode, how do you feel
about the states of the franchise currently? Um? I mean
it's shifting for sure, in so many great ways. Um,

(18:24):
and then some ways that might feel, um, a little unfamiliar.
Like even when I was watching Katie's episode, I didn't
watch the first episode. Just you know, I did watch
the second one. Um. I always find the first episode
is boring, I worry, but this was actually a good
first episode. Oh no, maybe I need to go back
and watch it. Um. But like little things of like

(18:45):
you know the transitions now is a voice that we
don't know you know, like it makes it almost seem
like a different show. Um, and then even you know,
like the girls Caitlin and Tasia being there, like it
just feels a little bit different. And we've got passed
the essences come out in the past that sort of
be there as a common theme throughout. Um. I think

(19:06):
I don't know what's going to happen with the show.
I hope it continues, Like I love the show. I
have a dear place in my heart for the show.
I just don't know, like I do you know, I mean,
you guys might know better than me. Do you know
why they split up two bacherettes and did like two
short seasons. We think it's because Michelle wanted to continue
teaching over this year and she didn't get out of
school until now. Oh gosh, it almost feels like, why

(19:29):
wouldn't they just go do a couple episodes from her
hometown that that doesn't seem like a real thing to me,
you know what I mean? Like, for instance, um, Emily
Maynard years ago, and she wanted they wanted her to
be the bachelrette, and instead of breaking it out into
they went to her hotel and filmed there. Because she's like, look,
I'm not leaving, you know, so like the show will
bend over backwards for you. So I don't think I

(19:51):
don't think that could be it. Um maybe that's what
they're saying. Maybe that's like the excuse or they're trying
to like let out, but that's what it is. COD
could have played a role in that too. Um, just
you know, because like can you be around kids? Can
you icolatetown? I'm with you. It still feels like there's
more to it, but like COVID can be the used
excuse for everything right now, Like I don't know that

(20:12):
makes sense and that is for me. I just feel
like Katie is not like getting her time to shine
the way she should, you know, Like I feel like
having the split season, the short seasons. Um. And don't
get me wrong this, I love Caitlin and Tasia. I
think they bring so much fun to the show. But

(20:33):
like if I was Katie, I would be so intimidated
standing next to Caitlin and Tasia. I'm trying to get
these guys to be interested in me, like when I
was the Bachelor, at my biggest fear, like I I
like to this day, like say, like I was the
worst dress bachelor atte like I claimed that title and
like most like you know, need needing help with my

(20:56):
appearance bachelorette. But I was so oh um insecure as
a bachelrette. I thought all the guys would be disappointed
than I was the bachelorette. I thought that there's no
way I can step in these shoes. I'm not pretty enough,
I'm not skinny enough, I'm not in shape enough, I'm
not whatever it may be. So for me watching it,
I was just like, oh my gosh, I would have

(21:18):
like I would have just been even more insecure if
I had these two beautiful women sitting next to me,
like I would in my mind, I'd keep thinking, I
wonder which one of these guys wishes they were on
last season of the Bachelotte with Tasha, you know, like
what if they applied for her season, because you know
that happens a lot. A guy will apply, somebody will mind,
they'll get pushed to the next season because they will

(21:38):
make it, or even their quarantined, right and how you're
quarantine at the beginning of the season for a couple
of weeks and some people get let go as extras,
Like what if one of those guys was supposed to
be unclair tatious season and then I don't know anyway,
So I feel kind of for her. And maybe Katie's
way more like secure with herself than I am. I
think she is um or at least than I was

(21:59):
back then. But I just thinking that for her. It's
interesting to hear you say that, because I think every
lead I've talked to after doing it has had similar
feelings to like you, to what you had. I mean,
I know I did. I just think it's it's probably
very human to feel like, hey, I don't want to
deserve to be here too. There's no way thirty people
are that interested in me to date me at one

(22:20):
time and like stick around and go through this for me.
We talked about it last week. We brought up that
question because Ashley and I both said, hey, I remember
during my season of The Bachelor, like I had girls
that you know, had a little crush on Harrison or
they had a little crush on a producer. Now not
that they were ever acting on it, not that that

(22:40):
was ever like a thing that it was kind of
a joke, But you're so insecure that like those things
start to like poke at you a little bit over time,
and so we robbed a question last week, Hey, would
this feel weird to you? Like, would it be odd
to have too beautiful people who were recently on the
show standing next to you? Like this? Is that added
different fact or a different level to the show? Yeah,

(23:03):
I think so, for sure? For sure for all the
reason times stated like I would just be like, can
you guys like stop looking so pretty next to me? Like,
you know, but I mean, Katie does seem very confident
in yourself, Like I love how she's handled so many things, um,
you know, even from letting And I'm not going to
know any of the guy's names, so I'm just gonna

(23:23):
sort of like I feel like at the beginning of the
the season, I never know, I just like refer to situations. Yeah,
like the guy who was like famous, She was like,
I'm not letting you go because I hearsay I'm letting
you go because there's no trust already. Like I thought
that was so like intuitive of her to even use
those words like I would I would have let him go,

(23:43):
but I would have liked been like, oh, it's because
I don't really like you that much. And this guy
says you're bad bye. You know, like she found a
really smart way to say like there's already no trust
and I don't know, I just I appreciate her and
I think that, you know, she's definitely some maturity to her.
I mean she showed it to us in last season
when she uh stood up for the bully in the house.

(24:07):
She mentioned that there's a big group message with a
whole bunch of former bachelorettes guiding her along the way.
I assuming you're in it? How I we just told
me about it and I wasn't. How active is this thread?
Obviously the last thing I'll tell you the last thing

(24:28):
that was we all get in trouble for this. Depending
on what it says, I will hold on. How do
I even I look it up? It's under just b
s here it is okay, uh oh, it's just Caitlin
Bristo saying so fun, You're so freaking cue and relatable.
It's amazing. So it's very supportive. Um, you know, we're

(24:49):
always all there for each other. One thing I will say,
it's been really great about this group, Like we text
a lot when it's you know, we we welcome Katie
into the group. Here are the last text before that
were like, um, so like June three, June five. Actually
it's kind of more May twenty two. Every couple of weeks,
I would say, it gets like active and then dies down.
But I will say, like every time someone has a project,

(25:10):
like a podcast or something, everybody's like, yeah, what can
I post? Give me the link? And so I find
like that, like women's supporting woman is really great. Um yeah,
So I think we're all just kind of they're like
hyping each other up and trying to be supportive and
give advice. And it's funny because the group was kind
of like it didn't grow that much for so long,
Like you get one a new person a year, right,

(25:30):
but the last like eight months, we've gotten four new
We've got Claire indentation, and then now you know, yeah, Michelle,
it's crazy. It's fun Who started the threat, Like who
came up with it? Probably trist Up. Trist is all
about bringing people together. I feel like my mother and

(25:53):
the mother of the franchise. I decided while watching this
episode that I preferred The Bachelor at over The Bachelor.
I think it's a more romantic series, and I think
that might have something to do with the fact that
they decided to do two back to back. Oh, because
people like it more, you think, But aren't the ratings worse?

