Bachelor Happy Hour - Jesse Palmer: Frogs, Meatballs, and Love on the Beach

Episode Date: June 24, 2025

Today on “Happy Hour,” we’re sitting down with the one and only Jesse Palmer to discuss all things “Paradise” with the iconic host giving us the inside scoop on the brand-new iteration of the fan favorite series. We kick things off with a food recap from Joe and Serena’s trip to Canada, if you’re looking for recs, Jesse has ’em all! Then, we get into his experience in “Paradise” and taking in all the newness of Costa Rica. Are we in for THE most entertaining season yet? We think so! Jesse dishes on the luxurious location, the instant connections among the cast, and so much more. If you’re looking for a peek into this year’s love on the beach, tune in now to hear all this and so much more! Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious. Wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, luckily, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend's been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone.

Now, hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That seems inappropriate. Maybe find out how it ends by listening to the OK Storytime Podcasts and the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, West West, Prop here from Hood Politics with Prop Podcasts. You know I get down. You come from the urban areas.

You understand politics more than you giving credit for it. Between Jerry out here, Mandarin all over the place, hop-out boys snatching up family members and two wars that was supposed to be done in 24 hours. Not to mention Epstein, we had to reach out to the homie Jamil Hill because she going to keep it a century. The American public is used to be. being entertained. We're a consumption society. So what Trump

figured out is entertain them and they'll never question you. Listen to the Hood Politics with Prop Podcasts on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. How serious is youth vaping? Irreversible lung damage serious. One in ten kids vape

serious, which warrants a serious conversation from a serious parental figure like yourself. Not the seriously know-it-all sports dad or the seriously smart podcaster? It requires a serious conversation that is best had by you. No, seriously. The best person to talk to your child about vaping is you.

To start the conversation, visit talk about vaping.org. Brought to you by the American Lung Association and the Ad Council. Culture eats strategy for breakfast, right? On a recent episode of Culture Raises Us, I was joined by Belisha Butterfield, media founder, political strategist, and tech powerhouse for a powerful conversation on storytelling, impact, and the intersections of culture and leadership. I am a free black woman. From the Obama White House to Google to the Grammys,

Valicia's journey is a masterclass in shifting culture and using your voice to spark change. Listen to Culture raises us on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jamel Hill, host of the Sports and Politics Podcasts, and on the latest episode of Spolitics, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries joins me for a candid conversation about the state of the Democratic Party.

What do Republicans say to you privately that they won't say publicly? Many of them are in fear of their political lives. We continue to say to them, you were elected to defend your constituents and there's life after Congress. Make sure to listen to this episode of Politics on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, everyone, welcome back to Bachelor Happy Hour. I'm Joe. And I'm Serena. We are here with the one and only Jesse Palmer.

Jesse, welcome to Bachelor Happy Hour. Thanks, guys. It's great to see you. How are we doing? We're good. How are you? I'm great. I'm formerly sunburnt. It's now turned into a lot of aloeira and it's turning into a peeling tan. Nice. Nice. Who needs to pay for a chemical peel when you can just go to Costa Rica for three weeks and burn your skin off? That's true. Yes. Just exfoliate. Everything is off. It's a fresh. It's like a, I feel like a snake. I've just like peeled off my last, my last, uh,

speed of skin due to excessive sun in paradise but it's great it's good to be good to be home well I'm trying to think when the last time we had you on this podcast it was for whose season it might it might have been like Clayton season I think no way last time yeah but that was my first that was your first season yeah I know it's been that long it's crazy we must have had you on since then maybe grants or maybe Zach's season maybe yeah maybe Zach's I feel like on on social I'm always like texting and like messaging with you guys about food wherever you guys are traveling.

I'm always like keeping up with you guys that way. Yeah, we were just in your hometown, right, Montreal? Back in Montreal, I know, I know. It sounded like that was quite the adventure. It was to say the least. But it was exciting. I haven't been to Montreal since I was, oh gosh. I mean, other than like I was there one night for work really quick.

