January 19, 2022 • 25 mins
Ashley sits down with Jesse Palmer for a honest look at his first season as the new host of The Bachelor.
He opens up about his relationship with Clayton and why it was important that they not meet until night one!
And he reveals something totally unexpected about Clayton's finale! You won't believe what happens!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with our radio. Hey, guys, welcome to a special episode
we're doing about thirty minutes with The Bachelor host Jesse Palmer.
The last time we had Jesse on, he was promoting
the Ultimate Surfer, and oh my gosh, in what feels
(00:21):
like a blink of an eye, he is now the
host of the Bachelor. Please, ladies and gentlemen, welcome Jesse Palmer. Hey, everybody,
I feel like I used car salesman now. It's like
every time I talked to you. It's a couple of
weeks in between. I'm like, I've got another show you
gotta watch. Trust me, this one's gonna be great. You're
gonna love this show. It's gonna be fantatistic. Yeah, here
we are again. It's great talking with you, so good
(00:42):
having you here. Uh did you know that you were
the host of the Bachelor When we were talking to
you about American Surfer? When were we talking about Yes,
it was Ultimate Surver? Sorry American? Um, I guess I know,
I don't. I don't know if I officially knew. I
(01:02):
may have had a inkling. Yeah, how is my poker face?
Was a good ye, did you have any indicator? Okay,
I thought that you were definitely in the running. I
was like, that's just a natural fit. Um, is it
true that you're also going to be hosting The Senior Bachelor.
I don't know this time. This time, I'm being dead,
(01:23):
I'm being totally honest with you. I do not know.
No poker face on this one. I really honestly do
not know. I think Ben thinks he lost out to
you already, but that might be well. No, there's like
there's always spinoff shows happening. I don't even know what.
I'm not even honestly aware of what the spinoff shows are, Like,
what's what's coming up? I know that I know that
(01:44):
in the franchise, I know there's Bachelor, I know there's Bachelorette.
There's there's you know, Bachelor in Paradise. Outside of that,
it's like I've heard like Winter Games might be coming back,
Like there's like all these like yeah, like Bachelor pad
like I remember that, and there's all these other things.
I don't know, but the Senior Bachelor, I promised this time.
(02:05):
I literally do not know. I do not know. I
do not know, but yeah, Winter Games crazy it's been
four years since that, you know, I was part of it,
Ben was part of it. Uh. I don't know where
my life honestly would be right now without it, because
if it weren't for some jealousy factor, I may not
be married. It's it could, Okay, we would have ended
(02:33):
up together. I just don't know how much longer I
would have taken for him to come out about his
feelings anyway. Yeah, that's it's just weird that they wouldn't
have done that, because I feel like Bachelor in Paradise
right now is like everybody's favorite spin off in the show.
Like if all the shows, people love Bachelor Paradise, and
I feel like Winter Games is kind of the most
similar anyway. Sidetrack note, let's talk about the moment that
(02:55):
you found out you were the host of The Bachelor. Yeah,
I was. I was humbled. I was excited obviously, you
know having you know was the bathroom in two thousand four.
I've been a big fan of all the shows kind
of ever since, and I remember a part of bachel Nation,
but um, you know, just just really thrilled. And I
think too, like once I finally met Clayton, um, the
(03:19):
whole thing really kind of kind of made sense. The
first time I met Clayton was actually when he got
out of the limo and that first night, Um yeah,
So I wanted that to be real and authentic and
just organic to the whole process, and like it was
like he's nervous getting out of a limo. I'm freaking
out nervous because I've never hosted the show before. I've
never even been to that that mansion, and we're just
(03:40):
kind of like looking at each other, like what are
we doing? This is crazy? Um. But as I've gotten
to know him, I just genuinely like him so much.
He's such a sweet, genuine guy, and I've learned how
badly he wants to get married and find love and
find his person. I just know like how much pressure
he's put himself on. Now he understands how big of
(04:01):
an opportunity this is. Like I watched someone Michelle season,
I watched you know he he talks about when you
have a family and having kids, and he cries, he
gets emotional. I remember thinking like, wow, that's it's impressive
for a guy to do that, but also it was
a former football player to break down like that. It
supposed to be really important to him. As I've gotten
to get to know him since that first moment outside
the mansion on one night one, I just know how
(04:21):
much he wants this. So for me being the host
and to try to try and help guide him to
find what he's desperately craving, that's like, I do feel
a lot of pressure doing it, but it makes this
so much more um what's the word. It's like when
you just feel it just feels right, and it just
(04:41):
it just feels it's it's it's the best part of
this experience for me, kind of trying to help a
guy like Clayton do this. Was it your decision not
to meet him until night one? Yeah, we we sort
of kind of talked about that. There was talks about
maybe having a dinner or getting together playing golf, and
I know some of that had happened in the past, um,
but I thought it was just going to be more
(05:02):
real and more authentic if we had done it that way,
and knowing that we'd have a lot more time to
catch up after that, even off camera. The funny thing
is I actually kind of already knew who he was
because I had broadcast at his football games before. Um,
when he was a tight end at Missouri, I was
actually at ESPN and I'd be in the booth at
in Colombia, Missouri, like calling his game, and I had
(05:25):
I had his name on a board and I'd watched
him play on film and I knew all of his vitals,
but of course i'd never actually met him until that
that first night. Um, I'm I'm happy we did it
that way because I just feel like it was you know,
like he's a real guy. I you know, and this
experience for him needs to be authentic and organic, and
I think our relationship needs to be the same the
(05:46):
same way he has a little NFL experience. Right. Was
he on a practice water too? He went to camp
with the Seattle Seahawks. Yes, So did you guys have time?
