Latest / The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast / From Earrings to Engagement Rings with Brayden Bowers and Christina Mandrell

Transcript

From Earrings to Engagement Rings with Brayden Bowers and Christina Mandrell · The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast
0:03
Speaker 1: with iHeartRadio.
0:06
Speaker 2: All Right, we watched them get engaged during the Golden
0:09
Speaker 2: Bachelor wedding. Yes, we're gonna ask all the questions about that,
0:12
Speaker 2: but we're also going to celebrate Braiden Christina because they're
0:15
Speaker 2: with us today to talk about where life exists and
0:17
Speaker 2: where it's at now. So welcome to the Almost Famous
0:21
Speaker 2: Podcast The two of you.
0:22
Speaker 3: Thank you guys, it feels good.
0:24
Speaker 4: Thanks.
0:24
Speaker 3: Last time I was on here, I didn't get to
0:26
Speaker 3: see you on here, so I'm stuck. I get to
0:28
Speaker 3: chat with you.
0:28
Speaker 5: That's right. It was a tough one on one. He
0:30
Speaker 5: said to me at the Golden wedding that he was
0:32
Speaker 5: like scared of my interview, and I was like no, no,
0:34
Speaker 5: no no, But I was like such a like I
0:37
Speaker 5: was your ultimate supporter throughout the season.
0:39
Speaker 2: She really was. I wasn't she was, and so like
0:43
Speaker 2: that was the balance here.
0:45
Speaker 4: Well, maybe we're.
0:48
Speaker 2: Going to dive into it all. We have a lot
0:50
Speaker 2: to talk about today. I'm very excited to finally sit
0:52
Speaker 2: down with you, Braden. Okay, I think we're going to
0:56
Speaker 2: start with that exactly. So one of the things that
1:02
Speaker 2: happens during paradise that Ashley and I absolutely love is
1:05
Speaker 2: redemption stories or maybe getting more of the story h Braiden, I,
1:11
Speaker 2: I always get to play golf with the Wells as
1:14
Speaker 2: soon as he gets back from Paradise. We always have
1:16
Speaker 2: like a golf trip set up, and we don't talk
1:18
Speaker 2: a lot of Paradise. But usually I get to ask
1:20
Speaker 2: two questions to him because I don't want to know
1:22
Speaker 2: because we talk about it every well we talk about
1:25
Speaker 2: it every week, so I don't want spoiled. But I said, Okay, yeah,
1:27
Speaker 2: is there who's like the top girls? And then what
1:31
Speaker 2: guys did you like the most? Like that's it, Like
1:34
Speaker 2: that's really all I care about. And then we'll watch
1:36
Speaker 2: a season. Braiden, your name came up on one of
1:39
Speaker 2: the guys he liked the most, and I said, that's
1:40
Speaker 2: that's wild to meat intuition. She has great intuition, Braiden.
1:48
Speaker 2: I want to ask about watching back your season of
1:52
Speaker 2: The Bachelorette to kick it off here, because we do
1:54
Speaker 2: have some there. There wasn't anything like, goodness, gracious, this
1:57
Speaker 2: guy doesn't ever deserve to walk on television. And it
2:00
Speaker 2: was confusion for me because it felt like in a
2:04
Speaker 2: similar way, to some of the stories going on on
2:07
Speaker 2: Joey's season. There was a lot we didn't see, a
2:09
Speaker 2: lot that didn't make sense, but everybody was mad. And
2:12
Speaker 2: then you left, and I was like, something had to
2:15
Speaker 2: have happened here. Braden, watching back that season, can you
2:18
Speaker 2: elaborate a little bit more and maybe just explain yourself
2:22
Speaker 2: on what we did, didn't see and what changed in Paradise.
2:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, I I honestly think for me, when I was
2:30
Speaker 3: on the Bachelorette, it was what you see is what
2:33
Speaker 3: you get. Like, I didn't change myself around the guys.
2:35
Speaker 3: I didn't change myself like what I said across the board,
2:38
Speaker 3: and even when I was talking with Charity, it was
2:39
Speaker 3: always the same thing. And so the guys, what I
2:43
Speaker 3: realized is they would say stuff behind closed doors or
2:46
Speaker 3: between you know, between the guys, and then they'd be
2:48
Speaker 3: going and telling Charity a totally different story. And so
2:52
Speaker 3: I think that maybe they thought I wasn't sharing those
2:55
Speaker 3: things with Charity, but I was, and so it kind
2:59
Speaker 3: of just kind of cause a little drama there. But
3:01
Speaker 3: I just honestly, I really I still don't really know
3:05
Speaker 3: what happened. Like I thought the guys were all my friends.
3:07
Speaker 3: I mean, the way we were talking behind closed doors
3:10
Speaker 3: was just one way, and then you know, when the
3:12
Speaker 3: cameras came out, people just changed. And so for me,
3:16
Speaker 3: I think I'm still confused. I'm right young with you.
3:18
Speaker 3: I really don't know what happened. All I know is
3:21
Speaker 3: one day was you know, sunshine and rainbows, and the
3:24
Speaker 3: next day it was just a storm. So h Paradise though,
3:28
Speaker 3: was very different because I think that you know, you're
3:30
Speaker 3: around both the guys and girls, so it's you know,
3:32
Speaker 3: you're seeing each other's connections form, you're seeing the conversations happen.
3:36
Speaker 3: Everyone's aware of what's going on, and as long as
3:39
Speaker 3: you're not stepping on each other's toes, it's not really
3:42
Speaker 3: like you're going after the same person, so people aren't
3:44
Speaker 3: trying to come for your neck, you know.
3:46
Speaker 5: M h Yeah. It's a little less secretive around there.
3:48
Speaker 5: You can't hide very much, no.
3:51
Speaker 3: Secrets, and less competition, I would say. I I mean,
3:54
Speaker 3: there wasn't and even when people were pursuing the same person,
3:57
Speaker 3: it was it was it wasn't really competitive the way
4:02
Speaker 3: they were doing it.
4:02
Speaker 5: They were just like because of time, I think, because
4:05
Speaker 5: you can always you have so much time in Paradise.
4:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know you're gonna get to talk to them
4:11
Speaker 3: at some point or versus Bachelorrette. It's like your time
4:14
Speaker 3: is so dictated by that one moment you get with her.
4:17
Speaker 3: So if someone impedes on your time with her, you're
4:20
Speaker 3: just you're at each other's throat. You're angry.
4:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, now that transitioned us because we're here today talk
4:26
Speaker 2: about your relationship and the two of you together. And
4:28
Speaker 2: so you get off of Paradise and very soon after it,
4:31
Speaker 2: we see the you know, an announcement at some point
4:33
Speaker 2: that the two of you are dating, that the two
4:36
Speaker 2: of you are hanging out. Can you give us some
4:38
Speaker 2: details on kind of how that all went about, you
4:42
Speaker 2: know where, how serious was it right away? Just give
4:46
Speaker 2: us an insight to what we didn't see kind of
4:48
Speaker 2: in the limbo time.
4:50
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean for sure. So Paradise, we had never
4:53
Speaker 4: talked at all. And you know, contrary to how you
4:56
Speaker 4: your take on, you know, seeing him on Charity Season,
4:59
Speaker 4: I was like, oh, like, I hope he doesn't end
5:02
Speaker 4: up with anyone out side of Paradise.
5:04
Speaker 2: Tell me stop there, tell me more. What about his
5:07
Speaker 2: time during Charity season? Did you say I hope he
5:10
Speaker 2: doesn't end up with anybody.
5:12
Speaker 4: It was his face, Okay, yeah, obviously look at him.
5:16
Speaker 4: You know, also a lot like there was a lot
5:19
Speaker 4: of similar things, like you came up with the shot drinks.
5:22
Speaker 4: He didn't watch me on the season until you know,
5:24
Speaker 4: like a couple of weeks ago actually, so he didn't
5:26
Speaker 4: know this. And I actually was one of the five
5:29
Speaker 4: on the finale of the Bachelorette the season before and
5:33
Speaker 4: so on our like Zach and I's initial meeting, I
5:35
Speaker 4: did the same thing with like a shot, and so
5:38
Speaker 4: I was like, oh, hey, that guy you know copied me.
5:41
Speaker 4: I've got to talk to about that.
5:44
Speaker 5: Good opening line, right I should it wasn't that was
5:47
Speaker 5: that would have been good.
5:49
Speaker 4: I had a lot of lines. I actually contacted him
5:51
Speaker 4: a couple of times via comments that you know, he
5:53
Speaker 4: didn't respond to until DM me later.
5:56
Speaker 2: So that's good.
5:58
Speaker 4: I had time to spit up the line. So yeah,
6:00
Speaker 4: so there was that moment. There was another moment that
6:03
Speaker 4: he mentioned like Avatar and like seeing someone and that's
6:06
Speaker 4: just like a silly little thing, but that I like
6:08
Speaker 4: have analogy and like imprinted in my brain, like since
6:12
Speaker 4: I watched Avatar in theaters where I like, you know,
6:15
Speaker 4: they put the ponytail of the people, like connect it
6:19
Speaker 4: to the person. It's you're like could like you see them,
6:22
Speaker 4: is what they say, and like you're imprinted. And I'm
6:24
Speaker 4: like he said that in one of the itms, and
6:26
Speaker 4: I was like, yes, this guy gets it. So that's
6:29
Speaker 4: just there's a many things. And yeah, so definitely like
6:33
Speaker 4: an energy I felt just from watching it as a fan.
6:37
Speaker 4: And then once I you know, I didn't end up
6:39
Speaker 4: going to Paradise, and then when I talked to the
6:40
Speaker 4: girls that I'm friends with coming out of it, you know,
6:43
Speaker 4: seems to be that he was still single. So that
6:46
Speaker 4: was that, and you want to take it away on
6:48
Speaker 4: your end, you know, we meet up. Yeah, so he
6:51
Speaker 4: said how serious? How fast?
