Latest / The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast / Happy Couples from Paradise: Brandon and Serene
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: This is the Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
- 0:03Speaker 1: with i R Radio. Hey everyone, welcome to the Almost
- 0:07Speaker 1: Famous podcast. Today. It is just me, but not really
- 0:11Speaker 1: because I'm joined by the happiest happy couple I think
- 0:14Speaker 1: I've ever seen in my life, Brandon and Serene. Oh
- 0:17Speaker 1: my gosh, welcome to the show, you guys. It's so
- 0:21Speaker 1: great to see you guys again. Jared and I had
- 0:24Speaker 1: absolutely no doubts that you were going to live happily
- 0:28Speaker 1: ever after and be the couple that had smooth sailing
- 0:31Speaker 1: the entire way. Um, congratulations, thank you, Oh my gosh, Okay,
- 0:38Speaker 1: good to see you again. It was so good to
- 0:40Speaker 1: see you. We have been telling everybody how like genuinely
- 0:45Speaker 1: sweet as pie you two are. It's like there's not
- 0:48Speaker 1: like any sort of there's like there's like no negativity
- 0:53Speaker 1: around you ever. And um, I can just yeah, I
- 0:56Speaker 1: can go on and on about just the bliss that
- 0:59Speaker 1: is around you. Now, let's kind of go what's funny
- 1:04Speaker 1: is that, Like usually we'd like to dive into Selesia stuff,
- 1:06Speaker 1: but like with you guys, there's absolutely no Sealsia stuff.
- 1:09Speaker 1: So I just want to like go like time by
- 1:11Speaker 1: time throughout paradise and talk about like the happiest moments
- 1:15Speaker 1: and like the biggest like heart flutters and all that. Yeah, okay,
- 1:21Speaker 1: so let's talk about the time you guys both first
- 1:25Speaker 1: laid eyes on each other. Who was down there first,
- 1:28Speaker 1: wasn't it? It It was Serene? Right? Yeah? So you're the
- 1:31Speaker 1: first girl, right, Yeah? I was the first girl, And honestly,
- 1:35Speaker 1: I was down there for like hours before anyone like
- 1:40Speaker 1: pulled me to talk like romantic Wait what Yeah, So
- 1:45Speaker 1: it was like probably like six five or six pm
- 1:49Speaker 1: by the time someone had pulled me to talk, and
- 1:51Speaker 1: I was there that morning. And so when I went
- 1:54Speaker 1: into this show, I was thinking, like, I just really
- 1:57Speaker 1: need someone intentional that is gonna show me that they
- 2:00Speaker 1: have interested in me, because usually it feels like I
- 2:03Speaker 1: have more interests in people than they have in me.
- 2:05Speaker 1: And so I just wanted someone to really like show
- 2:08Speaker 1: me that they were interested. And then this guy and
- 2:14Speaker 1: it's like you, I want to talk to you. Oh
- 2:17Speaker 1: that's so sweet. So Brendon was Serene on your list
- 2:21Speaker 1: of ladies you wanted to see in Paradise most definitely.
- 2:25Speaker 1: The funny part was like I kept seeing people go by,
- 2:29Speaker 1: like down to the beach, and I'm like, yo, like,
- 2:31Speaker 1: once I get down there, like everyone's talking to everyone,
- 2:34Speaker 1: everyone's probably coupled up, like I have to go just
- 2:38Speaker 1: like I have to bolt to the people who are
- 2:39Speaker 1: on my list, like I gotta talk to you. I
- 2:41Speaker 1: gotta talk to you that you and uh so a
- 2:44Speaker 1: little liquid courage and I came down the beach. I
- 2:47Speaker 1: was like, okay, I'm not wasting any time, like, hey,
- 2:49Speaker 1: let's go talk. He was almost like the last one though,
- 2:52Speaker 1: like and he was someone that I was like, okay,
- 2:55Speaker 1: like I really want to meet him. And so it
- 2:58Speaker 1: was just really tough. So there all day and then
- 3:01Speaker 1: like no one's talking to me, and then you just
- 3:03Speaker 1: came right up. And then what I'm being told, it's like,
- 3:06Speaker 1: oh yeah, everyone's making connections already, everyone's talking and I'm like,
- 3:11Speaker 1: all right, thanks Jesse, I appreciate you. So when you
- 3:16Speaker 1: saw her in real life, did you have a love
- 3:19Speaker 1: at first first site moments? Oh? She was. She was
- 3:23Speaker 1: way more gorgeous in person than you know what I
- 3:26Speaker 1: saw a TV. So yeah, I'm pretty sure life just
- 3:30Speaker 1: bumbled my words. I went, you know, back to my
- 3:33Speaker 1: old self. I just got super corny. And then somehow
- 3:35Speaker 1: it word Serene. You talked to the past episode about
- 3:40Speaker 1: how you felt he was intentional, and for you it
- 3:44Speaker 1: was always like a serious interest, but maybe not like love.
