Latest / The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast / Almost Famous In Depth: Rachel Recchia

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Almost Famous In Depth: Rachel Recchia · The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast

0:01
Speaker 1: This is Ben and Ashley. I almost famous. In depth.
0:05
Speaker 1: What an honor we're here with an in depth episode
0:08
Speaker 1: in Las Vegas at the I Heart Radio Music Festival with,
0:12
Speaker 1: I was gonna say, the Bachelorette, one of two, one
0:15
Speaker 1: of two Bachelorettes, Rachel, Rachel, thanks for sitting down with us.
0:19
Speaker 1: Thanks for having me finally sitting down in person. I
0:23
Speaker 1: know I've I've told everybody on our show. I said
0:25
Speaker 1: we've got to talk online. I've never met you in person. Uh,
0:30
Speaker 1: and so this was something I was really looking forward
0:32
Speaker 1: to because I just watched on TV. Like what is today? Uh, today, Thursday.
0:39
Speaker 1: Today's Thursday, like four days ago. But your life has
0:41
Speaker 1: been a whirlwind. Yes, quite a bit has changed since then.
0:45
Speaker 1: Is Are you holding up? Doing the best I can, honestly, Um,
0:50
Speaker 1: still feels like I haven't had time to process everything,
0:53
Speaker 1: but just trying to hang in there for now. For
0:57
Speaker 1: the fans out there listening, Um, because I guess I
1:01
Speaker 1: don't even know. It's been a few years since I
1:03
Speaker 1: was on the show. What has your last four days
1:06
Speaker 1: look like? Like? What's your schedule meaning like? How where
1:09
Speaker 1: have you been? Who Have you been talking to? What
1:11
Speaker 1: have you done in the last four days to bring
1:13
Speaker 1: you out to Las Vegas. Yeah, so obviously started in
1:16
Speaker 1: l a Um, filmed after the final rose, went straight
1:21
Speaker 1: to New York with Gabby, got to do a bunch
1:23
Speaker 1: of interviews with her and went straight to Vegas and
1:27
Speaker 1: here we are at the I heart Um and yeah,
1:30
Speaker 1: so it's just been definitely a whirlwind and trying to
1:33
Speaker 1: soak everything in and, in a way, just excited it's
1:36
Speaker 1: over and being able to finally talk about it. Are
1:40
Speaker 1: you excited this is all over? Um, I'm so blessed
1:43
Speaker 1: and grateful for the opportunity, but I think for so
1:45
Speaker 1: long I've kind of known the outcome and so the
1:48
Speaker 1: fact that I'm finally able to just, you know, have
1:51
Speaker 1: it out in the world the way it is, it
1:52
Speaker 1: just is kind of a relief in a way. I
1:56
Speaker 1: I'M gonna try to phrase this question Um prop really.
2:00
Speaker 1: If it doesn't come offul I might have to try again.
2:03
Speaker 1: But there's this unique thing in your story where you
2:08
Speaker 1: have this finale kind of sitting in front of you.
2:11
Speaker 1: You know what's happened in between the end of filming
2:14
Speaker 1: and now the finale. You do the finale and it
2:17
Speaker 1: is just wild. No matter what even if it all
2:21
Speaker 1: works out perfectly. It's hard on everything. It's hard at
2:25
Speaker 1: everybody involved. It's it's tiring. UH, there's a lot of
2:28
Speaker 1: people asking you questions. Then, like you said, you flew
2:32
Speaker 1: to New York City with Gabby, did press out there.
2:35
Speaker 1: Now you're sitting here. Yeah, in the meantime you've had
2:39
Speaker 1: a real life experience that has hurt you, that has
2:43
Speaker 1: confused you, that you aren't necessary probably having time to
2:47
Speaker 1: process and sit on where some people after breakup, would
2:51
Speaker 1: sit in their room, you know, their their house, and
2:54
Speaker 1: cry and talk to friends and family and work through it.
2:58
Speaker 1: You haven't had that opportunity and so, as a human,
3:01
Speaker 1: how are you feeling now? Yeah, it's crazy. Um, obviously
3:06
Speaker 1: I haven't really had time to process since the world
3:09
Speaker 1: has known, but I have had about a little over
3:11
Speaker 1: a month, a month and a half, to really sit
3:13
Speaker 1: down and and process everything. and Um, obviously going through
3:18
Speaker 1: the breakup and then having to watch everything back and
3:20
Speaker 1: then see him again. You know, normally when you do
3:23
Speaker 1: go through a situation like this, you don't have to
3:26
Speaker 1: sit down on a couch with them again, especially on
3:28
Speaker 1: a day that you know you go through this entire process.
