Bachelor Happy Hour - Joan Vassos Responds to HGTV Drama, Plus: Jonathon Johnson Dishes on His New Relationship | Golden Hour

Episode Date: April 16, 2026

Today on “Golden Hour,” Joan Vassos and Jonathon Johnson are filling in for Kathy and Susan, and we have so much to dive into. We kick things off by spilling all the tea from behind the scenes of HGTV’s “Bachelor Mansion Takeover.” Who did Joan beef with? And what does she have to say about Noah’s comments on last week’s “Golden Hour” episode? Then, Jonathon gives us all the details on his new relationship—from his girlfriend’s reality TV experience to how they got together, he’s telling all!Plus, Joan and Jonathon dive into some piping-hot Bachelor Nation news; from Ashley Iaconetti’s marriage troubles with Jared to Rachel Recchia and Lexi Young standing up to harsh online criticism, we’re catching you up on everything you might have missed. Tune in now and be sure to subscribe!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Now on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Julian Edelman, host of games with names. On our latest episode, we got comedian, Blake Anderson from Workaholics and the hilarious. This is Important Podcast. Let's go. We did beat them in improv. You had an improv against the show? team? Yes, we would pull up their schools would be there with signs for us. It's competition.

What you would win is a bottle of gold slager. James Fester threw it out of a van because he didn't want us drinking it. For more games with names, visit the Iheart Radio app or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back to Golden Hour, guys. I am Jonathan. And I'm Joan. We're filling in this week for Kathy and Susan. Unfortunately, they couldn't be here, but that just gives us a chance to app a little bit. You know what? We haven't talked in a long time. I think we need to catch up on each other's lives. Yeah. I mean, first things first, I haven't talked to you since you did your HD TV show. Oh, true. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right? So I'm just on it off. I get a few questions about it because I'm actually a little curious. I have a lot to say. So, question away. Okay, perfect. Yeah, well,

let's jump into it. Obviously, and this is a more like broad spectrum question, but the audience knows, obviously you were the golden bachelorette. And then really the first time we've seen you in another show since. So I guess more or less, what shocked you more actually getting to see the mansion for the first time when you were the bachelorette or absolutely tearing it apart on this H.D.V. That's like a really good question. I think, I think seen it the first time. So, like, it's just this iconic home that has been on TV and everybody kind of. knows it. I always feel like I equated to like the Brady Bunch House that everybody kind of from

our generation knows that house, even if you're not even a huge Bachelor fan, you kind of know that house. So I think the first time walking up to it when I was the Bachelorette standing in that driveway where I've seen a million cars, those limos come up with the like the new contestants was like probably one of the most like memorable moments of my life, to be honest with you. So I think the first time, being in front of that mansion for the first time is like pretty iconic for me. It's also so nerve-wracking. People don't see the behind the scenes, but there's like eight cameras. There's like three on like cranes up here and then like five down below from every angle you can think of.

And it's your first time ever on TV. And you're like, uh, um. It's terrifying. Yeah. And there's like 30 people in director's chairs all lining that back half of the driveway. And then there's people that like running the show like are pointing at limos and, you know, directing people. It's chaos. It looks like such an intimate moment when you're in it,

but the behind the scenes, what you're not seeing is total chaos. It's insane. I love the moments of getting to pull back the curtain a little bit. It's cool. Oh, wait. Speaking of pulling back to curtain, wait, Joan,

I know you're not this person, but I need you to talk a little smack from me because I am curious, and I'm sure the people at home are curious. Okay. Throughout your time on the show, who had the worst taste. on the cat. And be honest. I'm never going to answer that.

The worst taste. Okay. I want to say away. If you won't answer fully, who had a questionable moment that maybe you just didn't agree with? It's hard to really show your taste and show your ability to be a good designer in this situation. There are so many restrictions and so many things that you can't do that you would want to do. So a really good example was when we, were doing the mixer room. It was the three guys against the three women. That's what was, there were six of us left. And it ended up randomly being guys against girls again. And that was the second time that it happened. So the guys, they did a coin flip, I think, and the guys got to choose all of their stuff first. And they get 45 minutes. They choose all their stuff. And then

we come in to choose our stuff. We have 45 minutes. They show us what the guys have already chosen. And some of the stuff is no longer available because they've chosen it. This The marble that Noah chose to go above his credenza is the marble that I wanted to use on the back of my, I had the big built-in, the huge built-in. That's the marble I would have been perfect back there. The dark wood with the light background would have been really, really good, but it was no longer available. They only had one huge slab. So there wasn't another slab available. I couldn't use it. So the design decisions are very, like they're very tempered. You can't design any way you want. You have to have. to work within these parameters, and they're pretty restrictive, to be honest. You only have certain things that they have in stock. You can't just choose anything that you would love to have to design with because it has to be already on site, or at least in the warehouse that they had for us. So I don't ever want to call, say somebody is a worse designer than another person because

I don't think that we really saw people's true design abilities. And I'm being honest. That's as good as I can do. I'm sorry. I'm not giving you a lot of tea on this one. No, you're good. Okay, on the flip of that, do you think anybody had some choice opinions about yours? And was it ever known? Yeah. So I came on the show thinking like this was all about design and I have a design degree. So does Alicia. So the two of us went with the two that had design degrees. Lots of people have great taste. So, you know, having a design degree just kind of gives you like a little bit of a backing and maybe a little bit of, you know, practical knowledge.

But when it comes to taste, a lot of people have really good taste and can design without a designer. So I feel like a lot of this competition was about the alliances. And I was very surprised about that. I came on the show thinking,

once again, that it was about design. And all of a sudden, I felt like I was in like a HGTV show combined with a bachelor show combined with like survivor and i i hated that i did not like that at all i'm good with it you know hg tv i'm good with bachelor that whole survivor element was just not me i don't like drama i don't like i didn't want to form alliances so i feel like people a few in particular and i don't want to say names um felt like they needed to break people down to make them look better because this was about $100,000.

And there were people that that would make a big difference in their life. I said from the very beginning, I wasn't there for the money. I'm 63 years old. I am set up in life financially. I'm okay. I don't need the $100,000. I knew there were some people there that really wanted it. You know, we had sometimes conversations off camera even, you know, people tell me about

their lives. I know that that was an important amount of money for other people. I even said to one person, if it came down to she and I, I would self-eliminate so she would get the money because it didn't really matter to me. So I feel like there were people that would criticize other people or would, you know, create drama because they were trying to play the game. They were playing the survivor part of the game. And I'm not good at that survivor part of the game.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And you can see it. I mean, you all probably know what I'm talking about because it was pretty obvious, like, who did not like me. There was somebody who did not like me, which is really weird in my world. I don't usually offend people. And so I don't know where that came from. In fact, I didn't know

she didn't like me until I watched the show. I thought we were completely fine. I had zero idea of all the stuff that was going on in the background and that she didn't like me. I'll be honest. I have no idea who it is. Did you watch it, Jonathan? I haven't gotten to see it all yet. Okay. All right. You'll know. You'll know who is. She didn't love me. She didn't love me. It's all right. It's all right. I love her. I wish her only the best. I love that. And I know you and I know you're just a sweet person. So I don't think somebody disliking you is not going to change your opinion on how to treat and care for other people. So. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. I would take the hybrid. I wouldn't have expected other anything else from you. So. Thank you. Thank you for saying that, Jonathan. And then more, like, I guess, on the side that you wanted to worry about,

not as much of the drama side, as far as your own personal, like, design, taste and style, like, well, if you had to put it into three words, what would you say your style is when it comes to design? Oh, my God, three words in design. That's, like, almost impossible. Okay, let me think. I would describe my style as curated. Okay. Elegant and like comfortable, livable, I'd say livable.

I like every room to have like its own standout moment. So have one thing that is really eye-catching and then have everything around it kind of be like in a support role. But in a livable way, you have to be able to live in the room. Okay. What would be like a home like, I guess trend is the word, but theme is more what I think is what I'm looking for here. Like what is a home theme like all encompassing?

I know you said every room needs to have its own character, but like if it was to just sit there and bounce off of a singular theme, what would that be? A theme. So you're thinking like Colonial, whatever, like one of those themes. I really don't. That's one of the things like I don't like about some design styles is that they're all about a theme. I don't like a themed room at all. In fact, I want, I like intentional kind of statement pieces. I hate matchy, matchy.

I hate a theme. I just feel I want the room to look kind of curated. Like every piece in the room has a reason for being there and it has a story. Yeah. No, I love that. Okay. No themes. Do you think you followed that pretty well in the show?

Again, I tried. Like I said, there, you know, there were hard, things were hard to do because of what was available. Like we had one really kind of interesting dynamic that I didn't know was happening. I figured it, I saw it when I saw it on TV. But Courtney and I had a conversation one time about the lighting out by the, you know, the lower part of the pool. So we designed a space that had never been designed before, basically. And we made, ours was like a kind of like a spa feeling, an oasis. And it was on that bottom part of like beyond the pool. And we got like great

things. We got a sauna. We had an outdoor shower. We had a like a big workout exercise space. And then we had this open area and we were talking about lighting in that open area. And Courtney said, you know, let's do market lighting. And I was like, you know, I think I would rather, and this was just the two of us talking. I said, I would love to do like twinkle lights in all the trees because they have this whole row of trees that spans the whole width of like the pool area. And I said, twinkle lights in the trees would look really pretty because you could see it from the upper deck of the pool at night. It would just give this beautiful twinkling looking light. And she said, oh, Noah said that he knows how to do that. And I said, I think the only big limitation is probably

electrical, if we have enough electrical down there to run all those lights. So the next day, we come to the mansion and I walk over. We always met in like the meeting room and we'd have a cup of coffee and we kind of, you know, get the day started. They'd mic us up, do all the stuff that they needed to do before we actually started working. And I go and look out the door out at the, you know, kind of the pool. And I see market lights strung all along our back area. And, and, And then Alicia comes and stands next to me. And she's like, what the hell is that? And I was like, I don't know where they came from.

And then I figured I knew where they came from, but I said, I'm not saying anything. What's done is done. And then I watched the show, and they have a clip of Courtney talking to in her, like in the moment, like an ITM in the interview room. And she's saying, yeah, I went behind their back and I had them do the market lights because that's what I wanted. And so I was like, okay. I mean, they ended up looking fine. I liked them. I think Twinkle lights would have been way prettier in all the trees.

But, you know, there are just things that are possible. Maybe it wasn't possible. But in the interview, she literally said, I just went behind everybody's back. She just hope they, like, kind of, like, I don't care what they wanted. I'm doing what I just wanted to do. Wow. Yeah, it was a surprise. But by the way, the judges loved them.

I think they would have loved Twinkle lights even more. but it worked out fine. We won that challenge, so I am not complaining. I didn't complain at the time. But I just, like, things unfolded in a weird way that I didn't, you don't know what's happening. There should have been better communication. It was a team effort and it wasn't a team decision.

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Available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, Ernest, what's up? Look, money is something we all deal with, but financial literacy is what helps turn income into real wealth. On each episode of the podcast, Earn Your Leisure, we break down the conversations you need to understand money, investing, and entrepreneurship. From stocks and real estate to credit, business, and generational wealth, we translate complex financial topics into real conversations everyone can understand. Because the truth is, most people will never taught how money really works.

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I'm Kristen Davis, host of the podcast, Are You a Charlotte? In 1998, my life was forever changed when I took on the role of Charlotte York on a new show called Sex and the City. Now I get to sit down with some of my favorite people and relive all of the incredible moments this show brought us on and off the screen. Like when Sarah Jessica Parker shared that she forgot we filmed the pilot episode. You forgot about it? I completely forgot about it.

And when the show was picked up, I panicked. And Cynthia Nixon reveals if she's a Miranda. We both feel confident about our brains. But that's kind of where it ends. Plus, Sex and the City super fan, Megan V. Stelion, doesn't hold back on her opinions of the show. Carrie will literally go set New York on fire and then come back and type about it. at the end of the day. Like half of it wasn't her fault.

Listen to are you a Charlotte on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I do have another question for you. Yeah. Was there anybody, I guess, that may have stayed longer than you thought that they were going to, like somebody that surprised you? Hmm, that lasted longer than what I thought they should have.

Maybe not even should have, but just that you just, We're like, oh, whoa, I didn't expect for you to take it this far. So still be standing here. You know, we all had our own different skill set. So a lot of the guys had, you know, were really handy. So they could build things. And like, you needed them.

And then there were people that had really good design taste. And so, you know, they, you know, we needed them. I mean, we, we would have conversations. Like, I know that Noah and Dean told us after the show that they were after Alicia and I the whole time because they thought that we could beat them. And I remember thinking in my mind, they're really good builders. I need to get rid of them if I have to vote somebody off because they're really good at what they do. Along with Sam, Sam was probably the most skilled builder other than Christopher.

But I knew what it was coming down and we were down to Noah and Dean and Sam. Like if it came down to us voting somebody off of that crew, like I knew it needed to happen. I knew that somebody, one of them needed to go soon. I probably would have voted Sam off because he would at that point was the most skilled. And, you know, you need to keep skilled people around until you get to. to a certain point in the competition, and then you need to get rid of them. Because if you want to win, that's the way the game is played.

So I think that Alicia and I got booted, you know, probably at the right time because we were a threat. And I think I would have probably booted some of the good craftsman. Yeah. Okay. So not a singular person, though. I can't say a singular person. I mean, I think of the builder, Sam was the best.

I think he was really, really talented. but he was so easy to get along with and so easy to work with. I probably would have kept him and maybe gotten rid of, honestly, you know, I don't know, Noah or Dean. Yeah. Yeah, probably. I don't know. I don't know.

It's hard to say. I mean, then there were also people that were. I mean, it's over now. So it's not even like it's the, like it's going to happen. Yeah, it was also there were people that were easier and harder to work with. Like I said, I thought, you know, some of the personalities I found out later, you know, there were people that didn't like me. I think some people were easier to work with and some people were harder to work with.

I never got to work with Dean. I was never on a team with Dean. And I think he'd be really easy and like enjoyable to have around. He's just a funny, quirky kind of guy. So I would have liked to keep him maybe. Maybe he would have stayed longer. I don't know. It's hard to decide.

You know, it's hard. You know, the decisions on who to get rid of were so weirdly random. Like they were challenges that had nothing to do with decor or with design. The whole thing was a little mind-blowing how it came down to the last two people it came down to. I think it was- Was that the hardest part, like deciding who should go home? Well, in the beginning, so like the first couple days we were there, the second day we were there, they randomly came, they had us all 12 of us sitting in a room, and producer came in and said, okay, each team, at that point, men against women, we were doing the master suite and the other,

the guys had the other two bedrooms. They said, each team has to get rid of one person in 30 minutes. you have 30 minutes to decide. And we were all like, like we have to get rid of somebody. Like we're just really jelling. We're just starting to get to know each other. It was day two of the whole competition.

The girls, we had a little bit of Iraqi start up in that, in that room, all of us, you know, throwing out ideas. By day two, we were actually jelling really good. And they said, oh, you got get rid of a person. So getting rid of somebody is really, really hard. I never really had to vote or hardly ever had to vote individually for somebody that I wanted to get rid of. It was that weird challenge.

But it never came down to me winning a challenge and sending somebody like poor Dean had to do the first day and Brendan had to do one time. They had to literally pick somebody. They had to like point them out in front of everybody saying you're going home. That would have been really hard. Yeah.

Yeah, that feeling of not being chosen is crazy. Yeah, it would be bad. I would hate to do that. So brings back like middle school trauma for like half the group. Yeah. I know. It's like, oh, seriously. And like they both got in that position by winning a challenge.

So Dean had the golden hammer and Brendan had the golden screwdriver. And boy, they got screwed with it. I mean, they had to then choose somebody that they had just worked with to send home. Yeah, bad. No thanks. Yeah, it's better not to win the challenges. Yeah, better not to win the challenges. Just, you know.

It's better not to win, but also just not to lose. Yeah, that's right. you kind of needed to like hang out in the middle. Like that was the best place to be. If you want to challenge great, you get to go out and drink champagne by the pool while the other team has to eliminate somebody. So winning is the best. But saying kind of neutral and flying under the radar is I think a little bit like the way

to play the game. And I think that's what in a lot of competition shows. You just need to like be seen. Just stay low. Hang low. That's going to be my. That's going to be how I'm going to do. Well, that's what I'm going to do.

If they ever asked me to be on traders, I'm going to remain neutral. Yes. Also, Joan, kind of piggybacking off of that. Kathy and Susan spoke with Noah last week from your season on HGTV, and he had some choice words that we would like to share with you if we could roll back the clip here. I don't think anyone was bad in their own right. It was just predictable style from all the designers of the house. You know, the ones that were smearing it in our face, that they're the best designers and we're idiots. And people were stuck to like what they knew, I think. You can't really hold it against them, but you can't put an arch in every spot. Who wanted to put arches in every spot? Talk to us about the gold arches. Unless we're getting hamburgers here, I want to know what really happened. It's Joan.

It's Joan. It's Joan. It's our golden. Furthermore, it's Joan of Arc. That's hilarious. I certainly do have a rebuttal. We're going to need a comment on that. What's your rebuttal to the Golden Arch's comments?

I want to like tear Noah down and say, like he was terrible, but I actually love Noah, and he just loves being funny. So, in fact, that was just stick the entire show. If you watched him, like he was taking Dean down, and then we'd go back to the hotel and the two of him been sitting at the bar drinking all night together. So I know that he just likes to be funny. I never proposed any golden arches anywhere. We are not McDonald's. In fact, I feel like there are a lot of arches at the mansion already. And the only time I actually worked with Noah was on that lower level beyond the pool. There was no golden arch ever mentioned.

How funny. The golden arches. It's hilarious. He's funny. He's a funny guy. I was over the arches too. He knows that. But yeah.

I love Noah. He's good. And I'm so happy. He wasn't actually any beef there. He was just shooting the shit. He was just being funny. I don't hold it against him. I love the guy.

I think he deserved to win. I am happy for him. I know he had a lot of stuff going on at home that also kind of played on my heart and made me want him to win. So I congratulations, Noah. And I did not want any gold in arches. That is awesome. Yeah.

I really have to like watch this all the way through now. I also just like I love watching my friends on TV. Like it's cool. Like it's super fun. Like to watch that back and support your people. So 100% will have to watch it. I like and that kind of leads me into like talking a little bit about your it. You're trying to spill some tea because I've been watching you for now a few years attempting

to fall in love and find your person. and I am seeing on Instagram that it looks like that happened. So we need to catch up. You mentioned that you guys were on a recent vacation together, but we need to know about this relationship. Like walk me through it. Start me from the beginning, please. That was about it.

From the beginning, Joan? Well, oh, man. What was the beginning? How about that? How long has this been going on? Okay, so we have the same manager. and I know all the details now. Now that we just got back from vacation,

I have all the tea on this because we looked it up to like last week. We had the same manager. I think it was like a year ago. My manager had mentioned me to her. And my manager was kind of talking shit. She's like, yeah, he's like not that tall. And I'm like, whoa. Medium, first of all.

Yeah. No, that's the first thing out of everybody's mouth because I make such a joke about it because I just don't care, like, about my height, never have, never will. I'm 5.11. But when most people meet you, I'm in, like, dress shoots, I'm probably, like, six foot, like, right on the dot or something. So they'll meet me and they'll be like, you're not short at all. What the hell? Yeah.

But anyways, just over time, she just kind of, like, let it just trickle away. And then she saw me at our manager's daughter's first birthday. And she's like, wait, he actually is really cute. And not that short. Like, what the hell? Yeah. followed up with her about it again kind of trickled away because I was still waiting on paradise to come out blah blah blah yeah and then at that point she had mentioned it to me she goes oh this other girl I managed said that you were cute whatever

nothing came of it and then I think like December rolled around and she had seen like a reel or something I put out and she goes I'm going to follow up with this follows me followed her back immediately then she like responded to like one of my like training stories um with a story about her like getting lost the first time she tried to run a half marathon. And I was like, I got to hear about this. So I immediately asked her, I was like, how can you tell me over dinner? Oh, smooth, Jonathan? Thank you.

And then she was gone for two weeks because she does a lot of, like, travel, like, influencing and stuff, was gone for two weeks. So I had to wait through Christmas and New Year's and then for her to get back and then finally take her out. And then from then on, like, it just kind of exploded. Like, I was dating casually up until that point. And then after day one, I was like, no, this is the girl. I'm putting all of my energy into this basket because she's exactly the kind of person I've

been waiting for. I'm so curious about that part of it because I felt like you friend zoned so many girls over the last couple of years. Like what set her apart from those other people, the ones you've continually friend zoned? Yeah. I mean, it's funny because everybody like had this like narrative. of like he doesn't know what he wants he's the this like he's gonna friend zone i was like first of all all of you are wrong i'm trying to put the reality back into reality tv and take the series like

what am i going to do sit here and see these women for the bit and then once the show's over i'm like actually nah like i'm not actually that into you like just kidding i'm gonna tell you in the moment if i'm into it or if i like you or i don't like you and we'll like no um so i just kept it as real as possible. And it's because I knew exactly what I wanted. I knew who I was looking for. And by the time I was gearing up to meet her, like, I was just like, you know what, I'm not going to find it on a show. I'm going to start looking actively outside of this. Like, I gave the Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise, or Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise a shot. You know, I was hopeful and fell short. So when I started taking it serious outside of the show world,

he just kind of like stumbled in and after that first interaction like she just I don't know she's just so confident and fun loving and free spirit and she travels the world but she's also just like I love an independent strong woman and she is just the epitimate that like she is her own person through and through I can't we're not going to get into a conversation that I dominate like that's just never going to happen and I love that I love that we have that banter and that back and forth of like there's like a balance and power dynamic of we are our own person. We bring our own things to the table. We have like such a balance and like who we are and what we're looking for.

Yeah. And just like an ambition to be our best, to act our best to enjoy life at its fullest. And I hadn't met that from anybody that matched or meshed with the way I wanted to do it. And from date one, I think we just. She was the one. You know, I had asked you that one time when, right when you came up, Paradise, you and I were talking and I said, what is it that these girls aren't like showing you? What is it that you want?

And you had said exactly that. I want somebody who's really confident who really knows themselves who can challenge me. And you're describing that person right now. And I love that. You said that she has a manager. So I'm thinking she, is she a reality? I don't, I don't, how, why did she have a manager? Tell me about her background.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so she did three shows in the past. She usually only mentions two, but she did three. So she won Big Brother when she was like 22. I know. It was like their first online version and she won it like fresh out of college. I think she was like three months out of college, got asked to go on it, won. And then she did this show called like X on the Beach or something.

It was like it was an MTV show. And then she did. the challenge. And then she was on the challenge for like a short stint. And then got off and then really just started getting into social media. So she's been doing social media for like 10 years. So she's probably had a really good idea about the kind of dater you are, the kind of guy you are. Do you think it's hard to date somebody or to be dated by somebody who has been on reality TV? Like does she look at you in a way that may maybe not accurate or have you like how did it feel dating somebody that's been on TV and you can kind of

watch them yeah i i think when we first started both of us really like made it a point of like hey we're not going to look into you online yeah yeah i mean like yeah i look through her like social media because she can control what she's putting out through her social media and vice versa but i think she took it a step further i don't think she really went too in depth on mine we really just wanted to take it day by day and we understand that like what is always shown isn't exactly who you are. You know what I mean? Through the team world.

Or when people want to write a headline, like the react. Like people thought I was in love with April from paradise. And it's like if somebody went online to look at it, like, I've been going for 70 year old. I don't remember how old she was. But like, then they would be like, huh, is that accurate? It's like, no, it's not accurate because people want to write a headline that gets attention. So we did a really good job. like putting that for the side and just getting to know each other for for face value not for what

anybody else had to say i love that yeah so you didn't really like dive into like her social media i mean to into her reality tv career and she didn't do that with you so that's actually probably a really smart way to approach us um but you guys have done the first travel together the traveling together for the first time i remember in the few relationships i had before i went on golden bachelor i did travel with someone and that was a really good test. It actually had me not liking the person as much at the end of it. Tell me about your experience. We were just trapped on a cruise together for five days, well, five nights, six days. And we like both kind of made jokes about it. Like, well, we're either going to make it through this phenomenally or

we're going to be done, though, like when this is all said and done. I think both of us knew good and well. It was just going to drive us closer. And I think, not think, I know every single day we got like a percentage closer and better. And by the end, we literally like, I don't want the cruise to be over. Like, neither of us love being stuck on a boat for like our lifestyle. We're very active people.

And we have a lot of work that we kind of like push to the side to enjoy ourselves. But like, by the time we got off the boat, we're like genuinely bummed. And like we're not going to move in together. We've been dating for like three months now, four months. But like, like, we could do this. every day. And like we weren't tired of each other. We handled everything like just like adults.

I love that. So you had the opposite experience that I had. You like, it brought you together. You're like, okay, this is a person I want to be with all the time. I'm obsessed with this girl. I love that. That makes me so happy. But okay, let's talk about your career then a little bit. You do a lot of content on social media or you did do a lot of content on social media that had to do with being single, like dating and things like that. Yeah, yeah. How does that look for you now that you're in a relationship? It must be changing, right?

Mm-hmm. I mean, I think that was just the narrative of what people see and wanted. Like, at that point of the show world, I was this single bachelor dude that nobody had seen in love yet. Yeah. I think they follow me because they like me and they want to see my story and my journey. And at that point, that was the most relevant part of what they want to. to know about me is my single life. So true.

And now, if they still do enjoy me and like me for me, like, they want to see me in my love life. I'm sure there's some that were like, oh, fuck, we kind of hope that was maybe one of us. But like, on the other end of that, they're probably like, damn, we're really happy for him. And I think the fact that, like, I found, like, a good human that's also like a good, like, girl's girl, that they're like, wait, she's actually cool. Like we like her to do.

I think that helps the case of being like, okay, well, we want to see like your relationship and how it operates because we have a lot of fun together. Yeah. And the dynamic is hilarious. Like we butt heads in like a very playful way because at the end of the day, like we just want each other. And we just want to keep moving forward and just have the best experiences from life. So I can't wait for you to introduce her to your bachelor mom, me. Yeah.

Because I haven't met her yet. next time I'm coming to L.A., I want to meet her. I hope, if you're ready to introduce her to me. Oh, my God. 100%. Are you kidding me? I don't. I can't wait. It's a given. Okay. Okay, we're good. We're good then. I'm going to be out there in, oh, no, I'll be in Northern California. Oh, no, I'll figure it out. I'm coming to see you. We'll find it at that. We'll find it down. Okay. Should we move on to Bachelor Nation News? So this is a podcast about video games. Kind of. It's also about friendship. Definitely. And chaos. Unavoidably.

Welcome to its. Dangerous to Go Alone. A podcast where we talk games, culture, nostalgia, and immediately go off topic. There is no gatekeeping. There is no skill check. If you win a game on easy mode, we support you. If you've never touched a controller, honestly, same energy for some of us. It's fun, it's chaotic, it's friendship with a loose gaming theme.

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The Twilight Gazebo. Sunset Gardens. Twilight Gazebo. What's next? Dead Man's Grove? Mom, could you please try to be a little bit positive about this? From Kenya Barris, the visionary creator of Blackish, comes Big Age, an audible original about finding your way in life's next chapter. This audio comedy series follows a retired couple's

reluctant relocation to Sunset Gardens, a Floridian senior community that is anything but relaxing. starring comedy legends Jennifer Lewis, Cedric the Entertainer, and Nisi Nashvettes. Through its blend of outrageous comedy, key party anyone, and touching revelations, Big Age explores what it means to grow older without growing old at heart. Go to audible.com slash big age series to start listening today. I'm Kristen Davis, host of the podcast, Are You a Charlotte? In 1998, my life was forever changed when I took on the role of Charlotte York on a new show called Sex and the City.

Now I get to sit down with some of my favorite people and relive all of the incredible moments this show brought us on and off the screen. Like when Sarah Jessica Parker shared that she forgot we filmed the pilot episode. You forgot about it in the very long time they took to pick us out? And when the show was picked up, I panicked. And Cynthia Nixon reveals if she's a Miranda. We both feel confident about our brains. But that's kind of where it ends.

Plus, Sex and the City super fan, Megan V. Stelion, doesn't hold back on her opinions of the show. Carrie will literally go sit New York on fire and then come back and type about it. at the end of the day. Like half of it wasn't her fault. Listen to are you a Charlotte on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In case you missed it. Go for it, Jonathan.

Case you missed it. So now that you're caught up on us, let's catch up on some Bachelor Nation news starting with. Oh, gosh, this is a big one. Ashley Iconetti gets emotional over marriage struggles with Jared. Hey, Von. so sad. She says he's not happy. I read this article and oh, I have a lot to say about this, but Jonathan, do you have anything to say about it? Because, oof, this is a big one for me.

Honestly, I love them as a couple. It is tough because I've never met Ashley face to face, but she has always been nothing but supportive even since I was on the Bachelorette and said nothing but sweet things. And I know she's a Bachelor Nation icon and just so well loved. So it's hard when you date in the public eye like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know. I love the fact that she's open about it because it is a very public relationship, but it sucks to see.

You never want to see that because they have kids together, right? Two little boys. They're so cute. Yeah. You know, so you may not know this about Ashley then. She is one of the few people that has kind of broken out of the Bachelor bubble. and she is on the real housewives of Rhode Island. And this came as a, it was part of a conversation that she had with another one of the housewives from Rhode Island where she made the statement.

And I remember her getting announced that she's going to be on the show. And I went like, no, no, no, no, because I feel like relationships in this weird housewife bubble, like I feel like they struggle so much. I feel like so many of them end up divorced, and they have their, you know, personal life's broadcast. And I know that Ashley and Jared, you know, kind of grew up and became a couple and became married and have shared their lives on social media and on TV with us. But like these intimate details when you're talking about, he's not happy, is exactly the things that the real housewives, that whole, you know, world like hones in on and tries to create drama and tries to make it worse than it is. and we'll make that a whole storyline now, and it could ruin their marriage. It makes me so worried about them. And I feel so happy that they shared that, that like every marriage isn't perfect,

but I don't want this to be a storyline, and I don't want them to screw with our sweet Ashley and Jared and their sweet little boys, and do not make this a storyline and let them figure this out in private. That's how I feel about it. Yeah. I really hope that it is just for views on the production side, because it's, There's never a fun thing to have to go through. No.

And, you know, they said that Jared, the reason that he wasn't feeling like so happy was that he didn't feel like he was like pulling his weight. So he has this coffee shop that he has been, you know, trying to get up and going for a little while. And, you know, we all know that, you know, a new business, like so huge percentage of them fail. And, you know, she got this. Especially in food and beverage.

Like, everybody knows restaurants do, like, struggle so terribly. And I think that she then had this huge opportunity. to be a real housewife. And that just kind of puts you into that next tier of TV and of reality. And I feel like that he's just maybe feeling like he's a little left behind. And I can see that happening. And you see that with a lot of these real housewives couples, that the men all of a sudden become less significant. And it ruins a lot of marriages. I think they take a big hit on their egos. I worry about them. I hope that they figure this out. I know they will. I really do believe that they will. I think they're a solid couple.

praying that they do honestly me too cool well next on the docket um rachel pilot rachel our sweet rachel recia addresses harsh criticism

about her appearance things have gotten really really bad and honestly this was a hard one for me too for anybody that doesn't know Rachel got really sick and has been dealing with it for a while now and

it just led to different weight losses and has really just tried to find a realm in which she's very happy and confident in the way that she looks and has been battling with what's been going on in her personal life. And yeah, it's one of those things that's like people forget that there's a human on the other side of their comments that have to read and experience these things. And it's like, yeah, like in their eyes, work more characters on this TV show. And like, you can hate people. You can love people, but like when it really comes down to it, like break away from the show and look at somebody's social media. Like that is where they express themselves.

That is their art. That's where they get to control their own narrative and to drop things on them of like not liking how they look or saying they look sickly or whatever it is that's being said. Like it's not fair to that individual, especially when they're doing their absolute best that they know how to do. And especially for Rachel. Yeah. She's like you described that so well. like we're characters on TV, but then like we have real feelings. And Rachel is one of the kindest people I know. And we look at her and we see this incredibly beautiful woman before and

after kind of little transformation that's happened over like the last year. And I hate it that people are commenting about her appearance and telling her that she looked better before she lost all this weight. She didn't lose all this weight on purpose. She was sick. But in the meantime, she's become used to this body and she's thin and she's beautiful. She feels healthy now. She's not sick anymore. She feels healthy at this weight. And there's no reason for her to go back to the weight that they think she looks better at. Give her some grace. She has been sick. She has dealt with a lot of crap right now. And she's back and she's herself and she looks freaking hot and leave her alone. That's coming from Mama Joan. And if she's happy, just be happy for her. Like there's no reason

to tear anybody down while they're just doing their absolute best. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, thank you. I love how you said that. The symbol of that. Like, yeah, we're not characters. We're real people. Okay, and talking about real people. So Lexi Young, and I don't know if you remember her, she was on Joey's season. I remember her so well. Lexi Young responds to criticism about her love life.

Quote, have you found a BF yet? So Lexi has been commenting because she has started her own business. And I'm thrilled for her, and it's actually a dating business. Now, if you guys remember Lexi, she has been commenting, she has been commenting. She was the one that self-eliminated during Joey's season because she had a biological clock and she was not on the same timeline as his. He, he, I think, commented that he wanted to wait about four years before he got married. She has endometriosis.

