The OTHER Ben from Indiana

Get to know the guy that Ben and Ashley wish was The Bachelor! Ben Smith (from Tayshia’s season) is here to get real about his experience baring all on the show. 

He tells us the honest reason why we didn’t see him in Paradise and we get a hint that he might be returning to your TV screen sooner than you’d think! 

Plus, Ben reveals which members of Bachelor Nation didn’t get an invite to his wedding! 

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with i R Radio. It's time for the Almost Famous podcast.
I am in Nashville, Tennessee. I just arrived about ten
minutes ago. Getting ready now for my wedding this Saturday. Yes,
I said last week I didn't know if i'd be
here or not. But I just can't stay away for

(00:20):
that long. I thought two weeks off was too much. Uh.
And Plus, Ashley, I had to hear in person about
your big news. You and Jared have had huge, huge
news this week that I thought, uh that I really
just want to hear about. Oh, it's been a big
week for us. One we have Well, there's two weddings

(00:43):
in our lives this weekend, one being Ben's. Jared has
his other best friends, the one the girl who signed
him up for The Bachelor. That wedding is the day
before in Cancoun and he's just going to be a flying,
crazy mess. Um. I'm not going to Cancoun because I
don't know that would be the best for me in
this third trimester as I approach it. This week, Um,

(01:06):
I'm burying the lead. Jared, I became aunt and uncle
last night. So cute. We haven't met our niece yet though. Yeah,
the COVID restrictions are really strict. It's all like kind
of dependent on hospital and maybe state, I'm not sure,
Like the hospital I'm delivering at, but that's not an issue.
Like my sister and Jared can be in the delivery room,

(01:29):
I can have like one other person, like my parents
can visit, but like at the hospital and she's at
we can't. So babies are just gonna be all over
the placens. Yeah, it's so crazy. We were a trimester apart,
which was really fun. We were like exactly thirteen weeks apart,
which is crazy. Well, congratulations you guys and the Haven family.

(01:51):
That's just um, such a cool deal and what a
thing to celebrate. And then yeah, I have a lot
of love for Jerry um the fact that he's even
trying and he will but he's attempting to make it
to the wedding, which is such a will no attempts here.
I know, It's just cool. It's a big deal that
he's even doing it, and uh, who Jared is right,

(02:14):
very important weddings they are. I get that. But in
the midst of setting up a business, in the midst
of two weddings, He's still gonna make happen. And we
just need to take a second to realize that Jared's
just Jared's is the best, Like he's just a good dude.
He's the best, and he's been working his butt off
so it'll all pay off soon. But yeah, well, tell

(02:37):
me about the opening of the Generous Shop in Soho. Yeah,
so we uh there's a shop and in Soho now
on West Broadway. It's I just got back today. Um
it's serving generous coffee. It's called the Good Market. So
the Good Market is a place where thirty different four
purpose brands are being represented underneath one roof. So you

(02:58):
can walk in and you can buy um some of
the brains that you might even know, like Sackcloth and ashes,
an able and Generous Um mud Love, which is a
really popular pottery company out of Worth Sunday and actually
but it's everywhere now and so you can walk in
and buy him. And in the back the Generous coffee
is being served up at the cafe. So go in
and stop if you're in New York City in the

(03:20):
Soho neighborhood and say hey, and then tell him I
sent you. I don't think you get a discount, but
I think you just might get a high five and
that would be worth As we get started today, we
want to mention our batch Bracket rule of the week.
The Batch Bracket rule of the week is for week five,
you get ten plus points every time a contestant is

(03:42):
seen holding Michelle's hand. Oh my goodness, that's gonna be
a lot of points brought out this week. Guys, we
have a very cool guest on the podcast today. His
name is Ben Smith. You may not have um, he
may not have crossed your mind lately, but he was
such a big figure on Tatious season, so we're really
exciting to We're really excited to catch up with him,

(04:02):
and we're going to do so after this break. Okay, guys,
we have Ben Smith on the podcast and it's the
first time even though he was as a prominent contestant

(04:23):
last year on Tatia and Claire season. Ben, Hey, where
have you been? Why haven't you visited us? Well, this
is the first time I've been invited to stop that. No,
they keep that, they keep you guys from us, they
lock you up. I'm happy to be here. I hear
that you're pregnant. The last time I saw you, you

(04:45):
weren't pregnant, and I hear you're pregnant. Now I'm super
much so and it's I miss, I'm pretty miss. I
try not to complain because, like you know, blessed right,
but also just like my body doesn't like it. But
thank you for asking. Yeah, well you've seen your spirits
seem high. That's cool. Thanks. I can fake it for

(05:06):
a while. I just want to let you know that
at one point a couple of weeks ago, I told actually,
she's like beautiful, and she's like, no, I'm not. I like,
I get really triggered by like the glow thing. I
think it's like really toxic for women to have to
like feel like they should glow. No, well, you seem
like you're doing all right, even though it's miserable. Thank you, Ben, congrats,

(05:27):
congrats on your wedding. That seems like a cool thing.
Thank you. Was just a good decision to still record
a podcast to one one day before guests arrive and
ten minutes after entering into Nashville. But that sounds portant,
you are. I appreciate I appreciate it well. To answer
your question, Ashley, I've just been living my life. I

(05:51):
have a business here in Los Angeles, so I've been
pretty you know, stuck working with that. Not stuck, but
I've been pretty focused on building that and the gym
space that I own here in the community that we're
slowly growing. Um, you know, the world starting to open
up a bit again, you know, especially here on the
West Coast, and so we've got this new opportunity to
like finally go full speed with everything. So I've been

(06:11):
I've been pretty committed and uh, you know, focused on that.
So like that's I guess that's the reason why I
haven't haven't come on the show, but also maybe have
been like a little bit m i A. Because I'm
focused on on all the stuff that I've got going
on in my life. So you like jumped into business
entrepreneurship after the show? Was it what you were doing?

(06:32):
The same thing you were doing before the show? Yeahh so,
uh yeah. So for the last couple of years, like
about two years prior to going on the show, I
was working as a strength conditioning coach in l A.
Had a small personal training business than coached for a
family of gym's locally, and then after the show, we
came back to like a quarantined Los Angeles still um

(06:52):
so Jim was still closed. During that process, my now
business partner and I built an online platform for training,
and then through that, once the world started to open
back up again, we like combined what we were doing
digitally with the space we have in Los Angeles and
we actually just rebranded into a into a fully new
thing last month. So it's a new community, new name,

(07:14):
same type of thing. Strange conditioning training for for anyone
that's open to getting better and stronger and feeling better
about themselves. So it's been a really cool thing, but
it takes all my time. So, I mean, my most
burning question is why didn't you go on Bachelor in Paradise?
So I feel like you're dedicated. I hear that's invite
only and stop that now, I know. Now, I'm I'm

(07:39):
really just focused on on all the stuff that I've
got going on here. I don't feel like it's uh,
you know, appropriate to my partner in the community that
we've got to like step away for long periods of
time and and uh, you know, Bachelor production just wasn't
in the cards for me this time. But like you,
but you got the invite, right, I did not come on.
Now that's sucking. That's that's surprising to me. Um, why

(08:04):
do you think that is? Did you talk I mean,
did you talk to anybody? No? I mean I has
been limited with with uh, you know, the people inside
the franchise since leaving the show, but you know, all
on good terms. I'm just I'm focused on my life
and maybe they saw that as a as a thing,
like they know very well that I that I own
a business here and I'm really focused on all the

(08:25):
things that I've got going on in l A. And
you know, maybe it's somebody looking out for me, just
knowing that maybe it's not the right step for me
personally at this time. But but I think you know,
I was kind of joking, but it is invite only,
and I just didn't receive any invitation. I'm truly mind boggled,
as you being the runner up on Tasia's season to
not be invited. There's always gonna be. There's always gonna

(08:48):
be more, right, there is, I guess there is. But
that is surprising to me because it feels like, you know,
you weren't the only one this year that we expected
to see at the beach and some people you know,
into it in relationships, and some people maybe decline. I
don't know if any extra buddy actually declined the offer,
but it is support like we expected you to be there.
Like if you were to say, who who's going to

(09:10):
definitely be on that beach, it was you. Um, and
some surprised that the call didn't even happen. I didn't
realize that it was that exclusive. I don't really know.
I don't really know. I've never been. I don't really know,
but yeah, they uh, yeah, just it wasn't for me
this year, and and uh, you know, maybe people have
had enough Ben. You no, never enough Bens. Uh. Now

(09:34):
you wait. Also, I hear Ben from Indiana. I was
going Ben from Indiana. Yeah, so so I'll let you
take that from me. Are Ben's from Indiana? Were Ben's
from Indiana? So? What high school? Did you go to?
Cathedral High School in Indianapolis? Yeah, so I'm from northern Indiana.