- 3:51Speaker 1: And you said that it grew with time, which I
- 3:54Speaker 1: know Brandon saw as a compliment and I know you
- 3:57Speaker 1: meant as a compliment. Um, But how does that kind
- 4:01Speaker 1: of love differ from the past kinds of love you've had? Yeah,
- 4:05Speaker 1: I think with Brandon early on we had a lot
- 4:09Speaker 1: of this serious talks to see like are we even compatible,
- 4:13Speaker 1: like do we want the same things in life? Obviously
- 4:17Speaker 1: we were attracted to each other and you know that
- 4:20Speaker 1: that came super naturally. But for me, what really stood
- 4:24Speaker 1: out was him opening his heart to me after kind
- 4:30Speaker 1: of going through something super tough, Like I wanted someone
- 4:34Speaker 1: that would be open with me and I've tried really
- 4:36Speaker 1: hard to remain open after you know, any field relationship,
- 4:41Speaker 1: and so for me, it felt like we were coming
- 4:44Speaker 1: from a place of understanding with each other. And like
- 4:47Speaker 1: I said, he was just so intentional with every little thing,
- 4:50Speaker 1: like every little opportunity he could show me that he cared,
- 4:53Speaker 1: he did, and you know, all the other stuff is
- 4:56Speaker 1: there too, But for me, that's what was different, and
- 4:59Speaker 1: that's what made it were of a gradual thing, because
- 5:02Speaker 1: it just felt like every day there was a little
- 5:05Speaker 1: bit more Brandon. You're also so emotional, and I can't
- 5:10Speaker 1: get over how sweet that is. How how did all
- 5:13Speaker 1: your friends and family what they think about you crying
- 5:17Speaker 1: on TV out of love so much roasted like because
- 5:21Speaker 1: I'm not like that, but I just really my dream
- 5:25Speaker 1: is that, like you get that emotional and passionate about everything.
- 5:30Speaker 1: Maybe no, maybe I want you to like reserve that
- 5:33Speaker 1: for the love of your life. Yeah, for that and
- 5:38Speaker 1: then never like like say the date that went on
- 5:42Speaker 1: when I teared up because I saw her like I've
- 5:44Speaker 1: never it was like soon. It's just like the show
- 5:49Speaker 1: was capturing all those moments, just like yeah, see. But
- 5:52Speaker 1: that's perfect for me though, because I've always like how
- 5:54Speaker 1: people try to play it so cool, and so the
- 5:57Speaker 1: fact that like you wear your heart on your sleeve,
- 5:59Speaker 1: and I always is know what you're feeling because I
- 6:01Speaker 1: know I'm not cool, and I just hope for the best.