But I, the last moment for like a weekend, I was like 18, I think. So it was more fun this. time not more fun but different going like with money a lot of you know it's funny too because a lot of people love to go to montreal when they're 18 because for forever growing up the legal age for drinking was 18 in quebec so that's when everybody would go i'm glad you finally went back and it sounds like you guys ate something pretty amazing you guys went to joe beef we went to joe beef what do you think about that restaurant it was it was i thought it was great so strong yeah if anybody out there was ever thinking about going to montreal that's a place you absolutely have to go go and the lobster pasta is what they're absolutely most known for you guys did you try that joe no we didn't know that i didn't know that's what they were known for it was text oh i know i texted you after we saw it after we left yeah we were like oh shoot but we saw the girls at the table next to us get it and i was like oh shoot that looks really good really really good how did you feel about they have a giant blackboard there with all of like the menu written on it it's in french though

How did you get, did that dissuade you that scare you? We weren't, we were not in that room. No, there's like two rooms. I don't know if you've been there. I think they opened up a new room and we were in the new one. Yeah. It's like connected. Yeah.

Okay, good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe Liverpool House too is like the restaurant right next door, but they also have the same menu. That place is, I'm so happy you at least got to go there and do that. I'm actually going back in two weeks. I'm taking Emily and Alice. So I'm already having, like, I'm trying to put my whole restaurant list together.

Yeah, no, it was great. We ate really well. And I was saying to Joe, I feel like Canadian cuisine, A, is just underrated in general. I feel like it gets so limited to, like, just putteen. But I feel like we do do, like, Canadian cuisine really well. And I feel like it ties really well with, like, farm to table cuisine. Like, trying to describe it, I was like, I feel like Canada does really well with, like, great veggie dishes. Well, there's a lot of fun.

in the restaurant itself. Like all the restaurants are very unique and they all are really pretty inside and everything's like meticulous. Very thoughtful, yeah. It's a good point. Yeah, it's really, they are great experiences,

especially, again, the summertime. I just feel like for whatever reason, I know restaurants all over the world do this, but I feel like in Canada, everybody's like a forager. You know what I mean? Yeah. Everybody goes like in their back out

because everyone lives in a forest or at least there's like a forest nearby. You could kind of go and get herbs and get like berries and get like berries. or get things, and they can, like, incorporate that into the Canadiana menu that you guys are eating. That's really cool. Yeah, you're both lucky, though, because obviously Toronto, Serena, I know is like, that's just

such a great food city itself. And so, you know, getting a chance to kind of do that in Montreal and Vancouver, obviously is great, but all across Canada's is good, too. So I'm glad you guys at least got to enjoy a little bit while you were there. Yeah. This is, this is Bachelor Happy Hour, brought to you by Food Network. That's right. That's right.

So, okay, before we pivot, I will say this is kind of a hot take. When it comes to lobster pastas, I'm not a fan of like a half, like a hard shell piece of lobster in the dish. I don't. Well, I think your issue is not the lobster pasta. You don't like having to like crack a lobster, period. Do you know what I mean? Like if it was like, I don't mind cracking a lobster. I just don't want it in my pasta.

Oh, I stand corrected. I'm kind of with Joe in that one. Like I don't want to shell in my dick. Like it's taking up half my bowl. Yeah. Just like remove the meat and then put it in the pasta. Cut it up. Here's a question for you.

Do you care if it's a claw meat or do you want the tail? I wouldn't care about that. That I wouldn't care. But I'm also not, I'm not, I don't really know the difference. If I'm going to be completely honest, I just, I just kind of said I don't care because I didn't want to sound like an idiot. But I don't know. I don't know the difference. We just don't want extra stuff.

I'm with you too. Just pick the show. It looks cool, I guess. But anyways, you really want this thing. Sometimes it's the head of the lobster just like staring at you. Yeah.

We can get rid of the eyes. Yeah, I agree. Let's break down Paradise just like in like, so you've been there now. You've hosted it. Same place we've been Cellulita. And now we've completely changed venues. kind of just like your initial thoughts getting there,

how's it different, everything. Yeah. What was your thoughts before you went when they told you like, hey, you did two seasons, Tell you Leta, the format has been kind of the same this whole time, and now we're switching it up with all these new additions. How did you feel about that?