Was that something that you first talked about as a
bonding thing. It was a total growth thing. Yeah, we
broke out right away. I love that you love football too. Great.
(06:08):
Every time for time we do this, we always go
there and I'm never surprised. I'm always like, that's right,
she loves perfect. Um. Yeah, I mean it's definitely something
that helped bring bring us together because we could sort of,
you know, talk about our past experiences in football and
kind of you know, compare them and relate them and
relate to things we learned in football and how we
were kind of using that in our lives now. But
(06:30):
it's funny like in football, you know, like in the
locker room, there's just trash talking. Guys are always kind
of riding each other and and Clayton and I sort
of kind of carried that over. It was very very quick,
like at first we were very cordial, Hey, how are
you good to meet you? This is great, And now
it's like full on locker room like that, you know,
big brother little brother. Were like blast each other, texting,
(06:51):
we're killing each other on social media. Um on. On
January one, we were at the Rose Parade and we
were taking this picture this really cute little girl and
she was standing in the middle of us, and she
looked at Clayton and then she like in the middle
of the photo, she was kind of looking at me,
kind of funny, and then she like she kind of like,
(07:13):
you know, told me to come down, and she was
like are you his dad? And I'm like, I'm like what,
And Clayton has never let me forget that he is.
He was dying. I was so mad, and I'm like,
it's a little girl, and I'm like, I am a
conduit of love. Damn it. I am trying to help
this man find his person. How dare You're like, I
(07:36):
am eleven years older than him? Okay, just a great whiskers. Fine,
I have a great whiskers. I get it enough. I'm done.
I already hate this man because he's taller and better
looking and more athletic. Enough, it's over. I'm leaving the parade.
That leads me perfectly into my next question. How do
you feel about all the Clayton Jesse comparisons? Because there
(07:58):
are so many memes out there from outlets like Betches
and stuff that are like, can anybody tell it too?
If he's apart? Yeah, I hate Clayton secretly because because
because of what I just said. Again, when they told
me it was Clayton and then we finally got out
of the limo, the first thing I thought was, Damn,
he's way bigger than I thought. I'm like, I've been
in NFL locker rooms, and like there are people that
(08:21):
make big people like I'm six to two thirty, like
I'm like, I feel like a pretty big guy. He
makes people like me just feel average and look average.
That was the first thing. But then too, I was like,
he does kind of look like me a little bit.
And then and then like he's just he's got like
a better physique and all the things, and he's like
he's he's walking over and I'm just like the the
(08:42):
the jealousy was rising, and then my security was falling,
and I was like I was just so insecure in
the moment. I'm like, all right, I know, I know
I'm gonna like you. I know that, but secretly I
really hate you. I think it's just because he probably
remind did you of yourself a decade ago? Yeah, way
(09:03):
less terror product than I had in two thousand four,
but yes, very very similar otherwise for sure. So I
totally see it. I get at least I just at
least I could be his older brother. That's cool, but like,
I just don't want to be the dad. You're just
a little girl would think that, that's all. Uh. Fun
side note question here. As you may know, I come from,
(09:27):
um well, I told you last time, Big Giants fan.
But since I married into I married a Brady absolute fanatic,
like it goes beyond like I know my ranking in
this world is somewhere in between the dog and Tom Brady.
Who do you think is going to the Super Bowl?
What are your predictions? I think the Bucks have a
very hard game this week against the Rams. They do.
(09:50):
That's a good segue. So unfortunately the Giants are not
going to the super Bowl. We'd be totally not for
quite some time, saying that for about ten years, ten years.
It's been ten years. I went to that Super Bowl
ten years ago, and my dad's like, can you believe
it's been that long? And it's been like we've been
bad for like that long now anyway, continue, Yeah, well
so no, no big Blue fine for another year. So
(10:13):
I do think the Buffalo Bills are going to make
the super Bowl. It's the first time in a long
time they're going to get there. Josh Allen is playing
phenomenal quarterback. They have the best defense in the NFL.
They're dominating in the trenches. I think they're going to
beat the Chiefs this weekend. That'll be a huge statement.
I think they're gonna end up getting there. Now, like
who today in their right mind, honestly, if we're being honest.
(10:36):
Who's betting against Tom Brady? Ever? You can't, you cannot.
It's never a smart decision. And like, I get it.
Backers look awesome and Aaron Rodgers and like the super
it's gonna go through lambeau Field, the Tundra and it's
gonna be great. Dude, come on number twelve. Number twelve
rolls up in there. It's like all bets are off.
(11:00):
It's like everybody's like, no, they don't have the weapons
they have. Injury tackle injury does yeah, like the right
tackle injury. I think it's a big one. But like
their defense is healthy. They have one of the best
defensive coordinators. And dude, it's Tom Brady. Like, yeah, it's
gonna be cold. No one could throw the ball in
the cold except Tom Brady because he did in his
whole life with a New England Patriots, and he did
(11:23):
it last year in the NFC Championship game. He beat
the Packers and was amazing. That game was way better
to watch than the actual supervol I don't know, alright,
So you're saying that it could be Bill's Bucks, Bill's Box,
Bill's Mafia, It's so Fi Stadium, And then all the
Brady like you like your husband, like all the Brady Brady,
(11:44):
the Bradyites what we call them, Yeah, let's call them that,
like the Bradyites. They're all gonna be there. It's gonna
We're all gonna be there. You'll be there. It's gonna
be We're gonna Well, I would be there, but my
due date is two days the first. When I let
my has been good to that Seer Bowl, I don't know,
he's already been to. We've already We've already done that
(12:05):
thing together, that bucket list. That's going to be the
true test of where you are in the hierarchy. See
if if Brady isn't the Super Bowl, you're really gonna know,
that's going to be a telling moment. That is that
is such a good point. Alright, well, we're probably boring
Bachelor fans. I could actually pick your brain with that
stuff even more. That'd be fun because I just have
to say, the Bills, after losing four straight ser Bowls
(12:27):
in the nineties, they deserve this. I'm rooting for them
for I love how you get off to the side.
