Bachelor Happy Hour - Getting Real with Lexi

Episode Date: February 15, 2024

Joe and Serena sit down with Lexi. Lexi tells us the full story behind her harrowing journey with endometriosis and just how special her moment of vulnerability with Joey in Malta really was. She also shares the behind-the-scenes deets of the iconic kiss that crowned her Mrs. Right at the group date pageant Plus, she gives us her perspective on the Sydney/Maria drama, including her time alone with them leading up to their two-on-one. Listen now and make sure to follow!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hi, my name is Enya Eumanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble.

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the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do we really need another podcast with a condescending finance brof trying to tell us how to spend our own money? No thank you. Instead, check out Brown Ambition. Each week, I, your host, Mandy Money, gives you real talk, real advice with a heavy dose of I feel uses. Like on Fridays when I take your questions for the BAQA. Whether you're trying to invest for your future, navigate a toxic workplace, I got you. Listen to Brown Ambition. on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Bad Your Happy Hour. I'm Joe. And I'm Serena. And we are here with

Lexi from Joey Simpson. Hi, Lexi. Hi, Lexi. Hey, guys. Your hair looks so good. Did you get it done recently? Thank you. Yes. I actually just got it done when I came back. I talked about this on my Instagram, but I had a bit of a hair fiasco when I was in the mansion. And some reason my hair turned red, which, you know, we love redheads, but like it was two red stripes at the front. So when I was on the show, luckily Jess had men's beard dye for her eyebrows and let me use it to color correct. So my hair is a lot darker on the show than it is usually, but it's a funny story. So I just went. Oh my God. Wait, women use men's beard dye for eyebrows? I didn't know. I have friends.

the dye their eyebrows and usually they just use boxed hair dye. I've never heard of anyone using beard dye. Yeah, just for men. But I guess that would make sense because it is like hair on your face. Right, right. So God bless Jess for having that. And it was like dark, dark brown. So it's a funny story. Wait, why? So I've heard of, I've had friends who have gone blonde and then like hard water will make it look green. But I've never, are you a natural redhead? Was it like stripping your highlights? Something was happening. I'm naturally pretty. dark brown. So I think it was just like getting the highlights right before the show and then using the water out there or maybe, I don't know. Something, something happens. That was not good.

That's crazy. I would be freaking out. I can't believe they couldn't get you like boxed hair dye. You know, it's a, they tried their best. Yeah. Well, you had the beard die. Thank God. Thank God. You know, my, my, my beard actually used to come in a little red. What? Yeah. No, it doesn't. I swear my life. Now I have, now they come in, now they come in gray on my a little salt and peppery yeah well maybe you should hit up jess for her boxed beer diet i don't know if i would die my beard i don't i don't keep it long enough to diet i feel like you have to have a significant amount of hair to be dying like i feel like it's for people who have a full beard why are you coming at you right now what are you talking about what i'm saying i think it's people

who have like a full gray beard and want to dye it brown yeah so that it's not gray i'm gonna just i'm gonna lean into the salt and pepper you should you lean to sell up i look and lexie you can stay away from You know, this interview isn't about me, though. So, Lexi, where do you live? I currently am in Atlanta, Georgia. And you said on one of these episodes that you moved to San Francisco for work and then you moved to New York. Yeah. So what do you do and what happened there?

Yeah. So I've lived all over, actually. I'm originally from Toronto. But I ended up. You're originally from Toronto? I am. I had to say it. I had to say it. What part of Toronto?

Oakville, Ontario. Oh, nice. Yeah. So my family's all up there, my extended family, but we ultimately moved down to the States for my dad's job. So I ended up in Ohio for a while. And then, yeah, after school, moved out to San Francisco for work. I worked at the Gaff when I was out there,

but I work in digital marketing and digital strategy. So I work on their websites. I, like, came down with a lot of illness when I was in San Francisco. with my health and so ultimately made the decision to move back to New York to be closer to to my family and Gap also had a headquarters in New York so it just made sense at the time so yeah that's how I ended up in the city and do you still work for Gap now I don't work for Gap now I work for another large retail company in Atlanta doing the same type of work yeah do you like Atlanta I like Atlanta it was a huge culture shock moving down here like being originally from Canada and

and living on both coast, moving to Atlanta was kind of crazy. It's super Southern, obviously. And then, like, everyone here gets married at, like, 22. So I was this, like, black sheet moving down here, single at, like, 29. So I like it, but it's different. Yeah, that's so interesting. Yeah, it's so interesting. Yeah, it might be Atlanta.