(26:13):
The ratings are worse, But it is because I do
believe it's because the time of the year, because it's
the summertime. Possibly. Real funny thing though, before we go
off the text chain, So we've had this text chain
for a long time, and then we're we're texting there,
like some of the things we text each other are
like kind of you know, crazy and girl talking whatever.

(26:33):
You can imagine. We're drinking wine texting each other like
we used to zoom at the beginning of the quarantine
and drink wine together. Um. At one point during the
text chain had been going on for like a year,
and then all of a sudden, this person text the
chain says, I don't know who all of you are.
Can you please take me off this group message. I

(26:58):
think it was my fault as I had Caitlin Bristow's
old phone number. I had put that in because we
were like putting the gad together and I it was
We laughed so hard, like some person out there in
this world. Those things about the Bachelor and Bachelor franchise
that nobody should know, and that is amazing. Ali, I

(27:19):
would I mean, I hope it's like a super fan
who now is hearing this and listen to the podcast.
It's like I literally could have just stayed quiet and
I could have had all of the info. Oh my gosh,
the headlines that person could have sent over so good.
I feel like it's got to be someone that's never
seen the show before because they would have known who
we were. Well, Ali, uh, we are going to break

(27:42):
down the episode with you. You are expert. Um Ashley
always guides us through these episode breakdowns, so I'm gonna
pass it off to her. Thanks for sticking around for this.
You're the best I'm gonna be here from my commentary,
but I feel like you can really speak some wisdom
into what's going on behind the scenes of the said.
All right, let's start with the first group date. We

(28:03):
have Christian Garrett, Trey, Courtney, Mike p James, Justin, Thomas
connor By, and Carl. They all get invited on a
date and it's pretty known right off the bat that
this guy Carl is annoying the guys, And at first
I was like, ah, guys, just annoying, Right, He's just
the annoying guy. He's not going to be bad, and

(28:23):
then we see later in the episode there's actually like
kind of bad. Um who what were the standout moments
on this group date for you? Oh my gosh, I
literally just watched the episode an hour ago and you're
forgetting already. What was the group date? Yeah, I'm thinking
the same thing. Okay, what they did was with the
Heather mc with Heather McDonald, they were supposed to do.

(28:45):
They're supposed to like express why they were the greatest lover.
They're all okay, And Carl's the guy who went up
and just started yelling obscenities and then later the episode
had the white boards and all that. Yeah, Carl is
the one who like started drama at the cocktail party. So, yeah,
Carl will be gone soon or he's gonna stick around

(29:06):
for drama sick. But Kay seems like she's not necessarily
doing that whole thing because the way she let Cody go,
But that's later in the episode. Will get there then, Okay, Yeah,
so let's go have the McDonald on stage talking about
how the guys are gonna have to prove basically how
sexual they are. I immediately am like, okay, so we're
getting a date like this every single season I had.

(29:28):
I was the host of the date last time when
the guys are the girls had to tell Matt you
know read read it eroica yeah to him, and I
thought that was, like, you know, it was fun. And
you know, sometimes I'm not down for the over sexualization,
but my date was fun. I think you can like
really convert it into something romantic, like they like to

(29:50):
pretend like you're gonna have to be like super sexual,
but then like all these guys and the girls on mine,
you can make it sweet, you can make it romantic.
And I was really really feeling for Mike the virgin
of course, oh my gosh, literally beautifully, Oh my god.
But I was feeling so awkward for him. But way

(30:12):
for him to turn an awkward situation into something so beautiful.
M h And I don't know. I mean, again, like
you said earlier, I can't believe that he, like she
was able to handle it with such grace and with
the perfect word choice. Same with him. You're given like
an hour to come up with something, and he came

(30:32):
up with that beautiful piece of writing and described it
and just like the classiest way, and and he just
got so much respect from Katie and the other guys.
I loved it so much. I did too, because I
feel like sometimes too, like whenever there's a like well,
I mean, I I feel like sometimes with virginity on

(30:56):
the show, like it can be looked at as I
mean it's like non experienced, right, or like, oh, he's
not gonna know what he's doing. But it's almost like
the way he did it, it was like you were
like the sexiest man ever. Oh my god, exactly just
said are so sexy, and like when you do get
in bed, oh my gosh, you are going to like,
oh my god, want a woman's world. So I feel

(31:18):
like you're right, he couldn't have done it better. Um,
And I think especially under the circumstances, like I mean,
you know from experience what it's like being on the
show and having that like pressure of like having to
talk to somebody about your sexual status. Well that's what
I was so stressed about, is because like when I
told Chris Souls, I was not ready to do so,
and I felt very uncomfortable given the timing that I

(31:40):
was to do so. And I need a little bit
more time than I think I did it week three
or four, and he's having to do this, like the
third day he's actually there and he's probably said five
words to her, and then here he has to tell her. Oh.
I had so much sympathy for him, and you could
see how emotional he was over it and how like

(32:02):
not ready he was, and for him to to be
able to turn it around and you're right to just
see it seems so desirable. We asked Katie last week,
when you find when you know, speaking in future tense,
where like when you find out about his virginity, like,
how are you going to take it? Like? Is it
a turn off even for somebody like you who you know,
you talk, you know, you're very open about your sex life.

(32:23):
And she was like, I was even surprised by my
own reaction, and it was a great reaction. I cried.
I cried twice during this episode. Yeah, and you know that,
Oh my gosh, don't I know already the second time
you cried because I'm bawling my eyes out. I cannot
wait to talk about that. But yeah, let's talk about that. Actually,
can we talk about that the second time? Yeah? Because
that's the next one, it's the It's the It's the

(32:46):
date with of course. Well before we skip ahead, just
let's talk about how Mike ends up getting the award,
but Thomas ends up getting the group date Rose and
they had like the steamiest kiss ever where he dragged
her on his lap and I don't know that, Like,
I didn't think this was gonna be Katie's type. He

(33:09):
kind of reminds me like a Josh Murray, like a
Gastone figure, but she's into him. They talked about how
they have this indescribable chemistry that it's just they definitely
seen that. But I don't know that I would call
any of the makeout sessions in this hot and steamy
they've done. I don't know what it is if things

(33:30):
are like getting forced too soon, but every makeup team
has just seemed extremely forced and awkward to me so far.
But it could just be early in the season and
they'll get there. I really don't because I feel like
I'm watching this. This is week one and you know,
we've I think it was two guys this time, you
know said can I kiss you now? Which is a