I was super stoked because I was excited about the new of it all, the newness. And some of that is scary, obviously, because when things are going to be new and unfamiliar, or you're sort of not really sure how it's going to work out. So I probably didn't feel quite as comfortable going into this one just because of how new everything was. Costa Rica is amazing.

I'd only been there once before. That was on Gary's season of the Golden Bachelor. But we were in a completely different region for that. We were more inland by a volcano. Paradise is literally on the beach right up against the jungle. So it sort of has two different vibes and feels to it. it. Costa Rica Paradise is way harder to get to than cellulata paradise than OG BIP. Yeah. I mean, it's a six-hour flight from L.A. You've got to drive two hours. And then sort of you're

there. So it takes like a full day to sort of finally get settled and get set in. But dude, Costa Rica was awesome. And if you love animals, it's incredible because there are so many different species of wildlife that you encounter every single day at work. So obviously, but it was like iguana land. There are massive iguanas. The roof next to where I was staying, every morning I would walk by to go get breakfast. And it was like the parliament of iguanas. There was like 14 of them on the roof, giant ones, just kind of looking around.

We had like howler monkeys climbing up. trees like where i was staying yeah we saw those who we were there it was cool it was so cool and there was like there was like i call them joker crabs because there's these little crabs that were like purple and green and orange running around uh which was amazing massive frogs massive not not like i mean like like the size of my face frog yeah and because and the crazy part is is you know we're filming in rainy season so every day we get these crazy tropical torrential downpours and the frogs just like come out of nowhere and you're just walking around

sloshing and there's these massive frogs. I was in the control room during one shoot and I'm not joking. I was just sitting there with the producers and we're kind of watching all the reality and everything that's going on and somebody threw a meatball. Like we were just eating

and someone threw like a meatball at me. It was like a joke and it like hit me in the lap and I'm like, dude, that's crazy. Someone in here in the dark just threw food at me and I looked down and it wasn't a meatball. It was a frog. And the frog, the frog jumped, like, it jumped from, like, the ceiling and landed in my lap and then was, like, sitting in between my feet. It was, like, in the control room.

It was insane to everywhere. Yeah. But that's less crazy than just some random producer of launching a meatball. Totally. What's actually crazy is that that's where your head went immediately as someone starting a food fight in the control room. And I don't know why my mind went to the meatball and I were back on food again. Like, it could have been literally anything. It could have been, like, this coffee thing.

It could have been anything. Well, probably saved like weight. It felt like a meatball. Yeah, I was like, it felt like Joe's, you know, Joe's Nona just threw a meatball at me. Could see any of the lap. Yeah, I don't know. It was a fraud.

Anyways, the animals were great. Costa Rica is amazing. The people were fantastic. It was hot as it was so hot. It was humid. It was rainy season. But it was, it was like, it was sexy because we had the beach and water you could actually swim in.

Like the old bachelor in Paris, I thought you weren't really allowed to go out there. because there was rocks and cliffs and everything. This water, it's like you could totally in the morning go in. It was super warm. And then on the other side of it all, you had the jungle. So kind of like the mystery and the danger and all the crazy stuff, whatever was in there too. It was the, I loved it.

Once we got settled in, it was amazing. That's really cool. And I'm excited to see how the nature element plays a new role because I feel like just comparing like Salilita, other than the crabs, literally everywhere, there wasn't a ton of wildlife. Like we were very much on the beach And then you couldn't really go in the water There was always like current issues And stuff like that

So like having like that beach component That's active and swimmable In the jungle and the wildlife Like I feel like that in itself Is going to add a different feel All right, West West Prop here from Hood Politics with Prop Podcast You already know our get-down

If you grew up in our urban areas A comfort of struggle You understand politics much more than you giving credit for Feds taking over American cities, government hop-out boys, hopping out the van, snatching up your theo in them, two wars that was supposed to be solved in 24 hours. Jerry just out here mandering all over the place, the turfs, and of course, the Epstein of it all. Well, this week we decided to shoot our shot, and boy, did we pull up from the logo,

to see if we could get somebody to come tap in with us, and the one and only Jamil Hill pulled up from the Spolitics podcast to keep it a whole century. Because in America, what sells in politics are narratives and storylines. It's like we treat politics like we treat sports, which is part of the reason why we're in the situation we're in right now. Listen to the hood Politics with Prop Podcasts on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Get fired up, y'all.

