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The Real Mel (The Golden Bachelor Season 2 Episode 5 Recap) · 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 on our radio.
0:05
Speaker 2: Hey, welcome back to the Almost Famous podcast. We're here
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Speaker 2: to break down the Golden Bachelor with one of my
0:12
Speaker 2: favorite people in the whole entire world.
0:15
Speaker 3: Ashley.
0:16
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, no way me I'm here.
0:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I was just talking about this yesterday.
0:23
Speaker 2: How just tremendous it is to do this with you
0:27
Speaker 2: week after week after week.
0:30
Speaker 4: One day it won't happen, and I'm going to be
0:32
Speaker 4: so sad and it's going to be so.
0:34
Speaker 3: Weird, like we get fired.
0:37
Speaker 4: No, Like I'm talking like ten years from now, Like
0:40
Speaker 4: in ten years from now, the odds are yeah, we will
0:44
Speaker 4: be doing this. Yeah, it's like an actual eighteen year
0:48
Speaker 4: long podcast on The Bachelor, which.
0:51
Speaker 2: We might have to like evolve by then into something new,
0:55
Speaker 2: but I hope we are because the dynamics here are
1:00
Speaker 2: one where Ashley and I can discuss, disagree, agree, and
1:07
Speaker 2: still absolutely love each other at the end of the day.
1:11
Speaker 2: I think today is going to be one of those
1:12
Speaker 2: agreement days. Here's what we got into in the past, Ashley.
1:16
Speaker 2: Let's just preface this off the top. We had a
1:19
Speaker 2: season of The Bachelor, and I think I think fans
1:23
Speaker 2: agreed with us. It was a pretty rough season of
1:26
Speaker 2: The Bachelor. You know, three years ago, there were some
1:29
Speaker 2: tough seasons back to back that we just had a
1:32
Speaker 2: tough time breaking down. We got way too negative though,
1:35
Speaker 2: I think that was our mistake, but just got too negative,
1:37
Speaker 2: because the truth is, people listen to this and they
1:41
Speaker 2: watch the show not to then be dumped on with negativity.
1:45
Speaker 2: So I'm only saying this because I think you and
1:49
Speaker 2: I both could come into this today and be really
1:52
Speaker 2: frustrated with the Golden Bachelor up to this point and
1:55
Speaker 2: also this season and this last episode. So let's try
2:00
Speaker 2: our best to highlight the things that were great and
2:04
Speaker 2: then at the end, maybe we'll break down the things
2:06
Speaker 2: that are frustrating to us.
2:07
Speaker 3: Can we do that?
2:08
Speaker 4: Oh, we can do that. And Ben saying this because
2:11
Speaker 4: I was like saying certain things before we started the podcast.
2:14
Speaker 4: So I was like, then there's some things, there's some things.
2:18
Speaker 4: We'll talk about it later, Okay, Ben, Yes, let's talk
2:21
Speaker 4: about some highlights. My highlight of the episode is Cindy,
2:25
Speaker 4: what about you?
2:26
Speaker 2: I think Cindy is amazing. I do and I actually
2:31
Speaker 2: am enjoying let's say this. I'm enjoying this cast.
2:36
Speaker 3: More and more.
2:37
Speaker 2: My problem, though, to back that up, is I feel
2:41
Speaker 2: like we haven't got to know enough of the cast.
2:43
Speaker 2: I think the cast could have really carried this season
2:46
Speaker 2: if we got to highlight them a little bit more.
2:50
Speaker 3: But we're just kidding. I felt I feel like snippets.
2:52
Speaker 2: Maybe it's just me, but do you feel like you
2:56
Speaker 2: know one person really well?
3:00
Speaker 4: Watch it? I'm like, what's her backstory? What's her backstory?
3:03
Speaker 1: Like?
3:03
Speaker 4: I don't remember anything about anyone, and I don't know
3:07
Speaker 4: why because I remember on Gary season I felt like
3:10
Speaker 4: I kind of like knew everybody's situation, like were they divorced,
3:13
Speaker 4: how many do they have kids? Was it a death
3:18
Speaker 4: of the husband? So like I kind of knew my
3:21
Speaker 4: empathy level going into each sit down and hear I'm
3:26
Speaker 4: just like, oh wait, what's her story? Like I like
3:28
Speaker 4: her energy, but I don't really know what's going on.
3:31
Speaker 2: Can you pinpoint, maybe from your perspective, being on the show,
3:35
Speaker 2: being part of the show, being around the show, what's missing?
3:38
Speaker 2: Because I would say I agree with you. I also
3:41
Speaker 2: felt that way about Jone's season. I knew I could
3:44
Speaker 2: name six guys right now from Jone's season very easily
3:48
Speaker 2: and tell you who they are, what they're about. And
3:51
Speaker 2: I think I could have done that right after the
3:52
Speaker 2: season was over, right, Yeah. What is missing or what
3:56
Speaker 2: is different about how this new kind of production company
4:00
Speaker 2: is producing this show compared to the past.
4:03
Speaker 4: Well, I feel like we used to have a little
4:05
Speaker 4: bit more substantive conversations between the women in the house,
4:11
Speaker 4: like they're little chats on the couch. Those one a
4:14
Speaker 4: little bit deeper. And I don't even know how they're
4:18
Speaker 4: doing this differently because it's the same amount of time
4:21
Speaker 4: because there are forty minute episodes then too, so it's
4:25
Speaker 4: not a time thing and that's interesting. What are they
4:30
Speaker 4: replacing it with? I really don't know. And Mel is
4:34
Speaker 4: obviously giving less two he's just not really a vocalizer.