Exact opposite. Literally. Yeah. Really might. Okay, cool. And how did you get on The Bachelor? It's a bit of a long story, but long story. but long story short, I was originally supposed to go on and went through the casting process for

Peter's season. Oh, wow, a few years ago. Yeah, which when I look back, I wouldn't have been ready to do that at that point in my life and age. So I'm so glad it happened when it did. But I had just had my endometriosis surgery. So it wasn't the right time for me with filming. And then I got in contact with a producer and they told me it was going to be Joey. And I was like, this is so serendipitous and I think he's such a great guy and I just turned 30 like why not so it's kind of crazy that Peter to Joey like it's just I don't know the whole thing was very full circle that is you hear a few you hear some stories like that like I think Caitlin Bristow was also someone that was like in casting for someone's season made it like almost on the show and then something happened or like

she didn't get on and then gets on to another season I just feel like it always falls the way it's supposed to exactly I want to pronounce this correctly, so I don't sound like a fucking moron. But you could do it. I could do it. I could do this. Okay. So when you talk about your endometriosis.

You could say, you know. I could just call it endo? Yep. Okay. I love that. Okay. So not that I don't love it.

But so when you had your endo surgery, how old were you? I had my surgery in 2019. So I just turned 30. So yeah, I would have been 25, 26. And so that was. a time period for me that was crazy. And like, like I said, going on the show, it wouldn't have been possible. But so grateful that I did have the surgery when I was living in New York. What was the process like? Because I know you said it took about a year and a half to have it

diagnosed, which correct me with the wrong, but I believe that's not totally uncommon. No, yeah, you're exactly right. So really, it was 10 years of me like in pain and not knowing what was going on with my body. And then things got a lot worse when like the back half of San Francisco. and when I moved to New York and I just started going to so many different doctor's appointments and like I was diagnosed with things I didn't even have like I was diagnosed with autoimmune disorders and taking medications for them and I like didn't have it and I was turned away from so crazy so crazy like women on average it takes 10 years to get a diagnosis for end of so like that's that was my timeline and it's so sad to hear that and a lot of the times doctors will turn you to like a

psychiatrist or almost make you believe that your pain is in your head because it has to be diagnosed surgically. So that even adds another layer of complexity to get a diagnosis. So for me, it was a lot of being like turned away, kind of given medication to treat me for something I didn't have. And then I even started to doubt my pain. And I was like, is this even real? Is this something in my head just because I was shut down so many times? That's so frustrating. And it's just so scary that you know you have to wait 10 years to get diagnosed something that you're probably like I could have been treating this 10 years earlier. I can imagine too by the time the surgery option comes around. It's like on one hand you're like I'll do anything to figure out what's going on with me.

But on the another you're probably like I've had so many inaccurate diagnoses that diagnoses diagnoses. Yeah. Not diagnoses. That's made up. You know what I bet. That it's like is this just going to be another dead end? Like it's got, it must have been so emotionally and physically draining for you. It was. I remember walking into NYU that day because you don't know until you wake up from the surgery if you have it or not. And I remember thinking, do I want to have this or do I not?

Like, do you, like, it's a weird thing. Yeah. Because like I've gone through 10 years of pain and multiple years of going to appointments. And I felt like I finally kind of had an answer. This doctor had a really strong hunch. I had it. But then I was like, wait a second, the reality of actually having it is a whole other thing to deal with. So I didn't, I didn't really even know how to feel like, am I going to be happy after

this? Like, if I go through the surgery and I don't have it, I'm just at another dead end. So yeah, it's really, it plays with your mind. What has your journey like has, what has your journey been like since being diagnosed? It's, it's been an uphill battle, if I'm being honest. I have, you know, good weeks and I have really bad weeks. I've been on so many different medications to try to get it into a place where it's controllable. I am at the point right now where they want me to have a second surgery. A lot of times women have two or three, but because I'm 30, they want me to have it as close as possible to when I want to conceive. And the reason for that is because they go in and like clean up all that tissue that's not supposed to be there. So it puts you in like an optimal

state to have a child, that is really hard for me because the only solve is something I can't even do at this moment in time. And the reason they don't want you to have too many surgeries is because they cause a lot of scar tissue. And so just right now I kind of feel like I'm being pushed into a corner of just having to power through the pain and make the most of it. But it is challenging. Yeah, that's got to be such a hard decision because you're really, I'm assuming like you're probably advised by doctors, but you have to probably make the decision inevitably if you're going to have the surgery and then potentially just have to have another surgery when you are ready to have children or if you're going to power through

the pain so that you don't have to have as many surgeries. Like there's not a clear right answer there. There's not. And I just froze my eggs. Actually, I had the surgery for that two weeks before I went on the show, which thank you. That came with a lot of its own issues. But that I'm trying my best to do everything I can to become a mother. That's what I've wanted. My whole whole life. But yeah, you're exactly right. Do you feel like the medical field now today in 2024 is, is better detecting this opposed to 10 years ago? Are we kind of in the same place of it still very hard for it to get, be detected in women? Yeah. And still going through that. That's a great question. I would like to say that I would like to say the diagnosis process has gotten