(09:55):
I'm I'm glad you represented well. The Midwest is still strong.
But yeah, I saw, I knew that, and then I
reminded that in our in our notes leading up to
the show, is that we're both Hoosiers, um. And if
somebody doesn't know what Whosier is, that is what you
call somebody from Indiana. Because the story goes like this.
Somebody was standing on one side of the Ohio River,
some guy was standing on the other, and they yelled,

(10:18):
who is there? But the guy on the other side,
I thought he was saying, Hohosier. And so we call
ourselves the Hoosiers. That's where this came from. Yeah, it's
very disappointing, actually I know, but it's it's it's who
we are. Oh that's hilarious. Okay, Well, Ben, I have
to play a little like tough question game with you

(10:38):
for a second. If you were to have been in paradise,
like what girls would have been on your list? Who
would you wanted to meet? Who would I want to meet?
And this is and then I want to tell you
this is a good platform to share this because we've
had people say this and then they connect afterwards and
love is blossom. We like to consider ourselves a love
show is as much as a show about the bachelor's um.

(11:00):
Throw your shout out there, man, holy cow, Well, I
have a secret to tell you. I didn't watch a
single episode of Paradise, So I don't even know who
was there, But but who would you wanted, Like, who
would you wanted to have an invite with you from
previous seasons? Man, that's rough. I wasn't really a fan
of the show before going on, so like, you're gonna
throw out names of people that I like, don't really

(11:22):
follow it, don't really pay attention to. But I said
this before. I always thought Demmy was funny. But I
know that she was on. I heard that she was
on this season. Um, I don't know. I Uh, that's
a really hard question. I'm like not giving you a
great answer. No, it's okay. Now we'll we'll flip it
and make it easier. If there was a celebrity and

(11:43):
we were allowed to have celebrities on the island, who
would you bring ye, Sydney Sweeney? Who the heck is
that from Euphoria? Then notice who that is? I know
I'm gonna I'm hoping actually was some that girl from
from Hbos. Oh my god, I'm gonna look her up.
She's the one from White Lotus Voyors. I've never seen

(12:11):
White Lotus, but that's my She's my celebrity crush. But
I get it now, I get it that that's fair
to me. Yeah, that's you know, Ben. If you would
have said if if Ashley and I would um, because
this is this is our podcast. Sometimes we like to
overstep our bounds. And if you would have said, who
would you have set me up with? We love Himmi,
We like Demmis as a human. We just think she's funny. Um,

(12:35):
but it would not have been who first came to
my mind when I thought of you. Well see, you're
gonna tell me people that I wouldn't be thinking like
to be blatantly honest. Nobody's like front of mine right now.
But who would you have set me up? Who would
you have put me with? I mean I would think
you'd be more of like a quiet like um, like
just kind of like like just more like low key person.

(12:55):
So maybe like Serena who ended up with Joe or um,
you know some of these people, like some of the
people that came and went even on this show. Um
somebody maybe that was released a few weeks earlier due
to some controversy. I think you could have seen through
that and been with him. I was going to put
you more with the Serena this year. I thought you'd

(13:15):
be competing for those types. Yeah, like a quieter, less
outspoken but you know you threw out to me even
a Mari maybe like Mari had like the edge to
her because she was like, um, she wasn't like the
loudest or most like known character. Because because she was consistent,
Denny obviously steps onto the beach and makes a name

(13:37):
for herself every time she does. I think it's funny.
Just so this is actually gonna be a funny thing.
So I didn't I didn't watch. I didn't really understand
what the Bachelor Bachelor it was before going on the show.
I didn't understand how did you get there? I was
reached out to randomly. They were like via social media,

(13:58):
which that was my story too. I begged and pleaded.
Not really, I just sent it the most elaborate audition tape.
Actually that surprises me a lot. Actually, wait for real,
are you being sarcastic? You can see her audition video. No,
so I was asked, I was asking on the show, um,

(14:18):
and I like I didn't know, Like I didn't understand
like the gravity of what it was, or like how
deep the fan base was. I just like, was not
you to that fact and I and I wish I
would have known like going on now, like what to
expect coming out of it. Um, it's been a wild,
wild year, a pretty exciting year. Um. But that I

(14:41):
didn't really know who were the characters were, who like
the prominent influential people inside the franchise were. I didn't
really understand any of that. But I did know who
Demi was because one time I randomly came across the
video of her like just saying some outlandish on the internet,
and I thought it was hilarious, And so she was
really the only person that I knew inside of franchise
before going on. Um, But yeah, it's been a really

(15:03):
cool experience. Everyone's been super nice and like really warm
and accepting inside. So it's been it's been really great
to meet people like you and everyone else that I've
come across. Since then, I gotta pause you here, Yeah,
was that a lion that just walked through your background?
Because something massive that semi looked like a house cat
just came across your back. It's a cat. I'm at

(15:24):
a friend's house and she's got a cat and a
huge dog. The dog's out for a walk, but it's
a I think I don't know where she went. Yeah,
it's a big, big cat, Holy Holy anyway, is it
a friend's house or is it a girl friend's house?
These are the questions. It is a friend's house. I'm
right down the street. My gym's in West Hollywood, but
I live in Venice, and so that's an exhausting continute.

(15:48):
It's unreal and so um the gym's of mathouse right now.
So I just walked down the street to a friend's house,
and I'm just taking the call from inside her house,
which is like, really nice. I think it's really not.
When she left, I said, people are going to think
that this is my home and decorated I was gonna say.
I was like, then I understand why I didn't get

(16:08):
a Bachelor in Paradise because the businesses obviously didn't quite spectacularly.
We're doing all right. I don't know's it's been a
cool it's been a cool thing. Um, but I do
appreciate you saying that, like, maybe someone a little bit
quieter would be my style. I think I don't know. Um,
I don't know. I've dated all types of girls before
I and I I'm generally pretty reserved like, I'm pretty calm,

(16:33):
but I think like having a little spice is fun.
So like, yeah, I don't know, Yeah, I get it.
I mean I'm getting married on Saturday, and I'm married
a girl who definitely is more reserved and quiet. But
every once in a while you a little spice and
that spices shockingly entertaining. It makes his life of that.
H Then you know, one of the things that wasn't

(16:55):
mentioned enough, ah right or wrong on the show was
your background being, um an Army ranger. Yeah, so do
you mind explaining that little bit? Yeah? So, um, that's
a typo from that. That's an insane thing that happened.
So I'm ranger qualified. So I graduated from Army Ranger
School in chazz and fourteen. Um. The Army Rangers specifically

(17:18):
is like a very elite small unit of Army Army
Special Operations. Although I was a graduate of the school,
I never served in that unit, the range of Regiment. Um,
so that was like a huge thing. Initially. You'll notice
that the wording was switched on the show, um like
by episode two because I was like, yeah, I can't
say this. Um. Yeah, I graduated the course in Chazz

(17:39):
and fourteen ranger qualified. My job was artillery, so I
shot cannons and rockets and missiles for the majority of
my career, but that that experience was incredibly profound for me.
I ended up like getting hurt about seven years in
almost seven years into my service and decided that it
was right for me to leave um and and it's

(18:00):
really like helped me not only in the profession that
I have now been in fitness, just because fitness is
such an integral part of that job in that life,
but the thing that I love most or the thing
that I love most was soldiers, and it gave me
this incredible opportunity to like mold and shape young young soldiers,
which was like really cool. And now I kind of
get to do that in a weird like adjacent way

(18:20):
with the people that are a part of our gym.
So it's been really cool for me. And that experience
was the best thing I've ever done, so I really
enjoyed it. Your panic out when you saw on your
list Army Ranger was like, oh crap, because you know, yeah,
but I know what I know what it means. Yeah,
I know, yeah, I know. It was unfortunate to me

(18:41):
because like knowing what that means and then also like
having limited control over what gets shown. I mean, you
could both have been through the experience like they're the product.
Like everyone's intentions are great and good, but things can
be you know, like misconstrued or misunderstood. And there were
response from that community specifically, or the army community military

(19:03):
community specifically. It was pretty resounding. And these are the
people that I love most and care about most and
don't want to offend most, and so, uh, starting off
on week one with that response from the community that
I'm I'm in love with was like pretty rough and
it kind of set it kind of set the tone
for like a less than awesome experience during the airing

(19:25):
of the show. You know, but but yeah, I mean people,
things happen, and it was easily rectified. And the people
that I needed to explain this too, like they heard
it and they got an explanation. Was all was all
the issue because of the title. Yeah, It's just like
it's a very specific thing that you just like shouldn't

(19:45):
say if you're not a part of this small group.
And so it was fixed almost immediately. I just called
someone on the team, was like, Hey, this can't be
this way. I know that it's like supposed to be.
Like it's also like add value to my character or
like the person that I'm portraying, but like it can't
be display and so it was an easy to fix
and then uh uh, you know, it doesn't really come
up because it's it was a massive part of my life.

(20:07):
But like since I've left the military, it's become just
a thing that I was. It's not it's not a
thing that I am anymore, you know. I think some
people see that differently, But like I was a soldier
for a long time and I had an incredible experience
and it shaped me in ways that I could like
never replicate in any other way. But like now I
do another thing, and uh, I'm excited for the opportunity
to step out of that life and into something new.

(20:29):
When you talk about how you used your experience there
with training and you know with the gym, you were
also super vulnerable and it was really I don't want
to say it was cool to get a guy's perspective
on an eating disorder, but it was just something that
we don't ever talk about, but it affects a lot
of men. So it was just it was it was

(20:52):
nice to get out there. So how do you do that?
Because you do work in the fitness and the wellness industry,
Like you're surrounded by food all the time. Um, you
probably think about nutrition all the time. So my job
before owning the gym and coaching like fitness per se
or strength being a strength coach, I coached nutrition and

(21:13):
I was ah working with people who were struggling with
similar things that I dealt with. Sharing that with Tasia
on the show wasn't like a weird thing for me,
Like I didn't really understand that it would have such
a big impact. I It's a thing that I use
in my business every day. So I'm like, you know,
these are my experiences, and I hope that I can
like you know, share in yours and like I work

(21:33):
intimately with it with a small group of of clients,
uh specifically with like eating disorder type things or like
building healthy relationships of food, uh you know currently. But
but the career that I had going into the show
incorporated a lot of my own experience, and so sharing
that with her it was just like me just being
open like that wasn't a scary thing for me. There's

(21:54):
other things I talked about on the show that like
we're much larger and much scarier and far more impactful
or or like traumatizing for me to share. But that
experience with my eating disorder was just something that I
openly talked about here in the community that I coach
in now and before. And so I'm happy that, like
I started the conversation, and I'm happy that since the show,

(22:15):
I've been able to talk openly about it in other
venues and on other platforms. And and I said this
the whole time, if I'm able to just like maybe
bring light to a situation that makes someone else feel
a little bit less unheard or unseen or less understood
than I can, Like, I feel good about everything that
that's happened so far. So definitely did that I know
that's happened, and I know, and it's been really cool. Uh,

(22:39):
Like a guy that looks like me, or a guy
that does the job that I do, or you know,
there's all these like preconceptions about who I am and
what I am, and it was nice to share just
a little bit of myself on the show. I know
it's like you see one percent of one percent of
what I am, and then after the fact you see
what I care to show, you know, like via social
media or in like an interview like this, and so

(22:59):
people never get the full picture. But I am really
thankful that like a small part, a really valuable part,
was able to be shared with a lot of people.
So that's been really cool. Talk me through. It's always
interesting to to Ashley and I, um talk me through
the moment that you decided to open up about this
um and walk out butt naked on national television on

(23:23):
a date. So obviously this is a okay, So like
I'm I'm gonna set up this a little bit. So
like you have this thing that you know is going
to be an important conversation to be had, and you
know that you are at this point ready to talk
about it, and you're getting prepped for this date, and

(23:44):
at some point you decided this is the way it's
going to happen. I and like take away everything else,
But you can't really do but take away everything else,
like the courage to just do that. In general, like
nowadays we're seeing more and more people come out on
this show naked. I would have never been it. I
just I don't have that confidence. I guess yeah, like

(24:06):
walks through that behind the scenes for for everybody listening. So, um,
I can like set the scene, but the date, it's
an art specific date. We're expressing ourselves through like different mediums,
ones like clay. There's a charcoal painting expression, and there's
some other stuff that's going on. And the final portion
of the date is a self portrait. And I'm not

(24:27):
good at drawing, and I'm pretty okay like expressing myself verbally,
but I I wanted it to be like impactful and
like some grand gesture. I think maybe I struggle with
like I struggle with opening up sometimes. But the eating
disorder and that date were or or sharing that I

(24:48):
had and eating disorder for a long time and that
date were like mutually exclusive. Like the thing with getting
naked was a thing that like I'm comfortable doing. I
if you ask them, if you called my mom and said,
you know, what is Ben's deal, He's always naked, to
be like, yeah, he's been doing that since he was
a baby. Um, the eating disorder wasn't about me being
uncomfortable in my body. It was more of a control thing.
Like I uh, like someone who like turns to alcohol.

(25:11):
I turned to food. It was a numbing agent. It
kept me safe in times where I felt like I
wasn't safe. And so that's what the eating disorder was
for me. Um fueled by my childhood, fueled by my
experience in the military, fueled by a ton of things
that made me feel really out of control. And food
was something that I could control explicitly. And so that's
that's where the eating disorder came from. But the the

(25:31):
being naked thing was I was in a room full
of guys who felt the same way about this woman
that I did, and I knew that they were all
going to do something artistic in the form of like
a sculpture or a painting or a whatever. And immediately
my brain turns to, oh, Ben, just like take your
clothes off and that will be the thing that like
it's like, oh he did something big. Um. But I

(25:53):
was so terrified that it was going to be like
everybody in the rooms like, oh my god, there's a butt,
Like look you see his butt over there, and like
unfortunately that kind of what happened except for Tasia, And
so in that moment, I was able to stand there like, yeah,
being naked, like doesn't it doesn't scare me. So like
I'm naked there, I got everybody's attention, and then I
was able to have a real conversation with her, and
I said, I said. All I said was like, look,

(26:15):
you see a physical thing here. You see my body,
you see my face, you see my hair. But there's
so much underneath here, and there's so much underneath that
I haven't shared with anybody, and I'm so excited for
you to be the one that like uncovers that. And
so I can't remember exactly what I said, but it
was something along on along the lines of like you've
got this physical being, but you've also got everything inside
and and it was impactful. And I don't know that

(26:37):
I can't remember exactly what they showed, but it was
that conversation and like it was this meaningful moment together
where we I think, like the relationship took you know,
a different turn or a different step um and getting
naked just happened to be the like the flash that
like allowed the moment to have, you know, I just
I was trying to create something, show this grand gesture

(26:57):
and then tell her something really mean, meaningful and like
it's miss that's that's interpreted a million different ways by
a million different people, like, oh, but I just wants
to show off as Wiener in front of the room.
I'm like, no, I don't know. No, I just wanted
it to be something where people she specifically would remember, Yeah,
you mentioned a couple of times basically what you get
to see like such a small part of your personality