4:39
Speaker 2: I think though the lead is the lead, right, they'll
4:44
Speaker 2: protect the lead, They'll make the lead be who they
4:46
Speaker 2: want them to be.
4:47
Speaker 3: I'm with you.
4:48
Speaker 2: I think it's less time amongst the women, and I
4:51
Speaker 2: think those are really important conversations. There's usually tears, you know,
4:55
Speaker 2: they feel safe, they're not trying to impress, and so
5:00
Speaker 2: it is those conversations one on one with the women
5:02
Speaker 2: in the house that we're missing. This year also, we
5:07
Speaker 2: had a cast. Let's just compare it to The First
5:10
Speaker 2: Bachelor again with the Kathy's and the Susans. But I
5:14
Speaker 2: could name moments from that season, like with Susan or
5:19
Speaker 2: with people talking about how they had terrible gas because
5:22
Speaker 2: of Susan's meatballs.
5:24
Speaker 4: There was a lot more. It was a lot more
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Speaker 4: humor driven.
5:27
Speaker 2: And this doesn't feel like there's that humor. I'm not
5:30
Speaker 2: watching this with that heartwarming, heartfelt moments, And I think
5:34
Speaker 2: I have to ask, is that me? Do you think
5:37
Speaker 2: that's common? Is am I missing it? These ladies just
5:41
Speaker 2: seem like they're a little bit more reserved. But as
5:43
Speaker 2: a result of all of this, what we get is
5:45
Speaker 2: this kind of week before hometowns, and we aren't necessarily
5:51
Speaker 2: all in on anybody. The person I would argue we
5:54
Speaker 2: know the best is Nicole just because of maybe her
5:57
Speaker 2: own personal vulnerability and her her ability to say things
6:02
Speaker 2: even if we agree or disagree.
6:03
Speaker 3: But at least she's talking.
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Speaker 4: No, No, I think we know Cindy the most. Cindy's
6:08
Speaker 4: being like super emotional, but we know we know Nicole's
6:14
Speaker 4: motive very well. She definitely is a classic case. If
6:18
Speaker 4: not there for the right reasons. I will say that
6:21
Speaker 4: there's some ladies that are still here. We are in
6:25
Speaker 4: the top six week and like, I don't remember Monthly Cheryl.
6:30
Speaker 4: Then I love Carol Carol. I kind of I'm glad
6:35
Speaker 4: she left because there's absolutely no chemistry between the two
6:38
Speaker 4: of them. And I was wondering whether or not they
6:40
Speaker 4: were trying to get her to be the next Golden Bachelorette,
6:44
Speaker 4: because I think she's so pretty, and I think they
6:48
Speaker 4: were probably like, you have a better chance of getting
6:51
Speaker 4: that title if you were to leave right now. They
6:53
Speaker 4: do that sometimes, So we'll see about her. But Ben,
6:59
Speaker 4: I guess we know dead a little bit. To answer
7:01
Speaker 4: your question, Debbie, you know she doesn't. She's never been
7:04
Speaker 4: married before. That's a storyline that we do remember.
7:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, we don't necessarily know why, but yeah, well we
7:10
Speaker 2: don't know much of why, and she never had kids,
7:14
Speaker 2: not that you know. So yeah, it's it's interesting. But
7:19
Speaker 2: let's start the episode out with one of the best parts.
7:22
Speaker 2: I do think Peg is an absolute character. I cannot
7:25
Speaker 2: wait to see her hometown. I cannot wait to see
7:29
Speaker 2: how she interacts with the other firefighters. She's on a
7:32
Speaker 2: unicycle where she got an unicycle I have no idea,
7:35
Speaker 2: but she's on a.
7:36
Speaker 3: Unicycle to open up this episode. So my initial.
7:41
Speaker 2: Take on this episode right from the beginning is this
7:43
Speaker 2: is gonna be fun. Like she's on a unicycle, let's
7:46
Speaker 2: get crazy, let's do some weird stuff.
7:49
Speaker 3: But I think peg, if you're.
7:52
Speaker 2: Around her, probably has a similar personality to the Kathy's
7:56
Speaker 2: and the Susans. I think they would let her unleash.
8:00
Speaker 2: She could become like a fan favorite just because of
8:03
Speaker 2: the comments, the commentary and the stuff that she's willing
8:06
Speaker 2: to say.
8:07
Speaker 4: Yeah, I see that. So then when do you think
8:10
Speaker 4: about the Shaman date?
8:12
Speaker 2: You know, it's tough for me. I think I'm not
8:16
Speaker 2: against this kind of stuff.
8:18
Speaker 4: There's a lot of it. I think they overdo the
8:21
Speaker 4: spiritual dates. We get a lot of them on Paradise.
8:25
Speaker 2: We do, you know, I think I come I personally
8:29
Speaker 2: and this is my own thing. I don't have any
8:31
Speaker 2: type of feeling other than I would not probably enjoy
8:34
Speaker 2: this date because of my faith tradition.
8:39
Speaker 3: I just don't know enough.
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Speaker 2: I practice meditation, contemplation, prayer in a way that's towards Jesus,
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Speaker 2: and that is my only way of doing that. And
8:53
Speaker 2: so I think My only take, and this might be unfair.
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Speaker 2: My only take is you're asking people to participate in
9:00
Speaker 2: something that they maybe feel very strongly like one of
9:03
Speaker 2: their core values in life, that they don't necessarily agree
9:05
Speaker 2: with or feel comfortable participating in. They're asking them to
9:09
Speaker 2: do this, which I think is unfair for the show
9:12
Speaker 2: to do.