(33:51):
great thing to do, very respectable, but like it was
almost because I feel awkward and now I don't know
what to do, and so I'm gonna ask this because
we're still like unfamiliar with It wasn't like out of
a respect and out of like it was more like,
I just feel awkward right now, and I feel like
I need to kiss you, so can I because that
would help this moment exactly. And they all go in

(34:14):
really fast and then like try to slow and down.
It's just something about it. I don't know. And there's
a lot of kind of awkward, quirky guys in this season,
which I love, like that type awkward quirky, and I'm
in like, that's what my husband is. I love awkward quirky,
but like it's just it makes for interesting makeout session.
One note here that I've never brought up, but you

(34:34):
bring up a great point. Ali and Ashley, I'm sure
you've experienced this, and I'm sure listeners have all experienced this. Also,
you know what's more awkward than um than even the
initial kiss or approach, like you're kissing strangers. It's like
a second date. Maybe hey, all good, you do get
what you gotta do, But the moment that gets most

(34:55):
awkward and even watching this season, I see like we're
I feel like we're seeing it more is when the
kiss ends and both people are sitting there like, oh
that was good. Yeah that was the analysis part. Yeah,
it's so cringeing to watch. And I remember those moments
because you're like, we were kissing because we didn't have
anything else to talk about. Now we just kissed, and

(35:17):
we still don't have anything else to talk about except
that this was a kiss, and so we're just gonna
sit here and analyze it, and then we're hoping somebody
comes in and breaks it up so we can go.
Like those moments to me, I just they're awful to watch.
It's so funny and so true and so true. All right,
let's get let's give ahead now to Greg's one on

(35:38):
one date, the second moment that made Ali and I cry.
Greg and Katie end up going on a like camp
camping sort of fishing date and great. You know, they
have good chemistry. We like Greg. You know, we saw
him last week and got the first impression Rose. He
was the one who said I'm so awkward, Like how

(35:59):
do I'm is so nervous. I'm so nervous, And she knows.
She told us last week that she gave him the
first impression rose because she wanted him to kind of
calm down and to show him like I really like you,
so like just chill out. Yeah, can I tell you
something interesting? Yeah? Really's interesting for me when I was watching.
So when I was watching their date, I kept thinking,

(36:20):
something is off. Oh my god, I was like he's
hiding something. He's not saying something. Yes, but I thought
of it like I was taking at the negative row.
I'm like to break her heart. He's going to break
her heart. Like I was so like, this guy's not
he's holding something back. Like I'm like I almost don't know,
like is he not as in as to her as
she is into him? And so I was like I

(36:41):
and I hated it because I just love them together
and I think they're so precious together. I was like
something's gonna come out later on in the season and
like he's going to break her heart. And that's why
I was so like emotional in the next scene when
we see him open up at dinner and say like,
well I lost my dad too, Like uh, like I
just was a attle on the floor because I was
like the reason he felt like we felt watching like

(37:04):
he was holding some bas because he was, and for
him to like give I don't know. I don't know
why he chose to wait to tell her about his dad,
But in my mind the reason is um whatever reason
it is, it doesn't matter. That's his choice to share
that information when he sees fit. But in my mind,
he did it because that was her moment to talk
about her dad, and like he gave her that moment
and then later to come. It was just so beautiful

(37:27):
and it felt meant to be. And if they end
up together, like I feel like that's their dad's setting
them up, like so sweet. I was looking at his
face and it just seemed I kept thinking to myself,
this guy his dad died too. I feel like his
dad died too. Why isn't he saying anything he felt that, Yes,

(37:48):
that's so intuitive of you. So when he decides to
do it at dinner, I wonder if she had a
moment where she was like, why didn't she tell me
this earlier? Well, I would say to like, you know,
pain takes time, and even watching his face, I I mean,
maybe I've missed it. Getting to know Katie, uh, which

(38:10):
you know, we talked to her last weekel and we're like,
we don't really don't know you, like at all, Like, well,
you know, you weren' around last season much and then
like even the first episode didn't really highlight you as
much as we would want. So this was a you know,
a shock to me or new information to me that
she had lost her father. I wonder in that moment,
I mean I I I know, in moments of deep pain,
like I wonder if he was so taken back that

(38:30):
he's like I can't just come and say, oh, me too,
because it hurt him so deeply, like that was still
such a fresh moon that he wasn't expecting to have
to open back up, and so him taking time for
at dinner, like I'm sure Katie gets it too, like
it probably took her weeks to even mentally prepare for
the moment she was going to tell somebody on this
season that she lost her father. And so he was like, yeah, one,

(38:54):
I mean I would love to say, because he seems
like a good dude, Like out of respect, he was like,
I'm gonna give you your moment to talk about your dad.
Who knows Like in those moments, I don't know if
we're like it takes a very wise human to like
process that much in that bad time. Um, maybe he did,
who knows, or he was just like, I can't yet,
I need us a moment before I even start talking
about because if I do that, this now like I

(39:16):
don't know where this goes, Like I don't know how
how heavy this comes out. And so it felt like
to me he had prepared himself, he was respectful to her,
and then he was able to communicate his dad's story
in a way that was beautiful in the right time,
in the right moment um. And and this is why
maybe this second episode was I thought so good. Was

(39:39):
right away we have two really real moments that I
that we all love watching. We have Mike uh having
the wisdom and the time to do something really difficult,
but also seeing how the guys respected him and responded,
and how Katie responded, and then we had Greg. These
are two moments that like are huge pivot points in
their life, and we were goot to see it in

(40:00):
one episode. That's a big deal, very authentic, genuine moments.
This is what I'm saying. This is why I left
this episode being like I like the Bachelorette more because
the last time I felt these things was watching Tatious season.
I love that they're giving us the romance, they're giving
us the depth and the emotion that we asked for.
And there was so much little, little, such little drauma

(40:21):
this episode. Yeah, and I do, like I think when
I chose to be the bachelorette, I went in with
such this thought of like I was guided here by
whatever that is or what you know, something was guiding
me to be the bachelorette, and like I was there
for a reason, I was supposed to meet somebody on
there for a reason. I had all these sort of

(40:42):
like spiritual and emotional things tied into it. So I
can only imagine for Katie. You know, she probably feels
a lot of that too, Like my dad's watching over me.
There's a reason I'm here, and like, I don't know,
I just think it's so beautiful. And I think if
they do end up together, like they're gonna like, I
just think that date is going to be like one

(41:04):
of the most special moments in times of their lives.
Like they'll look back on that day and be like,
our dad set this up for us. That's where we're here.
This is one of the most special days of my life.
I just it was so beautiful. I loved every every
second of it. And the fact that both dads took
the kids fishing, I know, I know then they kissed
that a toilet. I was gonna was like that boat.