It's like it's like as if they can't hear me anymore.
What's also been a meme this week is the show
(12:50):
making it seem like you met your wife on the Bachelor.
Did you feel like you did that intentionally? Or the
show like, how do you word things in a way
that it was, Oh, by the way, I found my
happily ever after via the Bachelor too, or do you
think that people are just misinterpreting? Uh My, looking back
on it, maybe it was like the order in the
(13:10):
way things were, like said, hey, maybe you remember once
upon a time I was the Bachelor and now I'm
a happily married man. I don't think it necessarily connects
the two things. Both things are totally true, but I
never said, like if I had said I found love
and I'm now a happily married man or I met
(13:30):
my wife on the Bachelor, those are two totally completely
different things. So I think I would say misinterpretation. It's
probably my call on that, all right, because my wife's like,
I was never on the Bachelor, Like she's Brazilian, She's like, yeah,
I never did that. She also might have been trying
to do the math. Now. I don't want to say
how old she was, maybe when I was. We'll just
(13:51):
pax next next time skip. How much did you hang
out with the girls on set? Because when Harrison was around,
he maybe like pop by once a week, and I
was so intimidate. I was like, I can't even have
a conversation with him. With you being your first season
as hosts, I feel like it would be a little
bit less intimidating. Oh well, I hope so, Um, there's not.
(14:16):
There's there's not been a lot of interaction. To be honest, Um,
I actually had to formally introduce myself to them when
I dropped the first day card because on the first night,
like they had never seen me host that show before. Um,
a lot of them probably didn't know who I was.
Literally popped in for a second to put a first
impression rolls down on the table, and then they saw
me at the road ceremony and that was it. So
(14:36):
that's why at the beginning, when the women finally moved
into the to the mansion, I actually have to like
go in and be like, hey, um, so you know,
I'm Jesse, I'm hosting the show, and sort of do that.
I really don't have that that much interaction with them. Um, directly,
I'm always sort of there and I'm kind of omniprepresent
I really made it a point to kind of be
(14:57):
be there for the group dates, for the one on
one dates, cocktail parties, rose ceremonies, travel all that stuff,
to try to be sort of dialed in as much
as I could. But really the majority of my my interaction,
especially one on one, is really with Clay. Okay, uh.
Well that that kind of leads me to my next question,
what did you want your vibe to be as host
(15:21):
um with? With Harrison? You know, I don't. He just
is all we've ever known, right, And then with Caitlyn
and Taitia, their vibe was more of like, we're your girlfriends.
You can come here with us, you can come to
us whenever you need advice. It was more of a
friendly vibe. And when did you go in with a
(15:42):
mindset of how you want to come across? No? And
and really the reason why. Of course, I had watched
the show guide for for for years and years and years,
so I was very very aware of sort of sort
of the different styles of hosting that that we had
had before. I think for me in some ways similar
to when I was the batcher, because I wasn't on
(16:03):
the bachelot the year before. I just wanted to be
authentic and just be myself and just try to do
it my way. Um. You know again, like I'm always
trying to think, like how can I help Clayton? What
can I do? Um? You know, It's one thing to
kind of set up the group dates and go in
and give those talks, and I'm trying to do it
in my own tone and sort of you know, in
my own in my own voice. But you know, for
(16:26):
really my focus is just Clayton and just being myself.
I know he's trying to be as authentic as he
can be. I'm trying to be as authentic as I
can be. And that's kind of why, you know, I
was kind of joking about it on the first night
when I met Clayton, like I am nervous, like standing there,
like I wish I could. I was trying to come
across as being very stoic, but in that moment I
(16:46):
was thinking, like crap, like I've never even been to
this mansion before. I haven't i haven't hoped this show yet,
Like I just don't want to screw this up for
clay And so you know, that's that's really, you know,
kind of what I'm trying to do is just just
be me and and it's it's got to be a
different you know, I can't be like Holiday Baking Championship
(17:06):
host Jesse that I'm always like doing like dad jokes
and like making fun of the time. And I can't
be like ESPN College Football Jesse Um, where it's like
super analytical and forty five second sound bites all the time.
You know, it's it's it's it's kind of I guess
it's taking on a life of its own, and it's
something that I sort of have to kind of find
as I'm as I'm going along with it. I think,
(17:28):
when did you feel like you found your groove? I
thought you came across a very natural night one. Oh
that's good. Well, that's that's nice. It's nice to hear.
I mean, that's what I'm hoping. Um. You know, of
course i'd be again, I'd be lying if I said
like I had it in the bag when I do
exactly what it was going as I did. And you
know this at this point, you know, I still don't.
I mean, I don't know if if I feel yet
(17:51):
like like I've got I've got a real handle on
it and probably wise because you know, every episode I'm
doing something new for the time. So it's like like
dropping the first impression Rose Rose ceremony, group date card
um first, like the first one on one talk with Clayton.
Like the conversation I'm about to have with Clayton now
(18:12):
as he's pondering whether or not he's taking this Rose
back from Cassidy is like is like that that was
the first for me as well, And so you know
it's it's I don't think there's like you know, Women
Tell all will be new after the final Rows will
be new. I don't know, like I don't know how
how it's gonna go or how that's going to feel.