- 6:06Speaker 1: You're like the perfect combination of cool and uncool to
- 6:13Speaker 1: any sense. You have swag, that's the thing. You have swag,
- 6:19Speaker 1: but you're also uncool, which is the perfect guy. It's
- 6:24Speaker 1: my swag, but dorky is out. Okay. So I want
- 6:29Speaker 1: to know the two moments Serene, When was the moment
- 6:33Speaker 1: that you were like, if this guy gets down on
- 6:34Speaker 1: one day, I'm saying yes, Oh gosh, it's so hard
- 6:38Speaker 1: to think of an exact moment, like it really is,
- 6:42Speaker 1: just because everything was so gradual and we had those
- 6:45Speaker 1: serious talks like very early on, like what are you
- 6:48Speaker 1: here for? Like no one wanted to leave the other
- 6:50Speaker 1: person on. I don't know, maybe I think for me
- 6:59Speaker 1: maybe in like my like in the moment whenever we
- 7:03Speaker 1: came back from the Beat or from the Vedanta when
- 7:07Speaker 1: we were split up, we had already said we were
- 7:10Speaker 1: falling in love and so we were both re frustrated
- 7:13Speaker 1: and we're like, yeah, this is kind of wasting our time,
- 7:16Speaker 1: Like we have a lot to talk about still and
- 7:20Speaker 1: want to just like continue the growth that we've had.
- 7:22Speaker 1: And so I don't think that you like fully see
- 7:25Speaker 1: it on the show, but like the embrace was like crazy,
- 7:29Speaker 1: and he like I saw it. It was adorable. He
- 7:33Speaker 1: like runs me down to the water and he's like,
- 7:35Speaker 1: did you go on any dates? And I was like, no,
- 7:38Speaker 1: did you? And he was like, I love you. But
- 7:42Speaker 1: it was just like in that moment where like we reconnected,
- 7:46Speaker 1: and I mean we both were secure in our relationship,
- 7:50Speaker 1: but in that moment, like there was a lot more
- 7:53Speaker 1: to the conversation than we got to see. And so
- 7:56Speaker 1: I think maybe for me the waves are crashing in
- 8:00Speaker 1: the background, we were like half in the water. It
- 8:02Speaker 1: was it was they cut it all out, but it
- 8:05Speaker 1: was like we were I was laughing and I was
- 8:09Speaker 1: holding her and we were laughing together, and I was like, oh,
- 8:12Speaker 1: I missed you. She's like I missed you too. And
- 8:13Speaker 1: I was like, wait, did you go on any dates?
- 8:16Speaker 1: She's like no, did you? I was like, no, I
- 8:19Speaker 1: love you. You see other people? Yeah? Right, Oh you guys,
- 8:29Speaker 1: that's adorable, Brandon. When did you know that you were
- 8:31Speaker 1: going to propose? When she drew exactly what rings she
- 8:37Speaker 1: wanted on the naption and said, if you see Neil,
- 8:42Speaker 1: let him know this is Oh that was kind of
- 8:47Speaker 1: like okay, yeah, like I get the hint. Now what
- 8:51Speaker 1: point was that? Oh? That was well that was after
- 8:58Speaker 1: after okay, and yeah, so we all got together and
- 9:03Speaker 1: she just like we were eating breakfast. It really wasn't
- 9:06Speaker 1: that ye and she was like she came up with
- 9:10Speaker 1: a napkin, she drew like it was like from the
- 9:14Speaker 1: left side, it looks like, yeah, and you got what
- 9:21Speaker 1: you wanted. I did perfect gorgeous. Well, Brandon, that's when
- 9:26Speaker 1: you knew that she was gonna say yes. But when
- 9:28Speaker 1: were you like, I gotta marry this woman. Oh when
- 9:30Speaker 1: I got to marry this woman. Oh when I saw
- 9:34Speaker 1: her coming from the date, like I teared up. I
- 9:36Speaker 1: was like, oh, I gotta there's no way, my heart,
- 9:41Speaker 1: my heart. You guys are seriously so sweet. So we
- 9:54Speaker 1: all saw your engagement coming for real, for real, you know,
- 9:57Speaker 1: like it was like the least surprising thing of Bachelor Nation,
- 10:02Speaker 1: like history basically. Um, and I have to say, I'm
- 10:05Speaker 1: not sure that I've ever seen a couple that I
- 10:07Speaker 1: felt so strong was going to not only get engaged,
- 10:13Speaker 1: but to be absolutely fine in real life. Then you guys, yeah, yeah, yeah,
- 10:20Speaker 1: we're just we're just like, this is the day we're
- 10:23Speaker 1: like free. We can go out to dinner together, we
- 10:26Speaker 1: can like to walk in the park together, like you
- 10:31Speaker 1: want to walk down the street together. So today's the
- 10:36Speaker 1: first day you get to do that. What are the plans?
- 10:40Speaker 1: Step outside, literally, step outside, we'll just see where the
- 10:44Speaker 1: day goes. Now, we're gonna go on a date. We're
- 10:47Speaker 1: gonna we're gonna go to dinner together. Yeah, like walking,
- 10:51Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know. We're just so excited
- 10:53Speaker 1: to just be I don't know anything. Okay, after your engagement,
- 11:00Speaker 1: Jesse walks up with a book and I go, oh god,
- 11:02Speaker 1: they're going to try to make them get married right now. No,
- 11:05Speaker 1: don't do this. As much as I want to see
- 11:08Speaker 1: them get married, I want them to enjoy an engagement period,
- 11:11Speaker 1: and I want these two to have their family and
- 11:13Speaker 1: friends at their wedding. This is so unfair. Don't pressure
- 11:15Speaker 1: them into this. Did you have any thought that you
- 11:19Speaker 1: might do it or were you just like, oh heck no,
- 11:22Speaker 1: Like I know Brendon News you mentioned that you called
- 11:24Speaker 1: your mom and she said I'll kill you if you
- 11:26Speaker 1: do this. Did you call her in the moment or
- 11:28Speaker 1: were you like, guess what funny thing they wanted us
- 11:30Speaker 1: to do? It was? It was? It was we both
- 11:33Speaker 1: were like, yeah, we won't get married, but like, we're
- 11:36Speaker 1: not getting married with you getting married without our period.
- 11:41Speaker 1: It's like, Jessie, I love you, but you're not my pops.
- 11:44Speaker 1: You know my mom like her family, and then yeah,
- 11:49Speaker 1: I called my mom. I was like, guess what they
- 11:51Speaker 1: just asked And I was like, Jesse came down with
- 11:53Speaker 1: an ordained book Like I was like, I think about
- 11:56Speaker 1: me getting married right now, and she's like, I'll kill you.
- 12:01Speaker 1: The boom boom room wasn't really used by anyone else
- 12:04Speaker 1: this year besides Jared and I, which makes me feel
- 12:07Speaker 1: incredibly awkward. But Bachelor data, the Instagram account has tracked
- 12:13Speaker 1: this and there's been no airing of boom boom room use.
- 12:16Speaker 1: Did you guys go the boom boom room? No, nobody did.
- 12:20Speaker 1: Did you really? And why is that with your cast?
- 12:23Speaker 1: Because usually it's very frequently used. Honestly, I think for
- 12:27Speaker 1: thee of the people want to love, like, I think
- 12:30Speaker 1: it was like very daunting and people were afraid of
- 12:33Speaker 1: like how it would like shift things in the relationship
- 12:35Speaker 1: or maybe how it would look. I think, for like
- 12:38Speaker 1: the whole cast, I think most people really just wanted
- 12:43Speaker 1: to focus on the important stuff, like just like really
- 12:48Speaker 1: getting to know each other and also not wanting to
- 12:51Speaker 1: add something else to the equation. I don't know, I
- 12:53Speaker 1: can't really speak to the people. Yeah, I think I
- 12:56Speaker 1: think it was like, also people we were the most
- 13:01Speaker 1: people don't concern to We're like, yeah, I'll do it,
- 13:03Speaker 1: But then does that help my chances if someone else
- 13:06Speaker 1: were to come down those steps but tryangle what I
- 13:09Speaker 1: get in, what I'd be in a deeper triangle. I
- 13:11Speaker 1: don't know. I think here we saw a lot of
- 13:14Speaker 1: like sticky situations in season seven that I'm sure sure yeah,
- 13:19Speaker 1: maybe people were like yeah, yeah, definitely last season it
- 13:26Speaker 1: was it was a complicated point of complication for sure. Okay,
- 13:30Speaker 1: now I got to ask you about the other couples.