better. I don't think it has. I think what's gotten better is the technology to like an MRI now you can have where they can see if there's abnormalities. It can't diagnose it, but it can at least point in the direction that you might have something going on there, which gives women more confidence to have a surgery. However, I still think like it's so I've posted on Instagram about my experience and I got, I think almost like a thousand messages from women saying to me that I've had the exact same experience. I'm currently in the process of fighting for a diagnosis. I've gone to 10 plus appointments. No one's taking me seriously. So it's not spoken about enough. And I don't, I really don't think it's changed that much, which is disheartening. Yeah. I feel like, and I mean, this is not endo,

but I, someone in my life has PCOS and they had a similar experience where like there's a lot of women's health issues. I feel like that the story is connected to where it's like it took me years for someone to finally diagnose me with this and I was doing treatments that were actually like harming what I was like actually had and yes yeah yes I went through bladder installations which is I don't need to get into the whole thing but where they like put like an acidic thing like through your urethra it was I was crying screaming in pain because they thought I had a condition with my bladder and like I have nothing wrong with my bladder and like the fact I went through that for six months like it's traumatic to me so I have a lot of I don't know how I couldn't

That's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. And it's just like the fact the doctor did it like all of the above. It's, it's scary. Yeah, a major flaw. How does it affect you on a day to day scale? On a day to day scale, like it's so unpredictable. Some days I'll have flares and like I'll look for five months pregnant from like swelling. Some days I'll have horrible lower back pain. I mean, it hits me out of nowhere. I've become really good at managing it. So I mean, I work a really demanding job like I'm sitting at a desk all day. So. I'm not going to lie, like it comes with its challenges, and I don't probably live the exact same life as someone who wouldn't be dealing with this, but I've gotten to a place now where like I'm so strong mentally that I just push through. I like take really good care of my health. That helps to a degree, but it's one of those things that's, it's never leaving my life. There's no cure. And so I've just learned how to like have a better attitude about it and like make the most of every day, even though I have a little bit of a handicap. out. Is stage five the most severe stage? So I act, so there's technically four stages of

endo. And on the show, I said five. It's four and five are like five is kind of a new stage that they're talking about. For me, I had endo growing on my lung. And so since it spread to like an organ outside of my pelvis, I'm kind of four, five. Stage four is technically the most severe phase within your pelvis and that just means that like there's a lot of adhesion so like your uterus could be attached to both ovaries there's a lot of large this um and so even i like to preface though someone with stage one could have equal pain as someone is stage four it's just how much the actual tissue has spread it doesn't mean that you're like in more pain or less pain at a different stage but if it gets detected at stage one is it curable

or is it like it's it's not but I do think you could take actions with like certain hormones and getting ahead of your surgery like for me when they went in it was so bad like I think if they had gone in maybe three years prior like it wouldn't maybe have spread to my lung like maybe I wouldn't have had so many adhesions yeah right which like that's another layer to it I'm sure is like the fact that it takes so long yeah means that it ends up being so much more severe and the women when it does get detected. Yeah, exactly. It's so frustrating.

Okay. So, yeah. You get on the show. We lost track, but I'm glad we're talking about this. Obviously, it was a big part of your one-on-one date, which we will touch on as well in this podcast and just talk more about, you know, what it was like opening up to Joey about. Yeah. Do you refer to it as a condition? How do you refer to it?

I always say, yeah, a condition, disease. I think for me, it's just something I deal with every day. But yeah, I opened up to him about my condition and how it impacts me. Yeah. Okay. Gotcha. Okay. Well, let's do a little backtracking.

Let's go to night one. Night one, you step out of the limo. How are you feeling? What are your thoughts? What do you think about Joey is your type? Yeah. I was so nervous, obviously, that whole day leading up to it. But when I stepped into the limo, I felt, I know, sounds so cheesy.

but like I did feel immediately at ease because he has such a chill personality and like demeanor that as soon as I walked up to him I kind of felt like I know about this guy like this is our first date kind of I don't know just felt very like an initial intro not like oh I'm on The Bachelor and there's all these cameras and lights like it was really just the two of us in that moment very special he was so kind but then I walked in the house and I realized I was the first one And so, like, that was a bit of a shock more than meeting Joey. I was like, oh, okay. That was, I'm glad I knew that after.

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Yeah, that's so interesting. I always, because sometimes they'll show someone come out of the limo, but they're not necessarily the first one that actually came out of the limo. Like they'll do a little switchy row. Oh, yeah, yeah. But I feel like that's exciting because you're probably like, okay, I'm the first girl in his mind tonight, which is kind of cool. But I also would have been happy to not know that before. Sam, I'm so glad they didn't tell me before because I think I would have been like, I got to really pull it together.

Like, he's been waiting for this for months. Like I got to, I don't even know. I don't know. It's for the best. For the best. So how does night one go? I know it's like the longest night ever. Yeah, it gets to talk to him.

You guys know. It's a long night. I mean, I didn't anticipate it being that long. So it was a long night. I got really lucky and got to talk to him. Not everyone did. So I was fortunate for that. I gave him a ballmarker from the golf course.

My dad and I play in Hilton Head. So he seemed excited that I golf. And yeah, we had a good talk. We kissed, which I was not expecting. Like, all my friends back in him were like, what? It's kind of off brand for me. I'm a little, like, standoffish until I trust someone. But I guess the trust that was already kind of there.

I just felt safe around him. But yeah, night one, there was stuff going on, but I kind of just kept to myself and was nervous for the roast ceremony, but I felt good about our talk. Nice. I feel like that's like all you can ask for out of night one. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And then before, so before currently you get your one-on-one, what's your connection like? Are you able to spend any time with Joey? How's it going? Yeah, it was going well. I got to talk to him at the talent show a little bit before.

we went out, or excuse me, the pageant, and I got to talk to him that evening. Yeah, let's talk about the pageant because you won Mrs. Wright. Oh, my God. Yeah, that was so, yeah, I did. I did. I should have known. Smart move.

Yeah, there was a little animosity surrounding the kiss. The kiss heard around the world. Yeah, there was some animosity for sure, which I'm so conflict adverse. Like, I was like, it's fine. Like, someone else take the crown. and like all good. I understand, you know,

I think some girls poured their heart and soul. They were doing flips and cartwheels and singing. And I mean, they're all so talented. I just stood there. But I was trying to think of something that I could do to show him. I do come out of my shell.

And like I am fun and bubbly. I'm not this like super quiet, serious reserved person. I think because I was nervous, that's how I had been coming across. So I was like, let's do it. Why not?

You know, I took a tequila shop. before, but I did it. No, I liked it. I liked that your talent incorporated him into it. I think that's always nice to get him involved. And like I said when we were happy, and I was like, you know what?

Sometimes you got to work smart or not harder. Just because she wasn't upside down doesn't mean she didn't have a good talent. Yeah. The other girls did great. So we all, it was fun. Did you, do you have like a favorite group date activity like that you've done up until this point? Um, up until this point, I think the wedding was fun because one, I've just never thought I'd be in a wedding dress before my wedding day. And then we all got to have individual time with him to work the room at the reception. They didn't show everyone's, but that was like our second time actually talking. And it felt comfortable because it was just the two of us, like walking around. We went to the bar. So I thought the wedding was fun. The pageant was really out of my comfort zone. And then there was more group dates that were a little more, um, my

speed for their food this season. Nice. Yeah. The the pageant, the gimmicky ones are always a little more awkward. Yeah. I'm just like, oh my gosh. Yeah, I'm definitely an awkward person. So like being in that environment, just like an answer. Yeah. No, it's it's the show. They're tough. They're just tough. I give those date planners credit because they always, they come together so well. But in the moment, you're kind of like, all right, we're doing this. But then you see it and you're like, this is awesome. Yeah. So we get to Malta. And you get your one-on-one date with Joey. Were you, like, did you have a sense that like maybe it was going to be you that week? Like your time was maybe coming or were you totally surprised? Well, there's two pieces to this story. So the first one is

my luggage was lost upon arriving in Malta. I was like, look, Joey's amazing. I want to be on a date this week. Just whatever you do, do not put me on a date tomorrow. Like, I don't have any of my stuff. I was the only girl. It's just very, like, of course. And so it was funny when they called my name. I was like, you know, I was really excited. They ended up finding my luggage.

So it all worked out. But it was just like, I wasn't really prepared for it the night before because of that conversation. So like I didn't like, I didn't self tan. I didn't take a shower. Like little things that I would do if I knew I was having a one on one. But as soon as I like got there with Joey, I was like, this is. I mean, it was the best day ever. Yeah, no, it looks, that's actually funny.

On my season, Michelle Young, they, she lost a piece of luggage and, like, was never to be found. Like, it wasn't, it wasn't the show. Like, the airline lost her luggage. And she never found it. And she was, like, borrowing her roommate Ryan's clothes, like, the whole season. Because I think, like, the one that she lost was, like, all her clothes and jewelry. And, like, the one that she had was, like, toilet trees and, like, shoes and stuff. So she's like, I'm screaming.

rude but I'm very glad that they found your luggage but that is funny because it's like the one time you're like I don't want to date tomorrow is the time that you're like okay I guess I want to date tomorrow. That's just how life works out and on it you know it was it was truly like I will remember that day for the rest of my life it was so fun like I got to do the walking tour and I travel a lot so like getting to actually like walk around the city and and see Malta it was it was just casual and fun like it didn't feel like we were on. a bachelor date. Yeah, I always say, like, those are the best dates, like, just the ones that are the most organic. What was it like being in that church? I know you kind of talked about your