(27:20):
like one percent? Um, what was looking back on your experience,
like the most frustrating part of your storyline that only
got shown one percent? Yeah, there's two parts of this.
So my biggest fear going in was that nobody would
understand my humor, like a pretty dry sense of humor, um,

(27:44):
like a a bit eclectic, Like I'm just my humor
is different than than most of the people I interact with,
but like, I think it's funny as hell. So I
was concerned that I would go on this show and
I would be myself and people would misunderstand my humor
and be like, oh, what's the dudes deal. It only
got shown once. There was like a roast date where

(28:06):
we got to like roast everybody and I stopped there
and just had a ton of material and little bits
of it were shown. But that was the only time
I ever got to be funny on the on the program,
and so like I dodged able it. They're where like
they never even showed me being funny, so like never
never got to be interpreted that was never part of
your character. Yeah, But but like I was, you know,

(28:29):
I'm not frustrated by any part of the experience because
it's given me things I could have never even hoped for,
which is so incredible, namely this platform to like talk
about the stuff that's really important to me. Um, but
I was a bit frustrated by the narrative that like
I can't express myself emotionally or that I'm a poor communicator.
And you know, I think there's like a level of

(28:52):
empathy from the viewership or from the people that are
like interpreting this thing where you're like, this is not
a real life experience. This is like real life intensified
a millionfold, and so the way that you might normally
act or the way that you might normally respond in
the situation might not happen on the TV screen. And

(29:13):
so if I had any frustration to feel that, like,
you know, I think that I'm an okay communicator, I
wouldn't say I'm great, but I not for lack of trying.
You know, some things weren't said or some things weren't
shared in the moment, but like looking back, it was
stressful as hell and so um, you know, people interpret

(29:34):
everything the way that they want to interpret it. But
like I am, I'm more than just the guy who
can't share his feelings, you know. And that was like
a bit frustrating trying to say that in the most
the best way. But yeah, I'm more than that guy.
So we are in the in the final minutes here seconds,

(29:57):
maybe would you um and I want at the end
here um actuley And I was like, if if you
kind of um publicize what you're up to, you know,
your Jim's name, how people can join you all that stuff.
But I do have a question kind of bouncing off
of what you just said. So if your storyline true,
not good or bad, was that you you lacked your

(30:20):
ability to communicate? Um, what was it about your moment
with Tasha where all the other guys um laughed, shocked,
said look at his butt? And she said, what was
it about Tassia that allowed her to see something more?
She was the one person that roomed that said, I,

(30:41):
I understand what he's doing. Why was that in your opinion? Well,
I think all I think, um, I'll gas taste up
here a bit. I think she's an incredible listener, at
least in our experience, was an incredible listener, and she
was able to see, uh, the intention behind what was
going on. And so you know, I'll give her all

(31:04):
the credit in that. But like in a moment where
it's chaotic, there's a bunch of people in the room,
there's eight other guys or ten other guys, or however
many it was, she gave me the space, she gave
me the spotlight to like share a thing. And I'll
say that she was never distracted. I mean, as you've
been the lead before and I'm sure there's like a

(31:24):
million things going through your head at all times. But
what allowed me to share that with her and allowed
her to receive that is there was no distraction for her.
She was totally focused on me, and in that moment,
I was totally focused on her, and it was I
was grateful then. I'm grateful now that like I had
this opportunity to share all these things with her and

(31:45):
for like probably the first time in a romantic relationship
in my life. I felt hurt, I felt listened to,
I felt seen, which was really exceptional. And it also like,
even though things didn't pan out in that relationship, it
lets me know that, like there is an opportunity for
that later in my life, which is really really cool. Um.

(32:06):
I went into the experience, I'll like elaborate just a
little bit more. I I went into the experience with
like three intentions. One was to like maybe meet a
really cool girl and have a relationship with her. The
second was to learn something about myself, and then the
third was, even if a relationship didn't materialize, to like
have faith in myself in a relationship in the future,

(32:26):
and also like restore my faith in women or in
my partner, you know, my future partner. And I think
all three of those things happened, which is really cool. Um.
You know, it goes the way that it goes, and
I'm just really grateful for her listening to me, for
her creating space for me to share my story, and
then for the opportunity that's come on the back end,

(32:48):
which has been really special and incredible. No, well, after
this half an hour conversation, now I really want to
see more of you on our TV. Well, you know,
maybe that happens later, okay man. Also, you're making me
want you to be the Bachelor because this Clayton guy
is so boring. I know nothing about him, but I

(33:12):
heard that he's really tall and has big muscles. Sure,
but that doesn't cut it. Well, I have the same
thing for me. Yeah, look at Ben, you know what
I mean, really tall, huge muscles, and Benny's the Bachelor.
That's That's just not all Ben either. He just has
so many more things about that. That's the one person

(33:32):
I remember. Ben, You Ben both Ben from Indiana, Ben Smith.
I just want to wrap up with two like really
silly questions about some guys that made some splashy, splashy
headlines since your time with them on your season. There's
Blake Moins. Uh, what do you think about everything that's

(33:54):
gone down with him over the past nine months? Well,
so I didn't even realize that he was going back
on the show, Like I didn't you And and then
I see all these like people send me like Instagram
stuff all the time, but I see all these things
like he's back on the show. I think the video
was like him holding a thing, holding a boom box
in the street, which is kind of funny. So you

(34:16):
haven't kept in touch, I suppose not not really, not
really no, Um, you know, I think there was like
talk with maybe doing some like philanthropic thing where we
like go to Africa and we do great stuff for
rhinos and other wildlife, but we really haven't communicated much
since then. I heard that he just broke up with Katie.
I I don't know the specifics on that, but I

(34:37):
heard that that happened, and I hope that they're both
doing all right. Um, I should probably reach out to him.
And and then there's Brandon, who you're Brendan, who you're
with the entire time on tatious season, and he was
a little sketch ball down in Paradise. Was that at
all surprising for you? I was very taken aback. Again,
I like didn't watch Paradise. I feel he's saying that

(35:00):
is like you guys right, Uh, yes, I didn't watch anything.
But like just the same way with Blake, I've heard
tons of stuff. Um, you know, Brennan has visited me
in Los Angeles at the gym, so I was very
you know, we we were close on our season together. Um,

(35:20):
he's come and visit me in Los Angeles. I was
incredibly surprised by what not only what he said, but
but what has been said, you know, in response to
all the things. And and I hope for his sake
that he's doing okay. And I hope that like everyone
else affected by everything that's gone on, is also doing okay.
It's it's just such a crazy deal telling you what.

(35:44):
These characters come out at some point. So here's a
here's the funny thing. I had a boss early on,
and what did he say. He said, you can fool
everybody for a little bit, but you can't fool anybody forever.
It's good everybody for a little bit, but you can't
fool everybody forever. So atually, when your life is televised,

(36:07):
it's kind of hard. Whenever there's cameras and microphones all
the time, Yeah, all the time, like not even just
have all of the time. Yeah, it's wild to me.
So it's always been shocking, is the things people decided
to say they're gonna get away with it. They never do.
They never do. It's always the thing that's shown. Actually,

(36:27):
I can think of a time or two people didn't
get away with it, but we won't go there. Yeah, um, Ben,
as we say goodbye to you. If you can't just
get like a twenty minute plug, twenty second plug. You're
commercial for everything you're up to, where people can find you,
how they can support you. Yeah, I really appreciate it.

(36:50):
My name's Ben Smith. I live in Venice Beach, California.
I own a gym called Rodeo Athletic at Rodeo r
O d e O Athletic, we are in West Hollywood, California.
My social media is at Ben V Smith B N
V E S M I T h UM. If you're
into feeling really good about yourself and about the life

(37:12):
that you're currently living, follow along and I'll relate to
on there. Sweet go check out Rodeo Athletic. Ben Smith,
thanks for coming almost for his podcast. It's been a pleasure,
and thanks for joining us for the first time. Every Yeah, well,

(37:40):
it's great to have been Smith on the episode. It
is good to hear from him. It's been a while.
I am shocked actually that he was not invited to
Paradise weird. Do you know what it reminds me of? What? Um?
Remember Peter from Rachel's season when he didn't get invited
back to any thing else. Well, yeah, but I think

(38:04):
that that was more like Peter's decision making right, It
wasn't that, more like negotiations didn't exactly go the best
like they wanted him, but like he had you know. Yeah,
well it's still shocking. It was great to have been on. Hey. Actually,
before we do this week's breakdown of the episode, I

(38:26):
want to say thank you to everybody. I'm not gonna
be able to respond to everybody because it's been a
lot who sent advice or info on a ls are
our fan base. Actually, like I've never asked anything of
anybody that I've gotten a bigger response to. Well, that's
so so good to hear, and I'm reading them all,

(38:48):
but like it's impossible to I know, sometimes when you
open up about something, you get the most incredible responses
and you do end up reading them all, but then
you have a sense of being overwhelmed that you can't
thank people enough. Yeah, so like just you guys, just
let we just want to let you know that, like

(39:09):
we appreciate everything that you send us and we really
do try to read it all. We're so sorry we
can't respond to it all, definitely, And then this side
is I don't want, you know, Brandon Sam to be
overwhelmed either, like you know, and so we're filtering through stuff.
I have somebody always going through the emails and the
d m s, like you know, gathering information, sending it

(39:30):
off to me or them when it feels helpful. But
just like people are awesome. So that's you know, that's something,
UM that I just want to sit on. Well, hey, uh,
it is time to break down another episode of Michelle's
season Ashley. To get us started, I think it would
be helpful, um to share overarching thoughts so far leading
up to this and then even after this episode, and

(39:52):
we go step by step in chronological order. Here's my thoughts.
Clinton still did not shine and I'm shocked. Why. Uh,
It's just I'm waiting for him to explode as a
main character, and it just doesn't feel like it's happening
to me. I don't think it's gonna happen. You don't
think it's gonna happen. No, I I don't know what
they were thinking. I don't even think that there's anything

(40:14):
he can do to make me in gross in him
right now? Well, you would expect him to have a
few more episodes laugh, and it just takes one like
that's what world not. It just takes one episode to
really like change the narrative. But at this point I
am surprised because they need they need a good Bachelor's season.
They need a compelling lead. They need somebody that like

(40:36):
the audience rally behind, and I actually thought, like, this
is gonna be that guy. They haven't had it in
a while. Um, you know, I thought, oh, this is
this is the reason they chose him so early is
because they think this guy is gonna steal the hearts
of America and uh and so far we just don't
know anything about him, Like he's just there. But like
there's guys on the season, like the Nates of the

(40:58):
world and the Joes of the world and the Rodney's
of the world that are like, in my opinion, people
are rallied behind, like they're like, oh, this is good, this,
this is good stuff. Like these guys could do it. Yeah,
He's there's definitely better options. But I have to say, overall,
because you did want my macro opinion, then these guys

(41:21):
are good enough for my show. I'm like obsessed with her.
She's so cool and so pretty, and I just feel
very underwhelmed by the group in general. Um that's a
fair statement, because I do think she is in a
league of her own when it comes to life. I
just think she's really incredible. Um. I you know, we

(41:45):
feel this way often. Actually, I want to remind us
that we feel this way often at this point in
a season where um, we're like, you know what, there's
just nobody up to the lead, you know, standards, and
then at the end of the season, um, you know,
stuff starts to which I mean, think about how big.
It's not like we are ever not a fan of
Zack um, but there was a moment during that season

(42:06):
where we didn't know she'd end up with Zach's true
and now we see Tasha and Zach together and we're like,
oh no, this is this is good bigod. I became
obsessed with with Zach for Tasia as time went on. Yeah,
late in the season, were not at Yeah, so it

(42:28):
could still happen. I'm with you. I think Michelle is incredible.
We've talked about the upcoming lead, We've talked about the
current lead. Um, we're still waiting for both things to
happen for Michelle on her season and also Clayton to shine.
Uh again, I said in the same place I did.
I don't dislike the guy. I just don't know the guy.

(42:49):
I don't have much of a feeling on the man,
and so as a result, I'm just not convinced that
I'm gonna be like full on support running into this
bat next that's their season going. I cannot wait for
this guy to find love because I just don't know.
So that's where we stand. I'm hoping that changes for Michelle. Yeah, like,
maybe we'll just stop talking about him for the next

(43:11):
couple of weeks, and then if if he gets eliminated
and we still feel nothing, then we'll really critique the
crap out of this whole situation. I'm going to talk
about every week because I think I think it's a
storyline that everybody's wondering. Every week. You see Twitter blowing up.
I mean last week, his name was trending with people
going where it's a big conversation. People are waiting, people

(43:35):
are wanting um, and they need a big one. So okay, Ashley,
chronological order this episode, Let's step through it, all right,
Let's do it Okay, so let's do the first one
on one, which is with m Martin. And Martin we

(43:56):
were saying that we kind of liked him, he was
kind of a dark horse LA this week. This this
date actually didn't make me like it more. What about you? No, Um,
I think he was fine. I think what I would
say about this date was it just like it allowed
us to highlight him. And I just don't think he's
like stepped up, like I just don't. I mean, he

(44:19):
he was obviously, he tried to open up, he was vulnerable,
and he tried to communicate. And that's good. I mean,
it's good and it's healthy in a dating relationship. However,
nothing from this date made me go this is her
husband or this is a future partner? Just made go
and and even the way uh yeah, yeah, they're very awkward,

(44:42):
like tub thing Um was when I really saw and
I was like, this guy just doesn't it for her.
In my opinion, he's missing it and he doesn't necessarily
know how to handle himself right now and like a
natural way with an incredible person by side. So no,
I mean, I still I'm more of a fan of

(45:02):
him than I thought I would be. Um and that's
mostly based on my judgmental ways of seeing him in
a picture. Uh. And he's growing on me, but I
think this week he didn't grow any further than he
did last week. No, I don't think that he was
trying to like question her judgment about the Jamie situation.

(45:23):
Maybe he didn't pick the words correctly. I can still
understand why should we get a little awkward about it,
But I just felt like there was Yeah, there just
was like not enough there for me for me to
like pull him through as a favorite in my mind. Yeah. Um,

(45:43):
And their conversation over dinner was just kind of about
like the fact that he's like blunt and like it's
always working on like what what do we say, like
get get just like communicating better and allowing himself to
open up. Yeah, And I mean, and I mean I'm sure,

(46:04):
like I don't know everybody's upbringing, and I'm sure people
do struggle with that. You know. Michelle did empathize with
him and said I'm similar. He was like, I don't cry. Yeah,
but the the hey, I'm blunt and it can come
off wrong. Like it's kind of when somebody says like sorry,
I just I just speak truth. But really they're just
me like you know, like it's like, oh, you know,

(46:25):
you're just a jerk, like you just you know, when
somebody's like sorry, I just say what's on my mind,
it's like, well, yeah, like if we all did that
all the time, like we just all be mean to
each other. Probably, So it doesn't like that end fly
with me as much as them relating on the So
it's hard for me to get emotional. It's it's you know,
I don't get I'm not allowing myself to go deep.

(46:46):
That stuff was fine. I just don't that this whole
date fell short for me on a romantic level for
the two of them. Meanwhile, back at the house, there's
a group date card that comes. Nate sees that he's
not the person who's going on the one on one,
and he ends up saying that he's not stressed about

(47:07):
um not getting it. He said, eventually it will come.
He feels like he's in a good spot regardless, which
flags Chris s to like, I think that he's coming
off as cocky. I can kind of see that there's
like a you know, there's a fine line between confidence
and cocky. Um. I think he just feels good about himself.

(47:28):
I don't. I didn't find a huge problem with it.
I think that absolutely Chris is ridiculous in the entire
second half of the episode. Yeah yeah, I mean, what
do you want Nate to say, like, oh my gosh,
I don't have the one on one. I think I'm
going home. He He's not, like it's fair for him
to say, I'm okay, Like this is the journey that

(47:50):
she wants to go on. I don't need to go
on this day, and I would like to be on
this day, but I know it's gonna come at some point.
That's okay. Maybe it came off a little cocky, maybe
somebody there was since it of to it, But at
the same time, I personally have zero problem with that
mindset of I'm good for now, like I'll wait until
she's ready. Same same, okay. So the group date was

(48:12):
like a real big bummer for Michelle because it was
a sleepover themed but it seemed like the guys all
went into bro zone and they gave her no attention,
and I guys do this and girls don't. This would
only happen on The Bachelorette, where the guys get so

(48:33):
browy and like enjoy the activity so much that they
end up ignoring the girl. The girls would never have
that happen and have the guy be sitting in the
corner not being pursued. No, guys love hanging out with
guys sometimes. Well, yeah, I get that, but it's also

(48:54):
just weird to me that she was so alone the
whole time. I mean, do you think that like there
was something said ed where they were like, yeah, Michelle
doesn't feel very good today. We were alone? Oh maybe?
I mean even then, though you would have had somebody there,
you'd expect that would have checked on her. They didn't
show it, but like typically, you know, what I would

(49:15):
say is like the overall tone of the date um
is fairly accurately shown on television, Like there's not a
date that I ever went on that. I watched it
back and I was like, that's not at all what happened. Like,
if the tone of the date overall was hey, she
felt like she was on the outside looking in, then uh,

(49:38):
I think they accurately portrayed. And I'm imagining that is
because she has personal conversations about that afterwards. So she
felt pushed aside. She felt like these guys were more
interested in to hang out with each other, but also
just a weird date. I mean, I know they're trying
to get creative and so far this season has had
some incredible dates, but like this is probably in the
hotel conference room and they've like don't look like a

(50:00):
living room. Like what a weird date to have. In general, Yeah,
I didn't like it. Again, as far as the pillow
Fly and the pillow slash Cheddy Bear flight, you guys
know that I can't stand it when it's like some
sort of competition. At least this time it was a
competition where nobody was going to get hurt, because we

(50:21):
always complain about that because somebody always gets hurt. But
it's pretty safe, pretty PG. But I still like kind
of dazed out about it, Like I don't really care. Um,
I don't know. I think it was I think it's
was odd how little she was pursued to the point

(50:43):
where it's just like was there something going on? I
don't know. But I also don't think that that is
Like I'm not worried about that being the tone for
the guys about Michelle, Like I think they're very yeah
and so possibly, Um, you know, the date just didn't
go according to plan or you know, nobody stepped up

(51:05):
to do it well. But I I think these guys
are super into into Michelle, and I think they want
to give her attention. Maybe they just didn't know how
to in them in that scenario. Okay, That's my one
thing is sometimes I would just be so nervous on
the show, the the main show, that I would be

(51:26):
just like scared to kind of like go up to
Chris and start talking because I'd be like, oh, if
nobody else is doing it, then maybe I shouldn't be
doing it. Is this awkward like what am I going
to talk about? All so to kind of like psych
yourself out? And I can see that maybe like that
became a train like effect. Yeah it is, but it

(51:47):
doesn't it And it sparks an important conversation for Michelle
where we get to see more of her and understand
more of her um because this day really led into
her then opening up about the fear of not being seen,
the fear of being um pushed aside, the fear of
being like feeling like the outsider looking in when you

(52:08):
know she's not right. She's the lead of the show,
She's she's the the has the attention of every man,
at least we hope that is there. But it does
allow us to hear more of her, some of her
insecurities and struggles and what makes her Michelle. And that
was a great moment and some guys did step up
in that moment for her as she opened up about
that Alu being the one. I mean, he stepped up

(52:33):
for her in that moment and was, in my opinion,
if we're looking at this thing, like now I know,
I know he's a He's a force to be recogniss
on with on this show. He is now the Martin
of last week, where we don't know a lot about
him leading up to this and now we're like, you know,
this guy's this guy's got something for her. Yeah, he's
a sweetness. I got good vibes from him and it

(52:57):
was a really good, meaningful, deep converse station that they had.
I'm glad he got that Rose. I'm glad that, like
we have another solid quality man in this group. Yeah.
And the other quality guy that I think kind of
like came out of the woodwork this episode was Rick,

(53:17):
who got the other one on one day. It seems
like a really sweet guy. I do not feel a
ton of romance between them. But he's a nice guy
right before this episode and maybe still forever. I'm going
to think about his head on the dinner track. That's
weird that it. It's really sticking for with me. It's

(53:40):
hard to take him seriously and that's how you can remember,
is his head on a platter. Um. But yeah, I'm
with you. But he did, he stood up, stood out,
and um, this is I'd say the two the best
episode was for a Loo and then for Rick. Those
two had the best episode. Um. I believe they both

(54:00):
will be around now a while because it wasn't like this, Um,
this kind of like sudden spark. Now we both got
to see a lot, We got to see his viewers
a lot of both of them, and I think that
proved over time. It proved that this related their relationship
with Michelle is something special. Yeah, they're both going to
go way farther than I think we would have initially imagined.

(54:23):
With Rick. Um, he he had that story that he
told about his dad was just heartbreaking. I mean, this
is the second one on one that Michelle's had where
she has somebody confide in her that apparent committed suicide
and that is a lot to handle, I mean, and

(54:47):
for him to have this guilt like with him for
the rest of his life because he was the one
who caught the dad cheating is just so heavy, so sad. Yeah,
you know, actually it shows us every time, and it's
people that go on this show and and people in

(55:10):
general have incredibly hard and also incredibly beautiful stories, and
we get to hear him on this show. It's one
of the the best parts of the show. Is that
does allow the space for us to connect with the
cast members and also have conversations that matter, which Michelle
is doing this year, and then have conversations with people
like Rick that matter and that get to know him better. Um.

(55:33):
And that's why I'm just saying, like, over time, we
we either fall in love with these people more or
we push away from him more. And for us this week,
especially like we understand Rick better. Um, and we'll probably
get to understand Rick a lot more as this season
goes on. But uh, that was that was a tough
conversation to sit through, but one that was so necessary

(55:56):
because I'm sure Rick is not the only one out
there who feels similar to how he's feeling now. Yeah,
That's one of my favorite parts of the show is
that people get to see, you know, viewers get to
watch people have these hard conversations on TV, and therefore
them being at home feel like more seen, which is

(56:18):
like kind of ironic that like I'm talking about being
seen when the theme of the episode was Michelle feeling
not seen. But I do think that Rick was a
great choice following that group date because he is the
kind of personality that's just going to be like obsessed
with her, do you know what I mean? Like he
probably feels like he's a little out of that she's

(56:38):
a little out of his league, and that's the kind
of guy that's gonna like give you, He's gonna worship
you if you're a Michion. Is interesting too because Mache
I mean, and I know this, Michelle would have had
no idea his story before this date. Like there's not
like a list of this is Rick, this is his story?

(57:00):
Do you want him to go on this world? She
chose Rick because she was obviously interested in Rick, and
he just happened to be there on a week that
it was so I would say, probably uh needed for
her and for him. Uh And and so the timing
of this is really beautiful because she would have known

(57:21):
his story, um when she asked him to go on
this week's one on one. Yes, yes, so true. So
the theme of being seen continues with the cocktail party
slash Rose ceremony when Chris is a little weird and like,
there were some bleepout things that I was a little
confused with. They were bleeping out. Uh, I guess he

(57:43):
says that's left up, right, He just like straight off
the top, says it's left up that you guys didn't
show her the effort she deserves. But I'm like, um, Chris,
you were on that date too. You're clumbed into that feeling.
She was refer into your part of the date, not
the nighttime portion of the date. Um, you know, you

(58:05):
just classic And this is classic guy not getting attention,
you know, probably on the verge of getting eliminated, and
he decides to get attention by creating some drama. Yeah,
oh yeah, I mean it just happens every season. We
could get upset about it every season. We could, you know,

(58:26):
throw our fists up in the air and be like, Chris,
what are you doing? This makes no sense? Where do
you hope this goes, are you trying to ruin this
experience for her and for everybody else there? And just
like help yourself out? So I'm you know what it
does for me, ash if I'm gonna be like harsh, yeah,
I just don't take him seriously anyway. I mean like

(58:47):
there's nothing to take seriously. He comes across as like
I used car salesman in an eighties movie. Yeah, sure, yeah,
that's that's a great example. It's like, all right, cool man,
you've you've you've said what you need to say, You've
had your your party here, the attention has been on you.
You're gone. You know, this is just in my head,
this doesn't matter anymore, Like and I'm tired what I

(59:09):
don't love Ashley? And it's happened now through Michelle's season,
it's been this constant theme is every week, somehow, some way,
her week has been ruined. And I remember times when
you know, if Michelle is feeling if her insecurity is
not being seen. I imagine she has some insecurities being

(59:32):
the bachelor, Like she's doing an incredible job, but like
at some point you're holding on for anything just to
feel like you belong there. As the bachelors so you
can can you continue to date and function this environment?
And if every week you're in your own head questioning
is anybody into me? Um? Is anybody here for me?

(59:57):
Like it's gonna mess with you Like people and viewers
might not get that like it does. I had two
weeks of this during my season where like something happened
when I was like, I don't think anybody actually wants
to be here, um And and you lay in bed
at night and you're like, this thing's gonna come crashing
down around like this thing's done. I don't belong here.
I'm I've proven it to myself. So I'm sick of

(01:00:19):
that because I feel bad for Michelle that we have
to continue to, you know, broach this subject. I feel you,
how do you feel about Nate when she sat down
with him? Because while I'm of course more on Nate's
side here than Chris's, I don't think it was Nate's
shining moment. When he sat down. You could tell that
he he didn't like feeling. I mean, obviously nobody's gonna

(01:00:44):
like feeling targeted. Yeah, but I don't know that he
like reassured her in the best way. He kind of
came across as cool guy. Yeah, that might be that.
I think you just explained it. You know, how do
I feel about it? Was? Um, he was defending, you know,
he felt defensive and instead of um, being in a

(01:01:07):
place where you are defensive of the person probably most hurt,
which is not him, it's Michelle. He is defensive himself,
and that just doesn't come off well. But you know
it's he's also in the moment, which is why one
of the issues with the show is you don't have
time to like process and think and like step away

(01:01:27):
and then come back and be like, you know what
after you're thinking about that, Michelle, you're probably most hurt here.
Let me hear from you. You have to almost react.
And that's why, you know, you've heard me say it before,
and we've talked about like the best leads and the
best cast members are ones that don't overreact. Um, they're
really get at navigating the problems. Michelle is really good
at navigating the problems. She takes time away, she cancels

(01:01:50):
cocktail parties. She says, Hey, I'm not ready to speak
on this stuff yet. But for Nate, it was I
felt like he just started talking too soon, and it
came off it came off fairly uh self promoting and
not as much focused on her. I hope he turned
back to the guy that we saw previously come next

(01:02:10):
week in which they're going to Minnesota. Yeah, you and
I wanted them to go to Minnesota. I don't know
why I've been not cool with them being in Palm Springs.
I'm just really sad that they're hot, so hot all
the time and so sweaty. Minnesota is gonna be great,
It's gonna be beautiful. Um, it's gonna be comfortable to her,

(01:02:33):
and you know she's down to a smaller group of people. Uh,
and hope. I mean we said it last week, were
this group guys are like the right ones for her.
I really hope that there's somebody that emerges that I
feel like is the perfect combination of sweet, smart, romantic,
because I feel like she has romance with some guys

(01:02:56):
and then she has like depth and like real quality
in some guys. But I don't know that I'm seeing
someone who has the full rounded picture for I'm hoping.
I'm hoping. Well, I mean, it's a good point. Um.
As we talked about earlier viewers, listeners out there, who
do you see from Michelle right now? Who is your

(01:03:17):
top choices? But Ashuley so right us in Ashley as
we do every week. Now, who's your top three? Mm
hmm Joe Rodney and right, maybe Brendon Brendon, No, yeah,

(01:03:40):
Brandon Brendon. Okay, so Brandon, Yeah, I'm gonna go Joe Rodney.
I'm gonna still throw Nate up there. Um Yeah, I'm
gonna say I like Brandon a lot. I mean, he's
he's got a lot of momentum, but I still see
the Joe Rodney Nate thing is um as the three,

(01:04:03):
you know, biggest players. It's interesting if you look at
this list of Brandon Leroy, Joe Rodney, Clayton, Casey, Nate,
Chris s um I I would say that, you know, Rick, Brandon, Joe,
Nate Rodney are all above Clayton in terms of familiarity

(01:04:26):
right now. And that's just odd again, just out of me.
We could keep beating that thought down. I just I'm
a little surprised by it. Super super weird thing about Joe.
How interesting would be if she ends up with a
guy that she like previously d M and like lives
in her city. I mean it's probably happened before, maybe
not the city thing, but the previous d M thing.

(01:04:48):
Well kind of a Katie and and Blake. Yeah, I
would say it's not gonna be there, but I think
it would be cool because maybe they needed this to
get together. Um, they needed this to push him, and
I'm I'm cool with that. Like, ultimately, we just want
to see everybody's love story play out, and so if
that's where love takes them, then that's where I love
takes them. Yep. All right, Well, after this, we're gonna

(01:05:11):
do Bachelor headlines, and Ben, you're part of Bachelor Headlines
and I can't wait to dig into it with you.
It's time for Bachelor Headlines with our resident expert, Ashley.

(01:05:31):
I get Eddie here to break down everything going on
in Bachelor headlines. I haven't seen the headline yet, but
she hinted to me that I'm in them, so uh
oh is Anyways, Um, here's the first headline of this week.
Katie Thurston seemingly responds to wild rumors about her friendship
with John Hersey after Blake Moyne split. As according to

(01:05:56):
US Weekly, so there's this guy, John Hersey which you
may not even know if you and follow Katie or
him on social media. He was eliminated week two during
her season, and she wrote or said something on Instagram
this week saying, y'all are getting wild in my d ms.
Um said internet rumors are leading me to become This

(01:06:18):
is weeks ago. She said this part internet rumors lead
me to this guy becoming a dear friend. UM, and
people are d m ng her things like hope you
guys are more than friends now heart emoji um, or
it won't be long until romance blooms between you guys.

(01:06:39):
But I think she's trying to make it very clear
they are just friends. Apparently, she posted a picture of
a bouquet of flowers that she got from a friend
and the note said these are not romantic flowers. These
are happy flowers because I want you to be happy
and um, fans are speculating that that was from him now,

(01:07:03):
just based on this info. Do you think that the
that this guy John wants to be friends with Katie
or is he slowly trying to make his way out
of the friend zone. Oh, I'm sure he's trying to
make his way out of friends zone. Of I think
there's a lot of really good examples of guys and
girls being friends, right Sending flowers that's always. That's like

(01:07:28):
where you have to draw the line. That's where I
drew a line with Jared where I was like, Nope,
no matter what people tell me, he likes me. This
was between Bachelor and Paradise seasons because there were two moments,
one in October and one in March where he sent
me flowers and the note was so personal, definitely not

(01:07:53):
just friends, like he said in the second one on
my birthday, like the cory to your topanga, and it
was just like I was like, Okay, guys, you can
pretend like I'm crazy, but I am not. So he
really knows the way to your heart. Wow. All right.
Next headline is this Ben Higgins. We we kind of

(01:08:16):
know him details Jessica Clark kind of know her. Also
wedding three efficients and countless Bachelor and Bachelor at Alums
is according to US Weekly, what do you want to
talk about? According to US Weekly and yourself three officiants,
how did you not mention this last week? And I
was grilling you about wedding details? That's a good point.

(01:08:37):
I don't know why didn't it. Um, Yeah, we're having
three efficients and it's I think it's gonna be like
the cool unique one of the one of the unique
things that exists for us is, Um, we want Jessic
and I both wanted this wedding to be a celebration. Um,
And every wedding is right, but we really wanted this
to highlight us coming together and the people in our

(01:08:57):
lives that have played a role in us coming together,
if that's childhood, if that's you know, adulthood, whatever, and
so um, it's a big deal for us because we
have my childhood pastor, we have her childhood pastor. Uh,
and then we have a pastor who had a huge
role in my life specifically and hers over the last

(01:09:18):
couple of years in Denver. And so we wanted to
incorporate all of them because it didn't make sense for
us to just have one of them. And so one
is going to intro, one is going to do the middle,
one is going to do the closing, And that way
we get married by all three of them, and we
can say, like those three people in our lives, Um,

(01:09:38):
we'll have played a role and will now have always
played a role in our relationship. That's really sweet. I
love that. And then of course everybody wants to know
who's going to be there. And this guest list of
Bachelor contestants and alms and friends. Nobody is surprising to me,
but I'm going to list them off. Okay, so it's

(01:10:00):
me and Jared, it's not all, that's not all. That's
not all of them. Okay, this is what you mentioned,
So Me Jared, Becka Kouffrin, who's bringing her plus one, Thomas. Um.
Then there's Dean and Kaylin. Chase mcnarry's bringing his new
girlfriend or I guess he's been with her for a while. Um,
Blake in a lease, Beckatilly, Um, Sewan Booth, Caitlin and

(01:10:23):
and Jason We're both invited, but they have a tour
date in Boston, so are not going to be there,
which I'm going to miss her for sure there. Um
and then Nick and Natalie, Chris Souls and uh. Okay,
so who are we missing from that? Yeah? I would
have to look back at the list and find out
who we have to cross out, but that's a lot
of them, most of them, right, um and uh. And

(01:10:48):
I'm just super pumped to have everybody there. I'm so
excited to see everyone, so excited. Um, so excited to
see everybody's so excited to celebrate with everybody. It's been
a long time since we've been in the together in
the same spot, and so um, you know, it's gonna
be great. It's gonna be like a reunion a lot
of ways. And the cool part about this is, you know,

(01:11:08):
these people are friends of mine, Like, these are people
I still talk to on a regular basis. Um, there's
still people that have a huge role in my life. Wells,
I don't know if Wells is on the I know,
I think I meant to mention Wells separately. So it
says he's going to be an usher. You call him
an usher, Does that mean that you're not having a
proper bridal party or or is he is he's a groomsman. No,

(01:11:30):
he's like an usher. So he helps people get seated.
I don't know if that's a Midwest thing. Um, when
you walk in, he'll be it's like, you know, it's
there's four friends of mine. Avery uh, Wells, Yeah, they're
gonna be ushers. They're gonna help people get seated, sit down,
kind of get people a rally. Together. Um, so they're

(01:11:51):
part of the wedding party. They're just ushers and not
standing up with me. Do you have grooms been standing
up with you? I do? Yeah, So, um they're gonna
be uh standing up with They're gonna walk out with me,
I believe. And then my dad is my best man,
as I mentioned, Um and so they Yes, I do

(01:12:13):
have RNs with standing up with me. That's very important
to me. Uh. And and and Jess, I mean she
has a lot of friends that she won standing besider lovely. Okay,
so excited. We will have a big report next week.
There were four days away ash four days, four days
so so crazy, very exciting. Um yeah, I can't wait,

(01:12:37):
can't wait. I gonna cry my eyes out. I'm sure
I'm gonna be I'm gonna be a messages. You're going
to starting to do not she said, not like out
of anything more than just like we're so close and
it's so exciting, and we just got to Nashville, like
literally right when I walked in the door, and like
I finally now feel like it's here, so um, the

(01:12:59):
place that all started, I'm right back at it. Well, um,
that's enough about me. Why bachelor Nations. Peter Weber says
dating Madison prut was the most difficult experience ever disaccording
to Eat Okay, so he goes, this is literally the
most trying experience he's ever endured, most difficult experience ever

(01:13:22):
been through. As much as respect as I have for
her and think so highly of her, I definitely see
there were differences between the two of us that probably
weren't going to allow a meaningful long term relationship to flourish.
Nothing against either one of us. It's just who we are.
It is what it is. Uh, it's very interesting there.

(01:13:46):
I feel like a lot of it probably has to
do with religion, because she is so religious, and I
don't know that that really ever came out about him.
So in this article from page six that came out
this week, it talks about how Maddie, who was waiting
um saving herself her marriage, walked away after learning that
Peter had been intimate with both Hannah and and Victoria

(01:14:08):
and the fantasy suits. And he was asked about whether
or not Maddie had had a fantasy suitet date, whether
that would have given them a better chance, and he said,
if that would have been the case, obviously the show
would have gone a little different. But I really truly
mean this. I don't know that that would have changed

(01:14:29):
anything in the long run, which I'm pretty sure he's
quite accurate about. I mean, yeah, of course not, because
they ended up having like plenty of private solo conversations.
Nothing about a fantasy suite date would have made the difference. No. Well, um,
I don't headline other than one kind of fun one

(01:14:50):
that we want to do. Congratulations to Tasha Adams, her fiance,
Zack Matt, James uh and many more. Biler who else
was There's a lot bachelor LNG, Peter Webber did it.
Dr Joe did it. I mean, there's a huge list
here of people who did it. But they just ran

(01:15:13):
in completed all of them. The New York City Marathon.
I was in New York City the day of the marathon. Um,
all I saw was a bunch of people and a
lot of traffic. But it was And I also had
a big piece of pizza, a couple of pieces that
night while they were running. Um, but it doesn't matter.
Congratulations to them on on completing this. It's a huge deal.

(01:15:37):
It is such a huge deal. I am mind boggled
that anyone can run a marathon. I can't even believe.
I used to run three miles in high school in
pe class. I give myself props for being able to
do that. Marathons are just I know I said this before,
but like they fascinate me because they are just seems

(01:15:59):
like the most difficul gould feet And for all of
these Bachelor alums that I've met to be able to
have the strength and endurance to do it, like I'm
I am and all of you guys, congratulations. Yeah. Well,
final headline, the fun one that we wanted to read.
Uh e W just ranked the Bachelorette seasons. They ranked

(01:16:20):
him in this order. Tristan number one, Ashley, your thoughts. Okay,
so I didn't watch triss this season. I mean I
was like fourteen when that aired, so I don't really know.
Sounds like it was a great season though it ended
in love and marriage and kids and it was a
huge season. Caitlin number two. I would like to take
credit for that since I was on that sea. I
think you are able to take partial credit for that

(01:16:42):
love Caitlin season. I agree, it was my favorite season two.
If my husband wasn't on it still would have been
my favorite Bachelorette season. Fantastic cast, fantastic lead. Heck, yeah,
that was a great season. Jillian was number three, which
I did not see. But did you see it? I
did not see it. I started watching at Alley's season.
So yeah, so Jillian Harris got number three. So went

(01:17:04):
Tris to Caitlin. Jillian. Um. Listeners, write us in your
favorite seasons of the Bachelor. We want to hear him.
I want to hear from you, and that's always fun
to do. So write us in let us know Ashley.
That's all we got for everybody today. It's been a
great episode of Almost Famous podcast. I will not be
here next week. I promise you that I will not

(01:17:24):
jump back on. I'm gonna be gone, but you're gonna
hold down the Ford. You're gonna be on your honeymoon. Yeah,
your honeymoon. Wow, that's some stuff that we can't talk
about on air. But you have a fantastic time. All
right with that, I've been been, I've been Ashley by guys.

(01:17:46):
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