9:13
Speaker 4: I get, I totally understand what you're saying, but like,
9:16
Speaker 4: if we break it down, it's like they kind of
9:17
Speaker 4: did a sound bath, which is kind of like meditation.
9:20
Speaker 3: I mean, like that doesn't make me feel weird.
9:22
Speaker 4: Yeah, And the yoga, I actually feel like oftentimes they
9:27
Speaker 4: do connect deeply during with the whole eye contact and
9:30
Speaker 4: the silence and all of that.
9:32
Speaker 2: And it could just be because of, you know, my
9:35
Speaker 2: profession outside of this, I speak at churches so often,
9:38
Speaker 2: and I am so ingrained into the just meeting with people,
9:45
Speaker 2: asking questions, hearing about their faith journey, hearing why they
9:49
Speaker 2: believe what they believe. When when he was taught this
9:53
Speaker 2: is going to be so mean.
9:55
Speaker 4: No, no, no, I think I know where you're going.
9:57
Speaker 2: I think the thing that Mel has lacked all season again,
10:00
Speaker 2: I don't know this guy. I can't say if I
10:01
Speaker 2: like him or not I don't know him. But the
10:03
Speaker 2: thing that has lacked this whole season is his ability
10:05
Speaker 2: to go deep. His depth has been a question of mine,
10:08
Speaker 2: his vulnerability. Does he really want to be there or not?
10:10
Speaker 2: Why is he doing this? And I've witnessed these episodes
10:15
Speaker 2: and that's the question that keeps coming to my mind.
10:18
Speaker 2: And so then we get into one of these opportunities
10:21
Speaker 2: that depth is almost a necessity in the midst of
10:27
Speaker 2: having conversations around faith and your belief systems. Yet it
10:31
Speaker 2: felt so surface level because the only thing we got
10:35
Speaker 2: from him was I'm a very spiritual person. Right away
10:38
Speaker 2: when that was said, my first response was I want
10:41
Speaker 2: to ask him if I was one of the women
10:42
Speaker 2: or if I was a friend of his, if you're
10:44
Speaker 2: having dinner, is what do you mean by that?
10:46
Speaker 3: Like what does that mean to you?
10:47
Speaker 2: It's not a place of judgment, Like, hey, I'm going
10:49
Speaker 2: to try to push you to believe what I believe,
10:51
Speaker 2: but let's explore this idea of what do you mean
10:54
Speaker 2: when you say you're a very spiritual person? And we
10:57
Speaker 2: don't get it, and it's like, well, this is another
10:59
Speaker 2: moment of surface level conversations about a topic that is
11:02
Speaker 2: not surface level at any means, it is a vital
11:05
Speaker 2: conversation to have in the midst of a relationship.
11:08
Speaker 4: When these ladies are talking about how they're falling for him,
11:11
Speaker 4: I'm truly like, why because of what we've seen. I've
11:20
Speaker 4: seen nothing, I've heard, nothing to fall in love with. Like,
11:25
Speaker 4: I feel like, are they just in the bachelor bubble
11:28
Speaker 4: right now? Are they just like a physically attracted to him,
11:33
Speaker 4: super handsome guy, because like, I get those two elements
11:38
Speaker 4: to fall in love this fast because what we've seen
11:41
Speaker 4: from him is like I you guys must be getting
11:45
Speaker 4: to know him much more than us. He must be
11:48
Speaker 4: way chattier than he appears on TV, because there's just
11:53
Speaker 4: there's not much of a personality there.
11:55
Speaker 2: If that's the case, right, then that's a failure on
11:58
Speaker 2: the show's part because they aren't showing that well.
12:01
Speaker 4: Our producer just wrote a little note and I am
12:04
Speaker 4: interested to hear your take on this. She said that
12:07
Speaker 4: I feel like all the women are opening up to
12:09
Speaker 4: him and he's not engaging or sharing, so they think
12:12
Speaker 4: he's a good listener. See maybe generationally, I think, like, man,
12:17
Speaker 4: this guy's not like we're not connecting because I am
12:22
Speaker 4: he's not saying anything of interest to me, he's not
12:26
Speaker 4: even being doesn't even seem like he's there emotionally.
12:29
Speaker 3: Very much well as a bachelor.
12:31
Speaker 4: Yeah, as a bachelor, you know, like when they're telling
12:33
Speaker 4: him stories, he's like, yeah, all that must have been tough. Like,
12:37
Speaker 4: I don't feel like it's coming from the heart. But
12:40
Speaker 4: maybe these women like really like the fact that he's
12:42
Speaker 4: like an old fashioned listener.
12:44
Speaker 3: Here's a sign of a listener. And I think it
12:47
Speaker 3: is shown.
12:48
Speaker 4: He's not an active listener.
12:50
Speaker 2: Season after season for the lead bachelor or bachelor. And
12:54
Speaker 2: if we're missing this, if it's not being shown, then
12:57
Speaker 2: the show is doing Mel a disservice. If Mel is
13:00
Speaker 2: doing it, then he's not helping out the show. But
13:03
Speaker 2: every season, and I would say Nick did a great
13:07
Speaker 2: job at this.
13:08
Speaker 3: When he was the bachelor. You would hear.
13:12
Speaker 2: Somebody explain something to him, a story, a moment, an emotion,
13:18
Speaker 2: and he would reference that when they were together the
13:21
Speaker 2: next time. Right, So not only I don't think it
13:24
Speaker 2: was meant to be a reminder to the audience. I
13:27
Speaker 2: don't think any bachelor, bachelor it's there woul being like
13:29
Speaker 2: this will be helpful for the audience to hear this again.