3:31
Speaker 1: Looking forward to the day where you get to tell
3:32
Speaker 1: the world how I love you are and where you're
3:35
Speaker 1: ring and to kind of go a month and a
3:37
Speaker 1: half knowing what the world was going to see it
3:39
Speaker 1: after the fun arose. It was difficult and definitely on
3:43
Speaker 1: the road to healing and looking forward to continuing that
3:47
Speaker 1: after this. It's just a weird thing to say right
3:52
Speaker 1: that I'm waiting for healing until after all of this. Yeah,
3:58
Speaker 1: I don't know if that's healthy or not. I can't say,
4:00
Speaker 1: but are you do you feel like you're sitting in
4:01
Speaker 1: a place of health right now? Are you still doing
4:03
Speaker 1: in a place of like survival, like just trying to
4:06
Speaker 1: be where you're at and do what you need to
4:08
Speaker 1: do in the moment? Yeah, it's difficult because I definitely
4:11
Speaker 1: have had truly a month where all I had to
4:14
Speaker 1: do was sit there and heal and talk about it
4:16
Speaker 1: with people and and so that was really nice. But
4:19
Speaker 1: now it is in a situation where the world does
4:22
Speaker 1: get to weigh in on this and they do get
4:24
Speaker 1: to have an opinion on who's right and who's wrong
4:26
Speaker 1: and what's left out and what's his side, and so,
4:29
Speaker 1: you know, in a normal like situation you would just
4:32
Speaker 1: you know, be healing with your friends and family, and
4:34
Speaker 1: and now to have everyone weighing in and telling you
4:37
Speaker 1: things like you know, you deserve this, or whatever they
4:39
Speaker 1: might say. It definitely effects healing a little bit. But doing,
4:43
Speaker 1: you know, the best I can to get like move
4:45
Speaker 1: forward with my life and heal from this. Well, I
4:50
Speaker 1: have to be one of those people and it feels
4:53
Speaker 1: weird for me to sit with you today and the
4:57
Speaker 1: first time we've ever met in person and you're this
5:03
Speaker 1: six months of your life, let up to what happened
5:05
Speaker 1: on Monday night, and now every press and every interview
5:09
Speaker 1: you do is going to ask you about a breakup,
5:13
Speaker 1: and I don't like that. I don't want to do this.
5:15
Speaker 1: It's kind of what I have to do, but it
5:18
Speaker 1: feels weird for me and I know that's not fun
5:20
Speaker 1: for you. I'm assuming is that everybody's like rebringing up
5:24
Speaker 1: something that probably hurt. Uh, well, definitely. I mean, it's
5:28
Speaker 1: not just a breakup, it's a breakup that I didn't
5:31
Speaker 1: want to happen. You know, when someone cheats, you don't
5:35
Speaker 1: necessarily it's not a decision you're coming to mutually. So
5:39
Speaker 1: how did it feel when he told you? I mean
5:42
Speaker 1: the first thing is is just obviously shock. It feels
5:44
Speaker 1: like almost like the stages of grief, where you go
5:47
Speaker 1: through just no emotion and then anger and then sadness
5:50
Speaker 1: and it just keeps repeating itself and kind of now
5:54
Speaker 1: just at a place of acceptance of it and really
5:56
Speaker 1: just have to accept the fact that I'll never have
5:58
Speaker 1: the full story and never really know like truly the
6:03
Speaker 1: you know, answer to everything. Well, you mentioned Um and
6:06
Speaker 1: prep for this I was on social media and a
6:08
Speaker 1: lot of people are saying, Hey, we don't know the
6:10
Speaker 1: whole story here, right, and and yet people are still
6:14
Speaker 1: choosing sides. We're gonna talk about that in a bit. UH,
6:18
Speaker 1: because you don't know the full story. Obviously the public
6:22
Speaker 1: doesn't feel like they know the whole story. was there
6:24
Speaker 1: anything that happened on Monday night that you wish was
6:27
Speaker 1: said or brought to light that you didn't have the
6:30
Speaker 1: opportunity to bring to light because of the circumstances, because
6:33
Speaker 1: of the speed at which this interview, you know on television,
6:35
Speaker 1: existed like seven minutes of you guys sitting on a couch?
6:39
Speaker 1: Is there anything out there that you would like to
6:41
Speaker 1: say just to bring clarity to the situation. Yeah, I
6:44
Speaker 1: was really hoping. I mean obviously we had a superheated
6:48
Speaker 1: argument Um filmed way before I sat down on the
6:52
Speaker 1: couch with him and I was really hoping. My hope
6:56
Speaker 1: was that we could sit on this couch and just,
6:58
Speaker 1: you know, beasts of light. Do wish the best for him.
7:01
Speaker 1: I don't want to sit there and make him feel
7:03
Speaker 1: bad or bullied or whatever. Obviously that transpired was out
7:07
Speaker 1: of my control for the most part, but yeah, I
7:10
Speaker 1: just I really was hoping we could sit down and
7:12
Speaker 1: kind of get to that place where we're, you know,
7:14
Speaker 1: just wishing each other the best, and unfortunately that just
7:16
Speaker 1: didn't happen. So it is sad, I think, for both
7:19
Speaker 1: parts that were just kind of in this place where
7:22
Speaker 1: it didn't end well in person or in our initial argument.