I won't be able to, I think, feel comfortable in
(18:34):
this until you know, way down the road and if
I'm still doing it. So does that make you want
to have another opportunity to host the show? Yeah? I
mean listen, I would be totally game to have that
conversation if they wanted to do that. I just after
what I just said, it's like I'm listening to myself
like I've got my hands so full right now just
(18:54):
with just with Clayton. Yeah, and it just all the
things he's dealing with. I never in a million years
thought like I would have to watch him juggle everything
that's happened in the first two episodes, like three women,
self eliminating before the first row ceremony, his first rows
being rejected before he even gets to the match, and
the self doubt that's already creeping in now, the stuff
(19:16):
happening with Cassidy, more drama between Shane and Elizabeth. Um,
he's kind of he's had these sparks with Teddy and
Susie and some of some of these other women too.
He's hopeful and at the same time he's he's doubting
himself and he's got like drama happening on two fronts.
There's so much going on, and now he's potentially going
to take a rose back. We're not even an episode three.
Like this is great, Like it's a lot happening. So um, yeah,
(19:39):
it's been. It's been a lot, but it's been it's
been a lot of fun. Ye spoiler alert, guys, We're
gonna talk about Cassidy's Instagram story this week. Just are
you aware of what happened? No, talk to me, let's
(20:01):
go what's she basically said on her Instagram story that
he eliminated her. She spoiled that storyline, assuming the producers
are really piste off. She says, isn't it just unbelievable?
And like these are so many words. She cursed a
lot throughout this. She's like, don't you think it's unbelievable
(20:23):
that he offered a rose to a girl who was
previously engaged as of like the week before the Bachelor,
But then with me, I have a friends with benefits
and he eliminates me, so he takes her rose back,
or so it seems. Can you can? Can you have
thoughts on this? And I confirmed nor did not? Are
(20:44):
we sure her Instagram did not get hacked by any
chance she's talking to the screen. Did did Reality Steve
hack her Instagram and just dub over her voice? Did
he put on a wig and just really really just
like winning an Oscar and Academy award? Honestly, I gotta
(21:05):
I gotta be I gotta be real. I didn't know
what I could neither confirm nor deny. No, I wasn't
even aware. Well, we will find out, I guess for
sure how it unfolds on Monday's episode I'm also going
to give you another theory, and I want your response
to it, even it's just a facial reaction, because I
will over analyze your facial expression. Nick Vile and I
(21:28):
have this theory that Teddy, who is h self proclaimed virgin,
will be losing her virginity in the fantasy suite, which
is why Clayton has led to reveal that he slept
with all the women in there. Yes or no, think twice.
If it's a yes, he has a good face. Actually,
(21:50):
that's actually amazing. That's actually an amazing conspiracy theory. Interesting.
I will say, I will say this what what is what?
It has been kind of fun fun to watch a
lot of people think they already know what happens at
the end based on the different teases that they've shown,
But as you know better than anybody, there's a lot
(22:13):
of very smart people working on the show that think
about the editing what they're going to show before things
actually come to fruition. So um, what I can say
is that a big theme this year on Clayton's season
will be there are no rules in the Bachelor. Clayton
never watched the show before he went on the Shell season.
(22:33):
He has, there's no precedence for anything in his mind.
He's doing things for the first time. He's willing to
do very drastic things and take chances and risk. It's
a drastic a nice word for dumb. Drastic is a
word for sometimes authentic, okay, not well thought out. Clayton
(22:55):
knows how to do things his way and how to
handle tough situations his way. And we know Clayton's an
open book. He wears his heart on his sleeve. We've
seen that, and you're going to see more of that
this season. But there's gonna be a lot of things
that happened. You've already seen a couple of first there
are way more first to come that have never happened
(23:16):
on the show in twenty years. And I would venture
to say that anything you've seen in previews is not
the most dramatic thing that happens, honestly, really, Yeah, you
and Nick are going to have an opportunity for some
more sweet conspiracy theories. Oh nice, Okay, really fun? Love
that was Did you have a favorite date activity or
(23:37):
as a favorite date in general that you can tease
for us? Well? Oh, coming up now, I can't well
what what I can but I mean, like, okay, so
like I love his dates and I hate his dates
because his dates are way better than my dates, Like
like the budgets are so jealous of him. Can you tell?
Like I'm harboring a lot of resentments. Like I just
(24:00):
feel like everything Clayton gets is better than what I got,
Like I just I feel like that. It's like the
little brother always gets like big better gifts and everything
gets better closed. Clayton's like that dude took a helicopter
and landed it on a yacht Russian Olio dark style
and then jumped into a hot tub and pop champagne.
I wrote an elephant. Yeah, no, I get it. They
(24:21):
definitely have amped up like the emission Impossible scenes totally.
And it's like where he gets to travel and go
around the world, like I like, no, no disrespect to Washington,
d C in Quebec City, like I love those cities.
That was kind of my peak. That was like sort
of my mount Ever's pinnacle. Clayton's jets say, He's about
the jet set around the world, go to all these
(24:41):
amazing places and do things that like Russian oligarchs do. Jesse,
you know, I'm gonna make you feel better with one
last statement. You know what you had that Clayton doesn't
a spy. This is hard. It is harsh. By the way,
I'll go ratings. Oh, I didn't have to. I didn't
(25:03):
have to go up against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday
Night or the College Football National Championship. But you were
an NFL quarterback, so like you had that too. That's
another one. Are you saying that people just love the
hair product? Yeah, you had really great hair in your
season two. All right, Jesse, thank you so much for
joining us. This was fun. We will hopefully have you
(25:26):
back throughout the season and we can talk about more
of those conspiracy theories that you say it's coming up.
Let's do it. Let's go go Brady, Go Bill Brady.
Bye bye. Follow the Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous
podcast on I Heart Radio or subscribe wherever you listen
to podcasts.
This is the Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with our radio. Hey, guys, welcome to a special episode
we're doing about thirty minutes with The Bachelor host Jesse Palmer.
The last time we had Jesse on, he was promoting
the Ultimate Surfer, and oh my gosh, in what feels
(00:21):
like a blink of an eye, he is now the
host of the Bachelor. Please, ladies and gentlemen, welcome Jesse Palmer. Hey, everybody,
I feel like I used car salesman now. It's like
every time I talked to you. It's a couple of
weeks in between. I'm like, I've got another show you
gotta watch. Trust me, this one's gonna be great. You're
gonna love this show. It's gonna be fantatistic. Yeah, here
we are again. It's great talking with you, so good
(00:42):
having you here. Uh did you know that you were
the host of the Bachelor When we were talking to
you about American Surfer? When were we talking about Yes,
it was Ultimate Surver? Sorry American? Um, I guess I know,
I don't. I don't know if I officially knew. I
(01:02):
may have had a inkling. Yeah, how is my poker face?
Was a good ye, did you have any indicator? Okay,
I thought that you were definitely in the running. I
was like, that's just a natural fit. Um, is it
true that you're also going to be hosting The Senior Bachelor.
I don't know this time. This time, I'm being dead,
(01:23):
I'm being totally honest with you. I do not know.
No poker face on this one. I really honestly do
not know. I think Ben thinks he lost out to
you already, but that might be well. No, there's like
there's always spinoff shows happening. I don't even know what.
I'm not even honestly aware of what the spinoff shows are, Like,
what's what's coming up? I know that I know that
(01:44):
in the franchise, I know there's Bachelor, I know there's Bachelorette.
There's there's you know, Bachelor in Paradise. Outside of that,
it's like I've heard like Winter Games might be coming back,
Like there's like all these like yeah, like Bachelor pad
like I remember that, and there's all these other things.
I don't know, but the Senior Bachelor, I promised this time.
(02:05):
I literally do not know. I do not know. I
do not know, but yeah, Winter Games crazy it's been
four years since that, you know, I was part of it,
Ben was part of it. Uh. I don't know where
my life honestly would be right now without it, because
if it weren't for some jealousy factor, I may not
be married. It's it could, Okay, we would have ended
(02:33):
up together. I just don't know how much longer I
would have taken for him to come out about his
feelings anyway. Yeah, that's it's just weird that they wouldn't
have done that, because I feel like Bachelor in Paradise
right now is like everybody's favorite spin off in the show.
Like if all the shows, people love Bachelor Paradise, and
I feel like Winter Games is kind of the most
similar anyway. Sidetrack note, let's talk about the moment that
(02:55):
you found out you were the host of The Bachelor. Yeah,
I was. I was humbled. I was excited obviously, you
know having you know was the bathroom in two thousand four.
I've been a big fan of all the shows kind
of ever since, and I remember a part of bachel Nation,
but um, you know, just just really thrilled. And I
think too, like once I finally met Clayton, um, the
(03:19):
whole thing really kind of kind of made sense. The
first time I met Clayton was actually when he got
out of the limo and that first night, Um yeah,
So I wanted that to be real and authentic and
just organic to the whole process, and like it was
like he's nervous getting out of a limo. I'm freaking
out nervous because I've never hosted the show before. I've
never even been to that that mansion, and we're just
(03:40):
kind of like looking at each other, like what are
we doing? This is crazy? Um. But as I've gotten
to know him, I just genuinely like him so much.
He's such a sweet, genuine guy, and I've learned how
badly he wants to get married and find love and
find his person. I just know like how much pressure
he's put himself on. Now he understands how big of
(04:01):
an opportunity this is. Like I watched someone Michelle season,
I watched you know he he talks about when you
have a family and having kids, and he cries, he
gets emotional. I remember thinking like, wow, that's it's impressive
for a guy to do that, but also it was
a former football player to break down like that. It
supposed to be really important to him. As I've gotten
to get to know him since that first moment outside
the mansion on one night one, I just know how
(04:21):
much he wants this. So for me being the host
and to try to try and help guide him to
find what he's desperately craving, that's like, I do feel
a lot of pressure doing it, but it makes this
so much more um what's the word. It's like when
you just feel it just feels right, and it just
(04:41):
it just feels it's it's it's the best part of
this experience for me, kind of trying to help a
guy like Clayton do this. Was it your decision not
to meet him until night one? Yeah, we we sort
of kind of talked about that. There was talks about
maybe having a dinner or getting together playing golf, and
I know some of that had happened in the past, um,
but I thought it was just going to be more
(05:02):
real and more authentic if we had done it that way,
and knowing that we'd have a lot more time to
catch up after that, even off camera. The funny thing
is I actually kind of already knew who he was
because I had broadcast at his football games before. Um,
when he was a tight end at Missouri, I was
actually at ESPN and I'd be in the booth at
in Colombia, Missouri, like calling his game, and I had
(05:25):
I had his name on a board and I'd watched
him play on film and I knew all of his vitals,
but of course i'd never actually met him until that
that first night. Um, I'm I'm happy we did it
that way because I just feel like it was you know,
like he's a real guy. I you know, and this
experience for him needs to be authentic and organic, and
I think our relationship needs to be the same the
(05:46):
same way he has a little NFL experience. Right. Was
he on a practice water too? He went to camp
with the Seattle Seahawks. Yes, So did you guys have time?
Was that something that you first talked about as a
bonding thing. It was a total growth thing. Yeah, we
broke out right away. I love that you love football too. Great.
(06:08):
Every time for time we do this, we always go
there and I'm never surprised. I'm always like, that's right,
she loves perfect. Um. Yeah, I mean it's definitely something
that helped bring bring us together because we could sort of,
you know, talk about our past experiences in football and
kind of you know, compare them and relate them and
relate to things we learned in football and how we
were kind of using that in our lives now. But
(06:30):
it's funny like in football, you know, like in the
locker room, there's just trash talking. Guys are always kind
of riding each other and and Clayton and I sort
of kind of carried that over. It was very very quick,
like at first we were very cordial, Hey, how are
you good to meet you? This is great, And now
it's like full on locker room like that, you know,
big brother little brother. Were like blast each other, texting,
(06:51):
we're killing each other on social media. Um on. On
January one, we were at the Rose Parade and we
were taking this picture this really cute little girl and
she was standing in the middle of us, and she
looked at Clayton and then she like in the middle
of the photo, she was kind of looking at me,
kind of funny, and then she like she kind of like,
(07:13):
you know, told me to come down, and she was
like are you his dad? And I'm like, I'm like what,
And Clayton has never let me forget that he is.
He was dying. I was so mad, and I'm like,
it's a little girl, and I'm like, I am a
conduit of love. Damn it. I am trying to help
this man find his person. How dare You're like, I
(07:36):
am eleven years older than him? Okay, just a great whiskers. Fine,
I have a great whiskers. I get it enough. I'm done.
I already hate this man because he's taller and better
looking and more athletic. Enough, it's over. I'm leaving the parade.
That leads me perfectly into my next question. How do
you feel about all the Clayton Jesse comparisons? Because there
(07:58):
are so many memes out there from outlets like Betches
and stuff that are like, can anybody tell it too?
If he's apart? Yeah, I hate Clayton secretly because because
because of what I just said. Again, when they told
me it was Clayton and then we finally got out
of the limo, the first thing I thought was, Damn,
he's way bigger than I thought. I'm like, I've been
in NFL locker rooms, and like there are people that
(08:21):
make big people like I'm six to two thirty, like
I'm like, I feel like a pretty big guy. He
makes people like me just feel average and look average.
That was the first thing. But then too, I was like,
he does kind of look like me a little bit.
And then and then like he's just he's got like
a better physique and all the things, and he's like
he's he's walking over and I'm just like the the
(08:42):
the jealousy was rising, and then my security was falling,
and I was like I was just so insecure in
the moment. I'm like, all right, I know, I know
I'm gonna like you. I know that, but secretly I
really hate you. I think it's just because he probably
remind did you of yourself a decade ago? Yeah, way
(09:03):
less terror product than I had in two thousand four,
but yes, very very similar otherwise for sure. So I
totally see it. I get at least I just at
least I could be his older brother. That's cool, but like,
I just don't want to be the dad. You're just
a little girl would think that, that's all. Uh. Fun
side note question here. As you may know, I come from,
(09:27):
um well, I told you last time, Big Giants fan.
But since I married into I married a Brady absolute fanatic,
like it goes beyond like I know my ranking in
this world is somewhere in between the dog and Tom Brady.
Who do you think is going to the Super Bowl?
What are your predictions? I think the Bucks have a
very hard game this week against the Rams. They do.
(09:50):
That's a good segue. So unfortunately the Giants are not
going to the super Bowl. We'd be totally not for
quite some time, saying that for about ten years, ten years.
It's been ten years. I went to that Super Bowl
ten years ago, and my dad's like, can you believe
it's been that long? And it's been like we've been
bad for like that long now anyway, continue, Yeah, well
so no, no big Blue fine for another year. So
(10:13):
I do think the Buffalo Bills are going to make
the super Bowl. It's the first time in a long
time they're going to get there. Josh Allen is playing
phenomenal quarterback. They have the best defense in the NFL.
They're dominating in the trenches. I think they're going to
beat the Chiefs this weekend. That'll be a huge statement.
I think they're gonna end up getting there. Now, like
who today in their right mind, honestly, if we're being honest.
(10:36):
Who's betting against Tom Brady? Ever? You can't, you cannot.
It's never a smart decision. And like, I get it.
Backers look awesome and Aaron Rodgers and like the super
it's gonna go through lambeau Field, the Tundra and it's
gonna be great. Dude, come on number twelve. Number twelve
rolls up in there. It's like all bets are off.
(11:00):
It's like everybody's like, no, they don't have the weapons
they have. Injury tackle injury does yeah, like the right
tackle injury. I think it's a big one. But like
their defense is healthy. They have one of the best
defensive coordinators. And dude, it's Tom Brady. Like, yeah, it's
gonna be cold. No one could throw the ball in
the cold except Tom Brady because he did in his
whole life with a New England Patriots, and he did
(11:23):
it last year in the NFC Championship game. He beat
the Packers and was amazing. That game was way better
to watch than the actual supervol I don't know, alright,
So you're saying that it could be Bill's Bucks, Bill's Box,
Bill's Mafia, It's so Fi Stadium, And then all the
Brady like you like your husband, like all the Brady Brady,
(11:44):
the Bradyites what we call them, Yeah, let's call them that,
like the Bradyites. They're all gonna be there. It's gonna
We're all gonna be there. You'll be there. It's gonna
be We're gonna Well, I would be there, but my
due date is two days the first. When I let
my has been good to that Seer Bowl, I don't know,
he's already been to. We've already We've already done that
(12:05):
thing together, that bucket list. That's going to be the
true test of where you are in the hierarchy. See
if if Brady isn't the Super Bowl, you're really gonna know,
that's going to be a telling moment. That is that
is such a good point. Alright, well, we're probably boring
Bachelor fans. I could actually pick your brain with that
stuff even more. That'd be fun because I just have
to say, the Bills, after losing four straight ser Bowls
(12:27):
in the nineties, they deserve this. I'm rooting for them
for I love how you get off to the side.