grandfather. Yeah. And you got to interact with Joey. It was emotional. It was, I think, being away from, you know, that's like being away from your whole family. And then, like, just, your emotions are high. And then, you know, I was in the church. And I went to church with my grandfather growing up and he had passed away recently and because of COVID I wasn't able to go to the funeral and just there was so many emotions that just hit me at once. I felt like I hadn't been in a church like that since I was with him and it was just a really full circle moment because he always said he wanted to meet my person and like we both golfed together. Like we were just so close and like that was at the end of the day. And so like that being kind of how we closed out the date

and just everything going so well with Joey. I just felt like I was really supposed to be there in moment. It was, yeah, it was very special. And then the priest came over and talked to us about what makes a healthy marriage and talked about a couple that he's married in the church. And yeah, he just gave us some advice. And it was, yeah, it was, it was beautiful. I'm excited to watch that back. Yeah. Are you starting to feel like Joey could be your person? Is that happening yet? Yeah, for sure. I think, I mean, I was definitely starting to think like, oh, okay. this is like I'm not just on here you know to meet someone and see if there's something there like I'm like the something there is there it's just a matter of like kind of getting down like

opening up was a big thing for me that night like I wanted to open up about my health with him because I wanted to make sure like that wasn't something that he wouldn't want to that could affect his decision with me so at that point I was like the feelings are there I just think we need to kind of figure out under the covers like our values what we want long term in our timelines timelines is a huge thing for me yeah we we see you mentioned and we definitely don't have to go there if you're uncomfortable talking about it but um your your past with your acts of it it being an issue for him do you want to talk about that at all yeah i can touch on it i think you know for him my health did was ultimately something that impacts

did the end of our relationship. I think he saw it as, I would never say a burden, but, you know, just something that would potentially affect, you know, us being able to have a family long term or, you know, my ability to be a mother. Like, I'm not always 100% every day. And so for him, he saw that as sometimes a challenge, which you can imagine on my side, like, is really difficult because, you know, when we broke up, like hearing from multiple people that it was like, he just wasn't sure he could handle your health condition. He wasn't sure that he could support you in the way that you need to be supported. And for me, it was very much like, but I mean, I do a really good job at like holding my pain in and not showing it outwardly. So I'm already

self-conscious about this. And to hear it was like one of the deciding factors to ultimately not move towards a marriage with me, like has made me not want to open up about any of this with another person. Yeah, I can imagine that being on TV opening up to Joey, this new relationship about your endo is already scary. And then to have that added layer of like, well, the last time I did this, it ended the relationship. Yeah. Is just a whole other layer of like anxiety. Exactly. I mean, you said it perfectly. And, but I felt I had to because on the show, you have such limited time. And so I wanted to be fair to Joey, and if, and it's not, Joey was never going to go in and say, like, I don't want to be with you because you can't have kids. That's not the, that's not the conversation that we

were having. It was more like, hey, I'm dealing with X, Y, and Z. I might be on a little bit more of an expedited timeline than some of these other girls that are here because of X, Y, and Z. Like, how does that make you feel? And I genuinely wanted his reaction because it's okay if he wants, you know, five to seven years before kids. And I'm not saying that's what he said. But, like his emotions and reaction are valid and I would rather have that early on than like drag out a connection and then it come up later that to me wouldn't be fair to him totally that totally makes sense because if he were to say like I'm not ready to have kids I don't want a family for 10 years or like I don't I mean we know he wants kids but like it's a serious conversation to have and it's one that

you know you have added layers to add to so how did that conversation go like obviously I you did an amazing job of expressing yourself. You saw, how did it feel, you know, hearing Joey's response? Hearing Joey's response was, well, like probably forever changed my perception on opening up about this in my life and my story and my health and relationships. He, I mean, he brought me to tears that night. It was, he was so genuine and sincere and such a good listener. I felt heard.

I didn't feel judged or, like, analyzed. I felt like he was really just listening to me and empathetic to what I went through. He related to me in many ways in his own personal life. And he was like, look, that's not an issue for me. Like, I think with the right person,

whoever that is for him, that they would figure it out. And, you know, that could be through things like adoption or, you know, surrogacy, whatever that looks like. Kids are important to him as well. But that's not going to be detrimental

to his choice. and moving forward with me and yeah he was just he was so kind that night and it was it was really beautiful that's great that's amazing yeah i feel like he's really demonstrated like we say he's the what he's the best receiver joe he's he's an amazing receiver receiver of information he's an incredible he's also he's such a good listener and he's yeah yeah he's he was raised well like he is but it's you know what it is he's just the kind person so he actually cares because you'll talk to some people and it's like you can tell they're registering it but like kind of 50% in 50% out

like he was locked in I mean he was listening to me and in a situation like that it's so important yeah okay so let's jump a little bit to your thoughts on the Maria fiasco and why we I want your opinion

on two situations but the first one what were your thoughts on just the Maria and Sydney of it all. Yeah, because we also know that you were the only one there before they went on their 201 because everyone else was on the group day. Yeah, I forgot about that. That was great. I guess, yeah, I can start. My initial thoughts were back at the mansion is where I think that conversation should have been left. I think, you know, everyone's emotions and feelings

are valid. Medina's were valid at the mansion. Sinney was trying to stand up for her friend and Maria was trying to, you know, advocate for herself and say, hey, I did not bring this up. in any way, shape, or form to hurt someone. I brought this up just because I wanted to know who was talking and kind of clear her name in the situation because she didn't mean her comment in a mean way. There was no bad intentions there. It's hard.

I really think this dragged on for too long. It took away time from a lot of girls that had also their own beautiful stories to tell. And so I wish it was left at the mansion. I think the initial conversation could have just been, squashed but it continued on obviously right to melta in spain and and throughout the season and that day that it was just the three of us like you could cut the tension with a knife i mean you could just tell like tensions are high they're going on a two on one they're fully aware of what that

comes with right like i think the date card that i got of course me had to read it was like um one rose two girls one stays one goes and i was like i was even just like i got to go to my room like it was way too much here's the card have a good night bye bye like toss that out the window at the hotel but yeah it was it was um I did sit downs with both of them both of their you know they were they were stressed who did if you had to put money on it before they went on that date who did you think was coming back that's a good question that is a good question I think based on what I saw I thought Maria and Joey had a stronger connection I was on both Group dates with Maria.

I was on one. Group date was Sydney and she didn't have one the first week. So I just thought I could always tell there was something there between Joey and Maria. Like I tell by the way, he looked at her. I think he was intrigued by her personality. Like she is very outgoing. So I kind of thought if it was solely based on connection, Maria was going to come back. We saw when Sydney's suitcase gets pulled, Leah, Jess, I'm sure there was a few other people.

but those were the two main ones I remember, were very surprised that Sydney was going home. Where do you think their shock came from? Do you think it was like wishful thinking? Yeah. You know, I think it was rooted in the facts that they have their own perception of this. They're very close to Sydney. They were, you know, when you're on this experience, you form strong relationships because it's so unique. And they were, you know, really good friends with her.

And they heard her side of the story. and they weren't as close to Maria. So I think it was twofold. I think it was, oh, Maria's still staying. Like, they were upset about that. And then I think it was also, like, we're losing our friend here. But that night was hard. I mean, I'm not going to lie.

Like, I've since had a conversation with Maria and apologized to her because I wish I spoke up that night. And it's like, you know, you go through this. Everyone has their, like, regrets. But when she walked in, it was silent. And I wish that I had said, like, look, today must have been hard for both of you. But, like, I'm proud of you for getting the rose. And, like, I know Joey made that decision for a reason. She didn't deserve to walk into a silent room.

Like, that wasn't fair to her. Yeah. Yeah, I can imagine that would have been super awkward. Yeah, it was horrible for her. Everyone's like, yeah, because then you walk in and you, you're kind of on this a little bit of a high because at least you're still there and he gives you a rose. And then everybody's like, You guys, it was bad.

Like, it was bad. Like, it was bad. It was bad. It was quiet. It was because, you know, she didn't do anything wrong. She was, she's also dating Joey. So he made the choice and she came back and she didn't deserve to walk into that. So. I never envisioned being with a woman. I'll just be honest.

I'm Jamel Hill, host of the Sports and Politics Podcasts, Spolitics. On this week's episode, I'm joined by basketball legend, Candice Parker. who stops by to discuss her candid new book, The Can Do Mindset, in which she shares why she waited two years into marriage to come out. Like when I close my eyes at night, every night, I was like, I need to find my prince charming. Like it was never a princess. Like that never entered into my mind.

But, you know, as I learned, sometimes life gives you things wrapped in a package that you didn't expect it. And that was just, you know, and honestly, it took me a long time to be okay with myself. Make sure to listen to this week's episode of Spolitics on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, my name is Enya Umanzor.

And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD, Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psycho babble.

Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. My name is Ed. Everyone say hello, Ed. Hello, Ed. I'm from a very rural background myself.

My dad is a farmer and my mom is a cousin. So, like, it's not like... What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that really was my reality nine years ago. I'd just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. On stage stood a comedian

with a story that no one expected to hear. The 22nd of July 2015, a 23-year-old man had killed his family. And then he came to my house. So what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? a new podcast called Wisecrack where stand-up comedy and murder takes center stage.

Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. But then we do see Leia. The Leia Jess calling her a Maria bitch and all the bullshit. Well, I was going to refer to Leia pulled Medina side and said, like, you were so nice to her when she came in? Was that, like, later in the night then? Like, do you think Medina maybe had those same feelings you did? If, like, that was really

awkward. Like, I'm going to go say something to Maria. Just basically saying, like, hey, happy, you're back. You look great. Like, hope your day was good. Here's the thing. Like, yes, she brought up the initial comment. So people could say, like, why is she not still involved? But her and Maria settled it. So at the end of the day, at that point, she was not involved anymore. I think that the description, or maybe what was mis-confused was, like, Leia and Sydney were so close. So I think Leia was standing up for her friend, but Medina didn't really do anything wrong. Like, she were allowed to be friends with multiple people, right? Across different groups.

Like, that's inevitable with 32 women. So I just, again, it was kind of like, why are we still dragging this arm in Spain, you know? Yeah, totally. Who are your friends in the house? I was really good friends with Kelsey A. She's an amazing human. I think Medina's great. Maria, the sisters, Evelyn, Crissa.

I mean, I could go on. Like, just Daisy's wonderful. But, you know, I think obviously you gravitate to certain people. And like Kelsey A, Caitlin, Medina and I were definitely the closest. Got it. Nice. Yeah. I do want to jump back to what you were asking.

Which was? Which was what is your take on the blow up between Jess and? and Maria. It was crazy to watch. And I think there was a lot of built-up emotion. You know, everyone gets that, like, you have the pent-up anger that's, like, week after week after week. And, like, in Malta, Sydney went home.

And Jess and Sydney were such good friends, are such good friends. And, you know, I think Jess and Maria, like, you can go back to kind of night one, right? When Jess kissed him twice, like, there's been, like, people kind of poking the bear. And I think in Spain, it finally just erupted. And Jess obviously called Maria a name. And, you know, I don't think that was warranted at all.

And I do think that they've, they had the opportunity to talk that night. But it was, it was crazy. It was very explosive. Yeah. I would say I feel like as much as there was a lot of Sydney, Maria confrontation, that was like the most heated moment I've seen. Like there was a lot of emotion behind that one. We do see you like console Maria when she's kind of trying to leave. with the Leia drama, you just say, you know, it's okay.

You've been like pushed and pushed and pushed. So like it's okay that you're having a moment. And then we see you make a comment in regards to the Jess and Maria argument where you say, you know, I think there might be some jealousy on Jess aside. Do you think that Maria now getting this attention and reassurance from Joey kind of rubbed some people the wrong way, especially maybe the girls that were friends with Sydney? Yeah, look, I mean, I'm 30. I'm confident in who I am.

If I was on this at 24, I'd be jealous of Maria, too. Like, she's so confident. She's stunning. Like, she's seemingly good at everything. The girl's, like, doing, like, you know, backflips across the stage. Like, she's hilarious. I mean, right? It's intimidating to be in a room with someone like that.

I'm not, I don't know if it was jealousy with Jess or if it was more just, like, the personal feeling, like, personally attacked as her best friend went home because of an output of Maria's action. but I do think, yeah, I think that some of the younger girls in the house, which I hate to say that because this whole season feels like it's been about age. But like I think someone at 24 and someone at 31 are in a different phase of life. And I think sometimes there might have been some jealousy there, just seeing how strong of a connection Maria and Joey had.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Was it at least entertaining? I mean, because you guys don't have anything to do. You guys, I was just eating charcutta. and having sangria, which was great.

As you should be in Spain. It sounds terrible, but yeah, I was, I wasn't, like, entertained by people feeling sad, but I was like, I don't know. It's crazy. No, I get it. Out of, out of the two places so far that you traveled to, which one do you favor? Spain. Well, I love Spain. I took Spanish all through college and, like, I love the culture.

But if I'm thinking about just like the experience there, Malta, because of the date, the one-on-one, I got to see so much of Malta. When Jesse told us Malta, I don't, I don't know if it was dumb or like, I just didn't know where that was. I was just going to ask that you that because like, I feel like no one has even heard of it. I was like, is it a country? Is it a city? Like, where is it located? I was like, are we going to Asia? Like, I didn't know. And so I, he said international and like, I hate flying. It was a whole thing. I was taking in a lot at that moment. But 15 hours to Turkey was like, I thought we were going to Nashville. The rumor in the house was we were going to Nashville. So like I really had to like shift my mind like, oh no, we're going to Turkey like. Anyways, I love Malta.

It's beautiful. It's right below the boo in Sicily. And I feel like, I mean, it was a dream. Yeah. Yeah. When Maria, when they were on their two-on-one, when Maria was like, we're only a 30-minute boat ride from Sicily. I'm like, oh, that's kind of cool. Like, maybe we'll go to Sicily and then we'll go to Malta.

Yeah, you guys should go. Okay, we are going to get into a game with you before we let you go. It's super, it's rapid fire. It's just like all easy, fun questions about you. And yeah, you ready? I guess. Let's do it. Okay.

What is your go-to breakfast? Go-to breakfast is probably an asai bowl. I love them. I like make one every morning. You make it at home? Yeah, I do. I used to buy them, but they're like $20 each. So I was like, this is not fiscally responsible.

So I just get the little packets at all foods and, like, you know, like put the granola and some fruit. Oh, my gosh. So cute. What is your favorite color to wear? Green, which I mean, perfect. Do you green eyes? They're like green blue. I don't know.

They kind of change with my emotion sometimes. People would say that. Like if I cry, they get more green and then if I'm angry. Oh, my gosh. It's like a Disney character. Yeah. What's your favorite season? My favorite season, I mean typical answer, but fall, I love the fall and everything that comes

with it. Halloween is my favorite holiday. Halloween, Javier holiday? I love Halloween. I know that that's so rare. It is rare. I just, I love like spooky things and I know it's like leading up to Thanksgiving. I don't know. I love health. No, I love that. Is that weird? No, it's not weird at all. I just feel like. I mean, we love Halloween. Yeah. I just don't like dressing up, but I love the, I You love spooky season. Yeah, I love the... Like, we'll get like fall candles and like... Yeah, like passing out candy.

Like, you know, Christmas is on its way. Yeah. It's a good time. What is a big green flag for you? Good relationship with their family. What's a relationship deal breaker for you? A relationship deal breaker would be someone who cheats for sure or someone who's not driven in their career. or I shouldn't even say their career, but like not passionate about what they're doing in their life.

What's your dream vacation destination? I want to go to Japan so badly. We are saying maybe this we might go. Joe's been. I've been. It's amazing. Is it amazing? Yeah.

We want to try to go this year. Probably nearly near the end of year. Maybe September-ish. We'll see. We'll see if it happens. I'm hoping it does. Yeah. Cross my fingers.

What's one thing on your bucket list? I think on the bucket list would be, I really want to run like a marathon or a triathlon just because when I was originally diagnosed with like all my health stuff, they were like, you probably won't be able to do like extreme sports or anything that's really hard on your body anymore, which like growing up playing sports, that was devastating for me to hear and I kind of want to prove my doctor's wrong and be like, even though I like, because it's a long time and hard on your body. So they're worried it might like exasperate my symptoms or make me feel like a lot worse with my back so i kind of want to like run one and then give my doctor

like my like bib to put in there off yeah you should do it if you if you could run it anywhere would you want to run uh probably new york joe did the new york marathon this past yes yeah it was it's they say it's they it's intense i don't know that they say new york's one of the harder courses um but yeah it was very rewarding i did on the right under four hours so i was three 358, 358, yeah. And I did not run it. I was going to say, did you run you? No.

You hold one of the signs. I did. I had a sign that said, run, Joe, run. I love it. What is, or do you have any tattoos? I do not, but I'm not opposed to them. I just haven't found the right thing. Yeah.

What's your favorite physical quality of Joey's? Physical quality, his eyes. I feel like everyone probably says that, but not even just since the color. like they're very kind. Yeah. What is your or who is your go to when you need advice? My best friend, Megan. She's my first friend I made when I made to the United States and she's more like a sister. What is your favorite beauty product at the moment? I know. So I'm struggling to read that. I'm like, wait, what does this say? I know the answer to this one. The elf lip oil because on the show all the girls use the Dior one, but it's so expensive. And I just can't justify that.

So the elf one's like $9 and it's amazing. Oh my God. That's a good dude. Not to do a product placement. No, let me see. I love my team. That's why elf is blown up because of this. Yeah.

Because of the oil. Good job, Joe. We were just talking about Elf the other day. Clarence has a good dupe for it as well. What is your favorite memory of your time on the show? My favorite memory would be the dinner. with Joey. It was one, just like an incredibly beautiful setting. And then it was something, like, it was something I didn't even know it was possible to have in a relationship. Like, his reaction

really changed how I view dating and myself. That's amazing. And then to end it off, can you give us a teaser for what's to come this season? I think what's to come this season. I think, you know, obviously it's a very romantic season. I think Joey has an incredible cast of women. So there's going to be stronger relationships starting to form. And I think with that comes heightened emotions, obviously some drama, you know, that's continuing from previous episodes. But I really think the rest of the season

is just going to focus on the love stories. And, yeah, just hopeful that Joey, he's very deserving to find his person. And hopefully everyone gets to watch that come to life. Nice. Amazing. Lexi, thank you so much for coming on, I bet your happy hour.

Thank you guys for having me. Of course. And thank you to all our listeners for joining us. And of course, a big thank you to our listeners. Make sure to subscribe. We have new episodes of Happy Hour every single week with exclusive interviews and episode recaps all season long.

Thanks for listening. Bye. Bye. Hi, my name is Enya Yumanzoor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, We're not the podcast for you

But if you have unmedicated ADHD Oh my God, perfect And want to hear people with mental illness Psycho babble Yes, yes Then Emergency Intercom's the podcast for you Open your free IHeartRadio app Search Emergency Intercom

And listen now I just normally do straight stand up But this is a bit different What do you get when a true crime producer Walks into a comedy club Answer A new podcast called Wisecrack Where a comedian

finds himself at the center of a chilling true crime story. Does anyone know what show they've come to see? It's a story. It's about the scariest night of my life. This is Wisecrack, available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth?

Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced. He said, you are a number, a New York State number, and we own you. Listen to shock incarceration on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.