7:26
Speaker 1: But there's really nothing, nothing, I can do. No, I
7:30
Speaker 1: mean it's it's a weird environment to be bringing this
7:34
Speaker 1: out so on national television. So will you at some
7:36
Speaker 1: point reach back out for healing, or do you feel
7:40
Speaker 1: like this is now done and you're going to just
7:42
Speaker 1: move forward and he can move forward and what happened
7:45
Speaker 1: on Monday night is enough for you guys just to
7:47
Speaker 1: put you know, close the book and move forward. Yeah,
7:51
Speaker 1: I think that is a huge thing about healing, and
7:53
Speaker 1: especially when you're in a position I'm in of just
7:56
Speaker 1: wanting all the answers and wanting to know exactly what
7:59
Speaker 1: happened and what did you say and you know all
8:01
Speaker 1: those things. But I think I've come to like accept everything,
8:05
Speaker 1: with having at least a month to kind of heal
8:07
Speaker 1: and just realizing I'll never get those answers and just
8:11
Speaker 1: not knowing is what I have to kind of live
8:13
Speaker 1: with and I do wish him all the best. I
8:14
Speaker 1: don't think. I really do think this is like the
8:16
Speaker 1: end of our our chapter what everyone saw on Tuesday.
8:20
Speaker 1: You know, I had a relationship from the show, uh,
8:23
Speaker 1: and we've both moved forward now. Uh. She has a
8:26
Speaker 1: second kid on the way. Very excited for her, uh,
8:29
Speaker 1: and I'm married, very happy. Thank you, uh. But there
8:35
Speaker 1: was a season to go back. When we broke up,
8:37
Speaker 1: we did announce it publicly. This was not on national television. Um,
8:42
Speaker 1: we broke up because we just weren't fitting. Like our
8:45
Speaker 1: lives are not aligning. It was very clear that, like
8:48
Speaker 1: it wasn't a healthy relationship for us any longer. But
8:51
Speaker 1: what happened then? Is People chose sides, team Ben, team Lauren,
8:58
Speaker 1: and you still care about that person a right, you
9:00
Speaker 1: will have a piece and a piece of your heart
9:03
Speaker 1: that is with them, and it got really hard for me.
9:06
Speaker 1: That was probably the hardest part because there was two
9:09
Speaker 1: sides who, at one I was like, how can you
9:11
Speaker 1: be team Lauren, like, look at me hurting over here,
9:14
Speaker 1: and then the second was how could you be team Ben?
9:17
Speaker 1: She's hurting over there. Uh. And so finally in our relationship,
9:22
Speaker 1: and I've never said this publicly, uh is too a
9:25
Speaker 1: year and a half, but we did finally talk not
9:28
Speaker 1: long Uh. But there was like a closure to it,
9:31
Speaker 1: like hey, I'm just wishing you the best, like I
9:34
Speaker 1: know this got ugly for circumstances we couldn't control. I
9:39
Speaker 1: know there was like a protection that we were both
9:40
Speaker 1: having about ourselves. Uh, and it closed the book for us.
9:44
Speaker 1: I felt like it really helped me finally move on
9:46
Speaker 1: and move forward. I don't know, you know on her
9:48
Speaker 1: side if it did, but I didn't realize I needed
9:53
Speaker 1: that for a while. And so I'm just telling you
9:57
Speaker 1: when this storm and this tornado of stuff finally ends,
10:02
Speaker 1: there might be some healthiness and just saying hey, I'm
10:06
Speaker 1: sorry for whatever happened during this. Let's move on, but
10:10
Speaker 1: I still care about you. Yeah, no, absolutely, and that's
10:13
Speaker 1: another thing too, is I really don't ever want it
10:15
Speaker 1: to be portrayed as if I'm saying I'm not at
10:17
Speaker 1: fault because we were having difficulties, and I mean I'm
10:21
Speaker 1: to blame for a lot of things and I'm not perfect.
10:23
Speaker 1: I wasn't a perfect partner and I really do wish
10:26
Speaker 1: him all the best and his own healing and I
10:28
Speaker 1: do hope, yeah, eventually we can get to that point
10:31
Speaker 1: where we just are completely on a civil good page.
10:36
Speaker 1: I guess it feels good when you see the other
10:38
Speaker 1: person thriving and you know that you're doing really good yourself.
10:41
Speaker 1: If it does feel good. One of the things that
10:53
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you about, because I felt like
10:55
Speaker 1: it was a little fuzzy during the show, was therapy
10:59
Speaker 1: was brought up a lot, which is very important, something
11:01
Speaker 1: that I did from the moment filming stopped. UH, still
11:05
Speaker 1: to this day it's been one of the best things
11:07
Speaker 1: in my life to implement and to take seriously. Um,
11:12
Speaker 1: but there was these hints at the reason why therapy
11:14
Speaker 1: was necessary, kind of during Monday night show. For people
11:18
Speaker 1: out there listening who have never been on the show
11:20
Speaker 1: and have never been a lead, can you give some
11:23
Speaker 1: clarity into what you were experiencing, starting with night one filming,
11:26
Speaker 1: because I got to talk to you the day of
11:30
Speaker 1: night one airing. Your you and Gabby were so excited
11:33
Speaker 1: and I almost at that moment I went to every
11:36
Speaker 1: year and I never do is be like hey, this
11:38
Speaker 1: is awesome, this is gonna say period. This is not
11:44
Speaker 1: gonna be easy, and if you're with somebody, just know
11:48
Speaker 1: that it's really hard on them to understand how you
11:52
Speaker 1: could have feelings for multiple people and be kissing people
11:55
Speaker 1: up until the two days before your engagement and in
11:58
Speaker 1: your mind you've made sense of it, but in their
12:00
Speaker 1: mind they don't get it. And so can you give
12:03
Speaker 1: a little clarity to the behind the scenes, when we
12:05
Speaker 1: weren't getting interviews with you and you weren't coming on
12:07
Speaker 1: the podcast, to what like watching the season back I
12:12
Speaker 1: felt like for you personally and how easy or heard
12:16
Speaker 1: it was? Yeah, I think it's hard for everyone. Um,
12:19
Speaker 1: fortunately for me I did have Gabby with me and
12:21
Speaker 1: we were able to experience this together and be able
12:24
Speaker 1: to lean on each other as people who were going
12:27
Speaker 1: through watching our relationship while we're trying to like nurture
12:31
Speaker 1: and grow this new, you know, engagement as well. So
12:34
Speaker 1: it was great to have her, but I think you
12:36
Speaker 1: really don't understand the scrutiny you're opening yourself up to
12:40
Speaker 1: when you originally go on the show. And I think
12:42
Speaker 1: I saw one of the other Bachelors Post about this recently.
12:45
Speaker 1: I think it was desiree, and she was like, you know,
12:47
Speaker 1: when you go on the show, you make these decisions
12:49
Speaker 1: like for yourself and you expect everyone to see what
12:52
Speaker 1: you're doing and understand it, but that's just not the case.
12:55
Speaker 1: You really do have to watch yourself make mistakes and,
12:58
Speaker 1: you know, listen to what everyone to say about that.
13:00
Speaker 1: And I was not perfect, as making so many mistakes,
13:03
Speaker 1: and I definitely was able to see that and learn
13:06
Speaker 1: from it. But it doesn't um necessarily take away from
13:09
Speaker 1: the fact that you are constantly being bombarded with, you know,
13:13
Speaker 1: all these D M s and messages and things that
13:15
Speaker 1: are coming straight to you and and it does affect
13:18
Speaker 1: you in your relationship and and it's difficult because you're
13:22
Speaker 1: going through all this while trying to like grow this
13:25
Speaker 1: new relationship, and I think on both ends. There just
13:28
Speaker 1: is a level of difficulty and having to get past that.
13:32
Speaker 1: It's hard. And then, like you kind of mentioned at
13:36
Speaker 1: end that you're literally coming. You did, you were on
13:39
Speaker 1: the Bachelorum, but you know, you kind of get hidden
13:43
Speaker 1: on the bachelor amongst a bunch of people. You have
13:45
Speaker 1: a couple of big storylines that come out, but you
13:47
Speaker 1: usually aren't getting a lot of focus. Then you become
13:50
Speaker 1: the bachelor at and your less than a year from
13:53
Speaker 1: just for you being a very normal human operating in
13:57
Speaker 1: this world and trying to figure it out and just
14:00
Speaker 1: make the right decisions day to day, and then the
14:04
Speaker 1: scrutiny and the praise comes. So talk to me a
14:07
Speaker 1: little bit about what that felt like to you, or
14:09
Speaker 1: what it still feels like to you, to have a
14:11
Speaker 1: lot of praise and a lot of support but then
14:14
Speaker 1: an also criticism and scrutiny that you're trying to figure out, Um,
14:19
Speaker 1: just based on this dating show. Yeah, I mean I
14:22
Speaker 1: think it just comes with the territory. Like you said,
14:24
Speaker 1: you are, of course getting praise. Um Me and Gaby
14:27
Speaker 1: are in this new environment, this new bachelorrette system, and
14:30
Speaker 1: just kind of Um, everyone's responding to it different and
14:33
Speaker 1: it was difficult, but for us to have each other
14:36
Speaker 1: that was honestly like the most helpful thing, because it
14:39
Speaker 1: wasn't like across the board, Um, like people taking sides.
14:43
Speaker 1: It was just, you know, like people didn't want us,
14:45
Speaker 1: I guess, pitted against each other, but they all, you know,
14:48
Speaker 1: would constantly do that. So to have her, it's difficult,
14:51
Speaker 1: but it was just the most like incredible blessing I
14:55
Speaker 1: could have ever asked for. Yeah, I think you know
14:57
Speaker 1: I've Um, I just over here with Jason Tardikum, who uh,
15:03
Speaker 1: you know, Caitlin Bristow Uh was was talking to him
15:07
Speaker 1: and you know they've there's been, especially from pass Bachelorret's
15:11
Speaker 1: criticism on the two bachelor at format. Um. I've always said,
15:16
Speaker 1: in a place where I just don't know, I said
15:18
Speaker 1: it would have been awesome to have a friend going
15:22
Speaker 1: through this with me, right to take some of the
15:24
Speaker 1: load off, to also be able to confide in UH.
15:28
Speaker 1: And so I want to know from you. I'm interested
15:31
Speaker 1: as this, as a two bachelorte thing, ever been a
15:33
Speaker 1: problem for you? Not that Gabby was your second Bachelorrett,
15:36
Speaker 1: but just like the idea that you were sharing this
15:38
Speaker 1: moment with somebody, that this couldn't just be your season
15:42
Speaker 1: or just gonna be gabby season. Has It ever been
15:44
Speaker 1: an issue for you? No, I mean honestly, like I
15:48
Speaker 1: will say this till the day I die, I would
15:50
Speaker 1: never want to do this without Gabby. I would never
15:52
Speaker 1: do it without her. Like, looking back, there's nothing I
15:55
Speaker 1: would have changed. Um, my outcome didn't work out, but
15:59
Speaker 1: that is really nothing thing to do with the fact
16:00
Speaker 1: that Gabby was standing next to me. If anything, I'm
16:03
Speaker 1: just so blessed to have had her going through everything
16:06
Speaker 1: that happened. And I mean I'm not here with a
16:09
Speaker 1: man now, but I'll have her for life. So I
16:11
Speaker 1: mean it was never something that I ever felt like
16:13
Speaker 1: I resented or that I didn't want. Ever. Well then,
16:16
Speaker 1: you have a lot to teach me, because there's something
16:18
Speaker 1: very unique here. You guys are able to stay friends
16:21
Speaker 1: through this process, with obvious opportunities to compare yourself against her,
16:28
Speaker 1: for her to compare herself against you, uh to share
16:32
Speaker 1: these moments with somebody else, um to date, at the beginning,
16:36
Speaker 1: especially the same people, but yet you stayed friends, you
16:40
Speaker 1: stayed supportive of each other. And so for everybody out
16:43
Speaker 1: there who was saying that could never that's never gonna happen.
16:47
Speaker 1: They'RE gonna end up hating each other, they're gonna end
16:49
Speaker 1: up being their worst enemies. What did you two do?
16:54
Speaker 1: Because it might just be your personalities, but I think
16:57
Speaker 1: there's probably if you could pull some like tangible things
17:00
Speaker 1: that you had to really learn and do and be
17:03
Speaker 1: cautious of through the process to make sure that that
17:05
Speaker 1: friendship stayed alive, and I think it would be helpful
17:08
Speaker 1: for all of us. How are we going to be
17:10
Speaker 1: friends with people that were competitors against? I mean, I
17:13
Speaker 1: think it's so easy for people just to want to
17:16
Speaker 1: go in there and be competitive and act like, you know,
17:20
Speaker 1: this person is against me, but when you can go
17:21
Speaker 1: in with someone that's on your side, it makes it
17:24
Speaker 1: so much easier. And going in it was just this
17:27
Speaker 1: unspoken rule with her and I that we would always
17:30
Speaker 1: put each other first and that, no matter what, we
17:33
Speaker 1: were making decisions together and we were doing this together.
17:37
Speaker 1: And I think one of the episodes we watched together
17:40
Speaker 1: was everything that happened with Logan that day where he
17:43
Speaker 1: came and visited me and they visited her and we
17:45
Speaker 1: both spoke and I just think that episode was like
17:48
Speaker 1: showing the entire world like truly that we always put
17:52
Speaker 1: each other first. The first thing she asked was like,
17:54
Speaker 1: have you spoken Rachel? How is she and for us
17:57
Speaker 1: to have this mature, adult discussion about it and really
18:00
Speaker 1: just put each other's needs and wants before these men.
18:04
Speaker 1: I mean, I just I'm so proud of her. I
18:06
Speaker 1: think like everything works out the way it's supposed to
18:09
Speaker 1: and I'm just so glad that I've been able to
18:11
Speaker 1: share this with her. It's it is impressive and it
18:15
Speaker 1: is something I admire and I and because I've gotten
18:19
Speaker 1: to be a part of the behind the scenes of
18:21
Speaker 1: the show. UH, and I don't have a lot to
18:24
Speaker 1: hide and say there's some tricks to the trade that
18:26
Speaker 1: happened behind the scenes that people don't know about. I
18:29
Speaker 1: just find it really impressive that you guys are able
18:32
Speaker 1: to be there for each other as well and as
18:34
Speaker 1: often and as consistent as you two have been and
18:37
Speaker 1: will be, I think, for me, beyond all else, that's
18:42
Speaker 1: one of my biggest takeaways from this season, was we
18:45
Speaker 1: got to watch two friends stand beside each other through
18:50
Speaker 1: a really confusing and weird experience. Yeah, I think it
18:54
Speaker 1: can be so isolating. Like Osiid, you went through it
18:57
Speaker 1: on your own and leaving and to have someone who
19:00
Speaker 1: knew exactly how it felt at the time and how
19:03
Speaker 1: it feels now, and it's just it really is something
19:06
Speaker 1: that I will truly, like, like, forever grateful for. I'm
19:10
Speaker 1: hoping at some point, Rachel, the tides turn for you
19:13
Speaker 1: and people start celebrating that, that we stopped asking about
19:19
Speaker 1: the pain and the heartbreak and the chaos and the
19:22
Speaker 1: drama and we can start at some point celebrating the support. And,
19:26
Speaker 1: speaking of support, one thing that I didn't know about
19:30
Speaker 1: until Michelle's seas him, because I think Michelle is the
19:32
Speaker 1: first to tell me about it. You have this text
19:35
Speaker 1: thread with all the BACHELORETTES. We don't do that as bachelor's.
