October 20, 2021 • 35 mins
New Bachelorette Michelle Young is here with Ben and Ashley To recap the first episode of her season!
She tells us why she thinks her experience as a teacher prepared her for dating 30 guys as the Bachelorette.
And, Becca Kufrin joins us to reveal her connection to one of Michelle’s guys!
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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 i R Radio. Oh my goodness, Ashley, I con Eddie.
This is a huge day for us. We have the
Bachelorette on the podcast. Yes, we love kicking off the
season with that. Yes, it's such a big deal for
(00:21):
us and for everybody out there listening. So Michelle Young
will be coming on in just a second after her
first episode as the Bachelor. You know, from watching UM
like Instagram, it feels like the Bachelor UM team is
really pushing you know, social media and these events and
getting you know, the name out there and and kind
(00:42):
of treating more than ever these bachelorette and bachelor's as
a star. And it feels like Michelle's like kind of
just walked into it and done it well so far,
at least from what I see. Yeah, I feel like
she just has this natural instinct to be so good
with media. She's just naturally a very like a little girl.
And like, how great did she look? She's so pretty?
(01:05):
She was like my eye candy last night watching the episode.
She's beautiful, she is, and uh, and I think these
guys are going to be just really struck by Michelle.
The whole time. But yeah, it's uh, it's it's just
interesting because she I mean, even her preview ash like
when she's walking through like I don't you know that,
like the woods and the dress, like it's just like
(01:27):
this is I mean, it's kind of funny. I remember
Katie Thurston making a joke about it, like Katie had
like a rubber skirt on and kind of just like
sat in the studio and then Michelle's out there walking
through her first force. It's beautiful. It reminds me a
lot of the Hannah Brown promos back in the day.
I totally agree. Yes, it's very whimsical, fairy tale like,
and she does just carry herself with a lot of
(01:47):
grace and confidence. I'm we're excited that we're gonna dig
into the episode with her. We're going to talk to
her about like you know, the normal bachelor at life,
and then we're going to go into recapping the episode
with her. So but before we get on the phone
with her, we have a new bachelor bracket rule because
we're continuing with the bachelorette bachelorte bracket this season. It's
(02:10):
a big deal. Obviously, we just had Alexis the winner
of Paradise on the podcast Congratulations once again into Alexis Um.
But we are also now promoting this new season of
the Bachelorette. It's the Bachelor. Brackett is back play along
with us the Almost Famous team. The rule of the
(02:30):
week for week two is you get ten more points
every time a contestant is seen hugging Michelle on a
group date. You can visit Bachelorette dot batch bracket dot com. Again,
that's Bachelorette dot batch Bracket dot com to set up
an account, pick your favorites. Alright, Ash, it's time, let's
(02:53):
bring Michelle on and break down the episode. All right,
as promised, everybody, we have just the absolute star of
this season, Michelle Young on the Almost Famous podcast to
(03:14):
talk Everything Bachelorette. She's super busy right now. We just
saw her in interviews this morning. She's talking all the time.
I hope you're enjoying it, Michelle, welcome to Almost Famous.
Talking all the time a lot? Yes, thank you for
having me. Are you not talking all the times? Do
you not feel like right now like some people are
asking you questions. I do enjoy my piece and quiet,
(03:37):
but no, I definitely it's been a lot. It's been crazy,
it's been busy, but I'm enjoying it for sure. Michelle,
as a fifth grade teacher, was there any comparisons or
like anything you took from that life to handle thirty men? Oh? Yes,
I knew that I would, like you, I was there
(04:00):
was honestly well one being a first or being a
fifth grade teacher. Remembering names, it is something that helped
me out big time. And like being able to keep
different situations separate but then remember details about them, because
when you're dating thirty guys, I mean it's really really
hard to remember all those stories sometimes, but also picking
(04:20):
out the bs, you know when somebody's lying for sure,
the I imagine, I mean for many reasons, Like you know,
we we both think that you're going to thrive in
this role, and we've we've heard from Caitlin and Tatia
that you just do a tremendous job through the whole season.
But I I'm wondering for you, what's it like at
your school because teachers typically are pretty big fans of
(04:44):
the Bachelor and Bachelor. When they find out you're going
to be the Bachelor. At what happened, I am very
lucky to have this school environment where I'm incredibly supported.
It's overwhelming support. But also what's so nice is that
my teachers, my coworkers they know, and my students to
know that when I step through those doors, I miss
(05:05):
young and I'm able to focus on my job. I'm
able to kind of take time away from being in
that bachelor role model, which is it's sometimes overwhelming being
in this world where you're always in the spotlight and
you're always talking about bachelor, bachelorette, and it's it is,
it's this amazing thing. It's this amazing experience. But it's
nice to have that balance. And so when I'm working,
(05:27):
when I'm at my school and in my classroom, my
focus truly is on my students. And it's really been
nice that my coworkers, my administrators, everybody's really respected that.
On Matt season, we loved seeing your family. Your family
like just radiates this warmth, and I loved seeing that
again in this first episode, and how your parents are
such relationship role models for you. How difficult was it
(05:50):
to like go through this process without getting their feedback
on the guys until I'm assuming the very last minute. Yeah,
I talked to my mom every day we could normally do,
but you weren't able to this time. Yes, no, not
in this situation, but I normally do. I mean after work,
(06:10):
like she's my phone call, She's the person that I
talked to when we talk about our days, and we
just were so so close. And so my parents have
been there for everything. They've helped me through some really
difficult times and navigate certain situations. And so to be
through going through this incredibly important process where you are
selecting or trying to select somebody to spend the rest
(06:32):
of your life with, to not have their input was
incredibly hard. But I was very grateful that I had
Catlantation there who would also you know, there's an advantage
advantage as well because they've been through before. That first scene, um, well,
one of the first scenes with you and your family,
uh is always one of my favorites because I remember,
(06:54):
you know, my parents so excited for me but had
no clue how to help me. UM, so nervous, so emotional,
knowing I'm gonna leave and possibly come back with somebody,
and if not, at least I would have a huge
life experience. Um what was it like for you sitting
down with him with the cameras around, uh and having
that kind of be your first moment as you know,
(07:17):
did it hit you in that moment that this your
life is going to be changing, hopefully for the better.
That was definitely emotional because before that, they've been with
me through the heart right through when relationships didn't work,
and they kind of saw all that behind the scenes
(07:38):
aim that you know, not everybody sees, and so to
sit down with them and just be vulnerable, be open
and talk to them about it. We all definitely have
a moment where we get emotional together because you know,
my mom and dad are still so madly of love
and I think the world has seen that. They're gonna
still continue to see that. And that's definitely kind of
(08:01):
my driving force behind what I'm looking for is somebody
who is going to stick in it with me for that.
And my brother has found that in his relationship with
his wife. My sister has found that and her relationship
with her husband, and now it's like it's my turn.
So my family has just been incredibly supportive and we
(08:23):
definitely were emotional. You know, I was just thinking this,
you are one of the very few bachelorettes. I think
Claire was the only other one who got announced as
the bachelorette and then had months to kind of not
mull it over, but to prepare, you know, because you
were announced in March and then you didn't start filming
until I feel like July. So do you feel like
(08:45):
you at all? Over thoughts? Um, did you ever get
cold feet? Oh? Gosh, that downtime was the best thing
that could have happened, because coming off of Matt season,
as you know, like that was a very heavy season
with all of the racial controversies, conversations, everything that was
(09:05):
kind of just unfolding and taking place. And on top
of that, I was dealing with heartbreak. And so by
the time everything kind of came to a head and
I was announced, I was so happy that I was
going to get this period of time where I could
just recharge and I was back in the classroom, I
could hit that restep button, and I spent time with friends, family.
(09:28):
Um got a little taste of that Minnesota summer before
I took off for filming. But it was just it
was so nice that I could get my head and
my heart in the right spot to make sure that
I was putting my best foot forward and that I was,
you know, ready the phone off the We're gonna talk
about through this first episode with you. Uh here in
(09:49):
just a second, Um and Michelle, we actually uh have
prerecorded a little segment with Becca koufren Um who we discussed, uh,
one of your contestants, Ryan, So uh let's take a
break here. Uh, We're gonna air this segment and then
uh you all of us are going to chat about
it with you, Okay, Becka Kouffer And we know Ryan,
(10:12):
don't we We do. Indeed, I would hate to say
unfortunately no, Ryan, but we do. We. Uh. We hosted
Bachelorlive on stage and I thought I was getting this right,
Beck It was San Jose. He was our Bachelor, right yeah,
right before COVID hit, Right before COVID hit. So when
we were hosting the tour, Ryan was our Bachelor in
(10:33):
San Jose. Uh, And I remember we walked off that
and we said, I remember you, and I'm specifically remember
us getting on the tour of us and having a
conversation about, hey, there's people coming on Bachelor on stage,
which is a fun experience. You know, it's pretty lighthearted,
it's it was you know, it's it's a great thing
to watch and enjoy, but we're like, there's definitely people
here just want to go on the show. Now, we
(10:54):
I didn't have a problem with it, but it's just like,
you can definitely see that the Ryan's of the world
really just want to go on the Bachelorette or Bachelor
at this point, do you remember that? Yes, Oh, yes, vividly,
especially after that one and and so we get to
watch him. What was your thoughts after watching the episode
and seeing how Ryan's very quick time on The Bachelor
(11:14):
it turned out? Oh, I thought it was such a
little b s r mm hmm, he said on his
short lived time on Michelle season contradicted, I mean really
everything else. Um, I think he said he had only
he only had watched the show for two hours in total,
but I'm true, it's not true. And when when we
(11:38):
met him, because we obviously spend time and get to
meet and chat with the leads that were on Bachelor
live on stage and the contestants, I mean, he knew
a lot more than he was letting out on Michelle's season,
for sure, and he also was very most people I
would say that we're on the stage with us, We're
very go with the flow. You know, they just everyone
kind of wings that you don't exactly know what is
(12:00):
going to happen because every name is vastly different. And
he was very calculated and wanted to know everything too,
but we'll just go with the flow. You're getting to
know these girls, You're gonning to do it all in
real time with them. Um, So to see the calculation,
you know, in those documents, I wasn't surprised, but also
(12:21):
like I'm thinking, dude, you're lying to this girl right
now in national television that millions of people are not
going to see. But like, if we google your name,
you're already affiliated with the franchise in some way, shape
or form from a year and a half two years ago.
The the crazy one to me was when he's sitting
(12:42):
down with Michelle and he's like, yeah, my friend wrote this,
did all the study, and then you know she was
brilliant and like, I, this is a skill set I
did not have when I was a bachelor, but like
she read right through it and was like, wait did
you Because then he goes on to say, like when
I wrote this down and she goes, well, noh, did
you write this or did your friends write this? And
then you know he does the whole like deep breath, like,
(13:03):
oh crap, I'm caught. This is over and uh. And
I would just say, like, kudos to her for saying
this isn't gonna work any longer, because she was kind
of into him, I think for a bit. Yeah, do
we all notice that he'spelled bachelor incorrectly? No? Is that true?
I go, I gotta watch it. I'm like, if you
were this calculated, at least the show you're going on, right, Yeah,
(13:28):
that would be especially if they're gonna if they're gonna
do a nice close up h D version of your
notes on national television. That's that's I mean, Hey, I
don't know, I don't know what to call his playbook,
Like I don't know if there's like a word that
I want to associate to it, because it's either like
very strategic, um very calculated. It's either really well intentioned,
(13:51):
like I don't know what his intentions were behind it,
But can we just say how detailed and like how
much time that playbook kind of take? I mean there
was twenty pages of like graphs and quote and then
my name got mentioned. You want to You want to
think it's weird. I haven't been on the show in
five years. You want to watch a Bachelor episode and
all of a sudden, here beIN Higgins mentioned it gets weird.
(14:13):
And I talked to Titia about it, and I think
she said this unhappy hour. She said it wasn't just front,
it was front and back notes for page after page
after page. You were mentioned, Ben Syntarctic was mentioned, zactatious
fiance was mentioned. There were a lot like. The part
that got me though, was what it wasn't even about
(14:36):
other people. It was like what was written about him
that Michelle right out loud, where he's like, you are arrogant,
you are this, You're that, like leave that out of
their buddy, Like it's just probably the wrong I got.
I got weird serial killer vibes with that one. So Michelle,
as you just heard, uh from our interview with Beckay
(14:58):
koferin we actually knew Ryan. I know Ryan and Becca
knows Ryan. Do you know how we know Ryan before
that aired? I know Enlightening Please so Ryan, Uh, you're
your fabulous producer. He was beautiful and stunning and just
controls the world. Lady Kay who was with you right now,
And I know she's definitely smiling because she just loves
(15:20):
the comments. Um. She uh is from a very similar
area as Ryan and Uh. When we were in San Jose, California,
Ryan was a Bachelor while Becca Koufern and I hosted
Bachelor Live on stage. Wow, okay, okay, and you didn't
(15:41):
feel it's with me before my first night? Should I
feel you should feel offended a little bit? But I'm
a little offended too because I didn't recognize him until
you guys had your moment in the hotel room when
you're going through the papers. I go, oh, my gosh,
and I texted Becky, I said, is this who I
think it is? Is this the guy from San Jose?
(16:01):
And so I had to confirm it with her, but
it was, um, Michelle right away. And so you know,
we could dig into Ryan and all those crazy decisions,
and we might in a second, but right away you
were dealt with something unseen before in the bachelor world.
I wonder for you in that moment, you handled it
so well. Uh you called him out on his BS.
(16:21):
I mean, I think that's something I was impressed by,
because that first night I was so nervous and I
wasn't thinking clearly, but you recognized his small little eyes,
you called him out on a small little lies and
then you confront a situation and you send a guy
home before even makes the group picture, which is just
absolutely so sad, Like what was going through your head,
not only in the moment, but also knowing like, hey,
(16:43):
for the next you know, three months of your life,
these are the kind of things that you're gonna have
to navigate through. Yeah, I think in that situation it
was definitely I was caught off guard for sure, and
what I got out of that situation and how I
felt those documents being presented, and you know that feeling
(17:05):
if you ever just a relationship where someone goes through
someone else's phone and it's just like, look like that
not good feeling, right, Like I don't ever want to
feel that. I don't want to feel the need to
do this. I don't want to feel the need. If
I feel the need, then that's that's a red flight
for me personally. And so I think that's where I
(17:28):
went off of that of that gut into the feeling,
and it was also setting the tone because coming into it,
it's like I'm actually looking for my person, and I
need my person to be authentic. And you know, I'm
not necessarily here to measure and grade everybody on their authenticity,
but I'm here to find my person, and and I
(17:50):
have to go with what I think and is invest
in the situation. And you know, if that's kind of
where I was coming from. Not normally we would go
in chronological order with how the episode goes, but I think, like,
let's do it a little bit differently because we have
Michelle here and she's on a timeframe. Um, let's talk
about like the biggest drama is the biggest standout moments
of the night. Now, I think Ryan probably was that.
(18:11):
What else was in that pack of documents that was
on the level of incriminating as say, how to get
the most TV time? Was there anything else that wasn't
aired that was super red flag? I think what was
shown is just truly what made me the most uncomfortable
(18:33):
is you know, I I myself have journaled before and
have set goals about, you know, what I want to
do and what I want to achieve, But when it
comes down to it, I'm never writing notes on how
to act and how to pre itself and how to
come off as something that I feel I'm not. And
(18:55):
so that's kind of where I was juggling that, and
that's kind of where my my decisions were coming from.
I get that Jared is like loves to play Devil's advocate,
and he had so much to say about this scene
yesterday when we were watching. He's like, my friend Crystal,
the one who signed him up for the show, would
totally have typed up pages for me and put it
(19:17):
in my suitcase and I would have gotten caught. We're
all terrified of becoming the villain and this guy was
just trying not to be the villain. And I could
kind of see both sides of the situation. I thought
there was like maybe something I feel like there was
like something about his personality, and then when you when
you combine it with the papers that made me feel
(19:38):
a little bit untrusted, untrustworthy. It was yes, like that
what was in I mean, what Tasia Caitlin had brought
to me was what you know, triggered that whole scenario.
And then looking through and feeling that in my intuition
was another thing. But I'm a big having a conversation
(19:58):
and I wanted him to speak as peace. But in conversations,
if in conversations they start to go back on what
they said in that same conversation, then I'm like, Okay,
now what are we doing? So I totally understand playing
Devil's advocate, and I definitely do that in situations as well.
It was more the conversation was help incriminating in that
(20:20):
own conversation as a whole. Take documents, take what people
said outside of it that maybe uncomfortable, and yeah, that's 'restling.
And to be honest, I have a couple of feelings.
One is gonna be this is gonna be such a
small storyline in like four weeks, like you, Like, I
bet in three years, Michelle, you'll even forget that this happened.
(20:41):
Like there's gonna be so much that you forget. You'll remember,
like the really meaningful parts. And and my honest opinion
is you did a huge favor because can you imagine,
I mean, this show does a few things to you,
as we all know here, and it always brings out
your true character. At some point, you might be able
to hold onto it, you might be able to fake it,
you might be able to act for weeks, but at
(21:03):
some point you break, and it is guaranteed that you
will break. And can you imagine how exhausting it would
have been to have a pamphlet of how to act
and behave and what to say and what not to
say and then like do that for a couple of
weeks and I say, he's around, like that would be
so tiring for him. So you did him a favor.
You're very kind in that moment, Michelle, nice job. Yeah,
(21:25):
it's just more. I mean, I don't think any of
the people who came out my season are bad people.
You know, I'm just trying to find my person. Is
that good for you? Good for you? Well? Okay, what
other big moments stood out? Uh during this episode? I mean,
I would really like to know, Michelle, if we can
kind of backtrack to the very beginning of it. You
are the bachelor ate. Now you pull up to uh
(21:46):
this resort um. This is a big deal for you.
And now the guys saw getting out of the car
um were you after their entrances? Did you feel more
at peace, more excited, more comfortable with the situation, or
were you of us still walking into the house, I
was nervous to give, like you know, walking in that
(22:06):
initial toast, but I was excited, nervous, and I think
once like the first few guys got out of the limo,
I was definitely nervous, but I started to calm down
more because I'm like, okay, like I'm just gonna be myself.
That's what I know how to do. I don't know
how to be somebody else, don't know how to act
a certain way. I know how to be myself. That's
(22:26):
what I'm the best at, and that's what I'm gonna do.
And if that's what I want them to see, like
if you fall in love with me, I want your
fall in love with me. And so that was kind
of my what centered me through through that whole first night.
I gotta know about the guy who you are d
m ng with? Was his name Joe? Joe? I go
by just descriptions on night one? Okay, so you okay,
(22:50):
how did you go, how did you meet with? How
you slid in to Joe's d M when we need
a time frame on this, and how you came across
him on Instagram? Oh my goodness. Minnesota's a small community,
you know, especially athletics a small community and pre everything
you know, I had. We chatted back and forth and
(23:13):
you will see how the rest of that story unfolds.
It's quite a story. And I did call myself out
with sliding into somebody's DMS. I mean, I told you
I was gonna, genuinely told you guys, gonna be authentic.
Whether that's throwing myself under the bus by admitting that
on national television, Hey, but I loved it. At least
you know you're getting an honest person, you know, Yes,
(23:34):
I love so You're good from no shame in that
game at all, and not necessarily. I don't know about
him though, I I don't know. I don't trust him.
She she shrugs. Guys, she shrugs. Ashley, we've made this
(23:57):
mistake before. We've said things like that and then they
end up with the person, and we got to did
I do that too? I was so embarrassed. I was afraid.
I was afraid that somebody was going to pick and
they ended up being like their runner up. Yeah, okay,
(24:18):
all right, night one. He made me go, hmm, that's
all I'll say. That's what that's what we'll say. That's
what we'll say here. It's great, Um, Michelle, talk us through.
Uh some of these entrances because they were pretty elaborate
this season. Uh, including uh the poor guy who had
(24:39):
his head stuck in a plate. Um. We talked to
the box man, what's his name? Rick? Rick? He? Uh,
how so, all right now, I'm just recovering from knee
surgery from playing basketball. How in the world did that
poor man's knees hold up inside of that inside of
that table? Hi asked him the same question. That's why
(25:03):
I said, you're gonna need a chiropractor at the moment
he got out of that table, knowing how long he
had been in there, I mean that was well into
the night. It's not like I spoke to Trick right away,
like he was in there for a minute. He was
in there during my toast and um. But that also
shows commitment. I mean he was dead to make an impression.
He showed me his goofy side. He made me laugh.
(25:26):
I mean he really kind of wont if you think
about it, Yeah, I mean he stood out. I will
say that it was memorable. It was I like the
fact that he liked played on food. I would have
been eating everything off of his his plate there and
just for fun. Okay, Well, we only have like a
(25:46):
minute left with you. I do want to bring up
Nate though, since he got your first impression Rows and
he also got my first impression Rose. As a viewer,
I wasn't sure you were like ready to be giving
out the first impression Wars. I felt like we had
like another few like one on one time, and all
of a sudden, I was seeing I see Nate and
I was like, oh, that's the best conversation so far.
(26:09):
And then you go and grab the rose and I
was like, oh, wow, plays she feels the same. Yeah,
we're all on the same thing. Really like him. Yeah,
it was just it was a good conversation. And we
talked a lot about vulnerability, and I asked for vulnerability.
And in that first conversation, you do you see him
talk about how he doesn't want to talk about, you know,
(26:30):
some of the more things that are close to his heart.
And then right after that he pulls down his walls
and he does just that, and so that's what I
really connected with and yeah, that's that's that's why the
rose was given out. Alright, Michelle, last question for you, Um,
you have a lot I mean you, I mean this,
we wish you the best here and we've heard great
(26:51):
things about you. We haven't got to meet in person.
I hope to be able to do that one day. UM,
best of luck through this whole experience. It's a wild ride,
but it's awesome and I can do it. You can
do it. If actually can do it, you can do it. Um.
But you have a lot of really good looking dudes. Uh,
they're really good talkers. You're obviously very strong. You could
read through that. We've seen it. What do viewers have
(27:13):
to look forward to, um, through the rest of the
season if you give them a little shout out before
we say goodbye. Just we had some tough conversations. We
had conversations about race, we had conversations about culture. We
had so many different, just in depth, solid conversations that
I don't think are normally had on this And those
(27:35):
conversations are important to me, and they're also important to
the men who were on my season. And so to
be able to just happen to that little a little
bit and how the world see that is something that
I think it's gonna be really special. Thanks Michelle, Hey,
we wish you the best much again. Bye. Well, it's
(28:03):
always good having to lead on the podcast as the
season starts. We'll get it back on later on, obviously
hopefully to celebrate a love story, but if not, then
we'll still want to break down everything with her at
some point. Um, but Michelle Young is off and running
with her season of The Bachelorette, so Ashley, it bigs
us the question. Um, Episode one was fine in my opinion, Uh,
(28:23):
nothing against Michelle, just Ryan took up most of the
episode and it felt like, um that dragged out. It
probably should have because it was such a kind of
like important night one storyline, but like, not a lot happened.
Um that like to grab onto uh from episode one?
Do you agree? Yeah? Totally? I mean, but then again,
we say it every year. We don't always love episode one.
(28:46):
Episode one's eart least favorite. Yeah, it's at least favorite.
It just gets us started. Um, the preview happened. We're
excited to see what happens throughout the season. Is as
Michelle said, you know, some of these conversations that she's
gonna lead throughout the season are important for all of
us to hear, um, but also really hopefully important for
the relationships that she's building on the show. And so
that's gonna be something that that we watch and and
(29:07):
kind of get into and see just how these men respond.
I have a feeling, Ashley, that Michelle is very comfortable,
um asking the tough questions, like she won't stand back
from that. You know, we've seen it in past leads
when they aren't good at asking questions and they're not
good at digging deep, and they're not good at follow up,
and they're not good at pushing. How just hard it
gets to watch. No offense to the men, but it's
(29:30):
usually bachelors. We'll say it. It's it's most of the
like I can I'm not gonna name him right now,
but like it comes to mind, like three of these
guys who was like these seasons fell way short because
you just sucked at dating, Like you were terrible at
this thing. Um. But Michelle, I believe, is going to
be really good at it, and I believe it's going
to really progress some relationships forward and and we're gonna
(29:52):
hopefully be able to get into it because they're gonna
get deep and um well anyways, uh, hey, listeners, I
encourage you to do this along with us. But as always,
we're going to start episode one with this question for
for a resident expert, actually Liken, Eddie Ashley, who we're
top three men that stood out to you? You don't
(30:14):
have to give him an order yet, but who what
three men stood out to you from episode one? Well,
like I just said with Michelle, definitely Nate, this is
good vibe about him. Liked how like he was uncomfortable
but then just went in and leaned into the uncomfortable
and then I and I feel like they're they have
visual chemistry and all that too. I liked Clayton, you know,
(30:37):
like as I think we're all supposed to like Clayton.
He's of course the new Bachelor, and I did get
warm vibes from him. Uh. Likes the family dynamic there,
like the way he carried himself, seems confident but not cocky.
And then I liked Jamie. Jamie just seemed to be
(31:02):
that guy that's really easy to talk to UM and
he was very attentive to her. So those are my three?
What about you? Yeah, I was gonna say, I was
gonna say Jamie, Nate, and Brandon. Um. Actually the only
thing about Brandon, yeah, Brandon, Uh, they have the name
on here, Liz listen we'll get better at names as
we go. But it was listened as Brandon J. I
(31:23):
don't know if there's a second Brandon, UM, but I
like Brandon. I thought he was um, just kind and
and and sat down and he just gave good vibes. However,
and maybe it's a look. And I need you to
tell me this, our listeners. You need to tell me
this because I have to put a tie on fairly
soon in my life. His tie was so long, like
(31:44):
his tie was, it was outrageously long. It stood out
to me. But I liked him. So Jamie, Nate, and
Brandon are my top three after episode one. And what
was like the standout moment for Brandon, Like what would
I know him by? I mean mostly their time on
the couch and so didn't get a lot of one
on one conversations with Michelle in episode one because you know,
(32:05):
Ryan took up a lot of the night. UM, there's
a lot of guys that go through UM. But really
they were sitting just on a couch together having a
conversation and it felt like, um, you know when you
just initially when a guy makes eye contact or when
somebody makes eye contact with you and they feel like
they're in the moment, like they're where their feet are.
It felt like Brandon was where his feet were. To me,
(32:26):
it felt like he was very much invested in this
moment and U And I'm excited to see where this
goes because episode one he definitely made an impression on
me and I was like, Hey, this guy, this guy
seems like a good dude. Nice all right, Yeah there,
I feel like, uh, I don't know if it's Brandon
j or Brandon Kay. People will know, I'm time he
were like a silver tie, um black suit, you know,
(32:48):
one of those dudes you'll know. Well, we'll know, give
give us two weeks. I feel like this first episode
more than recent first episodes. I didn't connect with a
lot and I'm not remembering as many names, So I
hope that changes. I'm sure will. Obviously Clayton stands out
and we connect with his name, but it's because of
the anticipation comes from him or what we what we assume, uh,
(33:13):
you know, it's not been official yet, but we assume
he is an ex bachelor based on Jesse Palmer's you
know picture being posted with him, but um, he is.
He did stand out to me, but I was very
focused on him the whole time. And yeah, he was great.
I mean he was nice, he was kind, he was
you know, a great moment with his with his mom,
and um, he was kind of Michelle. I mean, yeah,
he seems awesome. But but I think that was just
(33:35):
a given to me, Like, oh, of course Clayon's gonna
stand and he's gonna stand out the whole season. He's
gonna be like star number two on this show because
he's got a big future in front of him. Yeah,
first time this has happened in a long time or
ever that we get to literally just a no based
on episode one who the bachelor is and follow him
along with that mind. Yeah. Yeah, And I don't know
if I like it. I wish I think it's gonna well,
(33:59):
and I think it is gonna keep me from investing
too deeply into his story with Michelle, like if he
does get his heartbroken or if there is a relationship there.
I think in the back of my mind, I'm like, dude,
you we all know you're fine, Like we all know
you're good, And I don't like that, Like I want
to feel things with each person. I want to feel
things in each relationship and I I do think, say
for the viewer, it's a little sad because like if
Cleyton does, um, you know, stay on for a while,
(34:23):
I feel like most people will watch him be like yeah,
but Cleayton, you're the next batchlor like, come on, can't
be that upset. Also, that's like when we get down
to top four, Like, say he's in the top four,
like I would imagine him to be like we already
can eliminate him. We're like, okay, well he's gone. So
it's really between these three guys. Yeah, alright, Yeah, that's
gonna be weird. I don't know. Anyways, Hey, episode one
(34:44):
is done. That's big for us. Now we start to
dig deep team listeners, we start to get involved. Episode
one is always actually not. I mean it might be
our slogan for the almost in his podcast, we're never
fans of Night one. It's always hard. The only thing
I was a fan of a Night one in recent
memory was the backdrop to Matt James this season, because
it was so beautiful. I was like, yeah, I'll watched
this forever. I was thinking about that last night. I
(35:06):
was like I missed NEC. Yeah, I mean that was
a cool place all right. Hey. Uh, that's it for
the Almost Famous podcast today. Um. We will be back
next week breaking down Michelle Young season of The Bachelorette. Um.
Really exciting time for the Almost Famous podcast because we
do have the Bachelor Brackett Bachelor at Brackett going on,
so make sure you go out and fill out your brackets. Uh.
(35:27):
We will be picking a winner at the end of
the season. Um. Again. The rule for next week is
any contestant you get ten more points if they hug
a Michelle Young on a group date. That's a lot
of points being given out at bet next week. Anyways. Hey,
with with that, I've been Been, I've been Ashley. Bye. Guys.
Followed the Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast on
(35:47):
iHeart Radio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
This is the Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with i R Radio. Oh my goodness, Ashley, I con Eddie.
This is a huge day for us. We have the
Bachelorette on the podcast. Yes, we love kicking off the
season with that. Yes, it's such a big deal for
(00:21):
us and for everybody out there listening. So Michelle Young
will be coming on in just a second after her
first episode as the Bachelor. You know, from watching UM
like Instagram, it feels like the Bachelor UM team is
really pushing you know, social media and these events and
getting you know, the name out there and and kind
(00:42):
of treating more than ever these bachelorette and bachelor's as
a star. And it feels like Michelle's like kind of
just walked into it and done it well so far,
at least from what I see. Yeah, I feel like
she just has this natural instinct to be so good
with media. She's just naturally a very like a little girl.
And like, how great did she look? She's so pretty?
(01:05):
She was like my eye candy last night watching the episode.
She's beautiful, she is, and uh, and I think these
guys are going to be just really struck by Michelle.
The whole time. But yeah, it's uh, it's it's just
interesting because she I mean, even her preview ash like
when she's walking through like I don't you know that,
like the woods and the dress, like it's just like
(01:27):
this is I mean, it's kind of funny. I remember
Katie Thurston making a joke about it, like Katie had
like a rubber skirt on and kind of just like
sat in the studio and then Michelle's out there walking
through her first force. It's beautiful. It reminds me a
lot of the Hannah Brown promos back in the day.
I totally agree. Yes, it's very whimsical, fairy tale like,
and she does just carry herself with a lot of
(01:47):
grace and confidence. I'm we're excited that we're gonna dig
into the episode with her. We're going to talk to
her about like you know, the normal bachelor at life,
and then we're going to go into recapping the episode
with her. So but before we get on the phone
with her, we have a new bachelor bracket rule because
we're continuing with the bachelorette bachelorte bracket this season. It's
(02:10):
a big deal. Obviously, we just had Alexis the winner
of Paradise on the podcast Congratulations once again into Alexis Um.
But we are also now promoting this new season of
the Bachelorette. It's the Bachelor. Brackett is back play along
with us the Almost Famous team. The rule of the
(02:30):
week for week two is you get ten more points
every time a contestant is seen hugging Michelle on a
group date. You can visit Bachelorette dot batch bracket dot com. Again,
that's Bachelorette dot batch Bracket dot com to set up
an account, pick your favorites. Alright, Ash, it's time, let's
(02:53):
bring Michelle on and break down the episode. All right,
as promised, everybody, we have just the absolute star of
this season, Michelle Young on the Almost Famous podcast to
(03:14):
talk Everything Bachelorette. She's super busy right now. We just
saw her in interviews this morning. She's talking all the time.
I hope you're enjoying it, Michelle, welcome to Almost Famous.
Talking all the time a lot? Yes, thank you for
having me. Are you not talking all the times? Do
you not feel like right now like some people are
asking you questions. I do enjoy my piece and quiet,
(03:37):
but no, I definitely it's been a lot. It's been crazy,
it's been busy, but I'm enjoying it for sure. Michelle,
as a fifth grade teacher, was there any comparisons or
like anything you took from that life to handle thirty men? Oh? Yes,
I knew that I would, like you, I was there
(04:00):
was honestly well one being a first or being a
fifth grade teacher. Remembering names, it is something that helped
me out big time. And like being able to keep
different situations separate but then remember details about them, because
when you're dating thirty guys, I mean it's really really
hard to remember all those stories sometimes, but also picking
(04:20):
out the bs, you know when somebody's lying for sure,
the I imagine, I mean for many reasons, Like you know,
we we both think that you're going to thrive in
this role, and we've we've heard from Caitlin and Tatia
that you just do a tremendous job through the whole season.
But I I'm wondering for you, what's it like at
your school because teachers typically are pretty big fans of
(04:44):
the Bachelor and Bachelor. When they find out you're going
to be the Bachelor. At what happened, I am very
lucky to have this school environment where I'm incredibly supported.
It's overwhelming support. But also what's so nice is that
my teachers, my coworkers they know, and my students to
know that when I step through those doors, I miss
(05:05):
young and I'm able to focus on my job. I'm
able to kind of take time away from being in
that bachelor role model, which is it's sometimes overwhelming being
in this world where you're always in the spotlight and
you're always talking about bachelor, bachelorette, and it's it is,
it's this amazing thing. It's this amazing experience. But it's
nice to have that balance. And so when I'm working,
(05:27):
when I'm at my school and in my classroom, my
focus truly is on my students. And it's really been
nice that my coworkers, my administrators, everybody's really respected that.
On Matt season, we loved seeing your family. Your family
like just radiates this warmth, and I loved seeing that
again in this first episode, and how your parents are
such relationship role models for you. How difficult was it
(05:50):
to like go through this process without getting their feedback
on the guys until I'm assuming the very last minute. Yeah,
I talked to my mom every day we could normally do,
but you weren't able to this time. Yes, no, not
in this situation, but I normally do. I mean after work,
(06:10):
like she's my phone call, She's the person that I
talked to when we talk about our days, and we
just were so so close. And so my parents have
been there for everything. They've helped me through some really
difficult times and navigate certain situations. And so to be
through going through this incredibly important process where you are
selecting or trying to select somebody to spend the rest
(06:32):
of your life with, to not have their input was
incredibly hard. But I was very grateful that I had
Catlantation there who would also you know, there's an advantage
advantage as well because they've been through before. That first scene, um, well,
one of the first scenes with you and your family,
uh is always one of my favorites because I remember,
(06:54):
you know, my parents so excited for me but had
no clue how to help me. UM, so nervous, so emotional,
knowing I'm gonna leave and possibly come back with somebody,
and if not, at least I would have a huge
life experience. Um what was it like for you sitting
down with him with the cameras around, uh and having
that kind of be your first moment as you know,
(07:17):
did it hit you in that moment that this your
life is going to be changing, hopefully for the better.
That was definitely emotional because before that, they've been with
me through the heart right through when relationships didn't work,
and they kind of saw all that behind the scenes
(07:38):
aim that you know, not everybody sees, and so to
sit down with them and just be vulnerable, be open
and talk to them about it. We all definitely have
a moment where we get emotional together because you know,
my mom and dad are still so madly of love
and I think the world has seen that. They're gonna
still continue to see that. And that's definitely kind of
(08:01):
my driving force behind what I'm looking for is somebody
who is going to stick in it with me for that.
And my brother has found that in his relationship with
his wife. My sister has found that and her relationship
with her husband, and now it's like it's my turn.
So my family has just been incredibly supportive and we
(08:23):
definitely were emotional. You know, I was just thinking this,
you are one of the very few bachelorettes. I think
Claire was the only other one who got announced as
the bachelorette and then had months to kind of not
mull it over, but to prepare, you know, because you
were announced in March and then you didn't start filming
until I feel like July. So do you feel like
(08:45):
you at all? Over thoughts? Um, did you ever get
cold feet? Oh? Gosh, that downtime was the best thing
that could have happened, because coming off of Matt season,
as you know, like that was a very heavy season
with all of the racial controversies, conversations, everything that was
(09:05):
kind of just unfolding and taking place. And on top
of that, I was dealing with heartbreak. And so by
the time everything kind of came to a head and
I was announced, I was so happy that I was
going to get this period of time where I could
just recharge and I was back in the classroom, I
could hit that restep button, and I spent time with friends, family.
(09:28):
Um got a little taste of that Minnesota summer before
I took off for filming. But it was just it
was so nice that I could get my head and
my heart in the right spot to make sure that
I was putting my best foot forward and that I was,
you know, ready the phone off the We're gonna talk
about through this first episode with you. Uh here in
(09:49):
just a second, Um and Michelle, we actually uh have
prerecorded a little segment with Becca koufren Um who we discussed, uh,
one of your contestants, Ryan, So uh let's take a
break here. Uh, We're gonna air this segment and then
uh you all of us are going to chat about
it with you, Okay, Becka Kouffer And we know Ryan,
(10:12):
don't we We do. Indeed, I would hate to say
unfortunately no, Ryan, but we do. We. Uh. We hosted
Bachelorlive on stage and I thought I was getting this right,
Beck It was San Jose. He was our Bachelor, right yeah,
right before COVID hit, Right before COVID hit. So when
we were hosting the tour, Ryan was our Bachelor in
(10:33):
San Jose. Uh, And I remember we walked off that
and we said, I remember you, and I'm specifically remember
us getting on the tour of us and having a
conversation about, hey, there's people coming on Bachelor on stage,
which is a fun experience. You know, it's pretty lighthearted,
it's it was you know, it's it's a great thing
to watch and enjoy, but we're like, there's definitely people
here just want to go on the show. Now, we
(10:54):
I didn't have a problem with it, but it's just like,
you can definitely see that the Ryan's of the world
really just want to go on the Bachelorette or Bachelor
at this point, do you remember that? Yes, Oh, yes, vividly,
especially after that one and and so we get to
watch him. What was your thoughts after watching the episode
and seeing how Ryan's very quick time on The Bachelor
(11:14):
it turned out? Oh, I thought it was such a
little b s r mm hmm, he said on his
short lived time on Michelle season contradicted, I mean really
everything else. Um, I think he said he had only
he only had watched the show for two hours in total,
but I'm true, it's not true. And when when we
(11:38):
met him, because we obviously spend time and get to
meet and chat with the leads that were on Bachelor
live on stage and the contestants, I mean, he knew
a lot more than he was letting out on Michelle's season,
for sure, and he also was very most people I
would say that we're on the stage with us, We're
very go with the flow. You know, they just everyone
kind of wings that you don't exactly know what is
(12:00):
going to happen because every name is vastly different. And
he was very calculated and wanted to know everything too,
but we'll just go with the flow. You're getting to
know these girls, You're gonning to do it all in
real time with them. Um, So to see the calculation,
you know, in those documents, I wasn't surprised, but also
(12:21):
like I'm thinking, dude, you're lying to this girl right
now in national television that millions of people are not
going to see. But like, if we google your name,
you're already affiliated with the franchise in some way, shape
or form from a year and a half two years ago.
The the crazy one to me was when he's sitting
(12:42):
down with Michelle and he's like, yeah, my friend wrote this,
did all the study, and then you know she was
brilliant and like, I, this is a skill set I
did not have when I was a bachelor, but like
she read right through it and was like, wait did
you Because then he goes on to say, like when
I wrote this down and she goes, well, noh, did
you write this or did your friends write this? And
then you know he does the whole like deep breath, like,
(13:03):
oh crap, I'm caught. This is over and uh. And
I would just say, like, kudos to her for saying
this isn't gonna work any longer, because she was kind
of into him, I think for a bit. Yeah, do
we all notice that he'spelled bachelor incorrectly? No? Is that true?
I go, I gotta watch it. I'm like, if you
were this calculated, at least the show you're going on, right, Yeah,
(13:28):
that would be especially if they're gonna if they're gonna
do a nice close up h D version of your
notes on national television. That's that's I mean, Hey, I
don't know, I don't know what to call his playbook,
Like I don't know if there's like a word that
I want to associate to it, because it's either like
very strategic, um very calculated. It's either really well intentioned,
(13:51):
like I don't know what his intentions were behind it,
But can we just say how detailed and like how
much time that playbook kind of take? I mean there
was twenty pages of like graphs and quote and then
my name got mentioned. You want to You want to
think it's weird. I haven't been on the show in
five years. You want to watch a Bachelor episode and
all of a sudden, here beIN Higgins mentioned it gets weird.
(14:13):
And I talked to Titia about it, and I think
she said this unhappy hour. She said it wasn't just front,
it was front and back notes for page after page
after page. You were mentioned, Ben Syntarctic was mentioned, zactatious
fiance was mentioned. There were a lot like. The part
that got me though, was what it wasn't even about
(14:36):
other people. It was like what was written about him
that Michelle right out loud, where he's like, you are arrogant,
you are this, You're that, like leave that out of
their buddy, Like it's just probably the wrong I got.
I got weird serial killer vibes with that one. So Michelle,
as you just heard, uh from our interview with Beckay
(14:58):
koferin we actually knew Ryan. I know Ryan and Becca
knows Ryan. Do you know how we know Ryan before
that aired? I know Enlightening Please so Ryan, Uh, you're
your fabulous producer. He was beautiful and stunning and just
controls the world. Lady Kay who was with you right now,
And I know she's definitely smiling because she just loves
(15:20):
the comments. Um. She uh is from a very similar
area as Ryan and Uh. When we were in San Jose, California,
Ryan was a Bachelor while Becca Koufern and I hosted
Bachelor Live on stage. Wow, okay, okay, and you didn't
(15:41):
feel it's with me before my first night? Should I
feel you should feel offended a little bit? But I'm
a little offended too because I didn't recognize him until
you guys had your moment in the hotel room when
you're going through the papers. I go, oh, my gosh,
and I texted Becky, I said, is this who I
think it is? Is this the guy from San Jose?
(16:01):
And so I had to confirm it with her, but
it was, um, Michelle right away. And so you know,
we could dig into Ryan and all those crazy decisions,
and we might in a second, but right away you
were dealt with something unseen before in the bachelor world.
I wonder for you in that moment, you handled it
so well. Uh you called him out on his BS.
(16:21):
I mean, I think that's something I was impressed by,
because that first night I was so nervous and I
wasn't thinking clearly, but you recognized his small little eyes,
you called him out on a small little lies and
then you confront a situation and you send a guy
home before even makes the group picture, which is just
absolutely so sad, Like what was going through your head,
not only in the moment, but also knowing like, hey,
(16:43):
for the next you know, three months of your life,
these are the kind of things that you're gonna have
to navigate through. Yeah, I think in that situation it
was definitely I was caught off guard for sure, and
what I got out of that situation and how I
felt those documents being presented, and you know that feeling
(17:05):
if you ever just a relationship where someone goes through
someone else's phone and it's just like, look like that
not good feeling, right, Like I don't ever want to
feel that. I don't want to feel the need to
do this. I don't want to feel the need. If
I feel the need, then that's that's a red flight
for me personally. And so I think that's where I
(17:28):
went off of that of that gut into the feeling,
and it was also setting the tone because coming into it,
it's like I'm actually looking for my person, and I
need my person to be authentic. And you know, I'm
not necessarily here to measure and grade everybody on their authenticity,
but I'm here to find my person, and and I
(17:50):
have to go with what I think and is invest
in the situation. And you know, if that's kind of
where I was coming from. Not normally we would go
in chronological order with how the episode goes, but I think, like,
let's do it a little bit differently because we have
Michelle here and she's on a timeframe. Um, let's talk
about like the biggest drama is the biggest standout moments
of the night. Now, I think Ryan probably was that.
(18:11):
What else was in that pack of documents that was
on the level of incriminating as say, how to get
the most TV time? Was there anything else that wasn't
aired that was super red flag? I think what was
shown is just truly what made me the most uncomfortable
(18:33):
is you know, I I myself have journaled before and
have set goals about, you know, what I want to
do and what I want to achieve, But when it
comes down to it, I'm never writing notes on how
to act and how to pre itself and how to
come off as something that I feel I'm not. And
(18:55):
so that's kind of where I was juggling that, and
that's kind of where my my decisions were coming from.
I get that Jared is like loves to play Devil's advocate,
and he had so much to say about this scene
yesterday when we were watching. He's like, my friend Crystal,
the one who signed him up for the show, would
totally have typed up pages for me and put it
(19:17):
in my suitcase and I would have gotten caught. We're
all terrified of becoming the villain and this guy was
just trying not to be the villain. And I could
kind of see both sides of the situation. I thought
there was like maybe something I feel like there was
like something about his personality, and then when you when
you combine it with the papers that made me feel
(19:38):
a little bit untrusted, untrustworthy. It was yes, like that
what was in I mean, what Tasia Caitlin had brought
to me was what you know, triggered that whole scenario.
And then looking through and feeling that in my intuition
was another thing. But I'm a big having a conversation
(19:58):
and I wanted him to speak as peace. But in conversations,
if in conversations they start to go back on what
they said in that same conversation, then I'm like, Okay,
now what are we doing? So I totally understand playing
Devil's advocate, and I definitely do that in situations as well.
It was more the conversation was help incriminating in that
(20:20):
own conversation as a whole. Take documents, take what people
said outside of it that maybe uncomfortable, and yeah, that's 'restling.
And to be honest, I have a couple of feelings.
One is gonna be this is gonna be such a
small storyline in like four weeks, like you, Like, I
bet in three years, Michelle, you'll even forget that this happened.
(20:41):
Like there's gonna be so much that you forget. You'll remember,
like the really meaningful parts. And and my honest opinion
is you did a huge favor because can you imagine,
I mean, this show does a few things to you,
as we all know here, and it always brings out
your true character. At some point, you might be able
to hold onto it, you might be able to fake it,
you might be able to act for weeks, but at
(21:03):
some point you break, and it is guaranteed that you
will break. And can you imagine how exhausting it would
have been to have a pamphlet of how to act
and behave and what to say and what not to
say and then like do that for a couple of
weeks and I say, he's around, like that would be
so tiring for him. So you did him a favor.
You're very kind in that moment, Michelle, nice job. Yeah,
(21:25):
it's just more. I mean, I don't think any of
the people who came out my season are bad people.
You know, I'm just trying to find my person. Is
that good for you? Good for you? Well? Okay, what
other big moments stood out? Uh during this episode? I mean,
I would really like to know, Michelle, if we can
kind of backtrack to the very beginning of it. You
are the bachelor ate. Now you pull up to uh
(21:46):
this resort um. This is a big deal for you.
And now the guys saw getting out of the car
um were you after their entrances? Did you feel more
at peace, more excited, more comfortable with the situation, or
were you of us still walking into the house, I
was nervous to give, like you know, walking in that
(22:06):
initial toast, but I was excited, nervous, and I think
once like the first few guys got out of the limo,
I was definitely nervous, but I started to calm down
more because I'm like, okay, like I'm just gonna be myself.
That's what I know how to do. I don't know
how to be somebody else, don't know how to act
a certain way. I know how to be myself. That's
(22:26):
what I'm the best at, and that's what I'm gonna do.
And if that's what I want them to see, like
if you fall in love with me, I want your
fall in love with me. And so that was kind
of my what centered me through through that whole first night.
I gotta know about the guy who you are d
m ng with? Was his name Joe? Joe? I go
by just descriptions on night one? Okay, so you okay,
(22:50):
how did you go, how did you meet with? How
you slid in to Joe's d M when we need
a time frame on this, and how you came across
him on Instagram? Oh my goodness. Minnesota's a small community,
you know, especially athletics a small community and pre everything
you know, I had. We chatted back and forth and
(23:13):
you will see how the rest of that story unfolds.
It's quite a story. And I did call myself out
with sliding into somebody's DMS. I mean, I told you
I was gonna, genuinely told you guys, gonna be authentic.
Whether that's throwing myself under the bus by admitting that
on national television, Hey, but I loved it. At least
you know you're getting an honest person, you know, Yes,
(23:34):
I love so You're good from no shame in that
game at all, and not necessarily. I don't know about
him though, I I don't know. I don't trust him.
She she shrugs. Guys, she shrugs. Ashley, we've made this
(23:57):
mistake before. We've said things like that and then they
end up with the person, and we got to did
I do that too? I was so embarrassed. I was afraid.
I was afraid that somebody was going to pick and
they ended up being like their runner up. Yeah, okay,
(24:18):
all right, night one. He made me go, hmm, that's
all I'll say. That's what that's what we'll say. That's
what we'll say here. It's great, Um, Michelle, talk us through.
Uh some of these entrances because they were pretty elaborate
this season. Uh, including uh the poor guy who had
(24:39):
his head stuck in a plate. Um. We talked to
the box man, what's his name? Rick? Rick? He? Uh,
how so, all right now, I'm just recovering from knee
surgery from playing basketball. How in the world did that
poor man's knees hold up inside of that inside of
that table? Hi asked him the same question. That's why
(25:03):
I said, you're gonna need a chiropractor at the moment
he got out of that table, knowing how long he
had been in there, I mean that was well into
the night. It's not like I spoke to Trick right away,
like he was in there for a minute. He was
in there during my toast and um. But that also
shows commitment. I mean he was dead to make an impression.
He showed me his goofy side. He made me laugh.
(25:26):
I mean he really kind of wont if you think
about it, Yeah, I mean he stood out. I will
say that it was memorable. It was I like the
fact that he liked played on food. I would have
been eating everything off of his his plate there and
just for fun. Okay, Well, we only have like a
(25:46):
minute left with you. I do want to bring up
Nate though, since he got your first impression Rows and
he also got my first impression Rose. As a viewer,
I wasn't sure you were like ready to be giving
out the first impression Wars. I felt like we had
like another few like one on one time, and all
of a sudden, I was seeing I see Nate and
I was like, oh, that's the best conversation so far.
(26:09):
And then you go and grab the rose and I
was like, oh, wow, plays she feels the same. Yeah,
we're all on the same thing. Really like him. Yeah,
it was just it was a good conversation. And we
talked a lot about vulnerability, and I asked for vulnerability.
And in that first conversation, you do you see him
talk about how he doesn't want to talk about, you know,
(26:30):
some of the more things that are close to his heart.
And then right after that he pulls down his walls
and he does just that, and so that's what I
really connected with and yeah, that's that's that's why the
rose was given out. Alright, Michelle, last question for you, Um,
you have a lot I mean you, I mean this,
we wish you the best here and we've heard great
(26:51):
things about you. We haven't got to meet in person.
I hope to be able to do that one day. UM,
best of luck through this whole experience. It's a wild ride,
but it's awesome and I can do it. You can
do it. If actually can do it, you can do it. Um.
But you have a lot of really good looking dudes. Uh,
they're really good talkers. You're obviously very strong. You could
read through that. We've seen it. What do viewers have
(27:13):
to look forward to, um, through the rest of the
season if you give them a little shout out before
we say goodbye. Just we had some tough conversations. We
had conversations about race, we had conversations about culture. We
had so many different, just in depth, solid conversations that
I don't think are normally had on this And those
(27:35):
conversations are important to me, and they're also important to
the men who were on my season. And so to
be able to just happen to that little a little
bit and how the world see that is something that
I think it's gonna be really special. Thanks Michelle, Hey,
we wish you the best much again. Bye. Well, it's
(28:03):
always good having to lead on the podcast as the
season starts. We'll get it back on later on, obviously
hopefully to celebrate a love story, but if not, then
we'll still want to break down everything with her at
some point. Um, but Michelle Young is off and running
with her season of The Bachelorette, so Ashley, it bigs
us the question. Um, Episode one was fine in my opinion, Uh,
(28:23):
nothing against Michelle, just Ryan took up most of the
episode and it felt like, um that dragged out. It
probably should have because it was such a kind of
like important night one storyline, but like, not a lot happened.
Um that like to grab onto uh from episode one?
Do you agree? Yeah? Totally? I mean, but then again,
we say it every year. We don't always love episode one.
(28:46):
Episode one's eart least favorite. Yeah, it's at least favorite.
It just gets us started. Um, the preview happened. We're
excited to see what happens throughout the season. Is as
Michelle said, you know, some of these conversations that she's
gonna lead throughout the season are important for all of
us to hear, um, but also really hopefully important for
the relationships that she's building on the show. And so
that's gonna be something that that we watch and and
(29:07):
kind of get into and see just how these men respond.
I have a feeling, Ashley, that Michelle is very comfortable,
um asking the tough questions, like she won't stand back
from that. You know, we've seen it in past leads
when they aren't good at asking questions and they're not
good at digging deep, and they're not good at follow up,
and they're not good at pushing. How just hard it
gets to watch. No offense to the men, but it's
(29:30):
usually bachelors. We'll say it. It's it's most of the
like I can I'm not gonna name him right now,
but like it comes to mind, like three of these
guys who was like these seasons fell way short because
you just sucked at dating, Like you were terrible at
this thing. Um. But Michelle, I believe, is going to
be really good at it, and I believe it's going
to really progress some relationships forward and and we're gonna
(29:52):
hopefully be able to get into it because they're gonna
get deep and um well anyways, uh, hey, listeners, I
encourage you to do this along with us. But as always,
we're going to start episode one with this question for
for a resident expert, actually Liken, Eddie Ashley, who we're
top three men that stood out to you? You don't
(30:14):
have to give him an order yet, but who what
three men stood out to you from episode one? Well,
like I just said with Michelle, definitely Nate, this is
good vibe about him. Liked how like he was uncomfortable
but then just went in and leaned into the uncomfortable
and then I and I feel like they're they have
visual chemistry and all that too. I liked Clayton, you know,
(30:37):
like as I think we're all supposed to like Clayton.
He's of course the new Bachelor, and I did get
warm vibes from him. Uh. Likes the family dynamic there,
like the way he carried himself, seems confident but not cocky.
And then I liked Jamie. Jamie just seemed to be
(31:02):
that guy that's really easy to talk to UM and
he was very attentive to her. So those are my three?
What about you? Yeah, I was gonna say, I was
gonna say Jamie, Nate, and Brandon. Um. Actually the only
thing about Brandon, yeah, Brandon, Uh, they have the name
on here, Liz listen we'll get better at names as
we go. But it was listened as Brandon J. I
(31:23):
don't know if there's a second Brandon, UM, but I
like Brandon. I thought he was um, just kind and
and and sat down and he just gave good vibes. However,
and maybe it's a look. And I need you to
tell me this, our listeners. You need to tell me
this because I have to put a tie on fairly
soon in my life. His tie was so long, like
(31:44):
his tie was, it was outrageously long. It stood out
to me. But I liked him. So Jamie, Nate, and
Brandon are my top three after episode one. And what
was like the standout moment for Brandon, Like what would
I know him by? I mean mostly their time on
the couch and so didn't get a lot of one
on one conversations with Michelle in episode one because you know,
(32:05):
Ryan took up a lot of the night. UM, there's
a lot of guys that go through UM. But really
they were sitting just on a couch together having a
conversation and it felt like, um, you know when you
just initially when a guy makes eye contact or when
somebody makes eye contact with you and they feel like
they're in the moment, like they're where their feet are.
It felt like Brandon was where his feet were. To me,
(32:26):
it felt like he was very much invested in this
moment and U And I'm excited to see where this
goes because episode one he definitely made an impression on
me and I was like, Hey, this guy, this guy
seems like a good dude. Nice all right, Yeah there,
I feel like, uh, I don't know if it's Brandon
j or Brandon Kay. People will know, I'm time he
were like a silver tie, um black suit, you know,
(32:48):
one of those dudes you'll know. Well, we'll know, give
give us two weeks. I feel like this first episode
more than recent first episodes. I didn't connect with a
lot and I'm not remembering as many names, So I
hope that changes. I'm sure will. Obviously Clayton stands out
and we connect with his name, but it's because of
the anticipation comes from him or what we what we assume, uh,
(33:13):
you know, it's not been official yet, but we assume
he is an ex bachelor based on Jesse Palmer's you
know picture being posted with him, but um, he is.
He did stand out to me, but I was very
focused on him the whole time. And yeah, he was great.
I mean he was nice, he was kind, he was
you know, a great moment with his with his mom,
and um, he was kind of Michelle. I mean, yeah,
he seems awesome. But but I think that was just
(33:35):
a given to me, Like, oh, of course Clayon's gonna
stand and he's gonna stand out the whole season. He's
gonna be like star number two on this show because
he's got a big future in front of him. Yeah,
first time this has happened in a long time or
ever that we get to literally just a no based
on episode one who the bachelor is and follow him
along with that mind. Yeah. Yeah, And I don't know
if I like it. I wish I think it's gonna well,
(33:59):
and I think it is gonna keep me from investing
too deeply into his story with Michelle, like if he
does get his heartbroken or if there is a relationship there.
I think in the back of my mind, I'm like, dude,
you we all know you're fine, Like we all know
you're good, And I don't like that, Like I want
to feel things with each person. I want to feel
things in each relationship and I I do think, say
for the viewer, it's a little sad because like if
Cleyton does, um, you know, stay on for a while,
(34:23):
I feel like most people will watch him be like yeah,
but Cleayton, you're the next batchlor like, come on, can't
be that upset. Also, that's like when we get down
to top four, Like, say he's in the top four,
like I would imagine him to be like we already
can eliminate him. We're like, okay, well he's gone. So
it's really between these three guys. Yeah, alright, Yeah, that's
gonna be weird. I don't know. Anyways, Hey, episode one
(34:44):
is done. That's big for us. Now we start to
dig deep team listeners, we start to get involved. Episode
one is always actually not. I mean it might be
our slogan for the almost in his podcast, we're never
fans of Night one. It's always hard. The only thing
I was a fan of a Night one in recent
memory was the backdrop to Matt James this season, because
it was so beautiful. I was like, yeah, I'll watched
this forever. I was thinking about that last night. I
(35:06):
was like I missed NEC. Yeah, I mean that was
a cool place all right. Hey. Uh, that's it for
the Almost Famous podcast today. Um. We will be back
next week breaking down Michelle Young season of The Bachelorette. Um.
Really exciting time for the Almost Famous podcast because we
do have the Bachelor Brackett Bachelor at Brackett going on,
so make sure you go out and fill out your brackets. Uh.
(35:27):
We will be picking a winner at the end of
the season. Um. Again. The rule for next week is
any contestant you get ten more points if they hug
a Michelle Young on a group date. That's a lot
of points being given out at bet next week. Anyways. Hey,
with with that, I've been Been, I've been Ashley. Bye. Guys.
Followed the Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast on
(35:47):
iHeart Radio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
Hosts And Creators
Ben Higgins
Ashley Iaconetti
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