Latest / The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast / 12 Days of The Bachelorette: Engagements and Break-ups with Becca Kufrin and Michelle Young

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12 Days of The Bachelorette: Engagements and Break-ups with Becca Kufrin and Michelle Young · The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: This is the Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
0:03
Speaker 1: with i R Radio. This is a very special episode.
0:07
Speaker 1: Just like we mentioned on the former episode, there's two
0:10
Speaker 1: bachelorttes this season. They could be competitors, they could compete
0:14
Speaker 1: against each other, they could choose the lesser way. But
0:18
Speaker 1: instead we know that they're supporting each other, that they're friends.
0:21
Speaker 1: And here we are with one of our competitors. We
0:24
Speaker 1: could battle it out, we could fight it out, we
0:27
Speaker 1: could sell listeners, but instead we said, no Bachelor Happy Hour,
0:31
Speaker 1: Let's join hands. So this is an almost famous episode
0:34
Speaker 1: with two incredible guests, Beckat Koufern and Michelle Young. And
0:38
Speaker 1: then part two of this episode is actually gonna be
0:41
Speaker 1: on Bachelor Happy Hour, So go over there to listen
0:44
Speaker 1: to that episode. Let's just get started. How are the
0:48
Speaker 1: two of you doing. Let's do it great. I mean,
0:52
Speaker 1: I can only speak for myself. I'm so good. It's
0:54
Speaker 1: so good to see you and actually gonna miss these faces.
0:59
Speaker 1: And for me, it's just been you know, kind of
1:01
Speaker 1: getting back into the groove of things obviously, um, but
1:05
Speaker 1: but it really is nice to be here and I
1:07
Speaker 1: love that we're doing this and actually like conjoining and
1:09
Speaker 1: coming together because I feel like there's so much going
1:11
Speaker 1: on where everything is so separate. Um, so yeah, it's
1:14
Speaker 1: nice to do this, although you can always come listen
1:17
Speaker 1: to part two first if you really want to. I mean,
1:22
Speaker 1: we're good with that. It does, Michelle, I'm with you,
1:25
Speaker 1: you know when I when I heard we're doing this.
1:27
Speaker 1: It is fun and this is a podcast and it's
1:30
Speaker 1: about the bachelors, so how serious can it actually be?
1:32
Speaker 1: But I do think it's a like a really good
1:35
Speaker 1: example of how things could be where you're like, hey,
1:38
Speaker 1: there's a space in this world big enough for the
1:40
Speaker 1: both of us. Let's have fun and give both of
1:42
Speaker 1: our insights, both podcasts insights into this upcoming season. So
1:45
Speaker 1: actually and I are pumped to have you too, absolutely
1:48
Speaker 1: so excited to nothing but love. So where should we
1:53
Speaker 1: be good? So much to cover? Let's start with Becca
1:59
Speaker 1: and at the engagement and all that, because we haven't
2:02
Speaker 1: caught up with you on the podcast about that. I
2:05
Speaker 1: know that you want to keep some things private and
2:08
Speaker 1: he said that you wanted to keep in private for
2:09
Speaker 1: a while, But are you ready to tell us all
2:11
Speaker 1: the details? Oh yeah, I mean listen, I'm an open
2:15
Speaker 1: book and this is such a fun time in my
2:18
Speaker 1: life personally with Thomas that I mean, I could talk
2:21
Speaker 1: about our engagement and the day of the proposal for hours.
2:25
Speaker 1: So you're probably gonna need to tell me to shut that,
2:27
Speaker 1: shut the f up at some point, Okay, for hours
2:32
Speaker 1: to yeah over there smiling and I'm just over here smiling.
2:37
Speaker 1: That's all I need, alright. So how long were you
2:40
Speaker 1: planning the proposal start there? I had been planning it
2:44
Speaker 1: for just over a month, about a month and a half.
2:47
Speaker 1: It started like early April, and then I finally popped
2:51
Speaker 1: the big question mid May. Um, so a few weeks
2:57
Speaker 1: which it was a few weeks of me like try
2:59
Speaker 1: not to have word vomit and say too much around him.
3:02
Speaker 1: But it was such a fun process. You know, It's
3:04
Speaker 1: something I never thought I would do in my life,
3:06
Speaker 1: and I would say most women probably never thought that
3:09
Speaker 1: they would do in their life. So it was really
3:10
Speaker 1: cool just to like soak it in and be the
3:13
Speaker 1: one to plan the proposal. Did you get down one knee?
3:17
Speaker 1: Technically no, I did ask him if he wanted me to,
3:20
Speaker 1: But we were sitting in a very tight spot with
3:23
Speaker 1: a tent that was about to fall down behind us,
3:25
Speaker 1: and we were under this little table with charcouterian wine.
3:29
Speaker 1: So I was like, okay, I love you. Um, I
3:32
Speaker 1: put the ring on his finger and I said the
3:33
Speaker 1: right words, but I was like, do you need me
3:35
Speaker 1: to actually get on a knee? But I did it
3:38
Speaker 1: like a week later. I did it as a joke.
3:40
Speaker 1: So I feel like that counts. You know, Becca, It's
3:43
Speaker 1: interesting because its two years ago. You and I were
3:47
Speaker 1: hosting Bachelor Live on stage together, traveling the country, two
3:51
Speaker 1: very different places in life. I was just getting ready
3:54
Speaker 1: to propose to my now wife, uh, and you were
3:57
Speaker 1: kind of processing and figuring life out all so, you know,
4:00
Speaker 1: soon after that, becoming single and then meeting Thomas. I
4:04
Speaker 1: don't know if you remember this, but something that I
4:06
Speaker 1: was really honored by and then I really appreciated from
4:08
Speaker 1: me as a friend, as you called me before Paradise
4:10
Speaker 1: and said should you go? Um, you're worried about it
4:14
Speaker 1: for obvious reasons. You're a lead that's going to Paradise.
4:16
Speaker 1: That's different. It's not really happening looking back now. I mean,
4:22
Speaker 1: obviously you're happy you win, but does it all feel
4:25
Speaker 1: like a whirlwind to you? Like? How are you processing
4:27
Speaker 1: these quick changes in life that have happened. I mean,
4:30
Speaker 1: from my perspective, it feels like it's happened so fast
4:33
Speaker 1: in such a good way, like in such a healthy,
4:35
Speaker 1: fun way, but like it's happened really fast. So that's
4:39
Speaker 1: actually a question we get all the time, is you know,
4:42
Speaker 1: especially like in terms of my relationship with Thomas. Now,
4:45
Speaker 1: like you guys are already engaged, it's only been a year.
4:48
Speaker 1: But then I think back to when I actually went
4:50
Speaker 1: on the show, you know, when I was a contestant
4:52
Speaker 1: on The Bachelor, and then when I was lead, like
4:55
Speaker 1: that that's way sped up, you know, Like so for
4:58
Speaker 1: me now, I'm like, yeah, is happening fast, But what
5:02
Speaker 1: I've lived through in the past, this is kind of
5:04
Speaker 1: drawn out a bit. But but for me, like it
5:08
Speaker 1: just feels right, Like Thomas and I since the get go,
5:12
Speaker 1: we're so on the same page, so in sync with
5:15
Speaker 1: how we wanted our relationship to be, how we wanted
5:18
Speaker 1: our future to be, how we wouldn't, you know, want
5:20
Speaker 1: to raise a potential family one day that it just
5:23
Speaker 1: it all felt right, Like nothing nothing with him has
5:26
Speaker 1: felt forced or like we have to do something by
5:30
Speaker 1: a certain time frame. Um, but yeah, going back to
5:34
Speaker 1: what you just said about me going to Paradise and
5:36
Speaker 1: not knowing if I wanted to do it and picking
5:37
Speaker 1: your brain like that, that, yes, feels like a whirlwind.
5:41
Speaker 1: And it's still like, I mean, I'm surprised in general
5:44
Speaker 1: that I went to Paradise in the first place, but
5:45
Speaker 1: I'm so glad that I did. And what was actually
5:48
Speaker 1: cool about filming like that chapter of my life. And actually,
5:52
Speaker 1: maybe you can attest to this is it feels so
5:54
Speaker 1: different from a normal bachelor bacherette season. Like it feels
5:58
Speaker 1: like because you have so much time with your partner
6:00
Speaker 1: on the beach and so much alone time to like
6:04
Speaker 1: have the real deep conversations that you need like that part,
6:10
Speaker 1: Like it still feels like world. But it still felt
6:12
Speaker 1: like I had enough time to make a decision to
6:14
Speaker 1: come out of Paradise, like if I wanted to get
6:16
Speaker 1: back together with this man or not, if that makes
6:18
Speaker 1: sense one thousand per cent. Like when Jared and I
6:23
Speaker 1: left season two, I was like, that wasn't the end
6:26
Speaker 1: of this, you know, But I think that on the
6:30
Speaker 1: main shows, you kind of are forced into thinking that, like, Okay,
6:34
Speaker 1: it's this person or to bust, like the other people
6:37
Speaker 1: don't count. There's definitely not a future besides anything that,
6:42
Speaker 1: like the decision that I made right here, right now,
6:45
Speaker 1: it's everything seems a little bit more flexible with Paradise.
6:47
Speaker 1: Would you say that you being one of the few
6:51
Speaker 1: people that kind of got to experience all three of
6:53
Speaker 1: the franchise shows, you understand why the success right of
6:57
Speaker 1: Paradise is greater than the others when we like do
7:00
Speaker 1: the ratio? M hm, oh, yeah, yeah, totally. I mean
7:05
Speaker 1: you you just spend more time with people when you're
7:09
Speaker 1: on the beach, and I think it has something to
7:11
Speaker 1: do with that. There are so many relationships that the
7:13
Speaker 1: show is trying to catch and film and follow these
7:15
Speaker 1: storylines that a lot of times, at least in my
7:18
Speaker 1: experience with Thomas, our story kind of, and not to
7:21
Speaker 1: say this in a bad way, it was actually great
7:23
Speaker 1: for us. Our story kind of fell by the wayside
7:25
Speaker 1: because there were other couples that you definitely knew were
7:28
Speaker 1: probably gonna get engaged, that were, you know, fresh out
7:31
Speaker 1: the gate day one, super strong and solid, and so
7:34
Speaker 1: Thomas and I were able to spend so much time
7:37
Speaker 1: away from the drama and the cameras to actually get
7:40
Speaker 1: to know one another and really form a relationship, Like
7:43
Speaker 1: I remember that. I think it was the night after
7:45
Speaker 1: our first date. Him and I laid just in the
7:48
Speaker 1: middle of the beach on a bean bag for probably
7:51
Speaker 1: five hours straight, just talking about morals and values and
7:55
Speaker 1: like what we learned from our last relationships and what
7:58
Speaker 1: we want to take into a future relation ships and
8:00
Speaker 1: like that was never aired. That was never filmed because
8:02
Speaker 1: you know, in reality it was such a boring conversation.
8:05
Speaker 1: But but you just spend so much more time with
8:09
Speaker 1: your partner on the beach and and also what school
8:12
Speaker 1: has seeing them interact with everyone else. It's not like
8:15
Speaker 1: when I was a lead, I was so removed from
8:18
Speaker 1: the men in the house because it's like you film,
8:20
Speaker 1: you have like your certain things that you have to do,
8:22
Speaker 1: and then they kind of take you away, right Like
8:24
Speaker 1: I was constantly in the midst and then immersed with
8:27
Speaker 1: Thomas and seeing how he interacted with the producers, with
8:30
Speaker 1: other cast members, with everyone on the beach, so I
8:32
Speaker 1: could get a more well rounded picture and version of
8:35
Speaker 1: who he was, which I think really helped me come
8:38
Speaker 1: out of paradise to be like, oh I missed that,
8:40
Speaker 1: I want that, you know. I obviously broke up with him,
8:43
Speaker 1: but in hindsight, I'm like, I wouldn't want to lose him. Yeah. Well,
8:48
Speaker 1: the final question for you, Becca, until we just get
8:50
Speaker 1: into a big old group chat because we do have
8:52
Speaker 1: Michelle here and I'm really excited to catch up with Michelle.
8:56
Speaker 1: Uh and here house she's doing in life. It's just
8:58
Speaker 1: with four people, we gotta pick and choose our lanes
9:01
Speaker 1: right now. But uh, Becca, I've always been intrigued by
9:04
Speaker 1: this Um. You know, Thomas is Um. I guess people
9:10
Speaker 1: knew him from the Bachelorette and people weren't like fans
9:14
Speaker 1: of Thomas Um, especially other cast members. We got to
9:19
Speaker 1: see that. I don't think you did. I think you
9:20
Speaker 1: were already gone by the time that was kind of airing.
9:23
Speaker 1: I've got to know still saw Oh you still saw good? Well,
9:26
Speaker 1: this even makes it juice here. I've gotten to meet
9:30
Speaker 1: Thomas a few times now. I think the world of him.
9:32
Speaker 1: I think he's a great dude. Obviously you think the
9:34
Speaker 1: world of him. You're engaged to him, So that's a
9:36
Speaker 1: good start. Did you Was that hard for you, though,
9:40
Speaker 1: um to work through that? Did that? Did that ever
9:43
Speaker 1: pop into your mind? Like, Hey, is this really the
9:44
Speaker 1: guy that that I know? Like, how did you deal
9:48
Speaker 1: with knowing that his perception on the Bachelor it was
9:51
Speaker 1: not good and then allowing yourself to fall in love
9:54
Speaker 1: with that guy. Yeah, so it was definitely I don't
9:58
Speaker 1: want to curse much on here, but like a mind
10:01
Speaker 1: f I would say, because I was leaving with him
10:05
Speaker 1: on the beach, seeing him interact with everyone, and then
10:07
Speaker 1: I was also, you know, once a week going back
10:10
Speaker 1: to watch an episode quick and to recap and podcasts,
10:13
Speaker 1: and so I was seeing who he was in real life.
10:16
Speaker 1: And keep in mind, like when we were filming on
10:18
Speaker 1: that beach, guys from a season where there James lived
10:21
Speaker 1: on the beach with us, Aaron was there. Um, I
10:25
Speaker 1: can't even think of who, Like, there were some other
10:26
Speaker 1: guys there and they all got along like they're cool.
10:29
Speaker 1: And so I'm watching like the drama play out on
10:33
Speaker 1: the show and like seeing what Aaron, especially as saying
10:35
Speaker 1: about Thomas and then seeing them like brow it out
10:37
Speaker 1: on the beach and I'm like, is this all for TV?
10:40
Speaker 1: You know? I get that people will say and do
10:43
Speaker 1: certain things, and like, yes, the show added to Thomas
10:46
Speaker 1: to be the quote unquote villain, but like at the
10:49
Speaker 1: end of the day was he he He personally wasn't
10:52
Speaker 1: fighting with anyone, saying anything about other people. Guys just
10:55
Speaker 1: didn't like him because he's he admitted to being like, yeah,
10:58
Speaker 1: I could be the Bachelor, like it it's crossed my mind,
11:01
Speaker 1: like that is a possibility to come from. I loved
11:03
Speaker 1: his honesty so much, and we talked about that. We
11:06
Speaker 1: were like, this guy is being villainis or being honest
11:09
Speaker 1: and all these other guys are lying at that thought
11:11
Speaker 1: is not in their head. Yeah, And like from what
11:15
Speaker 1: I've gathered now from not only Thomas, but other guys
11:17
Speaker 1: that lived on that season, because I just did the
11:19
Speaker 1: tour with several of them, Like, I don't know how
11:22
Speaker 1: much we can include here, but like there was a
11:24
Speaker 1: conversation one night from I'm not going to say who
11:27
Speaker 1: it was, but somebody that was on Paradise. Thomas was
11:31
Speaker 1: the guy to be like, hey, have like this is crazy.
11:34
Speaker 1: At the end of this one of us here in
11:36
Speaker 1: this house is going to be the badgeler. Have you
11:37
Speaker 1: guys thought about that? And that's what kick started the
11:40
Speaker 1: actual conversation the next day that was filmed to then
11:43
Speaker 1: make Thomas look like this bad guy. And so there's
11:45
Speaker 1: like so many little pieces that no one will ever realize.
11:49
Speaker 1: But yeah, at first it was very tough for me
11:51
Speaker 1: because I was like, I'm getting to know Thomas on
11:53
Speaker 1: the speech. He seems like a great dude. He's getting
11:55
Speaker 1: along with everyone. There's no issues that I'm witnessing in
11:59
Speaker 1: real life, so what the hell is going on? And
12:02
Speaker 1: then I finally got out of Paradise and I had
12:03
Speaker 1: to be like, like, it's all kind of on the
12:06
Speaker 1: show and editing at this point, like I know Thomas,
12:09
Speaker 1: like I've seen him interact with people from the show
12:11
Speaker 1: and outside of the show now, and I love who
12:13
Speaker 1: he is, so I'm going to trust myself and go
12:16
Speaker 1: with that. And finally when I kind of just brushed
12:18
Speaker 1: everything off and I was like, people are gonna hate
12:20
Speaker 1: anyone regardless, like based on the TV show edit or not,
12:23
Speaker 1: Like I can't let that affect me in my relationship.
12:25
Speaker 1: I just kind of got to the point where I
12:28
Speaker 1: was like f everything else and like I picked this man.
12:30
Speaker 1: We're together, and like that's that's where has my heart,
12:33
Speaker 1: That's where my loyalty lies. I remember like that even
12:36
Speaker 1: like the first time I met Thomas and I had
12:39
Speaker 1: like seen this edit right, and like back at you
12:41
Speaker 1: and I are close where Minnesota girls and that I'm protective.
12:45
Speaker 1: I think it was like in the first five minutes,
12:48
Speaker 1: I'm like, Okay, something he's not adding up here, like
12:51
Speaker 1: the edit went completely wrong. Whatever it was. All I
12:54
Speaker 1: think now is how like this man is the nicest
12:58
Speaker 1: man I've ever met. He's so thoughtful. I remember he
13:01
Speaker 1: packed me a bag of snacks, Like, not, didn't you
13:05
Speaker 1: ask him to you? Yeah? He like, Hey, Michelle, I
13:08
Speaker 1: know you have a really long rest of your day
13:10
Speaker 1: when we're doing like a photo shooter stuff um for
13:12
Speaker 1: like all the podcasts, And he's like, I packed you
13:14
Speaker 1: a bag of snacks because I know that you said
13:16
Speaker 1: you're hungry and you have a long day ahead of you.
