September 28, 2020 • 53 mins
Mike Johnson joins Ben and Ashley and reveals the very intimate reason why he can't walk around naked in his house any more.
We also discover that Mike is dating someone new and he gives the details.
Plus, find out why he won't return to Bachelor in Paradise.
Ashley clears up some rumors about the “cycles” of contestants on The Bachelor.
Tenley just had a baby, Lesley is pregnant, and more Bachelor baby news.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast
with i R Radio. We're back with another week of
the Almost Famous Podcast and this is a week like
none other because we have some really special guests. Um Like,
I mean, we've had amazing guests here recently, but this
episode is full of great guests, some hot topics, and
of course my co host Ashley con Eddie. Thanks Ben,
(00:23):
so today we got a lot of hot topics. Should
we begin or is there something you were going to
call me out on? Yeah? Yeah that now We're not
starting yet. Don't don't get away from this. Every it
feels like every evening I calmed down by you know,
scrolling quickly through Instagram and uh watching the stories of
the people that I love and admire the most in
(00:44):
my in my life. And Ashley, you are one of
those people that is not a secret. Uh you know,
I I think, uh, you know, I view you. I
view you like a sister, Like I think that's like
where my heart is. Like I love you deeply, Um,
I care about you deeply. UM. I find you to
(01:04):
be a beautiful human inside and out. And that means
so much from somebody who was so extraordinarily beautiful and
it's similar to last night. It felt similar to how
I would be watching like my sister. Um, there's a
video of you getting your pants pulled up by Jared,
which must be marriage, and you're doing it. I don't,
(01:26):
I don't fully understand what's happening. Um, but I'm watching
you get your pants pulled up and there's just like
this warm feeling in my heart because I see Jared's
commitment to supporting you and helping you, and it makes
me joyfully like giddy in the evening. But if anybody,
if if nobody watched it, Uh, what was going on?
(01:46):
And what was I watching? Okay? So I've always had
this problem, and maybe it's not a problem because I
love my body shape and I love that I have
like a full butt in a tiny waist. Um, But
something that comes along with that body shape often is
not being able to find jeans that fit properly. I
(02:07):
love Good American. I will shout Good Americans name from
the rooftops because they are finally a brand that I
can just slip my jeans up my up, past my thighs,
over my butt and it fits perfectly around my waist
without me having to get them altered. But I saw
these Zara jeans there are very nineties are so cool. Um.
(02:28):
They just had these gigantic rips and they were loose
and all the like the places I felt like Reese
Witherspoon and fear or something. So I had to get
these even Oh yeah, isn't she just the cutest in
that so um, I knew that they didn't fit around
my waist very well. I had to get them taken in,
(02:49):
and they took them in maybe a little bit too much,
to the point that I really couldn't get them over
my butt. But I wasn't going to like just retire
them after I spent seventy getting them and I love
them so much, so I was like, no, I have
to wear these, but it's going to require help every
time I pulled them up and pull them down. So
(03:12):
I the other day Jared had to basically pick me
up while having his fingers through the loops of my jeans,
and then I had to kind of hold his neck
and he had to kind of drop me into the jeans.
It was kind of like if you're like, imagine putting
a pillow into a pillowcase, okay, right, And so it
(03:37):
was such a scene. I was like, Okay, when I
take these things off, I'm going to videotape it because
it took a solid minute for him to have to
pull them off my legs. So I videotaped it. I
thought it was pretty funny, pretty relatable. Um, if anybody
else has that similar issue, Um, and that is love,
(03:57):
that is marriage, and that's a big booty. So is
there like a sense of accomplishment that Jared feels when
he gets them off? Like do you see a smile? Okay?
Just like it, Like it's almost so ignor Like things
like that are like just so commonplace now that he's
like not in phase, Like if you watch it, he's
watching Superman in the background, Like he's way more focused
(04:19):
on Superman. And Okay. Also, this brings up an interesting
topic that that I've wanted to discuss with multiple women
in my life, and I always forget, uh, how okay,
So say you're in a scenario where there's like a yeah, okay,
So there's two things I want to go with this,
those those Jeanes being one, because what do you do
(04:41):
if you're at the restaurant? And because when when he
when he finally gets the pants off. You see that
you're wearing something that looks like a bathing suit. I
had a bodysuit on ye shout out to Lonnie the
label by Amanda Stanton. Yeah, good for good for her.
But like this, this isn't just one layer of trickiness.
There's two, because then you have something that like literally
next your whole body. So here's my question for you.
(05:03):
Between that and I think it's called a romper, like
the full body romper things, How an emergency situations does
one go about their business successfully without causing a scene
or need to completely change in the restroom? Fantastic question back,
thank you. So when you're wearing like a jumpsuit, which
is kind of like a romper but a pants edition,
(05:26):
you basically get naked in the stall. So it sounds
so unsanitary. Well, I don't know that it's unsanitary. It's
just awkward because like if somebody were to like peek
through the cracks of a public restroom, they would just
see like this naked girl squatting a romper in This
is what I do, And maybe a lot of girls
(05:46):
are going to be like what the hell? But I
just pull it to the side. There's so much there
that could go wrong. Oh yeah, you can definitely get
p on your romper. But even if like, what's a
cup sprinkles, but I don't do it. I don't sprinkle.
I wouldn't sprinkle um. And then in this case where
(06:07):
you're wearing way too tight of pants, that's just that's
one of those instances where people people are probably gonna
think you're pooping in the public restroom, but you're really
just trying to get them off and on, like you're
like grunting, you're jumping up and down, you're pulling it
in time commitment. Holy I don't think I could have
(06:27):
gotten those off myself though, So I knew when I
went to dinner that it was going to be like
you cannot be and like make yourself a little dehydrated
if possible. Wow, there's just a lot going on here.
I'm always learning something. You know what I did this weekend?
I went to a Halloween party that was Renaissance and
Harry Potter themed. Wait, why a Halloween party so soon?
(06:50):
I don't know, just I mean, I don't mind it. Yeah,
I don't really know. I mean it's just like one
of my friend's wise wanted to throw a Halloween party,
you know, a month in advance. Um, and there was
only like ten people there. I think it was like
a super small group. I didn't wear a costume, was
the only one, so like I was one of I know,
I had I have issues. I I have given up
(07:13):
my renaissance days based on you know, my new life,
but of the theme. But here's what happened. So, because
like there's only a few amount of people there, and
I think typically she throws a huge party, like massive celebration.
She didn't want to like uh not have fun, Like
(07:34):
she still wanted to go all out, and so she
bought a bouncy castle, like a massive bouncy castle, and
nobody was getting in it. And so my buddy and
I decided to jump around the bouncy castle for anybodyut
there listening. I don't know the last time you jumped
on a like something. I don't know if it's like
if it's a bouncy castle, if it's trampoline, or if
you just like jumped around in your yard for a bit.
(07:56):
You will never feel so out of shape. And so
then spending one minute, like as a kid, you could bounty,
you could jump, you could fall, you get back up,
you can tackle your buddies. I did it for two minutes.
My buddy and I did not. This is not an exaggeration.
He gets out of the bouncy castle and throws up
next to him, shut up. And there was no adult
(08:17):
beverages at play. It is just simply the fact that
my heart raced to a level I haven't felt in
twenty years. It was aggressive, it was unique. That's not shocking.
The throw up is hilarious, but I totally know what
you mean. Getting on a trampoline looks just like exhaustion
to me. There's no sense of fun there anymore. And
(08:39):
a bouncy castle, those things like they get they get
you so low, you know, there's so there's so much jump,
there's so much height to the jump. There nothing nothing
calls uh, nothing calls my name more than uh. Since
I don't have an a c l I can couch
calls name. But a bouncy castle in my knee is
like hyper standing on itself every time. Nothing just makes
(09:03):
me feel like a couch. A couch sounds great anyways, Hey,
lots our weekends. We're happy to be back with you. Uh,
We're happy to be breaking down everything going on in vacchination.
There are things going on that we'll bring in Mike
Johnson here and just a little bit, so make sure
you tune in for that before we get the hot topics.
Let's take one break. When we come back, we're gonna
break down everything going on in Bachelor Nation. Matt James
(09:35):
begins filming season twenty five of The Bachelor. See you
all in two months. He says, nothing juicy here, guys,
just a fact of the matter that the season has begun. Um,
I don't think we can can confirm where they're shooting yet,
but if you guys do want to do a little
quick search online you can find out. So Ashley, as
(09:59):
we prep now for getting closer to the season of
The Bachelorette, that there hasn't been anything released to my
knowledge yet on the details of this season. Then knowing
that just you know, in a few months, Matt's gonna
be off filming The Bachelor, We're gonna have another season
pretty quickly following like, how excited are you? It feels
like it's been forever. Yeah, it's fun. It's it's really fun,
(10:21):
And I can't help but think of how excited I
am for the producers to be done filming this season
because they have gone NonStop since we'll say June, right,
I mean, they are going five months, five six months
completely straight, and that's something that they never really have
to experience. So I'm excited for them to be able
(10:43):
to have a holiday break once it gets here. Yeah,
you know, and that's a I think it's an interesting
note that we we've brought up before, but just a
good reminder for all of us, Like when it comes
to first responders, when it comes to any essential workers,
when it comes to anybody now trying to put entertainment
on or any any industry that's trying to make this
period of time work for them, there are huge sacrifices
(11:05):
that are being taken place. Like there are producers on
the show. They're sound guys on the show. You know,
if if you hear the word producer out there you're listening,
you're like, oh, Bachelor producers, they're all terrible. Well, then
let's go to the sound people, let's go to the cameraman,
let's go do the people behind the scenes. There are
people who have just had babies, but this is the
way they put food on the table and pay for
their families. And now for the last few months they
(11:27):
have literally been in quarantine without being able to see
these people. We keep talking NBA hockey right, well, these
people are quarantining away for their families for months of
that time as well. It's it's you, just it's it's
an important reminder. There's a lot of to be grateful
for when you when things are given up, like uh,
you know, the time with the family. I think you'd
(11:47):
become more grateful for your time spent. But as fans,
as listeners, whatever, we have to realize that people are
making huge sacrifices, not just in entertainment, not just in sports,
but all over the place to make sure that this
world still functions at a level that's suitable for all
of us. So anyways, shout out to the Bachelor they
are filming. Matt James is gone and we're looking forward
(12:09):
to his season just as much as we are looking
forward to the Bachelorette. Well, speaking of bachelorettes, I think
I could easily say the Queen the favorite, one of
the favorites. Most people love this person, Caitlin Bristow. We're
watching her right now on Dancing with the Stars. She
is still on the show. She's doing great, but last
(12:29):
week she had a battle to go through and that
was a battle with pain. She suffered from an ankle injury. Ashley,
what's the updates. There's not much update right now. She
had an m r I on Thursday. She was scared
about getting the m r I because those can be supercaustrophobic,
but she didn't have to have her head in, which
is good. Um, but she's just super anxious about getting
(12:53):
the medical results back and she hasn't gotten back yet. Huh. Yeah,
So she doesn't have the results of the m r
I back, but as of the recording of this podcast,
she is out of Dancing with the Stars set getting
her makeup done, so it looks like she's going to
be dancing tonight. Um. I guess the issue here is
that she's had very little rehearsal time, so I think
(13:14):
she's very anxious about the fact that her dance probably
won't be as well rehearsed as she's been able to
do the past couple of weeks and as much as
everybody else has been doing. So you guys make sure
to vote for Caitlin. We know that her ankle. Is
she's still in pain. It's getting better with the days,
she said, which is a good sign. So do we
(13:36):
know from Dance with the Stars, like, where does Caitlin
typically stand when it comes to votes and rankings? Is
Is she typically very safe or she on the fringe?