Season 2 of Good Game with Sarah Spain is underway. We just welcomed one of my favorite people and an incomparable soccer icon, Megan Rapino to the show, and we had a blast. We talked about her recent 40th birthday celebrations, co-hosting a podcast with her fiancé Sue Bird, watching former teammates retire and more. Never a dull moment with Pino. Take a listen. What do you miss the most about being a pro athlete?

The final. The final. And the locker room. I really, really, like, you just, you can't replicate. You can't get back. Showing up to locker room every morning just to shit talk. We've got more incredible guests like the legendary Candice Park. and college superstar A. Z. Fudd.

I mean, seriously, y'all. The guest list is absolutely stacked for season two. And, you know, we're always going to keep you up to speed on all the news and happenings around the women's sports world as well. So make sure you listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. I always had to be so good, no one could ignore me.

Carve my path with data and drive. but some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling, the limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves.

Find resources for breaking through barriers at tailorpapaparcealing.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council. I'm Jamil Hill, host of the Sports and Politics podcast's politics. And on the latest episode of politics, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries joins me for a candid conversation about the state of the Democratic Party. What do Republicans say to you privately that they won't say publicly? Many of them are in fear of their political lives. And that's been part of the challenge. But we continue to say to them, you were elected

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Have you ever wished for a change but weren't sure how to make it? Maybe you felt stuck in a job, a place, or even a relationship. I'm Emily Tish Sussman, and on she pivots, I dive into the inspiring pivots of women who have taken big leaps in their lives and careers. I'm Gretchen Whitmer, Jody Sweeten, Monica Patton, Elaine Welteroth. I'm Jessica Voss. And that's when I was like, I got to go. I don't know how, but that kicked off the pivot of how to make the transition.

Learn how to get comfortable pivoting because your life is going to be full of them. Every episode gets real about the why behind these changes and gives you the inspiration and maybe the push to make your next pivot. Listen to these women and more on She Pivots now on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. How is filming during rainy season? That's what I was going to ask. Did you have to take a lot of breaks? Sometimes fine. stopdowns.

It was like severe. And you remember like at the old paradise, too, if there's a lightning strike, everything has to stop and you have to go in. And so that was similar here as well. You know, you were just saying this. And, you know,

the property was beautiful. I feel like we had more spaces to, to film in. There were like, there were just different scenes kind of set up around paradise where cast could kind of be. It wasn't just like the bar with Wells or there's like a like a beach chair down the beach.

And that's kind of like it. Like there's one on one end, one on the other end. I think there was a lot of different places people could go. So a lot of different scenery around as well. And so we just kind of made it work. You know, all you can do is just kind of shoot around it and just sort of you're at the mercy of Mother Nature. But, you know, I think everybody took it well.

I think, you know, I know the cast loved it so much more. I think people like Kat, who had been on a previous bachelor in Paradise, you know, going from a room that you're sharing with like four other women to having a room that you only have to share with one other person and there's air conditioning and there's a swim out pool and all the things. I mean, they're, I think their setup was a lot better this time around. I'm excited to talk with her and like Justin Glaze, like people that have done now both settings and like hear about their different experiences. For sure. They looked a lot more rested. And like Kat was always telling me, she's like, I can wear dresses to these cocktail

parties. I can totally get dressed up. I feel more comfortable things that, you know, you couldn't necessarily wear before because you might not shower for seven days. Yeah. No, I forgot about that. There was actually a lot of stuff I packed that I was like, I can't wear this because I'm going to sweat through it. Do you think that matters though? Do you think because our conditions weren't as luxurious it made for it contributed to the drama yeah better TV I guess or do you think it's just I wonder about that a lot I think there's like there's this sliding scale