13:31
Speaker 3: No, I don't think that's what's going on.
13:32
Speaker 4: It allows you to be more comfortable, like, oh, hey,
13:34
Speaker 4: he's remembering.
13:35
Speaker 2: Me, and he's showing that he actually was listening, Like
13:38
Speaker 2: I actually heard what you said. I know it's chaos
13:41
Speaker 2: around us. I know I'm dating a lot of people,
13:44
Speaker 2: but the thing you said stood out to me enough
13:47
Speaker 2: that I am going to talk to you about it again.
13:48
Speaker 2: I'm going to follow up on that, I'm going to
13:50
Speaker 2: ask another question about it, or I'm just going to say, hey,
13:52
Speaker 2: last time we talked, it was really nice that you
13:54
Speaker 2: shared with me x y Z. That shows to me
13:59
Speaker 2: you listen, you heard, you remember. It's as simple as this.
14:03
Speaker 2: Maybe you don't remember. It's as simple as asking the producer, Hey,
14:06
Speaker 2: what did we talk about last time? Yeah, help me
14:08
Speaker 2: out with that. You take a whole you have a
14:10
Speaker 2: whole note pad of stuff we've talked about.
14:11
Speaker 3: Help me out.
14:12
Speaker 2: Remind me what we talked about last time. If anything,
14:15
Speaker 2: it shows an intention to care. We don't get that
14:17
Speaker 2: this season.
14:18
Speaker 4: I know, like, I'm so sorry to say this, and like,
14:21
Speaker 4: I'm sorry Tamel if it's different in real life. To me,
14:26
Speaker 4: just makes no sense why they would have picked him
14:29
Speaker 4: to be the Bachelor.
14:30
Speaker 2: I think it was a thought of he's so handsome,
14:33
Speaker 2: his resume is so good, he's wealthy. This guy is
14:37
Speaker 2: going to be a homework.
14:38
Speaker 4: There a lot of wealthy, good looking guys in their
14:41
Speaker 4: sixties are single. I feel like maybe I'm out looking
14:44
Speaker 4: in that demographic, but maybe maybe it's more challenging than
14:48
Speaker 4: I thought. I also just wanted to add that I
14:52
Speaker 4: do think, after this short conversation about it, I do
14:56
Speaker 4: think that these women are being taken by the bachelor
15:00
Speaker 4: bubble and his physical appearance. I really do think that,
15:03
Speaker 4: like you're you can fall in love with a lot
15:07
Speaker 4: of a lot of people that you wouldn't normally fall
15:09
Speaker 4: in love with in that bubble.
15:11
Speaker 2: It's it's yeah, I mean I think I was. I
15:14
Speaker 2: think I was a beneficiary.
15:17
Speaker 4: No, I knew you were going to say that. Of
15:19
Speaker 4: course Ben would take it like that, so should be
15:32
Speaker 4: going to the details here. The Cheryl and Mel party,
15:36
Speaker 4: they did a cold plunge and I was I'd be like,
15:40
Speaker 4: this is my greatest nightmare. You know, I've never done
15:42
Speaker 4: a cold plunge. I cannot do it. I cannot and
15:44
Speaker 4: I will not do it. I am cold when it's
15:47
Speaker 4: sixty eight in the house, I have a heating pad
15:50
Speaker 4: on at sixty eight. So that just tells you how
15:52
Speaker 4: sensitive I a to the question.
15:53
Speaker 2: She kind of got screwed, right, I mean, yeah, all
15:56
Speaker 2: these dates are meant to bring you together, Like trick
16:00
Speaker 2: yoga felt like to me, one wild choice. Anytime you're
16:06
Speaker 2: going to, you know, be on national television with that,
16:09
Speaker 2: that's hey, you know what, he's agreed to show his
16:12
Speaker 2: whole self.
16:13
Speaker 4: Were you looking at something that I wasn't looking at?
16:15
Speaker 3: No? No, okay, I've been a part of the show.
16:18
Speaker 4: Oh so you're saying that possibly there would be a
16:21
Speaker 4: bonu or alert?
16:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, Yeah, you can't help it, right, I mean
16:26
Speaker 2: it's been a thing.
16:29
Speaker 3: So yeah.
16:30
Speaker 2: Tantric yoga is like sensual brings you together. A cold
16:33
Speaker 2: plunge just pretty much makes you suffer, opposite of the opposite.
16:40
Speaker 3: How does that at all bring a couple closer? I
16:43
Speaker 3: don't know. It could be a good story to tell.
16:46
Speaker 2: But some of the other ones, like the Nicole Day
16:48
Speaker 2: obviously was one where there was an opportunity to get
16:51
Speaker 2: closer during that date.
16:53
Speaker 3: What was the other things they did?
16:55
Speaker 4: They do a shaman card reading with Nicole, and he
16:59
Speaker 4: asked to where she sees him herself in five years. Right,
17:03
Speaker 4: So she's saying at this moment that she would like
17:07
Speaker 4: to work on her Instagram and she wants to write
17:09
Speaker 4: a cookbook. And then she also said that she would
17:11
Speaker 4: like to have a kiss on camera. It would mean
17:15
Speaker 4: a lot to her. Oh my gosh, this was like
17:18
Speaker 4: the most unbelievable moment because the twenty and thirty somethings,
17:24
Speaker 4: they know not to say these things on camera.
17:28
Speaker 2: It is a big moment for the show though, because
17:31
Speaker 2: up until this point we only know Melan Nicole to
17:36
Speaker 2: have this connection physical physical. This is I mean, if
17:39
Speaker 2: this is the first time they're actually talking about something
17:42
Speaker 2: and his like red flags go up, I'm surprised because
17:47
Speaker 2: they've spent so much time together. I think my question
17:50
Speaker 2: during this was what happened because all we get in
17:54
Speaker 2: an explanation is that he heard things that make him
17:58
Speaker 2: I think he said.
18:00
Speaker 4: Contemplate that, like it is maybe what Robin was referring
18:04
Speaker 4: to in last week's episode.
18:06
Speaker 3: And that's all we get, and then you know she
18:08
Speaker 3: goes home with the into this.
18:09
Speaker 4: Well, it was enough for me, it made sense full circle.
18:13
Speaker 2: I'm saying you've seen all of it up until this point.
18:15
Speaker 2: You're like, yeah, this all makes sense for him. They've
18:18
Speaker 2: been all in front Runner from the beginning, and then
18:22
Speaker 2: all of a sudden they have one day where they
18:24
Speaker 2: actually talk about stuff and he asks her kind of
18:27
Speaker 2: what she's into, and she's like, I'm trying to monetize
18:29
Speaker 2: my Instagram and I want to do a cookbook, and
18:32
Speaker 2: he's like, there's things that stood out to me, and
18:34
Speaker 2: then all of a sudden she goes home. I feel
18:37
Speaker 2: like we've missed something. I feel like we've we didn't
18:41
Speaker 2: get the full circle moment what I really wanted from
18:44
Speaker 2: mel as an explanation of him saying, Hey, I am
18:48
Speaker 2: very worried about people that come on this show that
18:50
Speaker 2: want to get famous, and at sixty plus years old,
18:55
Speaker 2: monetizing a social media is a pursuit that feels not impossible,
19:01
Speaker 2: but maybe just not fulfilling. It doesn't have a it
19:05
Speaker 2: doesn't have the richness that we're looking for at this
19:08
Speaker 2: season of life. Have you ever read the book Falling
19:10
Speaker 2: Upward by Richard.
19:11
Speaker 4: Rhar I didn't read it, but I know of it.
19:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a book on aging, and so it's a
19:17
Speaker 2: beautiful book. That you should read twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, sixties.
19:21
Speaker 2: It's a book on aging and what like each chapter
19:23
Speaker 2: of life looks like. And what Richard Rhor would argue
19:27
Speaker 2: is once you reach that stage kind of middle age
19:30
Speaker 2: and on, you are a place of peace, of wisdom,
19:36
Speaker 2: of guidance, of like focus. You can start to pour
19:41
Speaker 2: into the generation behind you. But also you can continue
19:45
Speaker 2: to make the impact with the knowledge that you have
19:47
Speaker 2: where you are currently. It felt like this conversation lacked
19:51
Speaker 2: all of that because it was this monetization of an instagram, which,
19:56
Speaker 2: as you said, thirty year olds know not to say why.
19:59
Speaker 4: Because's about law.
20:00
Speaker 3: It's a bad look.
20:02
Speaker 2: It's a bad look to say that you could want it,
20:04
Speaker 2: you could desire it. But if that is like the
20:07
Speaker 2: main focus, it feels like our priorities are far misplaced
20:11
Speaker 2: from why you go on this show, which is to
20:14
Speaker 2: understand yourself better to possibly fall in love.
20:17
Speaker 4: Yes, can we also make fun of the fact that
20:19
Speaker 4: she said that her dad still handles her finances, So
20:22
Speaker 4: I'm picturing a ninety year old man just crunching numbers.
20:27
Speaker 3: I think we're getting a sneak peek into a lot there.
20:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, and so it was.
20:31
Speaker 2: I mean, it makes sense on her for her to
20:33
Speaker 2: go home, It does. It makes sense on why this
20:37
Speaker 2: isn't like maybe the next you know step for her
20:41
Speaker 2: and her relational life.
20:42
Speaker 3: Do we know if she's been married previously?
20:44
Speaker 2: No, she I think she got divorced twice, divorced twice,
20:48
Speaker 2: and she's looking for that, you know, next final love.
20:52
Speaker 2: She goes home at the end of this. So Mel
20:55
Speaker 2: was red flags popped up. I wanted more from Nicole.
20:59
Speaker 2: I thought we had a an opportunity for a two
21:00
Speaker 2: on one here that could have been like a Robin.
21:07
Speaker 4: Producer Ben. That would have been so good. But you
21:11
Speaker 4: know why I don't think they did that because I
21:13
Speaker 4: don't think Mel would have made a really big deal
21:15
Speaker 4: out of it, you know. I think that like he
21:18
Speaker 4: would have been like, oh, you know what, whoops, she's
21:21
Speaker 4: in it for social media fame.
21:23
Speaker 1: Uh.
21:24
Speaker 4: I guess that's not for me. I'll let her go.
21:27
Speaker 4: I don't think he had any strong feelings beyond that,
21:31
Speaker 4: And he does acknowledge when he sends her home that
21:33
Speaker 4: it was like a physical thing. I mean, not to
21:35
Speaker 4: jump ahead, but let's jump ahead just for a second.
21:37
Speaker 4: When she does get in the car. She holds his
21:41
Speaker 4: face and make sure that he nods when she says
21:46
Speaker 4: the bitchiest thing when you end up breaking up with
21:53
Speaker 4: whoever you end up with, you come to me, okay.
21:56
Speaker 4: And then she waited for him to nod. She's like, okay,
22:00
Speaker 4: you hear me, Okay Bye. It was craziness. It was
22:05
Speaker 4: good entertainment though.
22:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then she says that maybe you know, she
22:09
Speaker 2: doesn't notice next, but maybe they can make her the
22:11
Speaker 2: next Golden Bachelorette.
22:12
Speaker 3: Do you think that's a possibility.
22:14
Speaker 4: No, she was a good villain that they could have
22:17
Speaker 4: made a little bit more villainous. But I know this
22:19
Speaker 4: is I mean, I'm sure she had more things that
22:21
Speaker 4: she said on camera, but I know it's the Golden Bachelor,
22:25
Speaker 4: and they try not to make a lot of drama
22:27
Speaker 4: or a lot of villains.
22:28
Speaker 3: And I'm glad. I don't want that.
22:29
Speaker 2: In fact, I I'd love to stay away from that always.
22:32
Speaker 2: But it did feel like, you know, when you looked
22:34
Speaker 2: at the headlines that last week, Nicole was the focus
22:37
Speaker 2: of the headlines because of the thing she said. Joan
22:39
Speaker 2: and I talked about it, and it was I mean,
22:41
Speaker 2: I think Joan mentioned it personally it was offensive for
22:44
Speaker 2: her to say that the last clast wasn't that attractive.
22:47
Speaker 2: I know she's come out publicly and apologized for that,
22:50
Speaker 2: and I'm not going to hold that against her, but
22:53
Speaker 2: I'm sure there was things said that did make you go,
22:56
Speaker 2: this is confusing on how this is the Golden Show.
22:59
Speaker 2: This is not what this is supposed to be. You're
23:02
Speaker 2: supposed to be Why past this pettiness, in this infighting.
23:05
Speaker 2: You're supposed to be here to have a good time,
23:08
Speaker 2: to make up memories and to potentially find your forever partner.
23:22
Speaker 4: Should we talk about Carol and how she's self eliminated.
23:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's an important moment this season. She
23:30
Speaker 2: self eliminates because she just doesn't feel like they know
23:33
Speaker 2: each other right.
23:35
Speaker 4: I think that she's the only one who has clarity
23:37
Speaker 4: right now. I think she's the only one that gets it.
23:41
Speaker 4: I also think that it's always a great thing. I
23:45
Speaker 4: think she's old enough and you know, mature enough to
23:47
Speaker 4: acknowledge that the chemistry wasn't there, that she probably felt
23:51
Speaker 4: uncomfortable bringing him home to a family when she never
23:54
Speaker 4: had a one on one, that she really never had
23:56
Speaker 4: an in depth conversation with him. I think that she
24:00
Speaker 4: really could be Bachelorette if they do decide to do
24:03
Speaker 4: another Golden Bachelorette. She's so pretty and I found her
24:07
Speaker 4: to be very relatable, even though like we have decades
24:09
Speaker 4: between us. I felt like the way that she acted
24:13
Speaker 4: on the show is kind of the way that I
24:15
Speaker 4: felt like she just is kind of like, oh my gosh,
24:17
Speaker 4: like I'm nervous, and she was always admitting when she
24:20
Speaker 4: was feeling uncomfortable, and I guess I have a sweet
24:22
Speaker 4: spot for that.
24:23
Speaker 2: It's a it was it was a good moment. I
24:26
Speaker 2: think we digged a lot of clarity. I also think
24:29
Speaker 2: some foresight there is when you get with family, they're
24:34
Speaker 2: not going to hold back on the questions. This is
24:36
Speaker 2: weird to them. This is odd to them. They're going
24:39
Speaker 2: to ask you questions like we see in the previews,
24:42
Speaker 2: do you love this person?
24:43
Speaker 4: Oh my god, that'd be so weird for her to
24:46
Speaker 4: be asked, Yeah, I've.
24:47
Speaker 2: Never had a date with them, Like, I don't know
24:49
Speaker 2: if I even know this guy. Like that's a very
24:51
Speaker 2: weird scenario to be put in. And so I don't
24:54
Speaker 2: know if she's a fan of the show, if she
24:55
Speaker 2: knew what things were going, but whatever the case was,
24:58
Speaker 2: she definitely made the right decision and by exiting after
25:01
Speaker 2: she knew that she wasn't going to get a one
25:02
Speaker 2: on one this week.
25:04
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely. So let's go into Cindy's one on one.
25:08
Speaker 4: Cindy is just absolutely smitten and I can't help. Oh
25:12
Speaker 4: my god, you guys, I'm just I'm just pounding this
25:16
Speaker 4: poor guy. That's what she said. But you know what
25:19
Speaker 4: I mean, she she is better than him, Yes and no.
25:30
Speaker 2: I think I think the only argument I have there
25:33
Speaker 2: is she's smitten for a specific reason. We don't necessarily
25:37
Speaker 2: get why, though, right, we get that, you know, I
25:39
Speaker 2: think she's into him, into the experience. We don't get
25:42
Speaker 2: the depth of what in him she sees. But she's
25:47
Speaker 2: all about it, which can go one of two ways.
25:49
Speaker 2: It can either be the most beautiful, great thing ever
25:53
Speaker 2: and it works, or this experience has got her up
25:57
Speaker 2: in the in the vacuum that is the and she's
26:01
Speaker 2: just head over heels and a hopeless romantic and she
26:04
Speaker 2: actually doesn't know what she's saying. I don't know if
26:06
Speaker 2: we know yet, And this date doesn't really point us,
26:09
Speaker 2: I think to much more clarity.
26:11
Speaker 4: But thank you, Ben, Yes, I didn't get any more
26:14
Speaker 4: clarity as to why she has the feelings that she
26:16
Speaker 4: has during this date. I do, I do think that
26:22
Speaker 4: she does feel something though that's like, I think it's
26:25
Speaker 4: beyond bachelor bubble for her. I don't know why. There's
26:28
Speaker 4: something unspoken between the two of them in my opinion
26:32
Speaker 4: for her.
