Bachelor Happy Hour - Thomas N. Makes a Big Splash with Jenn

Episode Date: July 11, 2024

Today on “Happy Hour,” we welcome our first guest from Jenn’s season: Thomas N.! We get into who Thomas is, including his journey from heartbreak to “The Bachelorette.” Then, we dive right into all things Night 1. Who was he shocked to see go? What was it like bonding with Jenn over their families’ shared experiences? And, of course, we get a tease from Thomas on what we can expect to see this season! 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. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious. Wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, luckily, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend's been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone.

Hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That seems inappropriate. Maybe find out how it ends by listening to the OK Storytime podcast and the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Culture eats strategy for breakfast, right? On a recent episode of Culture Raises Us, I was joined by Valicia Butterfield, media founder, political strategist, and tech powerhouse for a powerful conversation on storytelling, impact, and the intersections of culture and leadership. I am a free black woman. From the Obama White House to Google to the Grammys, Valicia's journey is a masterclass. and shifting culture and using your voice to spark change. Listen to Culture raises us on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. The U.S. Open is here, and on my podcast, Good Game with Sarah Spain. I'm breaking down the players, the predictions, the pressure, and of course, the honey deuses, the signature cocktail of the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open has gotten to be a very wonderfully experiential sporting event. To hear this and more, listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain, and IHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment

on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports Network. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Bachelor Happy Hour. I'm Jo. And I'm Serena.

And we are here today with none other than Thomas N from Jen's season. Thomas is here because they had a great connection and you're a very likable guy and someone that really stood out night one. So, Thomas, welcome to Bachelor Happy Hour. Thanks for having me, guys. I appreciate you all.

Of course. Okay, so why don't you just tell us a little bit about where you're from and what you do for a living? So I'm from Atlanta, just outside the city. I'm a retirement advisor. It's kind of like a broad title, but I help people figure out how they can get to retirement and have their money go for the rest of their lives. So whether it's people in their 20s starting their Roth IRAs or, Nancy Sue, that's 67 and working with Social Security and her pension, I do a little bit of everything in between.

So wait, is that more of like, are you more of like a finance guy or is it like more like what do you want to do with the rest of your life type of thing? More so finance. We do like a lot of wealth management and financial sales stuff. So I get to work with people all over the country. That's why you see this awesome background is because I don't work from home so I can bounce around from time zones to time zones to help people out. Nice, nice. And where, and you're from Atlanta, you said? Yeah, I'm from Atlanta, just outside of city.

And where do you live? Do you live like in the downtown? Shambly Tucker. Yeah. I live, so where I'm from, where I grew up is in Gwynette. It's in Snellville, a little city, a little, like, 30 minutes away from the city. And then you got the main city where everyone knows, like, the airport in Atlanta. I live, like, right in between, like, Shambly Tucker.

It's like northeast Atlanta. You know where, where do we, where's like the cool, like the newer spot with some of the restaurants? and stuff. I have not a single clue. If you say it, I'll know it. Beaufort Highway? No. No.

Brookhaven? No. You're probably like thinking this is going to drive me nuts. There's a lot of new restaurants popping up over there. Why do you know this? Yes.

Yes. I knew that's what it was going to be. Like where do you hang out? Is that where do you hang out when you go out? Yeah. It's like that that area is like old fourth ward, Virginia Highlands, Emmen Park.

That's like a pretty like hip. an up-and-coming place right now. Yeah, so definitely that spot. Cool. Wow. Look at you, Joe, with your Atlanta knowledge. Yeah, I like it. I like Atlanta.

I've been there. I've filmed a show there for a month, but we couldn't leave the house. But I was in, I've been to Atlanta. I want to say I've been to Atlanta five times. Oh, really? Yeah, I've been there at the eastern amount of times. It's always like a short period, but I've made, I've made my time worth it. I've gone out a lot there.

I've only been there twice. I went with a friend. You'll have to let me know next time you guys come in. Yeah, we will. Last time we were there actually was with Zach Shellcross, who was one of the last Bachelors. We filmed a podcast with him there. So that was fine.