because on one end to your point it's like you have to get mentally tough very early on but that can be emotionally exhausting after a while and then maybe that lends itself to more drama or better TV I also think past morale is an important thing though you know and we've all been, you know, we've been there, we've done it. I remember, you know, being The Bachelor and just, you know, you want to feel, you need to feel arrested, you need to feel taken care of. You want to feel like people are trying to put you in positions that, you know, you're

wearing what you want to wear, you know, you're getting enough downtime and rest, you're eating so that you can just sort of be at your best all the time. And so I think it's that fine line, right, where, you know, people are obviously going to put themselves into some difficult situations and you have to let that play out too. you also have to take care of the humans. And I feel like on paradise this year, I think we definitely did that. That's a great point. Something we've never actually talked about on here is cast morale.

Because thinking back to my time on the show, like, sure, the first seven days we were there, I probably got like two hours of sleep a night and I was irritable and maybe a little bit more snippy. But then I would like try to film chats with Abigail. And I'd be like, Abigail, are you awake? Like, come on. Like, we have to get this done. You're killing me here.

But everyone was just so dead. And I feel like, you know, you get stuff from that. But then you also get a lot of good stuff from people that are like, I feel my best. I'm going to go put myself out there. I'm going to talk to this guy. I'm feeling sexy. I'm feeling energized. So there are like the pros and cons.

And this is sort of like not trying to break the fourth wall here too. It's such a good point you make. And, you know, focusing on the cast and how they're doing. It's also the crew to those, the people filming the shows. Like in the old paradise, we all stayed in. hour away from from saliolita where we were filming so we would do a roast ceremony at like four o'clock and if there was lightning maybe that got pushed and you don't get done until five o'clock now you're loading into a van and you're driving back with like 10 other sweaty people an hour

away to go to sleep to wake up three hours later to get back in the same van drive down an hour and film again i think for the crew too i think everybody just was sort of just in better shape throughout filming this and so it'll be interesting to see I mean I think I think the morale of everybody of everybody was really high I know certainly it was for the cast

because having done two Paradise Seasons and Sal Yolita like that was brutal for a lot of people it was incredible television but man I mean that was that was what a month of filming out of all the first day

cast that's on this show everyone knows who they are now who were you most surprised to see happy or shocked or any feelings towards the the first day cast? Yeah, I was really excited to meet Dale. I had never met Dale before. Of course, I'd seen him on Claire's season, and obviously

he's a huge story in Bachelorette Lord, if you will, for obvious reasons. But he was really the only person. There may have been like just one or two people who I personally didn't know from a season that I had hosted before the other was Kyle from Katie's season. Everybody else I was familiar with, I was really excited because, you know, you know, before the cast got announced,

I kind of felt like, okay, we'll probably have one or two big names, and that's kind of where the story will drive, like, early on. But, I mean, you can go through the list. I think, you know, Alex from Grant's season, obviously Dale, we talked about, I think Jeremy from Justice season, Jonathan from Jesse season, Justin coming back, having been in Paradise before, Kat, obviously, a big name too.

from Joey's season, Sam from Jen season. Well, you got them all, how? Even Zoe from Grant season. I mean, there was, there was like a lot, like, I feel like, like, to give you like an awful football analogy, I feel like there were like several first and second round picks. Like, you know what I mean coming into this where it's like, you were like, there's like a lot of, a lot of big names. And like, I don't, you know, I don't know who's going to who's going to pair up early or what,

what the story's going to be or how the chemistry is going to be between. everybody. It was really, really interesting where I feel like in years past, at least the previous two seasons, like day one, when I'm in the control room and I'm there with the producers, and I'm sort of watching all the cameras because you're kind of following all these individual stories and couples. You're kind of just focusing on one or two screens. Here, there was like multiple people where you just always wanted to kind of try to keep tabs on everything happening. So I was really excited on day one, especially with the arrivals and and just seeing how everything was going to interact.

Because I felt like we had a lot of big names show up early. It wasn't necessarily staggered like we've done it in the past. We kind of just threw a bunch of big names in there right away and just kind of let what happened happen. Yeah, Joe and I were talking about this. And we totally agree, like a great starting cast, I feel like taking that year off gave them kind of their pick of the litter of who they wanted.