13:18
Speaker 1: And I'm like, that's just him and yeah, and it's
13:26
Speaker 1: it's so like it is so genuine and it's just
13:30
Speaker 1: who he is. And he's constantly thinking about other people. First.
13:34
Speaker 1: He's constantly checking in and like connecting with people, whether
13:37
Speaker 1: you are you know what I mean, like a well
13:41
Speaker 1: known person or somebody else. Like he just he's just
13:45
Speaker 1: so so so genuine and thoughtful. Can we talk about
13:58
Speaker 1: possibly the fact that these guys were intimidated by him?
14:01
Speaker 1: Because he is like six ft five and gorgeous and
14:05
Speaker 1: super nice. I mean that's what people have said that before, like,
14:11
Speaker 1: and I think Demi or Marissa and somebody last season
14:14
Speaker 1: on the Beach said like these guys are just jealous
14:16
Speaker 1: of him because like they want to be Like, I
14:18
Speaker 1: don't know, I just like the whole jealousy thing just
14:20
Speaker 1: seems so juvenile to me, of like you're actually gonna
14:24
Speaker 1: hate this person because of like how tall they are.
14:26
Speaker 1: But I don't know. I don't know how guys minds operate. Man,
14:31
Speaker 1: maybe you can speak more to that, but all I
14:34
Speaker 1: can say is at the end of the day, like
14:35
Speaker 1: he's cool with everyone that you know, the show showed
14:39
Speaker 1: that he had beef with um so I don't know.
14:43
Speaker 1: I saw I saw Thomas at my wedding. I was jealous.
14:46
Speaker 1: I was like, this is my wedding day. Is something
14:51
Speaker 1: that guys really like they do get intimidated by. Don't
14:55
Speaker 1: act like I'm a short dude, No no, no, not you.
14:58
Speaker 1: But like Jared looking up Thomas, like it's the kind
15:01
Speaker 1: of thing that he'll continue. He dared six foot but
15:03
Speaker 1: like if he's looking up at a guy, we'll leave
15:07
Speaker 1: the party and He'll be like, man that Thomas like, wow,
15:12
Speaker 1: they really laughing because we're talking about how like height
15:15
Speaker 1: is something that guys really mattered. And then then you
15:18
Speaker 1: chime in, I'm bothered by the night we don't and
15:23
Speaker 1: I'm like, all right, before we move on from Becca,
15:29
Speaker 1: I do have one I one question. I just have
15:32
Speaker 1: to ask. You got engaged twice on TV and both
15:36
Speaker 1: of those engagements went. Did you feel like you were
15:40
Speaker 1: taking the power back when you decided to be the
15:43
Speaker 1: one to propose that play a factor? Um? I don't
15:47
Speaker 1: know if I would say taking the power back, but
15:50
Speaker 1: I just felt like I finally was at the point
15:55
Speaker 1: where I had a choice, you know, like I feel
15:59
Speaker 1: like only in the show as a contestant on our
16:02
Speaker 1: season and then being lead, like there is such a
16:04
Speaker 1: pressure to get engaged at the end. And realistically, in hindsight,
16:09
Speaker 1: now would it have been a thousand times smarter of
16:12
Speaker 1: me to be like, look, I picked this person, I'm
16:14
Speaker 1: in love with them, but I'm not ready to get
16:16
Speaker 1: engaged a thousand percent Like that's maybe what should have happened,
16:19
Speaker 1: But you know, you kind of get sucked into this
16:22
Speaker 1: world and you feel that pressure, and so yes, I said,
16:27
Speaker 1: you know, yes, I will marry these other people when
16:29
Speaker 1: they've asked me very much on somebody else's terms. That
16:32
Speaker 1: I kind of just felt like I finally have a
16:34
Speaker 1: partner where we have the same goals in life, especially
16:36
Speaker 1: in terms of this relationship. And it was more so
16:39
Speaker 1: me just wanting to show him how committed I am
16:43
Speaker 1: and like how I want to meet him halfway and
16:45
Speaker 1: so I mean, I'm not gonna lie. It felt really
16:47
Speaker 1: damn good to kind of be the one, not even
16:51
Speaker 1: in control because I don't want to use that word,
16:53
Speaker 1: but to say like I'm meeting you halfway and like
16:56
Speaker 1: I finally have a say in my next engagement like
17:00
Speaker 1: the first who I didn't really whatsoever, And now we
17:04
Speaker 1: can do this together and start this new part of
17:06
Speaker 1: our relationship together however we want. And so that was
17:11
Speaker 1: really special. Like I made a comment once um in
17:14
Speaker 1: another interview of like Thomas being like the first guy
17:16
Speaker 1: actually want to marry and they'll probably weren't the right words,
17:19
Speaker 1: but like Thomas is the first guy that I like
17:21
Speaker 1: proactively want to be engaged to on my timing and
17:25
Speaker 1: I proactively want to plan a wedding with Okay, if
17:29
Speaker 1: that makes sense I was going to ask you about
17:31
Speaker 1: that because I recently read that and I was like,
17:33
Speaker 1: I could see you saying that about Ari. But you
17:36
Speaker 1: were with Garrett and happily for a while. Yeah, but
17:40
Speaker 1: we were at the place where like we had never
17:42
Speaker 1: planned anything for a wedding, Like we never got to
17:44
Speaker 1: that stage where I was like, I want to take
17:46
Speaker 1: this next step. I want to solidify this, like and
17:49
Speaker 1: even when I was in that relationship, like guess there
17:51
Speaker 1: was love and we were committed to each other for
17:54
Speaker 1: two and a half years, but we were never ready
17:57
Speaker 1: to take that next step and like be all in
18:00
Speaker 1: and like join our lives together, if that makes sense.
18:03
Speaker 1: And like Thomas is the first guy that I actually
18:07
Speaker 1: want to do that where I'm like, Okay, maybe marriage
18:08
Speaker 1: actually is for me and I want to do this now.
18:11
Speaker 1: Yeah the uh I just sitting here thinking, Um, if
18:15
Speaker 1: it wasn't for your situation with Ari, you wouldn't have
18:17
Speaker 1: been the bachelor atte. If you wouldn't have been the bachelor,
18:20
Speaker 1: you would have never met Garrett, who then kept you
18:22
Speaker 1: within the franchise long enough to then go on Paradise.
18:27
Speaker 1: Don't go on Paradise. You wouldn't have found the love
18:29
Speaker 1: of your life, Thomas, and we're so happy for you. Becca.
18:31
Speaker 1: It's just weird how things work out. Which transitions. Um
18:36
Speaker 1: always easy, it's not always fun. I've been That was
18:40
Speaker 1: my trans going here A continued Michelle. You we're gonna
18:50
Speaker 1: start by saying, hey, you're not alone. First off in
18:53
Speaker 1: this group with Becca and I here, we've both had
18:58
Speaker 1: um some really like like truly life hard, real difficult
19:03
Speaker 1: scenarios through this franchise and had to then figure out
19:06
Speaker 1: how to talk about him air amount in the public eye.
19:10
Speaker 1: And it sucks. So, Um, answer what you want, don't
19:14
Speaker 1: answer what you don't want. It's just a really hard time.
19:16
Speaker 1: But how are you doing? I guess would be how
19:19
Speaker 1: I start this is how are you holding up? Um?
19:24
Speaker 1: It's been quite a transition, I would say, Um, just
19:29
Speaker 1: because you know this year I decided to step away
19:35
Speaker 1: from the classroom this following school year just because I've
19:39
Speaker 1: been so burnt out and just really wanting to, you know,
19:43
Speaker 1: get out of that survival mode. Um. I kind of
19:47
Speaker 1: feel like life has taken this thing is like oh
19:50
Speaker 1: gay challenge accepted and like here like deal with a breakup. Um,
19:54
Speaker 1: It's it's definitely not something that I planned to have
19:57
Speaker 1: to work through this summer UM, but I've definitely have
20:03
Speaker 1: the understanding that, like, sometimes we have to work through
20:07
Speaker 1: things that we did not plan for um or that
20:09
Speaker 1: we're not in our life plans. And so I really
20:11
Speaker 1: am just leaning on my friends family for support, UM
20:16
Speaker 1: and and it's been really helpful, I guess, to just
20:20
Speaker 1: kind of maintain, you know, that layer that I can
20:24
Speaker 1: kind of now start working from. So you have your
20:27
Speaker 1: good days, you have your bad days. You know, it
20:29
Speaker 1: comes and goes in waves. When you intended on stepping
20:32
Speaker 1: back from teaching for a while, was that with the
20:35
Speaker 1: intention of spending more time with Nate and like living
20:39
Speaker 1: together in some place. Yeah, I think, Um, I would
20:46
Speaker 1: say that I'm very like Nate and I are very
20:51
Speaker 1: independent people. UM. But at that same time, you know,
20:54
Speaker 1: I really I personally want to work towards different things. Right,
20:59
Speaker 1: We're into different places. Um. He's in Austin, I'm in Minnesota.
21:04
Speaker 1: Long distances difficult, but um, but yeah, I think that
21:08
Speaker 1: you know, having this summer off and being able to
21:10
Speaker 1: step away from teaching, that would have happened regardless of
21:14
Speaker 1: a relationship, regardless of you know, influencing whatever you want
21:19
Speaker 1: to call it just because I really needed to take
21:21
Speaker 1: a breath out of teaching. Um, But would that have
21:25
Speaker 1: resulted in spending more time with Nate. Yeah, it's naturally,
21:30
Speaker 1: you know. Yeah, it's such a weird time to Michelle
21:34
Speaker 1: and people wonder about this, but I remember at the
21:37
Speaker 1: end of my relationship with Lauren, people still expected I mean,
21:41
Speaker 1: we saw it red headlines like hey, you aren't together,
21:44
Speaker 1: or hey, you're not posting together as much, or you're
21:47
Speaker 1: not commenting on the pictures and then so there was
21:49
Speaker 1: a moment in my relationship. I mean, and this just
21:51
Speaker 1: feels so weird now thinking back, but it was like, hey,
21:55
Speaker 1: we need to take a picture together so people stop asking,
21:58
Speaker 1: or we need to uh film with video of us
22:00
Speaker 1: laughing because we're so happy and in and behind the
22:03
Speaker 1: scenes were like, hey, we haven't talked to each other
22:04
Speaker 1: in two weeks, like really talk to each other how
22:09
Speaker 1: And I can't do that? It just let me just
22:12
Speaker 1: do that. I can't do that, you know, because I like,
22:17
Speaker 1: if I'm in a very committed relationship with somebody, and
22:20
Speaker 1: and this is no like shade towards anybody, Like everyone
22:23
Speaker 1: truly does handle this the best that they can. I
22:26
Speaker 1: feel like, you know, to each their own. Um. No,
22:30
Speaker 1: I just I'm not a person who I've never really
22:33
Speaker 1: been on social media period um, and it's something that's
22:38
Speaker 1: still kind of new to me and being able to
22:40
Speaker 1: like show everybody what I'm doing, what I'm like updates
22:45
Speaker 1: and things like that. Um. And so yeah, there was
22:48
Speaker 1: never a time for me that I'm like, we need
22:50
Speaker 1: to post this picture so that we can act like
22:53
Speaker 1: this or take this video. Um. You know with the video,
22:59
Speaker 1: I know that there's like a lot out of headlines
23:00
Speaker 1: or whatever about the video where I was talking about
23:04
Speaker 1: the engagement ring and like somebody videoing me and my
23:07
Speaker 1: friend taking it and everyone's like we should have known,
23:10
Speaker 1: like she faked it this and that, and like I'm
23:13
Speaker 1: up here sitting like like this is why I don't
23:16
Speaker 1: ever respond to the internet, because that did not age
23:18
Speaker 1: well Like that did not But damn yeah. But no,
23:23
Speaker 1: I just I I really truly believe in reflecting how
23:29
Speaker 1: you feel. And I think that's kind of why I've
23:31
Speaker 1: stepped away from social media, because I've had to take
23:34
Speaker 1: this time to kind of work on myself and find
23:39
Speaker 1: that inner piece. Um, you know, and I'm not good
23:42
Speaker 1: with posting if things aren't okay again, like what Ben said,
23:47
Speaker 1: If anything it feels too personal, don't feel obligated to
23:51
Speaker 1: ask this is so fresh for you, but do you
23:54
Speaker 1: feel like when you got off the show, you guys
23:58
Speaker 1: felt bliss happiness that was going to last a super
24:02
Speaker 1: long time, or did you have doubts as soon as
24:06
Speaker 1: you guys wrapped the show, like was this a breakup
24:09
Speaker 1: that you kind of foresaw or was this sudden? Um?
24:15
Speaker 1: I think where I'm like struggling with this pieces. It's
24:18
Speaker 1: like you never know how much to say, you never
24:21
Speaker 1: know how to handle it, you never know how it's
24:23
Speaker 1: going to be taken. Um. But I will say that
24:26
Speaker 1: like this is not something that I foresaw and I'll
24:29
Speaker 1: leave it there. Well. Uh, final really question around this
24:34
Speaker 1: because there's no use of continuing to absolutely hammer in
24:38
Speaker 1: someone else's pain on a podcast. But who is there
24:42
Speaker 1: for you right now? Michelle? Like who stepped up? Then?
24:45
Speaker 1: Your support system? What kind of advice are they giving
24:47
Speaker 1: you or what are they doing to help? Um? The
24:49
Speaker 1: reason I asked this is because I'm sure there's other
24:51
Speaker 1: people out there to have gone through breakups and they
24:53
Speaker 1: don't know how to get help. UM, So what have
24:56
Speaker 1: you found to be helpful right now. Yeah, you know,
25:01
Speaker 1: I have, like I said before, really started to lean
25:05
Speaker 1: on my family and friends, UM, and have had you know,
25:10
Speaker 1: two of my friends, Tianne Brooke, who we I took
25:12
Speaker 1: off to Iceland with on a spontaneous trip to just
25:16
Speaker 1: you know disconnect um and my mom, my dad, siblings,
25:21
Speaker 1: and then just you know Becca, another bachelorat's reaching out
25:25
Speaker 1: that kind of have been through situations like this, And
25:29
Speaker 1: I feel like I've been able to reach out to
25:32
Speaker 1: different people depending on you know, kind of what I needed.
25:36
Speaker 1: So like, for example, Becca has been through you know,
25:40
Speaker 1: a relation public relationship ending, and you know Rachel, Lindsay
25:44
Speaker 1: and and Tasia and Caitlin have all been through this
25:47
Speaker 1: and they're able to offer certain advice. And then you know,
25:51
Speaker 1: I have some really close friends who are also able to, um,
25:57
Speaker 1: really know who I am and really know things that
26:02
Speaker 1: you know, they just get me, They get what hurts,
26:04
Speaker 1: they get my response is to to certain things, and
26:08
Speaker 1: they're able to sit there and kind of help me
26:10
Speaker 1: sort through things. And so it's been hard. Um, it's
26:15
Speaker 1: been very emotional, and there's been a lot of waves
26:19
Speaker 1: of things. But to have family and friends who go
26:22
Speaker 1: on those waves with you and are willing to take
26:24
Speaker 1: in those waves with you. Has been just incredible. Yeah,
26:30
Speaker 1: well I'd be I'd be a bad, bad podcast host
26:35
Speaker 1: if I didn't ask a question on behalf of the
26:37
Speaker 1: fandom who are very very curious to know what happened
26:41
Speaker 1: to the down payment for the house? Answer as you'd like, UM,
26:48
Speaker 1: is you know that that was money that was gifted
26:51
Speaker 1: to both of us. UM. And I think that's something
26:55
Speaker 1: that you know, is going to be decided how that's
26:59
Speaker 1: going to be utilized going forward. UM. For me personally,
27:04
Speaker 1: you know, I haven't officially decided, but I you know,
27:08
Speaker 1: kind of have started putting some different things in place
27:12
Speaker 1: to give back, you know, to to build an organization
27:17
Speaker 1: or you know, just promote the change that I've been
27:21
Speaker 1: talking about. UM. You know, and I think that would
27:26
Speaker 1: be something that i'd feel really good about. Yeah. It's
27:33
Speaker 1: literally been crying on the phone with one of the producers,
27:36
Speaker 1: you know, like it's been emotional. I've been crying on
27:37
Speaker 1: the phone. I don't have producers and like, but we
27:40
Speaker 1: can I give this money? I can I create this
27:43
Speaker 1: to give them money like to somebody else. It's just
27:45
Speaker 1: like I just that's something I feel good about I
27:49
Speaker 1: And that's yeah, I know that's been the million dollar question,
27:54
Speaker 1: no pun intended, but it's been a lot. Michelle, you
28:09
Speaker 1: are the greatest catch of of all, Like holy crap,
28:13
Speaker 1: holy like not only like is your beauty just absolutely
28:18
Speaker 1: like out of this world, but like your beauty inside,
28:21
Speaker 1: your intelligence, the way your grace, the way you handle yourself,
28:24
Speaker 1: Like there is never been one person that I've been
28:28
Speaker 1: less concerned about finding her happily ever after. And and
28:32
Speaker 1: I don't really know you personally very well, but like
28:35
Speaker 1: you are gonna be so so good, and this is
28:40
Speaker 1: a period of life that you'll get over and one
28:45
Speaker 1: day you'll be like that was a moment of growth,
28:50
Speaker 1: and I am so happy of where I ended up.
28:53
Speaker 1: I really I that means a lot, actually, and I
28:55
Speaker 1: know that you know, I've had like, you know, a
28:58
Speaker 1: few exchanges and every thing. And I'll be honest. I
29:01
Speaker 1: was talking to Becca yesterday of like I'm nervous to
29:06
Speaker 1: get back on and start podcasting, right because I don't know,
29:10
Speaker 1: when you're away from something, you need to take that
29:12
Speaker 1: time and I understand that, but coming back also like
29:14
Speaker 1: there's anxiety around it, and I'm such a positive person
29:19
Speaker 1: or like a happy, bubbly person typically and right now
29:23
Speaker 1: I'm not always that, and I know that's okay, but
29:26
Speaker 1: like I didn't want to come on and be like,
29:29
Speaker 1: you know, I want to talk about Becca's engagement, and
29:32
Speaker 1: I want to talk about Actley and your baby and
29:34
Speaker 1: then everything that's going on your life, and then I'm
29:36
Speaker 1: like I'm over here and I'm like that there's just
29:38
Speaker 1: like this like negative you know, you know, like that
29:41
Speaker 1: that that Charlie Brown Halloween episode, like I got a
29:45
Speaker 1: candy bar, I got a sector, I got a rock,
29:48
Speaker 1: but I got I got this, I got a rock,
29:51
Speaker 1: like the show. I'm like, day that's gonna really I
29:54
Speaker 1: truly feel like this moment, like even though you feel
29:58
Speaker 1: so low and you don't necess rearely know where to
30:00
Speaker 1: turn or like what your life's gonna look like, I
30:02
Speaker 1: honestly think this is going to be the catalyst for
30:05
Speaker 1: like one of the most beautiful, as actually just said,
30:08
Speaker 1: like times of growth in your life and everything. I mean,
30:12
Speaker 1: and I can say this from experience because you know,
30:15
Speaker 1: we've all been through breakups and then you can test
30:18
Speaker 1: we've been through public breakups, but like everything just preps
30:21
Speaker 1: you for what's to come. And I think with you,
30:23
Speaker 1: you have such a beautiful soul that it's only going
30:26
Speaker 1: to benefit you in the long run. Yeah, And when
30:30
Speaker 1: you look back on these moments of darkness, when it
30:34
Speaker 1: didn't end up with the you didn't end up with
30:36
Speaker 1: the person that you so imagine yourself ending up with,
30:40
Speaker 1: and it's weirdly nostalgic. Like when you get past it
30:44
Speaker 1: and you end up finding the person that you're with,
30:46
Speaker 1: you look back at those moments and you're like, man,
30:49
Speaker 1: I suffered so much heartbreak, but it really did get
30:54
Speaker 1: me to this. It's such a weird thing. It's hard
30:56
Speaker 1: to describe. It's like one of those things where it's
30:58
Speaker 1: like I need to take my heart and soul out
30:59
Speaker 1: and put it into somebody else. And then they're like,
31:02
Speaker 1: oh this feeling, Yeah, I know this feeling. It's so weird.
31:06
Speaker 1: But that's exactly. And I think, you know, I like
31:11
Speaker 1: breakups suck, breakups are awful. I don't know, I just
31:15
Speaker 1: they they hurt, right, And I think what's so difficult
31:19
Speaker 1: is that it sometimes feels like it's like not in
31:22
Speaker 1: your control, right, Like you wake up and you sometimes
31:26
Speaker 1: days you just feel like Okay, I just have to
31:28
Speaker 1: have a time passed like with time, give it time,
31:30
Speaker 1: but like you can't always like speed up that time, right,
31:33
Speaker 1: you can't always like speed up healing. You can put
31:35
Speaker 1: in the work, but you can't always speed it up. Um.
31:38
Speaker 1: But it is like the situation where I'm like, this
31:40
Speaker 1: is not how the story ends for me. This is
31:43
Speaker 1: not you know, like where I'm at right now emotionally, mentally,
31:46
Speaker 1: like how my heart feels like, this is not how
31:49
Speaker 1: the story ends. And I deserve to, you know, really
31:54
Speaker 1: make it to that point where I get those things
31:56
Speaker 1: and so yeah, but it is hard to remember. I
32:00
Speaker 1: may be calling you guys for a reminder here, and
32:03
Speaker 1: it's like this is just a building block, Like every
32:06
Speaker 1: relationship that doesn't work out is a building block to
32:08
Speaker 1: help you learn what you want, what you don't want
32:11
Speaker 1: in your next relationship. Yeah. Absolutely, It's like every morning
32:15
Speaker 1: look at yourself in the mirror and be like, my
32:17
Speaker 1: family is happy, healthy and safe, and I am stunning,
32:21
Speaker 1: as as my morning hair that I sleep with with
32:27
Speaker 1: wet hair didn't wash, my face is like tinked. Everywhere
32:30
Speaker 1: looks stunning. Right now, I was actually not gonna make up.
32:34
Speaker 1: I was gonna say, like You've gone through the ringer
32:37
Speaker 1: in this past month and you've still looked like a ten.
32:40
Speaker 1: You're studying your glowing. I'm like, what is your secret?
32:44
Speaker 1: Even have a makeup on right now? This is just
32:48
Speaker 1: your faces? My god, isn't it? Isn't it so annoying? Actually?
32:55
Speaker 1: This is no, because no, you should have called me.
32:58
Speaker 1: You should have called me, like, what ever when this
33:01
Speaker 1: first went done? Nah, it was bad. It's bad. I'm
33:05
Speaker 1: sure I have a picture somewhere I Michelle. If as
33:09
Speaker 1: we close up here, because we do have a very
33:12
Speaker 1: special episode of Bachelor Happy Hour to get to, uh, well,
33:16
Speaker 1: we're gonna be breaking down a lot of the bachelorrette.
33:19
Speaker 1: I think we're gonna talk about that. You guys are
33:20
Speaker 1: hosting it, so you know, Uh, here's a good story
33:22
Speaker 1: for you to close out on, Michelle. I don't know
33:24
Speaker 1: if I make you feel any better or worse. I
33:27
Speaker 1: feel like this is one of those times when your
33:28
Speaker 1: dad tells you a story and it's like symbolic. Ye. Maybe, Um,
33:33
Speaker 1: I agree with everything Becca and Ashley have said, and
33:36
Speaker 1: I'm sure many people in your life have told you
33:39
Speaker 1: all of those things and they're all true, and so
33:41
Speaker 1: you just gotta believe him at some point. Maybe not now. Um,
33:44
Speaker 1: you could still hurt for a bit, but at some
33:46
Speaker 1: point you're just gonna have to believe that these people
33:48
Speaker 1: are not lying to you. You're gorgeous, You're a catch,
33:51
Speaker 1: you are whatever is in the future is all going
33:54
Speaker 1: to make sense. We just talked about it with Rebecca.
33:56
Speaker 1: But um, really funny story I've never shared publicly, and
33:59
Speaker 1: I'll probably get fired for it. That's okay, Um, I'm
34:04
Speaker 1: not getting fired. I feel honored to be the reason
34:08
Speaker 1: I am going through a breakup. Um. We announced it
34:12
Speaker 1: publicly on a Tuesday. I had already been under contracts
34:17
Speaker 1: and we had already scheduled our very first almost famous
34:20
Speaker 1: episode on that Thursday. Um, so we announced it Tuesday
34:24
Speaker 1: because it just needed to happen, like it was time.
34:27
Speaker 1: We had it was we we needed to tell people.
34:30
Speaker 1: And so it comes out and I'm broke, like I'm
34:33
Speaker 1: I'm I'm sad, I'm a mess, And I call my
34:38
Speaker 1: heart and I say, hey, can we not record this week?
34:41
Speaker 1: I'm not in the place, and they say, no, this
34:44
Speaker 1: is perfect, It's time. Everybody's listen. And so on a Thursday,
34:51
Speaker 1: I had to get on a podcast and say a
34:53
Speaker 1: bunch of stuff that I didn't even know what I
34:54
Speaker 1: was saying because I didn't know how I felt. Uh.
34:56
Speaker 1: And then over time things get better and you can
34:59
Speaker 1: begin to move forward, and I wish the best for you,
35:01
Speaker 1: and I'm glad you're back, and I'm glad we're doing
35:03
Speaker 1: this together. This has been really fun. Hey, I do
35:06
Speaker 1: have to ask you this because our listeners need a
35:09
Speaker 1: little teaser um going into Bachelor Happy Hour in a
35:13
Speaker 1: minute thirty seconds, what are both your thoughts on this
35:15
Speaker 1: coming season of The Bachelorette as we move forward into
35:18
Speaker 1: part two over on Bachelor Happy Hour? Oh, Michelle, you
35:21
Speaker 1: want to start? No, you start? Um? Okay, I will
35:26
Speaker 1: try to be concise. I am excited and intrigued because
35:31
Speaker 1: this is something we've never seen before throughout an entire season,
35:34
Speaker 1: having two leads. I'm skeptical because I, in no way,
35:39
Speaker 1: shape or form want these two women who are now
35:42
Speaker 1: the leads and in this huge pressure situation to be
35:46
Speaker 1: pitted against one another. And all I'm gonna say is,
35:49
Speaker 1: if they're going to have two women leads at some point,
35:52
Speaker 1: we better be seeing two mal leads in one season.
35:55
Speaker 1: We did, so, just to let you know, I think Ashley.
35:58
Speaker 1: Ashley and I just discovered this yesterday that there has
36:01
Speaker 1: been two bachelors on a season before. We didn't know this.
36:04
Speaker 1: There has way back, way back. Wait, so a duel.
36:10
Speaker 1: So two guys the entire season season? Who was it?
36:14
Speaker 1: I don't even remember their names are really on in
36:17
Speaker 1: the two thousands archives? Know No, is it Brian or
36:24
Speaker 1: is it Byron? Byron and a guy we don't know. Okay,
36:28
Speaker 1: we need to see a current. I don't disagree with you.
36:32
Speaker 1: I'm just saying we said the same thing yesterday and
36:33
Speaker 1: they were like, no, they have so alright, Yeah, Michelle,
36:37
Speaker 1: we were so confused because when Caitlin and Britt happened,
36:40
Speaker 1: nobody brought this up either. We gotta I need the archives,
36:44
Speaker 1: I need the lost footage. I need to see this
36:46
Speaker 1: like did and they showed both men equally or did
36:50
Speaker 1: one just kind of fall by the wayside? One guy
36:52
Speaker 1: knocked off here? So it was the same like the
36:56
Speaker 1: whole Caitlin situation, right, but not at the same time
36:58
Speaker 1: where two leads have gone through the higher process. Here
37:01
Speaker 1: we go. We got the recap in September two, Velvic
37:05
Speaker 1: and Jay over by a forty year old real estate
37:08
Speaker 1: agent from New Jersey were selected as candidates for the
37:10
Speaker 1: Bachelor for season six, but their candidates like were they
37:13
Speaker 1: both together? I think so night one? We need a
37:19
Speaker 1: full season. Yeah, I need to go back and watch that.
37:21
Speaker 1: And I also want to know, like what are you
37:24
Speaker 1: all up to? And why don't we know who you are?
37:27
Speaker 1: Like why why we first say oh, yeah, it's Byron
37:30
Speaker 1: and unknown guy? You guys, we're gonna now fight as
37:35
Speaker 1: to who's going to get these two unknown guys on
37:37
Speaker 1: our podcast one and we'll get one. Wait, we want
37:43
Speaker 1: the guy who went home night one, just to just
37:45
Speaker 1: to give him some some good love. He's like, nobody's
37:47
Speaker 1: talked to me in twenty years. I don't know what, Michelle,
37:50
Speaker 1: what are your thoughts? I'm I'm excited, um, just for
37:55
Speaker 1: both of them, because they both seem like they're going
37:58
Speaker 1: to handle themselves in a very like a sea way, right.
38:00
Speaker 1: I think that they went into it with a really
38:04
Speaker 1: solid friendship, and I think that's something that they seem
38:07
Speaker 1: like they would continue to work on and like work
38:09
Speaker 1: past issues as it goes on. Um, I feel like
38:13
Speaker 1: it's going to get a little intense, though, I mean,
38:15
Speaker 1: it's kind of naive to not think that, you know,
38:18
Speaker 1: there's not going to be drama with everything, but yeah,
38:22
Speaker 1: I'm excited for them both. Um, I'm super interested in
38:25
Speaker 1: watching this is Yeah, we're gonna have a lot to
38:28
Speaker 1: talk talk about. Is what I feel like throughout this
38:30
Speaker 1: whole season. Well I agree. Alright, guys, well it's time
38:34
Speaker 1: for us to wrap up and head over to your territory,
38:38
Speaker 1: so please sign out with us until next time. I've
38:41
Speaker 1: been Ashley, I've been Becca. I can't We're still doing this.
38:47
Speaker 1: Four years later, five years later, Oh my god, bye bye.
38:53
Speaker 1: Followed the Benn and Ashley I Almost Famous podcasts on
38:56
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.