- 13:33Speaker 1: What do you make of the whole Johnny in Victory situation?
- 13:36Speaker 1: How awkward was it to watch that showdown at the reunion?
- 13:40Speaker 1: So we actually didn't see it? You didn't you're aware
- 13:45Speaker 1: of it? Yeah, yeah, we're close to them. I think
- 13:49Speaker 1: ultimately we just want them both to be happy, and
- 13:51Speaker 1: if they're happier separately, like we just it is literally
- 13:56Speaker 1: coincidence that I was closest with Victoria of Beach and
- 14:00Speaker 1: then he was close with Johnny, and we haven't really doubles, um,
- 14:06Speaker 1: so I think just both of us looking at our
- 14:09Speaker 1: friends and seeing like okay, like if you're deciding this
- 14:12Speaker 1: isn't working for you, then you know, we want you
- 14:14Speaker 1: to be happy. We just want them happy. Um, I
- 14:17Speaker 1: don't think Greg should have been there. I think you
- 14:19Speaker 1: should have just been them too, yeah, working it out.
- 14:22Speaker 1: But other than that, yeah, we just want them happy.
- 14:25Speaker 1: We love them both. So yeah, why would you feel
- 14:28Speaker 1: specifically about Greg being there? I just I just I
- 14:34Speaker 1: think he's a great guy and everything. Awesome guy. But
- 14:37Speaker 1: I just I just think it was like a moment
- 14:39Speaker 1: for them to like kind of have stuff out. I
- 14:43Speaker 1: don't think he needed to be there necessarily, you know,
- 14:46Speaker 1: I can't speak on him. Maybe Victoria needed support or whatever. Sure,
- 14:49Speaker 1: that's why it was so um, but I just think,
- 14:53Speaker 1: you know, in that moment, you know, if if we
- 14:56Speaker 1: were you and you had a new guy and I
- 14:58Speaker 1: was there, it kind of hurt me even more than
- 15:00Speaker 1: what I'm going through. So yeah, I'm just for sure
- 15:06Speaker 1: it is a dagger. When you guys sat down at
- 15:09Speaker 1: that dinner with Victoria and Johnny before Fantasy Suites, did
- 15:14Speaker 1: you feel like they were ready for engagement? Did you
- 15:16Speaker 1: feel like they were on the same level as you guys. Um,
- 15:21Speaker 1: I thought that they were ready. Yeah. Really, yeah, I
- 15:25Speaker 1: think you know, they had some more stuff to work out.
- 15:28Speaker 1: There was a lot we didn't know about like during
- 15:30Speaker 1: that time, like what just like any any um like uncertainty.
- 15:36Speaker 1: Like I was like, oh my gosh, Johnny's like head
- 15:38Speaker 1: of reveals for her. He's gonna propose, Like I didn't
- 15:40Speaker 1: know that there was any like you know, you kind
- 15:42Speaker 1: of seen his interviews He's like, I don't know, there's
- 15:45Speaker 1: a big commitment. I know what she wants, but like,
- 15:48Speaker 1: am I ready for it? Like is it something that
- 15:51Speaker 1: you know anyone's ever ready for? Like do people just
- 15:54Speaker 1: you know, so you like watch these thoughts play out
- 15:56Speaker 1: in his interview, and you know it kind of like
- 15:58Speaker 1: makes a little more sin No. But I think at
- 16:01Speaker 1: the time, we thought that they were ready, and you know,
- 16:04Speaker 1: we spent time with him. That was really cool. We
- 16:06Speaker 1: got to spend time with him like as a couple
- 16:09Speaker 1: to after that and we thought, you know, we're gonna
- 16:11Speaker 1: be hanging out for years. M hmm. But yeah, I
- 16:16Speaker 1: thought I thought they were ready. And plus she was
- 16:18Speaker 1: changing Johnny for the best, Like because I hung out
- 16:21Speaker 1: with Johnny a lot and he was like, I don't
- 16:23Speaker 1: want to go home with daughter, And I was like you,
- 16:25Speaker 1: I mean you don't have to, So Shad, let's talk
- 16:31Speaker 1: about Rodney and Eliza. Everybody was so distraught about that breakup,
- 16:38Speaker 1: and then it looked like a lies. I kind of
- 16:40Speaker 1: wanted to get back with him. At the reunion, I
- 16:43Speaker 1: personally was glad that he was like I wish you
- 16:46Speaker 1: the best, which is kind of like a passive aggressive phrase.