19:39
Speaker 1: I think we all hate each other. I don't think
19:40
Speaker 1: we're all competitive against each other. We're all trying to
19:42
Speaker 1: one up each other. I wish we would have started it,
19:45
Speaker 1: but I'm good friends with Trista, who was the first Bachelorette.
19:49
Speaker 1: She lives there in Colorado with me. She's a part
19:51
Speaker 1: of the IHEART family with us Um and she was
19:54
Speaker 1: telling me about it too last time we were together.
19:57
Speaker 1: Tell us what goes on in that thread? What you've
20:00
Speaker 1: experienced recently with that thread and just like I just
20:03
Speaker 1: think it's the coolest thing that you have the support
20:05
Speaker 1: system where three of those women sat there beside you
20:09
Speaker 1: on stage and said, no matter what, we're friends of yours. Yeah, no,
20:12
Speaker 1: it is truly. It is such a sisterhood, I think
20:15
Speaker 1: the Bachelor family in general, but to be a part
20:17
Speaker 1: of this amazing legacy of women who truly have just
20:21
Speaker 1: changed the game in so many ways, each on their
20:23
Speaker 1: own season. Um, to just welcome us with open arms,
20:27
Speaker 1: Gabby and I um we are in the group chat
20:29
Speaker 1: and they all are just so loving and I think
20:31
Speaker 1: each of them can provide a different outlook and a
20:34
Speaker 1: different viewpoint no matter what you're going through. So to
20:37
Speaker 1: have everyone you know in the beginning when you're happy
20:40
Speaker 1: and and supporting you, and then at the end women
20:42
Speaker 1: who have been through the same situation or something similar,
20:45
Speaker 1: it's really nice to have all of them there. And
20:47
Speaker 1: I had Um, Caitlin, Michelle and Becca there as well
20:52
Speaker 1: during my ending and to have them behind me and
20:54
Speaker 1: to be able to see them and look at them
20:55
Speaker 1: as it's all happening. It was. It was really nice. Yeah,
20:59
Speaker 1: I think it's I think it's so cool. What is
21:00
Speaker 1: some what is some of the advice that you've received
21:04
Speaker 1: personally from them here in the last two weeks? Yeah,
21:08
Speaker 1: I think everyone has really been through just so much
21:11
Speaker 1: in their own different ways, and to really be able
21:14
Speaker 1: to lean on them and rely on them in a
21:16
Speaker 1: time where I was so confused and just worried about
21:19
Speaker 1: things that we're going to happen once it was all over,
21:23
Speaker 1: to just have their advice on how to move forward
21:25
Speaker 1: and how to continue to grow from this experience. It's
21:28
Speaker 1: just been really awesome to have them all. That's that's
21:32
Speaker 1: super incredible. It's something to uh, to also sell. Yeah,
21:37
Speaker 1: we'll include that. It was supportive, but also talking about
21:40
Speaker 1: I'm sure I've been able to know most of them
21:42
Speaker 1: in the last few years. I'm sure there's some weird
21:45
Speaker 1: stuff being said on Um that should never go public,
21:50
Speaker 1: but they're all great and very big personalities. You have
21:53
Speaker 1: a lot of big personalities all together. A couple of
22:06
Speaker 1: last things about you before we talk about Gabby. Yes, uh,
22:10
Speaker 1: you know, I I told you when we sat down
22:12
Speaker 1: and said Hey, I don't want to ask anything that
22:14
Speaker 1: everybody else has asked about, and you said everybody's asking
22:16
Speaker 1: about even and I was like, okay, I'm gonna ask
22:18
Speaker 1: one question about it. What do you want to say
22:20
Speaker 1: about even what in the world happened, I guess, that
22:23
Speaker 1: night and what exists today? Yeah, I know, it was
22:26
Speaker 1: obviously a very big surprise for me, I think for everyone. Um,
22:30
Speaker 1: not something that I thought was going to happen. Um,
22:34
Speaker 1: I was able to talk to him after as well. Um,
22:37
Speaker 1: I think the aiven situation kind of put Tino in
22:40
Speaker 1: a bit of an awkward position as well. Um, but
22:44
Speaker 1: I just I do want to reiterate that no one
22:47
Speaker 1: wanted that to be a bullying situation or a situation
22:50
Speaker 1: where one person is being put down. Um, and it
22:54
Speaker 1: was not aven's Um intention for any of that to
22:57
Speaker 1: happen as well. But he has just been someone that's
22:59
Speaker 1: always been so supportive of me, even throughout the season.
23:02
Speaker 1: He's just someone I always looked too in hard times.