(41:26):
It was just really funny. You know what it reminds
me of, Uh, this is ridiculous, you know, wedding crashers.
He's sitting on the toilet and she comes in. I
felt like that's how this was going, Like this is
getting weird. I wonder if they realize that he's still
sitting on a toilet. And finally they made a joke
of it, which I'm glad because if they wouldn't have
said anything, I would be like that had to be

(41:48):
like somebody had to say something, So that was That
was a funny moment. I mean, it's really foreshadow and
for the future because all the best marriages, especially you'll
find out Ben when you if you guys decide to
have kids one day that throughout your marriage it's really
all talk about, like your relationship and poop. It's like,
I can't even tell you how many times Kevin and
I ask each other about the kids about movements or whatever. Alright,

(42:15):
so let's talk about the last group day. It was
mud wrestling. Caitlin and Taitia woke up all the guys
early mud wrestling. As I've said to zillion times, not
my favorite kinds of dates. You don't get to know
about the guys. Like even though like the Sex States
can be raunchy, at least you get to see what
they do with the situation like this. In this case,
they're literally dis wrestling in the mud. You don't get
to know them. Um, this is the day of every season, right,

(42:38):
the physical violence dates. Get rid of them. I hate them.
I hate them me too. That's nothing they did Olive
oil wrestling. I mean, come on, guys, let's get a
little bit more original on my season wrestling mud wrestling.
It's like all the same it, um it was. It
wasn't in Italy. Gosh, I think it was a freaky

(43:00):
Turkey Okay, that makes sense, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah.
And I was just I hated it. I remember being like,
why are we doing this? Like this is so pointless.
So I wish they would do away with those. Okay.
So the only thing that really came out of this
is that there was some beef between Aaron, Aaron and Cody,
which we saw last week for a split second during
like the original cocktail party, and we're like, what the

(43:24):
heck is that random spat? And now we learned that
the two of them knew each other in San Diego,
and Aaron, who seemed like the dramatic one last week,
it was actually the one in the right. He said
last week, I've never liked you since the moment I
met you, And we thought it was super dramatic because
they're like, you met this guy an hour ago, but

(43:45):
really they had known each other for a while and
apparently Cody had led onto that he was there for
the wrong reasons. He's like an unkind dude. And when
Aaron got time with Katie because he won that the
mud wrestling, he let her know about these issues. And
did we not love the way that Katie dealt with Cody,

(44:07):
Like she sat him down. He had no good answers
to this, Like he didn't even deny the things that
that Aaron was saying about him. And then she was like,
you know what, gut feeling says, no, Like you said,
what did you say that? There's no trust, no trust
and then she sent to home and I'm like, can
we deal with all conflicts this painlessly? I know? Right?

(44:30):
And the thing is too that I really liked that
she said. She said that like if someone had approached me,
my face would have said it all and like his
face said nothing, like your face said, you're hiding something,
You're prepared for this, Like so she's right, Like, I mean,
she made the right decision and you know, like you said,
if only all decisions could be that way. But then again,
if they all were that way, it wouldn't be the

(44:50):
best sort because if I could have handled every scenario
like that on my season, I would have. But sometimes
the drama just tested drag on, you know. For Cody,
it was really odd to me. I don't think I've
ever seen a more emotionless exit. Like he didn't even
try to defend himself or say no, this isn't true,

(45:13):
or Katie, I'm really sorry that this is going down
this way, like this isn't what I am feeling. It
was just like, Okay, well, I hope you find your guy.
It's like, no, if somebody is literally calling me out,
if somebody is literally I mean and telling the person
I'm trying to get to know that I'm not a
good dude, Like at least I have a rebuttal or,
at least there's something. It was so nothing. It was

(45:37):
just like, okay, see you later by what like what
just happened? You? Just like are you not mad? Are
you like upset? Are you like? I don't know? It
was that was really odd for me to see. Really.
It was like he was caught right handed and was
just like, I'm not gonna put up a fight. Yeah,
so he's performing. I think the people sometimes for are
that way are the people that are most aware that

(45:58):
they're on camera and of trying not to give a
reaction because they don't want that reaction. You know, he's
probably boiling up inside to be what people see of
him on TV, and he's very aware that people are
watching him on TV. Yeah, it's when you want to
be famous. Good for her, He's gone, you know, and
we move on. As far as the rest of that
group date, I felt like her moment with Andrew the

(46:20):
football player from Overseas definitely stood out the most. I
love him, Yeah, he seems so great. Something about him,
like he just has that like super friendly face. You
know what I mean, Like, oh, I like you. I
feel like if you know, we'll see what happens through
the relationship. I mean, in my mind it's Greg. But
like then again, would it be Greg, Like so obvious

(46:41):
at this point, so obvious at this point, But it's
almost like they have to be so obvious at this point.
How do you take away that beautiful connection that they
had and you know, story that they had shared together. Um,
but it feels like it has to be Greg. If not,
Greg's like in the top two, so whether or not
Andrew makes it to the end or not, Like I
feel like he's the type of person that like will

(47:01):
stay in the franchise, Like I hope that he's like
on Paradise one season, Like he just seems like a
really nice, friendly face this season. I really love to
watch Andrew's reactions to like even when the dramas going
on at in the night with Carl. I know I'm
skipping ahead and we'll get to that in a bit,
but just Andrew's just facial expressions, like you can tell
what's like, how he's feeling what's going on the room

(47:22):
when they flash past him, and I just love that.
I'm like you, you're feeling every moment. You're as surprised
and shocked as we are. Like I I enjoy watching
his commentary just by seeing how he reacts. He's very animated.
I guess I would say, yeah, for sure. All right,
well let's get to the Carl drama, because that's really
all we have left. Is a standout moment of the episode.