6:52
Speaker 3: Because it was after that we ended up like talking
6:54
Speaker 3: in for maybe like a week or two, a whole
6:57
Speaker 3: week maybe Tennessee came out to see her, and within
7:02
Speaker 3: the first day of us talking for the sunset, we
7:03
Speaker 3: were already like, you know, like, hey, like I want
7:05
Speaker 3: to pursue relationship. I like you. I like the energy
7:08
Speaker 3: you give off. It was like we were like we
7:10
Speaker 3: didn't want to jump into talking.
7:12
Speaker 4: It sounded like the most like simple but like straight
7:15
Speaker 4: to the point because we knew like he was only
7:17
Speaker 4: coming there for a few days, like then he was
7:19
Speaker 4: going away, and so I feel like we both are
7:22
Speaker 4: you know, respected and appreciated and saw the potential and
7:25
Speaker 4: the relationship. And then once there was that connection like
7:27
Speaker 4: for sure in person as well, it was like I
7:30
Speaker 4: think we both know that things can get messed up,
7:33
Speaker 4: like as far as the distance if you're not having
7:36
Speaker 4: that talk at first, and like, wouldn't it be a
7:39
Speaker 4: shame like if we you know, oh, I didn't know
7:41
Speaker 4: you weren't dating, or I didn't, but I assumed you were,
7:43
Speaker 4: so like what and like ah, and like no one
7:45
Speaker 4: technically did anything wrong, but it's just like messy. So
7:48
Speaker 4: I was just like so happy that we had that
7:50
Speaker 4: conversation before you know, leaving. But it was still the
7:54
Speaker 4: same day. I picked him up from the airport in
7:56
Speaker 4: a disguise that morning. I liked what nine am or something,
8:00
Speaker 4: and my disguis because he was under you know, Paradise
8:02
Speaker 4: hadn't even started, yeah, and under contract, so he can't
8:05
Speaker 4: be seen. And I'm like, it's Nashville's a small town, like,
8:08
Speaker 4: you know, he's pretty hard. People have recognized him more
8:12
Speaker 4: than me because of the ear rings, and then they
8:14
Speaker 4: want me to do well.
8:16
Speaker 2: He's just and he's big. He's tall, and he's strong
8:18
Speaker 2: and he's big guy all his hair. I think you're strong.
8:22
Speaker 2: I saw that shirt unbuttoned a couple of buttons at
8:25
Speaker 2: the wedding and I was like, yeah, guy, he lifts weights,
8:28
Speaker 2: he lifts waits.
8:30
Speaker 3: You know what.
8:31
Speaker 2: This makes me laugh though, because I think I don't
8:35
Speaker 2: have anything any problem with this. In fact, I think
8:37
Speaker 2: it's very healthy. It's similar to how my wife and
8:40
Speaker 2: I went about our first meeting within the evening time
8:43
Speaker 2: of our very first day. We had talked for two
8:45
Speaker 2: weeks or three weeks before, and we said, hey, this
8:48
Speaker 2: is either this is the real deal, like we're going
8:50
Speaker 2: after it, but it's also a little bit I wonder,
8:53
Speaker 2: and I want you to continue, Christina, but I wonder
8:56
Speaker 2: if it's a little bit of the kind of coming
8:57
Speaker 2: off of the show too, like that you both had
8:59
Speaker 2: this apearance on The Bachelor, so acting quicker and saying
9:04
Speaker 2: things and being more intentional with your time. I wonder
9:07
Speaker 2: if that had anything to do with it.
9:08
Speaker 3: I actually, I mean, I'd like to jump in there
9:10
Speaker 3: just because I agree with that a lot. I think
9:12
Speaker 3: that The Bachelor really taught me that, you know, if
9:14
Speaker 3: you aren't setting your intentions, if you aren't saying what
9:16
Speaker 3: you want right off the bat, you just like you
9:18
Speaker 3: end up in this limbo or like you know where
9:20
Speaker 3: you're in the talking face for so long. And I
9:23
Speaker 3: mean nowadays, I feel like that the talking phase is
9:25
Speaker 3: so common for everybody. Everyone's like, oh, yeah, I'm talking
9:27
Speaker 3: to this person.
9:28
Speaker 4: Yes, too long like talking and then like okay, then
9:31
Speaker 4: you're not talking talking, but you like like like and
9:34
Speaker 4: I'm like, I don't understand it. Whenever we had the
9:37
Speaker 4: exclusive talk, I was literally like does that mean this?
9:40
Speaker 4: Because you know, you live on the other side of
9:43
Speaker 4: the country and I love it here, and like there's
9:45
Speaker 4: a little bit there, you know age and like I
9:46
Speaker 4: don't know what's tiktoks I announed, Like what do you
9:49
Speaker 4: mean by that?
9:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, I mean I've been in like I've been
9:52
Speaker 3: in talking or situationships, and I just like I didn't
9:55
Speaker 3: want a situationship, Like I wanted to know if, like
9:58
Speaker 3: you know, she was interested in like seeing if the
10:00
Speaker 3: it was a possibility for a relationship. And for me,
10:02
Speaker 3: I feel like when you're talking to or when you're dating,
10:04
Speaker 3: I feel like having you know, there's there's a phase
10:07
Speaker 3: where people date multiple people and that's fine, but I
10:09
Speaker 3: wanted to make sure she knew that. Yeah, I wanted
10:11
Speaker 3: to make sure she knew that as far as my
10:13
Speaker 3: intentions were. My intentions were as I wanted to put
10:16
Speaker 3: my energy into getting to know her, not getting to
10:18
Speaker 3: know multiple people at once. And so I was like
10:21
Speaker 3: I put it out there. I was like, hey, like,
10:22
Speaker 3: this is where I'm at, and I don't know if
10:24
Speaker 3: you're there, but I just want to let you know
10:25
Speaker 3: where I'm at so that there's no confusion coming from me.
10:28
Speaker 3: And she was just like, I'm at the same place
10:29
Speaker 3: and I would love to just talk, you know, get
10:31
Speaker 3: to know you and pursue this together. And so it
10:34
Speaker 3: kind of it took away a lot of stress that
10:37
Speaker 3: I feel like people on, you know, relationships like right
10:40
Speaker 3: off the bat, and we just got to dive and
10:41
Speaker 3: to get to know each other and didn't waste me's
10:43
Speaker 3: on doing it. So it's cool.
10:44
Speaker 4: And this hasn't been something that like I've been actively
10:47
Speaker 4: thinking about or anything, and we haven't talked about this,
10:49
Speaker 4: but like I you definitely brought up the conversation. First,
10:53
Speaker 4: I was just like yes, like yes, yes. I didn't
10:56
Speaker 4: know because in my head, I'm like, you have an
10:58
Speaker 4: out of jail free car because you can't be like
11:03
Speaker 4: posting me on something because you're under contract because it
11:06
Speaker 4: hasn't aired yet.
11:07
Speaker 3: No, that was like no. I was like, I mean
11:11
Speaker 3: that's a big part of it too, because it's like
11:12
Speaker 3: when you have those you know, relationships and stuff like
11:15
Speaker 3: you can post in your story like oh yeah, I'm
11:16
Speaker 3: on a date with someone and you know you can
11:18
Speaker 3: do all that kind of stuff and like.
11:20
Speaker 4: Like nowadays it sounds so lame, but like when you've
11:22
Speaker 4: been with situationships and like and you've been burned before
11:25
Speaker 4: or like just you know how things are kind of
11:27
Speaker 4: confusing with dating now. I feel like you know you're
11:31
Speaker 4: gonna work, Or if I see you post a story
11:33
Speaker 4: and you're at a bar and I kind of see
11:34
Speaker 4: a girl's hand, I'm like, can I ask if that's
11:36
Speaker 4: a girl? Not really, and so it's just it's confusing.
11:40
Speaker 4: So we did have like a conversation like we're in kindergarten,
11:42
Speaker 4: We're like check yes.
11:44
Speaker 2: Or now that's sweet.
11:46
Speaker 5: It's so cute, And it led you then to like
11:49
Speaker 5: a rose.
11:50
Speaker 3: Do you accept.
11:54
Speaker 5: That would have been hilarious?
11:56
Speaker 3: And so no, I brought earrings instead. That's what I did.
11:59
Speaker 5: Chris, you know, did they not cast you for Paradise?
12:04
Speaker 4: I was planning on going and then just didn't end
12:08
Speaker 4: up going, So.
12:10
Speaker 5: So they really missed out. Well, you know, I'm getting
12:15
Speaker 5: a couple.
12:16
Speaker 4: You can say that because you know we're where we
12:18
Speaker 4: are right now, and who knows how things would have
12:20
Speaker 4: ended up.
12:21
Speaker 5: That was my follow up question.
12:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, and we also know.
12:25
Speaker 4: We just explained how we didn't want the mess. I
12:28
Speaker 4: think we like did the perfect thing. What happened was perfect.
12:32
Speaker 3: I think that's part of it too. Like the show,
12:33
Speaker 3: it was bound to be mess. Yeah, the show taught me.
12:35
Speaker 3: The show taught me that when I pursue relationships now regularly,
12:38
Speaker 3: I don't want the drama that came with everything on
12:42
Speaker 3: the show, if you remember.
12:43
Speaker 4: But also a lot of the girls don't love me either, so.
12:48
Speaker 2: Paradise changes that though.
12:50
Speaker 3: I do.
12:50
Speaker 2: I believe that people see more of a complete version
12:54
Speaker 2: of yourself and they I'm assuming it would have been
12:58
Speaker 2: really great for you because the girls would maybe been
13:00
Speaker 2: at first the little hesitant and then gone as time
13:03
Speaker 2: went on. They would have said, hey, this is she's
13:05
Speaker 2: really great, Like you know, we just don't get to
13:07
Speaker 2: know her as well as what we could have on
13:10
Speaker 2: the show. But I do agree with the two of
13:12
Speaker 2: you and Ashley. I think you know, you are a
13:16
Speaker 2: hopeless romantic and you love to watch these couples fall
13:19
Speaker 2: in love, you know, on television, and I agree with you,
13:21
Speaker 2: that's so much fun to watch and then follow up with.