23:05
Speaker 1: So to have him kind of in a really hard time,
23:07
Speaker 1: it was nice to see him and catch up with
23:09
Speaker 1: him after. Yeah, you know, I think that's one thing.
23:12
Speaker 1: I'm not one to blame the show for everything. Uh,
23:18
Speaker 1: I just don't think it's uh necessarily always appropriate, because
23:21
Speaker 1: I don't think it's always true, but that was a
23:24
Speaker 1: situation that put you in a really weird space. You know,
23:28
Speaker 1: the criticism kind of came when I was looking at
23:31
Speaker 1: like how could Rachel do this? I was like, well,
23:34
Speaker 1: I don't think she did. You know she supposed to say,
23:39
Speaker 1: and I was also trying to get off the stage
23:41
Speaker 1: as soon as I could. I mean I think everyone
23:43
Speaker 1: saw that on my face. So, yeah, it was just
23:45
Speaker 1: very much an awkward situation and looking back, I really
23:48
Speaker 1: don't want anyone to feel like they were being bullied
23:50
Speaker 1: or put in a bad place, like you said. That's
23:53
Speaker 1: like the one thing I really do want to get
23:55
Speaker 1: across it. That was never my intention or evens yeah, well,
23:59
Speaker 1: it definitely got the reaction from the public. It was
24:01
Speaker 1: definitely awkward to watch, which typically is good television. Um,
24:06
Speaker 1: but it was. It was not your decision, is what
24:10
Speaker 1: we can say. It is not your decision. All right, okay,
24:13
Speaker 1: so onto Zach. Zack is the next bachelor. Um, as
24:16
Speaker 1: soon as you're done with your season. I know how
24:18
Speaker 1: this goes. They announced the next person and often running
24:21
Speaker 1: they are. So what can we expect, you think, with
24:24
Speaker 1: Zack being the next bachelor? Oh, I'm so excited for Zach.
24:27
Speaker 1: He truly he's such a good guy. I know he's
24:29
Speaker 1: going to do amazing and I just am looking forward
24:33
Speaker 1: to finally watching a season and not participating. So, yeah,
24:37
Speaker 1: good luck to him. It's definitely, as we know, really
24:39
Speaker 1: hard being in the position of of being a lead
24:42
Speaker 1: and hopefully he can just follow his heart and continue
24:45
Speaker 1: to be true to himself throughout it. Yeah, he uh.
24:48
Speaker 1: The biggest criticism he's getting right now is the same
24:50
Speaker 1: one I got. Your boring. You don't really know him. Yeah,
24:55
Speaker 1: it was. It was my biggest criticism. Is He boring? Uh,
25:00
Speaker 1: and will he have a boring season? I don't think so.
25:04
Speaker 1: Zach is really a huge goofball. He has the dad
25:07
Speaker 1: jokes and I think people are going to be able
25:09
Speaker 1: to see a lot more of his personality. With this season,
25:13
Speaker 1: of course, having two Bachelorettes, I feel like there is, Um,
25:16
Speaker 1: you know, less time. There's two stories happening, so people
25:19
Speaker 1: didn't really get to see a lot of anyone as
25:22
Speaker 1: much as they normally do. So I'm looking forward to
25:24
Speaker 1: people being able to see him in his personality. One
25:28
Speaker 1: of my wife's closest friends is on this season. Okay,
25:32
Speaker 1: her name is Bailey. She was there on night one. Oh,
25:34
Speaker 1: I didn't. Yeah, so she came out. She was the
25:37
Speaker 1: one that said Hi. You know, in the morning daily
25:40
Speaker 1: think of Bailey and then he messed up and he's
25:42
Speaker 1: like more than Balan when they asked for names and
25:45
Speaker 1: it's nerve for hacking the first time you're on that stage.
25:48
Speaker 1: I remember when I first got to a Fr just
25:49
Speaker 1: shaking in the MS stage. So I night one, as
25:53
Speaker 1: hard as it is with an audience, you can give
25:55
Speaker 1: it a little grace. It's not easy, but I'm very
25:57
Speaker 1: excited to watch Bailey. She's a very sweet girl who
26:01
Speaker 1: is very excited about the opportunity who we've been able
26:03
Speaker 1: to talk to and and so I'm going to be
26:05
Speaker 1: tuning in not only to see Zach, look out for Bailey,
26:08
Speaker 1: and look out for Bailey. She's uh, I think she
26:10
Speaker 1: has some potential. Excited to see there a while. Um,
26:14
Speaker 1: we're all celebrating Bailey. Okay, uh. Now Onto Gabby. Gabby
26:18
Speaker 1: is with Eric. I'm assuming still four days. Good. That's uh,
26:23
Speaker 1: that's great. What what do we see in their relationship
26:25
Speaker 1: behind the scenes that maybe we haven't been able to
26:27
Speaker 1: see on television with the two of them? Yeah, I
26:30
Speaker 1: think Gabby along with me. I mean we truly are
26:33
Speaker 1: just in that space right now where we're still really
26:35
Speaker 1: getting to know you know well, at the time I
26:38
Speaker 1: was the UM, the man I picked, and I'm excited
26:41
Speaker 1: to see, you know, their future moving forward. I think they,
26:44
Speaker 1: you know, of course, have their struggles and conversations as well, but, um, yeah,
26:49
Speaker 1: excited to see what's to come for Gabby and Eric.
26:52
Speaker 1: I'm excited to sit down with them. There's a lot
26:55
Speaker 1: to talk about. Obviously, Eric's Um, Eric's story through the
27:00
Speaker 1: into the season wasn't easy either. There was controversy, Um,
27:03
Speaker 1: with the black face. There's controversy with those texts. What
27:07
Speaker 1: do you think they did to navigate those together? Those
27:11
Speaker 1: really tough conversation and we didn't get to see all that.
27:13
Speaker 1: I wish we would have on the finale. I think
27:15
Speaker 1: it was important, um, really important, to bring those stuff up.
27:19
Speaker 1: We didn't see it and I'm not gonna put you
27:21
Speaker 1: in the places ask why we didn't, because I don't
27:23
Speaker 1: think you have the answers, um to why that wasn't
27:25
Speaker 1: shown or talked about. But how do you think they
27:29
Speaker 1: navigated the difficulties? UH, in a way that brought them
27:32
Speaker 1: to the finale happy and healthy as a couple. Yeah,
27:35
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously I can't speak on, you know, the
27:37
Speaker 1: show or why certain things got cut, but I can
27:40
Speaker 1: speak on Um, Gabby, and I do know that she
27:42
Speaker 1: was really walking into a f r wanting to have
27:45
Speaker 1: that discussion and wanting to bring that to light, because
27:47
Speaker 1: I think a lot of times things do get pushed
27:50
Speaker 1: under the rug and she is more than aware of,
27:53
Speaker 1: you know, the fact that she does want this to
27:55
Speaker 1: have attention and we do need to talk about it,
27:57
Speaker 1: because it is something that continues to happen in and
28:00
Speaker 1: when it continues to happen, you do have to continue
28:03
Speaker 1: to learn and have those hard conversations and I think
28:07
Speaker 1: Eric and Gabby put in a lot of work on
28:09
Speaker 1: their relationship continuing to do so and learn and really
28:13
Speaker 1: have to talk to each other and teach each other
28:16
Speaker 1: and keep that open line of communication. Um. As for
28:19
Speaker 1: the text messages, I do know that he told her
28:21
Speaker 1: as soon as he could, so it was something that
28:24
Speaker 1: was brought to light to the public Um, whereas Gabby
28:27
Speaker 1: kind of has had so much time to process that
28:29
Speaker 1: and talk with him about it. So, yeah, two very
28:33
Speaker 1: different situations. Um. Yeah, it's difficult for sure that they
28:39
Speaker 1: both didn't really get to have as much light as
28:42
Speaker 1: they should have. Yeah, and it's a relationship. I guess.
28:47
Speaker 1: If you can make it through these hard conversations, these
28:50
Speaker 1: weird times, I would have to believe it makes you stronger,
28:54
Speaker 1: which is good and something we want for them. Definitely
28:58
Speaker 1: all right. Final question for you here. It's an easy one, Rachel.
29:03
Speaker 1: You are moving on, moving forward. Hopefully, this weekend you
29:10
Speaker 1: get some time to sleep, you get some piece and quiet,
29:13
Speaker 1: you get some love, you get some great conversation, you
29:17
Speaker 1: have a few drinks, you hang out. Definitely a couple
29:20
Speaker 1: of drinks. You deserve it. What can we I guess
29:25
Speaker 1: the best way to phrase this would be what are
29:27
Speaker 1: you looking forward to now with this next chapter of
29:30
Speaker 1: your life, no longer being on the show as the Bachelorette,
29:35
Speaker 1: leaving this behind you, stepping forward? If we could put
29:39
Speaker 1: our stake in the ground and say tonight is the
29:41
Speaker 1: night that you move forward in a healthy and happy way,
29:45
Speaker 1: what does that look like for you? I think again,
29:48
Speaker 1: I'm so grateful for everything that I have gained through
29:51
Speaker 1: this franchise, being able to be the bachelor. I've learned
29:54
Speaker 1: so much about myself and I'm so excited to continue
29:58
Speaker 1: to take these lessons that I learned watching myself back
30:00
Speaker 1: and making myself into a better person. Hopefully, you know,
30:04
Speaker 1: looking forward to dating in the future. Um, I'm very
30:07
Speaker 1: excited to go back to flying. Took a little bit
30:10
Speaker 1: of a break from that to go film the show,
30:12
Speaker 1: but yeah, I'm just really excited to move on and
30:15
Speaker 1: be able to start doing the things I want to do. Rachel,
30:19
Speaker 1: thanks for saying with US tonight. Thanks for having me, Ben,
30:21
Speaker 1: I have a blast this weekend. Enjoy it, Um, and
30:24
Speaker 1: it means a lot that you came out here. Thank
30:26
Speaker 1: you for having me. Follow the Ben and Ashley I
30:29
Speaker 1: almost famous podcast on IHEART radio or subscribe wherever you
30:33
Speaker 1: listen to podcasts.