(47:43):
It's at the cocktail party. Everything seems to be like
pretty settled, you know, like she got rid of Cody,
who seemed to be the only guy that was there
for the wrong reasons. She's feeling good about her group,
and then Carl comes up to her and says the
vaguas I've ever heard. He's like, by the way, he
wasn't the only one that's not here for the wrong reasons.
There are others. And she's like, but who, And he's like, well,

(48:05):
I'm not going to name names. Okay, Well what are
the examples? What they do? Oh? I don't have examples.
It's like Katie, she doesn't have anything. He's literally just
starting drama. I felt so bad that she took it
to heart so much, because, you know, especially after she
pulls Aaron aside and asked Aaron, like, is there anyone
else like I trust to you the one time? Can

(48:26):
you tell me again? And He's like, no, I don't know.
I was honestly surprised how she took it, to be
honest with you too, I find that Katie just seems
like so strong, right, like emotionally strong and just like
very little headed and like just like I. I've always
seen her that way. So when she got so much
about that, what Batt told me as a viewer and

(48:48):
as someone who's been in her shoes, is that like
there's some insecurity there, you know, Like I was saying,
I feel like I maybe would have handled it that
way if I were in her shoes, because of the
insecurity of worrying about people are there for her, if
people like her all of that. I think it was
less about what he said and more about her like
overall feelings on being the bachelorette, because that's how I was, like,

(49:11):
I felt that way. Um, But I think he Why
do I think he did? I Mean that's the question,
why did he do it? Right? And I think that
he did it because he wants the screen time. I
think the only thing I can come up with in
my head of why he would do that, Like why
would he just he doesn't know her enough to just
want to hurt her, right, Like do you want to

(49:33):
hurt somebody like that? You got to know them more,
like you know, it's vicious and vindictive. But so I
feel like he just did it because he knew that,
like that would get his face on camera. Yeah, no,
You're probably right even when we stop her, I mean,
he's a motivational speaker, Like can we start? Can we
stop for a second and just sit on that? Because

(49:55):
I kept watching this and watching this thing play out,
and when originally, you know, when he did his package,
it was like, oh, he's a motivational speaker. This will
be interesting to see what wisdom and encouragement and support
he brings into the house, because that's what you would
associate with motivational speaking, I would think. So my question,
and this is where I want to throw with the listeners,
has anybody ever heard Carl speak or does anybody know

(50:17):
what he speaks on when it does when he does
this for a career. But this felt so um opposite
uh And I was trying to think of a bigger
word for opposite, But I'm not that smart. Right now,
Um so opposite. Yeah, that's a good word of what
you would expect from a motivational speaker. And right, can

(50:39):
we talk about what a motivational speaker does, because don't
they usually have really full, healthy careers and experience to
be able to speak about things to inspire people and
motivate people about how do you just be a motivational speeder?
Speaker as like a twentiesomething who we don't know what
you've accomplished? Well, maybe has, maybe he does, Maybe he

(51:01):
hasn't more of a story to his name than we've seen,
but I'm ready to see it now like we have.
Like now he's so much of a character. He's caused
so much drama, Like what what does Carl do? One? Well?
I think for me, a motivational speaker is someone that
like uses sort of feeling is like the way that
they lead, right, Like whether it's like it's like using

(51:24):
the feelings that you have to sort of motivate your life,
the positive feelings to take you in a certain direction.
Do things like whenever I hear a motivational speaker that
I feel like it's really good, they like kind of
pull up my heart strings or just my my soul
like to lead me a certain way, Whereas I almost
feel like he is the like you said, Ben, the
opposite at this is what the world. I was like, yes, yeah, actually,

(51:48):
um so I feel like he is like doing the
opposite in the sense that he is um using his
words to take a very emotional experience like the batchler
at where it's all about finding tugging your soul, your
heart strings, and he's making it into a competition and winning.
Then he's taking things about people. He should be talking
about the guys in the house in such positive ways.

(52:09):
Everyone's here trying to find love, go on their path.
That's what a motivational speaker will do. And it said
he's trying to cut the guys down. He's doing it
all opposite. I don't know how that's his job. I
can't believe he actually makes money doing that. But I mean,
we gotta find out how successful he is gets it,
and we gotta find out. Woken at one conference in
front of time people and call himself a motivational speaker.

(52:30):
You know this is a bachelor title. But at the
same time, it just because And I say all this
to bring up the point you said he wants screen time. Okay,
that's some people's pursue, right, you want screen time, that's
not you know, that's not unknown when it comes to
cast in the franchise, the usually get sorted out pretty
well sometimes. But for him, if you were wanting screen time,

(52:51):
you're walking into this experience, you would think in your
mind you'd be like, I want screen time to help
my career, but like I will not be like, but
I don't want that screen time, Like I don't want
the screen time of the person causing the drum. I
don't want the screen time of hurting Katie like that.
Just that's where this whole thing got weird to me.
And I was like, he's a motivational speaker, and yet

(53:12):
he's just like kind of like poking holes that don't
seem healthy. Everyone listening has got to look him up,
do some little internet digging and tell us if he's
actual actually a motivational speaker, because my gut is he's not.
You guys, the twist here is that he's the one
who is there for the wrong reason, exactly, big twist. Dash.

(53:35):
That's a good point. That's a good point. All right, Well,
I think that's it for the episode. Do you have
any other comments, Sally that you think we've forgot. I
love this episode. I mean, I'll say it. I think
it was. It was an enjoyable episode to watch. I
was intrigued like at the time, and for episode two,
I thought it was it has it started a lot

(53:55):
of good storylines that we missed with Matt season. I
think this with Matt season, we're always waiting to kind
of be like connected to the cast and we're kind
of waiting for those storylines to start, and it never
really happened until the very ing kind of Um, but
it's episode two and I feel very connected these cast
members same. We didn't even talk about Connor b and
he's somebody that we really feel connected to. The cat

(54:17):
the cat, the cat well, Ali Fantowski. Before you go,
we do want to bring up one thing. Uh. First off,
today marks a really big day I think for you
and a lot of people who are going to be
helped by you. Uh. Today he released an article talking
about you coming out and talking about a blood disorder

(54:38):
that you have and that you've been getting treatment for
one that's not uncommon for many Probably do you mind
sharing a little bit about that? Oh? My gosh, I
didn't know that. I didn't know that, like someone wrote
about it. Um, yeah, I mean I found it. I
don't know. I mean I'm an emic, which I know
is very very common. I've just been super super tired lately,
like weirdly tired, um and I couldn't figure out why.

(55:01):
So I went to my doctor and they just run
and ran a bunch of blood work, and my doctor
was like, your Fareyton levels, and Fairyton is essentially the
like in what's in your body that helps your body
store iron. She's like, it's almost zero. She's like, I'm
surprised you're walking like you must be so tired. So
I'm actually I'm gonna like go get like, ah, I'm
excited about it. I'm gonna go get a I v
um full of iron. I do it once on the

(55:23):
once next week and then once the week after um
to see how it makes me feel, and I hopefully
I'll just get all my energy back. That's amazing. So
can you develop anemia? I guess yeah, I don't know.
I remember like years ago, like I've always been the
type of person that's just not very like in tune,
Like I never had a primary care doctor, like I
go to the doctor because like something really hurts, like
like keep up with my health over the years. But

(55:45):
I do remember years ago a doctor saying to me,
like after getting some sort of test done, maybe like
fifteen years ago, saying like, you're on the verge of
it being anemic. You should watch out for that. And
I was like, okay, whatever, and just never thought of
it again. Um so now yeah, I mean I just
got blow work done becau was just so so so
tired and like a way that I'm like, this feels
not normal that I'm so tired, Like I was thinking

(56:05):
something was really wrong with me. I was so tired,
um you know. And then I got this blood test
done through the mail that said I had inflammation in
my body and I was like, oh my gosh, inflammation
like this sea where it went through my brain, you
know what I mean. Thankfully it's not not that anything
like that, but that's kind of like what I was feeling.
So to find out I'm anemic is a relief because
I know I can like take iron, get the things

(56:27):
and like hopefully increase my energy. You've always been somebody
that's been open and vulnerable sharing um your stories and
your your health history and everything going on in your life.
We appreciate it here. Um, I know many people appreciate
So even though you didn't know that there was an
article written, Uh there was. You can check it out.
You can google your name right now. Um. But it
is helpful for many uh, and so we thank you

(56:49):
for that, Ali Fatowski, Mona, you are the best. Have
a great time tonight. Uh, enjoy the party. Uh tell
everybody I said hello and then actually said hello because
d D does listen to Almost in his pot. Yeah,
she's a great supporter, so she'll hear this. Yeah. So Ali,
thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. It's

(57:21):
now time for one of the most listened to segments
on the Almost Famous podcast. It is Bachelor Hot Topics.
Everything that's happened this week imbatination and obviously there has
been a lot, a lot of reactions to Chris Harrison's departure.
We're gonna get into that in just a second. Um,
but also let's talk for a second. We kind of

(57:41):
mentioned it last week, but we have more clarity this
week on the Bachelor in Paradise hosts. Before we talk
about Chris Harrison officially stepping away. We did have the
announcement of four new host for Bachelor and Paradise. Some
of Bachelination had some mixed reviews, uh, specifically Tannel tannerd Tolbert,
who I know you're close with and if probably been
able to kind of process with Ashley before give dive

(58:03):
into the headlines of it all. What are your thoughts
on these four hosts? Well, I love Lance Bass and
I love David Spain. I mean, obviously I consider Lance
a friend, and then David Spain, I've I've had lunch
with with Amy and I think he's hilarious and I
actually think, yeah, he'll be super entertaining. I understand where
Tanner's coming from. Let's talk about what Tanner said on

(58:24):
his Instagram last week. He said the franchisees hosting decisions
have been a train wreck. He doesn't really like the
fact that, like American Idol, I would say, did once
Simon left, they kind of tried to stunt cast right.
It's like Jennifer Lopez and Ellen de Genner is like, Wow,

(58:44):
huge names are going to try to fill in for Simon.
But sometimes people, you know, especially when they've been with
a franchise since the very beginning and have been such
a figurehead for them, they're like irreplaceable. So I think
I know what Tanner is talking about here. When it's
just like calls it a surface, it's because there's so

(59:04):
many people that they're just like throwing at us to
entertain us. Possibly, But I think what Tanner is also
saying is that he um, he thinks that the show
is going to become more about to be well, in
the American Idol case, the judges right, so they're gonna
mean they're making The Bachelor in Paradise more about the hosts,

(59:25):
and they're making it about the contestants, and people watch
for the contestants. Let's talk about this for a bit.
It comes down to the thing we've talked about so
many times on this podcast, and it's the ultimate question
of the franchise. Why do people watch? Like, why has
this thing been successful because of the love stories? Well
that's our assumption and the drama. But could it be
that the franchise who studies this data, who has been

(59:49):
you know, some people have worked there for the nineteen years,
has been going on? Do they know differently? Are they
saying no, people are watching this not just for the
love stories. Probably maybe not even for the love stories
at all, but more for the character to development. Um,
the comfort I think is a big deal for the show.
And you get the comfort from the consistency that was Harrison.

(01:00:09):
I think you do. And so now this does seem
like a drastic switch. I get Tanner's concern and others
concerned where it's like we're losing all familiarity with the
franchise when we do these hosts. The the other question
I have in this, and I don't I'm not saying
any of these hosts are bad. I really don't know
them as hosts. Like you know, Lance Bass, I know
him from the show. He's great, Little John I've I've

(01:00:31):
seen him on the show, but he was Yeah, David Spade,
you're telling me he's gonna be great? Uh, Titus like
I I mean, I think he's funny. I've always enjoyed him. Uh.
But why, I mean we have to ask the question here,
if they're gonna diversify, if they're gonna go as far
as you know, replacing with not just one host before,
why is there a woman involved here? Isn't that bizarre? Well,

(01:00:55):
I mean Sarah Highland. But but she's not on this
list right now, we don't really know Wells and Sarah's
roles or if they're gonna be there one week or
if they're there consistently. Let's say right now, just for
the sake of this conversation, we don't really and we
don't know what Sarah's role is gonna be here if
they're gonna add for new hosts. How is there not

(01:01:15):
a woman involved? I mean, we're on this conversation right
now and they have a moment where they can really
change things up. There's that one that's that's weird to me,
especially for Paradise. I get it. For Bachelorette, right you
have Caitlin and Tastia there, uh, their guides, their mentors.
They can sit beside the bachelorette and relate on a
lot of levels, maybe even go as far as saying

(01:01:37):
on some levels that Chris Harrison couldn't write when it
comes to um being a woman and and and the
power that brings and the leadership you need for that.
But here for Paradise, I mean, it's a very it's
very clear that like a woman should be involved. I think,
I mean, it just feels like it fits and there's
not I totally agree. Let's read this Tanner quote. He says,

(01:01:59):
I think the franchise needs to figure their out and
figure it out quick, because I think this show is
on a slippery slope right now. And as a fan
of the show first and foremost, I want to see
it keep going. But with all the host drama, it's
just starting to get ridiculous. The host doesn't need to
be the star of the show. I don't need to
see commentary on every little thing, and not every little
thing needs to be a joke. Night agree. Well, so again,

(01:02:25):
and as a fan of the show myself, as a
fan of a lot of people that work on the show,
as somebody personally who wants to see this show continue,
I am now on the edge of my seat to
see what paradise looks like. And we're gonna get into
a bit on a conversation about the Bachelorette ratings dropping
drastically this week, and that totally relates, and so we're
gonna talk about that, uh in just a little bit.

(01:02:48):
It does relate. Uh, And there's a lot of things
that we can assume are part of it, but all
all in here, if we're all honest with ourselves. Every
fan of the show right now, I would agree with Tanner.
They might not agree that they don't like the hosting choices,
but the show right now needs a figure stuff out.
It is on a slippery slope. It's being shown in

(01:03:09):
the data. And my question for people who are listening
in for you Actuley, is does these four hosts that
they just announced for Paradise does it help or her
the show? You're asking me, I, it's not anything personal
towards the host, you know, I can't wait to see

(01:03:30):
Lance host. I think we needed a more more consistency,
especially right after Harrison leaves, to have four hosts, I
think just gonna just gonna like kind of like confuse
people about the theme of the show. What's the point here? Yeah,
I mean I think one of the things for me
actually in all these years is I watch this show, um,

(01:03:52):
because I'm familiar with it, and I and I you know,
and I enjoy seeing the process. I like watching Paradise
because I'm familiar with it. Uh. It's it's obviously a
little more dramatic, it's a little bit more unpredictable. There's
weird stuff that happens new people are showing up every week,
I'm feeling, even as somebody has been a part of
the show, I'm feeling less and less like familiar with it.

(01:04:15):
And that goes one of two ways. Either I'm feeling
that and that's a good thing because it's moving beyond
me and it's entering into a whole new season and
it's a whole new franchise and it's gonna take on
a whole new look and it's gonna be very successful
in this way, or it's not gonna work. Now, to
close this thought, the Bachelor has always prized themselves on

(01:04:36):
being that kind of stand up reality show, right. It's
been around for a long time. I remember back in
the day they kind of said, hey, we have the
Secret Sauce like our bread and Butter. Is the format
and it works and it tells a story, you know.
That's what's made it stand out among so many other
reality shows that have tried to come out and be successful.
I feel like here, I'm feeling like it's slipping back

(01:05:00):
into what other shows are doing and not necessarily still
trying to be this franchise that we've known in love
for so long. Well, isn't like it goes back to
not to bring up my former other favorite show, but
American Idol. It's like sometimes like a show peaks and
then one of its stars is no longer there, like

(01:05:24):
one of the foundation pieces of the foundation is no
longer there, and they keep they try to reinvent it,
they try to make it sparkle with like big names
and twists and all that, and it just can't recover
from that loss. So yeah, I guess the storyline here
for this franchise. And again we're gonna get into the

(01:05:45):
ratings drops in a bit. We're gonna get into Chris
Chris Harrison's resignation and talk more detailed about that. But
the big question now that I think people are going
to be watching is does this work and do people
tune in? And does this seem to bring in the viewership.
The show might be funnier, but is that what we want?
Or do we want love stories. Another thing that I

(01:06:06):
think is really interesting about Paradise is that there are
so many big cast stars that we expected to see
there who are still very active on social media and
doing interviews, so it looks like they didn't show up
a lot. Like we're talking like I don't know that.
You and I thought that Maddie would go. But like Maddie,
Hannah and Victoria Fuller, Kelly Flann again, Mike Johnson, they're

(01:06:30):
all around, they're on social media. It feels weird, Ashley,
it feels weird. Well, hey, uh, entering in a new season,
we're gonna be talking about a lot more here on
the podcast. Let's take a break. When we come back,
when you talk ratings drops, what does that mean for
the franchise, is their recovery and process. We're gonna get

(01:06:51):
your opinions on that. And then also we're gonna talk
Chris Harrison's resignation, everything we know about that next step
and what it looks like for The Bachelor moving forward.
But we'll be back with the almost famous podcast. Well,

(01:07:13):
we promised it right before the break, and now it's
time to talk about it. Chris Harrison has officially resigned
from The Bachelor franchise. He did get a pay out
for his time on the show. There's rumors going around
from everywhere from fifty million to five million to ten million,
like nobody really knows, but it's it's it's some millions, uh, Ashley. Obviously,

(01:07:36):
some people believe that he was already ready to leave
the show. Um and that or and some people feel
like this came out of nowhere and it was as
a result of just, you know, kind of what happened
over the last year. Do you have any insight into
like this exit now, like what was the timing? I
have a feeling, but I want to hear your thoughts first.

(01:08:00):
I mean, I think it has everything to do with
what happened over the winter with the interview, and I
don't think that's what the majority of fans wanted. I
don't think a lot of people wanted to see him
leave Adventure to even say that, like based on what
I see on social media and what I see from
people who come up to me and just say hi,
you know, because their Bachelor fans, But people just did

(01:08:24):
not want to see him leave. I think there was
lots of ways that they could have dealt with you know,
what happened. You know, he did a lot of learning,
a lot of growing. I think there was a way
that they could have shown that on the show. I
am sad that this is how it's gone down. Um

(01:08:45):
who would have I don't know who would have thought? Right?
My thoughts are are this And obviously, um, as a
white male that you know the way that this doesn't
really carry too much. But I feel like we just
don't have not a conclusion. But I feel like there
was an interview that went poorly, uh to say the least,

(01:09:08):
and I think most people would say this wasn't a
good interview. There was something said that we needed clarity on.
But now we don't get any clarity on, like now
we're now there's no uh, there's there's no kind like
Chris is just gone. And it just feels like, hey,
this was a moment, especially knowing Chris and knowing how
hard he was working, knowing the people he surrounded himself with,

(01:09:28):
knowing the questions he was asking, knowing what his heart
and desire were, it was to learn and to figure
out like how how these words that he said hurt
and how he could have done better. I just feel
like now we don't get that on the show. And
I think all all the people, all of viewers and
Chris himself kind of in a sense like I mean,
maybe just like we want it. Maybe it feels like

(01:09:50):
he was a part of our living rooms and our
television for so long that it feels like, uh, if
that is the path he was on, like why aren't
we getting it? And I and don't know why it
just abruptly ended without even an interview on after the
final rose or even a moment on the franchise. It
just feels like they just said, oh, this was bad,

(01:10:12):
this wasn't good. Let's totally separate from it's like does
that fix the thing? Like is that a good move
for the show? I don't know. That's not a good
growth move. It doesn't. It just shows that, like when
you it just shows that there's not a lot of
room to learn sometimes and I think, um, you know, Chris,

(01:10:32):
like Chris is a friend, and we've talked about many times,
and you know, I know this situation, uh is was
bad for multiple different angles. But it also feels like, hey,
Chris has been around and supported all of us. You know,
he has supported um every person has gone on this
franchise as best he could and to the capacity that

(01:10:56):
he could in incredible ways. And and I just don't feel,
you know, now it's just done, and it feels odd, um,
but it's happened, and and that's the truth of it all.
And so now we talk about like, what is this
new season for The Bachelor? Is it a good season?
How is the Bachelor going to change? Uh? And how
are they going to evolve to not only learn from

(01:11:19):
what happened with Chris but also keep viewers interested without Chris.
That's a big deal now, Okay, so let's go onto
that headline. The ratings were down significantly for Katie's premiere episode. Okay,
so three point seven million in total viewed this um.

(01:11:40):
In comparison, Matt season had five point two million. But
The Bachelor is always down from the Bachelor and Claire's season,
Oh damn. Claire season back in October started with five
million total watchers. So ratings are down. And so this

(01:12:03):
is a conversation that that we want to have with
the listeners and so please email us. But as the
Bachelor franchise enters into this new era and people, we
have a quote here, I'll just pull this one up
from Tyler Cameron saying he's he's excited for this new
season kind of the fresh faces that will enter in
UM to the franchise as hosts. Uh, and what that

(01:12:25):
can mean for the franchise. Well, are we getting eerily
close to not even having the show any longer because
from TV Guide it's on the chopping block at ABC
right now. Like, so they're they're making these big changes. Yeah,
so they're making these big changes and people are saying, Oh,

(01:12:46):
this is great for the show, this is good for
the franchise, but like what happens when the franchise doesn't exist?
I mean, are people good with that? Is that kind
of where people wanted to go? Or is that why
people aren't watching? They're saying this thing is done, like
not even just because not without Chris the shows are
in its course. Well, Ben, how much do you think
of the ratings job had to do with People are
saying like, I don't I don't want to watch this

(01:13:07):
show because Chris isn't part of it, and because I
think that they didn't it wasn't dealt with properly. I
don't know if that would be uh the reason I
think fans of the show are fans of the show.
I don't know. I just look. I know that people
say like I'm not gonna watch, I'm not gonna watch them.
They always watch. But if you read the comments under
these articles online, like so many people are saying I'm

(01:13:30):
not watching because of Chris, and then you see the
ratings DOPP and you're like, oh, maybe there is a correlation. Well,
and I also wonder, kind of like we're talking about earlier,
like why do people watch the show? Is it the
love stories? Because if that's the case, it doesn't really
matter if Chris is they' or not. Is it the drama?
Is it the drama of it all? Well, that doesn't
really matter if Chris is They're not. Is it the comfort? Comfort?
Is it the comfort? And being uncomfortable isn't always bad,

(01:13:52):
Like maybe you know, changing and evolving and growing is
not bad. But we're people watching this because they had
a part of their lives for last twenty years and
now they're saying it's time to give it up. Like
it's just like, I'm done watching it because I've I've
I've seen enough, I've been a part of it enough.
I think the Chris thing has something to do with

(01:14:12):
I think he has his like following um, but I
don't I don't think you can attribute almost half of
the viewership to Chris being gone. I think that would
I think that would be a big stretch, especially because
over the last few years we've seen less and less
of Chris on the show anyways. Yeah, well, I guess

(01:14:32):
we'll continue to see like how this season and Paradise
and in Michelle, and then we'll be able to make
like some more some more deductions. It's just it's it's
an interesting topic and um it also is a topic
around like how do we grow from mistakes? And then
like how do we allow others to grow? And was

(01:14:54):
this to write or wrong decision? So we want to
hear from you. Um, but I mean, I'm I'll go
as far as to say, like and I said on
my Instagram, Chris has been really good to me. Now
I don't know if that's everybody's experience. I can't speak
for everybody, but I'm gonna miss watching him on the show.
Mostly not only because, like I you know, he felt
like my coach. It's like, you know, when you're football coach,

(01:15:16):
basketball coach in high school retires ten years after you're
out of high school, you don't feel connected to the
high school as much anymore. Um, it's gonna be so
weird for him, like not to start each season with
like his hands classed turning on the wet driveway, like
we've seen the last of that that's so bizarre to me,
it's weird. Well, um, that's a big announcement. We have

(01:15:37):
some some really great announcements to talk about on the headlines.
We're gonna roll through here. Um, some really great things
to celebrate. But to close that topic, we are I
guess actually I both talked off the line. We're very
intrigued to see what the Bachelor does when it comes
to the host and when it comes to the leadership
of the show and the consistency of the show moving forward. Uh,
but here's some really cool things that have happened from

(01:15:59):
the show that we need to celebrate. Lauren Burnham gives
birth welcomes her and Ari Liondyke Junior's twins, son and daughter.
This according to US yeay happy birthday baby twins. In Yeah.
Ari said that mama and babies are doing great. Everything
went smoothly and they're spending time cherishing these moments. They keep,

(01:16:23):
they think them, they think all of you guys for
your support. Um, so yeah, it's so great. It's so great. Man.
It feels like Jess yesterday she and not she was pregnant.
Now they have three kids. It's absolutely wild and it's
I've said this before, but like my grandma and my
mother and my aunt, they love following Ari and Lauren's story.
Like they just are like really into that family and

(01:16:44):
watching them grow and function. It's it's pretty cool. Well,
another big announcement that I, you know, personally really want
to say. Uh here for myself and for Ashley and
for the podcast, but mostly for myself. I'm really excited
for um. Lauren Bushnell, who I obviously know well, gives
birth welcome's first child with husband Chris Lane. This according

(01:17:07):
to US Weekly, and we're so pumped for them. She's
gonna be a great mom, and uh, I'm just really
excited to make that announcement. Yeah. Remember last week I
ended the podcast by saying, I think we're gonna have
some first report on next week. While we were right,
all of the pregnant Bachelor ladies gave birth. UM's Lauren,
Lauren and Chris's baby boy is named Dutton Walker Lane.

(01:17:32):
He's nine pounds and I know, and Lauren wrote, your
dad and I can't get enough of all nine pounds.
A do. Now back to baby cuddles and praising Jesus
over and over again for this little miracle. So sweet. Well,
the Laurens had their baby this week. You're right, Ashuley,

(01:17:52):
you predicted it. Well. Final headline of the day, Bachelor
mom Becca Martinez celebrates college graduation. Her quote is I
freaking did it this according to people? Ashley, how do
we celebrate? Oh, we're so happy for Becca. It took
her eight years to graduate college, but for good reason,
she did the bachelor. In between that she had two kids.

(01:18:14):
She started, she said, she started at UC Irvine in
two thousand thirteen, fresh out of high school. She had
plans to be an elementary teacher or an art teacher.
She dropped down. She that's fifteen. But here we are finally,
uh she she said, she's gained two babies along the way,
and she's so darn proud. So cool. Well, that's it

(01:18:36):
for the Almost Famous podcast today. It's been a pleasure
talking with you all. Thank you Ali for t Tawski
for coming on the podcast. Thank you all for listening.
Please write in your thoughts and opinions on all other
things we talked about today. You can email us at
Ben and Ashley at I heart radio dot com, and guys,
we do want to hear your opinions about Chris Harrison's departure.

(01:18:59):
We haven't read mails in a while, and I think
it would be a great time to do that next week. Yeah,
it'd be nice. Well, with all that being said, i've
been been, I've been Ashley. Bye, guys later. Follow the
Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous podcasts on I Heart
Radio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

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