They had so many options of these like single Bachelor Nation alumni. on top of that it felt like a really small starting cast like there's only I think like six women that are going down so they're definitely just being more selective I don't know what it's been the past few years but our season there was like 13 women on day one like it was a big starting cast so it feels like they're being a little bit more like intentional with their choices yeah I think so too and I think that was a big part obviously having taken a year off I think they really had a chance to kind of go through the casting talk to them you know, really find out, you know, about them and what, you know, like you said, their intentions coming into this and really try to orchestrate and put that together. It was, it was concentrated. It's true. But I think that like they're, the one thing I remember from day one and day two, I remember talking to Wells and Hannah about this. People were just kind of like pairing up and going off and walking and finding a place to sit and talk.

They really got into it faster than at least. the two seasons I hosted, where it was like, everyone hanging around the bar, it's like a big cluster of people that kind of floats around Paradise, and then maybe two people break off, but no, everyone's afraid to make the first move. Everyone's afraid, like, you know, there's also really nowhere to go. Like, you just always are in that contained area. Maybe someone gets pulled for an ITM. I felt like, you know, without having to tell them to do anything, people just sort of started

talking to each other. They went, they got in the pool, they went over to, by the beach. they went for a walk like they just kind of interesting yeah like the people I think had had good intentions coming into this to like make this work

and so they started they started paradising very quickly if that makes any sense yeah and that makes sense too when you say they're like the old paradise that first day there really isn't nowhere to go so if you do like

if you're courageous and you like step out and pull someone everyone on the beach is watching and judging you and they're kind of like, oh. All right, West West, Prop here from Hood Politics with Prop Podcasts. You already know our get-down. If you grew up in our urban areas

of comfort of struggle, you understand politics much more than you giving credit for. Feds taking over American cities, government hop-out boys, hopping out the van, snatching up your Theo and them, two wars that was supposed to be solved

in 24 hours. Jerry just out here, mandering all over the place. The turfs. And of course, The Epstein of it all. Well, this week, we decided to shoot our shot, and boy, did we pull up from the logo to see if we could get somebody to come tap in with us. And the one and only Jamil Hill pulled up from this politics podcast to keep it a whole century.

The American public is used to being entertained. We're a consumption society. So what Trump figured out is entertain them, and they'll never question you. Listen to the hood politics with prop podcasts on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Get fired up, y'all. Season two of Good Game with Sarah Spain is underway. We just welcomed one of my favorite people and an incomparable soccer icon,

Megan Rapino to the show, and we had a blast. We talked about her recent 40th birthday celebrations, co-hosting a podcast with her fiancée Sue Bird, watching former teammates retire and more. Never a dull moment with Pino. Take a listen. What do you miss the most about being a pro athlete? The final.

The final. And the locker room. I really, really, like, you just, you can't replicate, you can't get back, showing up to the locker room every morning just to shit talk. We've got more incredible guests like the legendary Candace Parker and college superstar AZ Fudd. I mean, seriously, y'all, the guest list is absolutely stacked for season two. And, you know, we're always going to keep you up to speed on all the news and happenings around the women's sports world as well. So make sure you listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever. get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. How serious is youth vaping? Irreversible lung damage serious. One in ten kids vape serious, which warrants a serious conversation from a serious parental figure, like yourself. Not the seriously know-at-all sports dad or the seriously smart podcaster. It requires a serious conversation that is best had by you. No, seriously.

The best person to talk to your child about vaping is you. To start the conversation, visit Talk Aboutvaping.org, brought to you by the American Lung Association and the Ad Council. I never envisioned being with a woman. I'll just be honest. I'm Jamel Hill, host of the Sports and Politics Podcasts, Politics. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Have you ever wished for a change but weren't sure how to make it? Maybe you felt stuck in a job, a place, or even a relationship. I'm Emily Tish Sussman, and on she pivots, I dive into the inspiring pivots of women who have taken big leaps in their lives and careers. I'm Gretchen Whitmer, Jody Sweeten.