- 16:49Speaker 1: I was tossed around a lot this season. What's your take?
- 16:55Speaker 1: I think, first of all, I didn't even cry during
- 16:58Speaker 1: my own breakup on Bachelor, and I cried like when
- 17:02Speaker 1: all this, I was like, like, we all just love
- 17:05Speaker 1: Ronnie so much, so that was hard to watch. I
- 17:08Speaker 1: think ultimately we we understood from the start, like everyone
- 17:14Speaker 1: has a choice. I think what made it so heart
- 17:17Speaker 1: wrenching is that he thought he was in the clear,
- 17:19Speaker 1: like he had the rose, and yeah, I thought we
- 17:22Speaker 1: can move on from this, like two day's a new day,
- 17:24Speaker 1: and that's all he was talking about all day long.
- 17:26Speaker 1: So to just like watch that happen, it was really tough. Um,
- 17:30Speaker 1: that's part of the reunion I wish I got to see.
- 17:33Speaker 1: I think it's messy. I think Ronnie did an amazing
- 17:36Speaker 1: job holding standing to his ground. Yeah, I think it's messy.
- 17:39Speaker 1: I don't think, Hey, you leave Ronnie, go to Justin.
- 17:42Speaker 1: Justin ended up not wanting to be with you. Then
- 17:44Speaker 1: you try to come back to Rude. I think it's messy.
- 17:47Speaker 1: I think at that point you need to sit down,
- 17:50Speaker 1: you know, words, stuff out, heal yourself, and then you
- 17:54Speaker 1: know that person will ride. And I think that's what
- 17:56Speaker 1: Ronnie's doing. So, yeah, he's doing great, He's alright. The
- 18:01Speaker 1: final question that I want to ask you about is
- 18:04Speaker 1: Tyler and Brittany. I love Brittany. When I was there,
- 18:07Speaker 1: really like felt a kinship to her, and something just
- 18:11Speaker 1: seems to be missing from the explanation of her breakup
- 18:14Speaker 1: with Tyler. You guys have any insight. I think maybe
- 18:17Speaker 1: it's just that they live in different places and have
- 18:20Speaker 1: different lives. Like it's one of those things where you
- 18:23Speaker 1: know it was great in theory, but then you get
- 18:25Speaker 1: to the real world and there are all these obstacles
- 18:27Speaker 1: that you have to overcome as a couple. All right, Well,
- 18:31Speaker 1: thank you guys so much. Please go enjoy newlywed. Yeah,
- 18:35Speaker 1: I'm gonna call it newlywed bliss. All right, that's what
- 18:38Speaker 1: it feels like. Newly released from the Bachelor Vault bliss
- 18:45Speaker 1: and who's who's having Thanksgiving with? Who he's going to
- 18:49Speaker 1: my family? And okay, nice? All right, Well, I hope
- 18:52Speaker 1: you have the most magical Thanksgiving and family time and
- 18:55Speaker 1: you guys just live it up. Thank you so much.
- 19:00Speaker 1: We're so so thrilled for you. You have a good
- 19:02Speaker 1: Thanksgiving to Okay, we will tell Jared I listened to
- 19:06Speaker 1: Oh we will, we will, we all tell him they Hey.
- 19:14Speaker 1: Follow the Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous podcasts on
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