She she's not on the fringe at all. She's getting
sevens and eights both weeks, So I mean, I think
she's she's pretty, She's gonna I think she's gonna be
safe regardless of how obvious her injury is, because the
(14:01):
fan vote is just going to She's gonna yeah. And um,
I don't know how the judging works if the judges
know that there's an injury present, Like, are they easier
or are they are they easier on them to give
them any sort of slack or they kind of like,
it's your decision to be other dancing. I don't know,
that's a good question. I don't know if they've even
(14:23):
said or if there is a like a precedent for
that is. Uh, is Carol Baskin still on the show? Yeah,
but she was in the bottom too last week and
I think the judges made the decision to keep her okay,
So like her time isn't long. Probably, I don't think so. What.
I'm actually surprised because I thought she'd have a lot
(14:43):
of fan vote too. Did you see that her that
the husband, you know, the husband that we all we
all know, has passed away somehow over what was it
like over a decade ago? They paid to have an
ad run during Dancing with the Stars, the first against Carol. Yeah,
(15:05):
I saw that. That's aggressive move, not cheap move either,
if to have primetime ABC commercial space. So statements are
being made. Dance with Stars is airing this week. May
surely go vote for Kaitlin uh and support her Bachelor Nation. Okay,
next headline is one from somebody that we will be
talking to in just a bit, and we get more
(15:26):
info on this later on, But it says Mike Johnson
would never return to Bachelor in Paradise. This according to
US Weekly. Yeah, that's interesting to me. We'll have to
get the answer from him. But he said, everyone involved,
including Mike flies, has been wonderful to me, freaking awesome people.
I would not do Bachelor in Paradise ever. Again, probably
it's just not my cup of tea. He also is,
(15:47):
you know, talking about his new book, which we will
we will talk about later. So Mike Johnson has a book,
he has a lot going on. Uh, I do want
to dig into this a bit. I feel like he's
like well suited for Paradise, Like I just think he
would he fits there. He's likable guy, he's a good
looking guy. You can show up to the beach and
meet some of these new people. But we'll figure out
what he's all about and why he's saying no to
(16:08):
Bachelor in Paradise at least for right now when we
bring him on here after the commercial break. Now, this week, Ashley,
we are going to talk to shan Low and Catherine
Uh in an in depth episode that will be airing
into the week. Super pumped for that, and uh, they're
gonna be great there. Obviously they've been in our headlines
(16:30):
for the last few weeks now, we've been talking about him.
This week's headline is a little different. Uh. Katherine responds
and starts opening up about how she feels about Shanno
shan Low not initially picking her. This according to US
Weekly as well. Okay, so I'm like initially picking her,
She's putting herself on the shoes of say, the mas NICs,
(16:50):
Uh if they if you were to ever pick somebody else,
and then went back to Catherine. She said that she'd
be pissed, that it would take a while for her
to get over and Sean would never live it down.
I feel her. You get it, you definitely get it. Well.
Next headline is The Bachelor's Tinley Moleson welcomes daughter rel
(17:11):
James absolute perfection and I quote, yeah, um, she is studying.
What a beautiful baby. She said that we've been completely
captivated and swept off our feet in love with our
precious baby girl. We haven't gotten around to introductions. She
said this when when she was first born, I think
about a week and a half maybe two weeks ago now,
(17:33):
and by following Tinley's Instagram, she's been making all the
family introductions, the aunts, the uncles, the grandparents, the cousins,
all that stuff this week and showing off this beautiful
little girl her and husband Taylor had this month. I mean,
two good looking people having a good looking baby. Not shocked,
not shocked. Well, speaking of one of our favorites, we
(17:57):
have to give a congratulations. But all so some breaking news,
unexpected news. Maybe I should say Bachelor alum Leslie and
Murphy is Yes, I'll say it. She's pregnant, expecting her
first child with fiance Alex. This also according to US Weekly. Yeah,
she posted us on Instagram yesterday she said baby Kavanaugh
(18:21):
taking flight in Finally someone to occupy the middle seat. UM.
Her pointfriend her, he says at drone Pilot, her fiance
and I couldn't be more excited to grow our little family. Um.
She also she played she played the Ronetts be my
(18:42):
baby in the background of this, so really really cute.
Congratulations to her. Um. I feel like there's been a
lot of baby news and the girl like all these girls,
I want a girl, And I'm like Jared, there's so
many baby girls in Bachelor Nation. There's no way we're
going to have a girl first. Well, yeah, because the
genetics bat does. Uh. Super exciting for both of them.
(19:08):
I mean, we've had some amazing baby news over the
last few weeks here on the podcast. Uh with babies
you know who started out uh needing extra care in
the hospital, who have came home healthy. I mean, I
don't know if you have the list in front of you, um,
but it is, Yeah, go ahead. So it was Liz
we had ten and now we have Leslie, we had Courtney.
(19:31):
Can you think of anybody else from this year? That's four?
I can't. I mean, when was Tanner and Jade's last
child born? Well, Tanner, and you're right, there's a good one.
So the next one will be born in November. It's incredible.
I mean, just a lot of babies happening. I mean, hey,
but let's be honest. I guess this wouldn't be I
was gonna say Quarantine probably had some people having babies.
(19:52):
But this wouldn't be Quarantine. Babies wouldn't. Leslie's wouldn't be.
What about Britta Nelson? Did you have a child? Britta Nelson? Yeah,
it's a good job. Thank you big. Yeah, that's a
big There's just a lot to celebrate, and Bachelor Nation
life is being born. We will always celebrate that. Uh. Hey,
final headline here, Hannah Brown hits the water in a
bikini with some Bachelor besties to celebrate her birthday. Hey,
(20:16):
before we go on this headline, I do have to
take a note. I just googled it and Beca Martinez
also had a baby this year. Du good job. Okay, yeah,
so uh not a real juicy story here. But Hannah
Brown did turn twenty six this weekend, and she was
joined by Demi and Hannah Gee on what looked like
(20:36):
a fabulous yacht in the l A area. Over the
past couple of days, she had like kind of like
a week long celebration. I know she did some um
zoom some zoom birthday party with some bachelor fins. Yeah,
they're on a yacht and I'm in a bouncy house
sweating my brain. We don't live the same life. But
(20:57):
the point is there's just a lot of babies being
born in Bachelor Nation. Um, we're gonna take a break
when we come back. During break, we're gonna google all
the children being born in Batchel Nation this year because
I'm sure we miss him. But we come back, we're
gonna have Mike Johnson on the podcast talking about his
recent project along with his dating life, uh and what
his new roommate and him will be up to in Austin, Texas. Uh,
(21:19):
let's take a break, we come back, well, Mike Johnson. Okay,
So the Bachelor Babies that we did re Pecca Martinez, Um,
(21:39):
Jenna Cooper, Travis Stark, and Kelly Travis If we are
missing any of them. This list let us know. It's
hinted at UH in the beginning of the podcast, and
UH consistent person on the Almost Famous Podcast. We've also
done an in depth episode with this human who you
should go back and list in two we have up
(22:02):
next in the Almost Famous Podcast, Mike Johnson, Mike, welcome,
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Ben, thank you asked
you for having me back. I feel like I can't
believe I'm saying this. I feel like I'm a part
of the family. You are a friend of the podcast. Yeah,
I feel like a friend of the five. I agree.
(22:22):
I was thinking the same thing earlier. So you remember
last time you're here, you're talking about maybe moving and
you've decided to make that leap. You're in Austin. Yes,
Connor and I are moving to Austin. Let's go Connor
who just I mean Connor Saley? Right? Who was on
the show with you? Yes, Connor Salley. He won our
(22:42):
season of the Bachelortte. Wait did he win that? Yeah?
The guy that wanted. You know, in most people's hearts,
that guy is a good looking fella. He's nice, he's kind,
he has his own stuff going. How how did you
two decide to live together. Have you stayed for ends
throughout the last couple of months. Yeah, man, I think
(23:04):
that probably. Honestly, our alumni, the Bachelor of Alumni is
I think, for most part are pretty cool people. And
Connor lives in Dallas. I live in San Antonio, but
my family is from Dallas, and so I would always
go up to Dallas and Connor and I would always
try to kick it and hang out, some workouts together
and do some business things together. And I mean we've
just naturally continued to come together. I mean even on
(23:27):
the show, we were bunk mates every step of the way. Um,
he left and then I left the next day. I
mean we're like it just was. It was meant to be.
When was the last time you lived at the roommate? Yeah,
I asked a great question because that I swore I
would never do it again. And like my last day
(23:49):
is my best friend to this day. He's a great
human being. But like when you live with somebody, you know,
like you can't do certain things no more. Right, So
the last time I had a roommate, I was twenty
years old. It was right before going into the military. Um,
and so actually funny story about that. I was in
community college at the time. I came home and I
(24:11):
told my roommate at the time, it's just things bright
like my best for me in the world. And I said, Bro,
I'm joining the military. I'm joining the Air Force. He
was like, man, don't join the military. Bro, don't do that.
Next thing. I know he up and left before I
left to the military. So look at you being all influential, Mike.
What's one thing you're gonna have to give up with
(24:33):
a roommate that you don't want to have to give up?
Then I'm not gonna lie. I tell people all the
time too. I can't believe on the saying when you're
filling down or sadder, the pressure anything, run around the house,
but Naken, listening to your favorite music and screaming at
the top of your lungs. I don't you know. I
(24:54):
don't want Connor to get jealous. I can't do it.
I don't. I was gonna say, you don't have to stop.
I don't. I don't know what's told you back, buddy.
I was literally going to say, I feel like Mike
is the kind of guy who likes to walk around
the house naked. But you know, I still have a
room to do that in. You know, I still can
(25:14):
do my thing in my room, just locked the door.
There's so many questions I can ask about, like having
a room, like just getting a new roommate, Like how
are you guys going to deal with food? Like are
you going to think about like you can ask each
other what do you want for dinner every night? Or
is it going to be like we do our own
separate grocery shopping. No, that's yoah see I don't that
would never come. I'm go speak for Connor and I.
(25:36):
That's something we don't have to ask each other. It's
like no, that question is like no, it's like, bro,
I'm cooking some healthy food. You want someone? You know?
We don't even ask you, just like we're both always hungry.
What is one thing that you can foresee being annoyed
about Connor with without even a thought? Connor is a
(25:58):
beautiful human being, but the boy is junk right his
count Oh my god. When he stayed here in my
place for you know, like a week or so. And
Connor loves to work out. And that's one reason why
I'm so happy to moving together because he's gonna be
like a positive influence on me. But the dude needs
a pick up after him. So so that's gonna be
(26:20):
a little a nuance for me, a nuance for me.
So the final roommate question, and I think this is
one that even I'm experiencing with my fiance as we
start to talk about getting married and we're gonna live.
Shout out to Jess Yeah, shout out to Jess. Uh.
I think the one thing they can break roommates. I
think you can make it happen and work together. I
(26:41):
think it's awesome and I don't know if I could
do it again, but I'm happy for you. It's a bathroom.
So are you gonna have to share a bathroom? Do
you have your own individual bathrooms? Because sharing a bathroom
could ruin you too. Absolutely, you're of the money, like seriously,
like the bathroom is like a sacred like I'm not like,
(27:03):
once I move in with a lady again, you know what,
I'm a relationship. The moment that I could take a
crap and she's in the bathroom at the same time,
that means love, right, So you're okay with that. I'm
not okay with that. We've talked about this on the
podcast before, maybe even before you were even on the show,
(27:24):
you would be okay, seen your lady poop? Yeah, I mean, like,
you know, we love, we're like, we're growing together. I'm
cool with that. I don't want to see myself poop.
I mean, I don't want to see the white popart.
But you know, outside of that good, Oh my gosh,
all right, while you're sitting I'm okay. Well, but then
(27:46):
I was talking more about the counter. I was more
of the count bathroom. Yeah, on bathroom, bro, we gotta
work good. Well, Mike, you have some stuff going on
right now that we got to dive into and talk about. Uh.
Not only do we love catching up on your life,
but you also has recently came out the book called
Making the Love you Want. Uh. You know, instead of
(28:07):
me trying to explain to everybody, how about you just
tell our listeners what this is about. What they can
look forward to me being extremely authentic and transparent. There's
so much more than a smile. There is so much
more than you being the pastor. There's so much more
than Ashley and Jared right, and in my book you
will learn so much more about me things that are unflattering,
(28:32):
but I feel that that's me standing in my power.
And that's the goal that I want everyone to have
when reading my book and window going through my book,
and you know, uh, working through my book is knowing
that we all have self living beliefs, but we're gonna
shatter every single stuff. For me, belief and the unflattering
things I'll talked about my book. It was hard for
(28:54):
me to say I want to be a success when
I was doing incredibly ignorant things. But those are all
self limiting beliefs that I had upon myself right and
for us to stand up in our power. And I
remember I did an I G Live two days ago
with the lady named Sarah, like I really care about
our extended UH family, that's where I call our fans.
(29:16):
And Sarah was telling me she does a calligraphy, and
she was telling me that I would. I asked her
a question in regards to a piece of clligraphy that
she did for Brianna Taylor, and I was incredibly moved
by it, and so I said, why did you start calligraphy?
And she told me that that was how she found
her voice, that was how she found her way to
(29:37):
stand in her power. And so my book is simply
giving you the keys to finding your own powers, to
knowing that you are beautifully made in God's creation and
that you're awesome human being. Let's do it. Can you
give us one of those keys right now? This as
a teaser? Can I give you one of those keys
(29:57):
right now? I should give you a book right now.
As a teaser, I would say today, literally, I want
you to look in your mirror that you have, not
the same bathroom then with ys, but look into a
mirror that you have, and I want you to write
now three things that you love about yourself. So, for example,
(30:17):
for me, what I would do is, I would say
that the people that know me individually know that I'm
pretty damn caring. So I would say I'm caring person.
I would say that all my friends that know me
know that when I say something I will do, I'm
a I stick with things to the hend. That would
be the second thing I would say. And the third
thing I would say is I legit love making people smile, right,
(30:40):
And so what we do with this I have a mirror.
It's a mirror that I look at every single day.
I right, get my goals right as mirrors. Mirrors get
a little bit dirty over time, and it's the same
thing within our life. In our life, our life can
get cluttered and you know, we start to lose sight
of who we are. But once you talk positive to yourself,
once you clean that mirror off, you can see who
(31:00):
you are at your core again. So that would be
a quick, a quick one. Why out of all the
topics that you could write about, why this one? Man?
I gotta say, I'm loving the hair, man, I'm loving
the hair. I love you, Bro. I just had to say, uh, well,
why out of all topics talk about this topic? Great question.
(31:24):
I think people like, Bro, you're on the TV, just
talk about TV. That's all we care to hear about you.
And to me, just like all of us, they're so
many different sides of us, and this is the side
that is I'm most passionate about. I with all of
my being believed that if you make someone else happy,
you make someone else smile, it makes you happy in return,
(31:48):
it makes the world a better place. And I think,
quite honestly, right now we all agree that the world
could be a better place, right and so um a
part of that is starting with ourselves knowing that we
are capable of amazing things. Except for being doing his
hair this morning. Yeah, I didn't do my hair this morning,
and in fact, uh, Mike, I've I've been running my
(32:10):
hands through it all day and it's standing up at
different different points. Uh. I love it well as a
listener out there, they obviously care about you, they respect you.
Um leaving this book. Outside of giving them the power
back and making them feel better, what do you hope
they gain? I hope people gain a concrete, a marble,
(32:38):
a diamond. Let's say, let's stick with diamond, because that's
the strongest, uh, forced demand. I hope that people have
a diamond understanding that you can and they fill in
the blank. Mhm. I believe it as simple as that.
It's like my book, I don't define what self love
(32:59):
is is. I let the individual define what that is themselves.
I give lots of examples, and I talked about it,
and I talk about what it means to me. But
I want people to have a diamond knowing that if
you love yourself, there's not nothing that on this earth
that you cannot do. You can have those courageous conversations
like I have my mother about my book and talking
about it, which was incredibly hard for me to do,
(33:21):
you know, talking to her about when my babysitter es
sexually harassing me, right, or talking to her about how
it made me feel when I had in my eyes
and cat scans because I was lashing out of my mother,
you know, when I did some illegal things that I
told you about offline that are pretty embarrassing for me. Uh,
(33:43):
to have those courage conversations. Know that you're Dimon and
we're all made wonderful. We just have to, you know,
go out and seek it. I feel like I'm preaching
right now. I'm not normally this guy. Right, this isn't
a side of me, but well, this isn't a side
that people have seen of me. This is all of me,
and it's just it's it's cool to show this side
(34:05):
of me. I like you person. I know that when
we did the in depth you talked about a very
dark period of your time where you honestly didn't leave
the house for about a year. Could when you when
you go look back and think about that, guy, like,
how cool is it to see where you are now
and what you're writing about? It makes me smile. It's
(34:25):
awesome too, because that guy was like, I lost like
twenty five pounds, I grew my hair out crazy. Um
my states account depleted to zero, having thousands in the day,
uh two, literally throwing up up when I went back
out and saw people. That's crazy for me, as everyone
(34:46):
knows me, is like, it's super a jovial individual. Thank
you asked me for bringing it up. When I came
out of that period of time, I literally hyperventilated and
threw up because I was around people. Right, It's just
blasphemy to me. It's crazy, it's obnoxious, and to be
here right now, I would just tell that dude again, Bro,
you're a diamond. You are strong, you are going to
(35:07):
get through this. You are absolutely made for this, and
it's just amazing to be here in this position right
now too. To go from that to this, Ben talks
about in his book about just the importance of connection
and how like it's just so tempting to kind of
retreat to your whole and just be alone, but that
(35:30):
is just going to make everything you're feeling worse. So
I like, you guys need to have some little like
a book joining moment here. Oh, I absolutely want to.
I honestly were going to bring up Beings that book
while being on this podcast. You guys, I think that
it is so easy, is absolutely right. It's so easy
(35:51):
for us to go into our whole. Right. That's why
in dating I'm so big or communication because in dating,
a lot of the times I'm using this as example.
You know, people know it's from a dating show, right,
and so I'm using this example in dating when we
feel down and or hurt from our partner and or
we hurt them. There are so many times where we
(36:12):
just want to withhold and just retreat, and that's not good.
And the same thing happens with ourselves. Right. When I
was in my deep period of time where I spent
like literally a year of my life in a hole, right,
I call it to myself. I say I was in prison.
I imprisoned myself, and that's not good. You know it's
not there. You know, no one wins from that situation,
(36:35):
no one, not You are the people that you can
impact in a positive manner. Mike Uh tell us a
little bit about the writing process. When did you start, Uh,
What was your kind of technique for walking through it
and making sure the words that you put on paper
matched what you were feeling and wanting in your heart. Yeah.
(36:56):
So when you just said that, I'll tell you what
happened to me when you said those words. I kind
of took a deep breath because I was reliving what
I call emotional homework. That's what me and my editor
call it. He would ask me like some really hard
questions and I'm like, damn, that's rude, but it was
(37:19):
it was needed for me to go into such a
deep place and so being to answer your question, I'm
not a writer by a trade, right, I think that
I've written an amazing book. Um. I hope that you guys,
you know, feel the same way after you read it,
and if not, please tell me how I can get better.
But I would say that I spent a lot of
(37:40):
writing time then in the wee hours of the morning.
I don't know why. I think it's just because I
feel like the world is asleep in the world can't
hear my thoughts. And so it was, it was, it
was it was subconscious for me to be up at
three thirty three in the morning, you know, writing down
my deepest things and or my most vulnerable moments, and
(38:02):
how I would talk to my best friend in the
entire world. And so for me, it was literally just
writing in the middle of the night. Um. If I
felt that I had writer's block, I would just stop writing.
There was The beauty of being self published is that
I have no time with right It's my book. I
do what I want when I want, And so I
would really walk away, get up, taking that go bs,
(38:24):
do something else, and then I would come back to it. Um,
and I would have conversations with friends about real stuff,
not about people, not about um what's going on new
is what did Kim Kardashian doing, but about real things
that's affecting, nealizing, affecting my lives. And via those conversations,
you know, I'm able to ascertain knowledge. So uh to
(38:48):
close up here, Mike things for sharing all that. And uh,
I know people out there anxious and waiting to get
their hands on this. When does it come out? Where
can they find it? And uh and how can they
best access this book that you have beautifully created? Thank
you man. Um. I feel like I just want to
(39:08):
hug you guys. I'm just really happy to see you guys.
You know so sweet, You're so cute. I'd hug you back.
You can go purchase my book on Mike johnson Smile
dot com, sign up for my newsletters. They'll also be
on Amazon. My book is called Making the Love You One.
My base is not in a cover up with my
book because this book is so much bigger than me.
(39:29):
I want people to know that it comes out October two,
this Friday, World Smile Day, not just America Smile Day,
not just My John Smile Day, but World Smile Day.
Let's do it so you know, we can't let you
go without talking about some Bachelor related things. You recently
said that, despite respecting and loving the whole production crew,
(39:53):
you have no desire to go back to Bachelor in Paradise,
So can you explain why. Yes, I'm glad you said that.
I really am glad that you said because some people
have like coming me when I said things that have
not been the most flattering in regards to the franchise.
And I appreciate you saying that because I have all
the love in the world for our franchise. Right, I
love you guys, love our franchise. You of all people
(40:15):
know I'm very honest though, and the reason I want
to go on Paradise again, is because I don't feel
like that's the best form for me to find my love.
And quite honestly, the point of going on the show
isn't it gain I g phone. The point of going
(40:36):
on the show is I fine your love. And that's
why I haven't been opposed to when people ask the
question about being the lead, because I feel I like
that round more so. I like being on the batch
read more so than Paradise. I feel like Paradise to
me was I felt like high school popularity contest. No,
(40:59):
I unders stand. I felt that Paradise, even though it's
where I found my love, it was far more emotional.
It's just like kind of like a wrecking process. But
when I look back on being on The Bachelor, it
was just fun. Yeah, a lot lighter, a lot lighter.
(41:21):
Agree with that, so much lighter. And yeah, that's why
I mean, it's not for me. But what's not for
me doesn't mean it's not for you. Obviously, you found
a wonderful guy in there who has the best jaw
in the world, right, so he's yes, he does. It's
just it's not it's not for me now of course. Um, yeah,
(41:45):
I'll just see like that now if they did Summer
Great Games, because Summer Games was canceled. Ben and I
know that that's a lot different than Bachelor in Paradise.
It's a lot um it's a lot more casual. It's
just kind of like, if it happens, it happens. It
just doesn't feel like it kind of feels like you're
there to be friends first and foremost and to like
have fun with competitions. Would you do something like Summer
(42:06):
Games or Winter Games again or ever not again? You
didn't do it? No, Yeah, that's my alley because like
when I go on a first date with the woman,
some things that I want to do was just be lighthearted,
be fun, doing activity to where like I'm trying to see,
like you know your comfort zone, right, I might take
you too. I fly right indoor sky down because it's fun,
(42:28):
it's activity. We're like friends in comparison to having an
interview deep questionnaire for six hours straight. Yeah, what makes
you laugh? That's what I want to know. Yeah. Yeah, Okay,
So you guys, it's not the end of possibly seeing
Mike Johnson on the show. Yeah, don't get too said yet.
You know, he could be back possibly one day somehow,
(42:50):
based on this conversation. Based on this conversation, it sounds
like you are still single. Can you like let us
in on the last time me went on a date?
What kind of has there been any little spark since
we've last seen you on the show. I feel comfortable
(43:10):
telling you, guys, someone just stayed with me here are
my place? And it wasn't Connor. They stayed. They stayed
for multiple days. Okay, so there's someone. There's someone. But
what city is she from? Is she gonna have to
be traveling? Interesting? I don't know. All right, Oh, thanks
(43:32):
for giving us that to smile on that guy's face
right now. Something happened. I don't know what assumptions, but
something happened in that guy smiling. National Smile Day, October three,
Mike Johnson's book comes out. Make sure to get it
on Amazon or Mike Johnson Smile dot com. Making You
(43:55):
Want by Mike Johnson. Mike, thanks for joining us, buddy,
Thank you guys, Love you guys, have a great day,
Love you buy. It's always good to catch up with Mike,
but we also love catching up with you. We're gonna
break down some listener emails. Please email us. Continue to
(44:17):
email us your thoughts, your opinions, uh, your concerns to
Ben and Ashley at I heeart meatia dot com, but
also follow us on Instagram at Almost Underscore Famous Podcast.
We will be updating that Instagram every week, uh and
kind of teasing the episodes and also breaking down any
further content needed. Yeah, you guys can d m us.
You can d m u s questions too, but we
(44:38):
love having these little behind the scenes questions to answer
for you guys every week, so keep them coming. First
email is from Shawnee. Is it true? The producers track
the contestants minstrel cycles and schedule their one on one
interview when they are most likely to be hormonal, emotional
wreck Ashley. I don't know about this. You on. I
(44:58):
think this has to be something sort of fake news.
I don't know where you heard this, Shawnnie. Now I'm wondering.
Did I ever fill out a questionnaire about when my
last period was? That would be insane? I don't what
I never did. Oh no, you never filled that out? Um,
(45:20):
I don't know. I mean like maybe we did during
Like we don't do a physical, but we do like
have to get blood drawn and stuff and in that paperwork,
I may have filed something out. But you guys, they
schedule interviews with you, one on one interviews every single day,
So it's not like they're like, oh, but this is
(45:42):
the one that we're gonna get and it's going to
be super good. I don't really believe this. That would
be really extra. I mean, I guess I wouldn't rule
it out, but like, I don't think they revolve the
schedule around periods. The Bachelor isn't as like dark and twisted,
as like a fake. It's not. It's like very much okay.
(46:02):
It's not like I don't feel unsafe going on the show.
I don't feel like they're trying to ruin me. I
never felt that well. I mean, the number one behind
the scenes question I get asked is do they try
to throw alcohol down your throat? And I'm like, no,
not at all. Never once did they say like can
I get you something? Like if you want something, you
(46:24):
can be like, oh, can you grab me memosa? I'd
love that, thank you. But they're never like I think
you could use another one. It's not like they're in
the fact of like there's an open bar in the
interview room. People make it seem like there's like they
have a bar car in the interview room. No. I
actually remember them like telling me no often, Like if
(46:47):
I was like, hey, can I get a drink for
this interview, They're like, nah, Like not tonight, Uh you
got an early morning, Like I remember them saying that.
I never remember them going, hey, you should have like
a few shots before you talk to us tonight, Like
that never happened. And honestly I never needed this, Like
once you get into this, like the regiment of interviewing
(47:07):
so often and opening up your heart and being so vulnerable,
you don't need alcohol to be vulnerable or to cry
or anything like that. Actually, you're not that I ever YEA. Hey,
next email is one that we want to broach because
we appreciate this person coming in. We're gonna keep it anonymous,
(47:27):
but we do appreciate this email and the vulnerability behind it.
I think we can answer it to the best of
our abilities. But um, the listener writes, my husband recently
admitted to me that he has had a sexual attraction
to another woman that we know for the past six years.
He told me that he's never acted upon it, and
I do believe him. He's been brutally honest with me
(47:49):
and very communicative. He told me that he loves me
so much and he feels satisfied with our relationship, but
still has an attraction to this person. We plan on
entering therapy together, but I guess I feel like I
don't know how to move forward from here. If it's
been this long, it's clearly not going away. How can
I ever feel confident? How can I ever stop wondering
(48:11):
if he's thinking about her when we're intimate together. I'd
appreciate any advice from both of you on how you
battled those insecurities and feelings uh like you're enough for
your spouse. So I don't think Ashley and I have
maybe entered into this exact scenario, but I think the
last sentence is relatable to all of us. Um not
feeling enough and having insecurities within a relationship. Those are
(48:34):
things that that all of us have felt and that
we've had to work through. Ashley, do you want to
kind of broach this first? Do you want me to try?
I want you to try. So how I go about
this is um one there is with all we know here,
there is an honesty Uh, that is admirable on his
(48:54):
part to open up to you and tell you this,
I think in a partnership. Um, in fact, you know,
I'll go about this way. I have one of my
best buddies admitted this to his wife, not in a
six years and but he said, hey, I you know,
I'm realizing that I'm having eyes for other people and
I don't like it and I don't want this, but
I need to tell you this so that you can
(49:14):
help me through it. And she did. She owned that
with him and said, hey, what do I need to do?
What can we do together to help you, uh, get
through this? Because this isn't something I know you want.
I know you don't want to be looking at other people.
I know you don't want to be thinking about this
about other people. And it's better for a relationship. So
there is a partnership here that I think is is
admirable on both of your parts to stay together, but
(49:35):
also for him to be communicative. I don't I want
to be honest, I don't think this is super uncommon now.
I don't know to the extent of the sexual attraction happened,
I don't. I don't know that scale. And and what
was thought of. But I don't think it is uncommon
for people, uh in relationships too at times go Wow,
that person is incredibly attractive. Now acting upon it is different,
(49:58):
and then think letting your mind go to a place
that's a healthy um is a boundary that that personally,
I think would be healthy to set. So yeah, that's
where I feel like I have a little something to say.
I mean, I'll go out with my girlfriends and we'll talk.
I'll be like, oh he's hot, Oh he's hot, Like
we'll talk about hot guys still do because I'm married.
I'm not blind, But it doesn't mean it means that,
(50:19):
like you find them attractive, but you don't have any
intent or desire to act on that attraction. And I
also think there's a difference between acknowledging like, oh that
person is hot, they're fun to look at, versus, um,
I'm daydreaming about that person, like I'm thinking about that
person romantically. And I think that's what our listener listeners
(50:41):
husband is doing. And and and let's go with that
because I don't know right that that doesn't go in
enough detail for us to know this. However, Uh, here's
my advice to you uh, and it sounds like you're
doing it from your email. You have to communicate, and
I think an open line of communication and within this
is now necessary. I think if I was your husband
(51:02):
who had admitted this to you, and you told me
as we were intimate together that hey, you're worried about
what I'm thinking about or who I'm thinking about, I
think you should tell him that. And I think a
good partner with an understanding partner, especially with look at
you and go I get I get why because this
was something that I put on you, and this is
the way I put on you, and let's work through this. Um.
(51:23):
You might need more validation now than maybe you would
if this was never said to you. There's insecurities that
came up because of his openness to you that you
never thought you'd have to deal with, and and a partnership,
I would just imagine that both people are better when
there is that open line of communication because you're only
doing it. I mean, the goal is that you're doing
it to mend and to get back to a place
(51:44):
of healthiness and happiness and fulfillment and enjoy within your relationship.
And if that is the intent with your communication, that
I don't think much can go wrong. I think that
if you're speaking to him and communicating with him and saying, hey,
I'm worried about this, and I'm only worried about it
because I want you to want me, and I want
you to desire me, and I want you to think
about me. Ask him, let him, let him respond. Uh.
(52:08):
But I do also want you to know that you
should feel confident in relationship because you two are together
and you're trying to work it through, and you are
desirable and you are desired and uh, and for that,
I think, actually I are wishing you the best. This
is tough, this isn't easy. But but if you're feeling
alone and like you're the only one out there experiencing this,
(52:29):
I can promise you that this isn't an isolated event
that there there. This isn't uncommon. It doesn't take away
from the pains that you're feeling, but this isn't uncommon. Yeah,
And I wish that I had more advice on this,
especially since this person probably reached out being like, actually,
must have insecurities because of the way that Ashley and
Jared's relationship started. I don't have a I don't really
(52:52):
have a lot um and a lot of it is
just healed over time. And I think that it's just
like as simple as being open and honest, um, giving
a time and just yeah, what Ben said, the fact
that he's wanting to work through this, it should be
a great sign for you. Hey, what a podcast. We
appreciate you writing in, Thanks for your honesty, thanks for
(53:14):
connecting us all. Uh. We'll be back this week with
an in depth with Sean and Catherine. It's gonna be awesome.
It's gonna be really great. We'll be posting that by
the end of this week and then we're back next
week on Monday. As we get closer and closer, I
think that is going to be our official last offseason podcast.
So exciting, absolutely crazy, makes our jobs easier and makes
(53:38):
our jobs even more fun than we already have. Hey,
with that, I've been Ben, I've been Ashley. We'll talk
to you soon. Stil next time followed the Benn and
Ashley I Almost Famous podcast on iHeart Radio or subscribe
wherever you listen to podcasts.
This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast
with i R Radio. We're back with another week of
the Almost Famous Podcast and this is a week like
none other because we have some really special guests. Um Like,
I mean, we've had amazing guests here recently, but this
episode is full of great guests, some hot topics, and
of course my co host Ashley con Eddie. Thanks Ben,
(00:23):
so today we got a lot of hot topics. Should
we begin or is there something you were going to
call me out on? Yeah? Yeah that now We're not
starting yet. Don't don't get away from this. Every it
feels like every evening I calmed down by you know,
scrolling quickly through Instagram and uh watching the stories of
the people that I love and admire the most in
(00:44):
my in my life. And Ashley, you are one of
those people that is not a secret. Uh you know,
I I think, uh, you know, I view you. I
view you like a sister, Like I think that's like
where my heart is. Like I love you deeply, Um,
I care about you deeply. UM. I find you to
(01:04):
be a beautiful human inside and out. And that means
so much from somebody who was so extraordinarily beautiful and
it's similar to last night. It felt similar to how
I would be watching like my sister. Um, there's a
video of you getting your pants pulled up by Jared,
which must be marriage, and you're doing it. I don't,
(01:26):
I don't fully understand what's happening. Um, but I'm watching
you get your pants pulled up and there's just like
this warm feeling in my heart because I see Jared's
commitment to supporting you and helping you, and it makes
me joyfully like giddy in the evening. But if anybody,
if if nobody watched it, Uh, what was going on?
(01:46):
And what was I watching? Okay? So I've always had
this problem, and maybe it's not a problem because I
love my body shape and I love that I have
like a full butt in a tiny waist. Um, But
something that comes along with that body shape often is
not being able to find jeans that fit properly. I
(02:07):
love Good American. I will shout Good Americans name from
the rooftops because they are finally a brand that I
can just slip my jeans up my up, past my thighs,
over my butt and it fits perfectly around my waist
without me having to get them altered. But I saw
these Zara jeans there are very nineties are so cool. Um.
(02:28):
They just had these gigantic rips and they were loose
and all the like the places I felt like Reese
Witherspoon and fear or something. So I had to get
these even Oh yeah, isn't she just the cutest in
that so um, I knew that they didn't fit around
my waist very well. I had to get them taken in,
(02:49):
and they took them in maybe a little bit too much,
to the point that I really couldn't get them over
my butt. But I wasn't going to like just retire
them after I spent seventy getting them and I love
them so much, so I was like, no, I have
to wear these, but it's going to require help every
time I pulled them up and pull them down. So
(03:12):
I the other day Jared had to basically pick me
up while having his fingers through the loops of my jeans,
and then I had to kind of hold his neck
and he had to kind of drop me into the jeans.
It was kind of like if you're like, imagine putting
a pillow into a pillowcase, okay, right, And so it
(03:37):
was such a scene. I was like, Okay, when I
take these things off, I'm going to videotape it because
it took a solid minute for him to have to
pull them off my legs. So I videotaped it. I
thought it was pretty funny, pretty relatable. Um, if anybody
else has that similar issue, Um, and that is love,
(03:57):
that is marriage, and that's a big booty. So is
there like a sense of accomplishment that Jared feels when
he gets them off? Like do you see a smile? Okay?
Just like it, Like it's almost so ignor Like things
like that are like just so commonplace now that he's
like not in phase, Like if you watch it, he's
watching Superman in the background, Like he's way more focused
(04:19):
on Superman. And Okay. Also, this brings up an interesting
topic that that I've wanted to discuss with multiple women
in my life, and I always forget, uh, how okay,
So say you're in a scenario where there's like a yeah, okay,
So there's two things I want to go with this,
those those Jeanes being one, because what do you do
(04:41):
if you're at the restaurant? And because when when he
when he finally gets the pants off. You see that
you're wearing something that looks like a bathing suit. I
had a bodysuit on ye shout out to Lonnie the
label by Amanda Stanton. Yeah, good for good for her.
But like this, this isn't just one layer of trickiness.
There's two, because then you have something that like literally
next your whole body. So here's my question for you.
(05:03):
Between that and I think it's called a romper, like
the full body romper things, How an emergency situations does
one go about their business successfully without causing a scene
or need to completely change in the restroom? Fantastic question back,
thank you. So when you're wearing like a jumpsuit, which
is kind of like a romper but a pants edition,
(05:26):
you basically get naked in the stall. So it sounds
so unsanitary. Well, I don't know that it's unsanitary. It's
just awkward because like if somebody were to like peek
through the cracks of a public restroom, they would just
see like this naked girl squatting a romper in This
is what I do, And maybe a lot of girls
(05:46):
are going to be like what the hell? But I
just pull it to the side. There's so much there
that could go wrong. Oh yeah, you can definitely get
p on your romper. But even if like, what's a
cup sprinkles, but I don't do it. I don't sprinkle.
I wouldn't sprinkle um. And then in this case where
(06:07):
you're wearing way too tight of pants, that's just that's
one of those instances where people people are probably gonna
think you're pooping in the public restroom, but you're really
just trying to get them off and on, like you're
like grunting, you're jumping up and down, you're pulling it
in time commitment. Holy I don't think I could have
(06:27):
gotten those off myself though, So I knew when I
went to dinner that it was going to be like
you cannot be and like make yourself a little dehydrated
if possible. Wow, there's just a lot going on here.
I'm always learning something. You know what I did this weekend?
I went to a Halloween party that was Renaissance and
Harry Potter themed. Wait, why a Halloween party so soon?
(06:50):
I don't know, just I mean, I don't mind it. Yeah,
I don't really know. I mean it's just like one
of my friend's wise wanted to throw a Halloween party,
you know, a month in advance. Um, and there was
only like ten people there. I think it was like
a super small group. I didn't wear a costume, was
the only one, so like I was one of I know,
I had I have issues. I I have given up
(07:13):
my renaissance days based on you know, my new life,
but of the theme. But here's what happened. So, because
like there's only a few amount of people there, and
I think typically she throws a huge party, like massive celebration.
She didn't want to like uh not have fun, Like
(07:34):
she still wanted to go all out, and so she
bought a bouncy castle, like a massive bouncy castle, and
nobody was getting in it. And so my buddy and
I decided to jump around the bouncy castle for anybodyut
there listening. I don't know the last time you jumped
on a like something. I don't know if it's like
if it's a bouncy castle, if it's trampoline, or if
you just like jumped around in your yard for a bit.
(07:56):
You will never feel so out of shape. And so
then spending one minute, like as a kid, you could bounty,
you could jump, you could fall, you get back up,
you can tackle your buddies. I did it for two minutes.
My buddy and I did not. This is not an exaggeration.
He gets out of the bouncy castle and throws up
next to him, shut up. And there was no adult
(08:17):
beverages at play. It is just simply the fact that
my heart raced to a level I haven't felt in
twenty years. It was aggressive, it was unique. That's not shocking.
The throw up is hilarious, but I totally know what
you mean. Getting on a trampoline looks just like exhaustion
to me. There's no sense of fun there anymore. And
(08:39):
a bouncy castle, those things like they get they get
you so low, you know, there's so there's so much jump,
there's so much height to the jump. There nothing nothing
calls uh, nothing calls my name more than uh. Since
I don't have an a c l I can couch
calls name. But a bouncy castle in my knee is
like hyper standing on itself every time. Nothing just makes
(09:03):
me feel like a couch. A couch sounds great anyways, Hey,
lots our weekends. We're happy to be back with you. Uh,
We're happy to be breaking down everything going on in vacchination.
There are things going on that we'll bring in Mike
Johnson here and just a little bit, so make sure
you tune in for that before we get the hot topics.
Let's take one break. When we come back, we're gonna
break down everything going on in Bachelor Nation. Matt James
(09:35):
begins filming season twenty five of The Bachelor. See you
all in two months. He says, nothing juicy here, guys,
just a fact of the matter that the season has begun. Um,
I don't think we can can confirm where they're shooting yet,
but if you guys do want to do a little
quick search online you can find out. So Ashley, as
(09:59):
we prep now for getting closer to the season of
The Bachelorette, that there hasn't been anything released to my
knowledge yet on the details of this season. Then knowing
that just you know, in a few months, Matt's gonna
be off filming The Bachelor, We're gonna have another season
pretty quickly following like, how excited are you? It feels
like it's been forever. Yeah, it's fun. It's it's really fun,
(10:21):
And I can't help but think of how excited I
am for the producers to be done filming this season
because they have gone NonStop since we'll say June, right,
I mean, they are going five months, five six months
completely straight, and that's something that they never really have
to experience. So I'm excited for them to be able
(10:43):
to have a holiday break once it gets here. Yeah,
you know, and that's a I think it's an interesting
note that we we've brought up before, but just a
good reminder for all of us, Like when it comes
to first responders, when it comes to any essential workers,
when it comes to anybody now trying to put entertainment
on or any any industry that's trying to make this
period of time work for them, there are huge sacrifices
(11:05):
that are being taken place. Like there are producers on
the show. They're sound guys on the show. You know,
if if you hear the word producer out there you're listening,
you're like, oh, Bachelor producers, they're all terrible. Well, then
let's go to the sound people, let's go to the cameraman,
let's go do the people behind the scenes. There are
people who have just had babies, but this is the
way they put food on the table and pay for
their families. And now for the last few months they
(11:27):
have literally been in quarantine without being able to see
these people. We keep talking NBA hockey right, well, these
people are quarantining away for their families for months of
that time as well. It's it's you, just it's it's
an important reminder. There's a lot of to be grateful
for when you when things are given up, like uh,
you know, the time with the family. I think you'd
(11:47):
become more grateful for your time spent. But as fans,
as listeners, whatever, we have to realize that people are
making huge sacrifices, not just in entertainment, not just in sports,
but all over the place to make sure that this
world still functions at a level that's suitable for all
of us. So anyways, shout out to the Bachelor they
are filming. Matt James is gone and we're looking forward
(12:09):
to his season just as much as we are looking
forward to the Bachelorette. Well, speaking of bachelorettes, I think
I could easily say the Queen the favorite, one of
the favorites. Most people love this person, Caitlin Bristow. We're
watching her right now on Dancing with the Stars. She
is still on the show. She's doing great, but last
(12:29):
week she had a battle to go through and that
was a battle with pain. She suffered from an ankle injury. Ashley,
what's the updates. There's not much update right now. She
had an m r I on Thursday. She was scared
about getting the m r I because those can be supercaustrophobic,
but she didn't have to have her head in, which
is good. Um, but she's just super anxious about getting
(12:53):
the medical results back and she hasn't gotten back yet. Huh. Yeah,
So she doesn't have the results of the m r
I back, but as of the recording of this podcast,
she is out of Dancing with the Stars set getting
her makeup done, so it looks like she's going to
be dancing tonight. Um. I guess the issue here is
that she's had very little rehearsal time, so I think
(13:14):
she's very anxious about the fact that her dance probably
won't be as well rehearsed as she's been able to
do the past couple of weeks and as much as
everybody else has been doing. So you guys make sure
to vote for Caitlin. We know that her ankle. Is
she's still in pain. It's getting better with the days,
she said, which is a good sign. So do we
(13:36):
know from Dance with the Stars, like, where does Caitlin
typically stand when it comes to votes and rankings? Is
Is she typically very safe or she on the fringe?
She she's not on the fringe at all. She's getting
sevens and eights both weeks, So I mean, I think
she's she's pretty, She's gonna I think she's gonna be
safe regardless of how obvious her injury is, because the
(14:01):
fan vote is just going to She's gonna yeah. And um,
I don't know how the judging works if the judges
know that there's an injury present, Like, are they easier
or are they are they easier on them to give
them any sort of slack or they kind of like,
it's your decision to be other dancing. I don't know,
that's a good question. I don't know if they've even
(14:23):
said or if there is a like a precedent for
that is. Uh, is Carol Baskin still on the show? Yeah,
but she was in the bottom too last week and
I think the judges made the decision to keep her okay,
So like her time isn't long. Probably, I don't think so. What.
I'm actually surprised because I thought she'd have a lot
(14:43):
of fan vote too. Did you see that her that
the husband, you know, the husband that we all we
all know, has passed away somehow over what was it
like over a decade ago? They paid to have an
ad run during Dancing with the Stars, the first against Carol. Yeah,
(15:05):
I saw that. That's aggressive move, not cheap move either,
if to have primetime ABC commercial space. So statements are
being made. Dance with Stars is airing this week. May
surely go vote for Kaitlin uh and support her Bachelor Nation. Okay,
next headline is one from somebody that we will be
talking to in just a bit, and we get more
(15:26):
info on this later on, But it says Mike Johnson
would never return to Bachelor in Paradise. This according to
US Weekly. Yeah, that's interesting to me. We'll have to
get the answer from him. But he said, everyone involved,
including Mike flies, has been wonderful to me, freaking awesome people.
I would not do Bachelor in Paradise ever. Again, probably
it's just not my cup of tea. He also is,
(15:47):
you know, talking about his new book, which we will
we will talk about later. So Mike Johnson has a book,
he has a lot going on. Uh, I do want
to dig into this a bit. I feel like he's
like well suited for Paradise, Like I just think he
would he fits there. He's likable guy, he's a good
looking guy. You can show up to the beach and
meet some of these new people. But we'll figure out
what he's all about and why he's saying no to
(16:08):
Bachelor in Paradise at least for right now when we
bring him on here after the commercial break. Now, this week, Ashley,
we are going to talk to shan Low and Catherine
Uh in an in depth episode that will be airing
into the week. Super pumped for that, and uh, they're
gonna be great there. Obviously they've been in our headlines
(16:30):
for the last few weeks now, we've been talking about him.
This week's headline is a little different. Uh. Katherine responds
and starts opening up about how she feels about Shanno
shan Low not initially picking her. This according to US
Weekly as well. Okay, so I'm like initially picking her,
She's putting herself on the shoes of say, the mas NICs,
(16:50):
Uh if they if you were to ever pick somebody else,
and then went back to Catherine. She said that she'd
be pissed, that it would take a while for her
to get over and Sean would never live it down.
I feel her. You get it, you definitely get it. Well.
Next headline is The Bachelor's Tinley Moleson welcomes daughter rel
(17:11):
James absolute perfection and I quote, yeah, um, she is studying.
What a beautiful baby. She said that we've been completely
captivated and swept off our feet in love with our
precious baby girl. We haven't gotten around to introductions. She
said this when when she was first born, I think
about a week and a half maybe two weeks ago now,
(17:33):
and by following Tinley's Instagram, she's been making all the
family introductions, the aunts, the uncles, the grandparents, the cousins,
all that stuff this week and showing off this beautiful
little girl her and husband Taylor had this month. I mean,
two good looking people having a good looking baby. Not shocked,
not shocked. Well, speaking of one of our favorites, we
(17:57):
have to give a congratulations. But all so some breaking news,
unexpected news. Maybe I should say Bachelor alum Leslie and
Murphy is Yes, I'll say it. She's pregnant, expecting her
first child with fiance Alex. This also according to US Weekly. Yeah,
she posted us on Instagram yesterday she said baby Kavanaugh
(18:21):
taking flight in Finally someone to occupy the middle seat. UM.
Her pointfriend her, he says at drone Pilot, her fiance
and I couldn't be more excited to grow our little family. Um.
She also she played she played the Ronetts be my
(18:42):
baby in the background of this, so really really cute.
Congratulations to her. Um. I feel like there's been a
lot of baby news and the girl like all these girls,
I want a girl, And I'm like Jared, there's so
many baby girls in Bachelor Nation. There's no way we're
going to have a girl first. Well, yeah, because the
genetics bat does. Uh. Super exciting for both of them.
(19:08):
I mean, we've had some amazing baby news over the
last few weeks here on the podcast. Uh with babies
you know who started out uh needing extra care in
the hospital, who have came home healthy. I mean, I
don't know if you have the list in front of you, um,
but it is, Yeah, go ahead. So it was Liz
we had ten and now we have Leslie, we had Courtney.
(19:31):
Can you think of anybody else from this year? That's four?
I can't. I mean, when was Tanner and Jade's last
child born? Well, Tanner, and you're right, there's a good one.
So the next one will be born in November. It's incredible.
I mean, just a lot of babies happening. I mean, hey,
but let's be honest. I guess this wouldn't be I
was gonna say Quarantine probably had some people having babies.
(19:52):
But this wouldn't be Quarantine. Babies wouldn't. Leslie's wouldn't be.
What about Britta Nelson? Did you have a child? Britta Nelson? Yeah,
it's a good job. Thank you big. Yeah, that's a
big There's just a lot to celebrate, and Bachelor Nation
life is being born. We will always celebrate that. Uh. Hey,
final headline here, Hannah Brown hits the water in a
bikini with some Bachelor besties to celebrate her birthday. Hey,
(20:16):
before we go on this headline, I do have to
take a note. I just googled it and Beca Martinez
also had a baby this year. Du good job. Okay, yeah,
so uh not a real juicy story here. But Hannah
Brown did turn twenty six this weekend, and she was
joined by Demi and Hannah Gee on what looked like
(20:36):
a fabulous yacht in the l A area. Over the
past couple of days, she had like kind of like
a week long celebration. I know she did some um
zoom some zoom birthday party with some bachelor fins. Yeah,
they're on a yacht and I'm in a bouncy house
sweating my brain. We don't live the same life. But
(20:57):
the point is there's just a lot of babies being
born in Bachelor Nation. Um, we're gonna take a break
when we come back. During break, we're gonna google all
the children being born in Batchel Nation this year because
I'm sure we miss him. But we come back, we're
gonna have Mike Johnson on the podcast talking about his
recent project along with his dating life, uh and what
his new roommate and him will be up to in Austin, Texas. Uh,
(21:19):
let's take a break, we come back, well, Mike Johnson. Okay,
So the Bachelor Babies that we did re Pecca Martinez, Um,
(21:39):
Jenna Cooper, Travis Stark, and Kelly Travis If we are
missing any of them. This list let us know. It's
hinted at UH in the beginning of the podcast, and
UH consistent person on the Almost Famous Podcast. We've also
done an in depth episode with this human who you
should go back and list in two we have up
(22:02):
next in the Almost Famous Podcast, Mike Johnson, Mike, welcome,
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Ben, thank you asked
you for having me back. I feel like I can't
believe I'm saying this. I feel like I'm a part
of the family. You are a friend of the podcast. Yeah,
I feel like a friend of the five. I agree.
(22:22):
I was thinking the same thing earlier. So you remember
last time you're here, you're talking about maybe moving and
you've decided to make that leap. You're in Austin. Yes,
Connor and I are moving to Austin. Let's go Connor
who just I mean Connor Saley? Right? Who was on
the show with you? Yes, Connor Salley. He won our
(22:42):
season of the Bachelortte. Wait did he win that? Yeah?
The guy that wanted. You know, in most people's hearts,
that guy is a good looking fella. He's nice, he's kind,
he has his own stuff going. How how did you
two decide to live together. Have you stayed for ends
throughout the last couple of months. Yeah, man, I think
(23:04):
that probably. Honestly, our alumni, the Bachelor of Alumni is
I think, for most part are pretty cool people. And
Connor lives in Dallas. I live in San Antonio, but
my family is from Dallas, and so I would always
go up to Dallas and Connor and I would always
try to kick it and hang out, some workouts together
and do some business things together. And I mean we've
just naturally continued to come together. I mean even on
(23:27):
the show, we were bunk mates every step of the way. Um,
he left and then I left the next day. I
mean we're like it just was. It was meant to be.
When was the last time you lived at the roommate? Yeah,
I asked a great question because that I swore I
would never do it again. And like my last day
(23:49):
is my best friend to this day. He's a great
human being. But like when you live with somebody, you know,
like you can't do certain things no more. Right, So
the last time I had a roommate, I was twenty
years old. It was right before going into the military. Um,
and so actually funny story about that. I was in
community college at the time. I came home and I
(24:11):
told my roommate at the time, it's just things bright
like my best for me in the world. And I said, Bro,
I'm joining the military. I'm joining the Air Force. He
was like, man, don't join the military. Bro, don't do that.
Next thing. I know he up and left before I
left to the military. So look at you being all influential, Mike.
What's one thing you're gonna have to give up with
(24:33):
a roommate that you don't want to have to give up?
Then I'm not gonna lie. I tell people all the
time too. I can't believe on the saying when you're
filling down or sadder, the pressure anything, run around the house,
but Naken, listening to your favorite music and screaming at
the top of your lungs. I don't you know. I
(24:54):
don't want Connor to get jealous. I can't do it.
I don't. I was gonna say, you don't have to stop.
I don't. I don't know what's told you back, buddy.
I was literally going to say, I feel like Mike
is the kind of guy who likes to walk around
the house naked. But you know, I still have a
room to do that in. You know, I still can
(25:14):
do my thing in my room, just locked the door.
There's so many questions I can ask about, like having
a room, like just getting a new roommate, Like how
are you guys going to deal with food? Like are
you going to think about like you can ask each
other what do you want for dinner every night? Or
is it going to be like we do our own
separate grocery shopping. No, that's yoah see I don't that
would never come. I'm go speak for Connor and I.
(25:36):
That's something we don't have to ask each other. It's
like no, that question is like no, it's like, bro,
I'm cooking some healthy food. You want someone? You know?
We don't even ask you, just like we're both always hungry.
What is one thing that you can foresee being annoyed
about Connor with without even a thought? Connor is a
(25:58):
beautiful human being, but the boy is junk right his
count Oh my god. When he stayed here in my
place for you know, like a week or so. And
Connor loves to work out. And that's one reason why
I'm so happy to moving together because he's gonna be
like a positive influence on me. But the dude needs
a pick up after him. So so that's gonna be
(26:20):
a little a nuance for me, a nuance for me.
So the final roommate question, and I think this is
one that even I'm experiencing with my fiance as we
start to talk about getting married and we're gonna live.
Shout out to Jess Yeah, shout out to Jess. Uh.
I think the one thing they can break roommates. I
think you can make it happen and work together. I
(26:41):
think it's awesome and I don't know if I could
do it again, but I'm happy for you. It's a bathroom.
So are you gonna have to share a bathroom? Do
you have your own individual bathrooms? Because sharing a bathroom
could ruin you too. Absolutely, you're of the money, like seriously,
like the bathroom is like a sacred like I'm not like,
(27:03):
once I move in with a lady again, you know what,
I'm a relationship. The moment that I could take a
crap and she's in the bathroom at the same time,
that means love, right, So you're okay with that. I'm
not okay with that. We've talked about this on the
podcast before, maybe even before you were even on the show,
(27:24):
you would be okay, seen your lady poop? Yeah, I mean, like,
you know, we love, we're like, we're growing together. I'm
cool with that. I don't want to see myself poop.
I mean, I don't want to see the white popart.
But you know, outside of that good, Oh my gosh,
all right, while you're sitting I'm okay. Well, but then
(27:46):
I was talking more about the counter. I was more
of the count bathroom. Yeah, on bathroom, bro, we gotta
work good. Well, Mike, you have some stuff going on
right now that we got to dive into and talk about. Uh.
Not only do we love catching up on your life,
but you also has recently came out the book called
Making the Love you Want. Uh. You know, instead of
(28:07):
me trying to explain to everybody, how about you just
tell our listeners what this is about. What they can
look forward to me being extremely authentic and transparent. There's
so much more than a smile. There is so much
more than you being the pastor. There's so much more
than Ashley and Jared right, and in my book you
will learn so much more about me things that are unflattering,
(28:32):
but I feel that that's me standing in my power.
And that's the goal that I want everyone to have
when reading my book and window going through my book,
and you know, uh, working through my book is knowing
that we all have self living beliefs, but we're gonna
shatter every single stuff. For me, belief and the unflattering
things I'll talked about my book. It was hard for
(28:54):
me to say I want to be a success when
I was doing incredibly ignorant things. But those are all
self limiting beliefs that I had upon myself right and
for us to stand up in our power. And I
remember I did an I G Live two days ago
with the lady named Sarah, like I really care about
our extended UH family, that's where I call our fans.
(29:16):
And Sarah was telling me she does a calligraphy, and
she was telling me that I would. I asked her
a question in regards to a piece of clligraphy that
she did for Brianna Taylor, and I was incredibly moved
by it, and so I said, why did you start calligraphy?
And she told me that that was how she found
her voice, that was how she found her way to
(29:37):
stand in her power. And so my book is simply
giving you the keys to finding your own powers, to
knowing that you are beautifully made in God's creation and
that you're awesome human being. Let's do it. Can you
give us one of those keys right now? This as
a teaser? Can I give you one of those keys
(29:57):
right now? I should give you a book right now.
As a teaser, I would say today, literally, I want
you to look in your mirror that you have, not
the same bathroom then with ys, but look into a
mirror that you have, and I want you to write
now three things that you love about yourself. So, for example,
(30:17):
for me, what I would do is, I would say
that the people that know me individually know that I'm
pretty damn caring. So I would say I'm caring person.
I would say that all my friends that know me
know that when I say something I will do, I'm
a I stick with things to the hend. That would
be the second thing I would say. And the third
thing I would say is I legit love making people smile, right,
(30:40):
And so what we do with this I have a mirror.
It's a mirror that I look at every single day.
I right, get my goals right as mirrors. Mirrors get
a little bit dirty over time, and it's the same
thing within our life. In our life, our life can
get cluttered and you know, we start to lose sight
of who we are. But once you talk positive to yourself,
once you clean that mirror off, you can see who
(31:00):
you are at your core again. So that would be
a quick, a quick one. Why out of all the
topics that you could write about, why this one? Man?
I gotta say, I'm loving the hair, man, I'm loving
the hair. I love you, Bro. I just had to say, uh, well,
why out of all topics talk about this topic? Great question.
(31:24):
I think people like, Bro, you're on the TV, just
talk about TV. That's all we care to hear about you.
And to me, just like all of us, they're so
many different sides of us, and this is the side
that is I'm most passionate about. I with all of
my being believed that if you make someone else happy,
you make someone else smile, it makes you happy in return,
(31:48):
it makes the world a better place. And I think,
quite honestly, right now we all agree that the world
could be a better place, right and so um a
part of that is starting with ourselves knowing that we
are capable of amazing things. Except for being doing his
hair this morning. Yeah, I didn't do my hair this morning,
and in fact, uh, Mike, I've I've been running my
(32:10):
hands through it all day and it's standing up at
different different points. Uh. I love it well as a
listener out there, they obviously care about you, they respect you.
Um leaving this book. Outside of giving them the power
back and making them feel better, what do you hope
they gain? I hope people gain a concrete, a marble,
(32:38):
a diamond. Let's say, let's stick with diamond, because that's
the strongest, uh, forced demand. I hope that people have
a diamond understanding that you can and they fill in
the blank. Mhm. I believe it as simple as that.
It's like my book, I don't define what self love
(32:59):
is is. I let the individual define what that is themselves.
I give lots of examples, and I talked about it,
and I talk about what it means to me. But
I want people to have a diamond knowing that if
you love yourself, there's not nothing that on this earth
that you cannot do. You can have those courageous conversations
like I have my mother about my book and talking
about it, which was incredibly hard for me to do,
(33:21):
you know, talking to her about when my babysitter es
sexually harassing me, right, or talking to her about how
it made me feel when I had in my eyes
and cat scans because I was lashing out of my mother,
you know, when I did some illegal things that I
told you about offline that are pretty embarrassing for me. Uh,
(33:43):
to have those courage conversations. Know that you're Dimon and
we're all made wonderful. We just have to, you know,
go out and seek it. I feel like I'm preaching
right now. I'm not normally this guy. Right, this isn't
a side of me, but well, this isn't a side
that people have seen of me. This is all of me,
and it's just it's it's cool to show this side
(34:05):
of me. I like you person. I know that when
we did the in depth you talked about a very
dark period of your time where you honestly didn't leave
the house for about a year. Could when you when
you go look back and think about that, guy, like,
how cool is it to see where you are now
and what you're writing about? It makes me smile. It's
(34:25):
awesome too, because that guy was like, I lost like
twenty five pounds, I grew my hair out crazy. Um
my states account depleted to zero, having thousands in the day,
uh two, literally throwing up up when I went back
out and saw people. That's crazy for me, as everyone
(34:46):
knows me, is like, it's super a jovial individual. Thank
you asked me for bringing it up. When I came
out of that period of time, I literally hyperventilated and
threw up because I was around people. Right, It's just
blasphemy to me. It's crazy, it's obnoxious, and to be
here right now, I would just tell that dude again, Bro,
you're a diamond. You are strong, you are going to
(35:07):
get through this. You are absolutely made for this, and
it's just amazing to be here in this position right
now too. To go from that to this, Ben talks
about in his book about just the importance of connection
and how like it's just so tempting to kind of
retreat to your whole and just be alone, but that
(35:30):
is just going to make everything you're feeling worse. So
I like, you guys need to have some little like
a book joining moment here. Oh, I absolutely want to.
I honestly were going to bring up Beings that book
while being on this podcast. You guys, I think that
it is so easy, is absolutely right. It's so easy
(35:51):
for us to go into our whole. Right. That's why
in dating I'm so big or communication because in dating,
a lot of the times I'm using this as example.
You know, people know it's from a dating show, right,
and so I'm using this example in dating when we
feel down and or hurt from our partner and or
we hurt them. There are so many times where we
(36:12):
just want to withhold and just retreat, and that's not good.
And the same thing happens with ourselves. Right. When I
was in my deep period of time where I spent
like literally a year of my life in a hole, right,
I call it to myself. I say I was in prison.
I imprisoned myself, and that's not good. You know it's
not there. You know, no one wins from that situation,
(36:35):
no one, not You are the people that you can
impact in a positive manner. Mike Uh tell us a
little bit about the writing process. When did you start, Uh,
What was your kind of technique for walking through it
and making sure the words that you put on paper
matched what you were feeling and wanting in your heart. Yeah.
(36:56):
So when you just said that, I'll tell you what
happened to me when you said those words. I kind
of took a deep breath because I was reliving what
I call emotional homework. That's what me and my editor
call it. He would ask me like some really hard
questions and I'm like, damn, that's rude, but it was
(37:19):
it was needed for me to go into such a
deep place and so being to answer your question, I'm
not a writer by a trade, right, I think that
I've written an amazing book. Um. I hope that you guys,
you know, feel the same way after you read it,
and if not, please tell me how I can get better.
But I would say that I spent a lot of
(37:40):
writing time then in the wee hours of the morning.
I don't know why. I think it's just because I
feel like the world is asleep in the world can't
hear my thoughts. And so it was, it was, it
was it was subconscious for me to be up at
three thirty three in the morning, you know, writing down
my deepest things and or my most vulnerable moments, and
(38:02):
how I would talk to my best friend in the
entire world. And so for me, it was literally just
writing in the middle of the night. Um. If I
felt that I had writer's block, I would just stop writing.
There was The beauty of being self published is that
I have no time with right It's my book. I
do what I want when I want, And so I
would really walk away, get up, taking that go bs,
(38:24):
do something else, and then I would come back to it. Um,
and I would have conversations with friends about real stuff,
not about people, not about um what's going on new
is what did Kim Kardashian doing, but about real things
that's affecting, nealizing, affecting my lives. And via those conversations,
you know, I'm able to ascertain knowledge. So uh to
(38:48):
close up here, Mike things for sharing all that. And uh,
I know people out there anxious and waiting to get
their hands on this. When does it come out? Where
can they find it? And uh and how can they
best access this book that you have beautifully created? Thank
you man. Um. I feel like I just want to
(39:08):
hug you guys. I'm just really happy to see you guys.
You know so sweet, You're so cute. I'd hug you back.
You can go purchase my book on Mike johnson Smile
dot com, sign up for my newsletters. They'll also be
on Amazon. My book is called Making the Love You One.
My base is not in a cover up with my
book because this book is so much bigger than me.
(39:29):
I want people to know that it comes out October two,
this Friday, World Smile Day, not just America Smile Day,
not just My John Smile Day, but World Smile Day.
Let's do it so you know, we can't let you
go without talking about some Bachelor related things. You recently
said that, despite respecting and loving the whole production crew,
(39:53):
you have no desire to go back to Bachelor in Paradise,
So can you explain why. Yes, I'm glad you said that.
I really am glad that you said because some people
have like coming me when I said things that have
not been the most flattering in regards to the franchise.
And I appreciate you saying that because I have all
the love in the world for our franchise. Right, I
love you guys, love our franchise. You of all people
(40:15):
know I'm very honest though, and the reason I want
to go on Paradise again, is because I don't feel
like that's the best form for me to find my love.
And quite honestly, the point of going on the show
isn't it gain I g phone. The point of going
(40:36):
on the show is I fine your love. And that's
why I haven't been opposed to when people ask the
question about being the lead, because I feel I like
that round more so. I like being on the batch
read more so than Paradise. I feel like Paradise to
me was I felt like high school popularity contest. No,
(40:59):
I unders stand. I felt that Paradise, even though it's
where I found my love, it was far more emotional.
It's just like kind of like a wrecking process. But
when I look back on being on The Bachelor, it
was just fun. Yeah, a lot lighter, a lot lighter.
(41:21):
Agree with that, so much lighter. And yeah, that's why
I mean, it's not for me. But what's not for
me doesn't mean it's not for you. Obviously, you found
a wonderful guy in there who has the best jaw
in the world, right, so he's yes, he does. It's
just it's not it's not for me now of course. Um, yeah,
(41:45):
I'll just see like that now if they did Summer
Great Games, because Summer Games was canceled. Ben and I
know that that's a lot different than Bachelor in Paradise.
It's a lot um it's a lot more casual. It's
just kind of like, if it happens, it happens. It
just doesn't feel like it kind of feels like you're
there to be friends first and foremost and to like
have fun with competitions. Would you do something like Summer
(42:06):
Games or Winter Games again or ever not again? You
didn't do it? No, Yeah, that's my alley because like
when I go on a first date with the woman,
some things that I want to do was just be lighthearted,
be fun, doing activity to where like I'm trying to see,
like you know your comfort zone, right, I might take
you too. I fly right indoor sky down because it's fun,
(42:28):
it's activity. We're like friends in comparison to having an
interview deep questionnaire for six hours straight. Yeah, what makes
you laugh? That's what I want to know. Yeah. Yeah, Okay,
So you guys, it's not the end of possibly seeing
Mike Johnson on the show. Yeah, don't get too said yet.
You know, he could be back possibly one day somehow,
(42:50):
based on this conversation. Based on this conversation, it sounds
like you are still single. Can you like let us
in on the last time me went on a date?
What kind of has there been any little spark since
we've last seen you on the show. I feel comfortable
(43:10):
telling you, guys, someone just stayed with me here are
my place? And it wasn't Connor. They stayed. They stayed
for multiple days. Okay, so there's someone. There's someone. But
what city is she from? Is she gonna have to
be traveling? Interesting? I don't know. All right, Oh, thanks
(43:32):
for giving us that to smile on that guy's face
right now. Something happened. I don't know what assumptions, but
something happened in that guy smiling. National Smile Day, October three,
Mike Johnson's book comes out. Make sure to get it
on Amazon or Mike Johnson Smile dot com. Making You
(43:55):
Want by Mike Johnson. Mike, thanks for joining us, buddy,
Thank you guys, Love you guys, have a great day,
Love you buy. It's always good to catch up with Mike,
but we also love catching up with you. We're gonna
break down some listener emails. Please email us. Continue to
(44:17):
email us your thoughts, your opinions, uh, your concerns to
Ben and Ashley at I heeart meatia dot com, but
also follow us on Instagram at Almost Underscore Famous Podcast.
We will be updating that Instagram every week, uh and
kind of teasing the episodes and also breaking down any
further content needed. Yeah, you guys can d m us.
You can d m u s questions too, but we
(44:38):
love having these little behind the scenes questions to answer
for you guys every week, so keep them coming. First
email is from Shawnee. Is it true? The producers track
the contestants minstrel cycles and schedule their one on one
interview when they are most likely to be hormonal, emotional
wreck Ashley. I don't know about this. You on. I
(44:58):
think this has to be something sort of fake news.
I don't know where you heard this, Shawnnie. Now I'm wondering.
Did I ever fill out a questionnaire about when my
last period was? That would be insane? I don't what
I never did. Oh no, you never filled that out? Um,
(45:20):
I don't know. I mean like maybe we did during
Like we don't do a physical, but we do like
have to get blood drawn and stuff and in that paperwork,
I may have filed something out. But you guys, they
schedule interviews with you, one on one interviews every single day,
So it's not like they're like, oh, but this is
(45:42):
the one that we're gonna get and it's going to
be super good. I don't really believe this. That would
be really extra. I mean, I guess I wouldn't rule
it out, but like, I don't think they revolve the
schedule around periods. The Bachelor isn't as like dark and twisted,
as like a fake. It's not. It's like very much okay.
(46:02):
It's not like I don't feel unsafe going on the show.
I don't feel like they're trying to ruin me. I
never felt that well. I mean, the number one behind
the scenes question I get asked is do they try
to throw alcohol down your throat? And I'm like, no,
not at all. Never once did they say like can
I get you something? Like if you want something, you
(46:24):
can be like, oh, can you grab me memosa? I'd
love that, thank you. But they're never like I think
you could use another one. It's not like they're in
the fact of like there's an open bar in the
interview room. People make it seem like there's like they
have a bar car in the interview room. No. I
actually remember them like telling me no often, Like if
(46:47):
I was like, hey, can I get a drink for
this interview, They're like, nah, Like not tonight, Uh you
got an early morning, Like I remember them saying that.
I never remember them going, hey, you should have like
a few shots before you talk to us tonight, Like
that never happened. And honestly I never needed this, Like
once you get into this, like the regiment of interviewing
(47:07):
so often and opening up your heart and being so vulnerable,
you don't need alcohol to be vulnerable or to cry
or anything like that. Actually, you're not that I ever YEA. Hey,
next email is one that we want to broach because
we appreciate this person coming in. We're gonna keep it anonymous,
(47:27):
but we do appreciate this email and the vulnerability behind it.
I think we can answer it to the best of
our abilities. But um, the listener writes, my husband recently
admitted to me that he has had a sexual attraction
to another woman that we know for the past six years.
He told me that he's never acted upon it, and
I do believe him. He's been brutally honest with me
(47:49):
and very communicative. He told me that he loves me
so much and he feels satisfied with our relationship, but
still has an attraction to this person. We plan on
entering therapy together, but I guess I feel like I
don't know how to move forward from here. If it's
been this long, it's clearly not going away. How can
I ever feel confident? How can I ever stop wondering
(48:11):
if he's thinking about her when we're intimate together. I'd
appreciate any advice from both of you on how you
battled those insecurities and feelings uh like you're enough for
your spouse. So I don't think Ashley and I have
maybe entered into this exact scenario, but I think the
last sentence is relatable to all of us. Um not
feeling enough and having insecurities within a relationship. Those are
(48:34):
things that that all of us have felt and that
we've had to work through. Ashley, do you want to
kind of broach this first? Do you want me to try?
I want you to try. So how I go about
this is um one there is with all we know here,
there is an honesty Uh, that is admirable on his
(48:54):
part to open up to you and tell you this,
I think in a partnership. Um, in fact, you know,
I'll go about this way. I have one of my
best buddies admitted this to his wife, not in a
six years and but he said, hey, I you know,
I'm realizing that I'm having eyes for other people and
I don't like it and I don't want this, but
I need to tell you this so that you can
(49:14):
help me through it. And she did. She owned that
with him and said, hey, what do I need to do?
What can we do together to help you, uh, get
through this? Because this isn't something I know you want.
I know you don't want to be looking at other people.
I know you don't want to be thinking about this
about other people. And it's better for a relationship. So
there is a partnership here that I think is is
admirable on both of your parts to stay together, but
(49:35):
also for him to be communicative. I don't I want
to be honest, I don't think this is super uncommon now.
I don't know to the extent of the sexual attraction happened,
I don't. I don't know that scale. And and what
was thought of. But I don't think it is uncommon
for people, uh in relationships too at times go Wow,
that person is incredibly attractive. Now acting upon it is different,
(49:58):
and then think letting your mind go to a place
that's a healthy um is a boundary that that personally,
I think would be healthy to set. So yeah, that's
where I feel like I have a little something to say.
I mean, I'll go out with my girlfriends and we'll talk.
I'll be like, oh he's hot, Oh he's hot, Like
we'll talk about hot guys still do because I'm married.
I'm not blind, But it doesn't mean it means that,
(50:19):
like you find them attractive, but you don't have any
intent or desire to act on that attraction. And I
also think there's a difference between acknowledging like, oh that
person is hot, they're fun to look at, versus, um,
I'm daydreaming about that person, like I'm thinking about that
person romantically. And I think that's what our listener listeners
(50:41):
husband is doing. And and and let's go with that
because I don't know right that that doesn't go in
enough detail for us to know this. However, Uh, here's
my advice to you uh, and it sounds like you're
doing it from your email. You have to communicate, and
I think an open line of communication and within this
is now necessary. I think if I was your husband
(51:02):
who had admitted this to you, and you told me
as we were intimate together that hey, you're worried about
what I'm thinking about or who I'm thinking about, I
think you should tell him that. And I think a
good partner with an understanding partner, especially with look at
you and go I get I get why because this
was something that I put on you, and this is
the way I put on you, and let's work through this. Um.
(51:23):
You might need more validation now than maybe you would
if this was never said to you. There's insecurities that
came up because of his openness to you that you
never thought you'd have to deal with, and and a partnership,
I would just imagine that both people are better when
there is that open line of communication because you're only
doing it. I mean, the goal is that you're doing
it to mend and to get back to a place
(51:44):
of healthiness and happiness and fulfillment and enjoy within your relationship.
And if that is the intent with your communication, that
I don't think much can go wrong. I think that
if you're speaking to him and communicating with him and saying, hey,
I'm worried about this, and I'm only worried about it
because I want you to want me, and I want
you to desire me, and I want you to think
about me. Ask him, let him, let him respond. Uh.
(52:08):
But I do also want you to know that you
should feel confident in relationship because you two are together
and you're trying to work it through, and you are
desirable and you are desired and uh, and for that,
I think, actually I are wishing you the best. This
is tough, this isn't easy. But but if you're feeling
alone and like you're the only one out there experiencing this,
(52:29):
I can promise you that this isn't an isolated event
that there there. This isn't uncommon. It doesn't take away
from the pains that you're feeling, but this isn't uncommon. Yeah,
And I wish that I had more advice on this,
especially since this person probably reached out being like, actually,
must have insecurities because of the way that Ashley and
Jared's relationship started. I don't have a I don't really
(52:52):
have a lot um and a lot of it is
just healed over time. And I think that it's just
like as simple as being open and honest, um, giving
a time and just yeah, what Ben said, the fact
that he's wanting to work through this, it should be
a great sign for you. Hey, what a podcast. We
appreciate you writing in, Thanks for your honesty, thanks for
(53:14):
connecting us all. Uh. We'll be back this week with
an in depth with Sean and Catherine. It's gonna be awesome.
It's gonna be really great. We'll be posting that by
the end of this week and then we're back next
week on Monday. As we get closer and closer, I
think that is going to be our official last offseason podcast.
So exciting, absolutely crazy, makes our jobs easier and makes
(53:38):
our jobs even more fun than we already have. Hey,
with that, I've been Ben, I've been Ashley. We'll talk
to you soon. Stil next time followed the Benn and
Ashley I Almost Famous podcast on iHeart Radio or subscribe
wherever you listen to podcasts.
Hosts And Creators
Ben Higgins
Ashley Iaconetti
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