We spent like two days there. So Thomas, how did you get on The Bachelor? Why did you want to do this? I got to stop always call him the show The Bachelor, by the way. The Bachelor. Yeah, it's actually a really funny story. So two years ago, I went through like a pretty bad breakup. I know I did like a year to kind of work on myself and really kind of get my feet under me,

both with my finances. I had just bought in a house. So I wanted to kind of get my life in order. When you say a bad breakup, bad because of you or bad because of her or bad on both ends? I'd probably say it was more so both ends. I wanted to get married and she didn't. So that's the part that was the hardest part was being like, hey, I'm here and her being

like, hey, I'm not there. So that was hard for both of us. I took that time to kind of really just do my own thing. You know, and my sister, she lives, she goes to Emory. So when she's home for holidays in the summer, she stays with me. So a 21-year-old sister, she's like, hey, Thomas, we got to get you back out there. So what better way than to apply you? So one night we popped open a bottle of rosé and we just started to go in after it.

That was last summer. So, yeah, shout out to my little sister, Lily. shout out Lily that's so fun did you watch any of Joey's season hoping that it was going to be one of these girls um I did watch Joey's season I did all of the the bits coming into it um I think I came into it pretty open minded I don't think anyone really had um everyone kept telling me what you think is going to happen is not going to happen so that's kind of like the idea that I came into the the house thinking. So I was pretty open-minded when it came into it.

That's good. I feel like that's the best mentality to go into the show with is just being open-minded. Because I feel like so many people go into it with a very clear set of expectations or feeling like they know exactly how filming goes or how the show works. And it just, it's never, you just don't know until you know. Yeah. And I felt like I kind of had a leg up, if you will. My brother swam with Robbie Hayes.

They went to college together. I think he was Jojo's season, so like six years ago. I was like, Robbie Hayes. I was like, that's a throwback name. Yeah. And so they swam together. I swam with Robbie's younger brothers. And so when this came up, I called Robbie.

And I was like, hey, what can I like expect if he was like nothing? You don't expect anything. I have no, don't go into it like thinking that you know something because you're not going to know it. And so that was probably like the most useful bit of advice that I got. Well, that's interesting. That is actually very, that's good advice. That is good advice. Nice job.

Well, Robbie, so correct me if I'm wrong. Robbie, I believe, went really far on Jojo season of The Bachelorette and then was on, he was, yeah, he was runner up, right? Yeah. And then he was on Paradise, I believe, as well. So he's done two shows. He's a good person to call and say, like, hey, what should I expect? So the fact that someone who's done two shows is like, don't expect anything. I don't know how he came across on Paradise.

Oh, really? Yeah, it might have went a little. You might have got a little rough. Went a little sideways for Ravi. Yeah. I think so in paradise, yeah. Yeah. So let's talk about your competitive swimmer or you were a competitive swimmer.

Yeah, I was a competitive swimmer. So all through college, I swam. And then I had the opportunity to get dual citizenship. Both my parents are from Vietnam. And so that opportunity came up. And United States swimming is elite. It's very, very good. So where in one event, I was 40th in the country in the U.S.

I was the second in the country in Vietnam. So I had the opportunity to get dual citizenship. I tried to make the Olympics in 2016. And then I had a partial tear in my left rotator cuff that I, like, couldn't lift my arm. And so I had to get a couple cortisone shots back to back to back to back to try and make it through. And then just barely missed it. So when you swim for Vietnam, how long are you over there for? Like, what is it, what does that look like?

several months. So it's the travel day is is more than a day itself. So when I went over there, it was like 18 hours to Seoul, a long layover, and then from Seoul to Ho Chi Minh City was nine hours. So it was just a brutal travel day. And then they recommend that you get over there a month before you compete. So they're 30 days early. The meet's usually five to seven days. And then whether or not you travel to different countries to compete or race or whatever you have to do in terms of obligations for the federation they keep you there longer um so i was there for three stints for over three months each time how beautiful is vietnam stunning stunning it's so awesome that's what i've heard yeah the beach cities are the best okay so my my brother's actually going um he's going on vacation

i think i think like in december yeah where would you for a tourist where do you recommend And if you have, you're going to be in Vietnam for seven days. Danang is a beach city. It's D-A-N-A-N-G. It's a beach city. It is stunning. It's also pretty touristy as well. So you could get to buy speaking English there pretty, pretty comfortably.

But the restaurants are awesome. Like seafood, that's a big place to go because we went to a restaurant where you watch the boats bring the seafood to the restaurant and they would cook it right in front of you. So it's a super cool spot. Ho Chi Men City is always a classic to. to go into like the big city spots. But if you want good food, go to the vendors just as much as the four star and five star restaurants.

They're, they're awesome. I want to go so bad. But we have an issue with you. I know. I have a nut allergy, a really severe nut allergy. So I'm okay with peanuts and almonds, but I'm like deathly allergic to like cashews, pistachios, pie nuts, all those. And it just gets challenging not only with going places that use a lot of nuts, but then the language,

But then the language bear on top of it, like I would love to just go and eat all the food at the different vendors. But it just gets a little nerve-wracking. I get that. I would risk it. But then you get nervous and I get nervous. Yeah. Two happy pens on standby.

A lot of Benadryl. And then like if something happens in a different country, anyway, there's just a lot of elements that, but who knows. But that's why. We'll make it there eventually. We'll make it there eventually.

That's why, you know, as much as you want to kind of have no, both authentic experience, sometimes the true response are a little bit more comfortable. Definitely. Definitely. Find that balance of both. Exactly. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly and now I'm seriously suspicious. Well, wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast. So we'll find out soon.

This person writes, my boyfriend has been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now he's insisting we get to know each other. I just want her gone. Now, hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That sounds totally inappropriate. Well, according to this person, this is her boyfriend's former professor and they're the same age. And it's even more likely that they're cheating.

He insists there's nothing between them. I mean, do you believe him? Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he now wants them both to meet. So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend really cheated with his professor or not? To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jamil Hill, host to the Sports and Politics Podcasts Politics. And on the latest episode of Politics, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries joins me for a candid conversation about the state of the Democratic Party. What do Republicans say to you privately that they won't say publicly?

Many of them are in fear of their political lives. And that's been part of the challenge. But we continue to say to them, you were elected to defend your constituents, to stand up for your constituents. And there's life after Congress. And you should be willing to actually want to be able to look back on your time in the House of Representatives knowing that you can keep your head held high because you did the right thing. Donald Trump is gone in three and a half years. But their legacy or their failure to stand up to the extremism and the unprecedented assault on America as we know it

will be with them forever. Make sure to listen to Spolitics on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you you get your podcast. Have you ever wished for a change but weren't sure how to make it? Maybe you felt stuck in a job, a place, or even a relationship. I'm Emily Tish Sussman, and on she pivots, I dive into the inspiring pivots of women who have taken big leaps in their lives and careers. I'm Gretchen Whitmer, Jody Sweeten, Monica Patton, Elaine Welteroth. I'm Jessica Voss. And that's when I was like, I got to go. I don't know how, but that kicked off the pivot of how to make the transition. Learn how to get comfortable pivoting because your life is going to be full of them.

Every episode gets real about the why behind these changes and gives you the inspiration and maybe the push to make your next pivot. Listen to these women and more on She Pivots now on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, so let's cut to night one. You step out of the limo, what's going through your head, how. is the conversation with Jen? First out of limo, I could, like, feel my heartbeat, like, in my throat.

And I'm thinking, I'm thinking don't trip. The first thing, my first step, because I'm putting my jacket together. I'm looking at her. And I'm like, big deep breath, walk up to her. And then she made it pretty easy. You know, she, I'm a huge dad joke guy and puns all day. So the fact that she was, like, picking up what I was putting down, it felt good. So it started to get easier after the first 15 or 30 seconds.

Yeah, she is very like warm and open energy. Yeah. You can tell she's just kind of like embracing the conversation. So I feel like that makes it a lot easier. Would you say, Jen, is your is your type? Yeah, I think so. She's like you said, bubbly, warm, outgoing. I think I would consider myself an introvert.

So I think that that balance is needed a lot of times in a relationship. one more outgoing than the other. And I think that that's probably more my type as someone that's a little bit more free-flowing of a spirit than I am. You're not really given introvert. I believe you. You say that about every introvert.

Really? Yes. Because I feel like you have a perception that introverts are like very, very quiet and very, very shy. But, you know, like, you have a great personality, but you just probably feel more comfortable like and enjoy your alone time, right?

1,000%. If I had my choice of going out to the club or sitting at home cuddling with my dog watching Food Network and at home all day. Okay. All right. So you get into the house. Who are you viking with as far as the guys?

Is anyone rubbing you the wrong way? What's that? How's that going? You were early out of the, you were pretty early out of the limo, right? I think I was the fifth or sixth guy into the house. So I was there super early. That was me too.

I think I was like the sixth person in. And I was so happy about it because it's kind of, it's absolutely a positive. It's absolutely a positive. Being the first one and I feel like, it's a little jarring, but going in, it's like a small group of people. You get to kind of meet people as they're coming. Do you agree? 1,000 percent.

And another thing that I thought of was as well is when everyone comes into the room and they sit down and then there obviously aren't enough seats for 25 guys to be there. So the next group, like 21, 22, 23, there's everyone sitting down. They're just sitting there. Yeah, there's like two or three people standing before like the next rush comes in. Yeah, yeah. but it was good um the first group of guys that were in there i clicked right away with thomas we both you know like that spider man meme where you're like pointing at each other we're like

thomas thomas and so him and i we connected pretty quickly um sam m and i connected pretty quickly um he's from south carolina so we both kind of hit off on that that southern roots a little bit um and then Aaron herb um he would probably be another guy my little brother serves in the military and so i know Aaron does it as well so that's kind of something that we kind of touched on as well there's another Marcus was a military guy as well right yeah he was an army ranger yeah he does the exact same thing my little brother went to school for any any of the guys kind of like rubbing you the wrong way or or any of the guys like kind of making waves within the house not really i kind of kept to myself like i said kind of an introvert so the the conversations it was interesting

started off as like several groups of two or three everyone off to their side and then slowly as the night progressed there was conversations with 10 people 11 people 12 people like the whole house having those conversations um there are definitely some big personalities um like hakeem walking in with 40 balloons attached to him um that's that's something you know that's not my style uh but to each their own but there were definitely some big personalities in the house for sure did the guy really streak completely naked or do you have on the wear on someone someone said that i wasn't i wasn't there for that i was i wasn't there for that i was someone told me no i didn't get to see that no okay so maybe that's good thing yeah probably uh okay so

then you get you get some one-on-one time with jen yeah um like where was that where was that within the night and how did that conversation go um i thought i it was kind of how i wanted to go you know i wanted to kind of hit that 75 percent mark so but most people hit get early i wanted to be cornered three quarters to the end spot so i was kind of towards the end i got to have um a pretty intimate conversation it kind of got a little bit deeper than either of us i think wanted it to get to um we both can just kind of hit on our family traditions our family history both of our mothers are immigrants um both of our mothers basically gave up their life so that we could have a shot at one um and that was something that both of us kind of we we got to that point in the conversation and we're like wow

this is this is more an intense first date right so i think that's kind of where we got to on the conversation just kind of led so effortlessly there um do you think do you think if if it was a first date you would have gotten there um probably not i think that there are things that i think that are things that are important to me that i value so so much and my my mom is definitely one of them. But I think sometimes, you know, when you're getting to know someone, you start off at like the surface level stuff of like, you know, what do you like to do? What are some of your hobbies? But I think that coming into it, I know a new Jen's story, you know, watching Joey's season and watching how that's really important to her. It's important to me too. So I felt like

it was easy for us to kind of get there that quickly. I would imagine too, because you are the only person that shares that experience with her she probably gravitated towards you know what you have in common um and because you guys have similar backgrounds and upbringings it was probably just a natural direction for the conversation to go of like she's talking all these guys like trying to figure out you know what do i have in common where it was a very easy one for you guys to connect on yeah definitely and and it helps being the only other Vietnamese person in the house so we both kind I hit her with a little Vietnamese pickup line and she got a little giggle at it. I just told her that she looked very beautiful in Vietnamese and she was, yeah, yeah, yeah.

She was just impressed with, hopefully she was impressed on my Vietnamese. Yeah. So after that conversation in your head, where do you, are you like, yeah, like 75% chance I'm going to get a rose? I wish it was 75%. I was still, I was still 50-50, you know, that feeling, that feeling that I get to, you know, when you're standing there and like you can feel your heart pounding um yeah i was i was probably 50 50 there's just so many guys in that in the house you know so many good looking guys everyone's successful everyone's peacocking uh in the house so you know i wanted to kind of keep it 50 50

did you think though that you maybe had a chance at the first impression rose um yes i did think i had a chance of the first impression rose just because of how intense the conversation was But at the same time, I was like, maybe it was too intense that she was like, well, this is something that I didn't want to happen on the night long. Totally. Yeah. Yeah. So that's kind of where my head was with both of that. Was there a guy in the house that was overly confident that he thought maybe he was going to get the first impression, Rose?

I don't think so. I think everyone kind of, everyone was kind of flexing their muscles in a subtle way. you know, just kind of everyone in that house came up as pretty confident but I don't think anyone came off as super cocky right away. Okay.

So Sam M ended up getting the first impression rose was that were people surprised by it or people were like, oh yeah, he's great, like I could see it. What was the response amongst the group? There were a couple people

that said that it was just because he grabbed her first. You know, some people wanted to say Sam, she did her toast and Sam grabbed her and that's what stood out to Jen was someone to make effort early. And Sam was the first person that grabbed her. So that's what some of the people

were thinking. As I've gotten to know Sam, you know, especially here in the first, the first night, it was, he carries a lot of the same values that I carry. You know, he carries that same passion that I carry. And so I get it. So if I think that I could have gotten the first impression where I was he definitely could have as well just because of the things that I see him. Right. That makes sense. That does make sense. I feel like, I feel like the way that you are described me of like, yeah, I had a really good conversation with her and we share similar values so I can understand kind of maybe the alignment is usually the thought process of someone who has like a good, easy connection right out of the gate. And I feel like people that are usually

grasping at like, oh, well, he pulled her first is maybe an inclination of like, oh, maybe the connection's not there yet with those people. Yeah. Yeah, well said. You can you can maybe see those people were not there after the first night, the ones that were saying that. Those people, yeah. It definitely makes sense. Was there anyone that you were shocked that went home night one?

Yeah, definitely. So, Ricky was one of the guys that a lot louder than most of the other guys, you know, super confident, you know, he kind of walked to walk and talk to talk. He kind of, everyone liked him.

You know, he was a guy that I was drawn to as well. A lot of the guys really were drawn to him. And so to see him go night one was definitely shocking. And then I'd probably say Brett was the other one. He is awesome. You know, just a big man, big personality to match it. And so I was shocked with him as well. He did the little truth or dare. We were shocked by him too. Yeah. We were really, really surprised. He went home night one. Yeah. And so his, his little, what is that, dare, show your hidden talent. He clears the room out and then drops it down into a full on split in his suit was, uh, that was one of the ones where I was like,

damn, I don't think this guy was got it was on. Yeah, it was. Oh, that was on. Yeah, it was. Yeah, it was like a montage of what was happening at the truth or dare. And I think we, we literally just saw every, like, him drop the split in his pants. He was like, I think I split my pants. Yeah. Yeah. He was awesome. He was a, yeah. So, how was your first rose ceremony? Everything you thought it was going to be or a much longer experience than you, you, you, you, you, you, you. So getting ready for the rose ceremony was nerve-wracking. We all just stood there in silence, basically, like, waiting for it to get started. And then I'll never forget the feeling of pre-rose and after-rose of kind of how my body was feeling.

I could feel like 180 BPMs of like my heart pounding. And then when I got my rose, it was from 180 to 80 in two seconds. So it felt pretty good. Yeah, that makes sense. That's actually very true. the tension that you hold in your body at those things. And they're so long and you're so tired. Yeah.

It's a crucial part of the journey. So then Jen drops, she drops it at the end of this episode that you guys are going to Australia. What's the mood then? That had to be awesome. Amazing. Amazing. It's like bucket list stuff, right? Yeah.

You don't really ever think, hey, I'm going to go to Australia just for fun. So the fact that we all got to go on night one was awesome. Everyone, I think not a single guy had ever been in Australia in the cast. So it was cool. No way. That is so cool. Yeah, it was awesome. That is cool.

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

Now, hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That sounds totally inappropriate. Well, according to this person, this is her boyfriend's former professor, and they're the same age. And it's even more likely that they're cheating. He insists there's nothing between them. I mean, do you believe him? Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he now wants them both to meet.

So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend really cheated with his professor or not? To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the Iheart Radio app, podcast or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jamil Hill, host of the Sports and Politics Podcasts Politics. And on the latest episode of Politics, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries joins me for a candid conversation about the state of the Democratic Party. What do Republicans say to you privately that they won't say publicly? Many of them are in fear of their political lives.

And that's been part of the challenge. But we continue to say to them, you were elected to defend your constituents, to stand up for your constituents. and there's life after Congress. And you should be willing to actually want to be able to look back on your time in the House of Representatives knowing that you can keep your head held high because you did the right thing. Donald Trump is gone in three and a half years. But their legacy or their failure to stand up to the extremism and the unprecedented assault

on America as we know it will be with them forever. Make sure to listen to Spolitics on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast. podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Have you ever wished for a change but weren't sure how to make it? Maybe you felt stuck in a job, a place, or even a relationship. I'm Emily Tish Sussman, and on she pivots, I dive into the inspiring pivots of women who have taken big leaps in their lives and careers. I'm Gretchen Whitmer.

Jody Sweeten. Monica Patton. Elaine Welter-A. I'm Jessica Voss. And that's when I was like, I got to go. I don't know how, but that kicked off the pivot of how to make the transition. Learn how to get comfortable pivoting because your life is going to be full of them. Every episode gets real about the why behind these changes and gives you the inspiration and maybe the push to make your next pivot.

Listen to these women and more on She Pivots now on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What was the, because it was, you guys are not at the mansion. Yeah. What was the house when, what was the house? when, what was the house like? It was in the front, the front of it looked like breathtaking. The house liked beautiful, yeah. It was stunning.

It was huge. And there was a lot of the outside backyard space was probably like the coolest spot. It was just a little cold. But they had like a couple bonfires set up for us to kind of all go out there. The backyard was, I think, was the best part because it was like two X of what the front yard was. You know, when we walk out of a limo, it was like breathtaking in the backyard as well. a couple of the pavilions with like bond virus for us to kind of get set up at it was awesome yeah cool awesome so you mentioned you were in a serious relationship uh that ended kind of badly um but since

the end of that relationship how long has it been from today or from night one when that relationship ended what was the timeline the timeline yeah between night one and the relationship ending yeah Okay, sorry. Is that a death didn't come across? No, no. Yeah, I was thinking two years or a little bit under two years. Okay, so then how, within that two years, were you dating? What was dating life like?

No, not really. I did a year where I was not really dating, just working and kind of doing my thing here. Hanging out with friends, like I said, my, everyone in my life, everyone that's important to me is married with kids. So my two, 32. Okay. Yeah. So two of my best friends, I've known them since I was 12. So I've watched them and their families grow.

And so when I get the opportunity, it's Uncle Thomas here, Uncle Thomas there. Both my brothers are married. Well, actually, my younger brother is married. My older brother gets married. So we're going out to South America. So both of them are in long-term relationships. My best friends are in long-term relationships. So when I'm bored, I just bounce around to.

be Uncle Thomas. Yeah, single life. Single life is way more difficult when all your friends are in relationships. 1,000%. Yeah, definitely. So what was kind of your mentality then going on this show?

You were out of this serious relationship. You hadn't been dating. Obviously, that's what you're looking for. What mindset did you go in with? I think a piece of advice that I got from my mom was really helpful. Thank God you didn't say Robbie again. like no no no no this this is this is this is my mom it was good it was it got me it got me there

she said people that you love and people that you care about are going to watch you and the person that you end up with you don't want them to think that you're someone that you're not so if you put on this facade for however long you put it on and then you get to the real world and she's like this is not you or if people watch you and they're like hey that's not you um that's going to be a harder thing to fix in the real world. And so I came into it thinking, hey, I'm just going to be unapologetically authentic, stand on what I believe in, and put myself out there to be vulnerable and show Jen who I really am as a person. And if she picks it up, that's awesome. And if she doesn't, then hopefully there's someone out that's out there for me. That's great advice.

That was always my biggest fear of potentially meeting someone on the show was leaving the show and being like, that's not who I thought. thought I was dating. And that happens. I still may not know. I still am. I'm going to wake up one day. Joe's going to drop the facade.

It's going to be horrible. Yeah, it's a lot harder to correct down the line than it is to just be up front and true to yourself, despite the fact that you're being vulnerable for the world to see. Totally. Did you prepare yourself or even think about the fact that, you know, going on a show like the Bachelorette is dating in an unconsor? conventional way and you are potentially going to fall in love with somebody who's dating multiple men at the same time and catching feelings for multiple people. Yeah. I mean, this is a once and a

lifetime opportunity and it's a spot where no one's ever been in this spot before. But like before, if we were meant to be and if at the end of the road, you know, she picks me, then I'd hope that you know our connection was stronger than anyone else is and that she's not just playing me or playing any other person and that like what they say they're here for the right reasons and so i was there for the right reasons um so yeah yeah that's i don't know i don't know no no i believe you i believe you i believe you i don't know if you're here for the right reasons you're fucking lying thomas no i just i i know like myself especially when i went on the show I want to say I feel the same way you do.

I just don't know how I would have handled it. I do think it is tough. Absolutely. It only gets harder as it goes on too. And like being the person that ends up with the lead and then watching it back, there's just no way that's easy. No, there's, yeah, 100% not. I mean, I never had to do that, thankfully.

But it's definitely bittersweet being like, oh, I've ended up with this person and we're so happy and in love. And now we get to watch our love story along with his love story with 26 other women. Yeah, totally. Totally. Yeah. What was your take on the drama between Brian and Jeremy? You know, obviously

Jeremy came out in this very fancy car, him and Jenner having time talking in it. And then we see Brian come out of the house with the keys to the car, essentially kicks Jeremy out of his own car. Wait, was it Jeremy's car? Oh yeah. So Joe and I were

debating was do you know if it was you know a prop car or if it was actually jeremy's car that he drives at home so i i wasn't there for that either so i couldn't tell you about that but i i i heard the drama when they both came into the house but i didn't get to see him take the keys or go out in his car so what did we what did you over here what did we over here i wasn't there what did you over here a lot of people their personalities are completely opposite i think jeremy is as a really really quiet, you know, kind of behind the scenes guy. And Brian is definitely not. So I think it kind of made sense of how those two kind of interacted.

It was, yeah. Brian, Brian's a is a big personality as well. Yeah, he was one of the louder guys. Also, I just pulled up Jeremy's details and he's from New York. So there's no way that they shipped his actual car out to L.A. There's no shot. Yeah, probably not. Probably not.

I'm going to say definitely not. Probably not, but it's fun to think it was his car. It's fun to think it was his real car. So would you say that the house skewed more towards Jeremy's side than Brian's side in that interaction? I definitely think so. Jeremy was, Jeremy's always been super quiet, you know, just kind of calm, cool, collected behind the scenes. He didn't really love to me to do a long way. Yeah, he had a bit of a showy entrance.

Like his limo entrance isn't like that. Yeah. His limo entrance is more like, hey, Jesse, fucking belly my car. Yeah. As I got to know him, it was kind of the opposite, so that's interesting. Yeah, but that happens sometimes. Sometimes people go a little all out for the entrance and it doesn't always totally align with who they are at their core. Thomas, we're going to play a quick game, a little rapid fire, get to know you a little better. All right. You want to do it? You want me to do it?

I'll do it. You haven't done rapid fire in a while. No, I've really been getting out of it. Joe's been handling rapid fire. All right. Be easy on me. It's very easy. fun, chill questions. Starting off with, what is your go-to comfort movie or show? Oof.

Comfort movie, I'm going to nerd out a little bit. Go Lord of the Rings series. I haven't seen Lord of the Rings, which is crazy because I feel like I've seen all the other, like, major... I love Lord of the Rings, yeah. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Flying. But I'm scared of heights, but yeah, flying. That's probably why, because you wouldn't be scared if you could fly. Yeah, that's true. They'll never fall. Yeah, you're not going to fall. Fair.

What's your go-to karaoke song? Sorry by Justin Bieber. A classic. What's your favorite ice cream flavor? Cookie dough. Cats or dogs? Dogs, come on. What's your dream vacation destination?

Hmm. Somewhere on the beach. Bora. What's the best concert you've ever been to? Ooh. I'm going to say Hangout. Like a concert, outdoor venue on the beach,

music all around. Pretty sweet spot. What is it called? Hangout Festival. Where is this? Gulf Shores, Alabama. Okay. It's like a music festival?

Yeah. It's just like, it's literally two polar opposite stages, like on the beach. So it's pretty cool. That's really cool. school. What's your favorite way to spend a day off? Work out, play fetch with the dogs in the back, and then cook myself a meal. Wow, you're just, you're just the hallmark movie, Thomas. I love cooking. I love, I love cooking. I'll tell you guys a quick little cliff notes. Both

my parents were, were fostered when they came to the United States and their parents are Italian and Irish. So I grew up like in an Italian household where my, my Nona taught us like all these recipes when we were growing up. So we're a huge food family growing up. Wow. What's your go-to? What's your go-to dish that you cook? Carbinarra. That's my go-to. Really? Okay. That's a good one. All right. What is the most adventurous thing you've ever done? Cliff diving. You know, we went out to a place in Italy. They took us out to this huge cliff. you climb up like a couple of dozens of feet and then jump off of it so it was pretty cool that's so cool i i've done cliff jumping before but there is a point that you pass where you're like okay

like if i do something wrong i'm going to really be in a lot of pay yeah totally and you're when your hands and feet like wiggle for just a little bit too long that's when you know you're a little bit too high yeah exactly um okay what is one food that you can't stand Tomatoes Really? Yeah, like on burgers I can't do no cold tomatoes on sandwiches Will you do tomato sauce?

Yeah Will you do ketchup? Mm-hmm Just no cold tomatoes on like a cold tomato on a burger I'm out like it Disgusting. Yeah I don't totally disagree with that

Yeah, no, I don't It depends I kind of like tomatoes on my hot dog Yeah, that's weird to me What musician would you love to see live? Chris Stapleton. Favorite season? Summer, definitely.

Okay, and if you could describe this season of The Bachelorette in one word, what would it be? Spicy. Spicy. I like that. All right, Thomas. Thank you so much for coming on. We can't wait to watch the rest of you on. this season. And to all our listeners, thank you guys for tuning in.

Yep. And if you need any retirement advice, you know who to reach out to, Thomas. And he will prepare you for your future financially. I appreciate y'all. And don't forget to subscribe. We will have more recaps of Jen season and exclusive interviews from all of your favorite men coming up. Thanks for listening. Bye. Bye. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious. Wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, luckily, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend's been hanging out with his young professor a lot.

He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That seems inappropriate. Maybe. Find out how it ends by listening. the OK Storytime podcast and the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Culture eats strategy for breakfast, right? On a recent episode of Culture Raises Us, I was joined by Belisha Butterfield, Media

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