26:33
Speaker 3: So do you would you say at this point she's
26:35
Speaker 3: your front runner?
26:36
Speaker 4: Oh? Yeah, I think if she doesn't win, I think
26:38
Speaker 4: that it would be absolutely astonishing, especially the way this
26:41
Speaker 4: show is edited.
26:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's uh, it does feel like it's pushing in
26:46
Speaker 2: that direction, and it feels like it is. If there's
26:48
Speaker 2: one thing we're gonna get from the season, it might
26:50
Speaker 2: be that beautiful story kind of coming full circle. The
26:54
Speaker 2: date ends, they go horseback riding in Griffith Park.
26:58
Speaker 3: They do open up a little bit. She opened up about.
27:00
Speaker 2: Her divorce and how it's been hard for her to
27:02
Speaker 2: get close to people since then. She's still communicated, which
27:06
Speaker 2: she has for weeks now. She's shocked by how strongly
27:08
Speaker 2: she feels for mel Uh and he I think, as
27:12
Speaker 2: you said, is reciprocating those feelings and as a result,
27:17
Speaker 2: when it comes down to the rose ceremony, even though
27:19
Speaker 2: Mel is nervous and anxious about everything. He keeps Cindy,
27:24
Speaker 2: Peg and Debbie to go on hometowns, which means Cheryl
27:28
Speaker 2: and Nicole are going home.
27:30
Speaker 4: Should we talk about their face times with their family?
27:32
Speaker 4: I also thought Nicholes was telling she was just facetiming
27:35
Speaker 4: with a friend.
27:36
Speaker 3: Yeah.
27:36
Speaker 4: To me, that said she hasn't built a family of
27:40
Speaker 4: her own, which kind of is.
27:42
Speaker 2: Sad, And it's like, is he hot? Yeah, he's so
27:45
Speaker 2: hot exactly. It's like, yeah, I mean, it's what it is.
27:48
Speaker 2: I know they did that on purpose. I'm sure Cindy
27:51
Speaker 2: probably said he's hot too to her daughter.
27:54
Speaker 3: They definitely are making Nicole out to be like a
27:59
Speaker 3: teen and all.
28:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it feels like that's kind of the edit.
28:05
Speaker 2: Now if that's true or not, we'd have to talk
28:07
Speaker 2: to Nicole or talk to somebody from this season to
28:10
Speaker 2: figure out if that's actually what was, Like, what's happening?
28:12
Speaker 4: But her lemon bars from was that last week or
28:15
Speaker 4: this week?
28:16
Speaker 2: Last last week was lemon bars? But he did mention
28:20
Speaker 2: I think Mel said I like her because she like
28:22
Speaker 2: made me lemon bars.
28:23
Speaker 4: Lemon bars. That sounded frank and bitten to me. That
28:26
Speaker 4: sounded like he was, like, I like her because and
28:29
Speaker 4: then they put in the sound bite whereas she made
28:32
Speaker 4: me lemon bars. Absolutely know she's one of my favorites
28:37
Speaker 4: because she made me lemon bars.
28:39
Speaker 3: I mean that's where we're at. We have a really
28:43
Speaker 3: tough going.
28:44
Speaker 4: That was so funny.
28:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh my goodness, Yeah that was wild. He just
28:49
Speaker 2: reminded me of that moment. The facetimes of the family,
28:53
Speaker 2: I think is a good added touch. Yeah, that's it too, goodness, Ashley. Like,
28:58
Speaker 2: I watched my own season and I watched gary season,
29:01
Speaker 2: and I remember us talking about it, and like there
29:03
Speaker 2: were moments where I was emotional, like tears, not like bawling,
29:07
Speaker 2: but just like definitely so sweet. I think the show
29:10
Speaker 2: wanted this to be that like the FaceTime moments for us.
29:16
Speaker 3: I didn't.
29:16
Speaker 2: I thought it was like a good out of touch.
29:18
Speaker 2: I didn't feel emotional at all.
29:22
Speaker 4: No, it made me feel a little bit more like, Okay,
29:24
Speaker 4: I'd love to see their family and how they talk
29:26
Speaker 4: to their family, because like it, obviously you can tell
29:28
Speaker 4: a lot about somebody when they're talking to the person
29:31
Speaker 4: that they're most comfortable with. Yeah, and I think again,
29:33
Speaker 4: like when I think back on the quick scene. It
29:36
Speaker 4: was Nicole for the fact that it was teenagerish, and
29:39
Speaker 4: it was Cindy because of the way that she spoke
29:41
Speaker 4: to her daughter about it just being like seeming so
29:44
Speaker 4: deep for her. And then I guess with Cheryl because
29:47
Speaker 4: Cheryl is like, it's more than just like yeah. But
29:50
Speaker 4: then Cheryl goes home.
29:52
Speaker 2: Then Cheryl goes home. I was gonna say, Cheryl, Nicole
29:54
Speaker 2: or go home. We talked about Nicole's exit. Cheryl is
29:59
Speaker 2: walked out by men.
30:00
Speaker 4: Mel.
30:01
Speaker 2: He does get choked up in this moment saying goodbye
30:04
Speaker 2: to Cheryl.
30:06
Speaker 3: They kiss goodbye.
30:08
Speaker 2: That's not common I think on this show that there's
30:10
Speaker 2: a kiss to say goodbye. He does show emotion here.
30:14
Speaker 4: I think it is on Golden Ben. The Goldens are different.
30:17
Speaker 4: They're like, oh, such a great time. Yeah, thanks on
30:22
Speaker 4: Batchelor Beelorette. Could you imagine can you just dumped me?
30:26
Speaker 4: Let's make out one more time?
30:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, this will be fun.
30:29
Speaker 2: We do see Mel get emotional, though, which I think
30:31
Speaker 2: is a moment for us that maybe foreshadows how these
30:36
Speaker 2: next few weeks will be. As I've said since the beginning,
30:39
Speaker 2: the best thing for Mel, the best thing for the show,
30:41
Speaker 2: the best thing for the season. They don't have to
30:43
Speaker 2: force it, but that he shows emotion at some point,
30:47
Speaker 2: that he shows that he cares at some point. And
30:49
Speaker 2: this is really the first moment we have where I
30:52
Speaker 2: think he's he's clearly showing that he's cared and that
30:54
Speaker 2: he's invested into this, and I personally found it a
30:59
Speaker 2: very good moment for the show.
31:01
Speaker 4: Yeah, I completely agree. Him walking the two of them
31:04
Speaker 4: out showed something.
31:06
Speaker 2: Here's a question I have for you, as obviously we
31:08
Speaker 2: get down to hometowns.
31:09
Speaker 3: We only have a few weeks left of this season.
31:11
Speaker 4: This is the quickest season of all time. I know
31:13
Speaker 4: that there are short episodes and that it's also short weeks, but.
31:17
Speaker 3: Wow, it's really wild. Will we have a tell all?
31:20
Speaker 3: Do you think?
31:21
Speaker 4: No? I don't think we had a tell all for
31:23
Speaker 4: either of the other ones? Do it? Oh? Maybe we
31:24
Speaker 4: did for Gary's, Maybe we did for both of them.
31:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I don't think there will be either.
31:30
Speaker 2: I'm assuming I'm hopeful that the almost famous podcast will
31:37
Speaker 2: get brought back in to do that reunion like we
31:39
Speaker 2: did with Paradise. That was great. We had a lot
31:42
Speaker 2: of fun with that, and so maybe that's how they're
31:44
Speaker 2: going to do it again, is the reunion will be
31:47
Speaker 2: podcasts on a podcast form, and that we can get
31:49
Speaker 2: involved in it in some way because there's a lot
31:51
Speaker 2: of questions I think that we have about this season,
31:56
Speaker 2: about the contestants, about mel.
31:59
Speaker 3: So we'll see, we'll see what happens.
32:01
Speaker 2: Actually, there's a montage at the end with the hometown visits.
32:06
Speaker 2: PEG takes Meil to the firehouse. Cindy is crying and
32:10
Speaker 2: saying she's missing something. I don't exactly know what she's
32:14
Speaker 2: missing there, and then we kind of see Meil just
32:17
Speaker 2: get absolutely hounded by family members we can't tell who
32:23
Speaker 2: yet on what his intentions are, if he loves somebody
32:26
Speaker 2: or not, And we see him saying, I don't know.
32:30
Speaker 2: I don't know if that's like a clipped in moment
32:32
Speaker 2: or if he's actually had his response, which would be
32:34
Speaker 2: a wild response.
32:36
Speaker 4: I think that's his response. But I'm just going along
32:40
Speaker 4: with the fun right now. Yeah, Ben, My one thing
32:43
Speaker 4: to say about Cindy crying and saying is it about
32:48
Speaker 4: missing something? I feel like perhaps that is her family
32:52
Speaker 4: being like, are you freaking sure mom? That you're so sure?
32:57
Speaker 4: And then she's like, am I missing something here? Why?
32:59
Speaker 4: Does everybody else love him the way that I love him?
33:03
Speaker 3: That could be? That could be. Hometowns are fun.
33:06
Speaker 2: It's one of our favorite weeks no matter what, no
33:08
Speaker 2: matter what leans up to it. It's fun to tease,
33:10
Speaker 2: it's fun to be a part of. And I think
33:13
Speaker 2: the family dynamics are always so vital for us understanding
33:16
Speaker 2: the contestants more.
33:18
Speaker 3: We'll see how it goes.
33:21
Speaker 2: Anything else to add, I mean it honestly, this season
33:26
Speaker 2: so far has been tough to break down for me,
33:28
Speaker 2: Ashley because.
33:29
Speaker 4: Hey, Ben, if you guys can't tell, yeah, I mean.
33:33
Speaker 2: And it's like it's it's kind of it's tough because
33:36
Speaker 2: it's just not the investment that I wanted to have.
33:40
Speaker 4: It's kind of like you and I are getting on
33:42
Speaker 4: here and we're like, so, what are your thoughts about
33:45
Speaker 4: something that there's not really anything thought provoking about.
33:49
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's tough, I mean.
33:50
Speaker 2: And the thing that frustrates me is I love the
33:52
Speaker 2: Golden Idea, the concept in the first two seasons of
33:55
Speaker 2: the show so much. I do, I did I want,
34:00
Speaker 2: And it's just it's so frustrating to me that so
34:02
Speaker 2: quickly the thing that made the first two seasons work.
34:08
Speaker 3: Has now felt so far gone. Is it salvageable? I
34:14
Speaker 3: think so.
34:16
Speaker 2: Is it salvageable this season? I don't know, But that's
34:20
Speaker 2: where we're at. We're entering the hometowns. We'll be here
34:22
Speaker 2: still breaking it down the best we can. So until
34:25
Speaker 2: next time, I've been Ben, I've.
34:27
Speaker 4: Been Ashley Seya.
34:30
Speaker 1: Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcasts on
34:33
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts