Higgins Getting Hitched

Ben’s wedding is FAST approaching… how is he feeling?? Ashley gets the real story behind Ben’s state of mind as his big day grows near.

The Bachelor: Live on Stage is resuming tour with Becca Kufrin as host, but no Ben! You won’t believe why he left the show. 

And, we recap this week’s episode of The Bachelorette, but Ben and Ashley can’t figure out what’s so special about Clayton!

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with i R Radio. Hello everyone, welcome to the Almost
Famous podcast. And today it's a really special day because
it's quite possibly the last podcast better than I do together.
As he is a nonmarried man whoa married. You're gonna

(00:25):
be married possibly next time we do this. Yeah, so
I am going to get married. Um, but I don't
know if I'll be able to be here next week
or not, because I think my flight is during our
recording time to I'm actually going to New York City
to open up a dark coffee shop there for a
grand opening, and then flying from there to Nashville. I
didn't know that you're opening a generous shop in New York. Yeah, soho,

(00:48):
we got it. It's in the good market. Yeah. You
what a huge week. That's insane. Yeah, it's great. Um,
I'm so pumped. So there's so many cool things happening.
But I could be I'm gonna be getting married. And
when you say that, I feel like and I was
telling just this last night, we were talking like I
feel like I should be like feeling anxious or nervous.

(01:09):
I don't know how you felt, Ashley. Um, but I'm
anxious or nervous, just stressed about like the day going
according to plan. Yeah, I think that's it for me.
Is like I just really you know, we have the
whole team from FETE Nashville and um Jessica's mom and
my mom and Jessica. I will put myself into that,
but I haven't done as much as what they have

(01:30):
have virtually hard on making this wedding something that's gonna
be really fun. Like we wanted to be a celebration.
Your wedding was a celebration, Like we wanted to be
something that everybody came and enjoyed and like and like
walked away going wow, Like we felt like love was
being celebrated in that moment. I really want that to happen.
I think I'm more nervous or anxious for that. I
am so at peace with the wedding thing like it is.

(01:54):
It's almost oddly non emotional for me. I thought, I
completely kind of late. Yeah, I I hate to say that,
because like I'm like, oh, I always saw my like
gleaning up to my wedding, there would be this like
like almost like I can't hardly like breathe, and I don't.
But like I'm like, no, this feels awesome. Like I'm
this is great, this is cool. We're gonna get married

(02:16):
and it's gonna be great. Is just doing like all
the last minute things like what is on her plate
right now? Um, she's doing everything from you know, she
just went and got her hair practiced. Um, why she's
gonna wear it for the wedding. Um she did her
final dress fitting. Um she is starting to I think

(02:38):
this afternoon she took work off to start to pack
and to prep um for everything that's going on there.
And then it's it's like a checklist of small things
that she has to do when she gets to Nashville,
and so just random little things. I I was in
charge of two things actually, the liquor um for the wedding,
which is good, the heaters for the wedding just in

(02:59):
case it's a little chili. And then my groomsman and
I asked Jessica, so I think her wedding starts at
like five o'clock? You think I it's like four thirty
or five. It's one of those two. And I was like, hey, hunt,
oh it's at four great, perfect, Well I was an

(03:19):
hour off. I'll be there. Um, but I was asking
her last night. I was like, Hey, when should I
get my groomsmen to the venue to get ready? And
she's like, I don't know, what do you need to do.
I was like, well, we're gonna take pictures beforehand. She's like, yeah,
Chicelein will take get dressed. I was like ten minutes.
She's like, okay, we'll get him there like two hours
in advance. I was like, well, I want him there longer.
I want to be kicking it with him that day.

(03:40):
So I'm just gonna get him there for like brunch
to hang out and watch football, while like Jesse's you know,
bridesmaid have to be there at the crack of dawn,
um doing their deal. It's great for me, I'm living
the dream. Jared loved hanging out with his groomsmen before
that was like one of the very special parts of
the day. I actually wanted to be ah and I
was kind of like a weird bride. I was like, oh,

(04:01):
my mom, the wedding planner, and my sister, they can
be in the room, but like I just wanted like
a sense of peace and calm and just not like
to be surrounded by like a whole bunch of like
bipping girls do I all love very much? But I
was like, I just know myself and I I don't
want to get like, I don't want to put unnecessary
stress on me, holy everybody analyzing like what I look

(04:25):
like and my every little flick of makeup and all that.
I've got two questions for you. Are you guys writing
your own vows or will they be traditional? Jared and
I did both. We did the traditional vows and we
wrote her on I'm gonna write We're gonna write our own. Um.
I actually like the idea of doing both. Maybe we'll
mix that incause I haven't thought about that, but I

(04:46):
have a lot I want to say to her, uh
in front of everybody, and I think she feels similar,
and so I wanted that moment. You know. The way
the way we view this is like, this is definitely
like our special day, but it's a day to also
celebrate the people that are gonna be in that room
with us, because like we we feel very thankful that

(05:07):
we have these people in our lives, and so I
want them to We wanted them to be involved in
that and hear what was coming from our heart. Um.
But I like the idea of doing both, you know,
this week and I'm not to change the subject because
this is such an amazing thing. And tomorrow we have
People magazine coming to the house in Denver and we're
into our photo shoot and they're they're covering the wedding,

(05:31):
which is just like so cool for us, uh to cool, right, Yeah,
Like you get to tell your kids that you're what
I have People Magazine. That was like our sealing the deal. Um.
And so they come like our kids are gonna be
like a wait, why Yeah, they're gonna be They're not
going to think I'm cool, and that's fine. Um, but

(05:51):
they come to myorrow and so we're really excited for that.
But um, this last week, you know, I missed last
week's podcast because I was in a wedding UM for
my best friend who who I talked about, who has
a LS and they did their own vows and it's
really hard for him right now to speak UM, and
I lost it. And I lost it for a couple

(06:11):
of reasons. One, it's hard, like it sucks, like you
see your best friend that you love dearly, um struggling
to get words out and you know, having to pause
to catch his breath and like that whole thing is
is brutal to see. But also there was this level
two when since we're talking about the vows to where
like he was able to share you know, he he
had like a line in there like when you met me,

(06:33):
this wasn't the plan um and this illnesses came came
about as we were together. But I also don't want
to go through this with anybody else, and I lost it,
like absolutely lost it, and I just like I want
that from my wedding because everybody in the audience heard
where they were at in life and knew the commitment
they were both through making to each other in that moment.
And for me, I was like, this is why we're

(06:54):
doing our own vows, because this touches something more personal
than than anything that is maybe you know, traditional or
written up already. I completely agree. I wanted traditional just
because I'm a traditionalist, but then I wanted to write
them because I also it's just like at this point,
traditional sometimes feels like, oh, you know, we've heard the

(07:15):
cizillion times, yeah, and it's not Yeah, it's obviously not
personal with us anyway, Wait, how old is he? He
is thirty five and how long has he had it?
He was just diagnosed a month and a half ago. Um,
but he's just the guy that you thought had lime disease. Yeah,
same guy. So you know, they thought, oh my god,

(07:36):
I'm so sorry. Yeah. So he was living with me,
um when he started to lose his speech, and I
was like, dude, why like why do you stumble your
words at night? Like we just had like one beer,
Like what's going are you? Like have you been drinking?
Like are you super sad? Like are you drinking alone
at night? Like I'm here to drink with you as
much as you need to get through, you know, his
life at that point, and um, he's like no, I

(07:58):
don't know why. I don't know what's going on. And um,
they diagnosed with him lime and they actually say that
lime disease can spark if you have like the A
L S gene or whatever it is in your body,
the trauma of a of lime can spark that to
happen faster. So they think maybe that he had both. Um.
So right after this, right after this, we are like

(08:18):
we are full advocacy mode, like we were talking to
every single group of people out there, and that's I
actually just got a message from an almost famous listener today.
Her name is Amanda. I won't share her last name obviously,
and her husband was diagnosed with a l S at
twenty nine and he's it's two years in for him
and he's still doing really well. There's some like um
experimental treatments out there. A LS is really underfunded because

(08:41):
people get it and they pass away fairly quickly. So
like the investment in the pharmaceutical companies doesn't necessarily see
the monetary value of putting a lot of research behind it,
which is too bad. And um, but if you have
any information, message me or email me. Um and uh
and I would love to hear a contact dot Bend
dot Hay at gmail dot com. I'd love to hear

(09:02):
anything you have because we are full on like miracle mode. Now,
let's go weddings done, they're in love, they're happy. Let's
make magic happen. It's kind of our philosophy right now.
It is the worst and it needs to get up here.
It's horrible. Um, and that's gonna be amazing. I'm excited
to see what you guys can do. Yeah, and then
and then I have to go back to your wedding

(09:23):
for second, Do you guys aren't doing a first look,
are you? Um no, We're well, we'll do we'll do
it before. We're doing photos before. Is that what the
first look is? Are doing photos before? Yeah, because I'm
shocked at that. I thought that you guys would be
a little bit more traditional in the sense that, like
you see for the first time walking down the aisle,
you really want to get the photos done. Yeah, because

(09:43):
we're our reception is only a few hours and like
it's like four and a half hours, and if you
did photos and it's another you know, hour out of that,
and we just wanted to be able to get around
and say hey to everybody. And so we're gonna do
it before. And there's like a lot of moving parts.
You know, you get stuff donated to your wedding, and
you get stuff done at your wedding and uh, and
you just want to get those done like beforehand. Uh,

(10:04):
in our opinion, So we are going to do that. Um,
we don't know how. I don't know how we're gonna
do the look yet, but it's I actually more excited
to just have her and eye in that moment um
and when she walks down the aisle. Obviously that's gonna
be a whole new ball game. But like just to
have her and Eye in that moment, to see each
other as something that like I'm very um actually, like

(10:25):
I could tear up just thinking about it. Um. Yeah,
I'm just really excited for that because like she's just
beautiful and she's gonna shine, and I know she's gonna
look beautiful, and I know that night's gonna be like
she's gonna feel super loved, and so I'm I'm just
so excited, um for us to get here. We're only
a few like we're not even two weeks away now, um,

(10:46):
and so we got we got some more. I guess
I gotta go to New York before this. Actually, like
this is this is a lot to do. I have
so many questions to just keep popping up. I now
I need your prediction on what her dress is gonna be. Like, Um,
I knew you're gonna ask me something like this, because
I think it's gonna be like fairly simple, doesn'teem. I

(11:07):
don't think it's gonna have any shoulders. Um strap list
that's good. Help me out with the verbage. As I
talked through this, I think it's going to have like
a really cool design, like over the chest, in the belly,
like I think in the front it's gonna be like
will be embroidered. Yeah, there you will. There be bling.

(11:27):
I feel like no, no, no, no bling. Um yeah
I was bling like jewelry. No, that's like the dad
like like crystallized beds, stuff like that, like pearls. I
don't think so, I think. I don't. I don't see
her do I don't see her loving that because you know,

(11:47):
she's she's like, she's so naturally beautiful that she doesn't
wear a lot of stuff usually, and she's so tiny
that when she wears like a necklace, she looks like,
you know, it's like a big old thousand fifty gold
chain on her when she wears anything. Um, you know. Yeah.
So I think it's gonna be fairly simple design. Um.

(12:08):
I imagine it being backless. Um was that the right
word for that? Okay? Cool? Um, it's gonna be hard
to be strapless and backless, but it could be done.
Could be done. Well, what's what's the shape? Is it
going to be a ball down a line like Mermaids?
What's an a line? I feel like lines, a line.

(12:28):
I think a line for jazz for sure. That's like
you know how mine was ball Mine was ball down.
So it kind of like goes from the waist and
like over a little bit, like really poofy. This is
like the more understated version, like it goes like a
a like it's in the shape of its puff, but
down a line. I see an a line with her. Yeah,

(12:51):
that's it. I think I got it a line. Um.
And then I'm I was going to show you one
of my groomsmen gifts. Actually, none of my groomsmen listen
to this podcast um at all. Uh. And that's not
because they hate me, it's just because they don't. Yeah,
this is uh, this is one of my groomsman gifts
that I'm so pumped for that I'm gonna make everybody

(13:11):
wear at the wedding. Oh my gosh, guys, they're Ben
Higgins boxers, the boxer briefs. Yeah, yeah, yeah, They've got
Ben's face all over them. You think that's good as Yeah,
that's really cute. Good, we'll get a picture in them. Um,
I'm excited for this one. But oh, Ashley, it's a

(13:31):
huge thing. I'm so pumped. And then the honeymoon is
gonna be really exciting. We're going to St. Barts. Where
is that St Barts? Um, we're gonna fly down there
for a week. After the day after, we're gonna take
a day and rest and then fly out like that Monday. Yeah,
And I think I got that from you. Also. I
thought about you two weeks ago. We were taking final

(13:52):
details for the ceremony and we were talking about you
and Jared and we're like, you know, your wedding was
so much you guys, Like it's so personal. There's so
many like different things that you added in that made it,
um just match your personalities, which is so cool. And
so we have a surprise for our wedding that came
from the inspiration of you all reading at the wedding.

(14:14):
That's gonna be I think, awesome. Um yeah, So yeah,
you can think about what you're thinking about you as
we did this. Can't wait to see it. I wonder
if it'll go off in my head be like, oh,
this is the moment you'll know and then well, then
after the wedding, when we do a wedding brief on
this podcast, Um, I'll give all the details here. Um,

(14:34):
I'll tell you what it was, and we'll talk about
it with everybody here on the podcast, and I'll read
through exactly what they're reading was so they get an idea. Um,
but you'll you'll know, Okay. Cool alright, Ben, Well it's
about time we start talking about the Bachelor at episode.
So after this quick break, we'll be here to give
you the recap. Alright, we're back. Um, so much more

(15:07):
wedding to discuss uh in the next few weeks. Thank
you all for the kind words on Instagram. Um, just
about the wedding coming up. It's such a cool deal.
You know, this is a huge podcast. Life is changing,
Ashley is pregnant, I'm getting married. We're growing up right
here in front of your eyes and in your ears. Well, um,
we've also grown up as a podcast because we started

(15:27):
this in uh for the Bachelor in Paradise. It was
a huge success. We've loved doing it. It's so much
fun to do. It's the Bachelor Brackett and the Bachelor
Bracket rule of the week. If you don't know what
we're talking about, please join our almost famous Bachelor Brackett.
It is absolutely awesome. Uh. The winner came on the
podcast here just a couple of weeks ago, um, and
that was just fun to hear all of her strategy

(15:48):
and insights. But anyways, the rule of the week is this, Um,
for week four, you get five plus points every time
a contestant says the word bro when talking to another contestant. Again,
you get five more points every time the word burrow
is thrown around. And after seeing this week's episode, I
believe there are some burrows thrown around this week for sure.

(16:12):
For sure, these clues are awesome. They really do coincide
well with the week ahead. Ben, I gotta get your
thoughts on Jamie from last week's episode before we get
into this one, because he again plays a big role. Yeah. So,
I mean I think you know, Jamie came out of
the limo and he obviously had like a confidence to him,

(16:33):
like a swagger that like was noticed and uh and
it always makes me hesitant on this show. I'd say,
like anytime somebody seems really smooth and cool, Um, just
I don't I personally don't believe anybody's actually like that. Like,
I just don't think every anybody is like always so
cool the time. I think everybody has a little goof

(16:54):
to him. Um, so you're like, okay, putting on a
good first impression, and then he has his date and
and like he might have had the most roller coaster
of an episode I've ever seen, because my god, Ben,
I know you weren't here last week, but like I said,
I don't know I've ever seen somebody's story arc go
up and down multiple times like that in one episode. Yeah,
so you know, obviously he opens up and he tells

(17:15):
his story, and I don't want to neglect that or
push that away and say, like, you know that that
was important and I and I don't know him, I
believe it to all be true. I believe obviously there's
a lot of stuff that comes along with that, like
trauma and just you know, childhood nous that has probably
stuck with him as an adult. And so he has

(17:35):
his story and like I'm watching it at the time
in that place and going, he's, um, everybody's gonna fall
in love with him. He's the guy. He's it like
maybe he is this cool all the time. And then
you see the end of last week's episode and you go,
oh my gosh, like this dude feels I mean, it
almost feels like all of a sudden within moments like
now I just don't like him, Like I don't enjoy

(17:58):
watching him, I don't enjoy him as a person, and
like I want him gone, Like he's not good for Michelle.
And he almost feels like after last week like the
guy that could trigger um, like he's some guy he's not.
And then you get to this week and it all
capped off actually with me where I was like still
holding on the hope that he still is that guy.
Maybe he just messed up and overspoken, overshared and got

(18:20):
insecure and said something he didn't mean, or said something
like we've all done it where you like explain yourself
and you know you you say everybody's thinking this, or
back in high school used to be like, you know,
I hear a rumor, um that you've done this. We're
really the rumors just in your own head. So I think,
maybe give him the benefit of the down here. But
then he sits down with the producer after Brandon gets

(18:42):
the rose and he's talking about him being this up
here and Brandon being downe here. I'm like, no, you're done,
like you're out, you know what, Like I don't You're
not here anymore. I don't want you here anymore. You
are you are falling fast, buddy, you are done. That
guy had such an ego on him. There was bad vibes,

(19:02):
like the it was, it was weird, like and I
it's always harder to say because he has a sad backstory,
but there was something evident even when he was having
his good moments on the episode last week, where I
just felt like there's something off, there's something like not
good here. And then this week's episode, even before he

(19:27):
sat down with the producer was like something he's off.
I mean, obviously we knew what he did last week,
so like that was the off thing, but the just
the ego, just him being saying something like I can
see the way that sher she lights up around me,
or like the way that she's so gravitated towards me,
Like have you ever heard of a contestant speak about

(19:50):
the leads gravitational pull to them well and then speak
so poorly of the lead to like I'm not gonna
judge it, I'm just gonna like laugh. But it's like, no, dude,
you're just you're you are dismissing who Michelle is a
human right now? And like what what do you mean?
She's in spring break mode, like she's dating and maybe

(20:11):
she's not as into you as you in your head
thinks she should be or is. And that's why you're
saying it's spring break mode for her, because yes, she
doesn't give you all attention. I'm fired up at this
point in this episode actually like this is and and
at this point before we start breaking down the whole
episode and going into like the men confronting him, and
what I will say is Jamie's weird way of reconciling

(20:34):
it in his own head and not making any sense
anybody else bananas is. I'm so fired up at this
point because, as you know, there's some things on the
show that really get me going. And somebody thinking they
are the coolest person out there is one of the
things that really gets me fired up, especially when they

(20:55):
continue to double down on it. I know, do you
want to get to that later? Do you want to
finish Jamie talk now? I don't know what do you
want to do? Well, we'll finish it now because I'm
so fired up. Okay, okay, Well I can't believe that
he was like no, no, no, like the Verbon she
was trying to use to talk himself, like the room.
He's like, yeah, it wasn't individuals, but it was an

(21:17):
overall thing. And I was like, oh wait a second, No,
to be an overall thing, it has to start with individuals.
Nothing he was saying was making sense. And then he
was like, like for the viewers, And that's a great
moment in this episode of viewers. Oh my god, it's
a great moment in this episode because as a view
you're sitting there going so he's like speaking for me,

(21:40):
and I'm watching it and I'm like, why are you
trying to protect me, buddy? Like there's a thousand things
on this show that I never see or understand when
I watch it back, Like I'm just didn't it for
the ride? And you're in your head thinking that you're
giving the view Like are you saying you're giving the
viewers the benefit of the doubt by filling this storyline

(22:02):
for them, Because if so, you have really really poorly
analyzed what this show is, because when you're in it,
the last thing you should be thinking about at any
time is the viewers and how they're going to perceive
the story. Yeah, it was like he was trying to
be a producer as well. He also remember like last

(22:23):
week he was like, I need to see if Michelle
is the kind of woman that will like go do
things for the moment with me, Like I need to
see if she's a match for me. And it doesn't.
It's not a one way street here, which I can
respect the thought behind that. But now this week it
was all about competition for him. You could just tell.
It was all about beating the other guys and being

(22:44):
above the other guys and mentally and believing he is
above the other guys, like believing already that he is
in an a league of his own, which is just
not true. Like and I'm not saying that because Jamie's
not great. I don't know him personally. I'm just saying,
you're on the Bachelorette, Like every person in that room

(23:05):
either has a story to tell or they're a human
who is trying to date this woman, like they all belong.
At any point, if any person ever comes into the
show or off the show believing they're above anybody else
on it, like you're just wrong, Like you're you just
are even if you're the lead of the show, it
doesn't you're still like there's a there's five or six

(23:27):
people every season that could possibly be the lead lead
of this show. It doesn't mean that you're any greater.
And at this point, he's in this conversation with these
guys and he's believing that, like he's rolling his eyes,
like he's so smart, and they just don't get it,
Like he just said, keep saying, you just don't get it,
you just don't get it. And I'm thinking, Jamie, at
what point in your life are you gonna humble yourself

(23:49):
to do some introspection and maybe say you were wrong,
because this whole thing gets fixed. It's a beauty of
watching this show back, and it's the beauty of relating
to life. You can mess up in life. I'm with that,
Like you could have said something like he did and
really like throwing the whole thing off course. But as
soon as you do some introspection realize you are wrong,
you just admit it and then like typically people understand

(24:12):
because they've been there too. But he, like he just
keeps doubling down, like I'm so smart, you don't get it.
I'm trying to help out. I'm in the right, you're
in the wrong. And I bet he got on that
bus or whatever they picked him up in, still believing
that he was in the right Oh one thousand percent.
Two more things I have to mention. First, he said,

(24:33):
I love the way that Michelle was like, okay, wait
a second. So you were like hearing things in the
house and then all of a sudden you remember this
personal story from your friends seeing me out with another guy,
and it's like, mm okay, so great points to be like,
actually you were probably pretty focused on this. Actually here

(24:59):
is the thing you aren't wrong. I will say this.
And the close up the Jamie thought too, I've never
seen a guy fall so fast like we're what we're
doing here is this is all within the moment of
like really just an episode, like from going from the
top to the bottom so quickly totally. And another thing,

(25:20):
I feel like when she let him go, she was
scott to be she had got to be so grossed
out by him, you know what I mean? She was like,
I spent this week kissing this guy and now I
see his true colors, Like just get out, no hug
now nothing. I want to pretend like you never existed. Yeah,
I never had that moment like where you know, like

(25:43):
just like I never had that like grossed out moment
on my time where like somebody like epically blew up
and you're like, oh, I've spent the last two weeks,
you know, kissing you and and understanding you, and I
guess I have that benefit, but you're right, like you
have to imagine what she was feeling there. She's like, wait,
I was in you like two hours ago, right, and

(26:03):
and we all we laugh about it. But it's funny
how like quickly somebody can just become unattractive to you, um,
when you like, especially with the personal I think this
is one of those moments where she's like, I was
so into this and now all of a sudden, I
can't even be in the same moment in the same room. UM.
I was hoping Ashley too that once he was gone.

(26:24):
It felt like this group of guys, you know, we're
a couple of weeks in now. Um, for the most part,
UH kind of understood each other. I thought there was
some solid foundational pieces that we're going to keep the
group like functioning fairly well together and um bring some
joy and laughter to the group. And you know a
lot of them stood up for I forget his name

(26:45):
the guy that she was supposedly dating beforehand. Um. Yeah,
Like there's some guys that stood up for Joe that
was just like, hey, you know, I don't think they
were dating, and like get off of Joe's back, like
you was like, he was like, hey, you're sticking up
for each other. This is good. Then we see a
preview and I'm like, wait something, So this still blows
up like every season always does. Yeah. I was thinking

(27:05):
also with the elimination of the pizzrepreneur, I was like, wow,
did we get the drama completely out of the house already? No,
of course not, but we can now we we can
start from the top of the episode. We'll skip the
Jamie stuff of course. Um the first the first date,
Oh god, Jared was very envious. So big big Tom

(27:28):
Cruise guys over here, big top gun fans. Uh. Jared
has been counting down honestly the years now. So the
movie was going to come out because it was supposed
to come out last summer, and then they pushed it
back to November and it was still I believe um
set for November release when they shot this date and

(27:50):
then they moved it back to June. My gosh, my years.
It was supposed to come out November this month, and
now they pushed it back to June. So this is
a very cool theme date. Love the way that they added,
like the music, and they had some of the cast

(28:13):
um cute cute. Liked it. Um. The only thing that
really sucked for them was having to do that motion thing.
What is that motion like it's like the G four simulator. Yeah,
I mean that sucked, but it was also fun. I
mean it's like, you know, it's a it's a cool experience.

(28:33):
I liked this group date. Like you said, I thought
it was I actually thought every group date this episode
was like kind of went above and beyond anything we've
seen the last few seasons when it comes to who
they bring in and just the structure of it. This
one like it was far and away really great. You know,
obviously you have the Pizzapreneur and Little Willie Um going

(28:55):
at it. Little Willie just crushed him, by the way,
and that he came up with some great nicknames around
in the spot. Yeah. But like that little fighting scene,
I mean, Clayton's massive obviously, um and just like destroys dudes.
But then like little Willie and this guy. I'm like ready,
I'm gonna have my popcorn and I'm ready for this fight,
and he just destroys this guy. I want to know

(29:15):
from you, Ashley, whose side were you on, like at
this moment, like are you because obviously little Willie is
in trouble because he calls a pizzapreneur narcissistic uh during
the first group day. Then they go on this day
together and they have like this beef with each other.
Um that kind of comes back up and is unsettled
because the pizzapreneur feels like little Willie stole his lines

(29:39):
during the G four steal. Who side are you on?
I'm on Willie's side, okay, But I also understand that
it would be kind of annoying that like Pizzapreneur ends
up doing Italian and then he goes and sneaks Spanish,
like okay, get your own thing. But I also think
Pizzapreneur is just like an outrageous human vating. Yeah, he's

(29:59):
he reminds me of Yosef Joseph. Wow, what a throwback. Yeah,
he does remind me of Yosef. Yeah. I mean I
think he's like, I think he was just outraged I'm
with you. He was like outrageous and then like I
wasn't buying into his stuff at all during really leading
up to this, but they obviously had their beef and
then the group they are, the cock party happened and

(30:22):
I'm so thrown off by the dough boy there, like
so mad, so not okay to throw that jacket in
the pool, like I was just I was upset for well, yes,
and he starts crying, and I'm like, if Jared had
won this Maverick jacket, he would have started crying thrown
in the pool. Oh jar. I could see Jared being

(30:43):
so angry, like Will got sad and kind of like
did his thing and walked away, which was great. Um,
I would see Jared like if I if I, if
I threw Jared's jacket Maverick jacket in the pool, I
would be scared for my life, Like I don't see
I don't see him go on about this. Well, you've
never seen jaredy dramatic on the show at all. He's

(31:05):
like so even keeled on TV. But if he had
won the Maverick jacket, like, oh god, he this would
have been his like pride and joy. I can see
that well, um, but yeah, he throws in the pool,
which was a sign of disrespect. It was also just
like it's somebody else's personal stuff and you just don't
do that, right, You just don't mistreat somebody else's stuff

(31:26):
like that. But then the way he came back to
the chairs saying he feels great, Like what person willingly
hurt somebody else knows that they just hurt somebody else,
knows that somebody else is upset emotionally about it and
hurt about it, and goes, yeah, I feel so good
about this, Like that is that is outrageous to me.

(31:49):
I don't know anybody in my life that would hurt
even their worst enemies. Like then, I'm talking like just
people I know, not even friends as people I know
and come back at their you know, couch and be
like that felt so good to make that person feel
so small. That was so terrible. It was like he
was trying to lean into the villain role. Well that

(32:11):
failed for him miserably, and I think it will Like
villains like him don't become popular from the show. It's
it's the semi villain that's not really a villain, but
we just like they just talk a lot, or they're
like outrageous and they just say a lot of things.
You know. I'm thinking Karin and like Demi, who end
up like people love because they're like they're just funny,
like they just they they're just they're they're funny humans.

(32:34):
But villain, like a villain, villain, like a mean villain
that doesn't fly. No, So Martin gets the group date.
Shocker to me, Um, dark horse for for real? Um,

(32:58):
I think we would take him more seriously if you
didn't have for us to tips though. Isn't that embarrassing? Yeah,
but he's growing on me. When I saw his picture, Yeah,
when I saw his picture when he did the breakdown,
I forget what we said about him. I think I
probably said night wonner Um, because you're like you know,
and and even when the show started, I was like,
how do you take this dude serious? And now I'm like, no,
this guy is legit, Like yeah, I like him, Yeah

(33:22):
he's good. Uh. And it was still a shocker that
got the group day rose just because you don't expect
him to get that in a group they rose typically
means you know, you're gonna be around a little bit longer.
And I think he might. I think he might get
a one on one soon, so I'm excited to see
where he goes from here. But yeah, good vibes. He
like makes himself look like a tough guy, but like,

(33:42):
I don't know, I think he's kind of mushy. Yeah,
speaking of mushy Rodney. Rodney gets the one on one
and he's a mushball. He's very sweet. He's the guy
that we've known for apples thus far, which Ben, you
and I have got to talking about the apple thing.
How crazy use it that last week he like couldn't

(34:03):
taste the difference in a Granny Smith apple versus like
a red apple. I love that he's now the apple
guy because it's gonna stick with him and he doesn't
even know apples, Like he just walked himself into a
situation he's not prepared for. Well. They continue with the
theme of this on a Truth or Dare date where
first he needs to feed her food and she needs

(34:25):
to like guess what it is and she does a
way better job than Rodney's done. They also like photocopy
parts of their body. They what what else they do
around naked? Ran around naked, which there's like some weird
themes recently between food and nakedness. I feel like when

(34:47):
you're stuck in a hotel, you just tell people to
get naked and people are gonna watch. It's just it's
like it just sells at least, like his front area
is not showing. I feel like the butt, you know,
a but is funny, A man's butt, It is funny. Yeah,
it's yeah, it's always funny. It's not. Yeah, it's it's
never something that impressive, it's just always funny. The the

(35:08):
thing with Rodney is, and Michelle does a great job
at it, you know, I almost feel like he set
himself up for a failure. So there's this like difference
between the Jamie's of the world that viewed themselves is
the coolest thing out there, and then the Rodney's of
the world, who are obviously incredible people. But he doesn't
view himself in any type of value or any type
of esteem or like he belongs there. And I get

(35:29):
that insecurity, but by expressing it so much so often,
I feel like he almost just convincing himself and Michelle
that he's just like lucky to be around. And like,
I don't know if that's ever like an attractive quality
when you're like always trying to convince somebody that they're
just lucky to be there. And the truth is, like,
he is a sweet guy. Guys like him in the

(35:51):
house he is. He's one of those pieces I said,
and foundationally, we'll keep that house together. I believe he's
gonna be great with Michelle through this whole experience, maybe
even at the end. I don't believe he will be
the one at the end, but I believe he is
a great dude. But I just want him to believe
that a little bit so we can see his confidence
come out and I and it's people like him that
we get to see those stories of when their confidence

(36:13):
finally blossoms. It happened for me on the show, is
all of a sudden, like you had a little reassurance
and you have a couple of week weeks there, and
all of a sudden, you're like, wait, I do belong
here and I do belong in this world. Yeah. So
I think this will be the end of that not
feeling so great at himself because he was gonna keep
going with it. Then it would be like all right, dude,
come on now and then act like during the dinner proportion,

(36:35):
we see the two of them connect, and Michelle even
at the end says that like Rodney tipped away from
just a friend zone to being, you know, somebody she's
looking at as a romantic partner, which is awesome to
see and I hope he believes that. But you know,
Michelle has promised us even when she was on our podcast,
that this season was going to have conversations that Um
had a lot of depth to him that she believed

(36:55):
would be beneficial for all to see and watch Um
and Rodney and She'll have one of those conversations. Is
not the first time this season where these conversations have happened,
but they both talk about how they have grown up
in a predominantly white area, that they have both been
called terrible names, that it's been difficult, and they relate
on this in this level and then we get to
watch them have that conversation back Um and I think

(37:18):
there's a lot to learn, a lot to listen to,
a lot to hear from that Uh, and they're doing it.
It's it's it's beautiful to me because they're doing this
in a way that, like I think it's both showing
them a place of empathy and support, but then also helping,
you know, unlike Jamie's ideas, like all of us understand better,

(37:38):
like where how they're connecting at a romantic level. And
I think this is gonna be the start of something.
I would believe, Like I said, he's gonna be around
a while because they get each other in a lot
of ways. I feel like he's gonna be around for
a long time. How dare I say, maybe like top four? Yeah? Yeah,
and uh. She says that he makes her feel safe,
which is always like that is like key been in

(38:00):
the midst of these like really important conversations. Rodney has
this way of being just watching on TV. I've never
been him in person obviously, but like having this way
of just bringing this like comfort. Yes, Like he's really
easy to watch because he feels himself to be like
an underdog, so you think that he'd be nervous. He
seems very at ease, very at HEA's almost like confident,

(38:23):
you would say, is like his he he communicates and
and I'm not saying he's wrong because I know those insecurities,
but like he communicates a thing that's different than how
he's portrayed. And I wonder if it's just coming from
a place of humility where he's so humble and who
he is um that it's almost comes off as confidence
because he just is he doesn't have a lot to lose,

(38:46):
Like he just believes he's still lucky to be there,
and he's willing to sit in any conversation anybody's willing
to have, and he's willing to be the foundational piece
that tries to keep peace in the house and the
guy that just laughs at himself and others and a
healthy and fun way. And because of that, like I
just I think his maybe insecurity might actually bring a
level of confidence on the show because he has nothing

(39:08):
to lose. Yeah, he is a good listener, Like he's
got those that that thing where you listen before you react.
It's always yeah, makes a good bachelor, it does. Speaking
of I don't understand why Clayton's the Bachelor yet, I'll
tell you that I would agree with you. I would

(39:28):
agree with you. It doesn't make any sense. I don't
find him to be unbelievably charming in anyway. I thought
by the time we got to week four, we would
be like blown away based on the press and what
producers were saying about him, will you just be like,
oh my gosh, make him the bachelor. He has to
be the bachelor. He is and likes. He's not captivating

(39:51):
to me, it hasn't been there yet, Like there's there's
a couple of guys including Rodney Um Joe and Nate
and Brandon Um that like you're like, you know these
dudes right now when I think of this season or
who I think about, So what point does Clayton step up?
And it has to happen? You know, it has to

(40:13):
happen because there's no way they do what they did
with Clayton unless there's this clear thing that happens during
the season where the audience is going to jump on
board with him because they need a big Bachelor season,
like they need a lead that people are going to
jump behind. I know, And I'm like, did they make
a gigantic mistake? They can't keep making mistakes, Like they

(40:36):
just can't, Like, at some point, you have to stop
making mistakes. And and so I do believe he's gonna shine.
Here's the other part about him, it's like we don't
like him, like I like him. It's it's I'm not
I don't dislike him. I don't find nothing. I feel
so neutral. Yeah neutral. It's just like, yeah, he's a
good contestant on this season. He's he's he's just there

(40:56):
and that's fine, and be like, oh, he's probably top
ten If I didn't know that, he like becomes the Bachelor. Yeah,
so I assume he goes farther than top ten. But
at this point I'd be like Tom ten. You know,
it never really makes a big imprint. I have a feeling, Ashley,
We'll we'll talk about in a couple of weeks. I
have a feeling. I don't think anything ever comes to

(41:19):
the surface. I think he gets let go and we'd go,
what like that was it? We've done that so many
times watching the show. We're like, wait, that's that's what
That's what we're waiting on. And then he does find
as the Bachelor. But I think their biggest mistake might
be that, like the audience doesn't have that emotional pull
towards him, or they're just not completely behind it, because

(41:39):
I think there's some other guys on the season that
the audience will be more in love with, um who
get let go? Yeah. Part of me is also thinking,
like maybe yeah, maybe he doesn't make a huge splash,
which is why it was easy to make him the
bachelor over some other guys that we are going to
be more invested in for Michelle, like Nate, like a joke,

(42:01):
like a Brendon. I don't know. Very weird right now,
But let's go on to the last group dates where
they do a poetry creation. Very creative, it was great,
it was very cute. Um what's his name is? Chris
g super star struck to see Rudy Francisco. I wanted

(42:23):
to see their meeting. We didn't see their meeting, but
he was like freaking out. And and this is one
of those moments where Jamie's like ego really got to
him because of course he didn't use the opportunity to
tell a personal story. He told like a story of
somebody else. I think that was kind of a red
flag to her, because she ends up saying later in

(42:44):
the episode, she goes, now that I see like red
flags building. I'm thinking otherwise, And I think that that
may have been one. Yeah, you know, and it could
just be that I'm I'm not I'm not on Jamie's
level of intelligence, but I didn't understand that story at all.
Like I was so lost. I was trying to watch
it and like I hear some age some angel telling
you to get it. Was like yeah, and it was like, dude,

(43:06):
you're missing it. Like and to me, there's so much
more creativity intelligence to what these other dudes were doing,
Like you know, they were speaking like incredible things over
Michelle in a way that was rhythmatic and beautiful. Um,
it was really cool to watch. I like this date.
I thought it was a great set up for a date.
I thought it feeled like that Week three group date

(43:28):
role where you know, we saw Nick sit down and
get like, um, let the guys open up. And we've
seen weeks where you know, they maybe they sing a song,
or they write a song, or they write a piece
of poetry or whatever. You got to do a romantic
novel um during that time. This was like that filled
that role and it was a cool way to do it.
I liked it. Um. But yeah, he totally flopped, which

(43:49):
you know, really becomes the storyline now for the rest
of the episode is Jamie's flop. Brandon gets a group
date rose Um that night, which was cool. Brand In
is getting the group day Rose two weeks in a row. Now, Wow,
you're right, that is unheard of. And yet he's still
almost like not like somebody when I think of this season, like,

(44:13):
oh my gosh, she's at the very top. I got
he would be my top three, But I'm still like
the Joe's and the Nates of the world still feel like,
in my opinion, they're above Brandon. Am I wrong in
that feeling? I don't know what it is about Brandon
that she's vibing with, particularly. I mean, I mean, he
seems like a really nice guy and everything, but in
the conversations I feel like they're a little light. Am

(44:39):
I being you? Tryd of get what I'm saying. Like
last week he was totally just Mr Swab and he
got the Rose I think because he was just, you know,
um like kind of sleeping her off her feet. This
week he was definitely more vulnerable. But like there this
might be like an attraction thing, like he's sweet and

(45:00):
she's attracted to him. She said she felt like she
was like flying. Oh. She said she felt like she
went down the hill of a roller coaster, which is like, whoa,
that's a that's a comparison. That's pretty powerful. But like,
I still want to see more of them. Definitely somebody
I need to see her on a one on one
way fair enough. I also want to see more of Romeo.

(45:20):
Romeo is me too because I think he's very he's attractive,
and he is very smart. But also does he have
an ego thing? Maybe maybe we just don't know about
it yet, But like every time he's on camera, you're like,
oh no, he makes sense, he's logical, he's smart, he's
he's great, and we just don't see anything about him.
There's like still guys and we say this every year,

(45:40):
there's still guys that I was looking at during the
road ceremony. That's like, I have no clue who you are.
I have not. But but we were intrigued by Romeo
because we think he might be a full package and
but we're not getting to know him. I can only
I can only think that we're not going to get
a lot of him. Yeah, but he's always on the
cuff of going cuss up, going home. So yeah, um,
well so we see then Brandon get the group day

(46:03):
rows second week in a row. He's safe, and we
go into the rose ceremony. Um, it is the cocktail
parties once again canceled. Michelle has done this two weeks
in a row. Fair enough, I get it. She's probably
just like I'm over it. I don't this. These cocktail
parties don't do much for many anyways. Um and Jamie.
As we've talked about at the beginning of this kind
of blew up. She sends Jamie home and then Ashley

(46:26):
who else went home this week during the ROAs ceremony. Well,
we know pizzneur. His name is Peter, by the way,
I just like to call him. Then we have Um,
Spencer friends Er who again don't know him, mo Leak
don't know him, and Brett I don't know him. Yeah.

(46:50):
So I mean I would say out of all of those, right,
Peter was a storyline and Spencer had his moments, Um,
but for the most part, not a shot. No shocking
exit here. I mean maybe Jamie getting sent home was
shocking to some, but definitely we all saw it coming
over the last couple of weeks. I'm just glad that

(47:10):
Michelle did it. When she did it, Um, I thought
that was a good move on her part to say, hey,
you know what, I'm done with this, get out of here.
I did too, but then I was like, I don't
get to hate watch him anymore. Yeah, but that's probably
good for my soul. Um. Yeah, it's good for me
as a human, and it's probably good for the podcast
because then we don't get to complain. And really, at

(47:32):
this point, actually there's nobody left, uh that I'm like
not neutral on or really high one at this point.
Like at this point I'm watching this going I like
these guys or I'm just neutral on them, but there's
nobody I'm like, oh, yeah, you are you are the worst.
You gotta get out of here. Well. We see a

(47:53):
sneak peek, though, and it sounds like things change. Michelle
says she's getting closer to finding her person, but we
see some draw that happened um with Chris in the house.
He kind of calls out the guys in front of everybody. Um,
I was watching a preview, actually, you said a couple
of weeks ago. I do feel like I'm gonna get
tired of seeing the same lobby of the hotel every
week for these Rose ceremonies. Okay, wait confused. I thought

(48:16):
they filmed this season in Minnesota. Same, it's not in Minnesota.
I thought the same thing. I remember the spoilers were like, oh,
they're getting the Minnesota hotel ready. I do believe they
eventually go there, but it looks like the first half
at least is here in pomp Springs. No clue that happened.
No clue, but the Rose ceremonies aren't extremely like aesthetically pleasing.

(48:42):
They're sitting in like a hotel lobby couch kind of
hanging out. There's like a stairwell behind them. Um, you
see the elevator the first time, where I'm like the
bats who doesn't look a whimsical. Now I'm excited for
the mansion to get used again during Clayton's season, which
kind of Oh it does get used, okay, the yeah,
that's right, that's good. I feel like they could have

(49:02):
done it this year, but who knows, who knows the rules?
But drama preview what we do see dramas start happening
for the next couple of weeks. What's the weird thing
about the preview Rick Like, she's looks like a one
on one day with Rick, and she's like making out
with him like she wants to, And I just do
not vibe that at this point. So I'm interested in
how it gets, how they get to that point. Yeah,

(49:23):
there's still a lot to happen here. We're just a
couple of weeks into Michelle's season of the Bachelorette. Um.
So far, it's been entertaining. She's been a great lead. Um.
She is inquisitive, she's curious, she's a lead, she's leading
the charge. I think she was a good choice. It's there.
It's very clear on why they chose her and uh,

(49:44):
and how great she's doing. I want her to end
up happy. Uh and um, but it's she uh to me,
Michelle will go down and at this point, like as
one of those iconic bachelorettes that we think of when
we think of the Bachelorette, she just she kind of
x it and she's good at it and she doesn't
she doesn't take crap from nobody. She teaches these guys

(50:05):
a lesson. And I hope there's a guy that steps
up to the plate, and I think there will be.
But um, Ashley, let's take a break. We'll be back
next week. I might be here. If not, I I'm
asking for your deepest uh apologies, um, because I am
going to be on my way to finding my or
finishing or starting what however you want to say. It
my love story. I'm gonna be on my way to

(50:26):
be getting married and I'm super pumped for that. But
let's take a break here. We still bachelor headlines to
go through. We'll be back with almost Finis podcast. It's
time for Bachelor Headlines with our resident expert Ashley I.

(50:47):
Kennedy breaking down everything going on a Bachelor Nation. It's
it's a slower week and headlines. Not a lot of
drama happening. Um. Obviously we have some headlines about Thomas
Jacobs and beck Is still being together and happy and
joking with each other. That's always cute, um bachelor lum. Though,
Gillian Anderson recalls feeling intense humiliation at the hands of

(51:11):
producers this according to US Weekly, I'm actually kind of
surprised by this. So she said that on Bachelor in Paradise,
like a producer said, like, your your butt is kind
of big, but like not in like an not in
an offensive way, but like, you know, it's a nice, round,
juicy butt type thing. So I mean, you know, that
could be inappropriate or not. It's up to you to decide.

(51:32):
But um, they said that because of that, things get
a little cheeky, so we had to blur it out.
Disney made us. She says that she doesn't believe this.
She said, instead of doing a little blur they did
a giant black bar really over exaggerated it. At the time,
Jillian really leaned into like the black box because she

(51:55):
was like the first black box, and now they do
black boxes all the time. Um. And she said that
like at that point, she she was like experiencing like
a huge level of humiliation that she thought, like she
thought she could be prepared for, but she really wasn't.
She says, I don't think any contestant understands before going

(52:15):
on how bad it's actually gonna be. She should you
remember crying over it and her dad being upset over it. Um.
And she said, at some point afterward, I was able
to laugh about it when things started changing. By at
that point, like initially I was totally humiliated. I was
so new into it, and I was so overwhelmed by

(52:38):
the making of posts and the talk and Jimmy Kimmel
and the soup and everybody's making fun of it. Um.
You know, she goes, my butt was nice. Um. And
it wasn't a scandalous bikini by any means. It was
a normal one. I get it. I understand how she'd
be upset, especially because she worked so hard for that.

(52:59):
But it off you guys show it off well. Um,
interesting headline. And obviously she's on the nineteenth season of
the Batchelor. So it's been a few years. Um. But
the next timeline is this It's about Bachelor live on stage,
which I know a lot about. It's back, Um. The
tour will start in hosted by Becca Kouffrin. Yes, so

(53:19):
I told about Bana Koufren, who was your co host
on the road. So now begs the question, where are
you on this tour? I got fired? No, Um, No,
I did not get fired. They did, ask Um. Obviously
the tour was super fun. Uh, and I really love
doing it with Becca. But I'm getting married, Um, as

(53:44):
we've talked about, and as you've heard me say probably
ten times on this podcast. UM, I'm also I'm going
on my dream trip, my bucket list trip with Jessica
and my parents to Israel in March of next year. Um.
We're gonna be there for over ten days, and it's
just we've all planned it it's been in the works

(54:04):
for months, and I it actually is. The trip starts
UH during the first week of tour, so as they're
doing like prep for tour, and then goes through like
the first full week of the tour into the next
and I would probably have to come back pack my bags,
jump right back out and go on a bus. And
I was willing to do that, and we all decided

(54:26):
that it probably it was not the best idea for
me UM and the tour to kind of have me
trying to step in and learn it as I hosted it.
And so as a result, I plan on stopping in
UM at a random places and probably um jumping out
on stage and trying to support Becca. But this is
Becca's show now, UM, and she's gonna be hitting the road,

(54:49):
and I'm excited for She's gonna do great UM, but
I do feel like it could be a little lonely,
like when you step out on stage in a random
city that you know three people show up too. In
a five I was in person auditorium and you're like,
I can't laugh at this with anybody, or I can't
even like get pumped with this with anybody. Like she's
gonna be like, it's gonna be really hard to host
that live show solo. Yeah, I think it won't be easy,

(55:11):
but I mean I think she can do. I think
she'll do I know she'll she can do it. I
s'll do great at it. Um. But there is that
level of like camaraderie when you're out on stage with
somebody else where you're like, hey, maybe tonight we have
ten thousand people in the audience and it's packed sold out,
and then tomorrow we're gonna show up to a town
and nobody's gonna come because the small town, it's on
a weird night. Those are when it's gonna get hard, um,

(55:32):
because I just think you get down and you have
to keep your energy up every night. Now solo one
can't pick up the other. So she's hitting the road
and you should check them out the tour start. It's
worth going to see. It's fun, it's uh, it's entertaining,
it's it's funny to laugh at. Obviously, the show will
look different than the one I was a part of.
I don't know the format of this show. They're changing

(55:52):
things up a bit where I don't think it's gonna
be a local Bachelor with local bachelorettes. I think it's
gonna be like a contestants more operating on stage. I
don't know fully what that looks like. But if you are,
if you enjoy Bachelor Nation and you want to have
a night out with some friends, this is a place
to go hang out and watch. Um they're hitting the
road again, I won't be there. So so Ben was

(56:14):
it wasn't just the trip. It was also the fact that,
like you just wanted to enjoy married life at home. Yes, yeah,
I mean think about it, like two months after getting married,
I'm now gone and with covid um spouses are gonna
be able to go on the bus bus Yeah. So
I mean for then, like I don't know, forty days straight,

(56:35):
i'd be away hitting the road and doing this like
it just to me. I wanted to enjoy these few
months with Jess as a married couple, and like I said,
I want to show up. Maybe I will, Um, I
don't know yet, but it is a big deal in
my life. This is a huge part of my life.
It was. It was a big source of income and
then also just like fun to meet all all the

(56:55):
random people. Um. So it is sad and I am
sad about I saw the announcement, I was like, dang,
you know, um, but you know, life moves on. I've
got coffee to sell, I've got I've got a lot
of coffee to hustle here. That makes sense. I wonder
why they didn't pick another co host, Rebecca. I wonder
why too. Maybe they will. We'll see how it starts. Um,
but she's gonna do great. I do want to say that. Well, uh,

(57:18):
here's the thing um. Final headline Batchettes. Katie Thurston tears
up while venting about Blake Moyne's break up Disaccording to
e So, she got on Instagram live and she captioned
it just venting. She says, obviously a public relationship ending
is really sty It's a thing to navigate. But you

(57:39):
guys have been kind and supportive and I just want
to say thank you for being that way to me
into Blake and just being understanding. She said that she
felt like people hold too much way to things that
don't matter and stress the importance of pursuing happiness. She
said that sometimes a couple stay in relationships because they
put so much time, have an effort into them, um,

(58:01):
and they just keep waiting for new results, hoping things
will change once they get married or have kids. She said,
while the split was difficult and the public scrutiny doesn't help,
it's a tough thing to navigate because of course people
question the authenticity of the love in the relationship. And
she said for those people passing judgment, like I can
only hope to be so lucky as you to find

(58:24):
you're forever love on the first time. You know, But
ending a relationship isn't something new, UM, Ending an engagement
isn't something new. Divorce is not something new. And I
think Blake and I were very fortunate enough to recognize
things early and they made the right decision for them.

(58:45):
She says, it doesn't come with its own challenges. We're
still processing a lot lots of waves of emotion. Well, Uh,
breakups are tough, especially in the public eye, worse than
the best two of them as they move forward. We
mean it, It sucks, and there is criticism, there's judgment.
There's words in around UM. And if you want more

(59:06):
inside of that, just feel free to pick up my
book Alone in Plain Sight, anywhere you can buy a book. Hey, Ashley,
what a great episode. UM. I hope to be back
next week. If I'm not, uh, hold down the fort
for us until I get back. And if you are,
I will come with more wedding questions perfect unlike your predictions.
Yeah yeah, I like that, so we can play them

(59:28):
back and they'll be silly. I like the backless uh
no shoulder dress idea. Um, you're the best. Dash Well, Hey,
thank you all for listening. Uh in with that, I've
been been, I've been Ashley, thanks for listening, guys by
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