It's like it's like as if they can't hear me anymore.
What's also been a meme this week is the show
(12:50):
making it seem like you met your wife on the Bachelor.
Did you feel like you did that intentionally? Or the
show like, how do you word things in a way
that it was, Oh, by the way, I found my
happily ever after via the Bachelor too, or do you
think that people are just misinterpreting? Uh My, looking back
on it, maybe it was like the order in the
(13:10):
way things were, like said, hey, maybe you remember once
upon a time I was the Bachelor and now I'm
a happily married man. I don't think it necessarily connects
the two things. Both things are totally true, but I
never said, like if I had said I found love
and I'm now a happily married man or I met
(13:30):
my wife on the Bachelor, those are two totally completely
different things. So I think I would say misinterpretation. It's
probably my call on that, all right, because my wife's like,
I was never on the Bachelor, Like she's Brazilian, She's like, yeah,
I never did that. She also might have been trying
to do the math. Now. I don't want to say
how old she was, maybe when I was. We'll just
(13:51):
pax next next time skip. How much did you hang
out with the girls on set? Because when Harrison was around,
he maybe like pop by once a week, and I
was so intimidate. I was like, I can't even have
a conversation with him. With you being your first season
as hosts, I feel like it would be a little
bit less intimidating. Oh well, I hope so, Um, there's not.
(14:16):
There's there's not been a lot of interaction. To be honest, Um,
I actually had to formally introduce myself to them when
I dropped the first day card because on the first night,
like they had never seen me host that show before. Um,
a lot of them probably didn't know who I was.
Literally popped in for a second to put a first
impression rolls down on the table, and then they saw
me at the road ceremony and that was it. So
(14:36):
that's why at the beginning, when the women finally moved
into the to the mansion, I actually have to like
go in and be like, hey, um, so you know,
I'm Jesse, I'm hosting the show, and sort of do that.
I really don't have that that much interaction with them. Um, directly,
I'm always sort of there and I'm kind of omniprepresent
I really made it a point to kind of be
(14:57):
be there for the group dates, for the one on
one dates, cocktail parties, rose ceremonies, travel all that stuff,
to try to be sort of dialed in as much
as I could. But really the majority of my my interaction,
especially one on one, is really with Clay. Okay, uh.
Well that that kind of leads me to my next question,
what did you want your vibe to be as host
(15:21):
um with? With Harrison? You know, I don't. He just
is all we've ever known, right, And then with Caitlyn
and Taitia, their vibe was more of like, we're your girlfriends.
You can come here with us, you can come to
us whenever you need advice. It was more of a
friendly vibe. And when did you go in with a
(15:42):
mindset of how you want to come across? No? And
and really the reason why. Of course, I had watched
the show guide for for for years and years and years,
so I was very very aware of sort of sort
of the different styles of hosting that that we had
had before. I think for me in some ways similar
to when I was the batcher, because I wasn't on
(16:03):
the bachelot the year before. I just wanted to be
authentic and just be myself and just try to do
it my way. Um. You know again, like I'm always
trying to think, like how can I help Clayton? What
can I do? Um? You know, It's one thing to
kind of set up the group dates and go in
and give those talks, and I'm trying to do it
in my own tone and sort of you know, in
my own in my own voice. But you know, for
(16:26):
really my focus is just Clayton and just being myself.
I know he's trying to be as authentic as he
can be. I'm trying to be as authentic as I
can be. And that's kind of why, you know, I
was kind of joking about it on the first night
when I met Clayton, like I am nervous, like standing there,
like I wish I could. I was trying to come
across as being very stoic, but in that moment I
(16:46):
was thinking, like crap, like I've never even been to
this mansion before. I haven't i haven't hoped this show yet,
Like I just don't want to screw this up for
clay And so you know, that's that's really, you know,
kind of what I'm trying to do is just just
be me and and it's it's got to be a
different you know, I can't be like Holiday Baking Championship
(17:06):
host Jesse that I'm always like doing like dad jokes
and like making fun of the time. And I can't
be like ESPN College Football Jesse Um, where it's like
super analytical and forty five second sound bites all the time.
You know, it's it's it's it's kind of I guess
it's taking on a life of its own, and it's
something that I sort of have to kind of find
as I'm as I'm going along with it. I think,
(17:28):
when did you feel like you found your groove? I
thought you came across a very natural night one. Oh
that's good. Well, that's that's nice. It's nice to hear.
I mean, that's what I'm hoping. Um. You know, of
course i'd be again, I'd be lying if I said
like I had it in the bag when I do
exactly what it was going as I did. And you
know this at this point, you know, I still don't.
I mean, I don't know if if I feel yet
(17:51):
like like I've got I've got a real handle on
it and probably wise because you know, every episode I'm
doing something new for the time. So it's like like
dropping the first impression Rose Rose ceremony, group date card
um first, like the first one on one talk with Clayton.
Like the conversation I'm about to have with Clayton now
(18:12):
as he's pondering whether or not he's taking this Rose
back from Cassidy is like is like that that was
the first for me as well, And so you know
it's it's I don't think there's like you know, Women
Tell all will be new after the final Rows will
be new. I don't know, like I don't know how
how it's gonna go or how that's going to feel.