13:24
Speaker 2: But I wonder because of maybe some of the issues
13:27
Speaker 2: that existed from your times on The Bachelor and Bachelorette,
13:30
Speaker 2: if those would have maybe polluted the ability for you
13:34
Speaker 2: guys to dive into this relationship because you would have
13:37
Speaker 2: heard too much, or you would you would have assumed
13:40
Speaker 2: some things and not just got to know each other
13:42
Speaker 2: for who you are.
13:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I mean, and it's every time a relationship
13:47
Speaker 3: starts forming, there's always that situation where someone ends up
13:50
Speaker 3: getting pulled on the date or someone end up getting
13:52
Speaker 3: pulled on the conversations, and you know, there's so there's
13:56
Speaker 3: so many factors that get put into it where it's
13:58
Speaker 3: like it's hard to foe kiss. I mean, yeah, people
14:02
Speaker 3: are able to find relationships, but it's hard to focus
14:04
Speaker 3: on one on one connection when you're there. So it's it's.
14:07
Speaker 2: Crazy, Actually my wrong here where they are like, let's
14:14
Speaker 2: just consider them a Bachelor in Paradise couple because Braden
14:16
Speaker 2: was on it this season.
14:17
Speaker 5: That's what they know.
14:18
Speaker 4: We asked, because like they kept saying, We're like, oh, yeah,
14:21
Speaker 4: well you have a Neil Lane. So look, we need
14:24
Speaker 4: you to check yes or no, like are we exclusive
14:25
Speaker 4: or not paradise.
14:26
Speaker 5: And so they said, yeah, I don't know, you're not
14:29
Speaker 5: a Bachelor in Paradise couple, but you are a bachelor couple,
14:33
Speaker 5: like you're a franchise couple.
14:34
Speaker 4: I said paradise, but I you know.
14:37
Speaker 3: And I'd like to say, I mean no.
14:39
Speaker 4: That's why I was like, I don't agree either way.
14:41
Speaker 3: I don't know. I have to say one thing. I
14:43
Speaker 3: One thing I noticed though, is I think she might
14:45
Speaker 3: be the first person besides like the host, to be
14:48
Speaker 3: on like every single like Bachelorette. She went to the
14:51
Speaker 3: Bachelorette finale when she got to know besides yeah, but sorry,
14:57
Speaker 3: I thought of something that Sorry my bad.
15:01
Speaker 4: It was an emergency, but he's ignoring it.
15:03
Speaker 3: But no, so she was on Bachelorette, though for the finale,
15:07
Speaker 3: she was on Bachelor with Zach. She ended up making
15:09
Speaker 3: it to Bachelor in Paradise because again they made a
15:12
Speaker 3: snippet of like me and her dating and then Bachelor wedding,
15:16
Speaker 3: So she ended up being on.
15:17
Speaker 4: All well maybe within like a year for a rookie
15:19
Speaker 4: or something.
15:20
Speaker 2: That's pretty impressive. You did all right, I mean, and
15:23
Speaker 2: you didn't really have to put in the work.
15:24
Speaker 4: But someone sent him the message or like someone was
15:26
Speaker 4: talking about that with him and he said that, and
15:28
Speaker 4: I'm like, I don't, I didn't. I don't fact check that.
15:31
Speaker 4: It doesn't sound but you know, sure, it's like, yo,
15:33
Speaker 4: big fan of the shows.
15:35
Speaker 3: It's like, dang, you did it all, didn't.
15:36
Speaker 4: You do well? So he had never watched he got
15:38
Speaker 4: signed up and had never seen the show before, Like
15:41
Speaker 4: you knew like kind of the concept, but like I'm
15:43
Speaker 4: an og fan, so like you're sitting here saying that,
15:45
Speaker 4: but I'm like, yeah, but it wasn't Bachelor pat or
15:47
Speaker 4: Winter Games or anything like that.
15:49
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's why you and I are seeing it as
15:50
Speaker 5: more of like a bachelor franchise umbrella a couple.
15:53
Speaker 4: Yeah, okay, I like an umbrella couple.
15:55
Speaker 5: An umbrella a couple.
15:57
Speaker 2: Well was my point was you're the only two to
15:58
Speaker 2: work from like paradise, Like this is the only.
16:03
Speaker 5: That's why they want to call you a paradise couple.
16:05
Speaker 4: Yeah, you were like, you know it either way, let's
16:08
Speaker 4: just say, I'm like, okay.
16:09
Speaker 3: Exactly, I heard a rumormal that there might be other
16:13
Speaker 3: couples that might have been working out.
16:16
Speaker 5: You heard, couples that are currently working it out once
16:22
Speaker 5: they've already broken up.
16:24
Speaker 2: We'll figure it out. We'll dive deep on this info.
16:27
Speaker 3: But yeah, that might be something I heard.
16:30
Speaker 5: The Thanks thanks for having us look out for that.
16:43
Speaker 5: So this is a little bit off topic, but I'm
16:45
Speaker 5: just dying now because that's here.
16:48
Speaker 3: And you know you guys, I know you guys won't
16:52
Speaker 3: tell anything, get it, guys.
16:56
Speaker 5: It's so sweet of you. So you were in like
17:00
Speaker 5: this crazy accident Brandon and I and it was like
17:03
Speaker 5: a sinking ship and you were in the middle of
17:06
Speaker 5: telling me the story during the Golden wedding, and I
17:11
Speaker 5: didn't get to hear the rest of it. And everybody
17:13
Speaker 5: needs to hear it in detail, because all we did
17:15
Speaker 5: was get like a little blip, a little headline.
17:17
Speaker 4: I feel like be shouting with the music over then
17:20
Speaker 4: then yos die like you did, like you truly almost did.
17:23
Speaker 5: And Christina, were you around for you to You're dating
17:26
Speaker 5: him at the moment, so tell us about this whole
17:28
Speaker 5: experience emotionally.
17:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, so I'll let him run through it. But yeah,
17:33
Speaker 4: so as far as my side though, we were definitely
17:35
Speaker 4: like dating together whatever. But you know, we're gonna get
17:38
Speaker 4: to the point at the end where I got a
17:40
Speaker 4: boyfriend officially. That day, that's when we know. There was
17:42
Speaker 4: a lot of things come to uh you know.
17:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, Basically, me and Aaron, one of the guys from
17:48
Speaker 3: my season, we went out. He bought a boat, and
17:50
Speaker 3: it was my dad and my uncle, him and then
17:52
Speaker 3: one of our other buddies that were go surfing with
17:54
Speaker 3: a lot, and we went out to go deep sea fishing.
17:57
Speaker 3: We checked the boat. It was a brand new boat.
18:00
Speaker 3: I got a thirty point spection done. Everything was great.
18:02
Speaker 3: The ride out there was amazing. I felt like a pirate.
18:05
Speaker 3: I was hanging off the side of the ship like
18:06
Speaker 3: it was best day, best day, Yeah, best day ever.
18:10
Speaker 3: I mean it was literally just an amazing start today.
18:13
Speaker 3: And we were out there for about three hours, you know,
18:16
Speaker 3: just dropping lines in and all of a sudden, like
18:19
Speaker 3: Aaron had to go to the back of the boat
18:20
Speaker 3: to lift up the off board engine because the line
18:23
Speaker 3: that my buddy cast started like drifting underneath. As soon
18:25
Speaker 3: as he stepped on the swim deck to lift the
18:26
Speaker 3: off board engine, the boat just started taking on water
18:29
Speaker 3: and the boat just like shot up.
18:31
Speaker 5: Is this the maiden voyage? Like Titanic?
18:33
Speaker 3: Like what is this?
18:34
Speaker 6: It was?
18:35
Speaker 5: That's how I describe it, Like.
18:36
Speaker 4: When he says it's like, okay, it went like that.
18:38
Speaker 3: It was like how the Titanic, you know you say that, yeah,
18:42
Speaker 3: instead of like a hundred foot boat.
18:44
Speaker 5: Yeah, but it wasn't the maiden voyage of this boat, right.
18:50
Speaker 3: No, not the mad voyage. But we took it out.
18:52
Speaker 3: Took it out like a week or two before to
18:53
Speaker 3: make sure everything worked because I mean, we want to
18:55
Speaker 3: be safe.
18:55
Speaker 1: You know.
18:56
Speaker 3: We're like, oh, we want to make sure the boat
18:57
Speaker 3: works and there's nothing wrong with it. We'll just go
18:59
Speaker 3: through the harbor and going to cruise.
19:01
Speaker 4: And I mean, are irons a firefighter you had, I
19:04
Speaker 4: mean your armys like the who else?
19:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, they were like medical we had you know, it was.
19:09
Speaker 4: Early like not drinking, like it was not.
19:12
Speaker 3: We were like but yeah, it wasn't like we were
19:14
Speaker 3: going crazy or anything like that. We were just going
19:16
Speaker 3: for a fishing trip and there made this boat just
19:19
Speaker 3: shot up and within like forty five seconds, I got
19:21
Speaker 3: launched off the boat. My uncle got the center console
19:24
Speaker 3: to the head. My dad was wrapped like this, like
19:27
Speaker 3: we were just cast into the middle of the ocean,
19:29
Speaker 3: seventeen miles off shore.
19:30
Speaker 5: See, that's like the most mind boggling thing about this.
19:33
Speaker 5: Seventeen miles off the shore. Did you have any boats
19:38
Speaker 5: in sight? Even?
19:40
Speaker 3: No, it was just it was literally just open water.
19:43
Speaker 3: I mean I could you could see like the tops
19:44
Speaker 3: of the mountains, like the shadow of the mountains in
19:46
Speaker 3: the distance of where we needed to be, but everything
19:48
Speaker 3: it was just it was just empty. And I've never
19:51
Speaker 3: and it's such a it's such an eerie feeling when
19:53
Speaker 3: you're out there. I mean, we're surrounded by things all
19:56
Speaker 3: the time. We're surrounded by noise, weurrounded by people passing us,
19:58
Speaker 3: like even house you hear cars driving by, and you know,
20:01
Speaker 3: but when we were out there, it was the most
20:03
Speaker 3: eerie feeling because there was just this stillness and this
20:06
Speaker 3: calmness in this most stressful, just chaotic experience I've ever
20:10
Speaker 3: had in my life and.
20:11
Speaker 5: You watch the boat actually go under completely.
20:15
Speaker 6: Yeah.
20:15
Speaker 3: And at the time too, like we started panicking, so
20:17
Speaker 3: like the nose of the boat like like you know,
20:20
Speaker 3: hung out for a second, as like water was filling
20:22
Speaker 3: the hole. I'm sure, but you know, we were trying
20:23
Speaker 3: to see if we could like pull the boat out
20:25
Speaker 3: of the water. For some like I don't know if
20:27
Speaker 3: I thought I was working out on the gym enough
20:29
Speaker 3: like Ben was sinn and I was like, oh, pull
20:31
Speaker 3: this thing out, great, you know, my muscle was finally
20:33
Speaker 3: coming handy. But no, no, there's no pull on that
20:37
Speaker 3: boat out though. And in fact, like when I did that,
20:40
Speaker 3: I actually got wrapped in the fishing line, you know,
20:42
Speaker 3: when we decided to try to do that, and as
20:44
Speaker 3: the boat kept going down, I started getting pulled down
20:46
Speaker 3: with the boat. And by the great like my dad
20:50
Speaker 3: he actually bought like a pocket knife. I still have
20:52
Speaker 3: the pocket knife I carry with me everywhere now. He
20:55
Speaker 3: had this pocket knife. He literally bought the knight before
20:57
Speaker 3: just in case he had to cut line or anything
20:59
Speaker 3: like that. And so when I'm getting tangled in line,
21:01
Speaker 3: it was like a movie situation, you know, where like
21:03
Speaker 3: you're going underwater, you're bobbing up. You're like, you know,
21:06
Speaker 3: and yeah, he actually was able to cut me free.
21:09
Speaker 3: And uh, I mean you can kind of see the
21:11
Speaker 3: scar on my arm a little bit like goes down
21:13
Speaker 3: like that. But he actually cut me while he was
21:15
Speaker 3: cutting the line off me. But still it was like,
21:17
Speaker 3: you know, saved my life. So I was bleeding. Now
21:19
Speaker 3: I'm in the open water boats underwater.
21:22
Speaker 5: No short attack.
21:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm bleeding in open water. And now we're like,
21:26
Speaker 3: now stop.
21:27
Speaker 4: There because there's a lot of activity on the fish finders.
21:29
Speaker 3: Yeah, and so and that was the thing too, like
21:31
Speaker 3: we stopped at this spot because we were looking for
21:33
Speaker 3: fish and the fish finder was going off like there
21:35
Speaker 3: was a big fish that underneath the door. We're like, oh,
21:37
Speaker 3: this is a great spot to stop. And uh, now
21:39
Speaker 3: I'm bleeding and we have to paddle back to shore.
21:43
Speaker 3: And so we just started kicking. And it was my
21:45
Speaker 3: dad and my uncle and me. We locked arms and
21:47
Speaker 3: we were kicking, and then Aaron was using one of
21:49
Speaker 3: the one of the ice chests we had as like
21:51
Speaker 3: a kicking board, and then my buddy Gavin was using
21:54
Speaker 3: the other ice chests we had as a kicking board.
21:56
Speaker 3: And so now we're just We're just like moving as
21:58
Speaker 3: a group, moving towards the shore. And as we're going,
22:01
Speaker 3: it was just I mean, you have so many thoughts
22:03
Speaker 3: in that time. You're in the water for three and
22:04
Speaker 3: a half hours. It was just I thought I was
22:05
Speaker 3: dead for three and a.
22:06
Speaker 5: Half hours excess, No, three and a half hours. Yeah
22:11
Speaker 5: to the coast guard. How did you how did you
22:12
Speaker 5: even like contact the coast guard?
22:14
Speaker 3: Like what what?
22:14
Speaker 5: Howd that go down?
22:16
Speaker 3: Coast guard wasn't even coming, Like there was no there
22:18
Speaker 3: was no contacting anybody. I mean, no distress. And we
22:21
Speaker 3: all got out. There was we were we were just
22:24
Speaker 3: out of luck. I mean, it was it was one
22:26
Speaker 3: of the crazy And that was the reason I knew
22:27
Speaker 3: I was going to die. Like if we got a
22:29
Speaker 3: coast guard out, like a call out or something like that,
22:31
Speaker 3: it might have given me like a sense of hope.
22:33
Speaker 3: But there was none of that. Like we we weren't
22:35
Speaker 3: able to get to the radio. And I mean I
22:38
Speaker 3: still hear the sound of the boat because the boat
22:40
Speaker 3: the once the boat started taking on water, it started
22:43
Speaker 3: letting out like a like a like a uh sound,
22:47
Speaker 3: And I was in my head, I'm like, oh, is
22:49
Speaker 3: that a distress? A mole, but I knew it wasn't
22:50
Speaker 3: a distress because the boat didn't have that, and so
22:53
Speaker 3: it was just the sound of the boat, like the
22:56
Speaker 3: computer failing and stuff like that. And so it was
22:58
Speaker 3: the it was the most bizarre our experience ever. And
23:01
Speaker 3: so now we're kicking towards shore, no distress, no no
23:03
Speaker 3: one's coming for us, nobody around. And I start seeing
23:08
Speaker 3: Aaron start shaking because he's cold. Gavin starts shaking because
23:11
Speaker 3: he's cold. I'm locked arms with my dad and my uncle,
23:13
Speaker 3: so I'm like keeping a little bit of warmth with me.
23:16
Speaker 3: But I mean, I'm in just my underwear because I
23:18
Speaker 3: like just dropped all my clothes off because my clothes
23:20
Speaker 3: were just dragging me down. And so now we're kicking
23:22
Speaker 3: toward shore and the Pacific Ocean is not warm like
23:25
Speaker 3: it's it's pretty chilly. It was like it was probably
23:27
Speaker 3: around like sixty five that day in the water, which
23:29
Speaker 3: is not how the coldest it is, but it's like,
23:31
Speaker 3: you know, it was it was a decently warm day
23:33
Speaker 3: at least with sixty five.
23:34
Speaker 4: And they're that long on your body temperature.
23:36
Speaker 3: Your body temperatures is like it's being pulled from you
23:39
Speaker 3: because the water is so cold, and so we saw
23:42
Speaker 3: like a couple shadows of sailboats in the distance, but
23:45
Speaker 3: like they would just come into view and then they
23:46
Speaker 3: would just disappear again. And so we're like, we're not
23:49
Speaker 3: no one's seeing us, Like we're gonna die. And then
23:51
Speaker 3: all of a sudden, like I'm you know, we're kicking,
23:53
Speaker 3: and my buddy Gavin like gets shot up above like
23:56
Speaker 3: one of the waves because we're in like a four
23:57
Speaker 3: foot win swell. So we're going up, down, up, down uptown.
24:00
Speaker 5: This is the ultimate nightmare.
24:03
Speaker 3: And he was like, he's like, guys, I think I
24:04
Speaker 3: see a boat, And I'm like, at this point, we'd
24:07
Speaker 3: already seen like the shadows of boat's passing.
24:09
Speaker 4: My mic heard a helicopters.
24:11
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I mean your brain starts playing games with
24:14
Speaker 3: you do you think every sound is something and you
24:16
Speaker 3: look around hopeful, and then it's just like it's three
24:18
Speaker 3: hours of that where it's like you're like paddling your
24:19
Speaker 3: heads in the water and then all of a sudden,
24:21
Speaker 3: you think you hear something, you look up and there's nothing,
24:23
Speaker 3: and it's like and now all of a sudden, Gavin
24:25
Speaker 3: is going He's like, guys, I see a boat. I'm like,
24:27
Speaker 3: shut And I remember I just told him. I was like, bro,
24:28
Speaker 3: shut the hell, like I mean, you know, I don't
24:31
Speaker 3: want to say thing on podcast, but I basically told
24:33
Speaker 3: him shut up because I was like, dude, like stop
24:35
Speaker 3: telling me that something's there, because nothing's there. And then
24:38
Speaker 3: Aaron goes He's like no, I see it too. And
24:41
Speaker 3: then like like my dad and my uncle and I
24:43
Speaker 3: we were just like we just kept kicking and they're like, wait, know,
24:45
Speaker 3: I think it's coming towards us, and we just kept
24:47
Speaker 3: kicking because we're like no, like they're they're hallucinating, like
24:50
Speaker 3: this can't be real. And then all of a sudden,
24:52
Speaker 3: I just heard like the sound of like the boat
24:54
Speaker 3: moving in the water, like because my head was on
24:56
Speaker 3: the water, so I could hear like the sound of
24:57
Speaker 3: the engine like going, and like I finally looked up
25:00
Speaker 3: and I just see the boat coming and it was
25:01
Speaker 3: just like I just started crying. I was just like
25:03
Speaker 3: kind of like I'm not going to die. I was like,
25:05
Speaker 3: you know, And and so the boat finally came up.
25:08
Speaker 3: We climbed in and it's funny, the ice chest starts
25:11
Speaker 3: drifting off and my my uncle's like Yeah, there was
25:14
Speaker 3: like an igloo ice chest and my uncle climbs to
25:16
Speaker 3: the top of the boat like Wilson No.
25:18
Speaker 5: Like you know, like cast the fact that he had
25:20
Speaker 5: a sense of humor too.
25:22
Speaker 3: I was just like I just told him. I was like,
25:23
Speaker 3: f you, bro, we saw us dyed and you want
25:26
Speaker 3: to crack jokes right away. But yeah, so we ended
25:29
Speaker 3: up these guys ended up finding us.
25:30
Speaker 4: They rolled up and they're like, we were looking for
25:32
Speaker 4: a school fish and we found a school man. Look
25:34
Speaker 4: at them.
25:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, and they were I mean, they were crack ups too,
25:38
Speaker 3: but it was it was wild their story of how
25:40
Speaker 3: they ended up there, Like they were running late that day.
25:42
Speaker 3: They weren't sure if they were going to come out
25:44
Speaker 3: at all. They but they ended up running a dropping
25:46
Speaker 3: the kids off at school and then they're like, oh,
25:47
Speaker 3: we'll just go out for like thirty forty five minutes
25:49
Speaker 3: just to go on a ride. And when they came out,
25:51
Speaker 3: they just saw the reflection of like the igloo in
25:53
Speaker 3: the water and for his earrings, yeah.
25:56
Speaker 2: No, and then I hope it was the ear rings.
25:59
Speaker 2: It all makes sense now.
26:01
Speaker 3: And then they decided to check it out and they
26:03
Speaker 3: saw us in there, and there was like hey, can
26:04
Speaker 3: we riding and like yeah, And the thing was crazy about.
26:07
Speaker 4: It then like a long time to get there sing
26:09
Speaker 4: it right?
26:10
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, no, I mean the thing that was the
26:11
Speaker 3: most bizarre about is once we got on the boat,
26:13
Speaker 3: it was still like over an hour and a half
26:14
Speaker 3: boat ride back to shore. So I mean there was
26:17
Speaker 3: and you're going on, you're going fasten the water, so
26:20
Speaker 3: I mean we wouldn't we wouldn't have a mile, right,
26:23
Speaker 3: we made it three quarters of a mile. We looked
26:24
Speaker 3: at it, so by the by the time that we
26:27
Speaker 3: were in the water in three and a half hours,
26:28
Speaker 3: made it three quarters of a long miles. Because it
26:30
Speaker 3: was like we're fighting against we're fighting against the current,
26:32
Speaker 3: we're fighting against windswell, like it was just like it was.
26:35
Speaker 3: It was insane. And so when they picked us up,
26:37
Speaker 3: they called the coast guard and they're like, hey, we
26:38
Speaker 3: found some people. Are you guys looking for anyone? And
26:40
Speaker 3: they're like no, what do you mean? And then I go, well,
26:43
Speaker 3: we found five guys in the water, And so as
26:45
Speaker 3: we were pulling into the harbor, they just pulled up
26:47
Speaker 3: on us and like, hey, you guys, okay, and then
26:49
Speaker 3: they're like, wait, you're the guys in The Bachelor, aren't
26:51
Speaker 3: you And I'm like, bro, shut up man, and so
26:56
Speaker 3: uh that was airing, yeah, and so yeah, we were saying,
27:00
Speaker 3: I mean it was crazy.
27:01
Speaker 5: I mean I that day.
27:03
Speaker 3: It's still it's it's still hard because it's like it's
27:05
Speaker 3: still messes with my head a little bit. I mean you,
27:07
Speaker 3: I mean it was only what like four months ago now,
27:09
Speaker 3: but yeah, so I mean it's still like it's still different.
27:13
Speaker 3: Like when you're talking about this whole like social Anxiety band,
27:16
Speaker 3: It's like it's bizarre. I now have like a sense
27:17
Speaker 3: of social anxiety and I don't know where. I don't know.
27:20
Speaker 3: I mean I know where it comes from. But he tsd.
27:22
Speaker 4: Actually, yeah, that distress call like on the movie the
27:26
Speaker 4: other day.
27:26
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I heard there was a distress call in
27:28
Speaker 3: the movie The Today sent me in like a spin.
27:29
Speaker 3: I was just like I just start panicing. My body
27:32
Speaker 3: just start and it's so weird. Panic attacks are weird.
27:34
Speaker 5: But yeah, Christina, he told he asked you to be
27:38
Speaker 5: his girlfriend that day.
27:40
Speaker 3: As soon as he got back to all that happens.
27:43
Speaker 4: You know, we were exclusive very much, but like you know,
27:45
Speaker 4: I didn't have his location, so I didn't know you know.
27:48
Speaker 5: Now you're like, yeah, we're finding my friends on you.
27:52
Speaker 3: Oh we are.
27:52
Speaker 4: That was immediately I'm like, yes, I love your girlfriend,
27:54
Speaker 4: but I need you just him the location right now.
27:57
Speaker 4: It's not for why you think no, But yeah, so
27:59
Speaker 4: he didn't have a phone. You know, they vote and everything,
28:03
Speaker 4: and all of everything they had is down at the
28:06
Speaker 4: bottom of the ocean.
28:07
Speaker 3: So they, you know, he got back and it's six
28:10
Speaker 3: thousand dollars worth a camera equipment because I had like
28:12
Speaker 3: my nice camera out there, my drone, my GoPro, like
28:15
Speaker 3: my camera back.
28:16
Speaker 4: I had everything out there, but it's way how deep
28:19
Speaker 4: was it?
28:19
Speaker 3: It was three and seventy three.
28:20
Speaker 4: We're not gonna find.
28:21
Speaker 3: We're not finding because they went back out and checked
28:24
Speaker 3: how deep it was.
28:25
Speaker 4: But yeah, gosh, okay, that's terrific. But yeah, so I
28:31
Speaker 4: get a phone call. Well, I get a message from
28:32
Speaker 4: his dad on Instagram and like just like a request.
28:36
Speaker 4: So I happened to have seen it, and like he
28:39
Speaker 4: was like, hey, you know, it's Braden's dad, which we had,
28:41
Speaker 4: you know, met on you know, you have FaceTime and
28:42
Speaker 4: stuff already, but like a selfie of the two of
28:45
Speaker 4: them in the car and they're both like just like
28:46
Speaker 4: looking at like they didn't look happi or sad, and
28:48
Speaker 4: I was just like okay, Like he was like, you know,
28:50
Speaker 4: call call me the number and so or yeah this
28:54
Speaker 4: or what's mineup or whatever? Yeah, you know, he was like,
28:56
Speaker 4: you're dumber. So I sent the number and then got
28:58
Speaker 4: a phone call. And that's when you were outside out
29:00
Speaker 4: of like what the team over or wherever it was.
29:02
Speaker 4: You're like, I don't have a phone. The first call
29:05
Speaker 4: you make he found like a random phone to call
29:07
Speaker 4: me off of and then is telling me real quick like.
29:10
Speaker 4: And I was like working out in my like garage,
29:12
Speaker 4: and I had Blake Lee, my daughter like with me
29:15
Speaker 4: around and she was in there and like she's went
29:17
Speaker 4: back and forth asking me things like just hold everybody,
29:19
Speaker 4: what's going on? What's happening? Because he was telling me,
29:22
Speaker 4: I guess your dad kind of gave me a little
29:23
Speaker 4: spark notes. But then you grab the phone and I
29:25
Speaker 4: was like wait, what, like what do you mean? And
29:27
Speaker 4: then you were telling me everything and you babbled out
29:29
Speaker 4: kind of not all the details, but like the boa
29:31
Speaker 4: sick and I was here and all that and did
29:33
Speaker 4: you get you sent me an edible arrangement day he's.
29:35
Speaker 3: Like, but how was that? How was your teacher?
29:37
Speaker 4: I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, that's all all
29:39
Speaker 4: were talking about.
29:39
Speaker 5: And you're like, oh yeah.
29:40
Speaker 4: And also, you know the thing like he had said, yeah,
29:45
Speaker 4: that's weird for me to say about myself.
29:46
Speaker 5: And he loved me.
29:47
Speaker 3: I just to her, I was like, I was in there.
29:49
Speaker 3: I was in the water for three and a half hours,
29:51
Speaker 3: like I thought I was going to die. I really
29:54
Speaker 3: put a lot of things in perspective for me, and
29:56
Speaker 3: I just one thing I regret it is not telling
29:58
Speaker 3: you that I loved you when I was there, and
30:00
Speaker 3: I know I'm fast and I hope it might be rushing.
30:03
Speaker 4: And then I kind of them off there and I
30:04
Speaker 4: was like, no, I love you too, And so I
30:06
Speaker 4: feel like, you know, we were both thinking that, but
30:08
Speaker 4: it I mean, I feel like we were still sticking
30:11
Speaker 4: to like the you know, back of their kind of timeline,
30:13
Speaker 4: like it wasn't really like that we had waited all
30:15
Speaker 4: that long, but we you know, it's long distance, so
30:17
Speaker 4: that's something you probably want to say in person, and
30:19
Speaker 4: so you know.
30:20
Speaker 3: I uh, and I was planning on like I was
30:22
Speaker 3: planning on like doing the whole Oh, it'd be my
30:24
Speaker 3: girlfriend thing because I was supposed to gout there like
30:26
Speaker 3: the following week for her birthday or something in two
30:29
Speaker 3: weeks for your birthday. Yeah, and so it was like
30:31
Speaker 3: I was like, yeah, I was That's what I was
30:33
Speaker 3: planning on doing it.
30:34
Speaker 4: I want to do something cute, but I was gonna bet.
30:38
Speaker 4: I mean we were like, well, we haven't planned anything certain,
30:40
Speaker 4: but like, yeah, no, I ended up being like I'm
30:42
Speaker 4: gonna I'm coming there right now. Like you know, obviously
30:45
Speaker 4: I don't care like you get a chance to see
30:47
Speaker 4: me for a second, that's fine, I'll drive wherever, but
30:49
Speaker 4: like I'm going there.
30:50
Speaker 2: This is Yeah, somehow you found a way, even without
30:54
Speaker 2: being on Paradise and not being on television, to be
30:57
Speaker 2: to have the most dramatic I first love view scenario
31:01
Speaker 2: that I've ever heard. Yeah, I mean that is that
31:06
Speaker 2: is a story to share forever you keep the drama alive. Well,
31:11
Speaker 2: that is the most one of the most incredible stories
31:13
Speaker 2: I've ever heard. And I think there is first off,
31:18
Speaker 2: Branden like, uh, there's so many people listening, and Ashley
31:22
Speaker 2: and myself include to understand kind of where this like
31:25
Speaker 2: the panic and anxiety we don't understand, but we we
31:28
Speaker 2: hear you and we hope that that Maybe I don't
31:31
Speaker 2: know if it gets better. I don't know enough to say,
31:33
Speaker 2: hey that that will go away, or time will heal all,
31:35
Speaker 2: or if that's going to.
31:36
Speaker 5: Have to go on a cruise again.
31:39
Speaker 6: Yeah, off boat.
31:40
Speaker 3: Since I ended up going, I did go on a
31:43
Speaker 3: boat again with her and Blakely, our launch that.
31:46
Speaker 4: We made like are announcing our relationship. We were on
31:49
Speaker 4: a boat. But you know, my best friend had planned
31:51
Speaker 4: it for my birthday that me and Blakely went out
31:53
Speaker 4: there to see him in San Diego. And it was like,
31:56
Speaker 4: what's it called? The boat called like the kind where
31:59
Speaker 4: it's a tour, it's like cadam Ran And she would
32:02
Speaker 4: like like asked him, called him and asked, was like
32:04
Speaker 4: is that gonna be okay? And had I was so
32:06
Speaker 4: sweet of her to like think of that and you're like, no, no, no,
32:09
Speaker 4: it's fine, I can do this. But you had been
32:10
Speaker 4: like surfing and stuff.
32:11
Speaker 3: And so like, I mean, it's not even boats that
32:14
Speaker 3: scared me. It's just like there's it's the concept.
32:16
Speaker 4: It's yeah, I think it's just the boat saying not float.
32:20
Speaker 3: It's not even that. Yeah, the like the normalcy bias
32:23
Speaker 3: of what it means to like think that something's gonna
32:25
Speaker 3: be fine and it's like totally not fine. And I've
32:27
Speaker 3: always been like laid back guy when it comes to
32:29
Speaker 3: like going to situations like oh, it'll all work out,
32:31
Speaker 3: and now it's like I feel like it's I'm a
32:33
Speaker 3: little hesitant to they're going to work out. So I
32:36
Speaker 3: need to be like prepared. I need to know what's
32:38
Speaker 3: going to happen or it's like you know. And so
32:40
Speaker 3: that's why I think social settings mess me up because
32:42
Speaker 3: like anything.
32:42
Speaker 2: Could happen or like yeah, I hear you. I mean
32:45
Speaker 2: and like I said, we that's it's totally fair. And
32:48
Speaker 2: that is a wild story that we didn't get the
32:52
Speaker 2: full version of because I remember watching like a news
32:56
Speaker 2: clip from it. Yeah, and that's kind of where I
32:59
Speaker 2: heard of about it for the first time, and there
33:01
Speaker 2: it really didn't give a lot of detail to what
33:03
Speaker 2: happened and why it happened.
33:06
Speaker 4: Mentioned it on the side, yes, and Brand's in a
33:12
Speaker 4: relationship and everyone's like what what Yeah.
33:15
Speaker 2: I mean, it's it needs more weight and I'm glad
33:18
Speaker 2: you shared that story because it needed it needs to
33:21
Speaker 2: hold its space. Like that is a very important story
33:24
Speaker 2: in your life, and then also leading to this incredible
33:27
Speaker 2: moment where you're on the water for three and a
33:29
Speaker 2: half hours and you maybe not realized it then, but
33:31
Speaker 2: you got the confidence or you felt the urgency to
33:34
Speaker 2: tell Christina you loved her.
33:36
Speaker 4: Well.
33:37
Speaker 2: That transitions us, though, into a moment that a lot
33:40
Speaker 2: of people watched. I think eleven million people in fact
33:43
Speaker 2: watched it. You got engaged at the Golden Wedding, which
33:57
Speaker 2: was uh, the special for the two of you, but
34:01
Speaker 2: controversial in a lot of ways too. I'm sure you're
34:03
Speaker 2: not a you weren't you were aware I guess of
34:08
Speaker 2: this people saying, hey, you're taking the moment from Gary
34:11
Speaker 2: and Teresa, and how would you do that there? I
34:14
Speaker 2: want to give you two especially you Braden, because you
34:18
Speaker 2: knew about it. I'm hoping before that day happened, kind
34:23
Speaker 2: of why you chose that moment, Ashlely and I did
34:26
Speaker 2: stick up for you here and say, hey, there's a
34:28
Speaker 2: lot of reasons why you would do it here. And yes,
34:32
Speaker 2: this whole world is weird and this whole world never
34:34
Speaker 2: makes sense, but this makes sense when you talk about
34:37
Speaker 2: the Bachelor. But I want you to tell us how
34:40
Speaker 2: you decided that moment was the right moment, and then
34:43
Speaker 2: also maybe respond to some of the critics that say, hey,
34:45
Speaker 2: you took the moment from Gary and Teresa.
34:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, everyone's
34:50
Speaker 3: going to have an opinion. I mean, it's just it's
34:52
Speaker 3: the way the world works. And a lot of times
34:54
Speaker 3: people like to have more of the negative opinions than
34:56
Speaker 3: positive opinions because they're more fun. But I, for me,
35:01
Speaker 3: the biggest reason why I ended up deciding that that
35:03
Speaker 3: was the moment in which I wanted to do it
35:05
Speaker 3: in is I mean, first I did talk to Gary
35:07
Speaker 3: and Teresa. I mean I would like to put that
35:09
Speaker 3: out there. I called Gary and talked to him on
35:11
Speaker 3: the phone. I got permission from him. He talked to Teresa.
35:14
Speaker 3: Teresa loved the.
35:14
Speaker 4: Idea of it, and like people probably don't know what
35:18
Speaker 4: you and Gary are friends and like text.
35:19
Speaker 3: Solid and like they actually talking. He was the first.
35:23
Speaker 4: Yeah, he was one of the first people. He told
35:25
Speaker 4: like that we were together. Yeah.
35:26
Speaker 3: So at the premiere at the premiere of Golden Golden
35:29
Speaker 3: Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise. At that premiere party, me
35:33
Speaker 3: and Gary like we were talking in like just about
35:35
Speaker 3: this and that and he's like, oh, like, you know,
35:36
Speaker 3: how was dating outside of it? And I'm like, well, actually,
35:38
Speaker 3: like I'm actually dating someone from a previous show. And
35:40
Speaker 3: I was like and I showed him a picture of
35:42
Speaker 3: Christina and I was like, yeah, me and her understanding. Yeah,
35:45
Speaker 3: And so I mean the thing was is it? Like
35:47
Speaker 3: I mean Gary, Gary was a part of it. I
35:48
Speaker 3: mean the thing what Bachelor and Nation Bachelor is a
35:50
Speaker 3: part of me and Christina being together too. I mean
35:53
Speaker 3: I would have never met her without being on the show.
35:55
Speaker 3: And so with those factors, like you know, with those
35:58
Speaker 3: factors considered, it's like, I mean, why why would if
36:01
Speaker 3: I was if I had the opportunity to, if everyone
36:03
Speaker 3: was okay with it, why wouldn't I want to use
36:05
Speaker 3: something that was so monumental in me and her getting
36:07
Speaker 3: to know each other and getting to meet as an
36:09
Speaker 3: opportunity to go and do it. And I mean that's like,
36:12
Speaker 3: that's honestly, at the end of the day, why I
36:13
Speaker 3: did it. I mean, Bachelor it was a big thing
36:16
Speaker 3: for her. My experience on The Bachelor was a big
36:18
Speaker 3: thing for me. I think it both you know, changed
36:20
Speaker 3: us in certain ways and has played a big role.
36:23
Speaker 3: Like I said, and just you know, growing in our
36:26
Speaker 3: relationship and you know, going about it the way we have.
36:28
Speaker 3: And so that's that's honestly why I did it. I mean,
36:31
Speaker 3: and it was. I don't regret it. I'm so grateful
36:33
Speaker 3: that I did it, and I'm living I'm living happy now,
36:36
Speaker 3: and I mean, I'm blessed to be able to have it.
36:38
Speaker 3: And so people get to hate on it, that's their right.
36:41
Speaker 3: I mean, they could be upset about it, but I'm
36:42
Speaker 3: not upset about it, and it doesn't really.
36:44
Speaker 5: Bother So it didn't feel weird to me whatsoever watching it.
36:48
Speaker 5: I didn't even think twice until people brought it up
36:51
Speaker 5: that it was in opportune moment. Bachelor World is so
36:55
Speaker 5: much different and free ring, free ring if it's awful.
37:01
Speaker 4: You know, we talked about it before and I was like, hey,
37:04
Speaker 4: like I'm not at all like don't like if if
37:07
Speaker 4: you ever want to, like you know, maybe do that,
37:09
Speaker 4: like propose or something like, don't worry about like a
37:13
Speaker 4: ring everything. I was like, I always thought it would
37:15
Speaker 4: be cool to like go on a hike or like
37:16
Speaker 4: somewhere and find a really cool stone and make a
37:18
Speaker 4: ring together. And like we talked about that and so yeah,
37:22
Speaker 4: and that was a part of it too, Like I
37:23
Speaker 4: I mean, like, don't I don't go.
37:26
Speaker 3: And be like like the whole way came the whole
37:28
Speaker 3: way it came about, was I mean me and the produce,
37:30
Speaker 3: Like the producers came and they were coming and chatting
37:32
Speaker 3: with me in the room because they were like, I
37:35
Speaker 3: just showed up to the hotel and Christina was when
37:39
Speaker 3: at the Golden Wedding.
37:40
Speaker 5: So I wait a second, now, yeah, very basically, you're
37:45
Speaker 5: telling me that you decided the day of the wedding.
37:49
Speaker 3: No, no, not the day that. Okay, we were there,
37:51
Speaker 3: we got there before. But I was sitting there and
37:53
Speaker 3: I was just chatting with was chatting with Jason, one
37:55
Speaker 3: of the guys, and I was just like, yeah, like
37:57
Speaker 3: you know, I'm gonna propose the Christina this year. And
37:59
Speaker 3: I have like this whole I originally I had another
38:01
Speaker 3: plan on how I wanted to do it, and I
38:04
Speaker 3: was like, yeah, I'm gonna be proposing her this year,
38:06
Speaker 3: saving up for a ring, saving up for a trip
38:08
Speaker 3: to Italy, because I originally I wanted to do it,
38:10
Speaker 3: and like she like.
38:11
Speaker 4: Going to make people mad everyone, Yeah, this is gonna
38:15
Speaker 4: make a more of a different.
38:16
Speaker 3: One of our first FaceTime college she said she wants
38:18
Speaker 3: to go to Italy to go put pineapple on.
38:20
Speaker 4: Pizza, like a can of pineapple, like to a really
38:23
Speaker 4: nice or like you know, just a pizza place and
38:25
Speaker 4: then ask or you know, just have them watch me
38:28
Speaker 4: just pour it on the pizza. Very funny, very funny,
38:31
Speaker 4: Thank you, thank you. So I was saying everyone, I
38:33
Speaker 4: tell her, like, that's you're gonna get picked out of
38:35
Speaker 4: the country.
38:37
Speaker 3: And so I told her. I was like, my original
38:39
Speaker 3: plan was down. Then I was like, yeah, like I'm
38:40
Speaker 3: gonna put a ring in the pineapple can, so when
38:42
Speaker 3: she goes to shout to dump the pineapples out, the
38:44
Speaker 3: ring is gonna fall instead. And then there So that
38:46
Speaker 3: was my original idea. And they're like, wow, that's so cute.
38:48
Speaker 3: They're like, you're really serious about this, Hun, I'm like, honestly, yeah,
38:51
Speaker 3: Like after after a big like after the boating incident,
38:53
Speaker 3: I was like I understand that time, like you know,
38:56
Speaker 3: I I don't want to live my life, you know,
38:58
Speaker 3: waiting for something that you know is that I know
39:01
Speaker 3: already you know what I mean? When when you know
39:03
Speaker 3: you know what I mean, were moving, you had.
39:06
Speaker 4: All your stuff packed up. We were driving from the
39:09
Speaker 4: wedding to make the move to Nashville.
39:11
Speaker 3: Say and that was that was one thing that was
39:13
Speaker 3: crazy is I was literally talking to my sister on
39:14
Speaker 3: the way to the Golden wedding where I was like,
39:16
Speaker 3: you know, one of my things that I felt, you know,
39:18
Speaker 3: I wish I could have done and the only reason
39:20
Speaker 3: I hadn't done it yet is because again I was
39:22
Speaker 3: saving money and wanting to be able to buy the
39:24
Speaker 3: ring and buy the trip and do it this way.
39:26
Speaker 3: And I was telling her, I was like, yeah, I
39:27
Speaker 3: was like, you know, I want to do this, and
39:29
Speaker 3: I feel like this is right. I don't I feel
39:31
Speaker 3: bad about moving in with like, you know, Blakely and
39:33
Speaker 3: her seeing that, because I would love it for her
39:35
Speaker 3: to see that, like, you know, I'm very committed to
39:37
Speaker 3: her mom and it's not just like some new boyfriend
39:39
Speaker 3: moving in and you know, I want to be able
39:41
Speaker 3: to have that, you know, make that impression on her
39:43
Speaker 3: because kids are so impressionable and they looked at their
39:45
Speaker 3: parents and see how their parents' relationships are. And I
39:47
Speaker 3: don't want her to think that I'm just you know,
39:49
Speaker 3: some dude that's just coming out there just to date
39:52
Speaker 3: her mom, that's not And so I was talking to
39:55
Speaker 3: my sister about that and I was like, and I
39:56
Speaker 3: just and I feel guilty because I was like, I
39:57
Speaker 3: wish I could propose to her right now, Like I
39:59
Speaker 3: wish I could do that right now, and it's so
40:02
Speaker 3: and I was like, but I'm limited. You know, I
40:03
Speaker 3: had to just bought in the truck. I like, you know,
40:06
Speaker 3: my car broke down, so I just bought a truck.
40:07
Speaker 3: So the money I did have went to the truck.
40:09
Speaker 3: And I was like, you know, so I can't do
40:10
Speaker 3: it right now, and yeah, moves between two nursing contracts
40:15
Speaker 3: and so I was like, you know, I have to wait.
40:17
Speaker 3: That's like the smart thing to do. And I was like,
40:20
Speaker 3: just pray it for me and I And then literally
40:23
Speaker 3: that night, when I was talking to the producers, they're like, well,
40:25
Speaker 3: how about we do this right now?
40:26
Speaker 5: So you're telling me you did make that. This isn't
40:28
Speaker 5: that day like you you knew you were going to propose,
40:31
Speaker 5: but like they said, we could.
40:33
Speaker 4: Do it, and you said, yeah, day before you.
40:36
Speaker 5: Oh my goodness, gracious, that is so cute and cool.
40:42
Speaker 5: I love it. You guys are so in love. It's
40:44
Speaker 5: so cute.
40:45
Speaker 2: And also to like explain this a little bit, like
40:48
Speaker 2: how many times do people get engaged randomly? Like very often?
40:51
Speaker 2: Like I have friends who've been on like a mountain hike,
40:53
Speaker 2: right and it's a beautiful moment and like everything looks perfect,
40:56
Speaker 2: and they get engaged in that moment kind of unexpectedly.
41:01
Speaker 2: They both knew, you know, knew it was coming, knew
41:03
Speaker 2: they both wanted it, but it was kind of unplanned
41:06
Speaker 2: and like out of nowhere. And so it makes sense
41:09
Speaker 2: on how you were like, hey, we're already going to
41:11
Speaker 2: be doing this. Everything's aligning here for this to be
41:14
Speaker 2: like the ultimate way for me to propose, and we're
41:19
Speaker 2: going to make it happen. And like you said you
41:21
Speaker 2: and Gary were friends, it didn't.
41:24
Speaker 3: It didn't.
41:25
Speaker 2: And actually I talked about this too. It didn't take
41:27
Speaker 2: away from the wedding at all, Like this was a
41:29
Speaker 2: whole It almost felt like a whole separate event that
41:31
Speaker 2: like hour and a half where we all were kind
41:33
Speaker 2: of hanging out. It's a whole separate event, very different
41:37
Speaker 2: than the wedding and the after wedding. But you know,
41:41
Speaker 2: this was your moment and eleven million people watched it.
41:45
Speaker 2: Now it kind of takes you then into the planning phase.
41:50
Speaker 2: So we are I don't even know how long we
41:52
Speaker 2: are removed from the golden wedding. It feels like a
41:54
Speaker 2: long time, but it's probably not that long.
41:56
Speaker 5: Not even been two months, in eighteen days something not counting.
42:02
Speaker 2: You would mention Christina as we kind of close up
42:05
Speaker 2: here that you at the beginning of the show even
42:08
Speaker 2: you were talking about how you are in the planning
42:10
Speaker 2: phase and talking about what a wedding can look like
42:12
Speaker 2: and how you both want it done. How far along
42:15
Speaker 2: are you? I mean if if urgency and being very
42:21
Speaker 2: very decisive in your decision making when it comes to
42:23
Speaker 2: your love story has been kind of the theme. I'm
42:27
Speaker 2: guessing you're pretty far along.
42:28
Speaker 4: But you tell me, well, so we okay, yes and
42:32
Speaker 4: no and maybe and all of the answer all of
42:35
Speaker 4: the above. The reason we're cracking up at that question.
42:39
Speaker 5: So you're already married.
42:41
Speaker 4: I've been married for years now. No, it's just been like,
42:45
Speaker 4: you know, thinking in San Diego, but there's no rush
42:49
Speaker 4: to like plan it. But then it's like, I, you know,
42:52
Speaker 4: I've been avent planning company. I you know, it was
42:54
Speaker 4: before COVID, I was really doing a lot of engagements
42:57
Speaker 4: and weddings and stuff, and I really haven't been pushed
43:00
Speaker 4: in that sense. I got a lot going on, but
43:02
Speaker 4: I mean I've done the weddings, like you know, and
43:04
Speaker 4: I'm just like, that's a lot, and like sometimes that's
43:08
Speaker 4: why I said it was so great that you said
43:09
Speaker 4: you and you know, look back at your wedding bend
43:11
Speaker 4: and with joy and it was a great memory and
43:14
Speaker 4: all that. But I'm like, really, there's so many people
43:15
Speaker 4: and I could just like run away and we can
43:17
Speaker 4: go get a you know, go to you know, we
43:20
Speaker 4: don't talk to Italy now because you know, pizza the Fieapple,
43:23
Speaker 4: but like let's go somewhere. But then it's like, okay,
43:25
Speaker 4: well we do our family there and Blakely wants to
43:28
Speaker 4: wear a mini version of my dress, she says, and
43:31
Speaker 4: she she wants to walk out after me. And I'm like,
43:34
Speaker 4: that's just not what's happening. But I don't know, I
43:39
Speaker 4: could see it. We just have such a big like, right,
43:42
Speaker 4: it would have to be huge, and that seems like
43:45
Speaker 4: a lot.
43:45
Speaker 3: We were sitting down, we started making a guest list,
43:48
Speaker 3: and like when we were making our guest list, I
43:50
Speaker 3: mean we had over two hundred people on our guest
43:52
Speaker 3: list that was.
43:53
Speaker 4: Like, you know that weren't even like plus ones or
43:55
Speaker 4: thinking like about but I really wanted to invite this person.
43:58
Speaker 4: These were like the have tos was like, and so
44:01
Speaker 4: I want there yet.
44:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, And when we started doing that, we were sitting
44:04
Speaker 3: there were like, okay, well maybe not this. And so
44:07
Speaker 3: then we started looking at location weddings and we're thinking
44:09
Speaker 3: like maybe go and like get a spot and just
44:12
Speaker 3: get an airbnb with family and like you know, like
44:15
Speaker 3: twenty people and just get married there and have like
44:16
Speaker 3: a family trip and have that. And then it was funny.
44:19
Speaker 3: The reason why we were laughing, you know, is because
44:20
Speaker 3: last night I literally we fell right before we fell asleep.
44:23
Speaker 3: I'm like, let's just get married this month. Let's just
44:26
Speaker 3: let's just go.
44:27
Speaker 4: Let's just have some people come the talent now, you know,
44:30
Speaker 4: we won't send them this link to the We were like,
44:33
Speaker 4: you know, come to town.
44:34
Speaker 6: We want all coming out here just to visit. And
44:36
Speaker 6: I was like, when they come out here, there's birthday to' like, sorry,
44:39
Speaker 6: what's my birthday too? It is, but you know two
44:41
Speaker 6: days before what's for twenty birds? We'll be like we
44:43
Speaker 6: just have to take the attention away from someone else.
44:45
Speaker 5: You know, I think it'll clarify itself. I think you
44:48
Speaker 5: guys will figure it out. You have a lot of ideas.
44:51
Speaker 4: Going on, maybe this month, maybe two years.
44:54
Speaker 3: I mean, it's hard because it's like I didn't realize
44:56
Speaker 3: how much really is involved in wedding planning, and I
44:59
Speaker 3: can honestly say I don't think I want to do
45:01
Speaker 3: the big thing, especially since I've been experienced the social
45:03
Speaker 3: anxiety kind of thing recently. I don't think I would
45:06
Speaker 3: actually be able to enjoy it all that much if
45:07
Speaker 3: I had so many people there, because yeah, not on
45:10
Speaker 3: the boat either. But I was like, so, I definitely
45:13
Speaker 3: don't think I want to do that anymore. I want
45:14
Speaker 3: it to be small. I just want like our main people,
45:17
Speaker 3: like like the many people in our lives that do
45:19
Speaker 3: every day with us, and then maybe just do a
45:21
Speaker 3: big celebration like afterwards. But we want to get married
45:25
Speaker 3: within this next year. I mean by spring twenty twenty five,
45:28
Speaker 3: we plan on being married, and so that's kind of
45:31
Speaker 3: where we're at.
45:32
Speaker 2: So it could mean it could be next month, and
45:34
Speaker 2: it could be. But you're saying there is there is
45:36
Speaker 2: an urgency around the two of you getting married.
45:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean we don't want a ways. I mean
45:40
Speaker 3: there's not really I didn't getage. We didn't get engaged
45:43
Speaker 3: just to get engaged. You know, It's like we got
45:46
Speaker 3: engaged because like I want to I mean, I want
45:48
Speaker 3: to marry this girl. I want to marry this out
45:49
Speaker 3: of this girl, you know what I mean?
45:52
Speaker 5: So cute? Okay, I need to know your relationship with
45:57
Speaker 5: it's Blake's Blakely. Yeah, so her daughter? How old is she?
46:03
Speaker 4: Seven going on fifteen?
46:05
Speaker 5: So where did the relationship Like how was it like
46:07
Speaker 5: integrating Brandain into your lives?
46:10
Speaker 4: So I the last boyfriend, like officially boyfriend that I had,
46:13
Speaker 4: I was seventeen, So she hasn't like really dealt with,
46:17
Speaker 4: you know, mom having like definitely someone moving in the
46:20
Speaker 4: house or anything like that. So I knew it was
46:22
Speaker 4: gonna be a little bit obviously an adjustment period because
46:26
Speaker 4: you know, we're that's us all the time, you know,
46:29
Speaker 4: if she's not at school or I might work, like
46:30
Speaker 4: it's us all the time, all all days. Like we
46:33
Speaker 4: snuggle and she's like I have to share you snuggling
46:36
Speaker 4: and you know, just thinking about those things. But I
46:38
Speaker 4: think like so they met in October for my birthday.
46:42
Speaker 4: We went out to Sandy. That's the first time they
46:44
Speaker 4: met in person. But like before that, like you were
46:46
Speaker 4: obviously talking all day long and FaceTime and all that,
46:49
Speaker 4: and so she had met him and talked with them
46:51
Speaker 4: and like would take the phone and then like be
46:53
Speaker 4: drawing and coloring with them, and they were hitting it off.
46:55
Speaker 4: And I mean, as you can imagine, like you know,
46:58
Speaker 4: we're like kids too, so I mean we just get along.
47:00
Speaker 4: But I think, what's so, you know, not that I
47:03
Speaker 4: doubted it at all, but like seeing how we work
47:05
Speaker 4: together and like as a team, like parenting with her,
47:08
Speaker 4: it's been like a really cool at United Front because
47:11
Speaker 4: I'm like, look, here's the thing, Like I do feel
47:13
Speaker 4: like we have the same kind of you know, I
47:17
Speaker 4: thought maybe we'd get there differently, but like as far
47:19
Speaker 4: as like what kids like limits and rules and you know,
47:23
Speaker 4: we we want the same outcome, so let's just be
47:26
Speaker 4: on the same team. Let's not do the whole like
47:28
Speaker 4: having her having to play sides. And so that's been
47:34
Speaker 4: really cool. And she's you know, so as far as
47:36
Speaker 4: how does she look at him, it's like, you know,
47:38
Speaker 4: I would say the same, and she's calling him Ray
47:40
Speaker 4: dad now.
47:40
Speaker 5: So we ray dad dad Dad cute.
47:47
Speaker 3: But no, it's awesome. I mean it's day.
47:49
Speaker 5: We had a big day.
47:50
Speaker 4: We went to the park roller skating and then he
47:52
Speaker 4: like was like, can we please go to Barnes and
47:54
Speaker 4: Noble and like had went and bought her some books
47:56
Speaker 4: and then it was.
47:57
Speaker 3: Just yeah, you know, he's not read like every night
48:01
Speaker 3: to go to bed. I mean at first she hated
48:02
Speaker 3: it because she liked to plan like watch iPad before
48:05
Speaker 3: she went to bed. And it's like, no, we're reading
48:06
Speaker 3: before we go to bed now And she's like, what,
48:08
Speaker 3: I don't want to read and I'm like, no, that's
48:10
Speaker 3: what we're doing. And so now I'll read her story
48:12
Speaker 3: is now act. Yeah, but like I mean there were
48:15
Speaker 3: some growing pains when I first moved in because it
48:17
Speaker 3: was like, okay, we're gonna like, you know, I wanted to,
48:19
Speaker 3: you know, encourage the reading. I think that's the big thing.
48:22
Speaker 3: And so but it was cool at the other like
48:24
Speaker 3: I don't. I just see the little winds and they're
48:26
Speaker 3: starting to accumulate to be bigger winds. And I mean
48:29
Speaker 3: she comes home, like when I get home from work,
48:31
Speaker 3: she'll come and give me a big hug, like she
48:32
Speaker 3: tells me she loves me, and it's like, I mean,
48:35
Speaker 3: those are things that are huge for me, and it
48:37
Speaker 3: feels really good. I mean to have have a little
48:40
Speaker 3: person that loves you and so, uh, it's pretty awesome
48:43
Speaker 3: and I love it. She's awesome.
48:46
Speaker 2: The uh to close out here, Brayden, there's there's a
48:50
Speaker 2: familiar I don't know if you've heard this. It could
48:52
Speaker 2: be offensive to you, but I'm gonna say it anyways
48:54
Speaker 2: because it's being said behind your back. The there's a
48:59
Speaker 2: familiar your term used to describe you from the people
49:03
Speaker 2: that have known you from the Bachelorette to Paradise Producers,
49:09
Speaker 2: and none of them have been together. When they've explained
49:12
Speaker 2: you to me, they call you a golden retriever, that
49:17
Speaker 2: you that you are just like a golden retriever, that
49:19
Speaker 2: you're loyal.
49:20
Speaker 5: Dean that too.
49:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, well you have a lot of similarities to Dean,
49:24
Speaker 2: that you're loyal.
49:26
Speaker 3: Yeah.
49:26
Speaker 5: Two them are like very like. The vibe is so
49:30
Speaker 5: similar it's weird, like they could be brothers. He seems
49:34
Speaker 5: more like Dean than his than Dean's brothers.
49:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I agree.
49:38
Speaker 4: Knowing that they were gonna meet at the wedding, I
49:40
Speaker 4: was like, look, you're gonna like this guy, you know,
49:41
Speaker 4: because again fan of the show. I'm like, no, trust
49:43
Speaker 4: like go talk you got And then the right away
49:46
Speaker 4: they were like, oh, you guys were about to go
49:47
Speaker 4: like Lathena and I we you know, everything was happening.
49:50
Speaker 4: This is before the proposal and like you know all
49:53
Speaker 4: of the Shenanigans and dance floor, but you guys were
49:56
Speaker 4: gonna go play smash Brothers or something in the book.
50:00
Speaker 5: You can't go do that right now.
50:03
Speaker 2: Just a Gordon Retriever.
50:05
Speaker 4: Nose or something. They are unstoppable together, that would be It's.
50:10
Speaker 2: A dangerously loving combination of people. I love Dean very much.
50:14
Speaker 2: Braden Christina, Uh, we're very very excited that you came
50:19
Speaker 2: on the show. Thank you for telling us your story
50:22
Speaker 2: as a couple and then your stories as individuals, and
50:24
Speaker 2: we wish you nothing but the best. Please keep us
50:27
Speaker 2: updated on the wedding plans. Uh, keep us in the
50:32
Speaker 2: loop because we want to check back in. But until
50:35
Speaker 2: that time, we are very thankful you came on the show.
50:38
Speaker 4: Thank you so much for having us.
50:41
Speaker 1: Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcasts on
50:44
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts,