Bachelor Happy Hour - Joan’s 411 on Fantasy Suites! | Happy Hour

Episode Date: November 7, 2025

Today on “Happy Hour,” our former Golden Bachelorette Joan is back on the podcast! Joan is helping us dive into Mel’s Fantasy Suites and gives us her perspective as a former lead. We kick things off by getting into her and Chock’s updates: What’s the tea on their NYC move?? Then, we get into this season of “Golden” overall: What does Joan think about Mel’s lack of experience on “Golden” before becoming the lead? Plus, Joan gives us her thoughts on Cindy after interviewing her on “Happy Hour”! Tune in now to hear all this and more and be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. On the latest episode of Next Question with me, Katie Couric, I sat down with Bernie Sanders. We've talked many times over the years, and today he even throws a few questions my way. Are you ready for another question? Go ahead. Hit me, Bernie.

We talk about the billionaire class, the cost of living, and of course, the government shut down. Listen to next question with me, Katie Couric, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And she said, Johnny, the kids didn't come home last night. Along the Central Texas Plains, teens are dying, suicides that don't make sense, strange accidents, and brutal murders. In what seems to be, a plot ripped straight out of Breaking Bad.

Drugs, alcohol, trafficking of people. There are people out there that absolutely know it. Listen to Paper Ghosts, The Texas Teen Murders, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What do you get when you mix 1950s Hollywood, a Cuban musician with a dream, and one of the most iconic sitcoms of all time? You get Desi Arness. On the podcast star in Desi Arness and Wilmer Valderrama, I'll take you in a journey to Desi's life, how he redefined American television, and what that meant for all of us watching from the sidelines, waiting. for a face like hours on screen. Listen to starring Desi Arnaz

and Wilmer Valdarama on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The murder of an 18-year-old girl in Graves County, Kentucky went unsolved for years until a local housewife,

a journalist, and a handful of girls came forward with a story. America, y'all better work the hell up. Bad things happens. to good people in small towns. Listen to Graves County on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And to binge the entire season ad free, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Jonathan Goldstein, and on the new season of heavyweight.

And so I pointed the gun at him and said this isn't a joke. A man who robbed a bank when he was 14 years old. And a centenarian rediscovers a love lost 80 years ago. How can a 101-year-old woman fall in love again? Listen to heavyweight on the I-heart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Bet Your Happy Hour. I'm Joe. And I'm Serena. And we are here today with none of other.

than the past golden bachelor at, Joan. Joan, welcome to the podcast. Hi, guys. Thanks for having me. Hi. Thanks for coming on. How have you been? I've been great. Busy fall, but I'm ready for the cool weather. I'm thinking you're having it too in New York, aren't you? It's here. Yep. Yeah. It's a little bit chilly today, which is kind of nice. It matches like the fall mood. And as much as, you know, we love fall. We're very excited for Christmas. So cold weather meets Christmas is coming. How's everything? How's everything with you and chalk? Everything's great. We had kind of a weird summer. We both had made plans like prior to us kind of getting together. Like he had planned to go on a safari with his son. So he was gone for two weeks. I was gone for a different two weeks with on another vacation. So we kind of had like a weird summer where we didn't see each other a lot, but we've seen each other a lot in the fall. And we have a lot of plans for the next like two or three months. So we're kind of back into our groove again. Oh, that's nice. What are the other? the plans for the holidays um so this year so he's coming to my house for thanksgiving and then christmas he's actually going to spend in uh wichita and i'm going to spend here and then we're

going to get together a couple days afterwards and probably go through new years someplace maybe here maybe new york someplace yeah nice did you guys ever end up getting a place in new york no we're still looking this is so hard you know and i know you get it um if you're not living there like a place will come up and i'll go okay i can come up in like two days or like it'll be gone. I know. So it's just too hard. We even put like offers in on places like sight unseen and they're they rejected them because we hadn't seen them. Yeah. Oh really? They like won't take it unless you've been there to see it. Actually, I actually had a friend that told me that. Yeah. They had multiple offers and they chose the one that had actually come to see the place. So which makes

sense. I guess if you have multiple offers. So it's like a lot harder than we ever thought. So it's spent a year of us thinking we're going to get a place and we still don't. So I think for maybe the month of December, we're just going to get an Airbnb and just stay there for the month of December and may, first of all, I love it there in December. So I want to be there anyway. And then maybe that will give us a way to find a place. Hopefully some things will come up while we're there. Definitely. I would say that makes the most sense. It's definitely one of those cities where like if you want to get an apartment, you just have to come and get it. And unless you're going to, like if you're going to stay for a month, I think that's a good amount of time to find

something that you really like. If not like the two days you're here, you just have to like suck it up and be like, okay. Whatever we find. This place may not be my favorite, but I'm taking it. I mean, that's kind of what we did. We came in for, I think, like, four or five days. Not even.

I think we were only here for, we only looked at apartments for two. We did two days of looking. We did one day in Brooklyn, one day in Manhattan. And then at the end of it, we like, our friend slash real estate agent was basically like, you got to pick one. These will be gone in a day. So either you got to come back and look another time

if you didn't find what you're loving. or hopefully you found something that feels like it works. And we were like, all right, we're going, we did. We were like, we're going with this one done. But it is intense. They don't mess around here. We were super picky. And now I'm like over that.

So I think you knew that. You had the lesson. Someone told you that you can't be super picky. So now I was like, I only want to be in Soho and I only went three bedrooms. And like there's like two in the next year that will like satisfy that criteria. So I am just going to now to say I want to be in New York City and I'll figure out where I want to be once I'm there for like a more permanent. thing. Yes. And a month will be great because you'll be able to kind of spend some time in the city and figure out really like what your must haves are. Yep. Right. Like a big closet.

A big closet. Yes. That's always a good one. Yes. Let's talk. Let's talk a little golden. I want to ask your thoughts on this because you are not on Gary season for too long. You ended up, you ended up sending yourself home. But do you think so like Mel, we kind of talked about like Mel and like kind of just struggling a little bit to open up. And I blame a lot of it on the fact that he's never been on a season. Yeah. Like he was never on like your season, for instance, to like kind of get comfortable in front of the cameras. Do you think that little bit of time that you were on Gary's season helped you as the lead?

It definitely did. So first I have to hand it, I have to hand it to Gary because he had no experience. And he's the one that made it good for us women. He was so open and so vulnerable and so emotional, really, that it made it easy for us. So I think having a lead that is good at that and they just happened to really hit the nose on the head. The head, is that right, nose on the head? Because he was just naturally, like very effusive with his emotions. So it definitely kind of made me more comfortable being that way.

If I had had a lead like Mel, I probably would have come off maybe a lot more close. But Gary was, you know, he was a great lead. He made it so all of us, women felt comfortable opening up. So, yeah, definitely being on a season, but it depends on the lead of the season. Because I think once again, if Gary hadn't been so open, I think it would have eventually happened. I think women are just naturally, possibly more emotional, especially as you get more and more tired and you get less and less away.

You get longer and longer away from your home and your friends and your family. you feel more needy. So I do feel like the women would have gotten there on Gary's season. And I think the women on Mel season have gotten there. I think men are going to have a harder time with it. And Mel certainly has struggled with that. Yeah, makes sense. You got to interview Sydney.

Cindy. Cindy. Joe has a hard time with Cindy with his home. Sydney's and Chicago accent, yeah. Cindy. You interviewed Cindy on this podcast. Overall, like, what did you take away from that interview? What are your thoughts on her?

So, gosh, I think she is so incredibly bright and she's beautiful. I felt like she was giving more than he was giving. And she was very patient with him. And, you know, she talked so much about her family while she was on the show. And she brought him to her home and interesting. introduce her to her daughters who are like mean everything to her. So once again, I felt like she was really, really giving and open and ready even with kind of very few signs from him. And I think she's been very patient. And I hope it turns out for her, but I'm a little worried. Interesting.

Yeah, we for Cindy at the beginning of the season, she was falling so hard and so fast. we were really feeling like protective over her and her emotions, but she seems to have kind of like gotten her footing. Yeah, I don't know. I'm curious to see how it played you. Totally agree. She was very emotional and she said she's a very emotional person. So I think that came out so much in her interviews, like her emotions and that you're right, she got invested very quickly without ever having a date. So she had a date really, really late in the season. And it seems like, okay, so Cheryl, you understand her getting invested. Do you understand some of the people that had earlier dates, you know, kind of feeling like they had a connection. And like, we kind of know that

when you were on Bachelor, the people that had the earlier dates have kind of a head start. So like, like I picked chalk in the beginning because I wanted to see if, like, I felt really good about him. And I wanted to like test my theory. And if your theory is right, sometimes those people just have a head start. So like Cheryl had a head star, you know, Debbie kind of had one. I mean, there's a bunch of people that had headstarts. Cindy was the last one yet even regardless of that she was already really emotionally involved with him. Does she remind you maybe not like her herself but like her journey or how she's handling this remind you of anyone from your season? Like as far as being as yeah actually a little bit of Leslie she was very emotionally involved with him from the very beginning

even like when somebody would like somebody else would get a date card she'd get really like upset about it um if anybody being really emotionally invested very quickly very quickly and then didn't get a date forever yeah and gosh i can't even remember oh and then her date was very sporty because she's really athletic and was ATVing and she was disappointed actually in her date because she wanted something more romantic okay interesting um out of the other women from the season who has kind of stuck out to you oh i love debby you know i always my heart certain that it was going to be her and Mel at the end. Yeah. He really thought. I was with you. I'm with you. I'm totally with you. Especially when it

came down to the last three. I'm like, okay, you got this. You got this girl. I was so disappointing when he sent her home. And I do kind of get it, you know, someone who's never been married before is coming to this, into this, and it doesn't have children, is coming into this, like at a different place in their life. Kind of. You know, as far as maturity and where you are in like you're maybe a career journey, you might be in the same place. But like to have this family. And I also have to say like her date or her hometown seemed very different. It seemed like they were at a retirement community. Like there was no young energy. And he is around a lot of young energy like in his life. He has young sons. He's an athlete. So he's around, you know,

athletic. So, you know, again, younger people. So I think maybe Debbie's hometown kind of ruined it for her a little bit. I think otherwise they were a really good match. That's so interesting. I never thought about it that way. I thought about that. That makes, because I remember even just like when he went to Cindy's house and the three young daughters. Yeah.

And their son-in-laws, yeah, their fiancés. I looked at it as Debbie would maybe feel like feel younger in terms of her stage of life because she hasn't been married and had children. Like she almost her story

really felt like it mirrored a lot of the stories of the women that go on the regular season of the Bachelor, like saying, you know, I'm looking for love, I've never been married, I want all of these things. But you're right, her day-to-day life, because she doesn't have children or grandchildren, she spends way more time with people that are her age. Yeah. And having kids and having grandkids really keep you young. Honestly, like my kids keep me, like, kind of, you know, I know the music. I'm out. Like, I go do fun things with them. I go to, you know, know, beer gardens and I'm on playgrounds with little kids. It keeps you young. She is in a very adult world. Even if you looked at her brothers and her sisters, they, I felt like I was at a

retirement community. I felt like we were sitting at the lawn at like a retirement place with all of the older people. And they were two younger people there. They kind of were over to the side, if you recall. Yes. And they didn't really, I don't feel like they interacted at all with them. So even, maybe they tried to get some young energy in, but it ended up, they ended up really not being part of the program at all. And, you know, I also think that we didn't see a lot of the hometown dates. It was a really quick episode. It was a one-hour episode with three hometowns. You didn't really get a sense of what they did other than meeting each other, meeting the families. And I'm sure they had some, they did something else.

On the latest episode of Next Question with me, Katie Couric, I sat down with Bernie Sanders, who is 84 years old, has spent 34 years in Congress, and he can still pack a rally with people. a quarter of his age. Denver, 34,000 people come out. Salt Lake City, 20,000 people are, you know, huge turnouts. People are really dissatisfied about the status quo. His fighting oligarchy tour with AOC and other young progressives has become a movement, but is his message too far to the left?

Well, he certainly doesn't think so. Is that sound like a radical idea, Katie. Is that too far left for you? Okay, okay. I get your point, Bernie. We talk about the billionaire class, the cost of living, and of course, the government shut down, not to mention the current state of the Democratic Party. To me, the failure of the Democratic Party has been an unwillingness to recognize the relationship.

Open your free IHeart Radio app. Search next question with Katie Couric and listen now. What do you get when you mix 1950s Hollywood, a Cuban musician with a dream, and one of the most iconic sitcoms of all times? You get Desi Arnaz, a trailblazer, a businessman, a husband, and maybe most importantly, the first Latino to break prime time wide open. I'm Wilmer Valderama, and yes, I grew up watching him, probably just like you and millions of others. But for me, I saw myself in his story. From plenty canary cages to this night here in New York, it's a long ways. On the podcast starring Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama, I'll take you in a journey to Desi's life.

The moments it has overlapped with mine, how he redefined American television, and what that meant for all of us watching from the sidelines, waiting for a face like hours on screen. This is the story of how one man's spotlight lit the path for so many others and how we carry his legacy today. Listen to starring Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama

as part of the MyCultura podcast network available on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And she said, Johnny, the kids didn't come home last night. Along the central Texas plains, teens are dying. suicides that don't make sense, strange accidents, and brutal murders. In what seems to be, a plot ripped straight out of Breaking Bad. Drugs, alcohol, trafficking of people.

There are people out there that absolutely know what happened. Listen to paper ghosts, the Texas teen murders, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the podcast Health Stuff, we are tackling all the health questions that keep you up at night. Yes, I'm Dr. Priyanka Wally, a double board certified physician. And I'm Hurricane Dibolu, a comedian and someone who once Googled, Do I have scurvy at 3 a.m? On Health Stuff, we're talking about health in a different way.

It's not only about what we can do to improve our health. But also what our health says about us and the way we're living. Like our episode where we look at diabetes. In the United States, I mean, 50. percent of Americans are pre-diabetic. How preventable is type two? Extremely. Or our in-depth analysis of how incredible mangoes are.

Oh, it's hard to explain to the rest of the world that, like, your mangoes are fine because mangoes are incredible, but like, you don't even know. You don't know. You don't know. It's going to be a fun ride. So tune in. Listen to health stuff on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Robert Smith, and this is Jacob Goldstein, and we used to host a show called Planet Money. And now we're back making this new podcast called Business History, about the best ideas and people and businesses in history, and some of the worst people, horrible ideas, and destructive companies in the history of business. Having a genius idea without a need for it is nothing. It's like not having it at all. It's a very simple, elegant lesson. make something people want.

First episode, how Southwest Airlines use cheap seats and free whiskey to fight its way into the airline business. The most Texas story ever. There's a lot of mavericks

in that story. We're going to have mavericks on the show. We're going to have plenty of robber barons. So many robber barons. And you know what? They're not all bad. And we'll talk about some of the classic great moments of famous business geniuses

along with some of the darker moments that often get overlooked. Like Thomas Edison and the Elections Chair. Listen to business history on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm actually glad they only did three hometowns because of that reason. I think if they had four, it would have felt very rushed in a one hour instead. I think we've had that problem anyway.

I think we, I feel like I haven't seen any of their relationships unfold this season. I feel like I've missed whole conversations that I should have had. Like, for example, with Cindy, like, she's so invested in him. I'm like, she just, like, all of a sudden, like, love him. She must have had some really good interactions with him. And she's alluded to it. Like, she's had great conversations. Did you ask her?

Did you ask her that when you interviewed her? I don't think we ever asked that. She certainly alluded that they had. In fact, I think she volunteered it. I remember her saying we had great conversations. It flowed very easily. They laughed. Like, they, you know, she definitely alluded to that.

We never saw this with really almost anybody unless they had. a one-on-one date, we never saw their little five-minute things that we know happen all the time during dates and during the mansion, I mean, at the mansion, even like before rose ceremonies, those are really important conversations. We saw almost none of them. Yeah, that's true. We never, I don't think we've seen any row ceremony. No, I don't remember seeing a single cocktail hour. It's just like, we're at the row ceremony. Yeah. Yeah. All of a sudden, we're standing in front of the pool. Yeah. That's so true. Yeah, that's a seen very little unfold. Yeah, there's no. Yeah, there's no like on this season and I like there's no like last minute conversation of like someone

trying to save themselves someone like you know well we don't get any of that yeah I'd be interested to see more of the conversations because I feel like I was thinking about this watching the fantasy suite episode which we'll get into because I'd love to hear thoughts on peg in the episode but I feel like Mel is very locked in he gives them their undivided attention I mean not like he's got that he could look at anyway. But like when they're talking, like he is looking at them. He is engaged in what they are saying. But I, he's not a very open person emotionally. Like, he's just not. And so I, I'm wondering, like, are those conversations even there for us to see or like, like, why aren't we seeing them is kind of, I guess, my question. Such a good question

because you think, like, these are all smart women. They're, and they have been around the block. All of them, except for one has been married before. So they've had like deeper. relationships. So are they really falling in love with him without actually getting to know him, like actually getting more from him? I feel like he's probably giving giving more than what we're seeing. I just think maybe it was produced in a way that for some reason we didn't see that much from. I'm hoping that's what it is. I feel like we are all like, oh God, Mel doesn't have a lot to give or he's not giving. He's very, very reserved. Or maybe he's just not even into any of these women like you just don't know what to think because we're not seeing any of these conversations we need

to have them yeah i agree and i'm going like you are i'm going off the women thinking like right these are these are smart accomplished women like there's no way they're all just like saying i'm ready to have a life with this guy without him giving them anything but we're also seeing them start to push back so there is that kind of balance yeah there is you're right some of the ones now as they're getting like this oh shit this could be real um they are pushing back a a little bit and saying, I need to know how you feel about me because they don't want to take that leap of faith and really fall in love or really, I mean, even if they are, they're holding back a little bit. And you know, as long as you hold back and don't say it, you can kind of almost

undo it in your heart or in your head. But once you say it, it's out there and it's hard to undo. As a former lead who's a success story, what are some of the, like, what are some of the good things Mel's doing? Like, what are you watching? You're like, oh, that's smart. Like, you should be, should be doing that. So I actually think you shouldn't say I love you to more than one person. And it's really, really hard not to give that back. When somebody says, I'm falling in love with you or I'm in love with you, you're like, like, what do you say? It's so awkward. You say like, oh, thanks or, oh, that's really sweet. Thanks for telling me or whatever. Anything you say is less than what they just said. So you are not giving a lot back. So he, although I don't particularly think he's doing it well,

he is doing it and I have to applaud him for that because it's very hard to do. Gary had the opposite problem. He just told everybody loved him or the last three. And that got him in more trouble than I think what Mel is getting in by not saying it. So I applaud him for that. I also just like you said Serena, I think he is so, he gives him his undivided attention and he asks questions. The problem is he doesn't answer any questions or he answers them in a very like one or two word or one sentence answers, but he does ask questions. In fact, he found out really important things, like when he talked to Nicole, and he said, where do you see yourself in five years? Well, she talked about her career and making money. So he had a really good idea, like he needed to send her home. She wasn't

there for the right reasons. So he's asking good questions. He's just not answering them. So I applaud him for not being overly emotional, or at least going down the path of I love you or like you're the one kind of thing that Gary has done and lots of leads have done. But I do think he is doing such a, and I also think he's doing such a good job of, like, finding out what he needs to know. I agree. I agree. He's very inquisitive. He definitely is like a data collector is how he's trying to get, he keeps using terminology, like educated guests and things like that. He's trying to collect as much information to make a decision. He's just like so insanely left brain dominant. It's wild. You're so true. So, so, so true. And I also think he's pretty good in his

interviews. Like he says very nice things about the women, like about their energy or about how smart they are or about how they make him feel. So to the camera, he's able to give us some emotion a little bit. He's unable to give it to them. Well, I mean, we saw at the women tell all that all the women like him. Like no one had anything bad to say about him. Not a thing. I know. So he's definitely doing he's definitely doing something right. Out of all the women, let's let's pretend they'll pick no one at the end. So a peg in Cindy are included in this equation. Who would you choose to be the next golden bachelorette? Hmm. So I have two that I would choose. Okay. So for, well, maybe even three. So the first one I would say is Debbie. I love having someone completely different. And I think that

we need a little shake up. So bachelor nation needs a little shake up. And to have an older person that's never been married. So I know how it is to be single at this age now. And it's not fun. The rest of the world are couples. So I think she brings a different perspective to, you know, like to the dating world, that we don't really know that well because, you know, we are in a world of couples. She's existed for 60, over 60 years not being a couple. So I think she brings an interesting perspective. And I kind of like that. And I think Bachelor Nation needs a little to shake up. My other, my second one is I really love Terry. And I know that that's probably an outlier a little bit. I think that she's just very kind. And you saw that at Women Tell All,

she kind of came to people's rescue. Like, she was complimentary of Nicole, which very few people were. And I just think she's funny. I mean, I thought she had that puppet puppet. That was just funny and I love that she like could just make fun of herself and just be goofy. I also think she's extremely right. She's a dentist and I think she's beautiful. And you know what? She's 72 years old. No one would ever know. Can you believe that? So I didn't know that. Wow. I know. And I think that we kind of liked a little bit of an older bachelor or bachelorette. Everybody loved Gary. And they loved that he was more of like a grandfather figure, that he was a little little in the older age bracket, that he was a little more fuddy-ddy, that he was a little

like you think, oh, he needs us to find him love. He's never going to find it on his own. I think we like the idea. Yeah, that's so true. Yeah. I'm not sure if Terry gives that same energy, but I like that she's a little bit older so they could cast some older men for her. On the latest episode of Next Question with me, Katie Couric, I sat down with Bernie Sanders, who is 84 years old, has spent 34 years in Congress. and he can still pack a rally with people a quarter of his age. Denver, 34,000 people come out. Salt Lake City, 20,000 people are, you know, huge turnouts.

People are really dissatisfied about the status quo. His fighting oligarchy tour with AOC and other young progressives has become a movement, but is his message too far to the left? Well, he certainly doesn't think so. Is that sound like a radical idea, Katie? Is that too far left for you? Okay, okay. I get your point, Bernie.

We talk about the billionaire class, the cost of living, and of course the government shutdown, not to mention the current state of the Democratic Party. To me, the failure of the Democratic Party has been an unwillingness to recognize the real issue. Open your free IHeart Radio app. Search next question with Katie Couric and listen now. What do you get when you mix 1950s Hollywood,

a Cuban musician with a dream, and one of the most iconic sitcoms of all time. You get Desi Arnaz, a trailblazer, a businessman, a husband, and maybe, most importantly, the first Latino to break prime time wide open. I'm Wilmer Valderama, and yes, I grew up watching him, probably just like you and millions of others. But for me, I saw myself in his story. From plening canary cages to this night here in New York, it's a long ways.

On the podcast starring Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama, I'll take you in a journey to Desi's life, The moments it has overlapped with mine, how he redefined American television, and what that man for all of us watching from the sidelines, waiting for a face like hours on screen. This is the story of how one man's spotlight lit the path for so many others and how we carry his legacy today. Listen to starring Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama. That's part of the MyCultura podcast network available on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And she said, Johnny, the kids didn't come home last night. Along the central Texas plains, teens are dying, suicides that don't make sense, strange accidents, and brutal murders.

In what seems to be, a plot ripped straight out of Breaking Bad. Drugs, alcohol, trafficking of people. There are people out there that absolutely know what happened. Listen to paper ghosts, the Texas teen murders, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Robert Smith, and this is Jacob Goldstein, and we used to host a show called Planet Money. And now we're back making this new podcast called Business History about the best ideas and people and businesses in history and some of the worst people, horrible ideas, and destructive companies in the history of business. Having a genius idea without a need for it is nothing. It's like not

having it at all. It's a very simple, elegant lesson. Make something people. want. First episode, how Southwest Airlines use cheap seats and free whiskey to fight its way into the airline business. The most Texas story ever. There's a lot of mavericks in that story. We're going to have mavericks on the show. We're going to have plenty of robber barons. So

many robber barons. And you know what? They're not all bad. And we'll talk about some of the classic great moments of famous business geniuses, along with some of the darker moments that often get overlooked. Like Thomas Edison and the electric chair. Listen to business history on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcast. On the podcast Health Stuff, we are tackling all the health questions that keep you up at night. Yes, I'm Dr. Priyanka Wally, a double board certified physician. And I'm Hurricane Dabolu, a comedian and someone who once Googled,

Do I have scurvy at 3 a.m? On Health Stuff, we're talking about health in a different way. It's not only about what we can do to improve our health, but also what our health says about us and the way we're living. Like our episode,

where we look at diabetes. In the United States, I mean, 50% of Americans are pre-diabetic. How preventable is type 2? Extremely. Or our in-depth analysis of how incredible mangoes are. Oh, it's hard to explain to the rest of the world. Like, your mangoes are fine because mangoes are incredible, but like, you don't even know. You don't know.

You don't know. It's going to be a fun ride. So tune in. Listen to Health Stuff on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You almost want somebody that needs help. Of course, like Diane, how about Diane? Like, she was the best in the world. She was so, so, so, so cute.

Maybe she would be a great one. I mean, we want somebody that we are rooting for, and we need that in the next Bachelorette. Yeah, yeah. Good points. What did you think about the Fantasy Suite episode? Well, I feel like we have a cliffhanger, obviously. We don't know what happens with Cindy. I think the peg part of the date was kind of funny. I think she learned something about him and about kind of how cautious he is. So, you know, like we'll touch on Fantasy Suite, but I just bought the date

part. He was driving like an old man. And she has the absolute opposite energy. She likes going fast and she likes, like she's even trying to get him to go fast. She's like hooping and hollering and Yeah, and he's still like just driving like this, like slowly in the golf, in the car. So I do feel a little like she learned something about him that maybe she thought was true, but now she really got a taste of it. Like he doesn't even drive fast in an ATV, like on a tropical island. It's funny because Jared Freed was on the podcast and he said something that kind of stuck with me when talking about Peg, which he was like, I'm sure Mel is good for Pegg in certain

ways but he was like peg is good for mel like she is he she is going to be someone that like really just like pulls him out of his shell and like picks him up and is like let's go kind of thing i think you're right the morning after the fantasy suite was the first time we saw mel oh my god he was like blushing i was like what went down last day i know i think they had fun he was that was that that was the happiest i've seen him oh 100% for sure he was like and most comfortable like he was so comfortable like I feel like okay we're getting a glimpse up maybe the mel that they've been seen but we haven't been seen at all yeah he was like laying back in his jeans on the bed just lounging I was like okay well

although I think I felt like he was the same way when they did the photo shoot for people magazine I think it was people so when they did the photo shoot on the beach I think he likes being shortless because he was so comfortable on that beach because he was shortlist the whole time. I think he, like, shown off at me as a great physique. So I think maybe feels comfortable showing it off. Maybe, maybe. Okay, so, you know, the ATV part happens with Peg and Mal. What did you think about kind of their night conversation?

Night conversation, again, kind of not super telling. He held back a lot. And this is the point in the season where I feel like when you get down to the final two, you need to be like brutally honest and I don't think he is being yet I think he still gives himself this free pass to hold back and someone needs to call him on it and peg did not I feel like Cindy might we don't she's looking a little like hmm like we kind of had this cliffhanger with her him not giving her what she needed and her like looking at him a little sideways like you're like this is just taking too long i don't know if i can you know keep investing peg gave him

a pre-pass but do you think peg you think peg may have asked him when the cameras went down in fantasy suites i do yeah and i think maybe he's more comfortable talking in fantasy suites which is the reason fantasy suites are so important i think that um first of all i think they're very odd fantasy suites are um because it's just i mean everything you do in the show is abnormal dating, this is particular abnormal. Like, when do you ever announce to an entire millions of people that you're going to go and have a physical relationship with someone? We're in closest door and we might have a physical relationship right now.

And it's just so uncomfortable. I feel like I shouldn't, I don't belong there. I don't want to know about it. It's very uncomfortable to me. But the other part about fantasy suites that is really important is that you do get to close the door and the cameras go away and you can have the conversations you need to have, which was why I, like, had fantasy suites without a bed. Not that a bed really makes a difference.

I mean, you can do it anywhere. But, I mean, it was just, it was a statement. It was a statement to the person I was with that we're not doing this. Yeah. And a visual cue to the audience. Yes. Yeah, yeah. But that those behind the door conversations are super important because if you want to say

something that you don't want the whole world to know, first of all, your family didn't sign up to go on national TV and have everything about your life revealed. So you need to talk families. You need to talk, you know, other parts of your life, not just like you, right there in this moment falling in love with you. You have a whole world, a whole life you left behind that you need to talk about. You need to talk finances. You need to talk religion. You need to talk all those things. So fantasy seats are important. And that's the thing that I think is important about them. I think, though, the thought of, so this is a leap of faith. There's no way that you come to the end of this journey, 100% sure of the person.

Yeah. So I'm not sure why you have to answer every question, like the physical question part of this. Now, obviously, that needs to work. You need to have chemistry. You should probably know that you have chemistry at this point and that, you know, finishing it off, making sure it all works should not, doesn't have to be part of this journey. Like the leap of faith, you know, some things don't need to be answered and you can figure that out, you know, in the next couple weeks or next couple months or whatever. And, you know, lots of people don't work. And it's not because of the physical thing. There's other things that you're going to find out. So I don't know. I feel like the fantasy suite is a good time for people that are uncomfortable having conversations

about their emotions. They do happen there. And I feel like Peg got something from that one. She just didn't get a physical encounter. I feel like she got what she needed because she woke up happy as can be. Do you think she's into him? Like, do you think Peg's into him? Yeah, I kind of feel like, you know what? They had such a friend energy

at their one-on-one date. It didn't feel romantic. Even like when they were watching Casey in the Sunshine Band and they were dancing, I felt like they're, like, I'm much sure Peg is a romantic person and I don't think Mel is a romantic person. So I think the two of them are not romantic people,

people together. I think as romantic as they can possibly get and as in love as they can be on TV, we saw in the bedroom. We saw that next morning. Yeah. I agree. Yeah. What did you think of Cindy and the Singrays and their night portion? Once again, Mel, like not a super fun, happy which is kind of interesting because I feel like he's presented himself to be like Mr. activity, Mr. Adventure. Well, he's, he's, he's sport, you know, and there's, and there's there's rules in sports and you know the way the game's played.

He's definitely a risk adverse person. Both like in his activities, in his relationships. Like he is someone that likes certainty and predictability. Just both through the activities and in the romantic conversations he's having. Yeah, there's more like in football. Yeah, like you have more control. There's like there's rules to the game where you drop me in the middle of the ocean would like stingrays.

You might not be down there. I wouldn't like that. I wouldn't like it. I didn't like it. I did it with Guy. I had sharks and stingrays and they're like jumping there. I'm like, I'm not jumping in there. And they're like, it's safe. And I'm like, all right, I'll jump in there. So I jumped in and I had a great time. Actually, it was really fun. You know, once again, the idea of a leap of faith is going to be a problem for Mel. This was a leap of faith. Like, I'm going to trust these people that have done this. They said, we've been doing this for 24 years and we've never had anybody gets done. Okay, we've never had an incident. He still had a hard time taking that leap of faith. A lot of life is leaps of faith. You just try it and you hope it works out. I'm

worried, just like you said, he's risk adverse. I kind of call him leap of faith adverse. And that's really hard on the show. Like you have to be a little braver. And he's shown it multiple times. He's shown it with the ATV and he showed it with the stingrays. Um, he just doesn't like doing things that make him uncomfortable. And a lot of this is uncomfortable. Like you're, you're hoping that the risk is worth the reward. And I don't feel like he is a risky guy. Do you think he gets down on one knee at the end? I think it's going to be hard. He has not. I don't think he does. Yeah, he's going to. No, just, just based off of everything that you're saying is kind of how I, I, I, I agree with what you're saying. And I just, I don't think,

I think he looks at it like that's, that's too unrealistic for me. It's, he's absolutely unequivocally, he said, I'm not in love with either one of you. Yeah, yeah. He's literally said it. Yeah. Like, I am not there yet. I don't know what's to come, but I am not there right the second. He's absolutely said it.

I can imagine between fantasy suites and what there's usually like two or three days or maybe four days in between the first fantasy suite, then the second one meeting families, meaning his family. and getting down on one knee, you only have a few days. They're in that few day period right now. Yeah. I have a hard time seeing him falling in love and proposing. Yeah.

I agree. Yeah. But if he does. I'll be surprised if he does it. I support him either way, but I'll be surprised if he proposes. My guess is Pegg. They don't get engaged and they date after the show.

Do you think if that's what happens, they're still together today? I think they could Yeah I think they're still together I think if that I think if he does to my opinion If he doesn't get engaged He's gonna be a really popular guy

When this show finishes airing And he won't end up with anybody from the season He's gonna have a lot of women going after him And I feel like he'll like that attention Wow okay What do you think? And I didn't say that in a mean way because I totally get that.

He's a great-looking guy. Yeah. What do you think? I don't know. I honestly don't know. I feel like to me, I've always said throughout the season, him and Cindy have this very giddy, like almost like young, cute, flirty energy between them. I feel like it's the most like soft and romantic I've seen him throughout the season,

which makes me feel inclined that that's where he's going to go. I mean, like, Peg's my girl. I literally love her. but that if we're talking romance I think Cindy is romance I think Cindy's the fit but I don't think Mel is making a decision off of feelings and romance as much as he is like logic for and you're right about that reason for whatever reason I just have like since the beginning I'm like it's not going to be Cindy I don't know why I think I think she's great I just I think it's I think it's the edit whatever the edit is doing that I'm just picking up and I'm just like I just don't think it's going to be her I think like we are supposed to think like it should be her but it's not but I could be totally wrong I might just be misreading the situation I think they're setting up the edit for a more shocking heartbreak with Cindy than they would with peg that's what I yeah that's what I'm reading too but I don't know which then makes me think it's not going to be peg like I just I just feel like they're doing this just we had the cliffhanger with Cindy so then it makes me feel

Like, I don't know. But I do, I do like what you said, Serena, about like that little bit of romance. Because, like I said, I feel like they're, he and Peg are really playful. I don't see any, a lot of romance there at all, honestly. Just because I don't think either one of them are particularly romantic people. I think she's super fun. I think he has a hard time giving. But I did really, was very surprised at the date where they did on that butterfly mountain where he was so spiritual.

He was so into all of those individual dates with the women. He probably shocked me. So maybe there is something with he and Cindy because I feel like maybe she's more, I don't know, maybe not spiritual, but certainly more introspective and that that might be a better match for him than Peg. Maybe we're all just reading way too much into this. We know too much. You know, it's hard. It's hard to not overthink. I think we might be doing that. Joan, it was a pleasure talking to you. So great. You too, guys. Thanks for coming. Next time of you're in New York, hopefully we see you. Yeah, I'll text you guys. Okay. Thanks for having me. Of course.

And to all our listeners, thank you guys for tuning in to Bet Your Happy Hour. Make sure you download and subscribe to the podcast. We'll have new and exclusive recap and interviews coming your way. Thanks for listening. Bye. On the latest episode of Next Question with me, Katie Couric, I sat down with Bernie Sanders. We've talked many times over the years, and today he even throws a few questions my way. Are you ready for you?

for another question. Go ahead. Hit me, Bernie. We talk about the billionaire class, the cost of living, and of course, the government shut down. Listen to next question

with me, Katie Couric on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. She said, Johnny, the kids didn't come home last night. Along the central Texas planes, teens are dying,

suicides that don't make sense. Strange accident. and brutal murders. In what seems to be, a plot ripped straight out of Breaking Bad. Drugs, alcohol, trafficking of people. There are people out there that absolutely know what happened.

Listen to paper ghosts, the Texas teen murders, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What do you get when you mix 1950s Hollywood, a Cuban musician with a dream, and one of the most iconic sitcoms of a whole, all time. You get Desi Arness. On the podcast starring Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderama, I'll take you in a

journey to Desi's life, how he redefined American television and what that meant for all of us watching from the sidelines waiting for a face like hours on screen. Listen to starring Desi Arnaz and Wilmer Valderrama on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The murder of an 18-year-old girl in Graves County, Kentucky. He went unsolved for years until a local housewife, a journalist, and a handful of girls came forward with a story. America, y'all better work the hell up. Bad things happens to good people in small towns. Listen to Graves County on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

and to binge the entire season ad-free, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Thanksgiving isn't just about food. It's a day for us to show up for one another. It's okay not to be okay sometimes and be able to build strength and love within each other. I'm Elia Connie, host of the podcast Family Therapy, a series where real families come together to heal and find hope.

I've always wanted us to have therapy, so this is such a beautiful opportunity Listen to Season 2 of Family Therapy every Wednesday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.