I won't be able to, I think, feel comfortable in
(18:34):
this until you know, way down the road and if
I'm still doing it. So does that make you want
to have another opportunity to host the show? Yeah? I
mean listen, I would be totally game to have that
conversation if they wanted to do that. I just after
what I just said, it's like I'm listening to myself
like I've got my hands so full right now just
(18:54):
with just with Clayton. Yeah, and it just all the
things he's dealing with. I never in a million years
thought like I would have to watch him juggle everything
that's happened in the first two episodes, like three women,
self eliminating before the first row ceremony, his first rows
being rejected before he even gets to the match, and
the self doubt that's already creeping in now, the stuff
(19:16):
happening with Cassidy, more drama between Shane and Elizabeth. Um,
he's kind of he's had these sparks with Teddy and
Susie and some of some of these other women too.
He's hopeful and at the same time he's he's doubting
himself and he's got like drama happening on two fronts.
There's so much going on, and now he's potentially going
to take a rose back. We're not even an episode three.
Like this is great, Like it's a lot happening. So um, yeah,
(19:39):
it's been. It's been a lot, but it's been it's
been a lot of fun. Ye spoiler alert, guys, We're
gonna talk about Cassidy's Instagram story this week. Just are
you aware of what happened? No, talk to me, let's
(20:01):
go what's she basically said on her Instagram story that
he eliminated her. She spoiled that storyline, assuming the producers
are really piste off. She says, isn't it just unbelievable?
And like these are so many words. She cursed a
lot throughout this. She's like, don't you think it's unbelievable
(20:23):
that he offered a rose to a girl who was
previously engaged as of like the week before the Bachelor,
But then with me, I have a friends with benefits
and he eliminates me, so he takes her rose back,
or so it seems. Can you can? Can you have
thoughts on this? And I confirmed nor did not? Are
(20:44):
we sure her Instagram did not get hacked by any
chance she's talking to the screen. Did did Reality Steve
hack her Instagram and just dub over her voice? Did
he put on a wig and just really really just
like winning an Oscar and Academy award? Honestly, I gotta
(21:05):
I gotta be I gotta be real. I didn't know
what I could neither confirm nor deny. No, I wasn't
even aware. Well, we will find out, I guess for
sure how it unfolds on Monday's episode I'm also going
to give you another theory, and I want your response
to it, even it's just a facial reaction, because I
will over analyze your facial expression. Nick Vile and I
(21:28):
have this theory that Teddy, who is h self proclaimed virgin,
will be losing her virginity in the fantasy suite, which
is why Clayton has led to reveal that he slept
with all the women in there. Yes or no, think twice.
If it's a yes, he has a good face. Actually,
(21:50):
that's actually amazing. That's actually an amazing conspiracy theory. Interesting.
I will say, I will say this what what is what?
It has been kind of fun fun to watch a
lot of people think they already know what happens at
the end based on the different teases that they've shown,
But as you know better than anybody, there's a lot
(22:13):
of very smart people working on the show that think
about the editing what they're going to show before things
actually come to fruition. So um, what I can say
is that a big theme this year on Clayton's season
will be there are no rules in the Bachelor. Clayton
never watched the show before he went on the Shell season.
(22:33):
He has, there's no precedence for anything in his mind.
He's doing things for the first time. He's willing to
do very drastic things and take chances and risk. It's
a drastic a nice word for dumb. Drastic is a
word for sometimes authentic, okay, not well thought out. Clayton
(22:55):
knows how to do things his way and how to
handle tough situations his way. And we know Clayton's an
open book. He wears his heart on his sleeve. We've
seen that, and you're going to see more of that
this season. But there's gonna be a lot of things
that happened. You've already seen a couple of first there
are way more first to come that have never happened
(23:16):
on the show in twenty years. And I would venture
to say that anything you've seen in previews is not
the most dramatic thing that happens, honestly, really, Yeah, you
and Nick are going to have an opportunity for some
more sweet conspiracy theories. Oh nice, Okay, really fun? Love
that was Did you have a favorite date activity or
(23:37):
as a favorite date in general that you can tease
for us? Well? Oh, coming up now, I can't well
what what I can but I mean, like, okay, so
like I love his dates and I hate his dates
because his dates are way better than my dates, Like
like the budgets are so jealous of him. Can you tell?
Like I'm harboring a lot of resentments. Like I just
(24:00):
feel like everything Clayton gets is better than what I got,
Like I just I feel like that. It's like the
little brother always gets like big better gifts and everything
gets better closed. Clayton's like that dude took a helicopter
and landed it on a yacht Russian Olio dark style
and then jumped into a hot tub and pop champagne.
I wrote an elephant. Yeah, no, I get it. They
(24:21):
definitely have amped up like the emission Impossible scenes totally.
And it's like where he gets to travel and go
around the world, like I like, no, no disrespect to Washington,
d C in Quebec City, like I love those cities.
That was kind of my peak. That was like sort
of my mount Ever's pinnacle. Clayton's jets say, He's about
the jet set around the world, go to all these
(24:41):
amazing places and do things that like Russian oligarchs do. Jesse,
you know, I'm gonna make you feel better with one
last statement. You know what you had that Clayton doesn't
a spy. This is hard. It is harsh. By the way,
I'll go ratings. Oh, I didn't have to. I didn't
(25:03):
have to go up against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday
Night or the College Football National Championship. But you were
an NFL quarterback, so like you had that too. That's
another one. Are you saying that people just love the
hair product? Yeah, you had really great hair in your
season two. All right, Jesse, thank you so much for
joining us. This was fun. We will hopefully have you
(25:26):
back throughout the season and we can talk about more
of those conspiracy theories that you say it's coming up.
Let's do it. Let's go go Brady, Go Bill Brady.
Bye bye. Follow the Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous
podcast on I Heart Radio or subscribe wherever you listen
to podcasts.
Hosts And Creators
Ben Higgins
Ashley Iaconetti
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