She has a really bad case of it. She wants to get pregnant soon because she thinks that timing is going to, it may take her a long time. So she came off the show. She self- eliminated saying that she needed to find a boyfriend, she wanted to find her person and she wanted to move on with life. And now all of a sudden she has this really successful business that she did while, date, and that has kind of taken over her life. And people are criticizing her about that.

What do you think about that, Jonathan, that she put her personal life on hold a little bit to start her business? Yeah, it's tough. I mean, I can understand, too, of, like, putting your own personal matters to the side to grow professionally. And I know she was also on Paradise. Like, that has been a huge narrative for herself is like, hey, I need to find somebody quick. And if you're not willing to be quick with me, then, like,

That's it. So I can understand where like people might see that and be like, oh, okay, so your timeline is this, but you're focusing on other people like finding love. Like, why haven't you? And it's like, again, back to the character's thing. Like, just let people live. Like it's, she wants to find the right person. She's not going to settle and like have a kid with the wrong person for the sake of having it.

Like she has a moral compass to like as much as like, yes, I do have this clock. like she also has the desire to have a family, not just have a kid. You know what I mean? So to put that pressure on somebody. It's like, well, if I don't have this now, I'm going to put my focus into something else until that thing comes along. Like I can't sit there and just hope and pray every day and then beat myself up that I don't have it. It's like, okay, well, I'm going to keep progressing in my life, moving it forward, doing my best. And when that time comes, that time will come and we'll deal with it then. But like, that's not up to other people to decide. And they can exist together. I mean, she actually is working.

in the dating field. So I got to mess, you know, imagine that she is exposed to, you know, men her age that, you know, maybe if she isn't finding them love with somebody in, you know, in her business, maybe it'll end up being her. I think they can coexist. And sometimes people find love in their workplace. And, you know, maybe that will happen for her. But again, just like you said, let her be her. And if she now, you know, has changed her priorities, let, you know, good for her. And there's lots of ways to have babies. maybe she's going to one day adopt. Maybe she's going to freeze her eggs and have a surrogate.

You know, there are other ways to do this. You know, people are getting pregnant later and later. And getting pregnant has become harder and harder over the years. I mean, once you, you know, kind of past 35 or something, like the chances are very hard. And there are, there's lots of science that is making it okay for people as they get older. So let her do her thing with her business. And she'll figure out her love life when she's ready. Yeah.

Yeah. Couldn't agree more. Anyways, guys, that is it for Bachelor Nation News. Thanks for catching up with us. And thanks for joining us for Golden Hour and letting us fill in for Kathy and Susan. Yeah, and make sure to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcast.

Yep, and you can follow Golden Hour on social media at Bachelor Happy Hour and at Bachelor Nation on all socials. See you next time. Now, everybody over here? Oh, it's one of my other favorite places. The Twilight gazebo. Sunset Gardens. Twilight gazebo.

What's next? Dead man's grove? Mom, could you please try to be a little bit positive about this? From Kenya Barris, the visionary creator of Blackish, comes Big Age, an audible original about finding your way in life's next chapter. This audio comedy series follows a retired couple's reluctant relocation to Sunset Gardens, a Floridian senior community that is anything but relaxing. Starring Comedy Legends, Jennifer Lewis,

Cedric the Entertainer, and Nisi Nashvettes. Through its blend of outrageous comedy, key party anyone, and touching revelations, Big Age explores what it means to grow older without growing old at heart. Go to audible.com slash big age series to start listening today. It's Financial Literacy Month,

and the podcast Eating While Broke is bringing real conversations about money, growth and building your future. This month, hear from top streamer, Zoe Spencer, and venture capitalist Lakeisha Landrum Pierre, as they share their journeys from starting out to leveling up.

There's an economic component to community striving. If there's not enough money and entrepreneurship happening in communities, they failed. Listen to Eating While Broke from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. If you're watching the latest season

of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, You already know, there's a lot to break down. Corsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man. They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real House Wise franchise,

the drama, the alliances, and the T, everybody's talking about. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Earners, what's up? Look, money is something we all deal with, but financial literacy is what helps turn income into real wealth. On each episode of the podcast, Earnie Leisure,

we break down the conversations you need to understand money, investing, and entrepreneurship. From stocks and real estate to credit, business, and generational wealth, our goal is simple. Make financial literacy accessible for everyone. Because when you understand the system, you can start to build within it. Open your free IHard Radio app.

Search Earn Your Leisure and listen now. This is Julian Edelman, host of games with names. On our latest episode, we got comedian Blake Anderson from Workaholics and The Hilarious This Is Important Podcast. Let's go. We did beat them in improv. You had an improv against the team? Yes. We would pull up their schools would be there with signs for us.

It's competition. What you would win is a bottle of Goldschlaugger. James Fester threw it out of a van because he didn't want us to drink. For more games with names, visit the IHeartRadial app or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.