Monica Patton. Elaine Welter-A. I'm Jessica Voss. And that's when I was like, I got to go. I don't know how, but that kicked off the pivot of how to make the transition. Learn how to get comfortable pivoting because your life is going to be full of them. Every episode gets real about the why behind these changes and gives you the inspiration and maybe the push to make your next pivot. Listen to these women and more on She Pivots now on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

People don't get brave until nightfall. Yeah. And they feel like they're in disguise a little bit. And it's like, you can't see everything. Like, you're so right. It's like there's that learning curve day, usually of like everyone trying to get their sea legs. So I do love to hear that they just like took off with a bang and went for it.

You know, as the host, you know, I kind of walk out. I'm like, hey, everybody, welcome to paradise. We're here in Costa Rica. This is great. All right. You know, on this journey, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Have fun, guys. You know, bars open.

Wells is waiting for it. And it was just like, and just people just started scattering and find. hiding each other. So that was, that felt really, really good. And I don't feel like we had to waste any time. We just got right into it. I wonder if that was a result of maybe the smaller cast. I feel like, you know, Joe and I were like, he was second to the beach. I was poor. So we were there very early in the day. And I feel like sometimes the energy is like, well, I don't want to pull someone because what if someone's like, what if someone else comes down that I like? And like, people are coming down literally all day. Smaller cast for sure. Smaller cast makes it more intimate.

Yeah, it's like there's six girls. You don't have a choice. I know I'm only maybe into three. Let me chat with them. I like this one best. Pull, like it kind of streamlines all of it. Yeah. I think also it was intentional.

I think in the way we shot this one too. I think one of the things I'm really excited for people to see about this paradise. I think it's going to look entirely different. The show creative is a little bit different this year. But also I think the cameras that were used and sort of the, the way it's shot, I think, is going to look a lot different. I'm not a director, so I can't speak to, like, specifics of all this stuff, but I know we used different cameras.

And I think what it allowed us to do in some ways was actually shoot intimate scenes, but from further away. So if you and Joe, he pulls you and you guys are off to on the beach somewhere, there's like two cameras jammed in your face, and you're trying to have this serious talk about, you know, what do you hope to get out of Paris? and maybe you're going to lean in for your first kiss and it kind of like makes it awkward. I think we could sort of shoot further away from people and still, you know, but the cameras

were able to catch obviously everything that was happening, but it didn't make them feel like they were all jammed up. And I think that also helped our cast kind of loosen up a little bit more. I know, I think that was a cognizant choice that was made going into this year was, we're already going to have more space, we're going to have less people, but let's really make them feel like they have space and that we're not just we're not just you know we're constantly just all over them all the time they feel like they can't breathe and so um there there's a stylistic way that this season was shot I think you're going to see it right away from the very very first

arrival it it looks totally different well it's about time I mean Jesus Christ think they could spend some money I mean this has been this has been years we've been using these jacked-up cameras Joe. That's true. Like everyone talks about it. Like everyone that's like in the industry has always said like the bachelor cameras are like much older. How was the Hannah Brown edition? How is she?

Amazing. Amazing. So, you know, Hannah, Hannah is such an incredible personality who's never afraid to tell it like it is. I think having her perspective there also was really unique. So Hannah is the head of Paradise Relations. That's sort of her official title in Paradise. But she sort of wears more like different hats. She helps set up dates.

She curates dates for people. She's there for advice. She's popping champagne for people. She's just sort of, Hannah's sort of all knowing all around all the time. And I think having, as big a name as her and someone who's obviously beloved in in Bastro Nation, I think having her in Paradise and getting that perspective from her also, I think, really added a lot.

It was really, really great having her there every single day. And she's someone that the cast just loves. Like a lot of the people are like massive, like huge head of breath. Everybody loves Wells. Everyone loves Wells. Like everybody loves Wells. But they're people who like love.

They're fan-gurling. They're fan-girling on the show. Yeah, reading her books. Like, it brought her books to Paradise to read. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. We were comparing Hannah to the manager from season one of the White Lotus. Yeah.

We're like, you're the new manager of Paradise. Yeah, yeah. It was great. It was so cool. And it was great getting to know her, too, because I obviously knew who she was, but I didn't know her personally so well. And obviously, her, Wells, and I got to hang out a lot throughout Paradise. We took Wells out for his birthday.

We tried to find dinners like whenever we could. And then Hannah's Beyonce came down as well and visited. Adam's great. So we all got to know each other pretty well. It was really, it was great, great addition, I have to say. That was, that was fantastic, creative. Nice. Last thing we got to talk about before we let you go, the golden people.

How is that? Yeah, what can you tell us? How did that work? I think that's like the big question on so many people's minds is like, how is this going to work with the golden cast? Yes. So it was one of the things I was most excited about because I've gotten to know them very well, obviously, through the Golden Bachelor and Golden Bachelorette. And I think I was always hopeful and aware of the value they could add to Paradise. So, you know, I was off camera and on camera telling a lot of the younger cast like, hey, when they show up, you need to pick their brains.

You can't just, don't just hang out and have drinks with them, but like ask them questions about relationships, ask them questions about life, ask them questions about life outside of this, like really get in their minds because the greatness of the Goldens is that they don't care. Like they're at an age now where they've lived their life. They do not care what people at home think anymore. They're not using this. They're not trying to be influencers after the show's over. Like they've lived their life. They've done their thing. And, you know, they're just trying to have fun.

And they were super excited. But the direction when the Golden's arrive is sort of like, hey, like, you know, we obviously have two completely different generations here in paradise. And, you know, we're encouraging you to sort of stay in your generational lane when it comes to dating. Obviously, I can't tell anybody who to love and who not to love. That's not my job. in 2025, you know, you can't, you can't tell anybody that. But, you know, just like, just don't make it weird. Okay.

Totally. Don't make it fair. I think, honestly, I think that's fair. Yeah. So it's like that that was kind of it. And they're great. And I'll say this. And this will be probably a surprise to a lot of people at home.

It's not, it's not to me because I've been around them. But it was, it's actually the Goldens, who I think infused the most energy. in the show. And I'm not taking a shot at the young piece. I'm not taking a shot at a younger cast. But after a couple days of shooting,

you kind of start getting comfortable, you know, you start coupling up and everybody doesn't, it feels like they're kind of like they're off edge a little bit. The Goldens bring it every single day. Yeah.

When they filmed Golden Bachelor and Bachelorette, they were like, these guys had way more energy than the usual cast. the night one at the mansion on golden bachelor and golden bachelorette is a bigger party and it actually goes later than the younger bachelor and bachelorette if you can believe that they go so hard like the parties at the pool in paradise it was all it was like it was the golden's like turning it up they turned up every day i wonder what it is bit speak it's you know you're born in the the fifties and 60s times were harder like you had to work longer hours, like, things were tougher. Nowadays, everyone's just, you know, we got it, we got it easy.

You know, I think there's an argument for and against that point. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I've just, yeah, they can hang more. They can hang. Like, like, the makeout sessions in the pool and the body shots. No, not body shots. It was broke, sucking face

in the pool and body shots. It was the goldness. I'm telling you, just watch. Just watch. it was unbelievable it was unbelievable well okay well Jesse thank you so much for taking the time out of your day you can let everyone know where to follow you on Instagram

I'm kidding I don't even know my own handle I think it's Jesse follower I'm totally kidding everyone knows who you are who listens to this podcast Jesse thank you so much we really appreciate it yeah thank you so much great seeing you both

great seeing you too We're, yeah, we're happy to hear you're back in L.A. Back with the wife in Ella. Yeah, no, yeah. It's good. Well, I hope, and let's not wait so long the next time we do one of these. Yep. 100%.

You're welcome back whenever. We'll have to have you back during the season to get your thoughts on all the chaos. And you'll be like, oh, yeah, you're right. The goldens. Yeah. They're stuck in face. You're like, damn it, it wasn't lying. It's going to be good.

And to all our listeners, thank you so much for tuning in to Bachelor Happy Hour. Make sure you download and subscribe to. the podcast. We have new and exclusive interviews coming your way as we tee up for the new season of Batcham Paradise. Thanks for listening. Bye.